Dark Angels Legion (thoughts for the future and what I have been up to)

Hey folks,

Bob here with an overdue update. Things have been hectic lately with academia and travel messing up my schedule. I shouldn't really be complaining about the travel though. I got to visit Glasgow in Scotland for a few days to attend the European Association of Archaeologists annual meeting and give a paper on behalf of my French colleague and mentor. I had a blast and the presentation was well received so a kickass time was had all around.

On the campus of the University of Glasgow

With my final semester of undergrad getting into full swing and the disruption of international travel my routine has yet to settle and my hobby time has suffered for it. That being said, I have managed to get a few things worked on and play a game or two. First up, I managed to get around to building the Sherman Tank I had gotten as part of a trade deal with Noble Knight Games (more on these good folks later).

This thing was a bit of a pain in the back side to put together. I love the Warlord Games plastics, but their resin/metal vehicle kits not so much. After a lot of filing down and cursing I have managed to get it to sit (reasonably) level on the table top and not have the turret listing to one side. I decided to magnetize the turret for the hell of it and it seems to have been a good choice. Stays on a lot more securely and rotates on a mostly even level.

Now on to the main focus of this article. In case you haven't noticed, Forge World has released some upgrade components for the Dark Angels Legion. Needless to say I will be getting more than a few of these. This release along with the now less fanciful prospect of plastic Heresy kits has got me thinking about just what I will want out of my I Legion army and how I can get the most use out of them. Like all of my interest in 30k gaming, my Dark Angles Legion will be more of a long term project. Although, it may start seeing more of my time and money with the death of Warhammer Fantasy and the prospect of plastic Heresy kits. Thankfully there is interest in doing 30k in my gaming group which the release of plastics would only help to give a kick in the ass to jump start. So where do I see my Legion collections going? Well, to begin with I will be shooting for table ready forces for games of 1500 to 1750 points. This seems like the easiest thing to do and would allow me to get actual games in. Beyond this I will be letting my imagination (and wallet) decide on how I expand. Ideally I want each Legion to be around 3000 points total. The Dark Angels will likely be my largest collection. I am really anxious to see the Legion profile for them and how they were organized. The Dark Angels Legion was very different from the Chapter of the 41st millennium. I want to include most if not all of the 6 ( I believe) mentioned special formations as well as the regular Legionaries. The Lion is a must of course.

Above is my own concept model of what the Legion colors and armour might look like. The shield on the right shoulder pad is an homage to the knightly aspect of the Legion and I had planned on using this in lieu of the normal marking for squad type and number. Then this got released 

The official I Legion color scheme?

So this is the "official" color scheme of the Legion? It may take some time for this to grow on me. I would really like some better photos in order to see all of the markings and details. Hopefully Forgeworld will be getting some more pictures out soon. And of course, nothing says I have to paint my forces this way so time will tell.

Until next time good readers!