Chainfist

Things have been pretty tense at the local gaming store. We've got some of the most competitive players in the country crammed into a too small (but still awesome) game store. Everyone is fielding their Sunday bests and looking to improve their 40K skills -- and lately we've been letting "fun" take a back seat to winning games.
It's hard for a competitive player to play nice, especially guys like JWolf and Darkwynn. When you develop the habit of flexing those muscles and pouncing on every opportunity, it's easy to forget how much fun you can have if you pull back and socially playing the game. 

So at Bigred's urging, we're stepping out of our comfort zone with armies we never play anymore. And we're going out of our way to make sure they aren't too competitive.

For me, that means cracking out the ULTRAMARINES. I love my Ultras and it is the most gorgeous army I've ever seen. Every model is a work of art -- which is awesome. The crappy part is that the army was built for third edition (e.g., Captain Invictus) and I can't match the paint job - even using professional painters. So I'm stuck with an army that looks good, but is almost impossible to field in 5th Edition.

So let's build an army. My goal here is to build an army that's around 2,000 points using only my Ultramarines (I hate substituting or using models from other armies). Here's my list:

HQ
Captain Invictus (Pedro Kantor in Terminator Armor)
Chaplain

ELITE
5 Terminators (Assault Cannon, Macragge Banner)
-- Note: I'm centering Pedro's +1A on the Macragge Banner.

Venerable Dreadnought (Plasma Cannon, Extra Armor)

8 Sternguard Veterans (2 Heavy Bolters, Power Weapon)
-- Note: These are Deathwatch Kill Team models, hence the Heavy Bolters.

TROOPS
10 Tactical Marines (Plasma Gun, Missile Launcher, Teleport Homer)
-- Transport: Rhino (Extra Armor, PMSB)

10 Tactical Marines (Flamer, Lascannon, Teleport Homer)
--  Transport: Razorback (PMSB)
-- Note: Going to play the post-deployment Shell Game to get the Assault Marines in th Razorback.

6 Scouts (Heavy Bolter, 2 Sniper Rifles, 1 Bolter, Telion)

FAST
6 Assault Marines (No Jump Packs, Meltagun, Power Weapon)
-- Transport: Rhino (Extra Armor, PMSB)

-- Note: My "assault marines" used to be "veterans" so I've got a Meltagun that is out of place. I'm going to pay 15pts for it and call it a day.

HEAVY
Land Raider (PMSB)

NOTES: First of all, don't give me grief because the list isn't that great -- I used every single model I have and followed Bigred's Mandate to the letter. So I know, and I'm not expecting much from the army.

Secondly, I'm aware I've broken a couple of rules with this list, like giving Captain Invictus Terminator Armor  (for those of you that remember the Captain Invictus rules, it's totally in character) and the Meltagun with the "veterans". But I've built an army that's definitely inside the 2,000 point power bubble.

TACTICS: Depending on the game, I'm going to put either the Sternguard Veterans or Terminator squad (and Chaplain) inside the Land Raider. Combat squad the Tacticals and put them in the Rhinos and put the Assault Marines in the Razorback.

I'm not expecting great things (mainly because I don't expect my friends to uphold their end of the bargain and bring crappy lists, lol). My opponent will most likely be Bigred using my Hive Fleet Behemoth (although I've already heard him mumbling "lots of big bugs and genestealers", so I'm expecting to go the way of Invictus at Macragge!).

>>I'll let you know how the list plays in the comments. If you have any questions about the list, just post them in the comments section or send me an email (mkerr@chainfist.com).