Information Gathering

I've been doing a bit of background reading on the Ultramarines and their chapter history, and came across this book on painting Space Marines. There are plenty tutorials around the internet that can teach you to do just that, but on page 78 of the book is a picture of this fellow:

Veteran Sergeant Altarion

This figure has a few pieces, such as the ornate shoulder pad and sculpted breastplate that I haven't seen before. I'm currently trying to find out where they come from, so that my veterans and commanding officers will definitely stand out in a crowd.

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REFERENCE

Wood, A. (2004) How to Paint Space Marines. Games Workshop, Nottingham. 97pp.

The Smurf Connection

Many players and websites often refer to Ultramarines as Smurfs. I am still unsure if 'Smurf' is meant as a term of endearment or an insult, but it does seem to depend entirely upon which faction the person using it favours.

For those unaware of what Smurfs are, they’re little blue creatures created by Pierre Culliford (Peyo) in 1958 and were the stars of several comic books, feature length movies and a T.V. series that spans over 400 episodes, to name but a few accomplishments.

Your garden-varirty Smurf.

The most obvious similarity between Smurfs and the Ultramarines is that the predominant colour of an Ultramarine power suit is blue. A more subtle similarity is that troops of the Ultramarines may re-paint their helmets white once they have attained veteran status, matching the traditional headgear of the garden-variety Smurf. On the other hand, a sergeant may have a helmet painted red to denote his superior rank within a squad.

A Tyrannic War veteran (Right) & Sergeant Chronus (Left).

The leader of the Smurfs, Papa smurf, too wears red so that he may be easily distinguished from the other Smurfs amongst the village (and on the battlefield).

Papa Smurf looking rather smug after a successful skirmish.

Possibly the most obscure link between the Smurfs and Ultramarines ever dug up, is that the official Smurf website only names 13 of the multitude of male Smurfs, while Utramarines were the thirteenth Space Marine legion formed during the first foundation.

Thus 'Smurf' is probably a suitable way of describing a member of the Ultramarines.

A New Recruit

Recently I decided that I needed a new hobby. Something that would allow my creative side to run rampant, something I could do on my own or with others, something that wouldn't cost the earth. After sitting around my living room with my house mate for a few discussing possibilities such as model aeroplanes, trading card games and the like, I finally considered starting a collection Warhammer 40,000.

I've been looking around the Games Workshop website and several other blogs to get a feel of what I may be getting myself into and have come across some incredible customisations and paint jobs. The quality of which I can only hope to be able to match in a few years time, especially since I've never tried may hand at painting on such a small scale before.

Warhammer 40,000 seems to fill all my prerequisites; I'll be able to build, paint and customise my own legion of warriors, I can sit and paint on my own or head down to the local supplier for a 'quick' game or two, and I'll be able to do it all without breaking the bank... Wait that last bit's lie. After having a look at what's available and compiling a wishlist, it seems I may have to sell my first born child to a horde of gypsies to pay for it all. And that's when I saw the boxed set, Assault on Black Reach, released to coincide with the release of the fifth edition.

Screen shot of the contents of the box from Games Workshop website.

It looks great! It has a relatively small price tag, provides a starter army for two separate factions (Space Marine & Ork), condensed rulebook and all the other odds and ends (dice, templates, etc.) needed to play. All in all, a relatively decent looking deal.

Now that my appetite has been whet, and I more-or-less know my starting point for getting into the hobby, I await my next pay-cheque so that I may get get hold of a box and get started.

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In this blog I intend to keep you updated and informed on how my planned army is coming along and hopefully show off some of my paintwork in the future. In the meantime, I'm playing around with possible paint schemes for an as yet unidentified band of Orks and what will almost certainly be another Ultramarine squad. Hence the name of this blog.