Well, Clan Drükkskar is currently arrayed in a variety of boxes in the corner of the room. I can’t lie; I haven’t really done much with them since their acquisition in this current raw state. I flung a few justifications around: I haven’t had time; I want to have the whole clan together before I assemble. Nothing that really held water though. I just can’t be bothered at the moment. That will change though, most certainly. Last time I talked about my clan I estimated the total list at about 5,000 points. Unfortunately that has changed; it’s inexorably on the increase. Especially with the release of the Stormtalon. Now, a lot of people have problems with how it looks. People always have problems with how marine vehicles look. They are ugly. Always have been. It’s the aesthetic. We heard bitching about the Stormraven, saw it in the plastic and some people hated it. Others thought it looked better now that they could see it out of the promo shots. I never thought it was that bad. I still don’t. That probably why the Drükkskar are going to have a couple. Aside from everything else, these guys need transports and I still oddly averse to the Rhino chassis. And if I have to struggle with another bloody drop-pod I’ll fire jagged pins of hate into the wall.
So I was thinking that I may as well give my few inexplicably (occasionally) interested readers a quick and quite possibly slightly inaccurate rundown of my plans for my clan. Now, the Iron Hands don’t run strict Codex. They share more of a similar setup to the Space Wolves in that the various chapter subdivisions are based on clan and family. This means that although they have ten clans, just like other chapters have ten companies, each clan is effectively a chapter in microcosm. Each clan will have its own Librarians, Terminators, Dreadnoughts, Scouts, etc. I’m happy with this arrangement as it provides me with a greater license to get the clan how I want it.
Nevertheless, the core of the clan is the Tactical Squad and that’s no different for the Drükkskar. I’m packing 4 full tactical squads, each lead by a sergeant in Terminator armour, each with a different weapon load out. Apart from the sarge though, each squad is kitted out the same way. Ten-man squads, one Meltagun, one Heavy Bolter. Proper all-rounders in the mould of the Xth. Next up are a couple of Devastator squads: one kitted out to the gills with heavy bolters, the other with the more conventional tank-busting weaponry. Then I’ve got a bit of an odd choice. I’m packing a jump-packless Assault squad with no dedicated transport. I might (might) get a Drop Pod for them, but that’s sketchy. This is more a flavour and cheapness thing than anything else. I’ve got a load of chainsword/bolter arms and a load of standard tactical marines. I may as well have a footslogging assault list. Gives my Iron Father some guys to tool around with. I might promote them to Vanguards though. It’s still a bit up in the air.
Backing up the 70-strong core of the clan, I’m going for a large, but bare bones Sternguard squad, the special ammo not really needing a replacement and playing really well with the Relentless bolters rule I’m giving the chapter. And next up: the Dreadnoughts. I’m packing a lot of Dreads. Two regular, one Contemptor, two Ironclad, maybe one more Contemptor with a Heavy Conversion Beamer for kicks. That covers ground forces. In terms of air support, I’ve already assembled my Storm Eagle (really nice model, but precisely the wrong shape and size for any container I own!) and I plan to run a couple of additional Ravens for transport duties. Accompanying them will be a full wing (probably three, although if I sell my vestigial third kidney, I might get six) of Stormtalons because they’re ugly as all hell and I love ‘em for it.
Now we move on to a decidedly oddball choice for me. I’m going to convert up a Nemesis Dreadknight for the Clan. This guy is going to be decidedly one-off. Especially as I’m going to use him as a Dreadknight. My reasoning is that being the Iron Hands and unfathomably deep in with the Mechanicum, they have managed to acquire and retrofit one of these chassis to suit their needs. This is going to be a fairly big conversion project for me, as I’m going to try to give him a Mechanicum axe to use as a Greatsword and to replace the stupid counter-intuitive design of the pilot’s cradle with a cockpit. You see, the Storm Eagle contains all the parts for the Stormraven’s turret mounted guns, but none of those parts are ever used. I am going to use them for this piece. I’m not a fantastic converter, but I’m looking forward to trying my hand at this one.
Speaking of being deep in with the Mechanicum, I’ve also got a Mechanicum detachment planned for the clan. I’ve already got a Shadowsord Baneblade variant painted black (bought it second hand from an Overlord) and I felt that I needed some indenture Mechanicum type to accompany it. I managed to find a load of Micro Arts Studio models that work really well as Techpriests and Skitarii and so I constructed some decent ‘counts-as’ rules for them using the Grey Knights Codex. Steering clear of most of the filth. In fact, with the addition of an Assassin to make up the points, they’re a perfectly functional 750pts list. Nothing horrific (apart from the Assassin if you hate them. I don’t because they’re too easy to kill).
Finally, we have Independent Characters which is where the fun is. I’ve rambled on enough for now, so I’ll get into them and their retinues at a later date.
So long.
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