Imperial Fists – A beginning into the Horus Heresy with EpicAU

First of all - don't be irritated, you'll see Imperial Fists in different scales on here. In 28mm for the Warhammer 40k 2nd Edition retro project as recently introduced, and in 6/8mm for EpicAU, as introduced in the Horus Heresy article. For "easier" differentiation, the 28mm on is the 3rd Company of the Imperial Fists, and the epic scaled one the Imperial Fists of the Third Sphere.

And we have to start somewhere, we will do that today with a first draft of a 2,000 point list build with Departmento Munitorum. I am aware that about 4,000 points is a common size, but as said, you have to start somewhere and according to some battle reports I found on YouTube (Tabletop Standard for example) it seems like a reasonable choice to begin with.

The overall project will of course still be The Imperial Fists, VIIth Legiones Astartes, Defenders of the Third Sphere, (as given a brief introduction in the last article) but we start with a smaller part of the bulwark.

We will pick 3 Line Detachments

• Tactical Detachment (8 Bases, 275 Pts) with 4 Rhinos (free)
• Terminator Detachment (4 Bases, 300 Pts) with 2 Spartans (250 Pts)
• Breacher Detachment (8 Bases, 300 Pts) with 4 Land Raider Proteus (300 Pts)

With 3 line detachments and a total of 1.425 Points, I would have the option to cover a total of 9 support detachments, but I lack the amount of points to spend here, so only one support detachment will be added, along with upgrades for the three line detachments.

1 Support Detachment

• Contemptor Dreadnought Talon (4 Dreadnoughts, 240 pts)

A couple of Upgrades for the units

• Ltn Commander (Captain) Efried (50 Pts) with the tactical detachment, as well as two Vindicators (50 pts each)
• Leviathan Dreadnought (100 pts) to support the Terminators
• A Vindicator Laser Destroyer (70 pts) along with the Breacher detachment.

Summing up a total of 1,985 points.

This list is not based upon any META or research I found online, just build with the Departmento Munitorum Imperial Fists list. So as a disclaimer - I don't know what I'm doing and going for rule of cool, will use the list in a few games and tweak accordingly, as adding to this list / collection is planned anyway (and partially already printed).

Okay, so we set the scope. How to continue? I got myself a resin printer earlier this year - an Anycubic Mono 4K during a sale, along with resin and a wash & cure station. That's one thing you need, if you don't want to hunt down eBay or the trade groups for OOP epic miniatures (who partially did not age that well). So we need software and the appropriate files.

I use a combination of Chitubox and Photon Workshop (I set the plate in Chitubox, along with adding the supports and then do the slicing with the Photon software). As for files, your usual hunting grounds are Thingiverse and Cults3D. And not just due to the latest IP strike by Games Workshop, you won't find Space Marines on there, but Galactic Crusaders. MoonJammy did amazing small scale Space Marines in different Mk power armour and poses, perfect for Horus Heresy or other projects like Badab War in Epic 6 to 8mm. KillMeForPrizes added further poses, variants and remixes, including some legion specific designs. And for all needs regarding vehicles I highly recommend Woddish.

Personal opinion: Don't try to make money from things that don't belong to you. I am aware that there is a (legal) grey area, but my rule of thump is as follows. If the IP owner doesn't lose money by it, it is okay from my point of view. Examples? Is Games Workshop offering Epic or Warmaster currently? No. So I'm fine with printing my own. If I'm building my own custom chapter or themed army and buy or print helmets, weapons or shoulder pads, that's - again my personal opinion - okay, as you still need to buy that box of Primaris Marines and such to build your army (once again, the manufacturer not loosing any money). But printing whole armies that are 1:1 copies (in design and scale - yes, that includes that true scale argument), choose a different game. And if you're the one selling Land Raider STL for 15 EUR, don't be surprised if the legal team strikes them with full force.

So, we have the files, we have the army list and now we have to start printing. To give you an idea on how much you get printed in a single run on one of these entry level printers, these are some sample layouts (not optimized, just to give you an idea of the volume). The entire infantry needed, fits on a single plate, half the vehicles on another plate, so with the Dreadnoughts and remaining heavy vehicles (Spartans / Land Raiders) I'm looking at a third plate in print volume.

At 0,025 mm layer thickness I can print about 2 plates per day and the 2k lists along with some variants will take about 2 days. The slicer will calculate an approx. need of resin for each print and mine was a combined ~150 ml. But as those calculations - similar to the time needed - are rather rubbish, just add 30% to it and we're looking at around 200 ml of resin, so material costs (without wear & tear on the machine, IPA etc.) of around 6 EUR (if we go for about 30 EUR per Liter of resin). Not that bad, isn't it?

The Horus Heresy Marines were among the first things I printed to get a feeling for the printer, so I used the translucent green resin that was part of the sale offer and later switched to the regular grey resin by Anycubic. The translucent resin feels a bit more brittle, yet I had to recalibrate the printer for the usage of the grey resin, as it behaved different. Anyhow, it works. Use what ever you have access to and works for you. Please make sure to read the product description and handle the resin accordingly.

From my stock of printed miniatures I mustered the list I build above and came up with this. The only question that remains - the size of the bases. With Epic you currently have quite a broad variety of options, from the classic square bases, to the rectangular ones from the 1997 edition, up to the more modern approach of round bases. I fancy the round bases the most for this setting, but adding heavier infantry like terminators on a 25mm round base feels a bit cramped.

Therefore I got myself the 30mm round bases by Renedra (via Radaddel in my case, because I don't fancy NON-IOSS shopping in the UK). I'm struggling a bit with myself. Going for 30mm for the entire force, keeping it classic with 25mm round bases (as that would ensure being able to place them on the Civitas Imperialis terrain and some rumours from playtesters of an updated Epic...). Both are good arguments and I guess, that I'll settle for a compromise. The Contemptor Dreadnoughts are set on 20mm round bases, because it fits. Vehicles won't get any bases and I don't do that, and most of the infantry will be placed upon 25mm round bases, with the exception of those who need a larger base to not look that cramped or because they are important (like Primarchs but not regular heroes).

As I am going to paint a lot of yellow Space Marines in the near future, when Infamout JT approached me regaring the Ammo by Mig Jimenez primers, I chose the Imperial Yellow Matt Primer.

And the paint did a great job from the start, along with some first contrast. So I guess along with some of the yellow paints by Army Painter and Citadel (as Imperial Yellow isn't available beside the canned primer via Ammo / MiG), this will help me cover some ground. But more importantly later on in the 28mm project, to cover the vehicles.

With the set scope and miniatures already on hand, it is time to get more paint on these. Vehicles is quite easy, to be honest, but I am currently unsure on how to tackle the infantry. If I should already base it or glue them to a strip, paint them and then put them on a base. How are your experiences in that scale?