Tip: Goal Sheets

I'm one of those people that start a hundred projects for every one that I finish. To help me focus on actually finishing a project, I've started using what I call "Goal Sheets".

So, what is a goal sheet?

A goal sheet is a piece of paper that helps you visualize the finished project. Here is my goal sheet for my 1000pt army for the DeffCup, a small tournament coming up in june:


Every box represents a model that needs to be assembled and painted. A small box is a single infantry figure, and a big box is a tank. This particular sheet represents my 1000pt army, consisting of a Company Master with a 5-man Command Squad in a Razorback, two 10-man Tactical Squads in Rhinos and a Predator.

When I have assembled (and based) a model, I circle the corresponding box on the goal sheet. When the model is painted, I cross out the box. Here's a close up:


As you can see, when this picture was taken on 23 april, the first Tactical Squad is finished, their Rhino assembled but unpainted. The Command Razorback and one of the Veterans in the Commmand Squad is assembled and based.

Here's a work-in-progress shot of the Company Master and the Command Squad:
Even though the Company Master is fully assembled, he's not based yet, so doesn't get a circle on the goal sheet just yet.

Why bother with a Goal Sheet at all?

I find it motivates me to look at the sheet and see what's left to do. It helps me focus on the right things. It's also very satisfying to cross out boxes on the sheet, indicating finished models. It's not always practical to have an entire army standing on display, so the sheet is a handy way to "see" the whole army and especially seeing the progress made after each session.

You'll see more of this particular goal sheet in other updates, as I will post progress reports on the army up until the DeffCup.

I have a bigger goal sheet, which is simply a copy of the Battle Company data sheet from Apocalypse. In a future update, I'll show you this as well.

Hope you find this useful. I'd love to see other people's goal sheets!

See you later!

/Stitch

DeffCup: Rules and Army List (and comments!)

Hey all!

Da DeffCup is approaching, and I thought I'd post an update.

Equinox said:

>>> What are you planning to bring for it?

Hi Equinox! Thanks for leaving a comment! I'm bringing a small mechanized force of 26 infantry models plus 4 tanks. You can see a full army list below.

Any information on the Deffcup? I am curious to read the rules surrounding it.

It's a small tournament for a maximum of 12 participants. There are some special rules and restrictions:

• Armies are a maximum of 1000 points.


• Models must be painted to a minimum standard (3 colours + bases).


• Most armies are allowed, incl. Lost and the Damned (with some changes), Kroot Mercenaries, Feral Orks and 13th Company.


• Some units from the Imperial Armour books are allowed, but will be reviewed and apporoved on a case to case basis.


• Named Characters are only allowed if you're playing a special list that requires them, for instance Dark Angels Deathwing or Ravenwing.


• Lash of Submission is limited to 0-1 / army.


• All wargear must be WYSIWYG, What You See is What You Get, apart from the normal exceptions, i.e. some knives, grenades, etc.


• Prizes will be awarded for best sportsmanship and best painted army, voted on by the players.

My army list

Since I haven't got much time, I've decided to take the easy way out and go for a small, expensive force. I thought about including a Dreadnought (possibly a Mortis), and/or a Vindicator, and a bunch of scouts (because they're cool), but in the end I decided against them all. My overall goal is to paint a complete battle company, and painting the force listed below will bring me a lot closer to that goal. Plus, I already have all four tanks assembled, just waiting to be painted (or repainted), so it makes sense to use them. I'm also going for cool rather than effective, and in my mind there are few things cooler on the tabletop than a fully mechanized space marine force. :)

So, here's what I'm bringing to Da DeffCup:

• HQ: Company Master and Command Squad (5) in a Razorback, 370pts
  Company Master: power weapon, combi-plasma
  Command Squad: 1 power fist, 1 flamer, 1 plasma gun
  Razorback: Twin-linked lascannon, hunter-killer missile


• Troops: Tactical Squad (10) in a Rhino, 260pts
  Tactical Squad: 1 plasma pistol, 1 plasma gun, 1 plasma cannon
  Rhino: Hunter-killer missile


• Troops: Tactical Squad (10) in a Rhino, 260pts
  Tactical Squad: 1 power weapon, 1 meltagun, 1 lascannon
  Rhino: Hunter-killer missile


• Heavy Support: Predator, 110pts
  Heavy bolter sponsons, hunter-killer missile

I'll be outnumbered by pretty much everyone, but my army will look cool and fluffy. :)


Boondale said:

>>> I came across your blog/painting guide in a search on how to paint Space Marines. Im basing my army off the Space Wolves, but decided to use dark angel green as my base with shining gold marking like the Ultramarines.

Hi and welcome! And thanks for leaving a comment! Sounds interesting, the green and gold should look good together. Looking forwards to seeing the result!

Your guide is working out for me prity well so far, only problem I have is all my minis are together already so I have had to improvise on the eagels. I cant seem to get to the wings under the arms/weapons, but otherwise its looking good.

When I paint models like that, I just paint whatever sticks up over the bolter. There's no need for you to fret about parts of the model that you can't even see without picking it up and really studying it. My advise is just to poke a big brush full of black paint behind the bolter before you start painting. Then you just paint the bits of the chest eagle you can actually see.

I plan to post a few pics when im able to.

Like I said above, I'm looking forwards to it!

If you would like more info what im doing to my SM army please ask.

Consider yourself asked! :) I'm always interested in stuff like this.


I will post part 2 of the magnetic terminator tutorial later today, so stay tuned! :)

As always, thanks for reading.

Best regards,

Stitch

Army-building: The List

As I said in my first post, I'm currently building a 1750 points Dark Angels army. I thought I'd present my army list here, both so I can talk a little about my choices, but also so you can see what's coming in future updates.

I'll show you the list first, and then talk about each part, but I won't bore you with details right now. If anyone is interested in seeing the actual points value of each choice, I'll be happy to show them in a later update.

• HQ:
  Company Master, Command Squad (5), Razorback
• TROOPS 1:
  Tactical Squad (10), Rhino
• TROOPS 2:
  Tactical Squad (10), Rhino
• TROOPS 3:
  Tactical Squad (10), Rhino
• ELITE:
  Dreadnought
• FAST ATTACK:
  Ravenwing Support Squadron (2)
• HEAVY SUPPORT 1:
  Predator
• HEAVY SUPPORT 2:
  Vindicator

HQ:
I decided on a Company Master with a Command Squad as HQ. The Chaplains and Librarian are all cool character choices, and awesome models, but I want to use some of the cool Dark Angels upgrade bits to build my own plastic Master.

The Command Squad will include an Apothecary, Standard Bearer and a Company Champion. With a total of four power weapons and two flamers, I'm hoping this unit will be able to dish out some serious hurt and clear objectives for my Tactical Squads to hold. The Razorback will hopefully get them to where they need to be, without them being shot to pieces on the way.

TROOPS 1, 2 & 3:
I think Tactical Squads should always be the core of a Space Marine army, and with 5th Edition, you really need them. The option to split them into five-man combat squads makes them extremely versatile, and gives me a potential six Troops units with which to hold objectives.


I'm hoping to paint up the entire 3rd Company, eventually, and three full Tactical Squads with Rhinos will not only be a solid core for the force, but will also provide a good start for the bigger project.


The Tactical Squads will have a Plasma Cannon, Missile Launcher and Lascannon, respectively. The special weapons slots will be filled with two Plasma guns and a Meltagun. However, the special weapons are not glued, but are held in place by magnets. This way, I can swap them around. I will paint up a whole bunch of Flamers, Meltaguns and Plasma guns with magnets, so I'll always have options when I build my lists in the future. This will be the topic of a future tutorial, if anyone is interested.

ELITE:
I don't think I could ever play a 1000+ points game without at least one Dreadnought, as it is one of my absolute favourite models. I've got both a right and a left arm Twin-linked Autocannon, so in some games I'll be able to field him as a Mortis Dread. For this list, though, the left arm will be a close combat weapon with a heavy flamer.

The Dreadnought will be held together with magnets at three points: both arms and the waist. This will allow me to take it apart for easy storage and transport, as well as allowing me to change the armament between games.

FAST ATTACK:
Land Speeders are fragile on the table, but they look really cool and they can fill the air with screaming bullets before they go down. I will have one regular speeder and one Typhoon variant. I would like to have an Assault Cannon as well, but I don't have the points for it.

If they survive long enough, they may even be able to deny the enemy an objective by flying in on top of it in the last turn.

HEAVY SUPPORT 1 & 2:
A Predator with Twin-linked Lascannon and two Heavy Bolters should work well against both enemy armour and infantry. And a Vindicator can make anyone worry about where they move their units to.

I thought about taking a Devastator Squad, to tie in with the Battle Company plans, but I already have a Predator that just needs a new paint job, and the new Vindicator model is just too damn sweet to leave out.

That's it! That's 1750 points of angels of death in green armour.



Comments and e-mails are always welcome, so if there's anything you'd like to say to me, don't hold back!