Army Rebuilding Project Part 3 (WTF is a bits Box?)

Hey Game Fans, we’re back with another article taking a look at Warhammer 40,000’s 8th Edition, and how we’re going to bring our 7th edition (okay, mostly 6th Edition) army forward.  We’ve gone over the rundown of our Deathwing army including what units we have, and the likely purchases we need to make soon.  Check back on the other two articles in this series Here and Here for more details.  Then i did some cleaning last weekend and found my Terminator parts Bits Box and cried a little inside.

For those of you unfamiliar with Miniature Wargaming, most model kits actually come with more parts than you need to make the models/units you’re building out of the box.  This has become more of an interesting fact in the last few years as kits can be used to make two or three different options.  I’ve been building Terminators since the 40 mm base kit came out in the mid 2000s and i have a lot of Terminators.  What’s Better/Worse is that if i had more of the right parts, i could build another 50 or 60 Terminators.  So i swallowed my sadness, did an inventory and came up with my current parts total (by the slot on the body it occupies).  I’ve got the power of spreadsheets and i’m not afraid to use them.  

I’m sure at least one of you is thinking “why don’t you just buy another box?”  Well, because that’s just going to exacerbate the problem and give me more parts that don’t have a model to add them to.  So the plan of the hour is to find several bits supplier on the internet and pick up the missing parts that i need.  Rather than doing something crazy like ordering all of the parts I’m missing for my new babies (my Terminators) all at once, I’m going to prioritize some groups and get those parts first so i can build that group, get them painted and hopefully ruin someone’s day with them.  

So our first project is going to be a massive expansion of my Deathwing Knights

Project 1 (Deathwing Knights and Friend)

So if you checked our first link above out, you know we’ve got 4 Deathwing Knights with Storm Shields and Maces of Absolution and 1 Knight Master with Storm Shield and Flail of Broken Faces (i can’t remember what the thing’s called).  For those of you that are visual learners, check out the official GW page for them here.  

I’m wanting to build up to having 2 full squads of 10, which requires a total of 18 Mace and Shield Knights, and another Master.  For Extra versatility, i think it’s probably wise to build 2 more Masters so i can run 4 squads of 5.  I also want to build another Terminator Librarian (new options give me some creative choices) to go along.  That means I’m looking at building 17 more Deathwing Knights and a Terminator Librarian.

Having checked through my Bits Box, i have the parts to make 19 more of these Deathwing Knights, barring a few essential bits that are missing. I’m going to need another Terminator Librarian that i can customize with extra bits.   Let’s take a look at the parts needed to finish these up and see what components i’m missing.

Part 1: Base

Every Terminator comes on a 40mm base, and these are no exception.  I have precisely 0 of these.  The Terminator Librarian Kit will come with his base, so i’ll need to order 17 of these.  

Part 2:  Legs

Every Terminator needs legs, and Deathwing Knights are in fact, Terminators.  I have 0 of the specific legs that come with the Deathwing Knight kit, so i’m going to need 17 of these.  The Terminator Librarian kit will come with that specific model that comes with its own.  

Part 3: Front Torso

The Upper Body of a Terminator comes in two pieces.  The front chest plate, and the rear plate that completes the Upper Body.  Deathwing Knights have two Torso options, the regular version of which i have 15, has a slot for the Terminator’s head.  The second Torso option, (used on the Knight Master) has the helmet sculpted on.  I have 4 of those.  This means i have 1 spare Knight Torso, and 1 spare Master Torso.  The Librarian has his own Torso that comes with the kit.  

Part 4: Rear Torso

The Rear Torso plate is required to complete the upper body of the Terminator.  I have 0 of these, and between these and the legs, they are the major bottlenecks for building extra terminators.  I need 17 of these to complete this part.  The Librarian will have all of his Torso components included in the Kit.

Part 5: Left Arm

The Left Arm component for the Deathwing Knights (Masters Included) is a massive Storm Shield attached to the Arm.  I have 19 of these, and since i was going to do an arm swap with the Terminator Librarian and add one of these, i have 1 left over.  

Part 6: Left Shoulder

The Left Shoulder of the Terminator has the Crux Terminautus Shoulder Pad.  I have 3 of these, and will need 14 more.  The Librarian has one that comes with his kit.  

Part 7: Right Arm

The Right Arm component for the Knights is different from the Knight Masters.  The Knights have a Right Arm that doesn’t have a hand attached (the Maces of Absolution attach separately).  The Master’s flail is attached at the hand, but the head of the flail is a separate attachment.  I have 19 of these arm pieces but only need 14, so i have 5 left over.  I am building three Masters, but I’m using one of the Flail sections to build a staff for my Librarian.  I have 4 of these arms, so i am going to be out of them when i finish the conversion.  I’m hoping i can mate the staff head of the staff that comes with the Terminator Librarian to the flail handle in a right handed staff, which should make a cool conversion.

Part 8: Right Hand

I need Maces of Absolution for the Regular Knights.  I happen to have 15 of these, so i should end up with 1 left over when the build is done.  

Part 9: Right Shoulder Pad

The Deathwing Knights have a specific set of Right Shoulder Pads for them.  I have 19 of these, so i should have 2 left over when i finish this build project.  The Librarian may get one of these extra shoulder pads, but that’s a “we’ll see when we get there” decision.

Part 10: Helmet

Deathwing Knights have very specific helmets, and i have 16 of these.  I only need 14, because the Master’s have their helmets attached to their Torsos already.  The Librarian has a helmet of his own as well, but i may give him a Knight Helmet to keep the motif going.  Again, this will be a decision i end up making at final assembly.  

Final Tally

With all of those parts, we’ll assemble 14 more Deathwing Knights, 3 Knight Masters, and a Terminator Librarian.  To do that we’ll need:

• 17 Bases
• 17 sets of Legs
• 17 Rear Torso Plates
• 14 Crux Terminautus Shoulder Pads

Now I haven’t priced these parts out yet, but i suspect adding 18 more Terminators to my force is probably going to cost less than the 3 boxes of Deathwing Knights i would have to order to try to do this the other way.  Once i get this priced and ordered, i might do a WIP of the build and show you guys the army once it gets a little closer and i get time to paint the Knights.  

That’s Project 1, and we’re out for the day.  Game On, Game Fans.