Project Challenge: 2nd Edition 40k Small Scale

Hi!

I've been humming and hahing about a post for the last couple of weeks and have even typed up a couple extolling the virtues of small scale gaming but haven't posted them as I suspect I've already posted similar articles over the last couple of years.

Instead I've decided to set myself a small scale challenge to round out the year and set me up for next year in the form of 2nd edition 40k!

I've really fond memories of 2nd edition 40k with it's monopose plastic figures, cardboard scenery and flimsy paper rulebooks and thought it would be a good idea for a project to replicate the contents of the 2nd edition 40k boxed set for a smaller scale. I can then potentially use it as a springboard into larger armies for both the Blood Angels and Goffs that the game came with.

The first thing I need to do is sort out figures for the set and looking at the contents list, I will need the following:

20 Orks with axe and bolt pistols

40 Gretchin with autoguns

2 Space Marine Sergeants with bolt pistol and chainsword

2 Space Marines with missile launchers 

2 Space Marines with flamers

14 Space Marines with bolters

1 cardboard Ork dreadnought

Now the plastics for 2nd edition were pretty naff to be honest and painting 40 Grots with autoguns, all in the same pose used to be an utterly dreadful chore but in 15mm scale, I think I can manage it!

Looking around the Interwebs, the best choice appears to be VANGUARD MINIATURES who actually do packs of 20 not Space Marines and 40 not Gretchin and 20 not Orks which have the added bonus of them not all being in a single pose which will be a major plus for me.

The other option is to make it all myself with the help of some sculpting and casting but we shall have to have a ponder on which I want to do as there's something rather tempting about the thought of casting up my own sculpts!

The next thing I will need is scenery. The original boxed set came with some rather nice cardboard ruins which should be fairly easy to replicate:

I'm fairly sure I've got a scan of the original ruins somewhere and plan on printing them out at about 50% scale and with the application of some foamboard, I should have some nice sturdy terrain. I must admit I do like the fact that in the 90's even ruins were rather brightly coloured!

There's also a plethora of templates, tokens and cards to deal with but I shall cross that bridge when we get to it. I'm fairly sure I actually have quite a few of these gubbins kicking around but I'll need to have a rummage to see what I have and what I need to sort out...

Hopefully this project will keep me entertained for several months to come so watch this space for updates!

In the meantime, All the best!