The beginning...

Well here it is.  The first post of my first ever blog.  The purpose of this blog is to outline the progress of a Warhammer 40k army from the perspective of  a beginner who is new to the hobby elements of 40k.  I have only ever played a few games of 40k in my life and never with my own models, so I am really looking forward to seeing how this all turns out.  I have decided that my first army is going to be a Raven Guard force.  I thought about trying to paint an army of Iron Snakes, as I am a big fan of the book but decided against it because I would rather have a force that follows the codex a little more strictly.  Anyway, to begin with, I will be attempting to paint a bike squad consisting of a bike sergeant with powerfist, two marines armed with melta-guns, and an attack bike armed with a multi-melta.  All together, the full 10 man squad will tally 310 points.  To construct the bike squad, I purchased the Dark Angels Ravenwing Battleforce Box along with a Ravenwing bike squadron box. 

A lot of the Ravenwing and Dark Angel specific bits will be wasted but I'm sure I can use some of those feathery pieces...  In addition, I will be painting the Assault on Black Reach tactical squad in Raven Guard color and heraldry. 

The tactical squad is worth 170 points.  I also purchased the Space Marine Commander set, originally thinking, that I would use his lightning claw to construct a Priad character for my Iron Snakes.  Instead he will be a Raven Guard Shadow Captain equipped with the aforementioned lightning claw and plasma pistol for 130 points.  I will include a scout squad with a sergeant equipped with bolt pistol and chain sword, one scout will trade his bolter for a shotgun and one will replace his bolter with a heavy bolter for a sum of 100 points. 

My ten man tactical squad will select a Rhino equipped with extra armor and a storm bolter as it's dedicated transport for 60 points. 

All together, that gives my fledgling army 770 points.  It's not 1,500 but it should be a good start and enough painting to keep me busy for a while.