A fan-boy's dilemma

[Primarch]

Hey all,
With the release of Imperial Armour 9: Badab War, I am faced with a massive dilemma.
As those of you who know me will testify, I am a bit of a marine fan-boy. The IA9 book contains details on 9 of the chapters involved in the war (more to follow in book 2). My book has been shipped, but I have yet to receive it. I have however been following rumours on other forums from people who have their copies of the books.
I already plan on doing an Astral Claws army based on the Tyrant's Legion list (a mix up of some IG, some Astral Claws and some new bits and pieces) with some spare marines and IG I have.
However, I am tempted to build an army for one or two of the other chapters as well. (1500 points or so). Now, I have enough marines to do this without needing to buy anything new, BUT it means building/converting/painting up those models. With Dark Eldar on their way very soon I have a limited amount of time and effort to put into this. On the other hand, I do like my armies to look different from one another when I get round to painting them.

SO my question is, should I:
A) Suck it up, build a separate marine force for the chapters I like and paint them? (Aesthetic)
B) Build the unique units/additions I need and paint them to match a current force I have, thus greatly reducing my workload (Efficient)

P.s. Yes, I am well aware that these are ALL still marines which ALL have the same rules bar the Combat Tactics/Chapter Tactics given out by the special characters. I'm asking you which you think is more important, Aesthetics or Efficiency, not whether I am clinically insane for having so many of the same models duplicated over and over again.

[Spevna]

Mate, ask 2 different people, get 2 different answers. All I can do is tell you what makes me happy when I game.

If I don't like how an army or mini looks, I won't use it. If I don't like the mini BUT have a wicked idea for a proxy, I will use it. If the mini is cool but the unit is about as useful as a condom machine in the Vatican, I will use it.

So, rule of cool wins the day for me. But as I said, just my idea.

[Colonel Voss]

I think Spevna sums it up well enough. Speaking of Badab, I choose the minotaurs for the cool factor and they are a nightmare to paint, but the final result looks wonderful and well worth it. Like you, I have a lot on my plate (and more coming). Heck, yesterday is the first day I've painted in a month! But I'd rather take time to paint the cool.

[me_in_japan]

yup, me too. Personally, Im asking myself why you feel the need to get dark eldar at all. I know you have a thing for marines, but you shouldnt feel compelled to buy every smegging thing GW releases. Think before you reflex buy, desho? I mean, couldnt you just cancel your dark eldar order and spend that money on marine parts? That way you get your pretty, chapter specific army, and you dont feel guilty about having thrown cash away thoughtlessly. You'll have deliberated, and chosen the more deserving option (well, I reckon in your book marines are more deserving of input than Dark Eldar.) When we think of Primarch, we think "marines." Dark Eldar just aint you.

I mean, its not like youre ever gonna paint the dark eldar, and thats a big part of their aesthetic. I say, cancel the spikeydarks, and spend with a clean conscience on the new marines.

interstingly, the voting so far disagrees with Spev's comment.

Mate, ask 2 different people, get 2 different answers.

So far, it's "ask 5 different people, get the same answer from all of em..." and when three of those people are me, spev and voss, ya gotta start thinking that there may be a universal truth involved here somewhere...

[jus]

I think Aesthetics are important for the narrative and visual cohesion of any army, and thats what I vote for.

You might have your hands full with all the stuff on your to-do list. but you'll enjoy it...at least I would. I'm racing to finish my vampire counts by hallo-war and the perfectionist in me tends make me paint really slowly and individually each model (the m.i.j approach to painting) but, Iam only ever working on 2 armies at a time.

As for impulse buying dark eldar, I have to appeal to your collectors side. Collecting stuff's is a vital part of the hoby experience after all...If it makes you feel any better, I just impulse bought a whole shelf worth of glorious new high elf plastic kits! - no regrets...yet

[Primarch]

I mean, couldnt you just cancel your dark eldar order and spend that money on marine parts? That way you get your pretty, chapter specific army, and you dont feel guilty about having thrown cash away thoughtlessly.

I haven't ordered any Dark Eldar yet and I dont need any more marine parts. I just need to build a couple of models and paint what I have. Its just a question of whether I put aside the models and try and paint a whole new army OR if I just model up one or two special characters and paint them to match a current force (e.g. Crimson Fists) purely so I can use their special rules in the most efficient way possible.

[me_in_japan]

option 3 is: convert up a totally unique marine model and paint it in your current chapter colours. Then you can use him as Brother Captain Jimbo of the Crimson Fist chapter, who just happens to perform rather similarly (i.e. identically) to Kayvan Shrike of the Ravenguard. As long as he had the prerequisite lightning claws and jump pack (for example) itd be fine and dandy.

I used Jimbo and Kayvan as examples - basically my point is: make a unique model who has the same gear as a special character and you can proxy to your heart's content. Tis even tourny legal.