Hello star sailors from around the globe, and welcome back to the SEVENTH (that’s 7!!!) iteration of the shambles horror circus we call the Warhammer 40,000 2nd Edition Army Challenge. It’s that time of year again: we’re firing up this heavy metal train and getting it runnin’ once more.

The challenge is, in many ways, as it ever was: a mix between a painting challenge like the Old World Army Challenge and Games Workshop’s Tale of X Gamers. And it’s not the only thing that sounds familiar. Of the 34 old buggers who signed up this year, an astounding 17 have actually been in, and completed, more than one challenge. We deem these people veterans.
The other 17 are a mixed bag: folks who have completed 0, 1, or even -1 challenges before. The juves, that is!

34 isn’t the highest number we’ve ever had, but it’s certainly not nothing either.

As always, the graphics, the exact details, and whatever weirdness we fancy change a bit every time. The addition of the Hobby Bingo Board this year is probably the biggest shake-up. The graphics are still a work in progress while we wait for Pygmy Hoplite to unleash his creative powers upon the matter.

I am a bit rusty and there’s probably a gazillion things wrong here, but: Without further ado, let’s hear what the first 11 participants have in store for us!

George Shepherd here,

Please see below my 1000pts of Iron Warriors. 

Life’s been getting In the way of any hobby time of late and I was going to sit this one out but seeing the guys getting excited I could just watch in the back ground . 

Looking forward to the bonus rounds and can’t wait to see everyone’s great work. 

So iv gone for a compact strike force of Iron warriors to roll onto the battle field . 

Army list below:

Unit	Equipment/Details	Points
Chaos Sorcerer Lord	Mark of Tzeentch	221
Exalted Champion	Bike, Power Fist, Flamer, Krak grenades	131
Troops	X4 Marines (X3 bolters, X1 Flamer, X1 Champion with Power Axe/Sword)	285
Troops	X3 Bikes (1x melta)	143
Support	Land Raider	220
Total		1000

I have played Warhammer 40k off and on for years, starting with 2nd edition. After a brief hiatus at the end of 3rd, I returned for 5th edition and played until the tail end of 8th. I’ve been fortunate to share these experiences with the same group of friends, and now we’ve even involved our kids, making our sessions even more enjoyable.

Why return to 2nd edition? While the streamlined rules of later editions are nice, I miss the glory feats that models could achieve back then. We have great tales of heroic deeds, and it would be fun to revisit those stories with a better understanding of the game.

I’ve also painted many models since then, and I’m eager to see how my skills have progressed. One of my goals for the upcoming year is to play more 40k, including some 2nd edition games, especially since my best friend collects old models.

For my starting army, I chose Eldar, which brings back fond memories as my first army. Initially, I painted Warp Spiders, Striking Scorpions, and Dark Reapers, and my first addition was an Eldar Dreadnought. I still have an Eldrad Ulthran model I’ve kept for 25+ years that I plan to finally paint.

I’ve set a painting challenge to tackle one squad or character each month, aiming for classic schemes: Alaitoc where applicable, with colors like black, white, red, green, yellow, blue, and navy.

Army List:

Unit	Models	Points
Eldrad Ulthran	1	220
Dark Reaper Squad	3	201
Striking Scorpion Squad	6	156
Warp Spider Squad	5	205
Eldar Dreadnought	1	205
Total		987

Hello all! Once again, I’m back to attempt this challenge for the fourth time. After two years of painting Tyranids, most all the second edition bugs are painted so now, it’s back to Eldar, baby! These space elves were what I painted for the first year of this challenge – and now there’s more!

For this go around, I’m knocking out some more of my aspect warriors – Swooping Hawks, Dark Reapers, and Fire Dragons (with their respective exarchs) as well as everyone’s favorite second edition menace – Warp Spiders! On top of that, we have to paint our Phoenix Lords, Maugan Ra, Jain Zar, and Fuegan, as well as the Farseer of Farseers, Eldrad Ulthran! The total comes out to just a bit over 1000 points. Okay, well, quite a bit more – 1639 points to be exact! It turns out Eldrad and the Dark Reapers themselves are 550 points alone, and it did not seem to be in the spirit of the challenge – or my painting style! – to have half the challenge composed of only six infantry models.

On the chance that I scrounge some extra hobby time, there may or may not be some Armorcast vehicles slithering about, searching for some paint,  but I’ll leave them to “wave” from the sidelines for now!

Without further ado, the armylist!

Unit	Models	Points
Dark Reapers	5	348
Swooping Hawks	5	184
Fire Dragons	5	187
Warp Spiders	5	254
Eldrad Ulthran	1	202
Fuegan	1	141
Jain Zar	1	189
Maugan Ra	1	134
Total	24	1639

Here is my starting entry for the 40k 2nd Edition Army Challenge VII. I already have a reasonably sized Eldar (Iyanden) army, but it lacks some key components, some of which I have included in this list. 

I mostly play 3rd Edition, but 2nd Edition holds a very special place in my heart, as I started my Blood Angels army around 1995. I also briefly owned an Eldar army at about the same time, but it was traded away for more Blood Angels. 

Over the last few years, I have steadily been painting Eldar again, some of which can be seen on my Instagram account, @relentlessbarrage.

In my entry I included 2 models with banner poles, I would love to try freehand painting banners someday but more likely I will go with printed banners this time.

Unit Name	Models	Points
Dire Avenger Squad	5 models	110
Eldar Scout Squad	5 models	115
Guardian Squad	Not specified	55
Eldar War Walker	1 model	145
Shining Spear Squad	5 models	250
Warp Spider Squad	5 models	205
Asurmen	1 model	155
Optional Addition
Eldar Falcon Grav Tank	1 model	213

Xtra_Tomatillo_Sauce

I’d like to enter the 2nd edition army painting challenge! I plan on painting about 1k points worth of Chaos Space Marines. They were my first army when I started playing back in 2nd edition days and I’ve strayed away from them since. I plan to paint the main body of this force as Iron Warriors, with some Khornate troops mixed in.

Unit	Number of Models	Points
Chaos Lord	1	91
Sorcerer	1	52
Icon Bearer	1	55
Chaos Champion of Khorne	1	58
5x Chaos Marines with 1x Plasma	5	133
5x Chaos Marines with 3x Missile Launchers	5	230
5x Khorne Berzerkers	5	165
Chaos Dreadnought with Autocannon and Scourge	1	190
Total	18	974

Jon Mcmaster

As the currents of warpspace whirl in the Maelstrom of the 41st millennium, we arrive at the 7th second edition army challenge, once again guided by the triumvirate of Wachtmeister, Pygmy Hippo, and Dr The Viking. Their main qualification remains knowing when to tell participants to stop complaining and paint their models.

After painting Space Wolves in the sixth challenge, I’m switching direction to the fearsome Blood Angels. The decision grew from a surplus of marine models gathered over ten years of bargain hunting—terminators, scouts, and classic 2nd edition bodies—combined with long immersion in Space Marine lore. Blood Angels conveniently allow all these parts to become a coherent allied force alongside my Dark Angels.

The RT-era Blood Angel Terminators used in the Space Hulk studio army have fascinated me since the beginning of my hobby life, and emulating that aesthetic on a close assault Terminator squad will be a key goal. Painting a veteran assault squad with yellow helmets and red armor is another long-held ambition, and in 2nd edition there’s no such thing as too much red. Scouts with bolters will add infiltrating fire support.

The force will also include a Captain and Techmarine. A classic Mark IV dreadnought painted for Dreadtober demands a Techmarine escort, and inspired by the scout theme, the Captain will be a 10th company leader. Splitting the veteran squad across two months leaves space for either a mulligan or bonus content.

In-game, the Blood Angels provide the close-combat punch my shooting-focused Dark Angels lack. I’m still using original Blood Angels paints from 1991—still functional, still clogging airbrushes—and will include light kitbashing.

More armies await (Orks, Dark Angels, Space Wolves), but for now progress lives on my blog, 1st Legion Chronicles. Thanks to the organizers, good luck to participants, and respect to my ever-faithful 2’x2’ plywood photo backdrop..

Unit Name	Models	Points
Captain Aurelius Thrax	1	102
Squad Baelor Terminator Squad	5	382
Squad Arcturus Veteran Assault Squad	10	403
Squad Severian Scout Squad	5	114
Techmarine Varro	1	49
Total		1050

This year I am returning to my first love in 40K, the Dark Angels. My recent games have exposed a glaring deficiency in my collection, a lack of mobile units. My plan is to explore the Ravenwing, having never painted them for 2nd Ed. before. My 1000 points includes a large Ravenwing Bike Squadron, an Attack Bike and Ravenwing Master. Backing them up would be an attack squad of Assault marines (including flamer conversion) as well as a Librarian, all equipped with jump packs. I am also hoping to complete a squad of Deathwing Terminators as a bonus, as well as some other characters if all goes well.

Unit	Models	Points
Epistolary Librarian (Force sword, Bolt pistol, Jump pack, Conversion field)	1	182
Master of the Ravenwing (Bike, Power sword, Melta bombs, Meltagun, Targeter)	1	156
Ravenwing Attack Bike (Multimelta)	1	120
Assault Combat Squad (Jump packs, Flamer, Hand flamer, Plasma pistol, Powerfist)	5	225
Ravenwing Bike Squadron (Plasma gun, Meltagun, 2 x Powerfists, Power sword)	3	317
Total Points		1000

This project marks my third painting challenge. In the past I’ve completed a Fallen Dark Angels Chaos force and Necromunda‑themed Imperial Guard army. My very first opponent back when I started playing 40K was a friend with an Eldar army. I still remember his elegant space elves effortlessly wiping out my Blood Angels, and I also remember painting his Avatar — at the time it felt like one of my best pieces, though I suspect it wouldn’t hold up quite as well today.

Over the years I picked up various Eldar models during 2nd and 3rd edition, but only ever painted the odd miniature here and there. It always felt like a project waiting for the right moment… 

I’d collected a fair number of 3rd‑edition Dark Eldar, and although I always liked the sculpts, they never seemed to get much love from painters at the time. Years ago I began converting them into Eldar Pirates — less spiky, more in line with the smoother Rogue Trader‑era aesthetic, with trimmed‑down shoulder pads and shorter, sleeker weapons. These Pirates will form the core of the army, led by a Farseer and supported by Striking Scorpions and Howling Banshees, with a Falcon grav tank providing fire support. I’m also including an Exarch to lead the Scorpions, Drazhar, the fallen Phoenix.

For inspiration I’ll be looking back at classic Epic Space Marine and Rogue Trader colour scheme. The list comes in just under 1,000 points, mainly because I’d love to include another Howling Banshee, but I don’t currently have the model.

Unit	Models	Points
Farseer	1 model	185
Exarch	1 model	64
Pirate Champion Executioner	1 model	27
Pirate Champion Power Fist	1 model	23
Striking Scorpions	5 models	130
Howling Banshees	4 models	108
Pirate Squad A	9 models	99
Pirate Squad B	9 models	99
Falcon Grav Tank	1 model	233
Total		968

When I started in the hobby, one of the most intriguing lines of models that I somehow never got into was Chaos Space Marines. I was intrigued by the “Chaos Renegades with Heavy Weapons” models I saw advertised in “Dragon” and “White Dwarf” magazines. In fact, when a game store was closing down I had a chance to buy an entire rack of them for $1 per blister (36 blisters for $36 USD!) when I was a kid, but couldn’t justify such a huge outlay of cash at the time for something I didn’t know what to do with. However, when I bought the “Warhammer 40,000 Compilation” book (1991), I was enthralled by the Genestealer Cult Army and their corrupting allies of Chaos (the beastmen and demons). So when I progressed from RT to 2nd edition the seed was already planted to go back and create a Cult army inspired by the Compilation book: brood brothers, Patriarch, hybrids, coven limos, and chaos allies. I felt that the 2E cult needed some extra toughness and shooting help, so including chaos marine allies would help strengthen the army, while also giving it the same feel as the “Compilation” army list that started me down the road to Tyranids in the first place. 

My original intention for the Mark 7 painting challenge was to paint that Genestealer Cult army I always wanted. But it turned out that I wanted to include so many models that I would never be able to finish what I wanted within the time constraints of the challenge, and create a legal army list in one go without painting hundreds of minis. I had enough Rogue Trader-era Chaos models to field a legal force on their own, so I decided to lean into it and just paint Chaos this time around, and Genestealer next time. All of the models I had on hand were RT-era metal, with the exception of the Beastmen from GW’s “Battle Masters” game. I originally intended to include a second squad of 7 Chaos Marines, but last month when I heard that our beloved Dr.TheViking had returned, I decided to celebrate and bought an ebay lot of 7 metal 2nd edition Chaos Terminator marines. The price was right, and I figured they’d add a little more visual variety to the army. If I somehow manage to finish everything listed in my starting photo, I hope to add the second squad of 7 marines as a bonus. Since we only need to paint 5 out of the 6 months, I’m listing the 2 packs of beastmen as my month-6 optional goal. If I manage to paint them, great, since it’ll save me from painting them next year for the Mark 8 40k challenge… Chaos Space Marines are so overtly spawned from the depths of all that the heaviest of heavy metal stands for, that it was meant to be. “Bovimeth” is my take on the Slaaneshi black metal scene. I’m hoping their first album, “Darned to Heck,” will set the charts/Imperium on fire.

Thanks again to Wachtmeister for co-hosting this Mark 7 challenge! Running the painting challenge is not for the faint of heart,  and he always carries the battle standard from the front lines. And with great tintinnabulation and censers blazing: we welcome Dr.TheViking’s return from the Eye of Terror! We all missed you! 

As before, you can follow my hobby progress on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/pygmyhippo/

And you can find many more photos of my miniatures and hobbies on my blog at https://giantpygmy.com

Without further ado, the list:

Unit	Models	Points
Ejaculus, Chaos Lord of Slaanesh	1	102
Dr. Mindbender, Sorcerer of Tzeentch	1	102
Menstruan, Champion of Khorne	1	141
Keeper of Secrets	1	280
Chaos Space Marine Squad	7	269
Chaos Space Marine Terminators	7	485
Noise Marines	5	200
Chaos Space Marine Dreadnought	1	190
Beastman Pack 1	15	264
Beastman Pack 2	15	240
Total	54	2273

PygmyHippo

Hello! Well here we go again – time for another 2nd Ed. 40k challenge! I took part in the 4th and 6th editions of the challenge, and found them to be loads of (stressful) fun, and very motivating in terms of keeping to a painting schedule. I went with Chaos Space Marines and Khorne respectively in previous challenges, and was very close to entering with a Nurgle army to round things off this time… However after being gifted a few metal Catachans and seeing some nice examples painted up online, the idea of a Jungle Fighters of Catachan army started bubbling up into my consciousness and (then a series of eBay / fb marketplace purchases)…

I already had a classic Hellhound that I knew I’d need one day, and thought the 2nd Ed era Leman Russ Demolisher with its insane giant Demolisher Cannon would be an excellent fit, and was a model I’d always wanted to try and do justice to. Several infantry squads, some Ogryns and Ratlings, a Heavy Weapons Squad, and a Command Squad, all seemed like natural choices. Commissar Yarrick is also another classic model from that era that I’ve never painted before. I also have an eclectic mix of 2nd Ed Imperial characters / members of the ecclesiarchy that might creep in as bonuses if I find the time.

The rough game plan I have is to paint the single infantry squad in the first month, using this to establish the camo pattern paint scheme and the basing method (for which I have bought an array of various materials in different shades of green). After that more infantry until I get bored, leaving the tanks to do as a block where the airbrush and some weathering techniques will hopefully do a lot of the heavy lifting. Some things that will hopefully find their way in are some sort of army banner, and some tank markings / little flags on the vehicles. Overall I’m super excited to get stuck in, especially when the camo pattern and basing are all figured out.

Of course I’m looking forward to seeing everyone else’s inspiring entries as we go along – always a huge motivator! Big thanks to the guys for teaming up and running it this year – Game on!

=======================

Points costs:

Unit	Models	Points
Commissar Yarrick	1	170
Commander Squad	1 Lt w/ Boltgun & Power Fist, 3 Flamers	94
Infantry Squad	3 (each w/ Meltagun & Missile Launcher)	140 each
Heavy Weapons Squad	3 Heavy Bolters	90
Ogryns	5	235
Ratling Snipers	5	80
Leman Russ Demolisher	1 (w/ Plasma Cannons, Dozer Blade)	265
Imperial Hellhound	1 (w/ Dozer Blade, Hunter-Killer Missile)	210
Imperial Chimera	1 (w/ Dozer Blade, Hunter-Killer Missile)	185

Total: 1749 pts

Hello all, 

Here’s my proposal for a Chaos Cult army for the Warhammer 40K 2nd edition army challenge VII. I have chosen Chaos Cult partly because I have a Chaos Space Marine army, so these will be playable both as a separate army and as an addition to my existing project. But the main reason is that the Chaos Cult army is one of the most niche and unloved armies of 2nd edition, which means that any Chaos Cult army was likely to involve a lot of creative thinking and individuality. It had almost no model releases, and when it did they were very expensive relative to the points value of the figures, which meant that Chaos Cult armies were full of conversions, third-party models, repurposed figures from other armies, and so on. I intend to approach this army in the same spirit, using repurposed Imperial Guard, Necromunda and Warhammer Fantasy models, plus all the Warzone and Fading Suns and Shockforce and so on models I can find, and only then filling in the gaps with modern plastics if I need to make up the numbers (and it is a pretty beefy number of models for 1,000 points, but then I am a pretty fast painter). I am going to have to use a weird Leman Russ proxy until I can secure an original, but at least I have this kitbash as a fallback.

I plan to post about my progress on my blog at https://www.monsterman.org/blog .

Here is my army list: 

Unit	Models	Points
Demagogue with carapace armour, plasma pistol and power sword	1	56
Magus champion with chainsword	1	34
Cultists (9 with autopistol + chainsword, 1 with flamer)	10	76
Cultists (5 autoguns, 1 with flamer)	6	38
Allied Leman Russ	1	205
Beastmen (9 with bolt pistols and chainswords)	9	171
Beastman champion with bolt pistol and power axe	1	32
Acolyte with carapace armour, bolt pistol and power axe	1	25
Allied heavy weapons squad (lascan + two missile launchers)	6	150
Cultists (5 autoguns)	5	25
Icon bearer with carapace armour and bolt pistol	1	67
Cultists (9 with autopistol + chainsword, 1 with flamer)	10	76
Cultists (6 with autoguns, 1 with flamer)	7	43
Total	58	999

Thanks for doing the organisation, please let me know if you have any questions, and I look forward to hearing from you!