Ok more plastic conversion, hurrah! And who doesn't like grizzled veterans with some kick-arse firepower? May I present to you Squad Thanator!I chose the name (derived from the Ancient Greek word for death; thanatos) from the excellent plate in the Planestrike Codex that depicts the remains of the entire Crimson Fists chapter prior to the Battle for New Rynn City (989.M41).
I knew I wanted Sternguard as soon as I saw Pedro Kantor makes all Sternguard scoring units. When I include him into the army I go from having four scoring units to five, which could make all the difference in a tightly contested battle. Ammo-wise I am a fan of the long range (30") rounds as well as the AP3 rounds.
Ok onto the models themselves. Like a number of people I decided to save on buying the expensive metals and simply assembled five Tactical Marines (spare from the Battleforce box) as normal, and then proceeded to convert them. To represent the specialist ammo used by the veterans I sawed off the drum magazines from Ork Shootas and spare Terminator Storm Bolter magazines and glued them onto the bolter, having snipped off the normal sickle magazine first. Telescopic sights saved from the sprues of the tactical squads were then attached on top. If you're using expensive ammo you'd better hit!
To emphasise their elite status I only used the Mk.VI Corvus (beakie!) pattern helmets and the Mk.V studded shoulder pads, both saved from numerous Tactical Squad sprues. It should help make them stand out on the battlefield. This particular Marine has been given a plasmagun but I'm already considering replacing it with a meltagun (if I have one spare) as the squad has decent ammo for all types of infantry but lacks anti-armour. If I plan on using these to hold/take objectives they'd better be prepared!
last is good old Sarge. To be precise this is Veteran Sergeant Huron Grimm. Some of you may recognise the name. He was a Space Marine Sergeant in charge of New Rynn City's defences before Kantor made it to the city during the Battle for Rynn's World. I decided he deserved a promotion (as well as an auspex!). Like the rest of the squad I also gave him a tabard. just the small classical style ones from the sprues rather than flowing Templar ones. If you look closely at the Sternguard three pictures up you'll notice his tabard is actually from an Eldar Dire Avenger(!).Ok that's enough for tonight. On a personal note I handed in my Masters thesis today so feeling pretty darn good. Oh and I finally passed my driving test!
I'll leave the final words with Sgt Grimm himself (taken from Index Astartes: Crimson Fists, White Dwarf UK 288)
"Nothing ever assured me more that the Emperor truly watches over us than when I saw our Chapter Master return to us from death"
Have a great weekend everyone!
Looking good dude. Can I recommend that you give your guys combi-melta's instead of a straight melta. #'s depend on how you use them, but it ensures that if you are out of melta range, you can still shoot. If they are drop podding I'd say you want more than 3. If in a rhino 3 or less.
ReplyDeleteremember to remove your mould lines so you dont spoil the final product you've worked hard to create!
ReplyDeleteCraig
Nice write up and good close pics. Congrats on the thesis, too. I am one 7-page paper away from my Masters and there really is a light at the end of the tunnel!
ReplyDelete@Tristan: Combi-melta is a very good idea, thanks for the advice! I'll just have the one as the squad is only five Marines strong. They may get the Rhino or they may foot-slog it.
ReplyDelete@Craig: Ah yes, that always happens! I never notic them until I've taken the photo. I'll see to that
love the idea of the bolters. They look old skool and just AWESOME
ReplyDelete