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I was inspired... anybody who has seen Raff's work in the gallery usually is!

Below is a picture of a miniature he created. Inspired by the Chapter Master picture from the Space Marine codex. Having scoured my codex only one model, outside of Terminator Chapter Masters and Captains, can use two Thunder Hammers as a weapon choice! The Vanguard Veteran Sergeant!

With that in mind I intend to create a Dual Thunder Hammer weilding Imperial Fist sergeant! I would however (only in large scale games) like to be able to field him with an effective Vanguard Veteran Squad...

So before i progress my Imp Fist Van Vet Proj I'd like to hear what peoples opinion are on the Vanguard Veterans?

However for the detractors on Dakka...

1 - I know that lots of people don't like them (I don't care)
2 - I know the points could be better spent (I don't care)
3 - I know a dual weilding thunder hammer sergeant is daft (I don't care)
4 - This is a modelling project first and game project second

In reference to point number 4 though, how do you equip Vanguard Veterans (not the sergeant) to get the most out of them? I need to know their gaming potential in order to create the squad around the sergeant!

Any suggestions? Thanks in advance dudes...

You get my 2 thumbs up. I'm a big fan of modelling projects first, rules second!

Can't wait to see this thing!

I would just equip the squad to have the look and feel you want. Then sort out wow to use them. Worst case they don't do well but they will look awesome doing it.

A friend of mine recently purchased the new Red Scorpion kit from Forgeworld... the one with the Librarian, who is pretty cool. I intend to use the red scorpion torsos from the kit in order to give them the extra aesthetics I feel they should have. Essentially its gona be a bit of a kit bashing mission!

I have been contemplating lightning claws but feel that even if I go to town on bitz box or model bits I'll be paying a lot of money out. Forgeworld has cost me already!

Thank for you're support too, to often people would be criticising by now which is why I had to make my four point list!

I have just completed my first Veteran...

Items...

Legs - Death Company kit
Torso - Standard Aquila
Power Fist - Command Squad
Bolt Pistol - Death COmpany
Shoulder Pads - Command Squad and Imperial Fist upgrades
Head - Command Squad

I snipped the finger tips from the power fist and using a plastic lightning claw from the Terminator assault kit I've glued the blades in their place! I could have used the lightning claw straight off the sprue but the idea of putting terminator weapons on power armour is a pet peeve of mine. (I've tried it and didn't like the outcome on other miniatures)

I'm pleased with the outcome here... and the menacing walk pose I think I've achieved. This is mainly down to the legs from the DC kit which are great because they don't have any BA iconography.

One down...

That's cool bro, what kind of blades did you use for the claw?

The power fist is from the Command Squad kit and the blades are snipped from an Assault Terminator Lightning CLaw...

Heres another pic!

Reminds me of Freddy kruger

Love the work so far i have similar plans in the pipe line for some sternguard vets for my fists once I have the back log of bits I have to get done finished looking forward to seeing were this goes

i am inn the works of making a 10 man vangaurd Squad my self. (space marine - Crimson Fist)

Sergant mine is duel Lightningclaw Melta bomb.

4 of mine are Lightningclaw/Storm Shield 4x Melta bomb

4 of mine are Power Wep's/Storm Shield (Pain inn the ass to get all 8 Lightningclaw's) 4x Meltaboms

1 Withe ThunderHammer and Storm Shield.

Using the Assault Marine Shield to make Storm Shield's

Withe that setup you gain (If right placed and hit and not scater 6 away from target.

12 Power Wepon Attaks
16 Power wepon Attaks withe Reroll to Vounds
3 Thunder Hammer Attaks

Withe Storm Shield you gain 3+3+ Saves witch wil help alot inn Clos combet and range are are just Cool as F

Cost of all of this is 675 points

Awesome van vet,

Im currently modelling my van vets, and just completed modelling my stern vets...

Great work

jim

So far, so very good love the menacing walk pose

Hmm these should look cool. Big fan of imperial fists and liking the look of this mini. Get them all looking like this and you will have a squad to be admired.

The Sergeant is completed!

I'm really pleased with the look I've got here. It's not as good as the inspiration piece by Raff but I'm still happy with him.

Legs - Death Company
Torso - Red Scorpions Honour Guard
Arms - Marin and Chaos Standard Bearer Arms
Head - Marine Commander Kit
Weapons - Thunders Hammers from Death Company and Terminator Assault
Hafts - Their from maxmini if my memory serves me (from hammers originally but the GW hammer head is better)

I always wanted him to look like he was mid-step, which I think works well for the dynamic. He's not as menacing as the Lightning Claw Veteran but he does look like he's about to kick-off!

I was wondering if I shoul add guitar wire to the hammers? To make them look like their attatched to the power unit... what do you guys think?


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Providence wrote:i am inn the works of making a 10 man vangaurd Squad my self. (space marine - Crimson Fist)

Sergant mine is duel Lightningclaw Melta bomb.

4 of mine are Lightningclaw/Storm Shield 4x Melta bomb

4 of mine are Power Wep's/Storm Shield (Pain inn the ass to get all 8 Lightningclaw's) 4x Meltaboms

1 Withe ThunderHammer and Storm Shield.

Using the Assault Marine Shield to make Storm Shield's

Withe that setup you gain (If right placed and hit and not scater 6 away from target.

12 Power Wepon Attaks
16 Power wepon Attaks withe Reroll to Vounds
3 Thunder Hammer Attaks

Withe Storm Shield you gain 3+3+ Saves witch wil help alot inn Clos combet and range are are just Cool as F

Cost of all of this is 675 points

I'm definately going to use the Melta Bombs when they hit the table but I'm not planning on modelling them.

I know i said that the points cost was incidental as this was a modelling project first, gaming project second but, 675 points! I can understand the expense but not sure i'd justify it. I'd like to have equipped Storm Shields for the +3 inv but I think it would have made the L claw miniature a bit to cluttered. Maybe on another I'll give it a blast!

looking sweet there fella! torso for the sarg is mint and with 2 hammers- stupidly cool. where were his legs from though? DC kit? LC vet looks like hes gonna tear you a new one, nice!

sar mikael wrote:looking sweet there fella! torso for the sarg is mint and with 2 hammers- stupidly cool. where were his legs from though? DC kit? LC vet looks like hes gonna tear you a new one, nice!

Yeah Death Company.

He's gona tear your Eldar a new one mikeey!

You should post your DA vets up here dude. Their too good for people to miss out on!

I love it. I think once you have some paint on this guy he'll make a lot of droolers in the community. I think the wire would be a good add on, but the one thing that will really make or break this model will be the shoulder pads.

It's been a busy day! Got a third Vanguard Vet completed. Another Lightning Claw dude!

He's a little more static than the first, and I'm not to sure I like the plasma pistol. I like the wrist mounting but its the feathers that put me off! I'm pleased with his Claw though. I used the same technique as before... snipped of the tips of his fingers and replaced them with assault termie claw blades! I used the Baal Power fist for this one... shaved off the blood drop and tried to green stuff a fist in its place. I'm fairly happy with the result.

Legs - Death Company
Torso - Red Scorpions Honour Guard
Head - Lufgt Huron (Forgeworld)
Arms - Sanguinary Guard Kit

So three down, seven to go... will post more in a few days hopefully!

i like them! i only equip mine with a few LC and PW and most with nothing and with jetpacks. but i always liked the idea of having a decked out unit just for the sake of the P&M side of things!

I like the great variety of parts you are using to make the vets! The addition of FW parts makes them look the part

I've always like the pose that giving a miniature two pistols can give you. Anybody who's seen my Imperial Fist Assault squad and the excellent Dark Angels Assault Troops by my mate Sar Mikael will see that we both have a bit of as fetish there... ahem. So I've done it here, just for aesthetics. He has a power Sword, sheathed.

Legs - Death Compnay (again)
Torso - Red Scorpions Honour Guard
Head - Red Scorpions Commander Culln (Terminator)
Sword - Black Templars Sheathed Sword.

I'm always happy when the attempted pose comes off but once again I think I've lost the menace here, he's just running, you know what I mean?

i like him, but i think he is leaning in way too much, usually i find that to be a hassel in games. but thats just me, still think hes madd cool

I personally enjoy using my Vanguard Veterans and like you I tend to ignore from their detractors in regards to points cost and whether those points could be better spent. To this point they have performed fairly well for me. One thing I do always take are jump-packs for the entire squad as having Heroic intervention in your pcoket and available for use can be an effective weapon.

I have not taken a dual Thunder Hammer wheeling Sergeant yet as mine usually has a Relic Blade and melta bombs, but I like the look of him so maybe I will borrow the idea just so I can play around with converting another model.

In addition to the Sergeant mentioned above, I usually take 2 with PW/BP combo, 2 with CCW/PP combo, 1 with PF/BP, 1 with dual LC, and 3 with standard CCW/BP. THis gives me a couple of ablative wound models to use before I start risking any specialized weapon troopers.

Are they a game winner? No, but they can be pretty deadly if used correctly and certainly gives your opponenet something to worry about, as their combination of speed and hitting power usually means you can get them where you want them to fight what you wantwith a decent chance of killing any enemy units they face before moving on to another target.

The beauty of adding the Thunder Hammers to the unit against the rare model that will survive being hit by 3 TH attacks is that the next round you probably pound them to paste with their initiative reduced and your entire squad swinging before them at that point. Add a Chaplain with a jump-pack to the squad and they just became a real, if tremendously expensive, nightmare to deal with.

Great poses! First one's still the best, IMO. Keep up the good work, and get some paint on those bad boys!

Hialmar wrote:I personally enjoy using my Vanguard Veterans and like you I tend to ignore from their detractors in regards to points cost and whether those points could be better spent. To this point they have performed fairly well for me. One thing I do always take are jump-packs for the entire squad as having Heroic intervention in your pcoket and available for use can be an effective weapon.

It's funny you should mention that... if you look closely at the pics of the running marine you can see the squads back packs in the pic. Can you see the magnets?

I am magnetising my Vanguard Vets. It's the first time ive used magnets and I'm only using them for the packs and jumps packs but I'm hoping it'll be a worthwhile experiment!


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oh... and he is a pain. Just sitting on the desk he's nearly toppled twice! Gona have to try to weigh him down when he's got a jump pack!

geordie09 wrote:

Hialmar wrote:I personally enjoy using my Vanguard Veterans and like you I tend to ignore from their detractors in regards to points cost and whether those points could be better spent. To this point they have performed fairly well for me. One thing I do always take are jump-packs for the entire squad as having Heroic intervention in your pcoket and available for use can be an effective weapon.

It's funny you should mention that... if you look closely at the pics of the running marine you can see the squads back packs in the pic. Can you see the magnets?

I am magnetising my Vanguard Vets. It's the first time ive used magnets and I'm only using them for the packs and jumps packs but I'm hoping it'll be a worthwhile experiment!


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oh... and he is a pain. Just sitting on the desk he's nearly toppled twice! Gona have to try to weigh him down when he's got a jump pack!

The rare earth magnets are great for that sort of thing and are easily strong enough to hold the packs or jump-packs. I used some rare earth magnets for the gun switch outs on my IG Shadowlord/Stormlord and they can hold the big guns without any trouple so jump-packs should be easy.

I've used a set of magnets purchased from Model Bits... their pretty strong little buggers!

More work has been done, I don't know where to start...

Okedokey, Marneus Calgar Head (for obvious reasons)

I've posed him kneeling. Originally his head was down as if in prayer, which looked pretty cool and I may try again on another miniature but he needed to be action posed. So a tilt of the head and a power sword late and I think he looks okay. Kind of like he's just parried low and about to use "buddha's palm"

Legs - SM Command
Torso - Standard Marine
Tabard - Red Scorpion Honour Guard (delicately cut from another torso)
Sword - Imperial/Crimson Fist Command Upgrades
Buddha's Palm - Missile Launcher arm (reset the hand)
Head - Marneus Calgar (it was lying around from my Robert Gullible conversion - incomplete)

Hopefully he'll be sweet when he's painted and look like he's mid fight.

Pictures below... somewhere!

Next up is the Lufgt Huron headed dude. I've changed his head for a different marine head. I prefer the look. Huron's head looked a little too contemplative, as if he's thinking he'll shoot you but can't decide incase "it gets hot" the coward. So I've replced it with a head I think makes him look like after he's shot you he's gona dry hump you Halo style!

Pictures below... hopefully!

This miniature looks a little too much like former Huron head for my liking. He is armed with a Bolt Pistol instead but the pose is the same and the heads are now similar. He may not make the final squad at this moment in time...

Legs - SM Command Kit
Torso - Red Scorpions Honour Guard
L Claw - SM Command Kit (recut below the shoulder to get a better pose. The blades are from another Termie L Claw)

Will have to wait and see with this guy...

Pictures below... not far now!

I wish I had a jump pack on the last guy! He totally looks like he's just hit the earth "THUD" then looked up cool as a cucumber right at the xeno's scum... right into his eyes! "KILL 'EM ALL"

Can't wait to see what he looks like with a jump pack, it'll really increase the dynamic of his pose. As it is I think I've recaptured the menace of the Striding Claw marine and the Sergeant! I've realised that alot of the miniatures really need the right facial expression when using bare heads to match the style of the body pose... this works well in my humble opinion!

Legs - SM Command Kit
Torso - Standard Marine
Clenched Fist - Chaos Marine Standard Bearer
Arm - Space Marine Biker
Plasma Pistol - Standard (just cut at the wrist to twist pistol)
Head - BT Kit I think?

Okay, long old post, heres your reward!

Enjoy!

1 - what handles did you use for the hammers?

2 - HOW DID YOU MAKE THE KNEELING LEGS (they are so sweet!)

all these models are fantastic, cannot wait to see them painted up!

Matrim wrote:1 - what handles did you use for the hammers?

2 - HOW DID YOU MAKE THE KNEELING LEGS (they are so sweet!)

all these models are fantastic, cannot wait to see them painted up!

The legs are from the SM Command Squad, they're freely available! And the handles are from a company called maxmini.

My flesh tearers vanguard vets are:
10 men, 9 relic blades, sargeant with hammer, 10 storm shields
they have 27 s6 power weapon and 3 thunder hammer attacks on the charge.
then i attach a chaplain and sang priest to them
=furious charge and reroll misses and fearless for the win