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Hello Dakka,

Stern Sternguard here. Bear with me as I give a little bit of background info as I launch into my P&M Blog.


As my handle implies, I’m a big fan of shooty vets. I began playing 40k at the start of third edition and, like many, I fell in love with some of the Space Marine lore. While some of the stories dealt with marines heroically charging into battle and carving a path with their power swords, other stories involved precise and methodical shooting that saved the day. I was saddened to find that as I built my army I could only really make a viable vet squad if it was geared for close combat. I stuck with Terminators, though I always hoped that I’d see power armored vets who could kick butt in a ranged fight.

Fourth edition came and I found some interesting potential in the new marine codex. The trait system allowed an advantage called : Honor thy wargear. Space marine Devastators could be taken as elites! Not exactly the fix I was hoping for, but I could finally have something close to what I was looking for. I began to model immediately. For those who may not remember, the old metal Devastators had some sort of bulked-up leg armor. Perhaps low-gravity stabilizers? This artwork (not mine) will give you an example:




So I began bulking up some plastic marine legs to look similar to the artwork. Now I was in college at the time, so I only got done with a set of ten legs before fourth edition went the way of the dinosaurs. Sadness! Oh well, my Deathwatch Kill team would have to do.


I held onto the legs hoping that they’d be useful for a command squad or a character or something. Then fifth edition. Sternguard Veterans. Amazing shooting thanks to choices, decent close combat (hey, two attacks – twice as many as a normal marine!), and a chance to model something after a piece of artwork that inspired me. After a decade of waiting, I finally had the squad that had drawn me to space marines.

Alright! Enough of being a nostalgic windbag! Here is the completed squad that made me want to make more – to make an army based around my shooty vets. This won’t be a real time blog at first- I had taken these pictures a couple of months ago. It will, however, quickly catch up to where I am now and what I’ll be doing next. I just wanted to share my WIPS. Enjoy! Comments welcomed.




Sgt w/Powerfist



Sgt and Bolter Vet



2 Combi-Meltas



2 Heavy Flamers



Locked and Loaded!



And the squad symbol.

Love the ideas and the models look great . Also am anxious to see the fluff behind this chapter. Am a huge fan of how the heavy flamer marines turned out. Anyways, keep up the great work and can't wait to see more progress!

The shoulder pads look great nice job. I like the idea as well, it is new and very creative.

Awsome so is the whole army stern guard??

risewiththefallen wrote:Awsome so is the whole army stern guard??

Three Squads, so the most that I can take.

Alright, let's continue with this trek.

I am a piece by piece painter. After the first incarnation of my army, I realized that my soldiers looked a lot cleaner and nicer if I painted each piece separately. It can get really tedious, but I do enjoy the results.

Let's look at some photos for the next squad: Squad hammer.

Purity Seals. This is just a small section of what I was working on.


Some finished product. I did a bunch of vehicle seals just to have them. Occasionally a proud veteran will find himself with one of the super long seals.


Hmm, not the best photo, but you get the idea.


Grenades and ammo belts. The belts are from the scout sniper kits. I like the idea of the Vets having ammo on them to reflect their various choices.


Hip Armor. If you take a look at terminators or GW's sternguard, you'll notice they have bulked out hip armor. I really like how these look with the bulked up devastator type legs.


An example of the leg armor. I sadly didn't take as many pictures in this stages as I should have.


The shoulder plates for squad hammer. Shortly after completing the first squad, I found a much better way to do the rivets. I did, however, want my squads to have a uniform look. I stuck with the original plasticard dowels.


Squad Hammer ready to prime. You'll notice I found some more purity seals - groan. I also have a character in there that I'll post next time.

Enjoy!

*edit - All Fixed!

Pictures are broken. I like the first set you have up though.

Thats an awful lot of shopping lists.......Sorry purity seals. Great job on the plastic Sternguard too.

I like what you've done so far keep up the good work and consider me subscribed.

Oh and if I missed it welcome to Dakka

As promised, here is a picture of the character that went under the primer with squad hammer:



Head is a modified MK VI helm ( Green stuff wires and a grill at the end of the beak).

Chest piece is from the Forgeworld Red Scorpions set.

Hood is simply a carved plastic shoulder pad with a couple of wires / cable from melta guns.

Sword arm is from the Death Company box set and the blade is from the Dark Angels librarian.

Legs are from the Death company box as well. Shoulder pad is from the Forgeworld Grey Knight tank gunner.

*Edit - Thanks for the kind words, everyone. I'm really pumped that some folks enjoy it.

Lots of little bitz... makes my eyes water.

WIP pics of the Librarian tomorrow. In the meantime, a couple of WIP shots of the other Sternguard Squad.



Ammo pouches and Grenades are ready to go. Between these and the purity seals, I'm amazed I haven't made myself blind.



The view of the other Sternguard squad, Squad Fist. The basic fluff behind these gents is that they helped a squad of Crimson Fist Vets clear out a spacehulk, were extremely impressed with the courage shown by the Fists, and petitioned their chapter master to have their squad marker changed to a fist - a way to honor their brothers from another chapter. You can also see my slightly modified Kantor model.



Close-up of the Chapter badge, modified with plasticard. The backpacks have the fist symbol on them.



The Plasma Cannons go to Squad Hammer, and the Heavy Bolters and Heavy Flamers go to Squad Fist. Most people insist that heavy weapons on a Sternguard squad are a waste, but I find them useful if I have to combat squad a ten man group. I get a cheaper devastator squad to hang in the back. I wish the heavy bolters could take special rounds like the old Death Watch Kill Team rules.



Converted Combi-Plasma. Really easy to do, just a plasma pistol and a bolter. The ammo clip is from the vehicle mounted stormbolters you find in Rhino kits. I wanted my Veteran clips to look different than the standard bolter, much like GW's Sternguard models are.



My homemade Combi-Plasma next to a slightly modded one from the Space Marine Commander box. Just added a scope and the ammo clip. I think the two different types are fitting - veterans utilizing ancient wargear when they can, and being issued new mks of weapons if there are no ancient ones available.

I really like your combi plasma. You did a nice job on the conversion and the way that you fitted them together is well done. Bravo amigo.

Lots of guys give me a hard time since i run 3 combi plasma in one 5 man unit of sterngaurd but they work wonders when you rain death on a unit of unsuspecting fell no pain enemy. also they work on light vehicles and the do do a lot of wounds to marines when you hit.

Here are a couple of WIP pics of a jump pack Librarian. Final images will be posted this evening.



Looking a bit thin around the mid-section.



Almost done.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Alright, some librarian pictures:



Big fan of how he turned out. The bolt pistol is a modified bolter.



Side Shot.



Top View.



By Land and Air. These are my two librarians.

Another update of various WIP:


The standard Assault Captain WIP - Relic Blade, Storm shield, and Jump pack.


Fairly Complete at this point.


Head on shot. Completed pics to follow this evening.

Now back to some Sternguard goodness:

Lots of leg.


Since my chapter symbol is a maltese cross, I wanted all of my Vets to proudly wear it on their chest. I also dig that raised collars - makes the marines look heavier.


Some sexy Sternguard bolters.