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Hi all,

A few weeks ago I was looking to get some Sternguard to make a decent start on my Crimson Fists, however the price and finecastness (mainly the price ) have put me off their models somewhat. Therefore, I'm thinking about just converting a couple of squads of Tactical Marines to run as Sternguard instead. I'd be giving them all combi-weapons and as many purity seals, aquilas, etc as I can find, and probably doing different-coloured helmets as well.

Before following this line of thinking however, I wish to consult the infinite wisdom of Dakka with this question: Would anyone have a problem with playing against these hypothetical models? Any advice on the best way to convert these fellows would also be much appreciated.

Definitely, I did it for some of mine:

The metal models are really just blinged-out Tactical Marines anyway.

I'm already making a 5 man sternguard squad out of 5 tac marines, I shall post a pic to show you when they're done. I dont see any problem with them as long as you define them with extra purity seals and cool guns etc instead of just creating a plain tac marine with no veteran markings or paint job and say its a sternguard, that would just be annoying to play against and a little confusing.

Awesome! Cheers for the quick responses.

Also, I'm assuming you're working on Crimson Fists based on your signature - remember to paint both their gauntlets red to denote veteran status, as opposed to just painting the left hand red.

Sternguard are already legal as long as they are kitted out appropriately. Power armor with WYSIWYG is all they need. Its like asking if a Captain is legal if he was made from bits instead. The answer is, of course.

It's easy to use normal marines as sternguard. Simply add a few extra things to them and keep them WYSIWYG and it's all good.

Aye. I blinged mine out, but a PA marine with a bolter is a PA marine with a bolter. The end. Everyone I have shown the models to has picked up on the difference in coloring a long, long time before they notice the extra bit here and there. In my case though, going from blue helmets and gold shoulder trim to white and white is an immediate difference. I couldn't make the change more obvious with a tiny neon sign.

Not really sure how to make CF veterans stand out quite as starkly, and that's more what you need to do more than anything. Give your opponent a visual indicator that "Whoa, something isn't normal here. Why are those marines different?"

If they have a serious problem with this, on the scale of "Well I won't play it/let you field it because it isn't the actual GW model." then the guy probably isn't very much fun to play with to begin with, or is being a donkey-cave to try and gank you out of a tournament, and either way it might be healthy for all involved to apply the same standard to his army. IG with SM meltaguns, rather than the actual GW blister? Nope. Long fangs with converted MLs or HKs from the vehicle kits? Nope. Rifleman dreads with anything but forgeworld arms? HA! Got Tervigons/Tyrannofexen/Bonesword warriors/Harpys? Not any more buddy! And the list of conversions and scratchbuilt models that would be invalidated in a "GW ACTUAL MODEL OR NOTHING!" standard goes on, and on, and on...

I think the vast, overwhelming majority of sternguard are converted tacticals, and concur with Marine_with_heart: any opponent who refuses to play against them has done you a favor, in revealing themselves for the enormous toolbox they are right up front, thus allowing you to find a more enjoyable game elsewhere.

What a coincidence, I just started working on a squad of sternguard with combi plasmas, made out of mostly converted tac marines as well.

I made a 10 man squad using the Tactical box, some leftover special weapons from my other tac boxes to make combis and then some bits from the command squad box. I'll try to get some pics later.

NYOOO YOU CAN'T! THAYT'LL BE CHEE-*BLAM*

Sorry, a whiny douchbag got hold of the keyboard for a sec there.
Yeah go for it. Hell, I made my tankbusters and flashgitz from normal boyz.

Not only do I play against them, I play WITH them.

My Relictor Sternguard are made from Chaos Space Marine bitz. Go for it; just paint them differently.

I put squad numbers on all of my marines so I just tell my opponent that units #9&10 are stern guard and nobody has a problem. So as long as you have some way to tell them apart from regular marines no body will care.

Awesome, it looks like I shouldn't have any problems at all. Thanks guys .

Ultimately, the difference between a Tactical Marine and a Veteran is down to the squad symbol on his shoulder.

Bling is optional.