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What, exactly, is the visual difference between a storm shield and a combat shield? On the assault squad sprue, it has a shield, and as they can take both, I'm not sure which it is. Or is it open to interpretation? (for the record, the shield hand is not holding a pistol, just the shield.)

Storm shields tend to look like the shields that assault Terminators have. They're bigger and usually have a skull and crossbones on em.

I know that, however i have seen other things which have been classified as "storm shields" and which look a lot like the one in the assault squad box.

Got any examples? The wargear section of the codex has pictures of all the weapons, and the smaller shield that looks like the one from the assault squad set is labeled as a combat shield.

Ok then. I think that, given the fact that there are no standard (non-terminator) storm shield, I think that they must be the kind of thing in which you just say that the combat shield is, in fact, a storm shield.

combat shield is smaller than the storm shield,

storm shield normally is square shaped, like a cross (think the german iron cross medal)

Storm Shields:



Combat Shield:

Well, according to the BT codex...

Storm Shields - Held in your hand much like you would hold a normal shield.

Combat Shield - Attached to the arm so that you can hold a weapon in your hand with the shield attached to the same arm.

my big question is how does one find a storm shield? it seems they only appear in the assault terminator kit, and maybe from forgeworld...

There are three ways to go about getting Storm Shields.

1) Buy Assault terminators, or Crusaders(Any 40k Model with a Storm Shield), or any fantasy model with a shield and convert them so they fit your models.

2) Make them out of plasticard.

3) Check E-Bay for Storm Shield Bitz Such as Horde-o-bitz.

Can you Say Conversion!

Stormshields don't come attached to Terminator arms so you could just put them on standard PA arms. You might need to cut a Marine hand off, but they should fit just fine.

a storm shield can be any size or appearance, it's the power generator that makes it work so you can use any shield you like, especially if you add on a small "generator" bit. Look at the old TH/SS termies, they had a more medieval style shield before the current crux shaped ones

That shield was markedly larger than the old shield that Terminator sergeants got though.

I was confused about that, too. The size, shape, and lack of ornate engravings indicate that it's a combat shield, but it lacks the pistol that the combat shield from the Command Squad kit has, which indicates it's more of a proper shield than a buckler. This was further confused by some personal rationalizations that the more mobile Assault Marines, who sometimes eschew their jump packs in favor of a Rhino, Razorback, or Drop Pod, may choose a smaller, but less unwieldy shield than their more heavily armored Terminator brethren.

Eventually I decided to run it as a storm shield, because it doesn't have a pistol attached, plus, I think I was browsing bitz sites to check on what they called it and it was referred to as a storm shield. Not sure on that last part, because my memory is fuzzy.

However, I must point out that I play exclusively at home, with my mom, so I've never gotten any tournament rulings, or other people's opinions, or anything at all like that.

who cares? or are you asking from a fluff perspective?

from a game persepective just put on a shield and call it whatever you want. i used a bretonian shield on a BA space marine way back and it looked great.

from a rules perspective. From a fluff perspective, I have my own BA successor chapter and can say they build stuff that looks different.

I don't remember which one comes with the assault squad, but one fo the common combat shields actually has a hand holding a bolt pistol on the back of it. Rules wise, this one is generally only a combat shield.

Other than that, a shield looks like a shield.

Well, attach it to the arm and call it a SS. Or cut off either the grip on a pistol, or the hand on the shield and oin the pieces off the pistol and shield to make a combat shield. It can be either.

DeathReaper wrote:There are three ways to go about getting Storm Shields.

1) Buy Assault terminators, or Crusaders(Any 40k Model with a Storm Shield), or any fantasy model with a shield and convert them so they fit your models.

2) Make them out of plasticard.

3) Check E-Bay for Storm Shield Bitz Such as Horde-o-bitz.

http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/catalog/productDetail.jsp?catId=cat440277a&prodId=prod1400033

Or buy the above and sell the Thunder Hammers on EBay.

I think it is as simple as WYSIWYG. A combat shield is a simple shield like a fantasy shield. A storm shield is a powered version similar to a power sword. If I saw a shield with a power source or it was glowing I would think it was powered and thus a storm shield. If it was a piece of metal or similar with no power source or glowing bits I would think combat shield. If you want to get technical look up a picture of a Black Templar Company Champion (not the Emperor's Champion). He has a combat shield.

Sorry to be OT, but what is a combat shield?

Fifty wrote:

DeathReaper wrote:There are three ways to go about getting Storm Shields.

1) Buy Assault terminators, or Crusaders(Any 40k Model with a Storm Shield), or any fantasy model with a shield and convert them so they fit your models.

2) Make them out of plasticard.

3) Check E-Bay for Storm Shield Bitz Such as Horde-o-bitz.

http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/catalog/productDetail.jsp?catId=cat440277a&prodId=prod1400033

Or buy the above and sell the Thunder Hammers on EBay.

Those are power armored Thunder Hammers, so I don't think the demand is quite as high.

CthuluIsSpy wrote:Sorry to be OT, but what is a combat shield?

It's a piece of wargear that confers an invulnerable save. Worse than a storm shield, but it has the advantage of allowing the model to use a weapon in that hand.