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A friend of mine recently gave me a box of 10 MkIII Marines for my boys, who are building up their UM and Salamander armies.
But I have no idea what to use them for.

Currently my boys have:
1 Captain (1 Gravis, 1 with Jump pack)
1 Lt each
10 Tactical Marines each
10 Intercessors each
1 Ven Dread each
The UMs have 5 Hellblasters
Sallies have 3 Inceptors

In terms of Troops, both boys have all the 'dudes' they need for a Battalion each, typically doing 5 Tacs and 2x 5 Intercessors.
So more Tacs would not be suggested since they alreadly have 5 they don't use every game (they were just to get them started and painting practice)

My oldest wants to use the MkIII as vets, but the kit does not come with any Vet options (like combi-weapons and Storm shield, for example). Nor do either of them have good delivery methods for them.
We're willing to bits order some options (and I enjoy conversions, so that isn't an issue). I also think Vanguard Vets would look cool as MkIII armour with some jump packs.

And other thoughts or suggestions?

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Sternguard with just special ammo bolters.

I made some for my son’s Salamanders using kromlech shoulder pads.

(I’ll try to remember to edit in pics when not on my phone.)

Mk. III has a very blunt, brutal look. Good for units that want to be in your face.

Edit:
Pic

Deathwatch Veterans would be awesome in the older marks, even if it's shaky fluffwise. Maybe the remnants of a wiped out 2nd founding chapter?

I know my oldest want to add an Assault squad to his UMs eventually, and I'm trying to nudge him towards VVs, which are better.
But SternGuard are a decent cheap option (cheap in that I don't have to bits order TH/SS and jump packs)

There's also the possibility that one son will want Sternguard, and the other will want VVs, so lots to ponder.

I'd go with Sternguard for them. It takes much less over all work, and fits the unique look of the armor.

I love using my mkIII as sgts for my tac squads. although I do have several squads worth of mkIII armoured dudes. Primaris look really good with the helmets, so if you have any extra heads, chainswords, & shoulder pauldrons use them.

I use my MK III marines for Sternguard and my MK IV marines for regular marines (Devs, Assault, the rare Tactical, etc).

 BaconCatBug wrote:
Deathwatch Veterans would be awesome in the older marks, even if it's shaky fluffwise. Maybe the remnants of a wiped out 2nd founding chapter?

Why shaky? IIRC there's still small production runs of earlier marks of armour; especially for specialist equipment like mk 3 suits.

So I pitch 4 different units to my boys:

Company Vets
Honor Guard
Sternguard
Vanguard Vets

Since Co. Vets and Honor Guard are only good for protecting Characters (which we don't have a need for), those were eliminated pretty quick.

When I pitched Sternguard, the biggest downside was them being as easy to take out as Tac Marines with no delivery method.
Both my boys want an Assault squad, so VVs it is. Now we have to bits order 10 jump packs (or convert the existing power packs if I think of something cheaper and effective), Storm shields and a mix of Lightning claws and Hammers.

What is a typically good loadout that includes LCs and Hammers?
I was thinking:
VV sgt w SS/Relic Blade
2 VVs w 2 LCs
2 VVs w SS/TH

Keep in mind that this is for newer players that want units that are good, but are also motivated by units that look cool.
My suggested build only requires us to bits order 1 box worth of melee weapons for all 10 VVs.

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2x VV sgt with Plasma pistol + relic Blade
4x VV with 2 LC
4x VV with SS/TH

that is what i did, lets me mix and match then!

 FEARtheMoose wrote:
2x VV sgt with Plasma pistol + relic Blade
4x VV with 2 LC
4x VV with SS/TH

that is what i did, lets me mix and match then!

Thanx. I've only just started thinking about Plasma pistols. If they include them, I'm sure they'll want at least 1 model each with dual pistols (because cool).
But there really won't be any mix & match options. 5 of these will be UMs, the other 5 will be Salamanders. Both units will have a mix of LCs, THs and SS.
I'm just not sure yet what mix is best.

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Sternies are great, but also worth considering Vanguard Vets now that Storm Shields are dirt cheap.

Heresy era jump packs are easy to convert!

Those look great Johnnyhell, thanks. I may make a trip to my local arts-n-crafts store to see if I can find something similar.
But eBay also has some jump packs for between $15-$25 for 10 packs, and that might be less work and fit them better into 40K

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