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So, what do people usually do when they want an ordinary (i.e. non-phobos or primaris) lieutenant in their space marines army?

Am I wrong in thinking GW do not sell an 'ordinary' lieutenant kit? If so, what do people do in terms of painting and/or kit-bashing to make their lieutenants stand out?

I paint a single silver or gold bar on one of the shoulder pads.
Sometimes as a stripe on the helmet.
Sometimes just on the front lip of the base.

Some even have this displayed on a magnetized back banner. Originally I'd magnetized the banners for storage reasons. Though for tactical purposes here in 8th with it's moronic LoS rules I'll never field such a banner outside of a certain playgroup.

Wich one, pad/helmet/base, depends upon what'll look best on the model. Same deal with my Guard.

I used a few of the extras from the UM upgrade sprue for my jump LT, the rest is mostly parts from the vet kits.


The other is an original RT Lt. from before they did away with the rank.


General rule of thumb is more bling then a sarge, less then a captain. Kitbash until he looks cool to you.

My method of doing a Lieutenant is kitbash, basically build a Captain with slightly less bling and probably without a cloak, then paint the red and white stripe on the helmet to mark them as a Lieutenant.

Just use a marine model and paint him a little different, like a different colored helmet, different shoulder pads, whatever. Or paint the base in a different color. Or give him a piece of equipment no one else has.

i kept my firstborn lts fairly basic. They both have chainswords and pistols as they were budget buys. But I gave them all mk 8 armor, champion shoulder pads, gk helmets.

I've built a (firstborn) Lt for use in a Narrative game I'm starting up, that follows a group of Scout Marines, and progressed through the Reserve Squads.

Kit bashed from Tech Marine, and blinged out with purity seals, aquilas, and a Beaky helmet.

Part of the narrative has the older marine leaders upgrade through the Rubikon and upgrade to Primaris.

I build them out of whatever is around, and apply more bling than a regular trooper but less bling than a Captain. Primarily, I use the roman-style half-crest that come with the Horus Heresey plastics that are meant for the sergeants in those kits. This makes them easy to pick out on the table.

Basically, Captain has a full crest and cape, Lt. has a half crest and a bit of other bling.

Thanks for the great ideas everyone! Cheers!