Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

http://1d4chan.org/wiki/Hats
As per the small chart listed there...

Helmet < No helmet < Hat < Pauldron + Helmet < Just Pauldron < Pauldron + Hat

No helmet is to show that you're badass to not wear a helmet, but not enough to be wearing a hat.

I like to model marines/guardsmen/whatever without helmets to give some variety to my troops. I like it when they don't all look the same. Gives them a bit more character. I do however also like to model the troops with a ton of gear. For example I have several marines who are not wearing a helmet but instead have it hanging from their belts or something. They have a helmet but for some reason they do not wear it at that exact moment. I like it when the models carry a lot of gear. I just run out of pouches all the time...

I find that having bare headed marines in my force (a lot of them) gives my army some character and lends me to paint the marines as individuals rather than 'I need 20 guys painted like this to kill x-y' it also teaches me patience as well as new techniques, i couldn't paint bare heads to save my life a while ago, but when i became confident in doing it i loved giving my models the personality! I even have just finished painting a Hammernator with a bare head that looks like me :-)

I don't buy the "helmets mean you can't paint!" statement. Unless you have no scouts, that is.

I think the helmets look far cooler than the lack thereof... same goes for my tanks having the commanders buttoned up inside. Looks better.

Obviously it's a matter of opinion, but it seems like many have this idea that those who like a more uniform look are doing so for some extrinsic reason that is worthy of derision.

I always model all of my marines with helmets on when I can help it.

According to the fluff, marines who don't have their helmets on are deprived of the assistance of the targeting and other information/warning systems that their power armor gives them, and have to fight harder/better to be just as good as the other dudes with helmets on. Apparently, sergeants tend to fight with helmets off to show their subordinates just how hard-ass they are and thus inspires them to fight harder.

But I don't buy it. Any senior commander/officer who sets a poor example in the proper usage of their equipment doesn't deserve to lead.

 NEWater wrote:
I always model all of my marines with helmets on when I can help it.

According to the fluff, marines who don't have their helmets on are deprived of the assistance of the targeting and other information/warning systems that their power armor gives them, and have to fight harder/better to be just as good as the other dudes with helmets on. Apparently, sergeants tend to fight with helmets off to show their subordinates just how hard-ass they are and thus inspires them to fight harder.

But I don't buy it. Any senior commander/officer who sets a poor example in the proper usage of their equipment doesn't deserve to lead.

Exactly my point. I also prefer the look of a more uniform army anyway.

It's a mixture of visual distinctiveness, a different/interesting surface to paint, demonstrating that you don't give a rat's ass about enemy snipers, and in some cases because some Space Marines have senses keen enough that the helmet actually inhibits them.

In other words: Down to personal preference.

 AnomanderRake wrote:
It's a mixture of visual distinctiveness, a different/interesting surface to paint, demonstrating that you don't give a rat's ass about enemy snipers, and in some cases because some Space Marines have senses keen enough that the helmet actually inhibits them.

In other words: Down to personal preference.

/thread

Space Marines because of their enhanced genetic makeup, are generally not as worried about Poisons, their bodies filter out just about anything toxic in the air... they have 2 hearts and many other redundant organs or mechanical organs (a lot of them spit acid because of an organ called "The Belcher's Gland")

Being shot in the head is quite a different story, but then again that's generally something Space Marines could give a hoot about "And They Shall Know No Fear".. sometimes it could be solely based on intimidation, if I saw a guy walking through a battlefield without his helmet on, and the 75 other guys behind him were wearing theirs... I might think "well... that guy is hardcore, I'm gonna stay away from him"

There are also enough bionics in the 40k universe to literally rebuild half of someone's head... infact I have seen quite a few models that half of the face is completely bionic...

Bottom line is, we are talking about a universe where men fly from one end of the galaxy to the other in 5 kilometer long battleships, to duel with swords.

Most Orks don't need helmets. I bet the Battle wagons and biker boyz give of more toxic fumes than the enemy.

I always figured veterans learn to rely more on their senses then a data feed from a helmet. Trust your eyes and ears, not technology.

My wolves are by and large helmet-less, they are a chapter of individuals and it adds so much more character to the model when you can see them instead of some anonymous helmet.

Its also well in theme with the army, they dont forsake helmets just for their senses but also because it shows their bravery in the face of the enemy, they want their foes to see death staring them in the eye.

Space Wolves is a whole different story... that's to show off majestic beards and wacky haircuts...

 Brokksamson wrote:
Space Wolves is a whole different story... that's to show off majestic beards and wacky haircuts...

Who needs weapons when you can blind people with hideously bad half mohawks and wannabe viking beards

I prefer the cold, faceless appearance of marines wearing their helmets, and was very pleased to see the Pedro Kantor model remembering to bring his skid lid to the party.

As other people have mentioned, it's actually pretty funny how often in 40k fiction space marines get shot in the head, bash their head against something or just sneeze too hard and lose their helmet. It just seems like every Black Library author is determined the "hang the lampshade" on the issue. http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/LampshadeHanging

How do the wolves even fit their beards into helmets?

 prophet102 wrote:
How do the wolves even fit their beards into helmets?

Using borrowed Jokaero technology, they build multi-dimensional pockets into their respirators.


For my own Space Wolves, the bare headed models all have helmets clipped to their belts, except for the guys with beards or hair that looks like it would be too large to fit. I figure those guys just don't bother with helmets at all. Maybe they just use a really tough hair wax...

space wolves wear helmets to hide the shame of not having fantastic beards

why is this thread still going? lol

This was over after the second post

well it come down to advantage. With the helmet on it vastly restricts you field of vision.

Ever put on a gas mask? its the same reason we dont out fit our troops now with full body face masks, yes they stop gas and chem attacks but you cant see for a damn. i could stand right next to some one with a gas mask on and they would never see me

 Backspacehacker wrote:
well it come down to advantage. With the helmet on it vastly restricts you field of vision.

Ever put on a gas mask? its the same reason we dont out fit our troops now with full body face masks, yes they stop gas and chem attacks but you cant see for a damn. i could stand right next to some one with a gas mask on and they would never see me

Except you'll be dead once you get hit with a deadly engineered virus and the person with the gas mask will have survived. Helmets may restrict your version in the 21st century but there are so many different optics and gadgets in Marine helmets that there's no reason to not wear one.

 Backspacehacker wrote:
well it come down to advantage. With the helmet on it vastly restricts you field of vision.

Not true when its a helmet with a full HUD and a bunch of sensors.

 Grey Templar wrote:

 Backspacehacker wrote:
well it come down to advantage. With the helmet on it vastly restricts you field of vision.

Not true when its a helmet with a full HUD and a bunch of sensors.

Still restricts FOV, you just have sensors that can cover the blind zones for you.



Honestly guys, it's just a model showing a particular pose that happens to be a nanosecond frozen in time.

Most models fight with their helmets on.

The helmet off thing to me is just for visual purposes so you can quickly pick out important models in an otherwise identical squad. In actual battle, they would be wearing a helmet unless it was damaged. I saw a Marine player in my neighbor hood decided to take any models that he made helmet-less and model the helmets on their sides. He even went as far as to drill damage holes on them to make it look like the helmet got blasted off (and he replicated facial injury on the model too, for the rule of cool. Space Marine with an impromptu eye-patch? Why not). It was honestly pretty awesome.

 prophet102 wrote:
I don't understand why in boxes for marines they give you the option for helmetless models. Or characters in finecast come helmetless. Where is the advantage in that? A tau pathfinder or some type of poison gas could easily kill Marneus Calgar, Or Kaldor Draigo to name a few. You lose protection, and respiratory systems when you dont have a helmet. So can someone please explain it to me. I just find it silly.

As has been said, the models are just an abstraction of all the poses that occur during a battle, a snapshot if you will. That being said, all of my IG have helmets do to being Steel Legion models, all of my CSM have helmets, but most of my Sisters do not. In fact, I am using only the non-helmeted Sisters as Battle Sisters Squads and the helmeted Sisters as Celestians, Dominions, etc. If SM without a helmet really bother you, you can do a few things. One, you could simply not use those heads or trade them to someone else that will/does for more helmets. Two, and I have done this with some of my SoB Sisters Superior, you can add a helmet to the model's base as scenery or on a belt. It looks really cool and they still *do* have their helmet, but just aren't wearing it right at that moment. I'm sure you can come up with other reasons and such, but the point is to have fun with it.

Helmets or no helmets, I'm just happy when I get to play a painted army. Plus l'm not so full of my own self importance that I feel the way I want my army to look is the way everyone else's army has to look.

 Grey Templar wrote:

 Backspacehacker wrote:
well it come down to advantage. With the helmet on it vastly restricts you field of vision.

Not true when its a helmet with a full HUD and a bunch of sensors.

It is when you're Guardsmen and the helmet is just a padded bucket. No sensor arrays for them.

This always makes me think of the bikini armor issue :p it's silliness depends on context and personnel opinion a great deal.
Maybe some marine chapters simply consider going into battle without a helmet is consider a huge honor and need to ask the superiors to do it, since they know full well it's probably not a good idea :p

But to add some funny ending to my post I once watch a game of inquisitor one guy had a marine that take his helmet off and taunt the last other left on the table still functioning.
A poor imperial guardsman left with 3 shots in his bolt pistal, the marine could have probably run up and kill him his turn.
The guardsman take his 3 shots and hit the marine in the head, killing him outright :0

I model characters without helmets in my Marines and Eldar because it's a classic way to empathize with a character. Once they have a face, they have a identity, rather than Soldier #31.

Worrying about is as important as worrying about why all the candles on Imperial vehicles (like the new DA landspeeders) can always stay lit in the face of all that wind.

 AegisGrimm wrote:
I Worrying about is as important as worrying about why all the candles on Imperial vehicles (like the new DA landspeeders) can always stay lit in the face of all that wind.

propane, lots, and LOTS of propane

 Backspacehacker wrote:

 AegisGrimm wrote:
I Worrying about is as important as worrying about why all the candles on Imperial vehicles (like the new DA landspeeders) can always stay lit in the face of all that wind.

propane, lots, and LOTS of propane

Model every Imperial vehicle that moves fast as having a trail of hot wax flying behind it.