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.

1. I have a ton of extra tac marine bodies that I've never bothered putting arms on. Can I give them meltas and combi meltas and run them as sternguard or do I need the actual sternguard models with the loin cloths?

2. I run my GH with CCWs. Only some in each squad are modeled that way since they were all built during the 3rd and 5th edition codexes. Can I just glue a knife/sword to the hips of the guys modeled without a chainsword or do I have to rip a bunch of arms off and replace them with chainsword arms? (Damn you GW for changing the war gear and making me hack apart my models I've had WYSIWYG, built and painted for 15 years!)

1) So long as they are distinctive enough from Tacticals (different markings, colours ect) then there's no reason why you couldn't run then as SG.

2) I say leave the GH as-is, maybe sprinkle in a few CCW on backs/belts if you can, and just make it clear to your opponent that they have CCW. Especially if all your GH have this setup, it shouldn't be an issue.

Obviously, it'll depend on the TO, but I reckon they'd be pretty unreasonable to refuse either.

Thank you sir. I'm thinking of getting sternguard shoulder pads off ebay and maybe some different heads so it's clear which are which. I figured it would be hard to mistake a 5 man squad full of meltas for a tac squad anyway.

In an ideal world, sternguard should have terminator honours on their shoulders. There are a number of sculpted pads out there, or you could just freehand them. Different colored trim (white for codex compliant chapters) is another thing to help them stand out. While the new kit is quite nice, there are other ways of getting WYSWYG sternguards.

Obviously, check with your local TO. But the only thing separating a tactical marine and a sternguard is a paintjob and an extra trip through the bits box.

Easy way to do it is just to paint the whole units helms in your army's veteran colors. usually white or red.

the vet shoulder pads further helps.

they dont need to be all loinclothed and decked out in bling.

My army is already crimson on top with white legs. The helmets are red with white stripes (basically they look like Alabama's football jerseys). Maybe I'll paint the vet helmets white with crimson stripes to further differentiate them. Thanks for the tips everyone.

 Toofast wrote:
Maybe I'll paint the vet helmets white with crimson stripes to further differentiate them. Thanks for the tips everyone.

Laurel leaves on the helmets is an additional touch that will help distinguish SG from tactical SM. Green will show up better on white helmets, perhaps gold laurels for red helmets? Damn easy to paint too, for those who don't paint well (me).

You can see the white across his blue helmet:






Also, I gently cut the purity seals off spare legs, re-gluing them onto my Sternguards' guns. Really sets the model off from other marines.

If you've got SM that are from 4e (BfMacragge IIRC), didn't we also get a few loose Purity Seals on the sprue? It's been so long ....

I just said screw and bought the sternguard box.

 Toofast wrote:
I just said screw and bought the sternguard box.

From a P&M POV, it’s a really fun kit. And it’s so over the top with the bling, you can cut it with some tactical squad parts and still make a squad that’s twice as fancy as anything else in your army.

 Toofast wrote:
I just said screw and bought the sternguard box.

Was the picture too much?

If so, sorry. It's a "Sword brothers" from a Black Templar 5 guy box. The other 3 come with Chainswords and pistols, and one with a power sword. Metal models, though.