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I've got my eye on an old set of AoBR, but as I've always dealt with the standard glue together, multi-part marines, I'm not sure how decent the AoBR marines. Pretty much, the main queries I have are:

1. How reliable are the fittings? - Do they need copious GS to fill gaps? Do they fall apart frequently? Can I glue them?

2. What's the quality of detail like on them? - Do they appear bulky or is the detail shoddy/bloated? How do they compare to standard marines?

3. How well will they fit in with standard Space Marine units not from the AoBR set? (Not in terms of colour obviously, but more style-wise)

Any help would be great.

The fittings are fine and leave no gaps

They are a bit less detailed than normal marines, more flat surfaces

They do fit in just fine with normal units

Hope that helped

-Color Sgt. Kell


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By the way, my whole SM army (3000pts) is made of AOBR marines and termies, and nobody ever commented.

Mold shift was a bit of an issue on my set, so don't be surprised if cleanup requires file work, beyond the usual scraping. Once clean, though, they fit together quite tightly - definitely no GS needed and glue truly is optional. Actually, some of the pegs required some slight slimming down in order to go in without distorting the socket and becoming stuck (only an issue for temporary fits - I stuck mine together for storage but wanted to paint them in pieces).

As for the sculpts, the detail is crisp, just don't expect a lot of bells and whistles. The poses are a bit static (all spread-legged, bolters across chest - just a matter of which direction they're leaning), but they look fine. They'll definitely blend in with standard Tac Marines. In fact, that's probably the best use of them, as the repetitive poses that are glaring in a single unit tend to get lost in the shuffle when spread across a few squads.

Ahh, that did help a good deal! I have a few more questions, seeing as your here now (I mean you don't have to go into vast detail):

Where are these flat surfaces'? - I can handle greaves and all the usual armour around limbs, but are the chest plates lacking aquilas?

Do they have any special detailing that standard marines don't (Swords. seals etc.)?

EDIT: You kinda ninja'd me there Oadie! Anyway, I'll take into consideration the static poses, If I end up getting them, i'll just use them to supplement my other squads, possibly spliting them 50:50 with a standard marine combat squad mixed with an AoBR combat squad. I don't game, but I at least like making my squads look good. (My painting skills may leave this open to interpretation though! :( )

i got rid of all mine as i fell in love with the green.

but i found them to be uniform and quite boring

 Warpig1815 wrote:
Where are these flat surfaces'? - I can handle greaves and all the usual armour around limbs, but are the chest plates lacking aquilas? Do they have any special detailing that standard marines don't (Swords. seals etc.)?

They have the usual aquilas and panel lines, as well as a clump of pouches and grenades around the belt (I think they all had that - only have one of the models handy). Some have a purity seal thrown on for good measure. A few have "shovel" greaves that might be considered extra flat, lacking the usual convex knee cop. They're certainly rather bare when compared to the new DV set, with all of its molded DA iconography, but the expected detailing is there and in the proper form for vanilla Tac Marines. Only bit of special detailing that I can think of is the tactical arrow on the shoulder pad - it's molded onto the pad, which is itself part of the main torso piece (only the bolter (with the hands holding it), backpack, and base are separate).

@Oadie - Ok, cheers mate. I'll take a think about whether or not I get them, but they seem to be a good idea as a 'supplementary'.

Many thanks people!

Check this comparison of AoBR vs DV, imo the AoBR marines are far inferior, having both side by side to compare. If you just want models that work to play the game sure that's aobr. If you want good looking minis that are fun to paint, that's DV.

No questions asked, dark vengance marines are of a much better quality than AoBR marines. Both sets fit together with minimal issues though: no gs or anything needed. The guns/wrists for AoBR have a pin at the back that fits into the chest of the model, so there isnt a full chest piece to paint. also, the right arm of the marine is actually part of the chest mold, so they are actually attached all the way from the shoulder to the wrist.


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That being said, sticking one or two of them in a squad of other marines can make your more dynamic models go farther!

I'm not looking at them gaming-wise, as I don't game, just I wanted to expand my collection and I thought that if I could get just the Marines from an AoBR set, they may make a nice addition. I do appreciate the comparison and the heads-up vis the DV marines, however I can't really use them for a Salamanders collection as it would require lots of sanding down of the details and GS'ing new Salamanders stuff on. Now that's easy, but I don't think I could be bothered to do it for a whole squad. Maybe the Termie squad though...

Your call ofc, but there's really not much to get rid of. Just the wing on one shoulder and probably the arrow on the other? The sergeants robe too I guess, but that can be for any chapter too really. The termies are DA blinged to buggery iirc. Just had a look at the sprues, some of the marines have separate arms so you could either use vanilla arms or much more easily replace the shoulderpad by clipping it off if you wanted. Depending on region, the new DA set should be ~$30 for a lot of minis, which will be new - aobr is mostly 2nd hand by now which while useable I find less ideal.

Plasma and plasma cannon > flamer and ML too.

Aye, AoBR is old now, but someone in the local area is offering, as part of a bundle, the AoBR set on the sprue. I thought I'd get it because A) If it's on the sprue it's probably good to go, and B) I reckon with 3 tactical squads, a squad of Termies, a captain and a dreadnought, it's probably a better bet than the DV set which includes copious amounts of DA icons to sand off. However, that said, feel free to try and convince me otherwise - i'm really just sat on the fence for this one...