[Holmstrom]

The title may sound odd, but basically my homebrew chapter is all about the Chaplain action. I own a Jump Chaplain, and have fielded him in all but one game with great success alongside a squad of 5 Assault Marines. As fondness for my "shoot'em up then cut'em down" tactic increases, I decided to eventually give him his own 'personal' squad of Assault Marines. They will basically look like the Chaplain.

Converting some Legion of The Damned models to Assault Marines came to mind, but they turned out to be metal. So that pretty much rules them out. Thus, I ask if anyone has any ideas. Otherwise I'll just be giving the ones I have a new paint job and maybe throw a few shiny bits on their armor.

[And as you probably have noticed, I'm a casual 40k player who is really more interested in the crafting aspect, as it does seem rather fruitless to use a mere 5 Assault Marines rather than a full ten. They do their job though.]

 

[Varakir]

I'd say the new death company box set is your best bet.

There's plenty of skulls/chaplain-ish iconography you can use to your advantage and you get jump packs with them. The BA stuff will be a pain to remove, but at least it's all plastic.

 

[piemaster]

LoTD for assault marines is an interesting idea. GW used to do shoulder pads back in the day when bits ordering was good and not laughable (more on that later). Anyway, point is there may be some up on ebay (doubtful) or you could get some custom resin ones made up and maybe the odd torso/legs. Probably could wind up being around the same price of metal minis but it'd give you much more flexibility and modelling potential. Other than that, how is your gs ability?

 

[Holmstrom]

I've never used greenstuff before, though if I took some time to practice I'm confident I could pull off some satisfactory work. It is an option. Still, I'd prefer something already available to work with out of convenience when it comes to troops. Even if it's from some Chaos kits.

I looked up the Death Company box, Varakir, and I just see too many blood drops despite the otherwise awesome armor. They would look like they fell in to a blender after I've taken them off.

 

[ClassyRaptor]

Just get a hobby knife, or a craft knife like I use, and carefully go from top to bottom. Put your thumb under it for encourage ment to do it right! They are small and will slice right and cleanly off. Don't worry.

 

[Holmstrom]

Thanks for the info, Vali ThunderAxe. I think I will end up picking up that kit after all. I see it comes with enough parts to make 5 Assault Marines, which is perfect. The shoulderpad iconography might be too much trouble to chop in some cases, but I've been looking at the Silver Skulls shoulderpad bits from the Games Workshop site. Plus I have plenty of spares in my bits box. I can deal with that issue.

I believe my question has been confidently answered, however anyone offering alternatives feel free to chip in.

 

[Varakir]

I agree that the drops look a bit daunting, but armed with a few spare torsos and shoulderpads you shouldn't need to do that much chopping. Good luck with it :victory:

 

[Holmstrom]

Yeah. I'm actually a bit more worried about breaking stuff on my standing Assault Marines when I work on them. But you cannot achieve your goals without sacrifice.

Damn, I love Warhammer 40k.

 

[ClassyRaptor]

Maybe the Sang guard, they have some great bits. Torso's only need a bit of slicing to get the blood drops off and then you have yourself some very epic looking elite troops.

 

[Holmstrom]

Looking at the Sanguinary Guard kit, they do appear interesting, but I believe that the Death Company squad will do the trick. Peering in to my bits box, I have plenty of tiny things I can add over the areas where I've removed the blood drops. Such as skulls, more purity seals, tiny Aquilas, ect...

 

[ClassyRaptor]

Well it is up to you after all so go for your life. I will be purchasing both kits and mixing them for me own Chapter. I have to get the Army done before I start getting My Custodes.

 

[Salio]

I highly recommend both the Sanguinary Guard and Death Company boxes. Ive bought them both (the death company box just for the bitz) and they have great pieces, not only for blood angels, but for any chapter. The sanguinary guard have amazing looking jump packs (I used mine without the wings) as well as ornate chestplates. The death company is also very cool, but, as you stated earlier, there are a LOT of blood angels, so you have to be careful, and I might be more inclined to get some vanguard veterans, if you're just looking for some ornate assault marines. Thats just my 2 cents, hope your squad turns out well!