Veteran Troops

In my new, ongoing effort to build and grow my Dark Angels army, I picked up a couple o' boxes of the plastic Dark Angel Veterans. The Warstore, once again, came to the rescue when it came to getting my GW stuff on the cheap. Each box has enough pieces to build five troopers, probably works best as a command squad, but I was shooting for a full, ten-man elites choice.


Here they are, in all their unpainted glory.


I loaded my veteran sergeant down. I mean, he is the veteran guy on the veteran squad, so he's doubly veteran! He's armed with a power sword (or relic blade) and a stalwart storm shield. He's also packing both a bolt pistol and bolter.


These troopers are my only 'true' bolter-armed soldiers, although the one in the middle has a custom-built storm bolter; made just by slapping two bolters together after filing down the sides.


Nothing says 'veteran' like using appropriated equipment from the enemy. Here my bits-box diving turned up some truly vintage pieces. All of these are Space Ork weapons from the 1st edition, plastic Space Ork boxed set twenty years ago. Left to right; plasma cannon, customized bolter, and plasma gun. Don't worry, the chapter's techmarines have insured these are operating at 100% capacity, if I fail a 'gets hot' roll, we'll just say it's because of Ork 'teknology'.


These are my close combat oriented troopers, two with chainsword/bolt pistol combos, and one with a massive power fist. I tried to load these guys down with extra grenades. I used the 'running' torsos for these. Apparently I also use a lot of 'quotes' too...


Twenty year old Ork weapons weren't the only vintage pieces I went with. I also scavenged a few more parts from my quickly shrinking Rogue Trader sprues. Here we've got the last of the original bolters, and a datapad computer/scanner doohickey. Since the bolter is on the plasma gun armed trooper, I cut off the magazine so it would take up less space and have a more 'stowed away' look to it.


More Rogue Trader goodies, I like the look here with the holstered bolt pistol side by side with a spare bolter magazine.


The word that best describes the amount of gear these guys have would be festooned. I loaded up every last bit of empty space on these guys with all manner of holy relics, pouches, doo-dads, and the like. I was also liberal with the purity seals and rifle scopes. It will be a pain to paint up, I won't lie to you, but as veterans, they will more than look the part.


Yes, in truest WYSIWYG fashion, my squad is modeled to reflect everything their stat sheets say they have. The only exception is my storm bolter trooper, who does not have a spare bolter on his person, that seemed a tad redundant.

For the record, although this is not a review, the regular plastic Space Marine tactical squad is great. This plastic boxed set on the other hand...is absolutely remarkable. If you're on the fence to play Marines, and don't know which chapter to choose. Pick the Dark Angels, or one of their successor chapter, or make up your own gothic-bent chapter so you can take advantage of this great set.