Sternguard and Vanguard

Ten-man Sternguard Unit

Perhaps you recall my Codex Calamity not too long ago. The new Space Marine codex is too good to pass up and makes the Dark Angels codex look like crap. So I switched over to the new codex and haven't looked back. Unfortunately, this move made one of my squads, the Veterans elite choice, completely obsolete. This was a bummer too, seeing how I absolutely love these veteran plastics. Well, the answer was in the new codex, in the form of Sternguard and Vanguard squads, I just had to tweak my figs a little (cutting off arms, equipment, and weapons) and buy a third box of Dark Angel Veterans, which I did on New Year's Eve, so I don't have to track them!

The above ten-man Sternguard unit is still kitted out with loads of equipment, and I have a flamer and plasma cannon in there too. I also made the unit so it can break down into two combat squads to perform different roles. These are 'elite' choices out of the book, and I tried to model them to reflect as much.


Sternguard Combat Squad A

The first of the two Sternguard combat squads I put together to be fast moving and hit hard in close combat. The sergeant has the two melee combo of power fist and bolt pistol, and one of the troopers has an assault flamer (which I put in there almost for looks alone). To reflect the fast-moving nature of the unit, I equipped the remaining troopers with Storm Bolters, which are assault2 on the tabletop.


Sternguard Combat Squad B

The second combat squad is kitted out for long range. I need to scrounge up three more scopes though for the bolters before I'm done. Four troopers have ordinary bolters, to take advantage of the special issue ammo (including the long range shells which the scopes will compliment), and the last trooper has the mondo oversize plasma cannon. It's a move-or-fire weapon, but that okay, this squad will be sitting back and laying down fire support more often than not.


Five-man Vanguard Unit

There were five models left over, and these form the basis of my Vanguard unit. I don't plan on making this unit any larger, so maybe they'll get their very own Razorback to ride around in one day. Plus, I have a ten-man assault squad I need to finish, so I'm not hurting for assault troops. The squad sergeant is equipped for pure melee, he has zero ranged weapons. Fluffwise, I'd say he's on the fast track to being a company Captain one day soon, and his model reflects this. The remaining four members are all equipped for melee as well, with chainsword/bolt pistol combos. I also loaded these guys up with lots of grenades to boot.