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First, some Space Marines. Last summer, I found these guys stowed away in the attic, and after a little light cleaning with a soft toothbrush, they were fit for service.
They are what I think was originally a 1,000 point Space Marine army in 3rd edition Warhammer, which is the last time I played 40k before last summer! We're bringing them into the Imperial army as a Vanguard detachment to represent the Marines who took part in suppressing the Ignatian rebellion. I originally painted them up in the colors chosen for the rec.games.miniatures.warhammer chapter; we'll be fielding them as Raven Guard successors.
Punishers Space Marines
Tech-Marine
I had an old Tech-Marine model I made back in the day, but to be honest it was kinda boring. So I made a new one.
The body and backpack are from an old Devastator Sergeant; the axe, servo-arm and head are from Zealot Miniatures. I'm really happy with this model!
Sternguard Veteran Squad
With an Imperial Guard battalion detachment already finished and plans to upgrade it to a brigade underway, we decided that my old tactical Marines would be more useful as Veterans. The other option would have been to field them as Troops choices and take a patrol detachment, but a vanguard detachment gets the Imperial army a command point, and it feels more in character to have the Marines be a small elite force bolstering the much bigger Imperial Guard formation.
Vanguard Veteran Squad
By the same logic, my old Assault Marines were upgraded to Vanguard Veterans.
Terminator Squad
Our third and last elite choice is some Terminators. The 1993 Space Hulk video game was such a formative influence on me that there was simply no way that any Space Marine army I collect wouldn't have Terminators in it.
Vindicator
I have always unapologetically loved Vindicators. The reason my original 500pt army existed was that I realized I could fit a Vindicator and a Whirlwind into that amount. Obviously I hate that the 3rd edition ordnance template, i.e. the pie plate, is gone, and the Vindicator just isn't what it used to be. I hope we'll have a chance to find out what its current incarnation is like this summer.
Whirlwind
Full disclosure: I love artillery. Space Marines don't get a lot of it, which made it all the more important to get a Whirlwind. Again, I desperately miss the ordnance template, but I'm trying to think positively and remember that these days, I'm on the receiving end of this thing!
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So now we have almost 700 points of Space Marines to add to our Imperial army! Marines are in kind of a weird place; on the one hand, they're the most iconic representatives of Warhammer 40,000; on the other hand, they really are kind of boring. But we have good reason to be grateful to 8th edition: because nothing is as unimaginative and boring as Primaris Marines. Also, I want to complain: wargear choices for characters are more restricted in 8th edition than they were in 3rd, which means I can't use one of my favorite conversions:
Yes, a Librarian with lightning claws and a jump pack. If I remember correctly, in 3rd edition psychic powers like Smite were basically shooting attacks, so there was no point in taking a gun for a Librarian because they'd be using Smite anyway; hence the lightning claws. They're off some miniature I can no longer name, but it was a kind of dwarf with a single claw that our friendly local gaming store had on a clearance sale when they moved, so I got two and stuck the claws on an Assault Marine.
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I've still got some old and new loyalist miniatures to go through, and I'm also working on something new for the Ruinous Powers!
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