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Ravendove

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Great log you've got here brother! I like how you've got those nice crisp tactical marks on the Rhino doors. Hope to see more!

Thanks! Althought it did just occur to me that the Sternguard squad will now be embarked in a Rhino with a Tactical Arrow, which doesn't make a whole lot of sense. May re-visit that at some point!

I still can't believe you can get markings that neat with masking tape, my own efforts have been pitiful by comparison. I've had to resort to Forge World's Marine decal set to try and get decent results.

 

Liking the double Mk.III shoulder pads, they're much more balanced and it's increased the menace factor three fold on the Sternguard :)

 

Looking forward to the heavy flamer and sergeant appearing soon!

I still can't believe you can get markings that neat with masking tape, my own efforts have been pitiful by comparison. I've had to resort to Forge World's Marine decal set to try and get decent results.

Oh believe me, it took a few attempts. In the end I figured the best way to do it was to cover the door in tape. Then I use a ruler to draw the arrow on with pencil before carefully cutting the lines with a knife and peeling the arrow shape off. It leaves a very slight groove around the edge of the arrow, but this helps give the shape a little more definition.

 

Liking the double Mk.III shoulder pads, they're much more balanced and it's increased the menace factor three fold on the Sternguard :)

Thought pretty much the same thing this end, glad you think so too!

Really like how the Sternguard are coming along. What are you going to equip the sergeant with out of interest? Also, I have a sternguard squad with a similar build and was wondering why you've picked a rhino to transport them instead of a razorback?

 

I also like the idea for the heavy flamer, especially the left arm, better then using a missile launcher arm like I have. Ties it in a lot more.

Looking forward to seeing them all finished,

Really like how the Sternguard are coming along. What are you going to equip the sergeant with out of interest? Also, I have a sternguard squad with a similar build and was wondering why you've picked a rhino to transport them instead of a razorback?

 

Sergeant gets just a bolter. I was contemplating a power weapon, but decided against it. May revisit.

 

Depends how you use the Sternguard. Mine have a couple of Combi-Meltas and a Heavy Flamer. They're a shock and awe unit, delivered to the enemy to cause hell, distract him and buy the Tactical Squads some time. This means they should be moving almost all of the time, be it to Melta some tanks or Flame some troops.

 

Razorback pro:

+ You have a decent weapon.

 

Razorback con:

- Your transport has more than doubled in cost.

- You move half as fast.

- You cannot fire from the Rhino hatch.

- You're a much bigger and more threatening target.

 

If you decide to just go with the basic Razorback, then you've just paid 5pts to replace a double-Meltagun or Heavy Flamer with a Heavy Bolter which you'll hardly ever get to fire.

 

If you have loads of small squads with Razorbacks, they can be very effective as it forces the opponent to split his fire as everything is an equal threat. Same idea with my army. It presents to the opponent several units which are equally threatening. Two Autocannon Predators, two Typhoon Land Speeders and an Autocannon Dreadnought - all roughly matched in firepower, so the enemy has no clear unit to fire on. The infantry (2 x Tacticals, 2 x Sternguard) is the same, four mounted units with double Meltagun capability. Two are troops and weaker, two are not but pack more power.

 

The idea is to give the opponent too many similar choices, so there is no clear unit to focus on. Mounting the Sternguard in Razorbacks is not only counter-productive in terms of point cost, but makes them far too much of an easy target for very little gain.

 

TL;DR?

Because it's not worth it.

Depends how you use the Sternguard. Mine have a couple of Combi-Meltas and a Heavy Flamer. They're a shock and awe unit, delivered to the enemy to cause hell, distract him and buy the Tactical Squads some time. This means they should be moving almost all of the time, be it to Melta some tanks or Flame some troops.

 

Razorback pro:

+ You have a decent weapon.

 

Razorback con:

- Your transport has more than doubled in cost.

- You move half as fast.

- You cannot fire from the Rhino hatch.

- You're a much bigger and more threatening target.

 

If you decide to just go with the basic Razorback, then you've just paid 5pts to replace a double-Meltagun or Heavy Flamer with a Heavy Bolter which you'll hardly ever get to fire.

 

If you have loads of small squads with Razorbacks, they can be very effective as it forces the opponent to split his fire as everything is an equal threat. Same idea with my army. It presents to the opponent several units which are equally threatening. Two Autocannon Predators, two Typhoon Land Speeders and an Autocannon Dreadnought - all roughly matched in firepower, so the enemy has no clear unit to fire on. The infantry (2 x Tacticals, 2 x Sternguard) is the same, four mounted units with double Meltagun capability. Two are troops and weaker, two are not but pack more power.

 

Makes sense, may have to rethink my loadout and transport for my sternguard now and the rest of my army for that matter.

 

Cheers man!

Great log you've got here brother! I like how you've got those nice crisp tactical marks on the Rhino doors. Hope to see more!

Thanks! Althought it did just occur to me that the Sternguard squad will now be embarked in a Rhino with a Tactical Arrow, which doesn't make a whole lot of sense. May re-visit that at some point!

Tamiya masking tape is great, isn't it? I'll be using some to do yellow+black striping on the inner borders of some Drop Pod doors soon enough. :D

 

As to the top hatches, just don't glue them on. You'll have some extra Rhino top hatches if you do a Razorback, Predator, Whirlwind, or Vindicator. If you do include any of those vehicles, you can paint up those extra top hatches for the the Rhinos for your Sternguard Veterans, and swap them out depending on which squad is riding in the Rhinos. Easy peasy. I think this style of veterans symbol would suit the style of your army very well:

 

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e245/btmcrae/vetcross.jpg

 

That circle shape in the middle keeps if from looking too much like a Black Templars symbol.

 

Razorback pro:

+ You have a decent weapon.

 

Razorback con:

- Your transport has more than doubled in cost.

- You move half as fast.

- You cannot fire from the Rhino hatch.

- You're a much bigger and more threatening target.

 

If you decide to just go with the basic Razorback, then you've just paid 5pts to replace a double-Meltagun or Heavy Flamer with a Heavy Bolter which you'll hardly ever get to fire.

 

If you have loads of small squads with Razorbacks, they can be very effective as it forces the opponent to split his fire as everything is an equal threat. Same idea with my army. It presents to the opponent several units which are equally threatening. Two Autocannon Predators, two Typhoon Land Speeders and an Autocannon Dreadnought - all roughly matched in firepower, so the enemy has no clear unit to fire on. The infantry (2 x Tacticals, 2 x Sternguard) is the same, four mounted units with double Meltagun capability. Two are troops and weaker, two are not but pack more power.

 

The idea is to give the opponent too many similar choices, so there is no clear unit to focus on. Mounting the Sternguard in Razorbacks is not only counter-productive in terms of point cost, but makes them far too much of an easy target for very little gain.

All of your reasoning is why I would would Combat Squad both Tactical Squads and put the Assault elements(i.e. the sergeant and the special weapon trooper) in the Razorbacks, leaving the Support element( i.e. the heavy weapon trooper and friends; a missile launcher is a good all-rounder for a squad that also contains 4 bolters) to plant themselves in a nice area with good fire lanes and/or on an objective in your own area. The Razorbacks are fine with just heavy bolters for two reasons: one, they provide decent squad fire support, and two, they make the Tactical Combat Squad a bit more threatening(i.e close to on par with the Sternguard), and so can provide for that choosiness you want to force upon your opponent(that is also a huge part of my own personal army building philosophy by the way :)).

 

Also, it seems like you have a similar philosophy to me- armies should have a lot of models in them.

 

Great thread by the way. Been following it for quite some time. :P

As to the top hatches, just don't glue them on. You'll have some extra Rhino top hatches if you do a Razorback, Predator, Whirlwind, or Vindicator. If you do include any of those vehicles, you can paint up those extra top hatches for the the Rhinos for your Sternguard Veterans, and swap them out depending on which squad is riding in the Rhinos. Easy peasy. I think this style of veterans symbol would suit the style of your army very well:

 

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e245/btmcrae/vetcross.jpg

 

That circle shape in the middle keeps if from looking too much like a Black Templars symbol.

Yeah, I've been leaving the hatches separate for just this reason - so I can swap them out depending on the squad. When I get around to adding squad markings on the troops (Tactical I, Tactical II, etc) I will be adding unit markings on the hatches too. For example, the arrow on one hatch will have a II next to it. That way there's no confusion about which squad is in which Rhino.

 

I also have some four or five hatches from previous projects to use. So we're all good. But yes, I'll be doing an Elites symbol as per Codex, but a little more hard-edged than the one you suggested. Something like this probably. I envisage the Sons of Orar as being extremely Codex-adherent, just like their parent Chapter the Ultramarines:

 

http://images.dakkadakka.com/gallery/2011/1/5/170069_md-Codex%20Astartes,%20Copyright%20Games%20Workshop,%20Space%20Marines,%20Veteran.jpg

 

All of your reasoning is why I would would Combat Squad both Tactical Squads and put the Assault elements(i.e. the sergeant and the special weapon trooper) in the Razorbacks, leaving the Support element( i.e. the heavy weapon trooper and friends; a missile launcher is a good all-rounder for a squad that also contains 4 bolters) to plant themselves in a nice area with good fire lanes and/or on an objective in your own area.

I'm pretty much already doing this. Tactical Squad splits into 5 Marines with Missile Launcher and 5 Marines with Meltagun & Combi-Melta in Rhino. The only time I reconsider doing this is during Kill Point games.

 

The Razorbacks are fine with just heavy bolters for two reasons: one, they provide decent squad fire support, and two, they make the Tactical Combat Squad a bit more threatening(i.e close to on par with the Sternguard), and so can provide for that choosiness you want to force upon your opponent(that is also a huge part of my own personal army building philosophy by the way :D).

Hmmm... I'm not sure I agree re: Razorbacks. More specifically, it means you have to disembark to use the Meltaguns. But hey, that's probably just the way my army is set up and something of a personal choice.

If you go with the more complex designs on those shoulder pads, those top hatches will look awesome to be sure. :D

 

I'm not sure I agree re: Razorbacks. More specifically, it means you have to disembark to use the Meltaguns. But hey, that's probably just the way my army is set up and something of a personal choice.

Very astute reply. It very much depends on your preferred method of attack, and what roles the other elements of your army will be playing in support of these units.

  • 3 months later...

Sternguard Painting finished!

 

There will inevitably be some going back over, adding some minor details, shoulder symbols once the rest of the army gets them, and so on. Currently doing the bases. But even so, here's the painted Sternguard squad. You'll notice the Sergeant has a tabard instead of pteruges, to keep him consistent with the other two Sergeants in the Tactical Squads.

 

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/29108822/B&C/2011-10-28%2000.04.56.jpg

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/29108822/B&C/2011-10-28%2000.06.15.jpg

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/29108822/B&C/2011-10-28%2000.05.15.jpg

He's back and been greatly missed. I've actually got your specific log as a bookmark for inspiration. Now that you're back I await eagerly. :rolleyes:

 

Small quibble. I can't help but think that the sternguard sergeant should have pteruges as well... I can't pin my explanation on anything I just find it more approriate considering that he's sternguard. Small quibble over.

 

Cheers.

He's back and been greatly missed. I've actually got your specific log as a bookmark for inspiration. Now that you're back I await eagerly.

 

Small quibble. I can't help but think that the sternguard sergeant should have pteruges as well... I can't pin my explanation on anything I just find it more approriate considering that he's sternguard. Small quibble over.

 

Hey, thanks, appreciate the feedback. I thought long and hard over what to equip the Sergeant with. I agree that it feels appropriate to deck him out in the same way as the Sternguard, but that's why he's got the bling veteran Shoulder Pads. Overall, I felt it was more important to mark him as a Sergeant rather than 'just' a Sternguard. Doing a bit of both hammers that home, I think.

 

But a valid point nonetheless.

Fantastic to see these guys finished Ravendove! Inspirational too to see someone else get back into the swing of things so spectacularly well after a little break, hopefully I can do half as well.

 

Now, I may have missed it, but did you end up buying the Contemptor? Love to see what you can do with one of those bad boys...

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