Astra Militarum Rank Insignias/Accessories

[awilden]

Hello again, I just thought I'd put this out there to see if there's any hardcore fluff experts, I have looked into some wiki of the rank structures, but was wondering if there was any general rule of thumb (modelling wise), for representing rank for modelling.

 

One particular issue i wanted to ask about, was platoon sergeants, platoon commanders, and company commanders. I was looking at using the Cadian command torsos, and have the flak vest with the 'aquila necklace' (for lack of a better or correct word) to represent the sergeant, the officer torso without all the medals as the platoon commander and the one with the medals as the company commander, also the peaked hat head from the Cadian command kit for the platoon commander, and the peaked hat head from the Baneblade tank kit, with bare heads for the 2 sergeants.

 

Now does this all seem legit and not actually against any fluff i haven't considered? Also are there any other suggestions to give the characters more well 'character'? without going overboard or making it look wrong? I assume there would be a reasonable amount that could be done with decals, but those would be after all the modelling is done and everything is glued and painted anyway, I just didn't really want either to get to the final stages and wish i added more fluffy accessories/heads/etc. or to find out that 'no X doesn't have that, so that model isn't at all correct and looks silly'.

 

Thanks :-)

 

 

[Lunar Centurion]

For modelling officers I'd suggest giving platoon and company leaders hats, and for maybe the alternate torsos, but don't use the medal-y one on the platoon leader; use the one with the big Aquila. For giving models more character, get your hands on some Skitarii bits, some Xenos weapons (For your company commander to have a stolen xenos sword or something), and maybe a custom banner for your command squads. For sergeants, I'd say either hats or helmets, but I don't really know.

[elmo]

Working up.. and using what is already modelled

 

The Squad Sgt has the 3 stripes on the forearm of the left arm

The Powerfist in the command box has 3 stripes and a skull (Platoon Sgt - SSgt/CSM)

Junior officers are shown with helmets or peaked caps with chest armour

Senior officers tend to be more ornate with or without chest armour and caps/bareheaded.

 

Stripes can be repeated on armour and helmets to make it more obvious.

 

The Officers are harder to differentiate between. using the command box, I would suggest that the Junior officer has the chest armour and the Senior officer has the long coat with no chest armour. You can also play with small details like the brim of the junior officers cap is plain and the senior officers brim is gloss black along with different coloured cap bands differentiating between platoons/companies. 

 

The Junior officer would have platoon markings on his shoulder armour whilst the senior officer would have company markings.

 

There is no limit to the way you can go about this and your idea is just as valid. As long as your opposition knows who is who then there will be no problems ;)

[WarriorFish]

This is 40k, only real signal of rank is head wear - the bigger it is the more important you are :P A few chevrons are the only rank signal you'll see, the rest is standard Imperial style as mentioned in that the more fancy/different you are the higher the rank. This can vary on individual armies though as you'd expect, for example Catachan aren't so interested in such things.

It's worth nothing that the gorget is supposed to hold a refractor field that senior officers have, so I'd use such models/torsos for officer ranks only i.e. not squad level sergeants. So you're not restricted much at all, it's mostly a "officer or not" thing

[steellegionnaire85]

You could also green stuff some head gear like berets, service caps, and overseas caps. It give some distinction.

[WarriorFish]

All the cool guys wear berets, that is true...

[steellegionnaire85]

I prefer field caps and helmets

[LordCommanderSamirus]

Back in the 4th edition Imperial Guard Codex I think the "necklace" was actually the refractor field generator. Just a thought.

[march10k]

Insignia of command: coffee cup!

Aand the lieutenants get berets...cool...but not as cool as casually swilling java in the face of a greenskin horde!

[WarriorFish]

Back in the 4th edition Imperial Guard Codex I think the "necklace" was actually the refractor field generator. Just a thought.

Still is That's what I was talking about for the gorget, so it's a torso that should only be used on officers - ideally the senior one as he has a refractor field but I don't think anyone is that fussy about it :P

[Ulrik_Ironfist]

I have a Kasrkin platoon (3 full squads with a command squad) and I used a different color on the stripes on the sgt models. Squad leaders have red stripes, while platoon leaders have gold stripes. Made it easy to tell who goes where.

[steellegionnaire85]

You can always note the rank on the base as well

[RADU LYKAN]

With a million+ worlds to recruit from I think the right answer is "whatever you want it to be"

You want all of your officers to be women due to "insert reasons" fine

All sergeants have power weapons, corporals get chainswords, all officers get power fists, captains get swanky coats and sombreros? fine

Officers and regular guardsmen look exactly the same because who wants to be the snipers next target? Fine

Its your regiment, have fun with it

[Nicodemus Doloroso]

With a million+ worlds to recruit from I think the right answer is "whatever you want it to be"

You want all of your officers to be women due to "insert reasons" fine

All sergeants have power weapons, corporals get chainswords, all officers get power fists, captains get swanky coats and sombreros? fine

Officers and regular guardsmen look exactly the same because who wants to be the snipers next target? Fine

Its your regiment, have fun with it

^ this. Took the words right out of my mouth as I was about to post something very similar. It's your regiment do whatever you think looks cool.

[march10k]

I'm down with the sombreros!  As for making a general officer look like a private...well, there were actually American generals in WWII who did exactly that...they were the polar opposite of Georgie and Monty, as it were...but then again, they were 1 and 2 star generals, they were often within range of snipers who hadn't infiltrated allied lines.  You can have the swagger stick and the pearl handled revolvers when you're commanding from on high...at the front, not so much...not that Patton, at least, toned it down when on the front lines.