Vanguard Veteran

[Marshal Reinhard]

Overall, I'm rather whelmed. As other's have said, he's just a little too under ornamented, and if not for the shoulder crux, could be taken for being a JAI serrgeant. Biggest sin here is not having done more with the jump pack. 

 

Also, why are we just going one model at a time here, if its weekly reveals? Summers not THAT far off...

[Mmmmm Napalm]

14 minutes ago, Cleon said:

I hope the crux is a one off and not something the whole unit has, but I fear despite the box being promo'd as blood Angels they forgot that we have always had skulls for veteran squads outside terminator armour.

Unfortunately i''d wager they all have it. Which is somewhat odd, as the Leviathan Sternguard didn't have them.

 

I might file them off on these guys. I know that the 9th and 10th ed supplements for BT treat "veteran" as an actual rank in between initiate and sword brother, a fluff change presumably made with the intention of explaining the preswnce of bladeguard, sternguard and vanguard veterans and establishing them as a distinct rank from sword brethren proper. I'm not a fan of that idea, as something I like about the templars was their very flat command structure and ad hoc organization. I prefer to interpret the status of veterancy (outside of the sword brethren proper) as simply being an acknowledgement of an initiates wealth of experience, and length of service, rather than being a formal rank. So I don't give my sterngaurd crux pauldrons, and it looks like i'll have to follow them off of these guys. Either that, or cut away the existing pauldron and replace it with another, if able. It is possible to do, but harder for some monopose limbs than others.

[Blindhamster]

11 minutes ago, Mazer Rackham said:

 

Grey Tide studios.

 

They make greaves for both Primaris and Termis, Blood Angels, Space Wolves and Salamanders.

 

All your Armageddon heroes...in fact...

 

only terminators last I checked?

 

no wait, grey tide are the really odd looking ones that just look inherently 3rd party. I stand corrected

 

archies forge have some decent bits for the terminator kit at least. But I’ve never seen shins for intercessors sadly

Edited 20 hours ago by Blindhamster

[redmapa]

Well this guy looks incredibly boring, definitely a downgrade from the old VanVets kit and Im sure the full kit won't have as many extra weapons as the old kit, I mean I bought 3 boxes and I still have leftover power weapons, Lightning claws and storm shields that I can use, it'll be a sad day when that box is gone.

 

Well at least my kitbashed Vanguard Veteran squads won't look that out of place after Im done, they are just assault intercessors with some Sword Brethren power weapons I had left and the actual GW model seems to be just JPI with power weapons..

[Mogger351]

Kinda funny really, I largely agree with the boring comments and the power sword standard loadout isn't helping here.

 

I would love to add though there isn't any real standard for what a "veteran" looks like as such. I agree they could use more... something, but it's hard to quantify that as not just adding tat if they're not careful.

[Mazer Rackham]

6 minutes ago, Blindhamster said:

only terminators last I checked?

 

If that's so, I stand corrected - but in my defence I have seen 'greaves' and 'big greaves' next to each other, so assumed there were two types.

[Marshal Reinhard]

3 minutes ago, Mogger351 said:

Kinda funny really, I largely agree with the boring comments and the power sword standard loadout isn't helping here.

 

I would love to add though there isn't any real standard for what a "veteran" looks like as such. I agree they could use more... something, but it's hard to quantify that as not just adding tat if they're not careful.

Armor rims on some armor panels, alternate armor designs, like different vambraces and greaves, and well, outright decorations on the jumppack. DECORATED WEAPONS (like for reals, why are they almost always plain?)

 

What's added on him is great, the problem is just a question of "is that it?"

[DemonGSides]

2 minutes ago, Marshal Reinhard said:

Armor rims on some armor panels, alternate armor designs, like different vambraces and greaves, and well, outright decorations on the jumppack. DECORATED WEAPONS (like for reals, why are they almost always plain?)

 

What's added on him is great, the problem is just a question of "is that it?"

 

Unfortunately a lot of the best iconography is swallowed up by the various 'divergent' chapters that have their own model lines.  You can really only do standard imperium design language with extra bits and bobs and then you end up looking like either the Oath of Moment warrior or basically just a space marine made of skulls and eagles.

 

That being said, I do miss the pistols having SOME sort of flair.  A bunch of my DC use Firstborn bolters as pistols and they look thematic as hell with scrollwork and eagles and skulls on them.

Every plasma pistol being EXACTLY the same is a bit of a bummer.

[Astartes Consul]

Horrible and disappointing. I genuinely try and stay positive about this stuff, especially as I’m not an active 40k player, but this is incredibly poor. 
 

It’s a design that both fails to improve on the old Vanguard kits or refines the current design language of Primaris. 

 

GW has shown across plenty of releases that it is capable of refreshing old unit and adding new elements to a range. So it’s doubly disappointing that the flagship faction is getting such poor service in this edition.

 

Unless the whole kits has some genius design and a red hot accessory sprue this looks set to be a big L. 

[Mmmmm Napalm]

8 minutes ago, Marshal Reinhard said:

 DECORATED WEAPONS (like for reals, why are they almost always plain?)

Honestly weapon designs remain one of the weakest, and most frustrating, aspects of primaris for me. It's frustrating that not only are the weapons often devoid of interesting variation or decoration (sternguard bolt rifles being an exception, as are the victrix bolters) but so many characters have had their classic weaponry replaced with vanilla primair equivalents.

[Marshal Reinhard]

Even when they do chapter weapons, there's barely much decoration on them either. Like for BT there's both Crusaders and Swordbrethren elites. Both can use heavy bolt pistols and chainswords, so both kits have access to them, with the added detail that they're chained to the wielders arm. Yet the weapons themselves are completely bare of any ornamentation. Not a single cross sculpted on any of them. Heck, even Grimaldus' plasma pistol is the exact standard one, just with a chain link to his arm.

 

To link back to the veteran vanguard, the classic vanguard did this for their bolt pistols:

 

Maybe they're afraid to overdo it, but I feel like they land on "do nothing" with the weapons, way way too often.

[Matcap86]

I just can't get over the goofy primaris jump pack and ankle boosters. It just looks beyond silly to me. Also the chest armour seems overly portruding? Not a fan of this if I'm honest. 

Edited 20 hours ago by Matcap86

[Wispy]

Yeah I'm not feeling this.

 

If your new Marine kits could be realized with kitbashing, doesn't seem like a worthwhile endeavor.

 

I think I know why they're Blood Angel colours, because that criticism would be more obvious in Ultramarines default.

Edited 20 hours ago by Wispy

[Indy Techwisp]

It really is a damned if they do, damned if they don't thing, huh?

 

If they're clean Primaris aesthetic, then it's boring and lacks the Glamour of the Firstborn equivalents.

If they mix in old armour bits like the Sternguard kit (that people were praising keep in mind), then it's not good enough, not worth it and might as well have been a kitbash.

Edited 20 hours ago by Indy Techwisp

[Matcap86]

1 minute ago, Indy Techwisp said:

It really is a damned if they do, damned if they don't thing, huh?

 

If they're clean Primaris aesthetic, then it's boring and lacks the Glamour of the Firstborn equivalents.

If they mix in new bits like the Sternguard it (that people were praising keep in mind), then it's not good enough, not worth it and might as well have been a kitbash.

 

Not really, they're just not striking a balance which they did managed to do with a lot of the space wolves kits, black templar kits, sternguard, scouts, terminators, etc. 

Edited 20 hours ago by Matcap86

[Bradeh]

Outside of the Indomitus stuff, I guess there isn't much ornateness. Terminators are also very bare for 1st Company, the Captains are plain too. I wonder why they didn't stick with the Indomitus Bladeguard style for these. 

 

Edited 20 hours ago by Bradeh

[Indy Techwisp]

4 minutes ago, Bradeh said:

I wonder why they didn't stick with the Indomitus Bladeguard style for these.

 

I recall seeing people complain that Bladeguard are "Too Busy" visually.

IMO what makes this guy in particular not look like a VanVet is that he isn't using either iconic VanVet weapon.

If he looked exactly as he did but with a Shield and Hammer I think it'd be much better.

[Casual Heresy]

It’s a resounding… fine. 
 

I don’t hate it but it really is just an assault intercessor with some more bling. I do appreciate a tabard. 
 

Everything about it says ‘sage’ to me. I feel they could have been more adventurous with new styles of trim and decorations. We have still got to see the full Armageddon squad and the eventual multi-part kit, so this could just be the plain Jane squad member. 
 

I’ll still be painting many of them up because it’s a new space marine release and no it’s YOU who has a problem not ME!

[Marshal Reinhard]

4 minutes ago, Bradeh said:

 the Captains are plain too. 

Tell that to Titus:

 

Who incidentally, has the style of decorated weapon I would love to see more wide spread among characters and veterans

[Marshal Mittens]

He looks cool but I find myself feeling sort of Meh about him, over all. Not bad, but not amazing. 

[Bradeh]

Just now, Marshal Reinhard said:

-snip- Who incidentally, has the style of decorated weapon I would love to see more wide spread among characters and veterans

 

 

I agree with that, if more looked like that then great. 

[Antarius]

I think it looks nice enough, but then I don't have the jump intercessors, so it's just going to be a nice "bonus" unit for me, when I buy the box.

[Indy Techwisp]

13 minutes ago, Marshal Reinhard said:

Tell that to Titus:

 

Who incidentally, has the style of decorated weapon I would love to see more wide spread among characters and veterans

 

Titus is GW's special little boy currently, so he gets all the fancy stuff.

[Mmmmm Napalm]

33 minutes ago, Marshal Reinhard said:

Even when they do chapter weapons, there's barely much decoration on them either. Like for BT there's both Crusaders and Swordbrethren elites. Both can use heavy bolt pistols and chainswords, so both kits have access to them, with the added detail that they're chained to the wielders arm. Yet the weapons themselves are completely bare of any ornamentation. Not a single cross sculpted on any of them. Heck, even Grimaldus' plasma pistol is the exact standard one, just with a chain link to his arm.

 

To link back to the veteran vanguard, the classic vanguard did this for their bolt pistols:

 

Maybe they're afraid to overdo it, but I feel like they land on "do nothing" with the weapons, way way too often.

Grimaldus' boring pistol really bugs me, yeah. I have the above pistol from the OOP DA upgrade. I shaved off the DA icon along the top, and am planning to pick up another Grimaldus so I can give him an actually cool gun.

[grailkeeper]

Looks almost like a conversion, especially the gap between the plasma pistol arm and the body.

 

Reminds me of Dominion Zephon, particularly the jumping off a tactical rock bit.