Vanguard Veteran Squad: Space Marines

Product Information

EL: Company Veterans: Space Marine Veteran w/Astartes Chainsword, Storm Shield, Veteran Sergeant w/Lightning Claw, Storm Shield Let’s move on to the good stuff – if you’re playing Raven Guard or one of their successors, the Stratagems are probably a big part of what you’re here for. There’s some very, very good stuff here. In our How to Paint Everything series, we take a look at how to paint well, everything, with a look at different approaches and techniques. With the release of the new Codex Supplement for Raven Guard, we’re taking a look at the XIX Legion – who they are, their history and heraldry, and how to paint them. The Raven Guard served the Imperium faithfully during the Great Crusade, taking part in covert operations and regularly employing guerilla tactics to accomplish their goal. When Horus turned traitor, the Raven Guard were one of seven legions sent to Istvaan V, joining the Iron Hands, Salamanders, Iron Warriors, Word Bearers, Alpha Legion, and Night Lords to put an end to the Warmaster’s rebellion. There they were betrayed, as four legions turned on them, decimating the loyalist legions almost immediately. This was a blow the Raven Guard would struggle to recover from, removing them from much of the fighting of the heresy. The one you’ve been waiting for – the auric demigods that are the Adeptus Custodes are ready to enter Kill Team! First up, their kill teams will all benefit from an improved invulnerable save.

Primaris Techmarine [5 PL, 100pts, -1CP]: Chapter Command: Master of the Forge, Forge bolter, Frag & Krak grenades, Grav-pistol, Mechadendrite, Omnissian power axe, Servo-arm, Stratagem: Hero of the Chapter, The Tome of Ectoclades, Warden of the Ancients

Wrapping Things Up

HQ: Primaris Chaplain on Bike: 1. Litany of Divine Protection, 4. Fires of Devotion, Ancient Breviary, Chapter Command: Master of Sanctity, Fortress of Resolve, Litany of Hate, Stratagem: Hero of the Chapter: Rites of War Of all the factions affected by the dataslate, Tyranids probably got the worst deal. They received so many senseless points hikes to units that were barely playable before that it’s hard to see the rationale behind them. The result is a faction that feels dead on the competitive scene. I actually feel bad for them. Having said this, removing them from competitive play only helps wolves, as they struggled to deal with the faction’s superior datasheets and would end up just getting consumed for biomass. This matchup previously was so bad for wolves I had to just stop playing Alex Macdougall because there was no point; he was not getting a game out of it and I only had a chance if he made glaring positional errors, which isn’t how you want to win practice games anyways. Now the tables have turned and I expect Wolves to roll over Nids. Oh, gribblies. I like the cool purple that contrasts with the rest of the mostly-warm colors on the rest of the mini. The Space Marine range is designed so that all of the plastic parts can be swapped between different kits. Depending on how they are assembled, this box set can make hundreds of varieties of Vanguard Veterans. If you want your squad to include alternative shoulder pads, heads or weapons then grab them from any other Space Marine plastic kit and they’ll fit. This allows the opportunity for truly unique collections of miniatures. Given their wargear options, Vanguard Veterans are unsurprisingly a combat-centric unit, able to add a lot of assault punch to your army. This can be used either as a frontline unit to go after enemy threats, or as a potent counter-assault unit to help protect a gunline army or support units in your deployment zone.

Epitome of Piety. Your warlord can attempt to deny 1 psychic power in each of your opponent’s psychic phases as if he were a Psyker and when he attempts to deny, add 1 to the total. Very helpful for preventing key powers from going off and a monofaction Templars army just won’t have access to many denials otherwise. The +1 actually makes taking it on Grimaldus interesting since it gives him two Deny the Witch attempts at +1 each. B+ Wolf Guard Terminators go up 1 point per model but get free wargear options across the board. Free combi-weapons on Wolf Guard Terminators allows you to create ultra-versatile and very strong units at much lower prices than before. I don’t know why this guy has goggles and a scope, but he’s got ’em both! Green Bits (screens, glowing things, etc.) You do have some tools to work around this challenge, of course. Eliminators have fallen fairly sharply out of favour with many Marine players, but the lure of the Doctrine here means that you can still make use of them in Raven Guard. You also have access to a powerful weapon upgrade option for the Phobos Characters that makes them a threat to mid-quality characters pretty much all on their own for the relevant turns. It’s also a powerful deterrent to your opponent getting their characters into a fight until you’re through to Assault Doctrine, which can be an major upside against some lists. Finally, being able to switch this on in later turns via Adaptive Stratagy means that if you go into your turn seeing that you’ve got the perfect multicharge into a gaggle of characters lined up, you can massively boost your chances of taking them out. You may also opt to downgrade to Standard Digital, a robust journalistic offering that fulfils many user’s needs. Compare Standard and Premium Digital here.Sternguard Veteran Squad • Vanguard Veteran Squad • Terminator Squad ( Terminator Assault Squad) • Bladeguard Veteran • Veteran Intercessor Squad • Company Veterans Bladeguard Veterans are those Primaris Space Marines who have earned the right to serve in the elite 1st Company of a Primaris-only Chapter raised during the Ultima Founding or later, those who serve in the 1st Company of an already-extant Chapter alongside their Firstborn brethren, or those who are already Veteran Marines and have crossed the Rubicon Primaris. Bladeguard Veterans are melee-focussed Astartes who are equipped much like technologically-advanced versions of the knights of ancient Terran legends. They wear Mark X Tacticus Power Armour and are outfitted with Heavy Bolt Pistols, master-crafted Power Swords, Frag Grenades, Krak Grenades and Storm Shields. In most Chapters, there is a rivalry of sorts between the Veteran Vanguard and Sternguard elements of the 1st Company. They compete endlessly for honours and hazardous combat duties -- the glories and shames of their adherents celebrated and atoned for by all. Despite this rivalry, Vanguard and Sternguard Veterans remain battle-brothers above all else, and fight unto death for one another. Although the Raven Guard are a First Founding Chapter, like several notable chapters from that founding they wouldn’t receive their first mentions in the fluff until the release of second edition, first appearing in White Dwarf #166 ahead of the release of the 2nd edition boxed set for Warhammer 40,000 when all of the First Founding chapters were finally named. This led to some interesting quirks where Crimson Fists and Raptors existed before their own founding chapters. And while Raven Guard and their Primarch Corax finally received mention in the 2nd edition release of 40k, they wouldn’t receive rules until almost a decade later in December 2002, when they finally saw rules in their own Index Astartes article in White Dwarf #276. These would essentially be replaced by the 4th edition Space Marines Codex, which released with a model for the Raven Guard’s Captain of the Third Company, Kayvaan Shrike.

Master of Ambush – At the start of first battle round, before the start of the first turn, select one friendly RAVEN GUARD INFANTRY unit (which cannot be Centurions) on battlefield. Remove that unit and warlord (if they are INFANTRY) from the battlefield, then set them up anywhere on the battlefield more than 9” from the enemy deployment zone and any enemy models. If both players have this ability, you roll off to determine who redeploys first. This remains the single most reliable way to ensure one of your units can be right in your opponent’s face out of the gate, and while not being able to use it with Centurions makes it a bit less potent than it once was, it’s still incredibly good, giving you a huge range of options thanks to triggering at the start of the first battle round. in some games you might just want to go for the blunt force option, throwing something like Bladeguard or Aggressors straight at your opponent and forcing them to deal with them, but in others, or if you go second, you can be a bit more cagey. You might choose to position an elite melee unit safely behind Obscuring terrain in strike range of a key objective, or set up a unit of Eradicators in the mid-board so you have free reign as to what to shoot early on. You also don’t have to keep the character and the unit together, which opens up other options such as moving a unit to an aggressive posture and positioning a buff character like an Apothecary in the mid board for the rest of your army to form up around later on, or to help out your Phobos units. This forces your opponent to be incredibly cautious when deploying and gives you a bunch of powerful options even when they get things right, making it the Unlike Dan’s guys, my Raven Guard are from the 2nd company. As such I’m painting their aquila and shoulder trim a golden yellow (actual gold also works but I don’t think it works as well on Raven Guard as it does Ultramarines). This is a coat of Averland Sunset highlighted up to and with Flash Gitz Yellow. Librarian ( Epistolary • Codicier • Lexicanum • Primaris Librarian • Vanguard Librarian) • Chaplain ( Reclusiarch • Primaris Chaplain • Judiciar) • Apothecary ( Primaris Apothecary • Helix Adept) • Techmarine ( Primaris Techmarine)Shadowmaster – Enemy units cannot fire Overwatch at the warlord. With Overwatch being less frequent;y used in 9th and Tau barely figuring on the competitive radar there isn’t much call for this – it’s an effect that’s neat to have, but not “spend a warlord trait on it” neat. C Here we can see the deathly pale skin tons of the Raven Guard. I don’t like going full alabaster for their skin. I prefer to give a little bit of warmth and vitality, but still preserving that unnatural paleness. A Sergeant of the 1st Company will have received special leadership training to fully equip him for his additional command responsibilities as the leader of a squad, although any of the Veteran battle-brothers is capable of leading the squad should the Sergeant be taken out of action. Raven Guard chapter tactics can be less useful, as you generally want to be close to the enemy army with this squad. However, it can be useful if you eliminate your target unit, perhaps reducing the amount of enemy firepower coming your way in retribution. It can also be useful if you do fail a charge from deep strike, giving you better odds of surviving to perhaps assault in the following turn. A Vanguard Veteran, usually serving as part of a Vanguard Veteran Squad, is a Firstborn Veteran Space Marine of the elite 1 st Company in Codex Astartes-compliant Chapters who specialises in close combat.