GW Online : Warhammer 40,000 : Space Marines : Converted Command Squads

CONVERTING YOUR SPACE MARINE COMMAND SQUAD

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CHAPTER INFORMATION

Hobbyist: Bryan Barnes, Central Web Team Editor
Name of Chapter: Ultramarines
Homeworld: Macragge

COMMAND SQUAD ARMY LIST ENTRY

Name	Points	Equipment	Points	Notes	Total

Chief Librarian Tigurius (Special Character)		Hood of Hellfire bolt pistol Rod of Tigurius frag grenades krak grenades		Only used in an Ultramarines army of 1,500 points or more, powers chosen after deployment	165

Veteran Sergeant Perseus	15	Terminator Honours power dword storm bolter combat shield frag grenades	15 10 5 5 1	Furious Charge (3)	54

Company Champion Adrastos	15	power sword/ combat shield/ bolt pistol Terminator Honours frag grenades	20 10 1	Furious Charge (3)	49

Apothecary Asklepios	15	narthecium & reductor bolt pistol Terminator Honours power fist frag grenades	25 10 15 1	Furious Charge (3)	69

2 Space Marines	15 15	meltagun Terminator Honours frag grenades	10 10 1	Furious Charge (3)	39 39

3 Space Marines	15 15 15	bolt pistol chainsword Terminator Honours frag grenades	10 1	Furious Charge (3)	29 29 29

				Total Points:	502

SQUAD SELECTION AND TACTICA

Bryan Barnes: Since I field an Ultramarines army, I didn't take any divergent Chapter Traits – the boys from Macragge stick to the Codex Astartes! This Command squad is designed to supplement Tigurius's potent close-combat abilities. Making the Sergeant into a Veteran with Terminator Honours was an easy choice, especially because this configuration allowed me to give the whole squad Terminator Honours (except Tigurius, of course). The extra Attacks can make all the difference in the Assault phase. I also gave the whole squad Furious Charge for a similar reason – +1 Initiative and Strength on the charge is nasty. The Company Champion made a lot of sense in this squad, and I wanted an Apothecary in the squad to make sure it survived long enough to get into close combat. Finally, I gave two Space Marines meltaguns to take down well-armoured foes, and the remainder of the squad got chainswords and bolt pistols.

I also made a few selections based on the aesthetics of the models (sorry, gaming gurus, but I couldn't resist). It would have made the most sense to give the power fist to the Veteran Sergeant, but I couldn't bring myself to cut off his cool Gladius sword arm or remove the storm bolter arm. So, I gave the Apothecary the power fist. Also, the Veteran Sergeant didn't really need a combat shield, but I really wanted him to look Hellenistic and gave him the trademark circular Hoplite shield.

There are a few things that I left off the army list entry. I kept the total squad size to nine models so I could attach a Techmarine and still fit the whole group in a Rhino, regular Land Raider, or Drop Pod. If I really feel mean and want to punch through the enemy lines, I might put this group in a Land Raider Crusader. That way, I can shoot up a bunch of infantry and then disgorge my close-combat masters in the midst of the enemy's line (see the Land Raider exception in the Disembarking rule on p. 62 of the Warhammer 40,000 rulebook). Though this plan is expensive in terms of points, when you take this tactic and combine it with Tigurius's psychic powers, you have one brutal way to wreck your opponent's day.

THE CONVERTED COMMAND SQUAD

LIBRARIAN TIGURIUS

I dropped the bolt pistol forearm on Tigurius and replaced it with the forearm from the Devastator Sergeant arm. To make up for the missing firearm, I glued the sight and the holstered bolt pistol together from the Space Marine Bodies sprue and added it to Tigurius's right hip. Lastly, I wanted to model one of the new Space Marine psychic powers. However, since Tigurius can choose two powers after deployment, I didn't want to commit to any one power with this conversion. Thus, I modelled a power that could be interpreted as any one of the six. I drilled out two holes with my pin vice on the top and bottom of Tigurius's right upper arm. I glued in two pieces of floral wire and bent them around his arm in a corkscrew fashion. Next, I glued a skull to the end of each wire from the Warhammer Skeleton Warrior sprue . Lastly, I sculpted flames behind each skull from Green Stuff.

	VETERAN SERGEANT

	I was lucky enough to get my hands on the special edition Veteran Sergeant model from the Space Marine Army Set. This model was awesome as it was, so I didn't do much to him. I filed down his shooting arm at the joint so it could aim down. For his shield, I wanted a Greek-looking Hoplite shield to match his Gladius-style sword. I used the Lorenzo Lupo shield from the Dogs of War range, filed it down a bit, and added the Ultramarines banner cap along with the dangling scroll from the Command Squad box. Lastly, I gave him the Marneus Calgar's Banner Pole backpack and pinned on the banner from the Command Squad box.

SPACE MARINE APOTHECARY

How come the new Techmarine gets all the fun stuff and the good ol' Apothecary gets left out? I decided to change that with this conversion. I assembled the Command squad Apothecary as normal for the most part. I clipped off the standard spotlight from the backpack and replaced it with a trimmed Imperial Guard Enginseer backpack arm. Next, I added the spotlight from the Land Raider Accessory sprue C to the arm – now the Apothecary can see while performing battlefield surgery! I also added Fabius Bile's Chirurgeon arm 1 and Chirurgeon arm 2 to the backpack so the Apothecary actually had surgical tools. Lastly, I replaced the Apothecary's right arm with the right arm from the Space Marine Bike sprue and pinned on the power fist from the Blood Angel Sergeant 1.

	COMPANY CHAMPION

	To carry over the Greek theme from the Veteran Sergeant, I swapped out the Champion's combat shield arm with a standard bolt pistol arm from the Command squad box. I filed down a shield from the Warhammer Empire Detachment sprue, added the laurels from the Command Squad box, and glued this shield over the bolt pistol arm. For the legs, I used the more dynamic ones from the Space Marine Assault sprue. Lastly, for the backpack, I used Marneus Calgar's Banner Pole and added the winged skull from the Command squad box.