Topic: Blood angel veterans - need opinions

[jimbo1701]

Hi all,

I have 2 10-man assault squads - 1 is a normal BA assault squad and the other can be interchanged between veteran and normal. (by swapping normal right arms for arms with veteran badges) Although I like the veterans they're nowhere near as ornate as the veterans you get with codex chapters.

Basically, I can't decide whether to simply buy some new veteran models and JPs and use the 10-man interchangable squad as a regular AS, or whether to try and model some detail (i.e. tabards, seals etc) onto the VAS which would mean they would look out of place on a normal AS (so I'd need to buy another at some point) What have other people done to distinguish their VAS from the regulars. (I also don't like the fact that regular vets wouldn't have JP straps bt that's a minor issue)

On another note, With the whole black shoulder thing for Sergeants, do people just paint the sarge/vets black or also the pad on the senior brother who leads the combat squad? I can distinguish the 2 by lack of helmet and more detail/different weapons on the sarge but it appears people no longer seem to do this with 10-man squads. (used to be the norm)

[EpeeBill]

To make my VAS, I was more worried about the lack of weapon options in the normal assualt box, so I bought a normal tactical sqaud box and used them with the boatload of jump packs that I stockpiled to make a unit with interchangable arms (magnetized) that could have standard bolt pistol/chainsword kits or be able to take power fists, melta guns, flamers, etc.  Since the tactical box comes with flamers, a melta, a plasma gun and a power fist, all I need to do is find other bits, like thunder hammers and rig them with magnets. Then I'll have any number of WYSIWYG options for the Vets.

Another good point to this approach is that I got 10 figures instead of 5, so I can have a full 10 man squad for a little less than the Assualt Squad box of 5. (Of course, I already had the extra jump packs so you're savings may vary)

[Moto Gaheris]

i used regular tac squad models, then Greenstuffed a few Seals onto the armor. 
  The thing that makes them "Vet" were the Scrolls that i glued between the legs.  I downloaded a few Banners off the web, then reduced the size when i printed them out.  Next i cut them down to thin strips off "text" only, and applied them to a thin greenstuff backing (made to look like cloth rippling in the breeze.  The paper proved very stiff, so i soaked the paper with superglue, then pressed it in as it cured
  The result was good enuff that no-one has said "Hey they look like tact marines with extra bits attached!"  The weapons i made include handcrafted lightning claws (Orc hands with DE spike bits off of helmets attached), Thunderhammers, powerfists (from original tactical squad box) and meltaguns.