SHOWCASE: Blood Angels assault marine

Warhammer 40,000: Blood Angels assault marine

It's been a while since I've looked at my Blood Angels. Some readers will know that I started a tactical squad at the beginning of the year. I still have four of the ten left to finish, but I have managed to get a sanguinary priest and Baal predator painted since. This model is a test piece for an assault squad to go with them. It's also the first Blood Angel I've painted with an airbrush—something I'll consider for future models as it sped up the process a little.

I've always had a love/hate relationship with assault marines. I bought the first boxed set in the early nineties when they were cast in lead with plastic arms. Back then they were heavy and easy to off-balance because of their jump packs. The safest thing you could do was bend the tag that held them into their slot base so they were leaning forward a little, thus putting the centre of balance over the middle of the 25mm base. It was better when they re-designed them in plastic but they still suffered from another issue: painting.

For the most part, assault marines are just regular space marines. Build them with regular backpacks and the only difference is their use of chainswords and pistols for close combat fighting as opposed to the more traditional boltguns and other ranged weaponry favoured by tactical squads. The real benefit of an assault squad is the option to include jump packs that allow them to cover more ground at speed and thus get to grips with the enemy, which is where they excel. The jump packs, however, aren't the nicest things in the world to paint. I find regular space marine backpacks to be tedious, but I accept them as a necessary evil. Jump packs, with their extra pipes and tubing, to me, are just awkward.

That being said, assult squads always look pretty impressive. And since I only need five models to complete it, and likely won't add any more (to this army) after that, I'm prepared to make the effort. Plus, the brand new assault squad boxed set is easily the best Games Workshop has done and I couldn't resist trying it out. With several space marine armies to choose from, it was a tough call, but my Blood Angels seemed like the most obvious choice. They're often known as an assault-oriented army, so it suits their style. (I have a squad of Death Company marines to paint up for them too soon.) I also love the yellow helmets that mark out the Blood Angels assault squads. It's an excellent contrast to the red armour.

This is the first completed model of my squad of five. I've tried to paint it to a decent standard as I think the models deserve it. I'm in no rush to do the rest—they're all still in the box on sprues—but I will be adding to them every now and again. This one took a couple of sessions to do, but I'm really happy with the results. It uses some spare parts from the Blood Angels tactical squad set, the recently-released Blood Angels upgrade sprue, as well as a jump pack from the Death Company set (as I'll be building that squad with regular backpacks and a rhino for transport). What do you think?