Dark Angels - Assault Squad painted

Assault Marines are a mainstay of many of the armies I face, and they messily butcher my Guard at every opportunity so it's a given that I'd add some to the Dark Angels. I didn't want to just bang out a basic squad though, I had plans to do a 'vanguard veterans' equivalent utilizing the Sanguinary Guard winged jump packs. Seemed to me that the wing motif carries through both the DA and the BA, so there's definitely opportunity to pilfer decorative bits from their crimson bretheren.

...And then I got the codex, and found that veteran squads can't take jump packs. Ah well, regular old assault marines they'll be - no sense in letting the modeling idea go to waste however!

Once it became clear that they'd just be a vanilla assault marine squad, they were giving the most basic of wargear to keep the points down (unlike the triple plasma-toting tac squad). Bolt pistols and chainswords all around, with the veteran sergeant carrying a power sword.

 

The initial test model I'd built prior to reading the codex became the sergeant model, which worked out well. I'm glad I waited before building the whole unit, that's for sure!

Tried to do a little engine glow in the back, though I'm considering trying to add a little OSL to the wings near the upper thrusters. All in all a fun unit to build and paint, and they add a little extra eye candy to the army overall!