Post-Heresy Sternguard Combi-Question

[Ahistorian]

I've started a true-scale army of crusading Imperial Fists (thank you B&C!), set not too long after the Heresy - hence the fancy armour and the Forgeworld transfers.

 

I want my squads to look a bit legion-y, so I was wondering people would mind marines being armed with a bolter+special weapon if the points were paid for a combi-weapon? Having grown up in 3e, I still feel like combi-weapons should be rare, not squad weaponry, so aesthetically I would much prefer two guns, one of them maglocked or on a strap.

 

 

And a first picture to thank y'all for your time.

[Damo1701]

That's certainly an interesting idea.

 

However, you would need a way to distinguish combi-marines from Specialty ones, if your Sternguard are going equipped with specials.

 

As always, just be clear with your opponent before a game.

[Major_Gilbear]

Combi-weapons are (were) uncommon rather than rare in 40k fluff actually - many simply being various weapons (often 2-3, and they could be almost anything) strapped together. In Rogue Trader (and 2E) it was also possible to fire the different components all together at once with a corresponding negative accuracy modifier. In fact, in the early editions, the components were not limited in how many times they could be fired either. So you could have a combi-lasgun-bolt pistol-hand flamer for example, or a double stubgun, or whatever.

 

The sophistication of the weapon comes from balancing the different weapons against each other in a useful way, and/or being able to fire them in an accurate manner. The sort of weapons you can imagine hive gangs using would probably be welded/strapped together pretty crudely (think Ripley in Aliens...), whereas the sort of weapons that the Astartes use are designed and finely crafted right from the beginning of the design - leading to results like the combi-bolters used by the early Terminators, and ultimately progressing to new designs entirely such as the Stormbolter.

 

If you prefer to go with something different than the established look of combi-weapons, I can't see that being a problem as long as it was clear what was what. As Damo says, given that Sternguard can take normal special weapons anyway, it might be confusing to your opponent if the difference between these and the "combi weapon" versions are not clearly distinguished in some way. (Also, interestingly, the "modern" models usually have the combi-part on top of the bolter, as it's easier and clearer to see than the older versions that were underslung - this is especially helpful where a unit can have a variety of different weapons and combi weapons, like Sternguard).

Edited November 17, 2017 by Major_Gilbear

[Ahistorian]

Do you think having two longarms would be sufficient? IIRC, only 2 Sternguard per squad can have plain special weapons, so I was just going to add a bolter to the other two marines and leave the Sergeant as the only one with an actual combi-weapon.

 

If I never fire the boltgun part anyway, I presume the effect on gameplay would be minimal...