BURN heretic!

So, as I mentioned in the previous post, I got my grubby paws on the lovely new plastic Sternguard, and verily, I like how they're turning out:

The only one without the wing on his pauldron I use to mark my Sternguard, because Deathwatch. 

No, not using the Sternguard bodies or legs; I'm going to save those for something special... I've still got a couple more that I haven't started painting. Just waiting for some bits to come my way. Specifically, this one:

I've always had a soft spot for Sternguard, so I've decided to bulk out my collection to have a full squad of Sternguard and build a list around them. Blood Angels might be rolling with an old-ish Codex, but I don't think they're out of the game yet. They've still got some things going for them, notably:

- Stormravens with Bloodstrike missiles, coz AP1 can really sting in this edition.
- Librarians with Divination. Pricey, but Prescience is so full of win! Especially when you need to make those combi-plasma shots count...
- Multimelta attack bikes are 5 pts cheaper.
- A 5-man team of Marines geared for assault with a meltagun and Infernus pistol in a Razorback with Lascannon and twin-linked plasma is every bit as cheap as the 6th ed equivalent. AND the Razorback is Fast.
- Furioso Dreadnoughts are awesome.

So, here's an idea for a list:

Librarian in Terminator armour with Storm Shield
10 Sternguard, 2 with heavy flamers, 8 combiweapons (3 melta, 3 plasma, 2 flamer) and a power weapon
3 x 5-man Assault squads with an Infernus Pistol and a meltagun in a Razorback with Lascannon & twin-linked plasmagun
3 x Stormraven Gunships with Hurricane bolters
Attack Bike with multimelta

Right, the basics:
1) Dealing with hordes? 6 Hurricane bolters, Sternguard with lotsa flaming death, 3 TL Assault Cannons... Need I say more?
2) AP 2? Bloodstrike missiles, Lascannon and twin-linked plasma death, melta weapons in every flavour. Check, I think.
3) Dealing with Deathstars? Depends on the Deathstar, but a concerted strike from the 3 Ravens will most certainly get stuff done.
4) Scoring? 3 scoring units, zipping about in Fast vehicles. Not too bad.
5) Flyers? I have 3 Stormravens. It's going to take quite an investment in anti-air dakka to stop that.

That more or less covers most of the bases. I can't help but feel I need more gun...

Anyway, I need to test this. To this end, I just got my grubby paws on this:

2nd-hand, needs a little work. Here's where we are now...

Left, Newraven, right, Blackraven. 

Colour's a little different. That's Army Painter Pure Red with a coat of Mephiston Red, drybrushed with Trollslayer Orange. Blacklining with Agrax Earthshade. Soon.... soon....