# Beating the Grey Knight All-in-One-Box



## Hero of Coffee (Apr 9, 2011)

That the Strike Squad, Purifier squad, Interceptor squad and Purgation squad all effectively come out of the same box has always been a mixed bag for me. The versatility of the set is laudable and you get a ton of extra bits lying around afterward, if that's your thing. But it leaves your entire Grey Knights army looking pretty much the same.

Sure, you can paint shoulder pads reds and whites, or gold and black (as I proposed for my Purgation squads) and make the odd helmet white instead of silver to differentiate them (weapons load-outs are fairly standardized by the unit type as well, so that differentiates the types a bit more). But. The repeated modeling leaves a bit of a sour taste in my mouth. Not to mention the fact that it's 35 for 5 Space Marines, though at least they're at GK unit prices.

Recently, I came up with a rather simple solution to both these problems (price and similarity).










That's the Dark Angels Chapter Upgrade sprue. And they're going to be my new Purifiers. I thought Purifiers, being the Elite of the Elite of the Grey Knights army could get a bit more of a ceremonial look to them. GK models have sort of a medieval knight look about them (like the BT) and so putting some in robes seems like a pretty obvious next step. And after making a unit of 10 Strike Squad marines, I'm left with tons of leftover Halberds and GK arms. Heads and shoulder are in a bit shorter supply but my plan is to spread and mix the GK and Dark Angel heads. And it's still pretty cost-effective to turn 2 boxes of GK space marines + 2 upgrade sprues and a bag of 25mm bases into a full 20 robed and decorated (I like the DA backpacks and shoulder pads a lot too).

The upgrade sprues are $16.50 a piece. You're basically getting a marine for $4-5 bucks after you factor in getting extra bases and parts. But I know I have a lot of that extra just lying around after my first few GK marine box purchases. I also thought this guy might make a pretty bitch' Brotherhood Champion:










The description says it comes in four pieces, so I'm assuming the backpack and helmet and least are separate so you can load him up with proper GK looking accessories.

What do you guys think?


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## bitsandkits (Mar 18, 2008)

what you doing about storm bolters?


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## Hero of Coffee (Apr 9, 2011)

bitsandkits said:


> what you doing about storm bolters?


A full box of GK marines comes with 8 Storm Bolter arms (and only 5 marine bodies). I have, I believe, about 3 boxes worth of GK marine bits lying around and given how every squad I've made has at least 1 guy with a psycannon or incinerator I figure I have around 10-12 extra Storm Bolter arms unused.


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## MidnightSun (Feb 10, 2009)

What will you do with the sculpted Dark Angel iconography on most of the bits?

Midnight


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## effigy22 (Jun 29, 2008)

MidnightSun said:


> What will you do with the sculpted Dark Angel iconography on most of the bits?
> 
> Midnight


the good thing about plastic and finecast is this sort of stuff is easily removed with a modelling knife.


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## MidnightSun (Feb 10, 2009)

I think it'll be a bitch to get rid of - especially the robed cehst with the winged sword.

Besides, most of the backpacks have little Dark Angels 'shrines' in the backs - if you cut out the DA bits you'll be left with little arches in the back of the packs. Will you fill those with anything? I don't know if the GK box comes with any tiny little bits (Tiny = smaller than a Guardsman's head).

Midnight


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## bitsandkits (Mar 18, 2008)

the grey knight boxes do have quite a good selection of icons and accessories included, plus they do have some swords included in there own models so the DA vets will fit in pretty well, though some of the DA symbols like on the chapter masters cloak will be hard to remove or disguise.


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## OrdoMalleus (Apr 24, 2009)

To be Fair The Darn Angels Iconography is a Sword (With wings) and the Grey Knights is a Sword (Through a book) so Dark Angels Iconography lends itself well to Grey Knights IMO.

Itll take a lot of work, but as you say you get more than enough bits with the GK boxes, so good find.

+Rep


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## MidnightSun (Feb 10, 2009)

I agree with B&K in that the cloak on the Captain/Master will be really hard to remove. I have one and the design goes all the way down into the folds of the cloak.

But, best of luck. I'm sure it'll look good when finished.

Midnight


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## Hero of Coffee (Apr 9, 2011)

OrdoMalleus said:


> To be Fair The Darn Angels Iconography is a Sword (With wings) and the Grey Knights is a Sword (Through a book) so Dark Angels Iconography lends itself well to Grey Knights IMO.
> 
> +Rep


This is mostly how I feel. With the exception of the robed, winged guy, the DA iconography is generic enough (especially mixed in among GK parts) to blend right in. The idea I think will be to mix 1 box of regular GK in with two or three DA sprues so it's not just all DA with extra GK bits.

I actually think the swords on the shoulder pads are perfect as with a simple painted flame behind them they're practically the Purifier heraldry (which is a skull in a flame with a sword off to the side). GKs have little shrines that show up on their sprues as well so the little one on the DA backpack shouldn't be an issue at all (on the GK sprue it's piece 96 there down in the bottom left corner).










The icon on the Chapter Master's cloak might be a little more of problem... especially if as you say it wraps around the entire model. What is the symbol of? Something like a sword with wings could still fit right in to a GK army but if it's something that says and/or includes the text "hey, I'm a god damned Dark Angel" that might be a bit more of problem. I have a small file though and some GS. It could happen...


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## Doelago (Nov 29, 2009)

What will you do regarding the psychic hoods?


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## MidnightSun (Feb 10, 2009)

The symbol on the cloak is simply the winged sword. Looking at the model (I've got mine sat next to me), the Iron Halo blocks some of the winged sword on the chest plate, which could be difficult to get off, and the feathers on the sword will be bitches to remove. However, you could probably get away with both of those things and say that they're some kind of Grey Knight icons.

The shrines aren't like the GK one - they're imbedded into the backpacks, rather than sculpted on top. You could do it, but I think you'd be better off with the actual Grey Knight backpacks. They're quite 'Dark Angels looking' too - candles, winged Swords and censers appear a lot.

Midnight


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## Creon (Mar 5, 2009)

For the Captain, just GS the wings smooth into reinforced GK armor.


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## Hero of Coffee (Apr 9, 2011)

Doelago said:


> What will you do regarding the psychic hoods?


You mean the hooded heads on the DA sprues? They appear to look just like regular old hooded robes to me. I've already been using Wood Elves 'covered' heads for some of my models, like my conversion beamer inquisitor.

So basically, I'll just use them. Mix them up with some GK bits (there's an extra head per GK marine box, I believe). Probably only the ones on the DA sprue with hood and no helmet and the one head with a pointed nose that looks pretty GK already.



MidnightSun said:


> The symbol on the cloak is simply the winged sword. Looking at the model (I've got mine sat next to me), the Iron Halo blocks some of the winged sword on the chest plate, which could be difficult to get off, and the feathers on the sword will be bitches to remove. However, you could probably get away with both of those things and say that they're some kind of Grey Knight icons.
> 
> The shrines aren't like the GK one - they're imbedded into the backpacks, rather than sculpted on top. You could do it, but I think you'd be better off with the actual Grey Knight backpacks. They're quite 'Dark Angels looking' too - candles, winged Swords and censers appear a lot.
> 
> Midnight


Maybe I'm just looking at it from a perspective of never really having played nor seen a Dark Angels army, but the winged swords at least look very GK and even generic space marine to me and I have no problem incorporating those in with the GK iconography. I especially love the swords and skulls on the backpacks and think they'll be a great way to distinguish the Purifier force.

My thought is once I add the force halberds and storm bolters along with a couple GK shoulder pads and helmets (and paint the DA sprue models the traditional GK silver and white) they DA models will blend in perfectly.

And as I just bought two DA sprues, I'll be able to test that theory tonight. :yahoo:


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## Doelago (Nov 29, 2009)

Hero of Coffee said:


> You mean the hooded heads on the DA sprues? They appear to look just like regular old hooded robes to me. I've already been using Wood Elves 'covered' heads for some of my models, like my conversion beamer inquisitor.
> 
> So basically, I'll just use them. Mix them up with some GK bits (there's an extra head per GK marine box, I believe). Probably only the ones on the DA sprue with hood and no helmet and the one head with a pointed nose that looks pretty GK already.


No, not those monk robe hoods. But the psychic hood. You know the extension at the back of the armor covering the back of their head? Thats a psychic hood.


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## Hero of Coffee (Apr 9, 2011)

Doelago said:


> No, not those monk robe hoods. But the psychic hood. You know the extension at the back of the armor covering the back of their head? Thats a psychic hood.


Oh, the part of the Aegis, you mean. I could conceivably model that. A bit of plasticard and GS, but I don't know if I'll bother. The "psychic hood" on the Aegis is fluffy but only Librarian's actually take one with any rules on it. I'll see when I put them together if the absence of the hood of the Aegis really stands out at me. My hunch is it might be something for only the most astute of observers (like yourself) to harangue me for not including.:ireful2::biggrin:

But I appreciate having that pointed out. Thank you.


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## Hero of Coffee (Apr 9, 2011)

Busy couple days but I have the first five Purifiers assembled with the DA veterans upgrade sprue. The GK pieces don't fit exactly into the DA bodies and vice versa but with only a minimal amount of trimming they go together just fine.










These three use the DA bodies and I'm completely happy with how they turned out.










I also think the GK with the loin cloth works with the robed marines.










What I'm still up in the air about is the psycannon guy who's mostly GK. I'm not sure if the mixed unit will look decent, or if I should really make all the Purifiers have the same body. The psycannon guy has one of the robed DA heads that looks really like it's a GK head tossed into the mix. Even has a little cross on the right side of the face.










What do you guys think?


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## bitsandkits (Mar 18, 2008)

they look very good,the robes do really work well.


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## Ravion (Nov 3, 2010)

Very Nice! Upload more pics please?


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## MidnightSun (Feb 10, 2009)

Can't say I'm a fan - I think that the robes look out of place with the GK heads and the weapons. I like the Combat Shield on the Hammer dude, though.

Midnight


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## Hero of Coffee (Apr 9, 2011)

MidnightSun said:


> Can't say I'm a fan - I think that the robes look out of place with the GK heads and the weapons. I like the Combat Shield on the Hammer dude, though.
> 
> Midnight


Thanks.  I'll see if I can change your mind once they're painted.

One thing I noticed is you can get a lot more dynamic poses on the DA bodies with the GK heads and halberds.


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## Dînadan (Mar 7, 2009)

Nice work. 

If you're still looking for a mini for the Brotherhood Champion, have you considered the Black Templar's Marshal? I've converted one to use as a Brotherhood Champion in my planned Pre-Heresy Thousand Sons army (which will use the GK codex) and think it works quite well:


Could be useful to you as the tarbard will make him fit in with the robed Purifiers you've made.


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