Salamanders Update - Accessories are your friend!! (a sequel)

Hey-ho all, just a short article today (though short is a relative term at this blog) about a line of 3rd party bits that I've found to be really useful while working on my Salamanders.  While there are two distinct companies I'm using at the moment, I thought I'd just focus on one for starters.

The first company I wanted to review is Anvil Industry, a company based in the UK that produces their own line of Sci-fi miniatures that look pretty bad-ass in their own right.  But when you combine them with the spectacular line of accessories that are almost the perfect scale for 40K.. well now you're speaking my language! The attention to detail observed by the sculptor is exquisite and should be lauded as the year-stick to which all others shall be judged.

The Exo-Lord Equipment Pack

Let me just start off by saying that this sprue is an absolute gem.  Nothing makes your Marines look even more elite like fitting awesome tactical gear around their person.  All those extra pouches, sights, fore-grips and grenades give you an impression of how exactly your minis are able to tote around all that extra ammo, grenades and other flim-flams they need to kick-ass and chew bubblegum.  Perhaps my favourite component on this sprue is the extra mags that have rounds sculpted at the top.

Holstered Pistols (5)

Once your noble genetic engineered super soldier has finally burnt through all those extra mags, they'll be forced to draw their sidearm and deal death at a slightly shorter range.  Thankfully Anvil Industry provides you with the means to arm them accordingly.  Sold in packs of 5, this would be an ideal number considering the standard 5-10 man unit sizes that are most commonly seen.  My only issue with this product is that of the five holsters that are provided, one of the five is empty.  While not so much an issue when you've got your Sergeant waving around his pistol in a suitably inspiring fashion, but it becomes a little more apparent when you're fitting them to your standard troopers.  This is only a minor issue though as they are cheap enough that buying an extra sprue or two isn't an issue at all.  In fact, I bought so many, that I'm intending to use the empty holsters for my Assault Marines.

Large Roman Crest

One of the simplest, yet most iconic elements of the Legiones Astartes is the humble helmet crest.  There's no shortage of these in the market and they all perform much the same task in relation to Space Marine armour aesthetics. The Anvil Industry version of these crests (it should be noted here that there are three (3) different designs to be had) look good and fit neatly on the top of a marine helmet that is Mk IV pattern or later.

Compact Box Mag (10)

This piece was picked up as a bit of an experiment.  Initially I was hesitant as to how effective they would be considering the chunkiness of the average bolter, however on a whim I ran a test fitting using the Forge World 'Umbra Pattern' bolter and BAM!! Instant badassery.  For me, these will be used on my Breacher Marines, since they don't have much freedom to reload during those gruelling close quarter fire-fights. Best part is, I'm able to use the cut-off magazines from the bolters as extra reloads for future squads.  This will no doubt be useful for my Seeker Squads as well considering their swanky ammunition collection.

Well, so much for this being a short article (told you 'short' was a relative term here).  Hopefully though you'll find these reviews at least remotely useful, while encouraging the rest of you to make the most of your miniatures.  Personally I'll be making another order in the very near future...

Catch you all later,

Trev