The 501st Imperial Stormtroopers: "The Fighting 501st"

Unlike the normal forces of the Imperial Guard that are raised and organized as regiments, the Imperial Stormtroopers are generally deployed as single companies attached to other regiments. The "Fighting 501st" is a renowned company that has been attached to the Xhorik 87th Drop Troops to bolster their ability to perform rapid strikes on strategic targets.

First Squad is outfitted to destroy targets of significance, such as elite units, vehicles or infrastructure. To this end, they are equipped with high-strength melta and plasma weaponry.

On their right arm they bear their Stormtrooper company number, the Fighting 501st.

On the other shoulder, they proudly display the orange stripe of the Xhorik 87th Drop Troopers Regiment, to which they have been attached for several years.

They carry as much gear and ammo as they can, although the energy packs for their hot-shot weapons take up most of their capacity and so they cannot remain deployed as long as Drop Troopers. They must strike and extract relatively quickly, leaving the grunts of the 87th to hold captured positions or fight protracted missions behind enemy lines.

I did not do much converting with these metal models due to the difficulty. The only significant change I made was to cut off the sergeant's bare head (and the big helmet stuck to his hip!) and put a helmet on him that more closely matches the rest of the unit and try to hide his mangled hip with ammo clips. Other than that, I stuck a scope on one rifleman and a few extra knives, grenades, pouches and ammo on any guys where I could find an empty spot. 

Of course I had to give them the iconic number of 501. This is both a tribute to the 501st airborne infantry regiment that participated in some of the most famous paratrooper actions of the Second World War and also a reference to the 501st Stormtrooper Legion, the famous worldwide Star Wars costuming organization.