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This kill team will consist of two Deathwatch fire teams. I'm going to limit the number of official Chapters that are represented, however, focusing on more obscure official Chapters and DIY Chapters of my own creation. In all likelihood, I'm going to revert to the original color scheme that we used for the Legio, as seen on this model painted by @Chronophague in 2003: That version of the color scheme featured the black armour, red helmet (you can see it hung on his belt behind the grenades), and red weapons casings that we are familiar with. The left kneepad is white, indicating that this battle-brother belonged to the Light of the Emperor Great Company. At that time, the left shoulder pad field and chest decoration were bone in color. I don't recall exactly why we formally switched the chest decoration to white and the shoulder pad field to red. If you look carefully, you can see that the =][= on the Deathwatch shoulder pad is red. Most of the entries to this contest followed the "bone" theme, though not a few used different colors for the chest decoration and/or left shoulder pad field (typically white, silver, red, or black). A good example of a variant color scheme used in that contest can be seen in the model painted by @disinfect. While the left shoulder pad uses the bone coloring, the chest eagle is painted white; and the model incorporates the black and white checkerboard pattern on the right boot to indicate veteran status. As you can see, we allowed a bit of creativity in color scheme when we first created the Legio; and I think we need to return to that to better support the varying preferences of players. You can see the other images from that contest here (we distinguished between the mod entries and the Frater Domus entries, but all are collected together in that album). So the scheme I'm going to use is: Black armour (duh) Red helmet (duh) with green eyes Red weapons casings (duh) Red left kneepad or decoration upon that left kneepad (for the Blood of the Emperor Great Company) Bone chest decoration Bone left shoulder pad (Legio) field Red =][= on the left shoulder pad (I'm using the Deathwatch pads and the inclusion of the =][= indicates that these Legio members have served with the Inquisition) Silver skull on the left shoulder pad Right shoulder pads (parent Chapters) in a variety of colors, see below Why am I reverting to the "bone" theme? In short, since I'm building this kill team to introduce a group of players who are relatively new to the hobby, I'm not sure if they're familiar with the various Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes. So I want them to be able to describe the models based on the color of their parent Chapter badge. By switching to the "bone" theme, I can include Chapters whose shoulder pads are red. Assuming each member of the squad has a different color for their right shoulder pad, I have blue, red, yellow, orange, purple, green, black, white, silver, and gold. And since my freehand painting skills suck, I'm only using sculpted shoulder pads. At this point, I have identified the colors, icons, and parent Chapters of the first fire team (of the first squad), the icon and shoulder pad color of the rest of the first squad, and icon of the entire second squad. Most are DIY Chapters of my own creation, with only one member of an [obscure] official Chapter in each squad. The planned fire team of the first squad consists of: White fist on blue disc, possibly surrounded by a sunburst (Fists of Purity Chapter, DIY) - Sergeant White hawk head on orange (Nova Hawks Chapter, DIY) - Fighter Bronze bull head on purple (Khalkotauri Chapter, DIY*) - Warrior Black griffon on yellow (Emperor's Knights Chapter, DIY*) - Warrior Gunmetal crossed swords on black (Guardians of the Covenant Chapter, GW) - Warrior White Maltese cross on green (Storm Angels Chapter, DIY*) - Heavy Gunner This leaves me with white, red, gold, and silver for the fields of the remaining members (with icons given contrasting colors). It will be important to distinguish these four shoulder pads from the Chapters that I named for each. The rest of the first squad and the entire second squad consist of: skull (this is the Silver Skulls shoulder pad from the Deathwatch kit) talon (the Brazen Claws shoulder pad from the Deathwatch kit) skull and halo (the Novamarines shoulder pad from the Deathwatch kit) gauntlet (this is one of the original metal Iron Hands shoulder pads) wolf/hound head (the Ragnar Blackmane's Great Company shoulder pad from the Deathwatch kit) starburst (this is one of the original metal veteran shoulder pads) skull and crossbones (this is one of the original metal Death Company shoulder pads) dragon head (this is the Salamanders shoulder pad from the Deathwatch kit) raven/bird (this is the Raven Guard shoulder pad from the Deathwatch kit) lambda (this is one of the original metal devastator squad shoulder pads) fist (this is one of the original Imperial Fists shoulder pads) flames (this is one of the original Legion of the Damned shoulder pads) skull on a Maltese cross (this is one of the plastic Black Templars shoulder pads from the old upgrade sprue) freehand! (I figured I should challenge myself with one of these models) I may decide that some of the second squad members are from obscure official Chapters. Options include: Angels of Fire (flames) - yellow/orange on red Angels Redeemed (I'd have to use the Dark Angels shoulder pad from the Deathwatch kit) - white on red Contenders (fist) - red on silver/light grey Crimson Talons (talon) - red on white Dark Brotherhood (skull on Maltese cross) - red skull and white cross on grey Hawk Lords (raven/bird) - yellow on purple Iron Fists (fist) - gold on blue-silver Knights of the Raven (raven/bird) - black on silver Red Wolves (wolf/hound head) - red on black Shadow Wolves (wolf/hound head) - white on black Subjugators (fist) - black on green Imperial Paladins (skull on a Maltese cross) - white skull on yellow cross on blue If I decide to do this, I'll be limited by the self-imposed requirement for different colors on the shoulder pad fields. I could make the freehand shoulder pad an obscure official Chapter, doing something that I might reasonably hope to render such as: Crimson Guard (crossed red axes on yellow/gold) Dark Hunters (white axe on blue) Emperor's Hawks (white wing on red) Masters of Protelus (blue axe on white) Storm Callers (yellow lightning bolt on black) Storm Giants (red lightning bolt on bone) War bearers (crossed black axes on green) Note that I've ruled out Second Founding Chapters such as the so-called "First Founding" Chapters, Black Templars, Brazen Claws, Crimson Fists, Mortifactors, Nemesis, and Silver Skulls, as well as more well-known Chapters such as the Howling Griffons, Novamarines, and Sons of Medusa. I've also ruled out those Chapters known to have participated in the Abyssal Crusade. There are probably other official Chapters I could choose from, but those named above were found in the Insignium Astartes, Successor Chapters (booklet in the limited edition version of the 7th edition Codex: Space Marines), and How to Paint Space Marines books as well as the Index Astartes article about the Chapters that participated in the Third War for Armageddon. My focus is the first six models (colors and Chapters already decided upon), so the rest of the decisions are academic for now. If/when the time comes, however, I'll consult other sources to find the full array of official Chapters. I'm pretty sure that both Sergeants will end up having a blue shoulder pad, both fighters will end up having an orange shoulder pad, both heavy gunners will end up having a green shoulder pad, etc. I'll probably differentiate by having different shades of the colors - so one of the Sergeants will use a dark blue and the other will use a light blue. Since a single Deathwatch fire team composes a full Space Marine kill team, and since each operative type other than Warrior can only be included once in the kill team (remember - I'm using the 2021 version), this means that I'll effectively have two options for each operative type. Since my Fists of Purity Sergeant has a thunder hammer and bolt pistol, the other Sergeant will have a different weapon combination. Likewise, my Storm Angels Heavy Gunner has an Infernus heavy bolter, so the other Heavy Gunner will have one of the other heavy weapon options. Decisions, decisions... And just to manage expectations, don't expect my finished minis to match the quality of painting seen in either of the Legio mini-me's that are shown at the top of this entry. * It has been a while since I created any DIY Chapter articles, so I hope to develop these three Chapters (Emperor's Knights, Khalkatauri, and Storm Angels) to exercise some creativity. I also plan to update and revise the Fists of Purity article, removing the more egregious of my errors and [hopefully] improving the quality of the article. Each of these will be conducted as separate blogs, though I'll cross-link to them in this blog.

As many of you may be aware, the Legio is the mascot of the Bolter & Chainsword website. The Legio is a unique Chapter of the Adeptus Astartes, comprised of members from the other Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes in much the same way that the Ordo Xenos Deathwatch is. My contribution to the Liberalia Martiale 2016 will be a complete article providing the official redux of the Legio. One of the essential elements of the Legio Redux will be an extensive insignium showing the markings and heraldry of battle-brothers that have served within the Legio; and this is where you come in. Upon the closure of the Liberalia Martiale 2016, the mod staff will select some of the Adeptus Astartes Chapters submitted/updated for the event and battle-brothers from those Chapters will be included in the insignium. Here's a teaser (these are incomplete images, showing only the Legio and parent Chapter livery - the insignium will have complete images): When a battle-brother is seconded for service with the Legio, he will apply a badge of the Legio upon his armour. The most common practice is to add the basic badge of the Legio to the right pauldron, replacing the battle-brother's squad badge, as seen on the battle-brother from the Emperor's Shields 6th Company at left. Battle-brothers are given significant flexibility and freedom in determining how they display affiliation with the Legio, however, and it is not uncommon for battle-brothers to retain their normal squad badges while adding the basic Legio badge in miniature elsewhere upon their armour. The battle-brother at right is from the Knights of Gryphonne Chapter and has added the basic Legio badge to the front corner of his right pauldron while retaining his Tactical squad badge. Many battle-brothers choose to use variant badges in place of the basic Legio badge, as this battle-brother from the Celestial Guard 4th Company. Another practice is to display one of the badges of the Great Compay with which one is affiliated. In the case of the Liberators battle-brother at right, the white skull upon his left kneepad indicates that he serves with the Light of the Emperor Great Compay. When the Legio marches to war, the artificers apply the basic Legio livery of black armour, red helmet and left pauldron, and white aquila to each battle-brother's armour. The battle-brothers will then display the badge of their parent Chapter upon their right pauldron and a badge of the Legio upon their left pauldron, reversing the normal livery. Often, detachments will display a badge of their Great Company on their right kneepad, usually through either the color of the kneepad or a skull in the color of the Great Company (though some variations exist). In the case of the squad below, the squad of 5 battle-brothers is led by a sergeant, with each member coming from a different Chapter of the Adeptus Astartes. This squad serves with the Blood of the Emperor Great Company, as indicated by the decoration upon the right kneepad (either a red skull or the entire kneepad in red). (From left to right, Legio battle-brothers from the Dark Crusaders, Skull Bearers, Griffon Lords, Death Knights, and Angels Redeemed Chapters) And below you can see some basic heraldry work (click each image to see a larger version):

There have been no suggestions for revisions, so we'll consider this article to be finalized. It will be incorporated into the Legio Index Astartes article (both here and in the Librarium) later. We might update it with improvements if we think of any, though. Members are invited to include the honour shields for their Legio personae as replies to this post (see the templates below and in this gallery). When the Legio was created in M36, the initial core of battle-brothers that formed the new Chapter came from the Imperial Fists, Black Templars, Soul Drinkers, and Firehawks Chapters. This group numbered around 300 battle-brothers led by the normal contingent of officers. Over the next decade or so as the Wars of Apostasy cleansed the Imperium of Goge Vandire's rule, the four Chapters that founded the Legio helped the nascent Chapter in communicating with other Chapters of Adeptus Astartes. In time, a great many other Chapters consented to providing aid to the Legio, most through seconding a battle-brother to the Legio for service. The majority of Chapters that participated in the early years were descendants of Rogal Dorn, mostly due to the persuasion of the Imperial Fists Chapter. Above is the honour shield that Brother Agostino Vittorio of the Howling Griffons Chapter brought with him when he was seconded to the Legio in M39. The practice typical of the Howling Griffons battle-brothers seconded to the Legio is to have the shield quartered in the crimson and yellow of their Chapter, though the quartering pattern is normally reversed with the black griffon badge of the Chapter in the upper left quadrant. The rest of the honour shield follows the standard pattern used by Howling Griffons battle-brothers, except that where most Howling Griffons display the squad badge and number in the lower center, Brother Vittorio has the arabic numeral "4" surrounded by a laurel. This indicates that the position he held prior to being seconded to the Legio was that of Standard Bearer for the 4th Company of the Howling Griffons. The most prominent image in the upper right quadrant is the red skull device, indicating that Vittorio served as a Sergeant, presumably within the 4th Company. On either side of this is black handwritten script that describes the vengeance oaths that Vittorio helped to satisfy during his service with the Howling Griffons. While these oaths are sometimes painted onto the honour shield by the battle-brother, they are most often written by artificer-thralls that serve the Howling Griffons. Placed upon the lower left quadrant of the honour shield is a scroll upon which Brother Vittorio wrote his oaths of allegiance to the Legio. The actual placement of the oaths varies from Chapter to Chapter, from battle-brother to battle-brother. Sometimes they are crafted directly onto the shield, and at other times they are written onto smaller shields, scrolls, or other mediums and affixed to the honour shield. In Vittorio's case, he elected to write his oaths upon a parchment that was affixed to the honour shield by a wax seal. When done in this manner, the seal is that of the senior officer that witnessed Vittorio's oath; in this case, it was the Howling Griffons Reclusiarch at that time, Costantino Duilio, whose personal heraldry featured a rampant lion. Throughout a battle-brother's service to the Legio, his actions, offices, and honours will be recorded. These records are developed into the personal heraldry of each Legio battle-brother, although only the senior officers bear their personal heraldry upon shields or banners during their life. When a Legio battle-brother dies, his personal heraldry will be crafted into two shields. Although the two shields are of different sizes and shapes, the honours crafted upon them by the Legio's artificers are identical and follow a complex heraldic scheme that is based upon the dictates of the Codex Astartes. The smaller shield is similar in shape and size to a combat shield. There are several different patterns of combat shield used by the Legio, so a battle-brother's death shield will be based upon the type of combat shield he used in combat or will be of a generic type. The larger shield is elongated in form and will actually serve as the cover for the sarcophagus that will return the battle-brother's remains to his parent Chapter. Both death shields will incorporate the battle-brother's honour shield into the center, though this will be a smaller version of the true honour shield and will be of carved brass. The smaller death shield will be hung with the battle-brother's true honour shield in the Legio's Hall of Heroes, serving as a memorial to the battle-brother and a record of all the battle-brothers that have served the Legio over the years. The larger death shield will be used upon the battle-brother's sarcophagus and will be returned with the battle-brother's remains to his parent Chapter. The various Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes have different traditions with regard to the treatment of the death shield, though most display the shield within their equivalent of the Hall of Heroes. The return of the battle-brother's remains and the equipment that his Chapter granted to him when he was seconded to the Legio is of utmost importance to the various Chapters, and when the Legio is unable to return the battle-brother's remains for some reason it is customary to return gene-seed from the Adeptus Mechanicus stores on Mars. Members of the B&C are encouraged to design the honour shield for their Legio B&C character. In the near future, we'll provide templates that members can use to design their own shields. You'll be able to take the template of your choice and use the image editing software available to you to design your shield, then submit that image with the image of the mini that you're using to represent your character. In addition, the image can be used as your avatar, personal photo, or within your signature if you desire.