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Legio Bolter & Chainsword Roll of Honour One member of the Bolter & Chainsword community is going to win the Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Onslaught boardgame. That member will also win the magnetized gold disc shown below. In addition, one or more members will each win a magnetized silver disc and one hook and loop patch shown below. The number of runners up (silver disk and patch) will depend upon the total number of entrants. All prizes will be shipped worldwide at no cost to the site/winners (i.e., I'm paying for shipping out of my own pocket). How to enter this contest: Assemble and paint 3 models representing members of the Legio Bolter & Chainsword. There are some requirements/restrictions, however: Models must have the ADEPTUS ASTARTES keyword. Legio members are all loyalist Adeptus Astartes. Models may not have the DEATHWATCH, GREY KNIGHTS, TERRAIN, or VEHICLE keywords. Models must be Warhammer 40,000/Kill Team scale (i.e., no Epic scale, no Inquisitor scale, no JoyToy, etc.). Models may be from any loyalist Adeptus Astartes Chapter except the Deathwatch and Grey Knights. 1+ model must be a regular Legio member (scout, battle-brother, veteran, sergeant, veteran sergeant) in the standard color scheme (black armour and red helmet are key). 0-1 model may be in parent Chapter colors, either as a pre-formation Delegatus-Herald (firstborn) or a prospectus (firstborn or Primaris). You can learn about the Delegatus-Heralds and Prospecti in the Index Astartes article. The models do not have to form a coherent squad. For example, you could submit one Tactical Marine, one Chaplain with jump pack, and one Terminator. The models do not have to represent the same character. The models do not have to be from the same Chapter. Models do not have to be game-legal (i.e., you may convert to your heart's desire to represent exotic weapons and wargear). You may also indicate that one of the models that you submit is also your Legio mini-me, representing your persona within the Legio. If you do so, please include the model's name and parent Chapter, as well as any other background information you desire. That model must otherwise conform to the guidance for Legio mini-me's as found here. If you include an eligible Legio mini-me in your submission, you will be awarded the Legio mini-me badge (if you have not already earned that badge). If you submit an eligible Legio mini-me model or have previously done so, you may also include an image of your Legio mini-me's honour shield. If you do so, you will be awarded the Legio Honour Shield badge (if you have not already earned that badge). It is recommended that you check out the Insignium Astartes: Legio to see examples of the basic color scheme and the flexibility allowed, and you might want to check out the Legio B&C minis that members have submitted over the years. If you have any questions about the Legio, either from an in-universe perspective or a real-world perspective, please ask them here. Each member is limited to 3 models (i.e., one submission). You can upload all submissions to the Legio Bolter and Chainsword category in the Gallery (you are free to create your own album); and if you desire to do so, you are invited to create a blog in the Legio Bolter & Chainsword category in the Blogs. Images of all submissions should also be posted in a reply in this topic before the deadline - please be sure to include the image(s) of all 3 models in a single post to make it easy for us to find all of them. The deadline to enter the contest is midnight CST on Saturday, January 31, 2026 (i.e., whenever I log in on the morning of Sunday, February 1. The staff will select the finalists. The total number will depend upon the total number of members entering. The members of the community will then vote for their favorites. The member with the most votes will win the grand prize (Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Onslaught game and the gold disc), and the runners up (number TBD) will each win the runners up prize (silver disc and patch). If you have any questions about this contest, please post them as replies in this discussion.

Index Astartes: The Legio Bolter & Chainsword by the members of the Bolter & Chainsword The Space Marines of the Adeptus Astartes are posthuman warriors, genetically enhanced and equipped with the best weapons, wargear, and training that the Imperium can provide. Even among these mighty warriors, however, there are traitors and renegades whose vile treachery threatens the Imperium from within. To face such foes demands warriors whose hearts and souls are trained to withstand extremes of pain and terror, whose faith in the Emperor is as unwavering as it is strong. Since the dawn of the Imperium a brotherhood of Space Marines have fought these foes and defeated them. They are the Legio. Origins Starting in the days of the Second Founding, many Chapters maintained a loose alliance. This wasn't a formal alliance, but an unwritten agreement to communicate and cooperate insofar as they were able. This communication and cooperation was achieved through a class of officers appointed by the Chapter Masters to serve as liaisons with the other Chapters. Though most commonly known as Delegatus-Heralds, some Chapters had unique names for these officers, such as the Knight-Heralds of many Successors of the Dark Angels Legion, and the Apestalmenarchs of the Iron Snakes Chapter. Regardless of naming conventions, most Chapters had a handful of such officers. Over the millennia, these officers created and maintained informal alliances that allowed a means of arbitration and cooperation among the participating Chapters. For example, the Delegatus-Heralds of the Successors of the Ultramarines Legion were instrumental in coordinating the attack on the world of Tsagualsa, which had been used by the Night Lords Legion as a base of operations after the destruction of Nostramo. Similarly, it was the Delegatus-Heralds of the Imperial Fists Chapter who notified the other Successors of the VIIth Legion of Chapter Master Koorland’s enactment of the Last Wall protocol during the War of the Beast. The coalition of four Chapters that laid siege to Holy Terra during the Age of Apostasy in M36 was also facilitated by such officers. On numerous other occasions this loose alliance and the efforts of the Delegatus-Heralds prevented whole-scale battle between Chapters and allowed the Adeptus Astartes to police their own before the rest of the Imperium learned of wayward Chapters. Over time, though still informal, the participating Chapters systematized the alliance, referring to it as “the Legio” in reference to the legions of the Great Crusade. The liaisons, now known simply as Legio Heralds, were identified by a black and white check pattern, most often displayed on tilt shields. Most Legio Heralds were Veteran Sergeants, bearing the Chapter Approved identifiers of that rank. Despite the systematization and recognition of the Legio by the Adeptus Astartes, participation wasn’t universal, and some among the most independent or insular of Chapters refused to take part. Over the millennia, however, numerous events convinced leading Chapters of the need for the Adeptus Astartes to take the lead in policing their own ranks. Two key events in particular impelled a movement to formalize the Legio. The first was the War of the False Primarch in M33 and the second was the Ecclesiarchal purges of M37. In the aftermath of the War of the False Primarch in M33, five Chapters were tasked with the destruction of eleven Chapters that had been judged Traitoris Perdita by the High Lords of Terra for their actions during that war. These five Chapters, the Carcharodons Astra, Charnel Guard, Death Eagles, Flesh Eaters, and Red Talons, were known as the Pentarchy of Blood, and they were successful in systematically destroying the traitor Chapters and laying waste to their homeworlds. Many of the Chapters that weren’t involved in the event wondered if the High Lords of Terra had been rash in their condemnation of the eleven Chapters, basing their judgment on vindictiveness rather than actual evidence of corruption. In M37, Saint Basillius became highly powerful during the Ecclesiarchal Purges of the Age of Redemption, even commanding several Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes, his ‘puritas division.’ After Warp Story Dionys appeared over dozens of systems, Saint Basillius declared that the thirty Chapters whose homeworlds had been affected were corrupted, ordering them to take part in a crusade into the Eye of Terror. These Chapters, known as the Judged, willingly acceded to his judgment, though they knew that the crusade was doomed. Many members of the Judged Chapters fell to Chaos and the incidence of Heretic Astartes raids increased considerably. Remnants of the Judged Chapters returned from the Warp 800 years later, confronting the still-living Saint Basillius and revealing him to be an apostle of Chaos who orchestrated the Abyssal Crusade to weaken the Imperium. The vengeful Adeptus Astartes slew the servant of Chaos and thousands of his followers, destroying all his shrines and every relic and tome of his creed. After the revelation of the perfidy of Saint Basillius, a rare council of over a dozen Chapter Masters, including some from among the survivors of the Judged Chapters, convened. These leaders agreed that the Legio offered a superior alternative for both the coordination of the Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes as well as their monitoring and discipline. A delegation of these Chapter Masters approached the High Lords of Terra, proposing the formalization of the Legio. They cited the contributions that the Adeptus Astartes had made to the Imperium as a result of the efforts of the Delegatus-Heralds and used the creation of the Deathwatch as an example of how the proposed Legio could be created and sustained. After over three months of debate, and over the objections of the Ecclesiarch (whose influence had been weakened as a result of the unmasking of Saint Basillius), the High Lords approved the request on the condition that the Legio would serve as the Chamber Militant of the Ordo Astartes. The Adeptus Astartes delegation acceded to this request and the Adeptus Mechanicus was tasked with provisioning the newly-created Legio. Many survivors of the Abyssal Crusade – those from Chapters that were no longer viable – formed the core of the formalized Legio; and most Chapters seconded one of their Legio Heralds as their first contributions to the newly-formed Chapter. Role The Legio has several objectives: maintain bonds of friendship and loyalty among the manifold Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes serve as a means by which the various Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes may share tactical expertise and innovation keep an eye on the various Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes On the surface, the Legio is most well-known for the first two roles. In these, the Legio is also known as the “Collegium Astartes.” Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes will attach individuals, squads, even whole companies to the Legio temporarily. Members of Chapters attached in this way are known as “Prospecti” and, though they maintain the livery of their parent Chapters, they often bear the mark of the Legio upon their armor. This may appear as a campaign badge, in place of a squad badge, or elsewhere as determined by Chapter leaders. During such periods, these battle-brothers will interact with counterparts attached from other Chapters, exchanging tactical information and ideas, even new developments in equipment. Often, detachments will be attached for specific training, and it is through these attachments that specific Chapters share their expertise with other Chapters. When these detachments return to their Chapters, these members often retain the Legio marking as an honorific. The Legio also has a corps of veteran squads tasked with providing training to the other Chapters. Known as ‘Mentor Cadres’ or ‘Legio Mentors,’ these teams transmit new tactics, newly-approved wargear, and information about new enemies to the Chapters, ensuring that the expertise to defeat the Imperium’s foes is as widespread as possible among the Adeptus Astartes. A byproduct of the Legio's role in keeping an eye on the various Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes is the Legio's self-imposed mandate to hunt down traitor Astartes. On the rare occasion when a Chapter reveals information about renegades, the Legio is willing to work in concert with that Chapter and to turn captured traitors over to their parent Chapter. On other occasions, the Legio will execute heretic Astartes, recovering and purifying wargear. The Light of the Emperor Is a beacon for Mankind's salvation. The Justice of the Emperor Is the doom of the enemies of Mankind. The Blood of the Emperor Is sacrificed for all Mankind. Base of Operations The mobile star fort Arx Vigilans serves as the Legio’s headquarters. Conferred by the Adeptus Mechanicus upon the Legio’s creation, the Arx Vigilans is able to service up to three Adeptus Astartes battle barges, twelve strike cruisers, and multiple smaller vessels, the massive construct rivals the famed Blackstone fortresses in size and firepower. Within the superstructure of the star fort can be found multiple training areas of sufficient size to allow for company-sized training evolutions, to include employment of vehicles. Of unknown provenance, some believe that it may be a remnant from one of the Legiones Astartes during the Great Crusade while others believe that it may be of more recent construction. Fleet In addition to the Arx Vigilans, the Legio operates two battle barges, the Sword Bearer and Fidei Rex, and seven strike cruisers, including the Divine Hunter and the Spear of Justice. The Legio also possesses numerous smaller Adeptus Astartes vessels of various classes. When going to war, the fleet is often augmented by the vessels of the Prospecti forces that are attached to the Legio. Training The Legio spends considerable time training, serving as a vehicle by which the various Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes can share tactics, techniques, procedures, and equipment. In this, the Arx Vigilans serves as the training venue for many of the training evolutions at the company and below. When specific environments are required, or when the forces involved in the training require larger training areas, the Legio will utilize suitable worlds and interstellar bodies that the High Lords of Terra have approved. While the Legio lays claim to several such locations, the vast majority are used only temporarily, with the Legio and forces to be trained traveling to those locations. Occasionally, other Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes may consent to their own worlds or training areas being employed for such use, but this is often only when those Chapters are participating in the training. More often, the Legio will evaluate the requirements for training and will locate a suitable world, moving on once the training is complete. The Mentor Cadres usually serve as facilitators for training, providing instruction and serving as opposing forces when necessary. On occasion, other Chapters will serve in these roles, typically when they excel or specialize in the training to be delivered. Combat Doctrine The Legio generally follows the dictates of the Codex Astartes, though the Legio’s access to multiple interpretations of the Codex Astartes as well as the doctrines of most other Chapters allows it to incorporate a significant degree of flexibility in its combat doctrine. With the return of the Primarch Roboute Guilliman and his efforts to update and revise the Codex Astartes, the Legio has served as a source of both variations and proofs for new doctrine. While an individual company or detachment might be trained extensively in a specific area based on the experience and desires of the commander, the overall combat doctrine of the Legio follows the Codex Astartes mandate of maximum flexibility. The Legio acts as an independent battle force, sending detachments where it will, often in aid of other Chapters or military organizations within the Imperium. Companies are composed to whatever suits the needs of the leader. Since most members of the Legio are experienced battle-brothers from their respective Chapters, the Legio can draw on a wealth of experience and training, enabling leaders to task-organize their forces and conduct operations in ways not normally available to standard battle companies. Organization The Legio is not organized into the Codex Astartes Chapter construct. Though organized into typical 100-man companies, each company is fluid in its organization depending upon its training and operational goals. The members of the Legio train to perform all standard roles found within a normal Chapter and a company can shift from Battle Company composition to any of the Reserve Company compositions based on availability of equipment. Multiple companies are formed into the three Great Companies that serve as the primary organizational construct of the Legio. Each of the Great Companies is named for an aspect of the Emperor and has an associated color. The Light of the Emperor Great Company represents the beneficent influence of the Emperor and is represented by the color white; the Justice of the Emperor Great Company represents the punishment of the Emperor upon those that threaten Mankind and is represented by the color black; the Blood of the Emperor Great Company represents the sacrifice made by the Emperor in service to Mankind and is represented by the color red. Each Great Company is composed of three or more companies, depending upon the overall strength of the Legio. Owing to the Legio’s focus on training and flexibility, each Great Company includes one company that is equivalent to a Veteran company, this comprised of the Great Company’s Mentor Squads and led by the Great Company’s First Captain. The other companies will vary in composition and role depending upon its training and operational objectives, as well as the availability of equipment. It is common for members of the Legio to transfer between the Great Companies. The First Captains form the council that, with the leaders of the specialist orders within the Legio (the Chief Librarian, Reclusiarch, Master of the Forge, and Chief Apothecary), directs the overall efforts of the Legio. Recruitment When a member of the Legio is slain, their gene-seed will be returned to their parent Chapter by an honor guard led by a Herald. In addition, pure stocks of the Chapter’s gene-seed will be included as a gift, the gene-seed drawn from Adeptus Mechanicus stocks after being screened for purity. The parent Chapter will then select a replacement for the fallen brother, typically a battle-brother or veteran who has proven himself to be both tactically sound and pious in the Chapter’s warrior cult. Occasionally, a Chapter may send multiple members as Prospecti, with one remaining with the Legio permanently after undergoing training and screening by the Legio. Assignment to the Legio is always an honor, never a punishment. Service in the Legio is for life. Battle-brothers often return to their parent Chapters on temporary sojourns, often to renew their indoctrination in the warrior cult of their parent Chapter and to submit themselves for testing to progress through the ranks of their Chapter. In many cases, Legio members who are promoted to the rank of veteran within the Legio will take a sojourn to undergo the trials of their parent Chapter to confirm their veteran status. When a battle-brother is seconded to the Legio, he will craft an honor shield. This shield serves as a pictorial representation of the battle-brother’s accomplishments and honors, and it will often feature his parent Chapter’s iconography, the squads and companies in which he has served, and personal oaths of fidelity and dedication. This honor shield will serve as the basis of the battle-brother’s record within the Legio, and this record will be maintained by the Legio’s servitors. When the battle-brother dies, the Legio’s artificers will craft two death shields based on his record of service. One of the death shields will be returned to the battle-brother’s parent Chapter along with his remains and his gene-seed while the other death shield will be placed in the Legio’s Atrium Mortuorum. Livery Battle-brothers that are permanently assigned to the Legio by their parent Chapters usually adopt the distinctive livery of the Legio, replacing their original livery with the mostly black armor and red helm. The only permanent reminder of their Chapter of origin is upon their right pauldron, which is kept in their original Chapter colors. By default, the left pauldron and chest decoration are light tan in color, and the Great Company is identified on the left kneepad. The Legio’s Veterans, the Mentors, often incorporate black and white checks, most often upon their right knee and/or greave, as well as black or white stripes upon the helmet. Battle-brothers often transfer their personal battle-honors and the markings of their Chapter’s warrior cult to their Legio armor. For example, Legio battle-brothers from the Salamanders Chapter often include the Promethean Cult’s hammer and flame markings upon their armor. The Legio allows its members a great deal of flexibility in their livery, however. For example, members often display their Great Company affiliation through the color on their left shoulder pad, either by using that color for the background or just the Legio marking. Metallic colors are often used to indicate veteran status either in place of or in addition to the black and white checks, and these colors are often used on the chest decoration or the left shoulder pad, or both. Tilt shields are also worn by many Legio members. In addition, members of the Legio often serve alongside the agents of the Inquisition; and those that have been sanctioned in this role often incorporate the marking of the Inquisition upon their armor. In this way, a Legio force has a unique appearance that draws upon diverse influences. For more details and examples of Legio livery and flexibility, refer to the Insignium Astartes: Legio. Using the Legio in Games The key to using the Legio in games in the Warhammer 40,000 setting is remembering that (to paraphrase @BLOODSAINT ) “the Legio isn’t a super squad, it’s just a uniform that is worn.” This means that there are no special rules for the Legio. The most likely way to include the Legio in your games of Warhammer 40,000 is to feature a single Legio model in one of your “veteran” squads (i.e., a Legio veteran on Sojourn) or a squad as a “veteran” squad (i.e., a squad of Legio Mentors training with a Chapter), either option working for any army using Codex: Space Marines and the codex supplements for that book (except the Deathwatch). You would not use any additional special rules for these models, but they would provide you with a focal point that is distinct from the rest of your force. An even easier way to include the Legio is to have one or more models that feature the Legio badge without otherwise changing the color scheme (i.e., Prospecti). This would work for the same armies. If your army uses Codex: Imperial Agents, the Deathwatch rules can be used to represent veterans from the Legio (i.e., Mentors) while a Grey Knights Terminator Squad might represent a squad of Terminator-armor-clad Librarians. When playing Warhammer 40,000: Kill Team, any ADEPTUS ASTARTES faction may be used. In this case, a Deathwatch kill team might represent a unit of Legio veterans (i.e., Mentors) while a Grey Knights kill team might represent a unit of Librarians. It is even possible to use a non-cult HERETIC ASTARTES faction as a creative representation of loyalist Adeptus Astartes. Regardless of the game, the Legio should represent loyalist Adeptus Astartes. If you have any questions about the Legio Bolter & Chainsword, please post them here. A .pdf version of this article can be downloaded here. View full article

This topic serves as the location for members to officially submit their Legio B&C mini-me models. Rules for Legio B&C mini-me models: Must be a loyalist LEGIONES/ADEPTUS ASTARTES model (no Grey Knights or Deathwatch1) Must be a non-VEHICLE model No senior leaders (i.e., no Captains or the equivalent, Chapter Masters or the equivalent, Chief Librarians, Masters of the Forge, Reclusiarchs/Masters of Sanctity, Chief Apothecaries2) Must be painted in Legio livery (see the Insignium here)(no Delegatus-Herald or Prospectus schemes) Does not have to be game-legal3 Finished models only, please (if you want to show progress, please create a blog) Submission must include character's name and the name of their parent Chapter 1 Neither the Grey Knights nor Deathwatch Chapters second their members to the Legio. No, there are no Legio Heretic Astartes (the Heretic Astartes counterpart to the Legio would be the Red Corsiars, but those may be covered as Legio Anathema). Your Legio mini-me character may turn go renegade (i.e., turn to Chaos) later, but images of the character at that stage will not count towards the Legio mini-me requirements. We may later add allowances for Legio Auxiliaries (i.e., allies of the Legio) and Legio Anathema (i.e., enemies of the Legio). If we add those, they will be described elsewhere and linked here, and they won't earn the Legio Mini-Me badge. 2 Members may submit lower-ranked specialists, but the senior officers of the Legio are reserved for official development and designation by the B&C staff. 3 Members are encouraged to exercise creativity. If your submission is eligible, you will be awarded the Legio Mini-Me badge. The first few replies in this topic are a catalog of all the Legio B&C mini-me's that have been submitted over the years (and whose images are still visible). If you have any questions, please post them here.

The Legio [Bolter & Chainsword] is the mascot of the Bolter and Chainsword community. At its core, the Legio is a vehicle for members to signify their membership in the community. Most players should be able to spare/find one loyalist Adeptus Astartes model that they could paint in Legio colors, and many players can probably find the resources to convert a characterful model that represents them. We've adjusted the lore on the Legio to give players as much flexibility as possible, allowing the use of both Legiones Astartes (i.e., Horus Heresy era) and Adeptus Astartes (i.e., Age of the Imperium era) models; and for those members of the community that can't get their hands on any type of loyalist Legiones/Adeptus Astartes model, we're providing some alternatives (see the Legio Auxilia and Legio Anathema below). The Legio was created in 2002 and is a reminder of the site's origins as a discussion forum that solely covered the Adeptus Astartes. Though we have expanded the scope of the site to the point where we now cover all factions and all games in the Warhammer 40,000 setting, the Legio remains our mascot, and most of the imagery and thematic elements of the community are derived from the Legio. The basic color scheme of the Legio - black armor with red helmets - was deliberately modeled after the Field Police depicted in the Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader rulebook in 1st edition. Since the Field Police (later reimagined as the Consul Opsequiari in The Horus Heresy Book Seven: Inferno, by Forge World) never received much of an explanation and hadn't been used since 1st edition, and since the colors matched up with the brand colors of the Bolter and Chainsword, we adopted the scheme, dovetailing off the role of the moderators to keep the peace within the community. Our initial version of the scheme added the bone white chest decoration and left shoulder pad, as well as the black and white checks on the right knee/boot and the red kneepad. We later changed that so that the left shoulder pad was red and the chest decoration was white. In both versions, the Chapter badge of the Space Marine's parent Chapter was worn upon the right shoulder and the badge of the Legio was worn upon the left shoulder, in a manner similar to the Deathwatch (which were first released at around the same time that we were developing the Legio). The latest update to the Legio reverts back to the original scheme as our basic scheme, but provides a great deal of flexibility for variation. In addition, we have provided more information on the early/informal days of the Legio (though we always dated it back to the time of the Scouring) and we have allowed for "Prospectus" members - battle-brothers temporarily detached from their parent Chapters to train with the Legio. In addition, we've introduced the Mentor Squads and Sojourn concepts, both of which allow Legio members in parent Chapters. Practically speaking, the last three additions that were mentioned have been in the Legio's lore for years, but this update provides more information on each. The intent with all of these changes was to ensure that all Legio mini-me models that have been submitted over the years remain valid, and to provide more options for members of the community who might not otherwise participate in this ongoing project. Unlike most other fan-created Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes, the Legio isn't intended as a serious effort to mesh with the established lore. Given the overlap with the Deathwatch (non-Codex Astartes organization, drawing from other Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes) and our desire to have the Legio remain distinct from that official Chapter, our hope for as many of our members as possible to participate, and the challenges of trying to create some format allowing for even wider faction representation, the Legio is presented with a bit of hand-waving and a bit less detail and explanation than some members would prefer. Early efforts to explain everything and make everything fit the established lore proved unsuccessful, and this has become even more difficult as the lore has expanded and grown. Instead, the goal is to provide members of the community with a vehicle for signifying their entrance into the community, symbolically joining a larger community by creating a persona from their favorite loyalist Chapter. The Legio doesn't have bespoke rules, though we provide some suggestions on how to use them in games. Similarly, the Legio isn't envisioned as some sort of "better" Adeptus Astartes. To paraphrase @BLOODSAINT, the original owner/creator of the Bolter and Chainsword and one of the key figures in the creation of the Legio, the Legio is more like a jersey one wears to represent their membership on a team. Since the Bolter and Chainsword had expanded to include the Heretic Astartes by the time we created the Legio, our initial efforts to develop the Legio lore included a schism in which some members had fallen to Chaos, providing a rationale for fans of the Heretic Astartes to have representation. As we continued to expand the scope of the site, it became more and more difficult to rationalize how each faction in the setting could legitimately work together. We considered options such as a wide crusade of the Imperium, but that left traitors and xenos out. It's also difficult to envision Tyranids getting along with any of the other species. In the end, we decided to revert to the original concept - the Legio is simply a Chapter of loyalist Adeptus Astartes. Other factions within the Imperium might serve alongside the Legio in some fashion, and we consider them to be Legio Auxilia. The forces of Chaos and Xenos species, meanwhile, are the enemies of the Legio and we consider them to be Legio Anathema. For those hobbyists who can't submit a loyalist Space Marine, those two alternatives provide a means of "joining" the community via the Legio (as victims of the Legio ). This discussion is intended to serve as our meta discussion about all aspects of the Legio, as well as a location for members to ask questions about the Legio and to receive answers (and those answers might be incorporated into edits/updates of the other articles).

When a Space Marine is permanently seconded to the Legio, they ritually repaint their armor jet black with a red helmet. Chapter tradition maintains that the black armour signifies loyalty to the Emperor while the red helmet derives from the days of the Horus Heresy, though the full explanation has been lost to time. Sergeants typically indicate their rank with a white skull device upon the forehead, and veteran sergeants often use a metallic skull device. The icon of the Space Marine’s parent Chapter is displayed on the right pauldron and the icon of the Legio is displayed on the left pauldron. Though other aspects of the Space Marine’s armour may vary, the most common practice, at least upon secondment, is to paint the left shoulder pad and the chest decoration bone white and to display the color of the Great Company to which the Space Marine is assigned upon the left kneepad. Weapons casings are typically scarlet with white embellishments. The Emperor’s Spears Chapter battle-brother presents the basic livery of the Legio, his affiliation with the Blood of the Emperor Great Company is indicated by the red left kneepad. While the Legio is well-versed in the tactics and organization of the Codex Astartes, members of the Chapter are not organized into permanent squads that follow Codex Astartes organization. As a result, squad badges are infrequently displayed. When displayed, they are most often remnants of the Space Marine’s assignment in his parent Chapter. Since squads will task-organize for tactical duties based on the battle plan, they will assume a squad role temporarily and will often adjust based on the dictates of the tactical situation. Still, it is not unknown for Legio Space Marines to depict squad badges, though it is far from common. The Legio allows its members a great deal of flexibility in displaying Great Company affiliation. Instead of displaying the Great Company color on the left kneepad, for example, a Space Marine may display an icon in the Great Company color upon that kneepad. Other common variations are to display the Great Company color upon the left shoulder pad rim, the field, or even the Legio icon. The most common icon of the Legio is a skull with red decorations upon the brow within a circle over crossed bones, with a field of red, white, and black in the background. A wide variety of alternative icons are used, however, and these are often influenced by the traditions of each Legio Space Marine’s parent Chapter. The Angels of Vigilance Chapter battle-brother on the left has indicated his assignment to the Justice of the Emperor Great Company by the black background on his left pauldron. The Red Wolves Chapter battle-brother on the right has indicated his assignment to the Light of the Emperor Great Company by the white rim on the left pauldron. Members of the Legio often preserve some elements of their parent Chapter’s iconography or some of their personal honors. This is often standard on their right pauldron, but parent Chapter markings are common anywhere upon a Space Marine’s armor and wargear. The Exorcists battle-brother on the left has preserved one of the esoteric markings of his parent Chapter upon his left greave. He indicates his affiliation with the Justice of the Emperor Great Company through both the black field on his left pauldron and the black skull upon his kneepad (the white bar upon which the skull is placed simply provides contrast). The Crimson Fists battle-brother on the right has preserved the red left gauntlet as well as an honor marking upon his chestplate. He indicates his affiliation with the Light of the Emperor Great Company through the white skull upon his left kneepad. The most common method for indicating veteran status within the Legio is to paint some part of the right kneepad and/or greave in a black and white check pattern. Veterans occasionally paint the check pattern upon other portions of their armor or upon their weapons or wargear. The size and arrangement of the pattern aren’t strictly limited, allowing veterans to incorporate the pattern based on their own preferences. A common alternative or addition is to include a stripe, most often white but occasionally black, upon the veteran’s helmet. The width and coverage of the stripe are left to the veteran’s preferences, too. The Death Knights Chapter veteran on the left has opted for a simple large check pattern on his right kneepad. He indicates his affiliation with the Justice of the Emperor Great Company through the black left kneepad. The Howling Griffons Chapter veteran on the right has opted for a bar of smaller checks extending from the top of the right kneepad down the front of the boot. He bears a red kneepad as the mark of his affiliation with the Blood of the Emperor Great Company. The Legio allows veterans to indicate their status in a variety of ways, often shaped by the warrior cult of their parent Chapter. Common alternatives include displaying the Legio icon, the chest decoration, or the field of the left pauldron in a metallic color. A white chest decoration is also a variant marking to indicate veteran status. The crux terminatus and other indicators of veteran status from the parent Chapter might also be used. The Hawk Lords Chapter veteran sergeant on the left has replaced the helmet skull with a crux terminatus, and has also incorporated a crux terminatus in Chapter colors upon his breastplate. He indicates his affiliation with the Blood of the Emperor Great Company through the red shoulder pad rim on his left shoulder. The War Bearers Chapter veteran on the right has chosen to indicate his veteran status by the metallic chest decoration. He indicates his affiliation with the Justice of the Emperor Great Company through the black background on his left pauldron. Members of the Legio often perform duties in service to the Inquisition, especially the Ordo Astartes, which the Legio serves as its Chamber Militant. When a member of the Legio has served in an Inquisitorial capacity, they are allowed to include the symbol of the Inquisition upon their armour, weapons, or wargear. A great deal of freedom is allowed in this, and the symbol, most often depicted in black, red, white, or metallic colors, can be found anywhere upon the Space Marine’s personal livery. The Fire Angels Chapter veteran sergeant has elected to incorporate the symbol of the Inquisition upon his helmet in lieu of the standard skull of his rank. His veteran status is indicated through the black stripe upon his helmet, the white chest decoration, and the black check pattern on his right greave. He indicates his affiliation with the Blood of the Emperor Great Company through the red background on his left pauldron. His chestplate bears an honorific from his parent Chapter. When a Space Marine is permanently seconded to the Legio, he will bring an honor shield. This shield, often crafted and decorated by his Chapter's artificers, will bear the icon of the parent Chapter and the personal honors of the Space Marine. Honor shields will often include litanies and oaths sworn by the Space Marine. The form of the shield is often driven by the traditions of the parent Chapter. In addition, Legio Space Marines occasionally wear tilt shields. These may be smaller renditions of their personal honor shield, or they may be simplified versions of those shields. The Nova Hawks veteran has opted for a tilt shield that depicts one of the honor markings conferred upon him by his Chapter, as shown on his honor shield in the top right. His veteran status is indicated by the white stripe upon his helmet and the metallic chest decoration. The crux terminatus upon his left kneepad indicates that he is a veteran trained in the use of tactical dreadnought armor, and the white color indicates his affiliation with the Light of the Emperor Great Company. That affiliation is also indicated by the white field on his left pauldron. Lastly, he bears the symbol of the Inquisition in white upon his gorget. When Space Marines are detached from their parent Chapter to train with the Legio, they are often termed as being in a “Prospectus” status. They will retain their normal Chapter livery, incorporating the icon of the Legio somewhere upon their armor. This may include replacing their normal squad badge or displaying the icon elsewhere on their armor. Often, such Space Marines will display the Legio icon in the color of the Great Company with which they are operating. When these Space Marines return to their parent Chapter, they often retain the Legio marking in their personal honors. The Emperor’s Warbringers Chapter battle-brother on the left has replaced his squad badge with the black Legio icon, indicating that he is operating with the Justice of the Emperor Great Company. The Fire Lords Chapter battle-brother in the center has added the red Legio icon of the Blood of the Emperor Great Company upon his right pauldron. The Liberators Chapter battle-brother on the right displays the white Legio icon of the Light of the Emperor Great Company upon his left kneepad. While other Space Marines of the Legio will retain the red helmet regardless of rank, members of the various specialist orders, such as apothecaries and librarians, often bear the Codex Astartes color of their order upon their helmet. While other markings and accoutrements peculiar to their orders will be included upon their armor, the rest of the specialist’s armor may combine both the standard black of the Legio and the color normally associated with the specialist order, though the exact arrangement of colors is left to the individual. Owing to the eclecticism of the Legio and its propensity for training across the range of Adeptus Astartes Chapters, diverse exotic weapons are used. Many of these weapons are brought by battle-brothers when they are seconded to the Legio and will remain within the armory of the Legio after the Space Marine has met his fate. The Imperial Fists Chapter veteran sergeant has incorporated a wide range of variations and Chapter markings. When he was first seconded to the Legio, he came from the 3rd (Battle) Company of his Chapter, and he has retained the red shoulder pad rim of that company upon his right pauldron. In addition, he retained a yellow honor marking of the Imperial Fists upon his left greave. He indicates his assignment to the Blood of the Emperor Great Company through the red skull upon his brow and the red field on his left pauldron; and that pauldron also bears the mark of the Inquisition. His veteran status is indicated by the metallic chest decoration and the metallic shoulder pad rim upon his left pauldron. He earned veteran status within the Legio, indicating that accomplishment with the wide white stripe on his helmet. After completing a sojourn to earn veteran status within the Imperial Fists Chapter, he was allowed to bear a gold-rimmed scarlet crux terminatus peculiar to his parent Chapter upon his left kneepad; and he also incorporated the crux terminatus into the tilt shield, which also bears the icons of the Legio and the Imperial Fists Chapter. Those veterans of the Legio who bear storm shields often incorporate personal decorations upon those shields. The storm shield shown above includes the black and white check pattern of a veteran on the left and the red of the Blood of the Emperor Great Company on the right. The icon of the Legio is featured prominently as the boss of the shield. The metallic Inquisition icon within the laurel indicates that this veteran has served the Inquisition with distinction. The weapons on the right are examples of the broad range of exotic weapons that Legio Space Marines bear into battle. Heralds lead delegations to the other Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes. These delegations perform a variety of vital roles, often relaying important information or coordinating actions among Chapters. The return of a deceased battle-brother to his parent Chapter and the recruiting of a replacement is also a common mission for Heralds. All Heralds are veterans, and the method for indicating Herald status is to incorporate red into the check pattern. Red may replace one of the colors, or it may be incorporated in a more intricate manner. The Carmine Blades Herald on the left has chosen to replace the white in the check pattern on his right greave with red. In addition, the wide white stripe on his helmet serves to indicate that he is a veteran, as does the metallic chest decoration. His right kneepad bears a yellow blood drop honor marking conferred by his Chapter, along with a crimson crux terminatus. His affiliation with the Light of the Emperor Great Company is shown by the white field upon his left pauldron and the left kneepad. The mark of the Inquisition is upon the skull on his chestplate, indicating that he has served alongside an Inquisitor. The Raptors Herald in the middle is a Veteran Sergeant, indicated by the thin black stripe upon his helmet and the skull on his forehead. He has chosen to add red to the checks on his right knee and greave, creating a distinctive pattern. He bears the crux terminatus upon his left pauldron, and that pauldron and his left kneepad are black, indicating his affiliation with the Justice of the Emperor Great Company. The mark of the Inquisition upon his left greave indicates that he has served the Inquisition. The Iron Fists Herald on the right displays his Herald status through the red and white check pattern on the raised portion of his right kneepad. His veteran status is indicated by the white stripe upon his forehead, as well as by the red crux terminatus upon his belt. The red left shoulder pad and skull upon his left kneepad indicate his affiliation with the Blood of the Emperor Great Company, and he bears a silver laurel honor marking upon his left kneepad as well. Prior to the official sanction and formation of the Legio, communication and coordination between the Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes was maintained by a network of Delegatus-Heralds, officers within the various Chapters whose role was to serve as liaisons. These Delegatus-Heralds were a remnant of the Legiones Astartes. The Consul-Heralds represented the interests of their Primarchs, acting as emissaries. The Delegatus-Heralds preserved this construct. Each was an officer within their respective Chapter, typically a Veteran Sergeant. Their special role was usually indicated by a black and white check pattern upon their armor, though the method for displaying that pattern was not rigidly defined. While the Delegatus-Heralds were most often active among the brother Successors of their parent Legions, they often interacted with Chapters descended from other Legions. When the High Lords of Terra sanctioned the creation of the Legio in M37, many of the existing Delegatus-Heralds became the initial representatives of their Chapters, and the check pattern became the mark of veterans within the Legio. The Salamanders Delegatus-Herald on the left indicates his office through the checked tilt shield worn upon his left shoulder pad. The gold helmet, shoulder pad rims, and wrists indicate his veteran status, as does the white crux terminatus upon his left kneepad. In addition, he bears an honor marking upon his left kneepad, and the flame marking upon his right leg is a marking of the Chapter's Promethean Cult. The Angels of Absolution Delegatus-Herald in the middle indicates his office through the check pattern on his right shoulder pad. His veteran status is indicated by the red stripe upon his helmet and the mark of the Deathwing, the First Company of the Angels of Absolution, upon his left kneepad. The skull upon his forehead indicates that he is a sergeant, and the pattern upon his right kneepad indicates that he is currently assigned to the 8th Reserve (Assault) Company. He bears a skull upon a green diamond campaign badge on his right greave, a record of valor in a previous campaign. The Storm Lords Delegatus-Herald on the right indicates his office through the checked shield that has been incorporated into his chestplate design. His veteran status is indicated by the crux terminatus upon his right pauldron, and that also indicates that he is currently assigned to the First Company of his Chapter. The scarlet decorations upon his helmet and kneepad are honor markings. Designer's Note: This updated insignium has been designed to give community members a great deal of flexibility in crafting their Legio models. To earn the Legio Mini-Me badge, a Legio model must be in "proper" Legio colors (i.e., black body with red helmet), though hobbyists otherwise have considerable flexibility in choosing the other elements of the model's ensemble. Indeed, it's even possible for the black body and red helmet to be adjusted for specialists (e.g., a Librarian might change parts of the armor color to blue). The addition of the Delegatus-Heralds (i.e., pre-formation) and the Prospectus markings allows hobbyists who want to preserve the integrity of their existing Adeptus Astartes army's color theme, using the normal colors with the addition of a mark peculiar to the Legio - the black and white check pattern for the pre-formation Legio-Heralds and the Legio marking for the Prospecti). Neither the Delegatus-Herald nor Prospectus themes will earn the Legio Mini-Me badge, but they will certainly serve as a gesture of one's joining the overall community.

First up is the kill team's fighter, Veteran Brother Karjalas Martäinen of the Emperor's Hounds Chapter. The power maul and both shoulder pads are from the Deathwatch kit; the grav-pistol is from the Sternguard Veteran Squad kit (I think), I forget where the helmet came from (it came out of my expansive bits box), the running legs come from the Assault squad kit, and the torso and backpack come from either the Tactical or Devastator squad kits. The Emperor's Hounds are the modern update of the first Chapter for which I ever collected a full army, the Iron Hounds. I painted this army up for the Third War for Armageddon campaign. Prior to this, I had only painted individual models, so I didn't realize the work I was creating for myself in promising to play a 2,000 point game with an army that I hadn't even painted in only a few weeks. It was my first time really playing the game. Prior to that, I had only followed the lore and painted individual models for fun. Once I realized what I dummy I was, I settled on a fairly quick scheme - primer black with red fists (I've always been a fan of the Crimson Fists Chapter), red chest decorations, and red right kneepads. The Chapter badge was intended to be a black hound's head (akin to the badge for the Space Wolves) on a crimson diamond. Since the Space Wolves upgrade sprue wasn't yet available and I sucked at applying decals, I settled for the crimson diamond and imagined the hound's head. You can see an example of the paint scheme below, showing an Assault squad veteran sergeant equipped with a bolt pistol and single lightning claw. Yes, I screwed up the priming big time, and my experiment with the red highlighting was a pretty big failure. I used several layers of inks to get the glossy effect on the red. If I had a time machine, I would go back and reduce the army size to about 1,200 points and take more time painting the models. Alas, that's not possible. Later, when the Eye of Terror campaign gave us the Marines Exemplar and an Index Astartes article showed us that Chapter's color scheme, I turned the surviving Iron Hounds models into Marines Exemplar. In my mind, I was dropping the Iron Hounds, developing the in-universe explanation that the Chapter had fallen to a Tyranid fleet. I liked the pathos of the Marines Exemplar and really liked the "sleeved" color scheme. I even turned an old 2nd edition Veteran Sergeant model into a Captain equipped with a bolt pistol, power axe, combat shield, and jump pack. I never finished painting this guy (obviously), but I think he's stored in a box somewhere. The Captain's terminator honours are indicated by the crux on his right shoulder pad, though he incorporates decidedly non-Codex litanies upon the rest of that shoulder pad. The decoration upon the right kneepad is intended to indicate that he served in the Deathwatch. The marking upon his left kneepad indicates that he leads the 3rd Company (Battle), and the white laurel upon the left greave was just a design to fill some space (it was an experiment that failed). The red highlighting is slightly better, but slightly better than really sucky is still sucky. Anyhoo, Games Workshop has given us an official Iron Hounds Chapter, forever ending any fantasy I might have to resurrect the Chapter via the Ultima Founding. Instead, I've taken the color scheme and modified it to create the Emperor's Hounds. I haven't developed any lore for the Chapter yet, but it's somewhere on my list of things to do. I've simplified things a bit by removing the crimson diamond, allowing the hound's head to be larger (coincidentally, as large as the standard Space Wolves wolf head badge ). Where the original Iron Hounds badge was envisioned as black, I've changed the hound's head to a metallic silver on a crimson field. I haven't thought about the Chapter's color scheme beyond that. One of the downsides of getting old is that my eyesight has gotten weaker. To compensate, I've found that taking pictures of my models helps me to see the areas that need to be filed and cleaned up before any priming takes place. As you can see from the images at the top of this entry, there is a little work to be done before the airbrush comes out.

The fifth operative is actually my sixth in the kill team. The Compendium originally provided for a Deathwatch kill team to consist of five operatives, but later dataslates increased that to six. As I mentioned in the introductory entry for this project (here), this isn't going to be a "real" game. Instead, we're playing a mini-tutorial, applying concepts of the Joint Ops rules from the current edition of the game in the 2021 edition of the game, with four players divided into two teams. We might not even have time for a full game. Two of the players have kill teams consisting of two fire teams while two of the players (including me) have kill teams consisting of a single fire team, so both of us Adeptus Astartes players might take five-operative teams (each one short of the post-dataslate kill team size) just to keep the time manageable. Since I'm not playing with the intent of crushing my adversaries, I've deliberately sub-optimized. On the off chance that we go with the full six-operative teams, though, I needed to add the sixth model. Truth be told, I love storm bolters and I love volume of fire. And since the Warrior operative has an option for a storm bolter, I went with that. The metal shoulder pad on the right shoulder should catch your attention right away. That's one of the old Assault squad shoulder pads. I bought a bunch of those for a project way back when (during the time of 3rd/4th edition - I think I planned on doing an Emperor's Warbringers army). He's pointing because I needed the left arm/hand to be doing something. I maintained the pattern of using basic Tactical/Devastator squad legs/bodies for the heavy gunner and warriors. That pointing arm/hand came from the Sternguard kit (I think). Since I already have two official Chapters (the Griffon Lords and the Sons of Medusa) I ruled out my original option, the Guardians of the Covenant. Also, the Guardians of the Covenant feature their Chapter badge - crossed white swords - on a black field, and I wanted each of the operatives to have a color other than black or white on that shoulder pad (though my extended roster might include those colors). The only color I had left was orange, so that's what this guy got. So I opted to make this another new DIY, the Paragon Knights (after double-checking that there are no official Chapters using this name, and no unofficial ones, either, as far as I know). Now some of you might point out that the Grey Knights already have "Paragons" within their ranks and this might be confusing. To that I'll respond that the Grey Knights are a secret and they might be unknown to some other Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes. So when this Chapter chose its name way back when, they were unaware of the Knights of Titan and their ranks. Or maybe they just didn't care. After all, each Chapter of the Adeptus Astartes is fully autonomous. This will be another DIY that I plan to develop to the two- or three-paragraph level. This guy wasn't quite as bad as the others in terms of mould lines, but you can see some places where I got a bit sloppy with the glue. And the join of the right hand and the arm is a bit off . So a little cleanup is definitely in order (I doubt I'll re-attach that hand, however).

The third operative is the heavy gunner, bearing a heavy bolter. Veteran Brother Kao Luang is from the Storm Angels Chapter. Yes, I see all the stuff that needs to be cleaned up. Who are the Storm Angels? Idunno. I made them up. The name itself is based on words that are commonly used in Chapter names, as described in the "It's All the Name" article that appeared in the 2002 edition of Chapter Approved (3rd edition!). My goal was to use a Chapter name that might evoke some things without necessarily being accurate. In this case, "storm" might evoke the White Scars, or maybe the Space Wolves, while "angels" evokes both the Blood Angels and Dark Angels. Meanwhile, the Maltese cross isn't really associated with any of those Chapters or their Successors, being more commonly associated with the Black Templars (and a few other Imperial Fists Legion Successors) as well as a few Chapters whose lineage are unknown (though I suspect that most are either descended from Rogal Dorn or Roboute Guilliman). When one sees the black Maltese cross, the Black Templars and their ZEAL for close combat comes to mind. Yet I've put that shoulder pad on the heavy gunner - a deliberate subversion. Who are the Storm Angels descended from? Again, Idunno. I plan to develop this Chapter a little - only as much as the paragraph or two that the WD/GW employees provided for their DIY Chapters in WD 515. Both shoulder pads, both arms, and the heavy bolter (including the backpack) come from the Deathwatch kit. The rest of the bits are bog-standard Tactical/Devastator bits.

Next up is another warrior equipped with a Stalker pattern boltgun. Back in 2022 we had a discussion about the percentage of successor Chapters and their lineage. I was a fairly active participant in that discussion since it's something about which I am relatively interested, and I conducted my own analysis based on the data available to me. The final conclusion that I presented can be seen here. I gave two opinions, each depending upon (a) the number of Chapters prior to the Ultima Founding, and (b) the number of Chapters after the Ultima Founding based on 108 Ultima Founding Successors (which is a few higher than the official number, admittedly). Averaging the post-Ultima Founding numbers for each lineage gives us the following: Blood Angels: 5.25% Dark Angels: 3.91% Imperial Fists: 10.78% Iron Hands: 2.38% Raven Guard: 3.57% Salamanders: 1.53% Space Wolves: 1.17% Ultramarines: 61.63% White Scars: 9.25% Unknown (Special): 0.54% So in a group of 100 Adeptus Astartes, if we assume that the distribution aligns with those percentages, we'll have about: Blood Angels: 5 Dark Angels: 4 Imperial Fists: 10 or 11 Iron Hands: 2 Raven Guard: 5 or 6 Salamanders: 1 or 2 Space Wolves: 1 Ultramarines: 61 or 62 White Scars: 9 Unknown: 0 or 1 And any group of 10 Adeptus Astartes will have: Ultramarines: 6 Imperial Fists: 1 White Scars: 1 And the remaining 2 would each come from a Chapter descended from one of the other Legions (different Legions) or Unknown. Statistics only give probabilities, however, and actual outcomes might vary wildly. And you can add on to that the fact that I suspect that I need to go back and re-do my math on those charts (I'm confident that my math isn't that far off, though). Anyhoo, it always struck me as ludicrous that, given what we know about the relative number of Chapters descended from each of the Legions (my numbers are mostly accurate in those estimates), Deathwatch squads will often be portrayed as having equal representation across Legion lineage (9 loyalist Legions), with the tenth member coming from either the Ultramarines or Imperial Fists Legions (the latter especially so they could get a Black Templar in addition to an Imperial Fist or Crimson Fist or whatever). That equal representation simply isn't likely. So I'm applying these likelihoods to my kill team. In addition, I'm only using two official Chapters (in the first six members), and none can be from the 1st or 2nd Foundings. And since Veteran Brother Hywel Kaedor is from the Griffon Lords, an official Chapter, that leaves only one other member from an official Chapter. Veteran Brother Artol Kuron gets that slot. The shoulder pad I chose for that model is actually for the Novamarines, but that's a 2nd Founding Chapter so I ruled them out. Since the badge is close to that of the Sons of Medusa, that's what I opted for (forgive me for having a badge that's close, but not exactly right). And the Sons of Medusa are an Iron Hands Successor, taking one of those valuable non-Ultramarines/Imperial Fists/White Scars Successor slots. Do you see those mold lines? I really need to fix those. Also, I made a rookie error when putting him together. In the past, my Space Marines with bolters used the separate bolters and the arms from the Tactical/Devastator kits. In those cases, I glued the arms on with the hands in roughly the right positions, dropping the prepared bolters into place to test them before I glued the bolters down. This was the first time that I used the integrated right arm/bolter bits, though, and gluing both arms on at the same time was proving to be a PITA (I really don't know why - maybe I was just being crotchety that night). I don't recall exactly what I did wrong, but I ended up getting the bolter a bit higher than I wanted, especially since this guy has one of the cool helmets (I think it came from the old Black Templars sprue). Anyways, not my finest hour. It's not terribad, but it's going to be a PITA to paint the helmet (at least the bolter is red, too).

The second operative in my kill team is Veteran Brother Hywel Kaedor of the Griffon Lords Chapter. Both shoulder pads, both arms, and the Stalker pattern boltgun come from the Deathwatch kit. The rest of the bits are bog-standard Tactical/Devastator squad bits. The Griffon Lords Chapter is one of the three Chapters I know of that use the rampant griffon badge, the other two being the Howling Griffons (a favorite of mine) and the Knights of Gryphonne. Both of the other Chapters have some history, with the Howling Griffons having been developed further in the Badab War. Since the Griffon Lords have nothing more than a name and official livery, I chose them. This gives me my "blue" guy. I see a few areas on this model that need to be cleaned up and filed before priming.

Lastly, we have the kill team's leader, Veteran Sergeant Talaon Hereus of the Khalkotauroi Chapter. Yes, I see the mould lines and file marks, too. The helmet and both shoulder pads come from the Deathwatch kit; the thunder hammer arm comes from the Assault squad kit; the backpack, legs, and torso come from the Tactical/Devastator squad kits; and I don't recall where the bolt pistol arm came from (perhaps the Tactical/Devastator or Assault squad kits). I filed the grill on the Mk VIII chestpiece down - I plan to paint a design on the space instead. You may be asking "What's a Khalkotauroi?" Actually, that word is plural, so the question should be "what are Khalkotauroi?" The Khalkotauroi are the Greek name for the bronze-hooved fire-breathing bulls from the Argonautica, crafted by Hephaestus and given to King Aeetes of Colchis. They were also known as the "Colchis Bulls." I was using the bull-headed shoulder pad from the Deathwatch kit, but I wanted to use a DIY Chapter. I wanted to avoid the color combinations that are used by the official known bull/minotaur Chapters. I also wanted to avoid using the words "minotaurs," "taurans," and "bulls" in the Chapter name, so I had to do a little bit of research. While I haven't read the story of Jason and the Argonauts since the '80s, Google is my friend and there was no hesitation when I found the Greek name for these mythical bulls after searching for "mythical bull monsters" or something similar. The Khalkotauroi name might be considered the Chapter's true name, given in the tongue of whatever world it is that they hail from. This is much like Vlka Fenryka being the "true" name of the Space Wolves or Carcharodons Astra being the "true" name of the Space Sharks (though that one is in High Gothic rather than the Chapter's parent tongue). In this, I imagine that the Khalkotauroi might have a proper Gothic name by which they are more well known. I haven't decided upon that yet, however, so I'll continue to refer to them by their native name. The name also informed the color of the bull head - bronze, so I had to choose a darker color for the shoulder pad to give the proper contrast. Since my original selection of operatives included one of my Fists of Purity, blue was taken. I also wanted to avoid black. This left dark green or dark purple, and I chose the latter (which left the green for the Sons of Medusa). Unlike the other DIY Chapters that I've created for this kill team, I plan to develop the Khalkotauroi in more depth. Normally, I prefer power swords or axes on my leaders, so I figured I'd do something a little different this time around. And while the mythical Khalkotauroi were known for breathing fire, I might not incorporate that into my WH40K Khalkotauroi. Or maybe I will. We'll see. Regardless, I didn't want to paint myself into a corner with anything, so Veteran Sergeant Hereus' wargear isn't necessarily representative of his Chapter's preferences. Also, despite the Ancient Greek origins of the name, I didn't include the transverse crest on the helm, though I was sorely tempted to do so. Again, I didn't want to paint myself into a corner by making this Chapter too derivative of its namesake. By not incorporating those elements into the mini, I've allowed myself a bit of freedom when I get around to actually developing the Khalkotauroi Chapter.

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.

I'm currently building a Legio fire team for the 2021 edition of Kill Team, using the Deathwatch fire team rules. I expect to adapt that kill team (and the full roster) to the Deathwatch rules that will be released in the upcoming boxed set. One of the interesting things about the Legio (and the Deathwatch) is the choices that hobbyists make about the Chapters from which each member originated. You can see my current plans and ramblings regarding this kill team (and the eventual full roster) at...

Long story short, I'm preparing to play a game of the 2021 edition of Kill Team with three players who have never played any edition of Kill Team. We're going to adapt the Joint Ops rules from the current edition of Kill Team, sort of. The Joint Ops rules allow each player to take half of their normal kill team. This works fine with most of the factions since they use two fire teams - each such player would only use one fire team. Each of the Space Marine kill teams, however, consists of a single fire team, and most such Space Marine fire teams consist of roughly the same number of models as most of the other factions' fire teams. Two of the other players will be taking factions whose kill teams consist of two fire teams. One of the players, however, will be taking an Intercessor fire team. While I had bits collected to create a Grey Knights kill team during the 2021 edition, I didn't want to complicate things with psyker powers. Since this is an introductory game and not one that will be played with the intent to "win," I figured I would take a Deathwatch fire team and then the Intercessor player and I would be on opposing sides, with the other players (Adepta Sororitas and Necrons) siding with either my Deathwatch or the other player's Intercessors. This will give each player 5 or so models to control* and each side will be relatively even. * We're limiting things to the Core Book and the Compendium, ignoring the balance dataslates that gave most of the Adeptus Astartes fire teams an additional model. So I'll be fielding "Deathwatch" (they'll be painted as the Legio, but will follow the Deathwatch fire team rules). A Legio battle-brother from the Griffon Lords Chapter I figured I'd capitalize on the Deathwatchness of the fire team - focusing on weapons that distinguish the Deathwatch from the other Space Marine fire teams, not to mention the other factions of the Imperium. Here's the kill team I'm currently planning to take: Deathwatch Veteran Watch Sergeant with bolt pistol and thunder hammer Deathwatch Veteran (Fighter) with grav-pistol and power maul Deathwatch Veteran (Warrior) with Deathwatch shotgun Deathwatch Veteran (Warrior) with Deathwatch shotgun Deathwatch Veteran (Heavy Gunner) with Infernus heavy bolter And just in case we use the balance dataslate and I get the additional model: Deathwatch Veteran (Warrior) with storm bolter I just realized as I'm typing this that Scouts can take shotguns, so perhaps I need to swap those out for Deathwatch boltguns or Stalker pattern boltguns. If I do that, I'm more likely to take the Stalker pattern boltguns since the Deathwatch boltguns come with power weapons. What I don't want to do is look like I've shown up with the intent to curb-stomp these players. The goal is to introduce them to Kill Team and, maybe, get them interested in picking the game up themselves (I'll have to be very clear that we're playing the previous edition and that the current edition is slightly different). If my own guys get shellacked, that's okay. For anyone with experience playing the 2021 edition of Kill Team, does my planned list look like it's not optimized? While I've assembled the bits, I haven't assembled any models yet and there's still time to change things. (The next blog entry will be about the color schemes and Chapters I've selected.)