Following Codex color rules?

[Storm Dragons 3rd Company]

GW says that for a codex chapter the company color is shown on the pauldron trim. Yet if you look at most of their pictures or drawings, they ignore their own rule. Or am I missing something?

 

What started this train of thaught was looking at the picture of an Emperor's Spear marine in the Painting Space Marines book. It's a light blue marine with a white helmet, white aquilla, and a dark blue right knee plate. The book also tells us that the Emperor's Spears are a codex chapter.

 

So what company is it? The pauldron trim is blue which would be... ninth reserve company? Is the helmet or the aqulla the company marker? Is it a veteran because first company is white? Maybe it is the dark blue knee plate but that is ninth company again. I've come to the conclusion that GW just paints these guys whatever way looks good and ignores the highly detailed markings it propagates elsewhere in the book?

 

With this in mind, if I had a mood to paint up some Emperor's Spears, what does the forum recommend I do about company designation?

 

1) Paint the Pauldron trim in company color? What looks best with sky blue? Yellow/gold, red, green or black?

2) Paint the aquilla in company color?

3) Paint the helmet in company color?

4) Paint the knee plate in company color?

5) Something else?

 

Also, what do you recommend I do about veterans and sergeants (and veteran sergeants)? A codex chapter would color a veteran's or sergeant's helmet differently. Here the helmet is already off color. I'm tempted to make the sergeant's helmets Ultramarine blue and the veteran's helmets red? Anyone see any problems with doing that?

 

Thanks,

[Brother Valerius]

This can be explained away under the clause of the codex which recommends chapters vary their markings from time to time, so that enemies will not be able to learn the marking system.

[Br0ther Rafen]

Well, just because its a codex chapter doesn't mean their are like Smurfs and stick to the codex like gospel. Many, many chapters use codex for force organisation for comapanies, tactics, etc, but that doesn't mean they follow EXACTLY as it was laid down. For example, while in the codex certain captains have titles like master of the watch, recruits, etc, but in other chapters like the Fire Lords the captains have different titles (can't remember the titles themselves, you'll have to look it up) and they have different roles.

Now, for this pauldron thing, use it if you'd like you can paint codex company colours on the rims, pauldrons, helmets, even on the crotch if you want :D, and it would make sense if they all matched. as for the Veteran/Sergeants problem, i would paint the Sergeants helmet as a veteran, since he is seconded from the 1st company anyway.

and, for the aquila, i would paint it just normal gold or whatever you would normaly paint it.

finally, for which company, it's good to have a complementary colour that matches the colour. btw, is sky blue as in literally the sky, or is it a really light blue from a non-GW paints range? If the former, use a colour that is the same shade as the "sky blue", or at least close to it.

 

EDIT: dam, ninja'd!