Death Company Aquilas

[Res Ipsa Loquitur]

I don't use the Death Company minis to represent the Death Company (they're Vanguard Veterans instead) because I think it's frankly stupid that you'd have an army of guys in regular power armour but you'd send the guys with one-way tickets to the battlefront out in elaborate, ornate power armour. So this means then that my DC is made up of guys wearing regular power armour which, as I'm sure you're aware, usually has an aquila of some sort on it. Currently I have them painted like this;

but I'm finding I don't like it so much and am thinking of changing them to this;

Due to specifics of my living arrangements right now I probably won't be able to paint a test miniature until at least the weekend so I thought that in the meantime I'd see what you guys thought. Also wanted to see if anyone else had DC with aquilas and how they'd painted them because Google Images for Death Company just comes up with the actual DC minis.

[igotsmeakabob!!]

I went with bone-white.

[fivepointedstar]

You could always file them off.. or just use to one with the winged skulls.

 

Edit: spelling

[Rune_Priest_Rhapsody]

I am painting mine in regular power armor as well. I only use the chest piece with the single skull on it, and I paint that white and dry brush it with chainmail so it pops a bit more. But as far as the two ideas you displayed, I like the red on black better.

 

Funny though, I though the same thing about the DC. I understand the whole honored brethren aspect of the ornate armor. It just seems like a waste of the Iron Priests time to fashion all of the great looking pieces only to have them shot to hell. I use the DC box bits as upgrades for my Sergeants, Captains, and Veterans. I especially love the back packs you get from the box!!

 

End of Line

[Gray Knights]

I go with igotsmeakabob!! and the bone white makes them stand out better.

[Demoulius]

ive done several things over the past few years. ive tried metallics, skull white wing, ive done golden details and ive done red ones. the red ones i wasent to happy about but the others i liked the looks off very much :jaw:

 

to each his own tbh. just try and see which one you like the most or...just make each marine armour look independant and paint them in whatever colour you wish :P

[Midnightmare]

Mine are pretty sans bling also (I'm not a lover of too much bling) and they nearly all have aquilas, and they are painted.......silver :jaw:

 

Well, Boltgun Metal, Badab Black wash, Chainmail highlight :P

[Res Ipsa Loquitur]

Can't file them off, already got eleven built and painted and I am a ham-fisted oaf when it comes to those sorts of things.

So I did this;

and I've got to say that I quite like it.

Since my latest project has three DC squads in it, maybe I'll do two of them with bleached bone and one in the red. The thing that worries most with the red is that it'll be too much red when stripes are added. Plus, for a DC army, unless I use the white, the only colours in it will be red and black (not that black is a colour) and the golden SG.

[I am Legion]

If you want to see what that scheme would look like in real life, you can see my old army. I agree go with the bone colour though

[Cain Tiberius Kondrad]

Before I start I feel the need to point out, I am not in any way criticising any ones views or design choice. So please don't take it that way. I just want to share my thoughts.

 

In the old fluff about BA, The DC didn't 'don' fancy armour like it says in the latest Codex, They simply repainted the existing armour.

I thought it was in the 3rd Ed Codex, but I couldn't find it. But I did find something in Index Astartes II.

It says..

Suffused with the dying memories of their Chapter's Primarch, the warriors of the Death Company seek only one thing: death in battle fighting against the enemies of the Emperor. The Death Company paint their armour black with red saltires, crosses of blood red which symbolise the sacrifice of Sanguinius.

We also know that Blood Angels are probably the longest lived of any space marine chapter, baring Black Rage or being killed. They also have a keen eye for Aesthetics. So I really do not see the problem with the DC having ornate armour. In my own force, my regular squads (Tac, Assault and Devs) have a mix of normal armour, pieces from the new DC kit and pieces from the old DC kit. I then have the same mix propotion in my DC squad.

 

As for the kit itself. With the exception of the Storm Raven, the new plastic kits only replace the old kits. Plastic Furioso~Metal Furioso, Sanguinary Guard~BA Honour Guard and Plastic DC~Metal DC. Plus GW even say the DC kit can be used for anything. It saves them having to make an extra kit for Tac/Assault/Devs which I would wager, would be the same as the DC kit but without the crosses.

 

All that being said.. I hadn't concidered the Red Aquila.. and I like it alot :D

 

CTK

[Brightguy]

My DC have about as much bling as my normal assault and tac marines. Some DC bits, some standard. I also go with the 3rd edition bit about painting existing armor, so that makes sense to me. Same suit, different color. The bits with the Xs do find their way more heavily on the DC dudes though. I'm black with silver ornaments, bone scrolls and red salterns and purity seals for the record.

[Abraxes]

I'll kick in my 2 cents as well as I absolutely love the Death Company. I've still got a couple of the old metal squads (3rd Ed I think?) with the details painted in bleached bone tones. They definitely stand out on their own in that regard, with the possible exception of similarities to the newer Legion of the Damned models.

 

As to your color choice for the aquila. Have you considered a heavily washed dwarf bronze? I find it provides a somber match to the black armor.

 

On the note of using ornately designed armor prior to launching into battle, this makes total sense from a logistical standpoint. The Black Rage can take hold of a BA anytime and anywhere. According to the latest codex - if I remember correctly - this usually happens just before a fight. At that time, the Chaplains attend to the afflicted and their armor is repainted black and then they're unleashed into the fray in mobs of slavering lunacy. There's simply no time to order up a new set of power armor from suppy, so whatever armor the afflicted BA had at the time of his 'turning' is what gets repainted and used in battle. Following a battle, the remains of the fallen - both BA regulars and DC alike - are collected, gene seed is harvested and armor / weapon remains are taken back to the armory for repair and future issuing.

 

Another point to consider is the long life span of the generic BA. They devote their lives to enhancing their weapons and kit. The Samurai were very much the same way in ancient history. So if a BA spent decades or even centuries modding his kit, what Chaplain or commander would deny them of going to war in that same kit one last, glorious time?

 

In the end, it really comes down to what you like best on your models. I can totally see your going the route of using base powerarmor painted black as it unifies them as something completely apart from the average BA in red.

 

To me, the DC represent the most sinister and debase reflection of the BAs innate nobility and baring so I paint 'em up in somber bronzes and boltgun metals with glaring red saltires. I want my opponent on the other side of the table to make no mistake as to what he's up against.

 

That look of #$%! me on his face, is totally worth the price of admission.

 

Cheers!

[Res Ipsa Loquitur]

On the note of using ornately designed armor prior to launching into battle, this makes total sense from a logistical standpoint. The Black Rage can take hold of a BA anytime and anywhere. According to the latest codex - if I remember correctly - this usually happens just before a fight. At that time, the Chaplains attend to the afflicted and their armor is repainted black and then they're unleashed into the fray in mobs of slavering lunacy. There's simply no time to order up a new set of power armor from suppy, so whatever armor the afflicted BA had at the time of his 'turning' is what gets repainted and used in battle. Following a battle, the remains of the fallen - both BA regulars and DC alike - are collected, gene seed is harvested and armor / weapon remains are taken back to the armory for repair and future issuing.

 

That's exactly why they don't wear ornate armour in my army; because only Sergeants, characters, SG and VV get ornate armour or bling in my army. Everyone else wears regular PA so when they fall that's what gets painted black and away they go.

 

Cheers!

 

Chin chin.

[Cain Tiberius Kondrad]

Ah, well that would make sence then. If your regular marines only wear vanila armour, then it makes sence that your DC only wear vanila armour.

[sp4rky]

Although you could chuck the occasional ornate looking armour in there to represent a sergeant falling?

[Demoulius]

well if you also use the DC bodies to make normal assault marines/tactical marines it would be fluffy B)

[Rune_Priest_Rhapsody]

Thats a lot of DC boxes!! Although, they cost the same as the RAS box, so that would indeed look really good. Especially if you combined the to kits together!!

 

*thinking* Maybe I should go that route!!

 

End of Line

[Res Ipsa Loquitur]

Although you could chuck the occasional ornate looking armour in there to represent a sergeant falling?

 

Yeah, In a moment of ill-attention I accidentally used the 'ant-eater/Rene Zellweger' helmet - which I really, really hate - on a model that was going to be a Vanguard Veteran and I can't get it back off so I've chucked him in with the DC to represent either a Vanguard or Sergeant falling. He'll be the first model I remove from the unit when the chainswords start flying.

 

well if you also use the DC bodies to make normal assault marines/tactical marines it would be fluffy :lol:

 

True, but unfortunately I bought most of the marines in a job-lot off Ebay so it wasn't an option. Well, not without lots of effort and effort is thin on the ground for me right now.