Revamping the Eagle Eyes

[JeffTibbetts]

Okay... This seems like a ridiculous thing to even think about, but I'm very seriously considering reworking my chapter a bit. Thoughts are brought on by a couple of things:

• My painting skills and focus are very different than before. I originally wanted a simple to paint force, with a color intensity similar to the blue on Ultramarines. Lots of clean, bright green, red weapon cases, and no battle damage or weathering. I also wanted something fast, so I could game more. This was a pipe dream, and flew in the face of the fact that I care a LOT more about painting than I do about gaming. Why cut corners to get something painted fast? 
• Building my Imperial Knight was a great opportunity to try new techniques like weathering and battle damage. As it turns out, it's a heck of a lot of fun and I'm having a much harder time seeing my clean marines as staying clean for long. This is something I'm still on the fence about. I really like the way a clean marine looks, but I feel like I'm missing out on some enjoyable hobbying. 
• I'll never start the Adeptus Militarum force that I always convince myself is just around the corner. I always told myself "well, that's where the weathering will come in." If it's not going to come in there, where will it? 
• Oddly enough, I really like the way the new studio Space Wolves use Agrax Earthshade to warm up the gray. I've been thinking about doing a test mini like that for a while, using either Agrax or Seraphim to bring a reddish tone to the shadows on the green armor. I've seen plenty of great models with complimentary-color high-contrast shadowing, and it can look really cool. I feel like it could add some warmth to the base green and make it look a little dirtier at the same time. Worth a shot anyway. 
• I've been putting more thought into squad markings and designations within the chapter livery. I think I've decided to try some radical things with the color scheme in general. 

So, that all being said, here's what I'm thinking about more specifically. I'm mostly getting this all down so I remember it myself. 

1. I want to maybe tone down the green a bit. Perhaps more drab. I'm going to miss the super green clean marines, but I think this is the right move going forward. The main recipe will be about the same, but again I want to experiment with maybe a contrast shade to start, and work from a darker starting base perhaps and not highlight up to such a light green. This will probably be the trickiest bit for me.
2. I will be marking out squad types by different-colored right arms and shoulder pads. Inspired in no small part by the Crimson Shrikes, I seriously considered doing both arms but opted to keep it just on the right. Trim will be in the same color as the arm except for Tacticals, so Assault will have red arms, Devastators black, and Veteran squads will have both arms in white as a nod to the Raven Guard. Squad numbers will be on the colored right arm, using the Dark Angel style gothic numbers (again, to more closely align to RG). 
3. Weapon casings will no longer be red. I'll use black instead. I think this makes more sense for a stealth-based army. Red will still be a spot color in the eye lenses and in other select places. It also remains the company color for the 3rd company, upon which my army is based. That means the scouts and 1st company vets will have less of it, save their lenses and very limited spot usage. 
4. Sergeants will retain the helmet stripe designations that I had before. Red stripe for regular sergeant, red stripe with white outer stripe for vet serge. White helmet on Vet squads and Terminators. I haven't yet decided fully, but I think terminators will two white arms and white helmets. Terminator serge's will have a white helmet with a red stripe if they're wearing one. 
5. Company color and number may not be displayed prominently at all. I'll use it on vehicles most likely, but I plan to test a couple of alternatives for foot troopers. One of them is painting a portion of the neck ring in red (for 3rd company), like I've seen suggested on other B & C armies. I think it's an interesting nod to modern military designations and is less garish and obvious than a knee pad or shoulder trim. I'll probably brainstorm some other ideas for company color, but I don't think I'll ever put the company number on. If you guys have any ideas for company color that would be pretty downplayed or subtle, let me hear 'em. 
6. I plan to keep most decorative metal trim in bronze, albeit slightly darker and a little corroded with Nihilakh Oxide, including the chest aquilas and whatnot. Obviously not on the colored right arms, though. The one place where I'm struggling here is with Vanguard and Sternguard Vets, with their ornate shoulder pads. I like to use those, but I don't yet know how the bronze will look on white shoulder pads. I think it will be dark enough to look cool, but I'm not 100% yet. 
7. Where the chapter badge appears on green armor (most places) it will remain white. Where the white won't contrast as well I'll use black. Mainly this will be on the veterans, obviously. Depending on the red recipe I settle on, the Assault marines may end up with black as well. I'm thinking it will be a deeper red, though. 
8. I WILL be adding some battle damage and wear, especially on vehicles. This will significantly darken the overall army as is, so I want to be careful not to make the green too much darker. I'll be keeping the burned village bases, which are mostly shades of gray, and using ash-colored weathering powder on the marines legs. While I think most marines themselves will remain cleanish (especially based on the obsession with Drop Pod deployment), bikers, vehicles, scouts, etc. will probably look like they've been in the field a bit longer. 
9. I'll still use occasional jade areas on special character models in a pale green, like I've done on my chaplain and captain. I think the terminator's Cruxes can stay that green as well, but I'll have to see how it looks on white. 

I think that covers it... I want to think things through a little better this time around so I can maintain consistent paint recipes and finishes across the range. I've already got some stuff painted, obviously, but I'm not above stripping and redoing pretty much everything. I really don't have that much done. My chaplain won't take much work, and I'm planning on messing with him a bit anyway to add a raven-feather purple and green iridescent sheen to his armor.  

 

Thoughts? Comments? Things I should nail down now before I get going? The colored arms I asked about before and there was some healthy debate. I'm pretty well settled on the idea now, though. You can def try to persuade me otherwise. 

[Messor]

They sound like perfectly reasonable details for a hardened SM Chapter. Is any of this going to affect their background at all?

[JeffTibbetts]

They sound like perfectly reasonable details for a hardened SM Chapter. Is any of this going to affect their background at all?

 

Not really, but kind of yes? I've been putting a lot of thought into the background, but most of it won't really be part of the IA. What's going on in the background:

 

There's a schism within the chapter right now, of sorts. In a nutshell there are those who see the future of the chapter remaining very introverted and indebted deeply to semi-rogue sects of the Adeptus Mechanicus. On the other hand, there are some who are beginning to question the arrangements they've made and see a more open way forward, with some of their original purpose (protecting those who can't protect themselves) restored. This has been exacerbated by the presence and growing influence of the Queen Bee, a Freeblade Imperial Knight who is oath-bound to the chapter. She's really shaking things up as she's a strong champion for the people. Both the local Macay people who are currently heavily oppressed and stifled by the chapter's constant surveillance and intervention, and for the people of the Imperium as a whole. She comes from a traditional Knight family, and the Throne Mechanicum has imprinted the sort of duty to service that you would expect, but she has grown deeply mistrustful of the Adeptus Mechanicus and their scheming. As members of the chapter fight with her and grow to respect her more, they see in her a glimpse of the glory that their Raven Guard primogenitors hold. So, in short, she has galvanized a movement to take the chapter back to a certain purity of purpose. Of course, many lower ranking soldiers have no idea how deeply they're connected to a fairly radical Magos and don't understand the myopic focus is all-but necessary to keep some things secret that the chapter cannot afford to be exposed. They're in a sticky situation. 

 

So, some of the thoughts I've been having are based on that: trying to make them less preening showbirds and more like the stealth warriors they're intended to be. Does any of that make sense? Basically, they've got a new captain and he does things a little differently. Of course, I'll be retconning the heraldry myself to make some of this chapter-wide.

[Tiberius Cato]

Just a thought, but perhaps this culminates in a civil war within the chapter. There are those reluctant to change their ways, for that's how they've been doing it for eons. Then there are those who swear alleigiance to the Queen Bee and are eager to follow the ways set forth by their glorious primarch, Corax, and seek to throw off the shackles of the mechanicum.

[JeffTibbetts]

Yeah, I don't think I'll go that extreme but that's basically what's happening. They don't really pledge themselves to the Bee, in fact she'd never allow them to do something like that. More like they just see her as a sort of noble hero who inspires them. 

[Tiberius Cato]

I see. I'm a sucker for internal conflicts, I guess I kinda of jumped the gun a bit haha. I'm really interested to see how this turns out, Aztec-ish marines are pretty cool.

[JeffTibbetts]

I see. I'm a sucker for internal conflicts, I guess I kinda of jumped the gun a bit haha. I'm really interested to see how this turns out, Aztec-ish marines are pretty cool.

 

Thanks, homie. I mean, all the pieces are in place for a schism, I just think they can resolve their differences without violence. :D 

[Teetengee]

In 40k? ;)