The Legion For You: Part Two, Electric Boogaloo!

[Commissar Ibram Gaunt]

 

 

 

Yellow is super easy with the yellow base paints , there might even be a yellow spray, either gw or army painter.

 

Wolves will be easier to paint grey. But more painted details. Fists harder to paint but fewer details.

 

I always think fists look better.

 

Paint a tester Maine from each.

Yes i have heard that yellow is far easier from several people now. I think i am really leaning towards Imperial Fists.

Check out Dos's tutorial here.

 

I painted a test mini ages ago that was simply Averland Sunset with a sepia wash.

 

I'd now do a mix of 50:50 gryphonne sepia to lahmian medium. Adding Lahmian to my washes was a real revelation!

 

Slight highlight with a bone colour, call it a day.

That is a really good guide. Thanks, I might start with a white undercoat though

[Allart01]

Found myself with a Word Bearers half of BaC, unbuilt and unpainted.

I already have my loyalist and traitor main Legions, but I'd like to keep those for a 1000 pts side project.

Thinking about SoH or Alpha, they could make the most out of ten vets, five supporto, five seekers. Not really keen on Black shields... well any good idea would do, really :P

[Doctor Perils]

Found myself with a Word Bearers half of BaC, unbuilt and unpainted.

I already have my loyalist and traitor main Legions, but I'd like to keep those for a 1000 pts side project.

Thinking about SoH or Alpha, they could make the most out of ten vets, five supporto, five seekers. Not really keen on Black shields... well any good idea would do, really

What are your main legions? WE and DA?

[Allart01]

 

Found myself with a Word Bearers half of BaC, unbuilt and unpainted.

I already have my loyalist and traitor main Legions, but I'd like to keep those for a 1000 pts side project.

Thinking about SoH or Alpha, they could make the most out of ten vets, five supporto, five seekers. Not really keen on Black shields... well any good idea would do, really

What are your main legions? WE and DA?

 

 

Yes, it's those two. :D

[Reldn]

Well, I'm fully on board the Heresy train now, and have come seeking help on choosing a second army. My main legion is currently the Word Bearers, and I will have a small batch of Ultramarines from BaC as well.

 

Now, I've been looking through the Different Legions in the HH Books and reading their rules in the Red AoDLegions book. Since my current main is a Traitor Legion, I'm going for a Loyalist one as my next army, and have it narrowed down to three:

 

Salamanders: Always loved this Legion/Chapter. I love their look, their fluff, all the Flamer-y goodness that entails....and those beautiful, beautiful Pyroclasts. My only problem? I suck at painting and there seems to be a lot of different details on certain units such as the Pyroclasts and Firedrakes that I fear I could not do justice to.

 

White Scars: Read "Scars" and currently reading "Brotherhood of the Storm", hoping soon to get my hands on "The Path of Heaven". Those books alone are making me consider them as my second Legion. The downside here is that, again, I'm no good at painting, there's not much on them aside from their rules in HH: Retribution, and I'm really not too keen on the 30k Jetbikes. Outrider bikes look alright though. EDIT: Then again, nothing says they need to be all bikes, all the time either...

 

Ultramarines: They've never really interested me much up until reading about them in the Heresy era. I love the Invictarus Suzerain models, they'd tie in well with my Word Bearers, and they have a relatively easy paint-scheme.

Edited September 9, 2016 by Reldn

[Doctor Perils]

 

 

Found myself with a Word Bearers half of BaC, unbuilt and unpainted.

I already have my loyalist and traitor main Legions, but I'd like to keep those for a 1000 pts side project.

Thinking about SoH or Alpha, they could make the most out of ten vets, five supporto, five seekers. Not really keen on Black shields... well any good idea would do, really

What are your main legions? WE and DA?

 

 

Yes, it's those two.

 

Okay, so both of your current legions are different in most aspects from both of the new possibilities you mentionned.

 

Which colour scheme do you prefer? Considering that you can use many different colour schemes for Alpha Legion.

[Brother Pheidias]

Well, I'm fully on board the Heresy train now, and have come seeking help on choosing a second army. My main legion is currently the Word Bearers, and I will have a small batch of Ultramarines from BaC as well.

 

Now, I've been looking through the Different Legions in the HH Books and reading their rules in the Red AoDLegions book. Since my current main is a Traitor Legion, I'm going for a Loyalist one as my next army, and have it narrowed down to three:

 

Salamanders: Always loved this Legion/Chapter. I love their look, their fluff, all the Flamer-y goodness that entails....and those beautiful, beautiful Pyroclasts. My only problem? I suck at painting and there seems to be a lot of different details on certain units such as the Pyroclasts and Firedrakes that I fear I could not do justice to.

 

White Scars: Read "Scars" and currently reading "Brotherhood of the Storm", hoping soon to get my hands on "The Path of Heaven". Those books alone are making me consider them as my second Legion. The downside here is that, again, I'm no good at painting, there's not much on them aside from their rules in HH: Retribution, and I'm really not too keen on the 30k Jetbikes. Outrider bikes look alright though. EDIT: Then again, nothing says they need to be all bikes, all the time either...

 

Ultramarines: They've never really interested me much up until reading about them in the Heresy era. I love the Invictarus Suzerain models, they'd tie in well with my Word Bearers, and they have a relatively easy paint-scheme.

First up, welcome aboard the train!

 

Second, your Legion choices, I'll just go over them in reverse order.

 

Ultramarines: If you've already got a batch from B@C, it could well make sense to keep going, especially if you find them easy to paint, and if you feel like you can engage with them in the 30k setting.

 

White Scars: Now, I am biased. We need more Brotherhoods to raise the Horsehair-standards and strike boldly into the heart of the Traitors and anyone else who're getting uppity :D

If you don't like the Jetbikes, then I'll make the case that Outriders can pack quite the punch, both in h2h and with shooting, although they have to get up close and personal either way, and that's a perfectly viable way to run Scars. If you're also enthused with the background (I know I am!), and painting is the only real hurdle, then I say go for it. My own recipe for painting the white is really simple, mainly being a two-tone undercoat and a series of washes, so you don't have to be a painting-fiend to get good results.

 

Salamanders: Again, many of the same points apply about army composition and background speaking to you, and if painting is the hurdle, then there's really nothing else to do than hunkering down and finding a recipe that works for you. If you go for a subdued green for the armour, you'll find that green is a really forgiving colour, and gold and brass can be done with a good, solid basecoat and a wash. As for the scaly bits, reddish brown scales are easily achievable with, again, washes and a bit of care in electing your base colours :D

 

That's just my thoughts, so I'll leave you to decide what's right for you, with the closing advice being to pick the Legion that you find yourself thinking about when you're not actively hobbying, the one that comes to you when your mind wanders... Like being in love, I guess :D

[Allart01]

 

 

 

Found myself with a Word Bearers half of BaC, unbuilt and unpainted.

I already have my loyalist and traitor main Legions, but I'd like to keep those for a 1000 pts side project.

Thinking about SoH or Alpha, they could make the most out of ten vets, five supporto, five seekers. Not really keen on Black shields... well any good idea would do, really

What are your main legions? WE and DA?

 

 

Yes, it's those two.

 

Okay, so both of your current legions are different in most aspects from both of the new possibilities you mentionned.

 

Which colour scheme do you prefer? Considering that you can use many different colour schemes for Alpha Legion.

 

 

Yup, I'm looking for something completely different, especially in fluff/play style.

I don't think I'd go metallic with the Alpha Legion, but a dark blue/green, third/fourth edition style.

For the Sons of Horus, I'd go for a dark green...finding the right tone would sure be a challenge.

 

I'm also falling for the Scars after reading their heresy books, but I'm not sure about how representative of them a BaC force would be (an encircling-style force would be cool, but their RoW needs bikes) nor about how I could make them visually different enought from my World Eaters (white and covered in red :P)

[Reldn]

 

First up, welcome aboard the train!

 

Second, your Legion choices, I'll just go over them in reverse order.

 

Ultramarines: If you've already got a batch from B@C, it could well make sense to keep going, especially if you find them easy to paint, and if you feel like you can engage with them in the 30k setting.

 

White Scars: Now, I am biased. We need more Brotherhoods to raise the Horsehair-standards and strike boldly into the heart of the Traitors and anyone else who're getting uppity

If you don't like the Jetbikes, then I'll make the case that Outriders can pack quite the punch, both in h2h and with shooting, although they have to get up close and personal either way, and that's a perfectly viable way to run Scars. If you're also enthused with the background (I know I am!), and painting is the only real hurdle, then I say go for it. My own recipe for painting the white is really simple, mainly being a two-tone undercoat and a series of washes, so you don't have to be a painting-fiend to get good results.

 

Salamanders: Again, many of the same points apply about army composition and background speaking to you, and if painting is the hurdle, then there's really nothing else to do than hunkering down and finding a recipe that works for you. If you go for a subdued green for the armour, you'll find that green is a really forgiving colour, and gold and brass can be done with a good, solid basecoat and a wash. As for the scaly bits, reddish brown scales are easily achievable with, again, washes and a bit of care in electing your base colours

 

That's just my thoughts, so I'll leave you to decide what's right for you, with the closing advice being to pick the Legion that you find yourself thinking about when you're not actively hobbying, the one that comes to you when your mind wanders... Like being in love, I guess

 

Thank you for the welcome, and the welcome advice!

 

I like the idea of going by which Legion springs to mind the most. If I go that route, then that will plant me firmly in the Salamanders camp. Now, that being said? I do have some White Scars torsos headed my way. So, I may do just a small 5-man Tac squad sample and see how that goes.

[GrandMagnus]

So, yeah, legion troubles. Here is my issue:

 

I will be ordering some bits soon to make a legions astartes captain/centurion of a siege company I had in mind. His armour will be a mix of armour marks to give it that mid-heresy/MK V vibe with very few ornaments. I know the armour has to be black because I want to practice this particular colour and the mini might inspire me to make a small legion force to go with it (or C:SM force probably, to make it easier to use in casual games).

 

So, what I'm trying to figure out is wether it should be a Raven Guard or Dark Angel. I like both legions, but can't really decide, so any suggestions at all?

[Doctor Perils]

Hum... Have you got any ideas for the kind of equipment/personallity you wish to give the captain? Iron Hands could also qualify to black armour btw.

 

For example, if you want your captain to be a close combat specialist (still worthwhile in a siege company) using a pair of lightning claws, you might want to make him a Raven Guard. If you'd rather the siege company be part of a greater section of a legion that is specialised in sieges, why not a dark angel of the Ironwing?

 

etc.

[GrandMagnus]

Hum... Have you got any ideas for the kind of equipment/personallity you wish to give the captain? Iron Hands could also qualify to black armour btw.

 

For example, if you want your captain to be a close combat specialist (still worthwhile in a siege company) using a pair of lightning claws, you might want to make him a Raven Guard. If you'd rather the siege company be part of a greater section of a legion that is specialised in sieges, why not a dark angel of the Ironwing?

 

etc.

His equipment is the humble boltgun, the weapon that built the Imperium :P (Rule of cool...). Yeah, I had not really thought of Iron Hands for black armour. The Ironwing idea is not bad, I haven't really read any of the new DA fluff for the heresy, so I will have to take a look at it and get up to date.

[Doctor Perils]

 

 I haven't really read any of the new DA fluff for the heresy, so I will have to take a look at it and get up to date.

Unfortunately there isn't all that much written about the hexagrammaton (or whatever they call the "six wings")

[Qkhitai]

Hey all. I've been out of the hobby for around seven years or so, but the BaC box seemed like such a great opportunity to come back and I want to pick up or box or two next week before they finally disappear. I've been struggling with my legion for a few months now though. I'm generally quite open, although I've ruled Space Wolves out (not a fan) and I'm not keen on Salamanders or Raven Guard either; the former seem too tricky to paint and the latter are just kind of dull. So I have two sticking points really, which I thought I'd seek help with.

 

1) I don't like tanks. I'm not a treadhead whatsoever and everything from building, to painting, to carrying around vehicles just seems like too much hassle for me. Throw in the prices of the 30k vehicles and I'm out, my poor student wallet can't take those kinds of hits. So ideally I'm looking for a legion that plays well with little to no vehicles. Walkers and dreadnoughts I'm okay with though. 

 

2) Preferably, I'd like a legion that's easy to paint. As I say, it's been a while since I've done any Warhammer, and even back then I wasn't a very slick painter - no shades or highlighting, usually just a base coat and job done. I obviously want to improve my painting skills this time around and get into all this stuff, but I don't want to dive straight into the deep end, so something simple would suit me. Also I'm working on a budget, so the less paints I have to buy the better for me.

 

So that's kind of it, many thanks in advance.

[Erren]

Hey all. I've been out of the hobby for around seven years or so, but the BaC box seemed like such a great opportunity to come back and I want to pick up or box or two next week before they finally disappear. I've been struggling with my legion for a few months now though. I'm generally quite open, although I've ruled Space Wolves out (not a fan) and I'm not keen on Salamanders or Raven Guard either; the former seem too tricky to paint and the latter are just kind of dull. So I have two sticking points really, which I thought I'd seek help with.

 

1) I don't like tanks. I'm not a treadhead whatsoever and everything from building, to painting, to carrying around vehicles just seems like too much hassle for me. Throw in the prices of the 30k vehicles and I'm out, my poor student wallet can't take those kinds of hits. So ideally I'm looking for a legion that plays well with little to no vehicles. Walkers and dreadnoughts I'm okay with though. 

 

2) Preferably, I'd like a legion that's easy to paint. As I say, it's been a while since I've done any Warhammer, and even back then I wasn't a very slick painter - no shades or highlighting, usually just a base coat and job done. I obviously want to improve my painting skills this time around and get into all this stuff, but I don't want to dive straight into the deep end, so something simple would suit me. Also I'm working on a budget, so the less paints I have to buy the better for me.

 

So that's kind of it, many thanks in advance.

 

How do you feel about bikes and jet bikes? I'm guessing those are out as forge world prices for those are also on the high side. If you don't want tanks, bikes, or jet bikes, then that kinda rules out White Scars and Dark Angels.

 

How about Death Guard? Paint scheme could be white primer, sepia wash, then green shoulders and metal details.

Alpha Legion and Night Lords would probably work ok, but the paint scheme might be harder to get good results.

If you want Loyalist, then maybe Ultramarines? I'd say Imperial Fists, but you'd need a quick/easy way to do yellow. I'm assuming you don't have an airbrush, but can you get any spray can yellow paint (Army Painter has colored primers I've had some success with)?

[Doctor Perils]

How do you feel about bikes and jet bikes? I'm guessing those are out as forge world prices for those are also on the high side. If you don't want tanks, bikes, or jet bikes, then that kinda rules out White Scars and Dark Angels.

 

How about Death Guard? Paint scheme could be white primer, sepia wash, then green shoulders and metal details.

Alpha Legion and Night Lords would probably work ok, but the paint scheme might be harder to get good results.

If you want Loyalist, then maybe Ultramarines? I'd say Imperial Fists, but you'd need a quick/easy way to do yellow. I'm assuming you don't have an airbrush, but can you get any spray can yellow paint (Army Painter has colored primers I've had some success with)?

 

Why would it rule out Dark Angels? I think they'd still work well as an infantry-heavy legion (at least fluff-wise)

 

White scars are already ruled out with the "not difficult to paint" clause. Same with Imperial Fists (despite yellow being easier to paint these days I've heard).

 

I'm loathe to suggest this one, but: Ultramarines? Blue is generally considered a very easy colour to paint, and they can work very well without tanks (fluff-wise again)

 

I'm curious to know why you think Salamanders are complicated to paint? Green isn't too bad, no? Also, if you don't want to bother too much with shading/highlighting, having a colour scheme with strong contrasts already might be a good option?

 

Anyway, in terms of legions ruled out by your two criteria, you have:

1. Few tanks: Iron Warriors, Iron Hands
2. Easy to paint: White Scars, Imperial Fists, Night Lords, World Eaters?, Death Guard?,  Luna Wolves?

I believe that still leaves a lot of choice though. (10/11 legions to be more precise)

[Ulrik_Ironfist]

So, I'm really getting into the idea of Horus Heresy. I've got in mind a few ideas to use existing models (some are even HH), to build my forces.

 

I will be getting things to run my imperial guard as Solar Auxilia, And I want to run my Raven Guard as a heresy Army. I also have three knights which will see use in 30k.

 

I do have a few questions though, how do blackshields work, what does shattered legions do, and how does it all relate?

 

What should I consider for Solar Auxilia aside from more russes (I already plan to get my 5th, a second demolisher), and a couple of Dracosans? Are the Castellax worth getting? How can I model servo-automata?

 

I'm coming from an extensive background in 40k going back to 3rd edition, but HH is something I'd not paid attention to until recently.

[Father Mehman]

Alright, so I have questions about the VIIth - Imperial Fists. You might be asking yourself: "But Mehman, surely you aren't giving up on your Death Guard, are you?" The answer to that will always be a slap across the face and a resounding "No". The Death Guard embody everything I once strived for and wish to strive towards still - the Legion that treads ever forward no matter the obstacle. I'm just looking for a Loyalist Legion and think I have found it in the Imperial Fists. There was a time that the Thousand Sons looked appealing for my Loyalist Legion but that idea fell by the wayside, unfortunately.

First, I understand most of the history behind the Imperial Fists but what are some of the smaller tidbits of information that might whet my appetite for creating a small force to play on the solo tabletop? For instance, I love the idea of the Hospitallers and they seem to have roots in the Imperial Fists or at least the Black Templars. Is there any room for me to paint my force as their Chapter within the Legion?

Do the Imperial Fists utilize the basic Legion structure or are they different somehow? My only reference is the Death Guard with their seven Great Companies but I have the ubiquitous hierarchy "plan" from one of the black books so that shouldn't be too hard to figure out. I just want to make sure they don't have Clans like the Iron Hands or some-such other nonsense.

Livery. I want to show you this image and then explain my confusion:

Ok, these are Imperial Fists (clearly) but the majority colour on them is black. How does livery work in the Legion? With my own "Chapter" in the Death Guard, there are some quirks on how they present themselves such as Officers having a black right pauldron, the whole Chapter having bronze face plates, and so on. I get that little changes will be present but how does one have most of their armour black when the colour of the Legion is yellow?

This one is about actually painting the army and less about fluff. The picture below is the yellow I am looking to achieve:

And this second picture is how I don't want my Imperial Fists looking:

As you can see, the first picture has a warm yellow tone to it which looks remarkably like Golden Seal, a flowering herb. The second picture looks like it belongs on hazard striping. Now, Dos' excellent article on painting yellow over black has made me really like the Imperial Fists as I can see it really isn't that hard to paint. He's a myth of a man busting myths on painting. Anyway, are there any other tips on not ending up with the second picture's yellow?

In closing, I want to thank you for making it this far through what's been written. Kudos. Any help you can give would be great because, as has been mentioned, the Imperial Fists seem like a great Loyalist Legion that I could have fun painting. I'm off to go make pew pew pew noises with my Death Guard now !

[Doctor Perils]

I believe that the mainly black Imperial Fists are supposed to denote some sort of veteran status - in particular for Templars (can't remember the exact name) that guard the Imperial Fist's "Temple" on the Phalanx, as depicted in your example.

 

For the Hospitallers idea: it doesn't seem the Hospitallers are of the 2nd founding, but they could be of the 3rd - since we know that some chapters of the 3rd founding are based on Legion formations (eg the Executionners), you could suppose that the Hospitallers are such a formation based on the loyalist legion formation you want to create. Even if it turns out they are of a later founding, you can still say that your's were an inspiration. There is nothing stopping you from creating such a force, and only good can come of it in my mind. Otherwise, I think the Imperial Fists are generally quite close to the Principia Bellicosa, though it seems most of their officers are called "Captains", with some captains being senior to others.

 

If I were you, I'd include a certain element of Apothecariness into the force, if you go with the Hospitallers theme - perhaps their captain/chapter master could once have been a Primus Medicae?

[Father Mehman]

Thanks for the help, Lord Thorn! You've certainly given me something to think on as it relates to the Hospitallers. I'll dig around and see what I can come up with about the black. It just looks too cool not to use in some way.

[Doctor Perils]

How about some kind of halved or quartered scheme if you don't want to go full black? There may also be some way of integrating the white and checkerboard patterns of the Hospitallers ?

[Father Mehman]

Honestly, the Hospitallers idea can ride until I want another 40k army. I'm still doing that era's Iron Hands but they'll be finished eventually. I hope .

 

I could always paint an arm black or something on my group. Perhaps they get a black helmet or even face plate. That actually sounds rather nice - the black face plate. I'll just have to read up on them to figure out how to go about naming them.

[Brother Castle]

I'm all set to join the heresy train and commit fully to my first legion, the question is which?

 

so far I have only ever played fast armies in 40k so I'm very interested in trying something new

 

A slower moving relentless type force focusing on lots of infantry, Dreadnoughts and Big Guns, Preferably traitor.

 

I have been able to narrow it down to two legions, the Death Guard and Iron Warriors. but that's as far as I have got, the paint schemes both appeal to me and I like the fluff for both so it really boils down to how they play.

 

Any insight i can get on this would be amazing and greatly appreciated.

[Adeptus-Alaska]

I'm all set to join the heresy train and commit fully to my first legion, the question is which?

 

so far I have only ever played fast armies in 40k so I'm very interested in trying something new

 

A slower moving relentless type force focusing on lots of infantry, Dreadnoughts and Big Guns, Preferably traitor.

 

I have been able to narrow it down to two legions, the Death Guard and Iron Warriors. but that's as far as I have got, the paint schemes both appeal to me and I like the fluff for both so it really boils down to how they play.

 

Any insight i can get on this would be amazing and greatly appreciated.

So, those are two great choices. And the beauty of 30K is the freedom it offers.

 

So my question is this. Why not both?

Think about it, iron warriors raining hell on the enemy while Death Guard infantry and Dreadnoughts March implacably forward. Destroying all in their path.

Sounds too good to pass up.

 

Hell, if you don't do it I might.

[Brother Castle]

 

I'm all set to join the heresy train and commit fully to my first legion, the question is which?

 

so far I have only ever played fast armies in 40k so I'm very interested in trying something new

 

A slower moving relentless type force focusing on lots of infantry, Dreadnoughts and Big Guns, Preferably traitor.

 

I have been able to narrow it down to two legions, the Death Guard and Iron Warriors. but that's as far as I have got, the paint schemes both appeal to me and I like the fluff for both so it really boils down to how they play.

 

Any insight i can get on this would be amazing and greatly appreciated.

So, those are two great choices. And the beauty of 30K is the freedom it offers.

 

So my question is this. Why not both?

Think about it, iron warriors raining hell on the enemy while Death Guard infantry and Dreadnoughts March implacably forward. Destroying all in their path.

Sounds too good to pass up.

 

Hell, if you don't do it I might.

 

 

That sounds great and  I love the idea.

 

Just how would it work? wouldn't I just have too much redundancy (if there is such a thing) with units from both legions doing pretty much the same job, with very similar rules?