Librarian Colours during the Horus Heresy

[Tzen]

Good morning chaps!

 

I am going to be painting this guy next (I think):

 

 

However, I need some help.

 

During the Heresy, would he have blue armour? Or would he have the red armour of the legion (Word Bearers). 

 

Basically, if I paint him red, will it be inconsistent with the background? 

[Charlo]

AFAIK many of the legions didn't have a specific colour for the librarius, or at least, we've not seen a lot of it. Especially with the edict of Nikea too.

 

As a traitor, i'd imagine there would be even less significance placed on structure.

 

So go for red IMO ;)

[Tzen]

Cool thanks for the info.

 

It's an odd topic to research. I can't find anything on it at all.

[Joe]

Very little has been said regarding standardisation during the Heresy; one of the few examples that springs to mind occurs during Galaxy in Flames by Ben Counter, which specifically references the fact that the officers of the Emperor's Children had black rims on their pauldrons.

 

By and by the large, I'd go with whatever you feel is best. Certain legions (such as the Ultramarines) seemed to have some standard when it came to armour, as it's mentioned during Tempest that a number of the legion had deployed to Calth with a white marbling effect on sections of their armour, ready to parade, whereas the likes of the Space Wolves, Iron Hands and Salamanders are more likely to be personal choice.

[Major_Gilbear]

This topic comes up fairly often in regard to the various specialist officers. There was a recent one regarding apothecaries here in which I gave a brief answer that covered various officer types. There isn't anything overly specific in 30k, and even 40k is fairly vague outside of what Studio paintjobs/models exist.

In short, many of these offices didn't exist early on in the Great Crusade (I'd suggest that probably only the Apothecaries and Techmarines did), and came about organically after the Legions had been fighting for some time (in much the same that the various Legions' internal organisation underwent change over time). This would mean that each Legion may have marked out these specialist positions in their own way (if at all), although others may have has some communality if they were cross-Legion (like the TS Librarian exchange programme, or the Word Bearers loaning Chaplains to other Legions).

What icons may have evolved from honorific or tactical markings is therefore likely to have been more widespread in the case where there was more interaction between Legions across these specialist positions. I have a feeling that when Guilliman laid down the Codex Astartes, these may have been the basis/origin of the eventual Codex-approved markings and iconography. Even then, there is still plenty of variation between different Chapters in how the Codex markings are applied or represented (if at all in some cases!).

In the specific cases of certain Legions, I think there's further cause for some of the offices to marked in differing ways within the each Legion. For example, summoning through ritual/bargaining could be considered rather different from a Marine having an innate Psychic talent. Similarly, in the specific case of the Word Bearers, we know that different Chapters ended up with quite different colours and markings as the Crusade/Heresy wore on; the Serrated Suns being the initial (and most striking) change that gradually spread in some form to the rest of the Legion.

Finally, there is the aesthetic (or "Rule of Cool") consideration; some colours just look horrible together! In this case, I feel it is absolutely acceptable to use what works and leave out what doesn't - whether in 40k or 30k. (Blue surplices look like they clash too much with your Word Bearers' red armour? Use the horned skull and/or scroll and/or lightning bolt emblems instead!)

Edit: spelling gremlins...

[Tzen]

Thanks for the replies! :D

 

I have taken them on board and shall go with the "rule of cool!" 

 

I'm so spoilt for choice these days over what to paint that I am having trouble settling on one thing. 

[jeffersonian000]

I've always viewed the coloring guide in Rogue Trader (1st ed 40k) as a general rule of thumb for speciality units, as the bulk of the Legions in 30k seem to have been defined from those original guides. Librarians have some blue, apothecaries some white, chaplains some black, etc. Doesn't means it's codified and set in stone, just a nod to the original concept.

 

SJ

[Brother Aiwass]

Can't find the librarian one, but here's the medic:

Following the same pattern a librarian will be in legion colors with their symbol in the shoulderpad (blue or otherwise).

Cheers.

[Kol Saresk]

Good morning chaps!

 

I am going to be painting this guy next (I think):

 

 

However, I need some help.

 

During the Heresy, would he have blue armour? Or would he have the red armour of the legion (Word Bearers).

 

Basically, if I paint him red, will it be inconsistent with the background?

Battle for the Abyss says that the Word Bearers placed all or most of their Librarians into the Chapter of the Void so they could stay behind the lines and work on all the new daemon-tech they'd be unleashing in the Heresy. The Chapter Master had red armor so I'd say they have red armor simply because the whole poijt was to hide the psykers and let them blend in with the rest of the Legion so the Imperium wouldn't ask any questions.

 

That said, these guys would probably be involved with a lot of daemonic pacts I imagine and probably have inflated egos from being the big inventors of their time, so my personal opinion would be that colors vary as each one shows off their individual superiority followig the Heresy.

[DuskRaider]

Wise decision, both Legion and model wise. I personally went red. The blue came after the Codex Astartes, and the red and black just look sinister together.

 

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h169/DuskRaiderXIV/Mobile%20Uploads/20160830_120525_zpsleavchph.jpg

 

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h169/DuskRaiderXIV/Mobile%20Uploads/20160830_120620_zpsbjvsnp7p.jpg

[Harleqvin]

I don't know about the word bearers but I know with DA there seemed to be the robes were blue and armor was normal.

At least it said that about Israfeal* and I think another of the DA librarians around heresy era.

 

Don't know if that's much help. But that's the little I know about Libbies during that time.

Oh, and that evidently the horned skull was at least on the staff for him, too.

[Iron Lord]

In Vengeful Spirit, a Librarian (Blood Angels?) remembers wearing blue before the Conclave dissolved the Librarius. So there's a certain amount of precedent for the notion that the Codex Astartes merely codified older traditions.

[Vodunius]

Blue as the pre-Nikaea colour of the Librarius would certainly explain why *all* of the loyalist 1st founding chapters except the wolves wear blue to some degree post-Heresy, even though half of them ignore the majority of Codex markings.