Lore questions re: Deathwatch shoulder pads

[Vorenus]

While a Battle-Brother serves in the Deathwatch, he wears his Chapter pauldron on the right shoulder and his Deathwatch shoulder pauldron on the left shoulder.  When a Deathwatch Veteran returns to his original Chapter, he switches the order, and wears the Deathwatch shoulder pad on his right shoulder and his Chapter shoulder pauldron on the left shoulder.  (Obviously this doesn't apply to Black Shields.)

 

Question:  For Deathwatch Veterans who have returned to their Chapter, and who have also earned the Crux Terminatus, which takes precedence, the Crux Terminatus or the Chapter shoulder pauldron?

 

[Brother Tyler]

Veterans of the Deathwatch don't have to wear the Deathwatch shoulder pad (ref: Uriel Ventris surprising his fellow Ultramarines when he donned his Deathwatch colors during the course of a novel - a plot device, surely, but useful in this instance). Also, the crux terminatus isn't always worn upon a shoulder pad. There are plenty of examples of Space Marines with terminator honours worn upon other parts of their armour, either as a bangle/fetish or as an honour painted upon the armour (kneepad, shin, hand, chest, wherever). By extension, one might surmise that some veterans of the Deathwatch might simply wear the Deathwatch icon somewhere upon their armour in a manner similar to the crux terminatus. It's entirely conceivable that a veteran of the Deathwatch who has also earned terminator honours might wear neither upon the pauldron - or both (imagine a small crux terminatus device beside the Deathwatch icon, or upon the skull).

[Vorenus]

That's good information.  Thank you.  You mentioned the Uriel Ventris book, which I have read.  Do you have any other recommendations for sources I can read?  Thanks again.

[Brother Tyler]

There are the obvious ones (that you've most likely already read): the codex, the novels, the FFG Deathwatch RPG.

Other than that, the Forge World books are/were great at showing Adeptus Astartes with variations in armour decorations and honours, especially the two Badab War books and the Horus Heresy books. The old Imperial Armour books are much more difficult to come by since 8th edition, and they might not be worth it if all you're looking for is armour decorations.

Here are two Angels of Vigilance Space Marines that I created (started with the Space Marine Painter and then modified using Paint and Photoshop):

The one on the left is a veteran. He has the typical Deathwatch shoulder pad, worn on the right arm as is typical for veterans of the Deathwatch. He also wears his Terminator honours as a badge upon the right gauntlet (the yellow cruciform device).

The one on the right is a company master. He is not a veteran of the Deathwatch, but wears his Terminator honours as a decoration added to the heraldry on his right pauldron (the white cross).

Both of these are personal images created from my imagination, but are patterned after images shown in a number of the Forge World books.

And here is an image of a model that I never finished (please excuse the craptastic paint job, I was working under a time crunch):

It's an old 2nd edition Veteran Sergeant model that I used to represent a Marines Exemplar captain. He is a veteran of the Deathwatch, bearing the icon of the Deathwatch upon his right kneepad. He also has Terminator honours, symbolized by the white cross decoration upon his right pauldron.

(I really need to go back and fix him up.)

Here's an image plan for a model for my DIY Chapter, the Nova Hawks:

He's a veteran, indicated by the squad badge upon the right pauldron. This veteran has Terminator honours, symbolized by the black and orange cross decoration upon his right kneepad.

All of the images above are based on my interpretation of what the lore allows for both veterans of the Deathwatch and Terminator honours. You'll find plenty of other similar examples by other players here at the B&C.

[Vorenus]

Thank you for such a thorough and thoughtful answer!