How do you show rank on your marines?

[Sir Clausel]

Hi everyone.

I have usually made up my own way of showing rank on my marines. So i was wondering how you guys do it? 

I myself try to find a way to make easy and fast to see it on the tabletop and makes sense lorewise in my mind. 

Like my BT have veterans with some gold trim on their shoulders and some decorations on the top of the backpack, and marshals have a cape added. But now im not sure how to show Castellans rank. Im not a fan of painting something a different color for it. But i cant think of anything else. 

Edited May 22, 2023 by Sir Clausel

[painting.for.my.sanity]

I have BTs, and use a bit of a non-standard system (even by their standards).

 

Basic rank-and-file look as you'd expect. Less senior Sword Brethren look the same, but with a white Templar Cross painted over their faceplate. More senior Sword Brethren and Castellans have black pauldrons, gold trim and white heraldry. Marshals and Helbrecht are fully gold.

 

Senior Techmarines and Apothecaries are fully in their special colour. Juniors just have a shoulder pad picked out in it.

[Iron Father Ferrum]

My Iron Hands Sergeants get a white stripe on their helmets as is customary according to the 8th Edition supplement.

[Forté]

I'll be doing the standard stuff on my Crimson Fists.

 

Helmets with the skull on the forehead for sergeants.

Two red hand for vets (skull on helm for sgt).

Skull with iron halo on the shoulder and red helmet stripe with forehead skull for Lt.

[Marshal Reinhard]

On 5/22/2023 at 9:02 AM, Sir Clausel said:

Hi everyone.

I have usually made up my own way of showing rank on my marines. So i was wondering how you guys do it? 

I myself try to find a way to make easy and fast to see it on the tabletop and makes sense lorewise in my mind. 

Like my BT have veterans with some gold trim on their shoulders and some decorations on the top of the backpack, and marshals have a cape added. But now im not sure how to show Castellans rank. Im not a fan of painting something a different color for it. But i cant think of anything else. 

Rank with BT is a tricky one. The official BT scheme doesn't have any real clear rank signifiers besides the alternate black red scheme for sword brethren veterans. Typically marshals and castellans have followed the standard initiate black white paint scheme (though the depicted castellan on the swordbrethren kit uses swordbrethren colours). There's no stripes, no alternate color helms, no shoulder pad marking as both sides show the chapter symbol etc. Typically the amount of bling or knightly trappings have signified the higher ranks, but there's no real official difference between how to signify a marshal from a castellan. This very adhoc approach to things I suppose is very Templar in a way.

 

Because of my collector mentality I've ended up with a lot models that could conceivably be either marshals castellans or even just more swordbrethren. 

 

I suppose if you would introduce a way of signifying rank clearly, stripes or the like on helmets could work, or perhaps some sort of tiered decoration to go with the cross on the shoulder pad, but that might be difficult if you're using the pads with sculpted detail. Maybe laurels on the helm of all marshals, something else for castellans. depends on your bits supply.

[Commander Nicky]

I have regular colour for ordinary guys, bronze helmets for (non-veteran) sergeants, and gold for officers, command and veterans including veteran sergeants... That way, I don't need to discriminate if my officers change louadouts...

[Sir Clausel]

Yeah BT are very much their own way how they show their ranks. I just dont find it very helpfull on the gameboard that you cant see if its really marshal, castellan or even sword brethren as they are all alike. 

One thing i like is for stuff to be added as they rise through the ranks. I dont like for example that ultramarine sgts have red helmet and then lieutenants have the stripe thingy and captains go back to blue. Dont like it changing back and forth. 

I have modeled some BGV with laurels on the helmets so cant use that now. 

I have narrowed my options down to:

Having a different color on the cape

Making some sort of half cape 

Or giving them actuall tabards instead of approns(meaning its also on the back) 

 

Its one of those things i should have thought about in my planning stage of the army but alas.. I didnt :p

[Xenith]

With Blood Angels, I go for the traditional:

 

sergeant/squad leader - black pad insides and red back banner

veteran sergeant - black pads and black banner

 

With my captains, I prefer the gold artificer armour look, so they get that, regardless of whether they're red or not in the codex. 

[Marshal Reinhard]

27 minutes ago, Sir Clausel said:

Yeah BT are very much their own way how they show their ranks. I just dont find it very helpfull on the gameboard that you cant see if its really marshal, castellan or even sword brethren as they are all alike. 

One thing i like is for stuff to be added as they rise through the ranks. I dont like for example that ultramarine sgts have red helmet and then lieutenants have the stripe thingy and captains go back to blue. Dont like it changing back and forth. 

I have modeled some BGV with laurels on the helmets so cant use that now. 

I have narrowed my options down to:

Having a different color on the cape

Making some sort of half cape 

Or giving them actuall tabards instead of approns(meaning its also on the back) 

 

Its one of those things i should have thought about in my planning stage of the army but alas.. I didnt :p

What about tiered insignia on knee? (potentially troublesome with models that have something sculpted there like a skull) or again something on the shoulder pads? For example a stripe behind the cross on castellans, two for marshal (or something to that effect) 

[Sir Clausel]

It is possiblities but I feel they are too small to notice in a game. As I want them to be fairly easy to see from the topview you have when you play the game. So myself and my opponent can quickly see which is which.

[BrainFireBob]

I flip my pads. Chapter left and squad type right for grunts, chapter right and squad type left for sarges. 

 

Everything else is distinctive. 

[painting.for.my.sanity]

7 hours ago, Sir Clausel said:

It is possiblities but I feel they are too small to notice in a game. As I want them to be fairly easy to see from the topview you have when you play the game. So myself and my opponent can quickly see which is which.

One of the many reasons I love back banners - it's really easy to spot the squad leader!

[Gederas]

With my Dark Angels, I do standard codex hierarchy. Templars... Command staff are Black cross, white field, gold trim.

  

4 hours ago, painting.for.my.sanity said:

One of the many reasons I love back banners - it's really easy to spot the squad leader!

Meanwhile, my Templars have Back Banners on the Sword Brother's second, or on Castellans

 

  

15 hours ago, Sir Clausel said:

Or giving them actuall tabards instead of approns(meaning its also on the back)

That's a scapular, not a tabard

Edited May 24, 2023 by Gederas

[Bouargh]

With my SW I used to mark the sergeants with a personalized marking over the pack marking - as per the initial decals of the metal boxed sets decades ago:

- black for Claws

- gold/yellow for Hunters

- red for Fangs

- Wolf guards as unit leaders are in general going with black helmets but retain the Wolf guard paultrons of the rest of the Great Company Guards

 

Others ranked oficials were going with personalized paultrons / icons.

 

As I repainted most/all I have to reissue personalized decals and redo all the process, but I will stick to the initial idea.

[Galron]

Cool helms for the most part. I also will pose them differently so they are easier to pick out.

[Arkangilos]

On 5/23/2023 at 8:14 PM, Gederas said:

That's a scapular, not a tabard

Tis rare to hear of this outside my circles, lol

[Doghouse]

I like to use the 1st edition captain and sergeant markings.

 

 

[Disruptor_fe404]

For my homebrew, I use gold pauldron trim for Veterans, and the rank chevron on the right pauldron for squad leaders (you'll note these are independent but can be combined). Lieutenants and higher ranks have personalised heraldry on the right pauldron, replacing the rank chevron - though I am extending this practice to other 'notables', like Ancients and Company Champions, and may even do something similar for Bladeguard when I get to them.