BA Infernus marines

[Marshal Reinhard]

So, I have two leviathan sets worth of Infernus marines and I don't really need them for my main chapter as i can bake pyreblasters into my mainline troops.

 

Been hankering to paint red, but realize I'm not entirely sure what helmet colour and such they'd end up as? Blue like hellblasters? 

[DemonGSides]

I believe they are close support, not Fire Support, per the 10th ed Codex.  So I would expect yellow helmets.  But GW also models them with Fire Support markings in their Ultramarine pics so honestly, I think either is fine.  I think the blue helmets would look better/make more sense than keeping them in Close Support, but a flamethrower is about the definition of "Close quarters shooting" in 40k so it's a tough one.

My infernus remain unpainted lol

Edited July 14 by DemonGSides

[jaxom]

The Infernus Squad painted by GW for box art is a Heavy Support Squad. They're basically the Tacticus version of flame thrower Aggressors, who are also considered Heavy Support (for some reason).

[DemonGSides]

[DemonGSides]

1 hour ago, jaxom said:

The Infernus Squad painted by GW for box art is a Heavy Support Squad. They're basically the Tacticus version of flame thrower Aggressors, who are also considered Heavy Support (for some reason).

 

"Heavy Support" Isn't a current battlefield role, it'd be considered "Fire Support".

Which I agree, I think Infernus Marines fully fit in that as a unit with a single dedicated loadout aimed at providing ranged (Albeit short ranged) hurt toward the enemy.

But GW also calls them Close Support in the codex.  Either one is probably fine.  Or even just plain red helmets.

OR, go the ultimate route; green helmet.  It's both.

[Marshal Reinhard]

20 minutes ago, DemonGSides said:

But GW also calls them Close Support in the codex.

This is actually quite puzzling. I'm almost wondering if this a mistake on their part. Most visual evidence I've been able to glean paints them as fire support as you say. It's what their officially painted ultramarine sports. The fire support logo is also hard molded on the paint set infernus marines you can get.

 

Are there multiple mentions of them as close support in the codex, or is it a one-off?

Edited July 14 by Marshal Reinhard

[DemonGSides]

Their lore entry is the normal anemic lil blurb above their stat line, which reads;

 

"Infernus Squads purge swathes of the enemy ranks with the incandescent firestorms they unleash from their pyreblasters.  They are close-assault specialists, sending jets of burning promethium into enemy trench lines and bunkers, and through dense ruins and concealing vegetation, ensuring no foe escapes their fiery wrath."

 

So they're referred to as Close-Support Specialists (Without capitalization) there, but there's NOTHING indicating they'd be Fire Support IN THE CODEX.  I do agree that the models themselves speak otherwise.

 

Took a quick run through the codex otherwise during a lil break here and didn't see any other specific blurbs about Infernus squads.  Being relatively new, I could imagine it was a switched thing at one point, and that the embossed shoulderpads might be an artifact of how they initially thought of them, and then changed their mind, or vice versa.

[jaxom]

Yeah, that's a weird thing. Their data slate does describe them as "close-assault specialists." Anyway, GW painted theirs as Fire Support.

[DemonGSides]

Yeah definitely seems like a bit of "We made a decision at one point.  And then we changed our minds.  And we didn't tell anyone on the model team."  Pretty standard fare in today's day and age of proof reading at GW.

[Karhedron]

Honestly I think you could go with whichever you think looks better. But then I am a filthy heathen who paints all my helmets red regardless. Only my Librarians get blue helmets. 

 

[Inquisitor_Lensoven]

Blue helmets seems the most appropriate as they are literally a unit that supports with literal fire.

 

then again, I also think aggressors should have yellow helmets. Their guns are auxiliary to them getting into punching range of things.

 

4 hours ago, Karhedron said:

Honestly I think you could go with whichever you think looks better. But then I am a filthy heathen who paints all my helmets red regardless. Only my Librarians get blue helmets. 

 

This is why I made my own chapter, I didn’t want to even have to remotely worry about these things.

[DemonGSides]

I don't think anyone really 'worries' so much as has preference for how much they hew to the lore.  I try to, at least nominally, but I also hate doing transfers so there's none of them across my army, and I think knee-pad markings are both annoying to do and also ugly so I don't do them.

[Malakithe]

Close support? Check. Fire support? Check. Close Fire support...check check?

[Karhedron]

3 hours ago, DemonGSides said:

but I also hate doing transfers so there's none of them across my army,

 

At the risk of going OT, Microsol is fantastic for transfers. It softens the carrier film slightly to make application easier. Then as it dries, it makes the transfers shrink slightly so that they cling to the surface without wrinkles. A coat of satin varnish to seal them once they are dry and it looks like they have been painted on, even on shoulder pads.

[DemonGSides]

8 hours ago, Karhedron said:

 

At the risk of going OT, Microsol is fantastic for transfers. It softens the carrier film slightly to make application easier. Then as it dries, it makes the transfers shrink slightly so that they cling to the surface without wrinkles. A coat of satin varnish to seal them once they are dry and it looks like they have been painted on, even on shoulder pads.

 

Oh for sure, and I've even suggested it to others.

 

I'm mostly just stuck in my ways LOL

[Inquisitor_Lensoven]

13 hours ago, DemonGSides said:

I don't think anyone really 'worries' so much as has preference for how much they hew to the lore.  I try to, at least nominally, but I also hate doing transfers so there's none of them across my army, and I think knee-pad markings are both annoying to do and also ugly so I don't do them.

I’ve seen too many super nerds in various groups or spaces of this hobby “well ackshually” someone for not having their paint scheme be accurate to lore/codex.

 

also why the game I’m developing isn’t historical, just historically inspired. 
when I start showing off ships and weapons for the game I don’t need someone in the comments “well ackshually-ing “ over stupid minor differences.

[DemonGSides]

1 hour ago, Inquisitor_Lensoven said:

I’ve seen too many super nerds in various groups or spaces of this hobby “well ackshually” someone for not having their paint scheme be accurate to lore/codex.

 

also why the game I’m developing isn’t historical, just historically inspired. 
when I start showing off ships and weapons for the game I don’t need someone in the comments “well ackshually-ing “ over stupid minor differences.

 

Thankfully we still have some freedom of association in most of the modern world, so it's very easy to just laugh directly in those people's faces.

[Inquisitor_Lensoven]

1 hour ago, DemonGSides said:

 

Thankfully we still have some freedom of association in most of the modern world, so it's very easy to just laugh directly in those people's faces.

I don’t want to play the game of whack-a-mole blocking those types online whenever they pop up and definitely don’t want to deal with them in store. Not worth the time or effort.

 

id rather put 10x more effort into creating a custom chapter, or entirely new universe.

[jaxom]

3 hours ago, Inquisitor_Lensoven said:

I’ve seen too many super nerds in various groups or spaces of this hobby “well ackshually” someone for not having their paint scheme be accurate to lore/codex.

You can actually one up them by saying the codex recommends changing heraldry and organizational markings on a regular basis to avoid enemies too easily identifying threats.

[Inquisitor_Lensoven]

On 7/15/2025 at 3:34 PM, jaxom said:

You can actually one up them by saying the codex recommends changing heraldry and organizational markings on a regular basis to avoid enemies too easily identifying threats.

As I said, I’d just rather not deal with them at all. 
 

Very delayed edit

i do very much enjoy having my own chapter, it goes beyond simply avoiding annoying nerds.

Edited July 21 by Inquisitor_Lensoven

[Blindhamster]

Personally I go for blue. It’s what the only official ones got shown at. But you should go for whatever you like the look of best

[Marshal Reinhard]

Went with blue helmets for the record. Salamander and Templar for comparison.

 

Suppose next step is picking company and squad number.

[Rhavien]

Looking good! I guess I would also paint them blue. Those flamethrowers look big and heavy enough to justify it.

[Cleon]

I went with Blue as well, partly because of the early GW examples all being marked up that way for other chapters but also because it both looks better (in my opinion) and I have more space in that role with both the jump and foot assault intercessors.