Crusade Army Paint Schemes

You know what one of the most asked questions is, here at A Galaxy In Flames? What colour do I use, can I use this, can I use that. Well, today, I am going to answer all those questions, Legion by Legion, from a FLUFFY background. I don't care if you like Black Templars, so you're going to paint a Heresy army, we are looking at the real deal here. Lets get started shall we?

Legiones Titanicus:
Ok, these guys you can paint pretty much how you like, keep in mind that they are subservient to the Legions, but owned by the Mechanicum. This means that if you paint them, you're pretty much free to do as you want, however, the Titans will NOT have Legion heraldry, they might have a small icon on display to show that they have served with a particular Legion, but that's it. Ultramarines don't have blue titans, blood angels don't have red ones.

Legiones Astartes:

Dark Angels:
Pre-Primarch: Black armour, red or silver trim, black shoulder pads.
Post-Primarch: Black armour, red or silver trim, green shoulders on those born on Caliban, knightly heraldry on the right shoulder. Penchant for large pointy things, aka greatswords.
Favourite Armour: MK II

Emperors Children:
Pre-Primarch: Purple/pink armour, gold trim, some white shoulder pads.
Post-Primarch: Purple/pink armour, gold trim, some white shoulder pads. These bitches like leather straps and often wear loin cloths.
Favourite Armour: MK IV

Iron Warriors:
Pre-Primarch: Silver armour, gold trim, black shoulder pads, use of yellow and black hazard stripes.
Post-Primarch: Silver armour, gold trim, black shoulder pads, use of yellow and black hazard stripes.
Favourite Armour: MK III

White Scars:
Pre-Primarch: White armour, Red or gold trim, white shoulder pads, use of red patterns on armour.
Post-Primarch: White armour, Red or gold trim, white shoulder pads, use of red patterns on armour as well as red lightning bolt shapes and geometric designs. Wolf pelts also used.
Favourite Armour: MK II

Space Wolves:
Pre-Primarch: Grey armour, grey trim, grey shoulder pads.
Post-Primarch: Grey armour, grey or gold trim, heraldric shoulder pads, use of geometric shapes, runes and wolf pelts.
Favourite Armour: MK II/III
Imperial Fists:
Pre-Primarch: Yellow armour, black trim, yellow shoulder pads.
Post-Primarch: Yellow armour, black trim, yellow shoulder pads, use of lots of fists, as well as habits such as chaining weapons to arms on templar units, big fans of power fists.
Favourite Armour: MK III

Night Lords:
Pre-Primarch: Blue armour, gold trim, blue shoulder pads, use of lightning bolts.
Post-Primarch: Blue armour, gold trim, blue shoulder pads, use of lightning bolts, bats wings on their helms, skulls, blood, standard terror imagery. A red glove denotes shame and a death sentence.
Favourite Armour: MK II/III/IV (pretty much take your pick)

Blood Angels:
Pre-Primarch: Red armour, gold or black trim, red shoulder pads.
Post-Primarch: Red armour, gold or black trim, red shoulder pads, use of symbols like blood drops, chalices, lots of finery, similar to the Emperors Children but without being garish.
Favourite Armour: MK II/III/IV (pretty much take your pick)

Iron Hands:
Pre-Primarch: Black armour, silver trim, black shoulder pads.
Post-Primarch:  Black armour, silver trim, black shoulder pads, their hands are painted silver, heavy use of bionics, black armour has a blue/purple glaze to it.
Favourite Armour: MK II/III/IV (pretty much take your pick due to their constant involvement with the mechanicum, they had access to all types, but mostly used MK III)

World Eaters:
Pre-Primarch: Blue armour, gold trim, white shoulder pads.
Post-Primarch:White armour, gold trim, blue shoulder pads, use of chains, teeth, other barbaric kinds of imagery on their armour. Destroyer units wore black.
Favourite Armour: MK II



Ultramarines:
Pre-Primarch: Blue armour, gold trim, blue shoulder pads.
Post-Primarch: Blue armour, gold trim, blue shoulder pads, use of Roman imagery such as Gladius swords, many crested helms, many leather straps and excessive gold trim.
Favourite Armour: MK II/III (pretty much take your pick)

Death Guard:
Pre-Primarch: Grey armour, gold trim, grey shoulder pads, however the left arm and shoulder was crimson.
Post-Primarch: Bone armour, gold trim, green shoulder pads, use of spikes and similar looking armour to German shock infantry of the first world war with gas masks.
Favourite Armour: MK III
Thousand Sons:
Pre-Primarch: Red armour, bone or gold trim, red shoulder pads.
Post-Primarch: Red armour, bone gold trim, red shoulder pads, use of Egyptian imagery such as headgear, tabbards, hieroglyphs, weaponry (close combat), these guys love loin cloths on every man.
Favourite Armour: MK II/IV (equal images of both in use, although I would go with the MK II personally)
Luna Wolves/Sons of Horus:
Pre-Warmaster: White armour, black trim, white shoulder pads.
Post-Warmaster: Green armour, gold trim, black shoulder pads, use of Cthonian glyphs on their armour and multiple stylised versions of their own Legion heraldry. Elite units such as the Justaerin and Catulan Reavers wore black armour with red shoulders.
Favourite Armour: MK IV (only the best for the Warmaster)

Word Bearers:
Pre-Istvaan: Grey armour, red trim, grey shoulder pads, use of books, Colchissin glyphs and markings.
Post-Istvaan: Crimson armour, black trim, crimson shoulder pads, use of books, Colchissin glyphs and markings, much use of chaotic symbols.
Favourite Armour: MK II (pretty much take your pick)

Salamanders:
Pre-Primarch: Grey armour, grey trim, grey shoulder pads.
Post-Primarch: Green armour, gold trim, black shoulder pads, use of giant lizard skins and skulls to decorate their armour, much artificer crafted wargear.
Favourite Armour: MK III

Raven Guard:
Pre-Primarch: Grey armour, grey trim, grey shoulder pads.
Post-Primarch: Black armour, black trim, black shoulder pads, veteran units might have white arms, depending on heritage, the right shoulder occasionally had trim colouring to denote unit type, such as green for tactical units.
Favourite Armour: MK IV (then MK VI, as they were the first users and it was named for their Primarch. The stealthiness of the suits sealed the deal.)

Alpha Legion:
Pre-Primarch: Teal armour, silver trim, teal shoulder pads.
Post-Primarch: Teal armour, silver trim, teal shoulder pads, use of Hydra iconography, scales and confusing emblems were also placed onto the armour.
Favourite Armour: All armour MK's, Alpha Legion will use whatever they need.

Note on Legion colours:

These colours are represented in the Horus Heresy books from Forgeworld, but there is often debate as to when they are used and on what units. I have just simplified what they have already done, including for legions not yet published (but who can be seen in artwork FW has released).

All Legions use the same colours for all units except where otherwise listed, even the HQ units. Librarians, chaplains, apothecaries and techmarines all wear legion colours, with only a shoulder pad (usually the right) and a few symbols on their armour to mark them out as different. When painting these units however, feel free to play with the colour schemes to get what feels right for your army.

Note on Mechanicum colours:

With the Mechanicum, units which work directly for the Legions and are no longer strictly associated with the main Mechanicum on Mars often bear Legion iconography on their shoulders, with one shoulder bearing the shoulder colour and marking of the Legion. Most other Mechanicum units with Mars loyalty will be in metallic schemes with crimson shoulders or black shoulders, as the Ommnisah emblam directly ties them to their herritage.



Ok, that's all for now, if there is anything I got pretty badly wrong, do point it out. The hardest part with this list is that there has been a lot of changes to the fluff over the years, and I have had to come out with the happy medium. I hope this is helpful, until next time, take care.

~Macca