Grotmas Calendar Day 11 – Traitor Legion painting guide

The third entry of the Grotmas Calendar was a detailed painting guide for the Loyalist Legions of the Horus Heresy, providing comprehensive recipes for nine of the eighteen Space Marine Legions. Da Red Gobbo loves to make naughty boys and girls wait, which is why the Traitor Legions are coming in second.

You can’t expect to try and overthrow the Emperor and get away without a little rap on the knuckles…

Emperor’s Children

The III Legion wears the tyrion purple of the rulers of Ancient Terran Roma, with secondary elements including white enamel panels worn by Terran – and latterly Loyalist – Legionaries, plus platinum inlay to indicate elite status. Later in the war, black became a more prominent secondary element due to the shortage of the rare biological pigments favoured by the Legion’s artificers.

Iron Warriors

The IV Legion bears livery appropriate to its grim personality and to its moniker – dull iron, with black inset elements and banding of dark bronze or gold. Only in the case of the most favoured of individuals or storied of units is much in the way of personalisation evidenced. Caring little for unnecessary showiness, armour is often allowed to weather and tarnish, though never to the extent that its function is impaired.

Night Lords

The sons of the Night Haunter are known for a heraldry that combines the dark blue of midnight with icons of terror and atrocity. In particular, they utilise armour sub-systems that project plasma filaments just below a transparent surface layer, giving the unsubtle impression of nighted storms and terrifying the more primitive of foes. Secondary elements are picked out in black or red, and armour banding is gold or bronze.

World Eaters

At the onset of the galactic civil war the World Eaters were clad in livery of white, with secondary elements in blue. As the war grinds onwards and battle plate come to degrade, the blue is often replaced by the red of clotted blood, the more blooded the warrior, the more red he bears upon his armour.

Death Guard

The Death Guard wear a livery of off-white, with secondary elements in green and banding of dull gold or bronze. By long-standing tradition, superficial surface wear and weathering is left unattended until a campaign is resolved, a habit likely to be rooted in the culture of Barbarus.

Thousand Sons

The primary colour of the Thousand Sons’ livery is a distinctive red, with secondary elements picked out in black or white. Gold is used extensively for banding and other adornments. Every warrior, from the most senior Legion commander to the most recently inducted line Legionary is likely to bear a range of supplementary symbols and signifiers, the majority of which are entirely impenetrable to those ignorant of the subtleties of the Prosperine cults.

Sons of Horus

Once known as the ‘Luna Wolves’ and clad in stark white, the XVI Legion became the Sons of Horus when their Primarch was elevated to the rank of Warmaster, adopting livery of sea green at the same time. The elite warriors of the First Company are known for their livery of black, red and gold, a scheme that would eventually replace the green of the Sons of Horus entirely.

Word Bearers

At the outset of the galactic civil war, the majority of the XVII Legion was liveried in the grey of the Imperial Heralds of old, with the exception of the Serrated Sun Chapter, a unit favoured by Lorgar whose personnel were first among equals in the heralding of the treachery to come. As the Age of Darkness progressed, the deep red armour, with secondary elements of black and banding of gold of the Serrated Sun Chapter became the standard livery borne by the majority of the Legion’s warriors and war machines.

Alpha Legion

The Alpha Legion are highly unusual in that they seem cut from whole cloth, appearing fully formed in the manifests of the Great Crusade seemingly without antecedent or forerunner. Primary livery is a metallic or iridescent mix of blue and green, with secondary elements of black. Gold or silver is primarily used for banding and ornamentation, and iconography is often rendered in white. It is not uncommon for forces to take to battle with no iconography displayed at all, making for an army of anonymous killers.

Now, go forth and paint up your favourite Legion, or perhaps even one of each Legion for a cool display project. The choice is yours!

You can download this painting guide via the Warhammer: The Horus Heresy downloads pages, by following the link below.

There are lots of other painting videos on the official Warhammer YouTube channel, and if you’re after some more advanced painting tips you can check out Citadel Colour Masterclass on Warhammer TV. 

Tomorrow on the Grotmas Calendar, a band of heroes threaten to break free from the Jade Abbey…