Alpha Legion: Painting 1 - Legion Indigo

Let's talk Alpha Legion armor color. 

This old Index Astartes article shows two different ones: the purple and green scheme and the blue and green scheme. Seems like GW has gone for the blue and green scheme as the official Alpha Legion scheme in the CSM Codex. The old purple one doesn't seem to be very popular in general, but I see the blue and green around all the time.

Index Astartes figure showing pre- and post-Heresy schemes.

Alpha Legion: Background 1 - History

If you've heard of the Alpha Legion, you've no doubt heard they are secretive, duplicitous, and contradictory to the extreme. The Horus Heresy (HH) book series has done much to improve and expand on previous background material that merely stated, not showed, the tactics and methods the Alpha Legion use to achieve their goals. The HH books have also provided some inkling for the basis of the Alpha Legion's goals, while steering clear of stating anything explicitly (as well they should!). And as much as I like having the answers, keeping the Alpha Legion's goals a mystery fulfills the very practical purpose of letting fans of the game and story, like me, make up their own reasons, and therefore decide on the motivations and goals of their own cells of Alpha Legionnaires.

Alpha Legion: Rules 1 - Traits and Tactics

I started seriously planning for this Alpha Legion army during 7th edition, and I wanted an army that represented a group of Alpha Legion Headhunters, not a handful of marines and loads of cultists. I particularly like the rules in the Horus Heresy-era version of the game (commonly called "30k"), and I take my inspiration from one of the special Alpha Legion Rites of War, the "Headhunter Leviathal". This set of rules represents a small group of Alpha Legion elites conducting a false flag operation, and makes Headhunters troops. Headhunters have special ammunition, can infiltrate, and are decent in melee with their Rending power knives. This is the type of army I want to replicate in 40k: elite troops (though not strictly restricted to Headhunter-surrogates) that can deploy wherever they need to be. Their missions, infiltration, false flags, sabotage, and assassination, are conducted deep behind enemy lines.

Forge World Alpha Legion Headhunters models.

New Project

And that new project is: The Alpha Legion! 

When I started playing Warhammer 40k, I was immediately pulled into the story, the "fluff". Even when I started (~ mid 3rd edition), the stories about each faction, and the Adeptus Astartes (Space Marines) especially, were many, mysterious, tragic, grim, and dark. Though I started playing the loyalist Blood Angels, I quickly learned about all of the original legions and their primarchs. One that didn't seem very well fleshed out or interesting, though, was the Alpha Legion. Sure, they were described as stealthy, unorthodox, and secretive, but it always seemed to boil down to "they were upset that all the other legions said they weren't good enough, so they joined Horus to prove they were the best" in the fluff, and "they have some marines and mostly cultists and Imperial Guard that they swayed to their side" in their rules. It seemed so simplistic and petty, and thus they never held much interest for me.

Then the Horus Heresy book series started, and the seventh book, "Legion", changed my opinion.

Copyright belongs to Games-Workshop.

OFCC Wrapup and Looking Ahead

It's been over a month now since I should have put up another post. To start, I have pictures of the completed Corvus Blackstar! I did manage to get this up to my painted and washed (though not highlighted) stage as the rest of the army for OFCC.

I also continued the lens technique and continued using blue for it for two reasons. First, blue was a shade not used prominently on other parts of the model, so I feel like it makes the lenses stand out. Second, it's a (very) subtle tie-in to the Adeptus Mechanicus parts of the army, which also have blue lenses.

Another visual tie-in to the Mechanicus part of the army is the same deep Khorne Red used for the stripes on the Blackstar tail and missile pods as well as the base color for the Robots and the Dunecrawlers. 

Basing

Good news: I met my goal for the month! The second unit of Vanguard has been completed. This squad has three plasma calivers for taking down armored infantry targets. An example of a caliver-toting model is shown here:

Like the arc rifles and radium carbines, the coils of the plasma calivers were done in Caledor Sky, Lothern Blue, and White Scar. When I first started this hobby, I did not appreciate how good it looks when your army's paint scheme is uniform over the whole army (with some small exceptions, of course). But this one looks like it is an army that belongs together.

Vanguard and Bases

Due to starting a new job and moving, I have once again not accomplished as much as I'd like to have this month. I did finish the first squad of Vanguard, but the second squad has really only been started. If I finish them by the end of the month, then I have June to paint up my last unit, the Corvus Blackstar for the Deathwatch, and then I can get everything else ready (including the display board) in July before the tournament at the end of that month.

For the Vanguard, I used Mephiston Red and then Evil Sunz Scarlet on the main part of the robes, and Ushabti bone on the inside. In keeping with the color palette of the rest of the Mechanicum forces, I used Leadbelcher and Brass Scorpion on the metallic bits. The eyes and weapons have details in Caledor Sky, Lothern Blue, and White Scar.