Looking to make a customize-able chapter with dark angel stuff.

[Whereswaldo]

Picked up a good bit of dark vengeance stuff and DA stuff .. I like the angel icons & robes but after painting half a squad of deathwing and the new C:SM around the corner I am kind of thinking about making a chapter that could be used with codex dark angels / blood angels / C:SM interchangeably

already primed the tactical squads the equivalent of DA green - looking at the DV stuff I think all I would need to do is file off the chapter symbol on the shoulder and the rest should work or would it even be necessary to file off the chapter symbol .... anyone have any comments or advice?

Also, how much flak would I get from people using a fully painted DA army as is for codex marines / or even blood angels if they ever get an update?

[Digitarii]

Personally, as long as you tell me in advance what codex you're using and you don't try to mix units from each codex, I would let you field them as whatever codex you want. For example, in my Minotaurs army, in addition to the Minotaurs special characters, I also have counts-as of all of the codex Special Characters that were all converted by yours truly. Each one has the correct wargear for the character he represents.

[ElectricPaladin]

All Astartes are the "angels of death," and a lot of the symbols the Dark Angels like are pretty common to all chapters: angelic figures, the winged claw holding a sword, etc. The Dark Angels just like those symbols more. Once you dilute your original Dark Vengeance purchases with more generic purchases, you'll be able to pass it off as just the occasional appearance of a symbol the Dark Angels like in another chapter.

However, you really must file off the chapter symbol. Chapters have totally unique iconography. For example, while the Blood Angels successors all use some variant of wings and/or blood drops in their symbols, each one is a little different, from a blood drop with bat wings to a blood drop on a shield with swords crossed behind it to a blood drop above a chalice, and so on. Some successors are even more different, like the Lamenters, whose symbol is a checked field with a bleeding heart in the upper left corner. If you look to Ultramarines successors, the differences are incredibly striking. While some chapters like the Sons of Orar have variants of the Ultramarines "U," others are totally different.

In other words, if your custom chapter has the Dark Angels symbol, they're going to look a lot like Dark Angels, but if you file that off and freehand on your own symbol, you will have a much easier time of it.

For context, I used Dark Vengeance to restart my Space Marines after they were stolen out of my car. I painted them up as Exorcists. It wasn't hard to file off the symbol.

Also, another thing to keep in mind - not all Space Marines need to have the chapter symbol on their shoulder pad. In my Knights of Blood, a lot of them have the special decorative Blood Angels shoulder pads. This makes perfect sense, because Astartes love their honors and awards. As long as the chapter symbol is present somewhere, you can always say that a few of your marines are sporting special symbols that they were granted special dispensation to wear as a result of some act of heroism or another.

Of course, this will give your army more of a wild and varied look, rather than a focused and disciplined look, so it depends on what you're going for. My Exorcists, for example, are almost all the same, except for a few details here and there (a deathwatch shoulder pad on my terminator sergeant, a decorative shield modeled onto someone's armor, etc). My Knights of Blood, a renegade chapter, are extremely varied: the tactical squad has only two actual Knights of Blood badges. What's important though is that none of their badges are the actual symbol of any other chapter, although they are symbols that the Blood Angels and their successors like - so there are huge modeled blood drops and wings, scrolls, angels, chalices, and so on, but no Ultramarines Us or Dark Angels winged swords.

[ElectricPaladin]

Ok, I re-read your question and realized that I kind of wandered off there.

Here's the thing: you're not going to get a lot of flack. Nobody will care. As long as WYSI more or less WYG, you could show up with an Ultramarines army, or a crusade army, or Sisters of Battle, and use whatever codex you like.

Now, if you want to be awesome and model up and paint up your army in such a way as to aid in the suspension of disbelief, you'll have to consider some of what I wrote above. However, not everyone cares that much about that sort of thing. Certainly no one will give you any flack if you don't care.

[Phototoxin]

I think this was on Warseer?

But basically make them a successor chapter - you can get away with more and yet can keep the DA iconography.

[HsojVvad]

Ah a Fallen army. :P Just kidding there. Just use what ever you want. It's your hobby. It's your time. It's your money. Play with what you want to play with. Just don't show up with a DA army and not tell the person you are using the SM or BA codex. Just stick to one codex (or 2 if you are using allies) but make sure your opponent knows exactly what is what.

No problems. If anyone says other wise, that speaks more of their character than anything. After all we are pretending to use plastic toy soldiers with rules. So who cares what the colour is. Hell who cares what the minis are, just as long everything is clear what is what and you are TFG who changes things in the middle of the game.

:)

[SON OF ROMULOUS]

Honestly you shouldn't run into to much trouble. All marines basically share the same kit minus a few things. so as long as you tell your opponent before hand then there shouldnt be any trouble. As other's have said as long as its all represented as actual war gear you should be fine. The only time there are any real issues is when you proxy or use models that are counts as... like if you dont have enough melta guns and you designate a bolter guy no one wants to have to remember whch bolter guy wasw actually the melta gun guy.

[ElectricPaladin]

Honestly you shouldn't run into to much trouble. All marines basically share the same kit minus a few things...

This isn't really true. Try making an army in the Grey Knights codex using models from any other power armor codex. Army-wide storm bolters and close combat weapons looks a lot different from army-wide bolters and pistols.

[SON OF ROMULOUS]

Ya but do you really consider them a marine army? i know i don't GK and wolves are they only 2 armies that their tac boxes are different. and even the wolves you could get away with making from a regular Tac marine box. right now that shiny newt tac box works for BA DA and SM that cover's 3 codocies and can be stretched into wolves themselves as they all run off the basic marine load out mostly. GK on the other hand i don't Consider a marine army per say they are like sisters they wear power armour but their rules and the way the are used means they don;t fight like marines. where as a custom home brewed chapter with home brewed symbol you could play as what ever you wanted it to be really. I mean for conversion it offers the most flexability. Heck if he really wanted to he could pick up a few boxes of death company a few of the dark angels upgrade sprews a few templar ones and maybe a box of wolves and from there it woudl be bits galore and then add in the new tac and a sternguard and you could seriously have an entire army of marines that are all unique and allow you enough flexability to jump from astartes to astartes.

[ElectricPaladin]

Ya but do you really consider them a marine army?

That's an interesting question. I guess I do. They have a marine statline (4s), a marine save (3+), and cost about as much as marines on a per-model basis - a little more, but not that much. They cost enough that they are usually outnumbered and fight like an elite army.

[SON OF ROMULOUS]

I guess that's where i differ on them. When i look at them if Marines are elites then Gk are like CIA spooks they don't exist and if you see one or know they exist you're gonna get mind wiped. I look at them to be on the side of a seal team very small strike force. Where as marines in this edition are going to be a blunt instrument :( i kinda wish they had the GK feel but to be honest to really represent them you should be almost T5/6 and 2 wounds a piece and cost the same points as a terminator and have a terminator cost 2x and have similar stats.

[ElectricPaladin]

I guess that's where i differ on them. When i look at them if Marines are elites then Gk are like CIA spooks they don't exist and if you see one or know they exist you're gonna get mind wiped. I look at them to be on the side of a seal team very small strike force. Where as marines in this edition are going to be a blunt instrument :( i kinda wish they had the GK feel but to be honest to really represent them you should be almost T5/6 and 2 wounds a piece and cost the same points as a terminator and have a terminator cost 2x and have similar stats.

Well, yeah. Back in the day (old man voice) "back in the day, Grey Knights were the elite of the elite of the witch hunters codex, where they were called in to support other Inquisition forces, like inquisitors and henchmen and Sisters of Battle. Nowadays they have their own codex and its different." (/old man voice).

[SON OF ROMULOUS]

nah no old man voice needed :) i'll be completely honest my GK haven't seen action since they got a new codex :/ maybe im to stubborn but did not see the need to give them their own book :( really wanted to see codex inquisition and was disappointed. But like i said previously i think if he wants to be able to swap from book to book then mixing in models from each parent book is the way to go atleast in the tac squads. me i cheated.... or lost my mind which ever you wanna call it... i have multiple armies from each book :(