In our How to Paint Everything series, we take a look at how to paint well, everything, with a look at different methods from different artists. In this article we’re looking at what is perhaps the most famous of space marine chapters and the face of Warhammer 40,000: The Ultramarines. The Space Marines have a number of vehicles designed for besieging foes, such as Vindicators and Ironclad Dreadnoughts, that are ideal at bringing maximum firepower to bear against any fortress. There is no force in the Imperium that can exploit an enemy weakness more rapidly than the Adeptus Astartes. Author’s Note: I tend to finish my bases before I begin the model itself, and use a GW painting handle to prevent paint from being rubbed off. This is the most important step, so we’ll get it out of the way first. We’ll start by recess shading any details with Nuln Oil, giving them depth and shadow. After this, we highlight each and every edge with Calgar Blue, then

Under the revised organisational scheme, each of the ten companies of a Chapter still boasts one hundred warriors, led by a captain -- a veteran of countless wars -- and now often two lieutenants as sub-company leaders. A company is still organised into ten squads of ten Space Marines, each led by a sergeant.Apply Micro Sol to the transfer in small amounts letting it dry each time. Each application should see the transfer become noticeably softer and softer until it adheres smoothly to the surface The Adeptus Terra has never decreed it necessary to enforce the Codex absolutely. Indeed, it is doubtful whether it could. However, with subsequent Foundings, they have always favored the Ultramarines' gene-seed and created many new Codex Chapters from their line. Predator Destructor ( Predator Annihilator • Baal Predator) • Land Raider ( Land Raider Phobos • Land Raider Crusader • Land Raider Redeemer • Land Raider Achilles • Land Raider Prometheus • Land Raider Terminus Ultra • Land Raider Ares • Land Raider Excelsior • Land Raider Wrath of Mjalnar • Land Raider Angel Infernus • Land Raider Solemnus Aggressor • Land Raider Anvilarum) • Deimos Vindicator Laser Destroyer • Repulsor • Repulsor Executioner • Gladiator ( Gladiator Reaper • Gladiator Valiant • Gladiator Lancer) • Astraeus Whilst company colours are typically displayed on the trim of a Space Marine's shoulder guards, they can also be displayed on helmets, chest Aquilas, knee plates or even on the squad markings. Author’s Note: I do not 100% copy the colors outlined by ‘Eavy Metal, but as you can see from my pictures they are basically a match. Feel free to use either color scheme, and just focus on my tips for applying progressively lighter edge highlights. You’ll notice that in the above picture steps 4-6 are merely described as “edge highlight” which doesn’t convey the differences in each step.

Every newly recruited and created Primaris Space Marine spends time in the 10th Company learning the full range of Vanguard combat techniques, from the mobile fire support duties of the Suppressors and the expert sniper-combat of the Eliminators, to the terror raids of the Reivers and the point-blank gunfighting of the Incursors. Because of this, the Codex encourages Chapter Masters to occasionally review their markings and offers many variants and alternative icons that can be displayed upon Space Marine main battle tanks. Although formally counted as a Chapter, the Deathwatch has a highly unusual organisation since it serves as the Chamber Militant of the Inquisition's Ordo Xenos, which bears little resemblance to that laid down in the Codex Astartes.The above scheme of Space Marine Chapter organisation has been revised in the years since the birth of the Great Rift at the dawn of the Era Indomitus, the alterations made to the Codex Astartes by the resurrected Primarch Roboute Guilliman and the introduction of the Primaris Space Marines into the Adeptus Astartes. There is no conclusive evidence that the Ultramarines are the greatest of them all. They are widely considered the poster boys of Games Workshop, the IP holder, for Warhammer 40000. The Codex suggests a number of variations on this basic system and even advises that each Chapter periodically revise its markings to confound the foe. This has led to myriad differences between the many Codex Chapters and to some having varied their appearance over the millennia.

Individual squads of Terminators are most often deployed as ultra-elite support for the Battle Companies. However, there are times when a Chapter will mass the majority -- and in exceptionally rare cases, even the entirety -- of its Terminator-armoured brethren and send them into battle as an utterly devastating strike force. This is especially the case when it comes to Chapters that adhere rigidly to the Codex Astartes, such as the Ultramarines and their successors. In practice, a battle-brother who could not adjust would not be sent to the Deathwatch, and those that do are often the most highly effective of warriors.The first objective of Roboute Guilliman in writing the Codex Astartes was to both recognise and purge these weaknesses. As a result, the Codex Astartes decreed that Space Marines would forever more be created and trained slowly. The genetic banks used to create Astartes organ implants would be carefully monitored and scrutinised for any defects. Cultivated organs would be subject to the most stringent tests of purity. Young initiates would undergo trials of suitability before they were accepted, and only those of the very sternest character would be chosen. An elite, fast-moving, silent-striking force of this sort can secure victories through ambush, sabotage and assassination that a far larger army could never achieve through brute force alone. The Aurora Chapter is particularly well known for their lightning-fast armoured assaults, leading the way with Land Raider spearheads supported by Land Speeder suppression forces. Existing outside the company level organisation, each Chapter has an Armoury consisting of the Chapter's Techmarines, main battle tanks, and other armoured vehicles, a Librarium consisting of the Chapter's Librarians, a Chapter Fleet and the Chapter Master, plus various headquarters staff and the Chapter's servitors and Human Chapter serfs. Once that is dry, I apply dry pigments to the legs to get a dusty effect. Depending on what I’m going for, I might do this more than once with applications of matte varnish at very low PSI in between.