Horus Heresy (30K) · Traitor Legions
Alpha Legion (XX) (Traitor Legions) Paint List for Horus Heresy (30K)
Iridescent blue-green armour that shifts like a chameleon, with white panels and a black undersuit. The XX Legion sometimes marches to war with no iconography at all — an army of anonymous killers.
This is the most demanding scheme of all the Traitor Legions. The base is a Leadbelcher metal coat with a blue-green Contrast filter over it for the iridescent shift. An airbrush is ideal, but not mandatory.
Recommended undercoat
white
— Several priority paints in this army converge on white.
Paint list
Sorted by priority🔴 Must-Have
Bases — the fundamental colours without which the scheme is impossible
- Leadbelcher (Citadel) — Armour / metal · Base
- Sotek Green (Citadel) — Armour (signature blue-green panels) / helmet lenses · Base
- Corax White (Citadel) — White / weapon casing · Base
- Abaddon Black (Citadel) — Black undersuit (base) / armour (recess shade) / helmet lenses (deep shade) · Base / Recess shade / Deep shade
🟠 Core
Iridescent effect and main highlights — the official Simplified Scheme
- Akhelian Green (Citadel) — Armour (blue-green panels) · Airbrush filter / glaze (Contrast)
- Aethermatic Blue (Citadel) — Armour (blue-green panels) · Airbrush filter (Contrast, 1:1:2 mix with Akhelian Green and Contrast thinner)
- Ultramarines Blue (Citadel) — Armour (blue-green panels) · Glaze (Contrast, 1:1:2 mix with Akhelian Green and Contrast thinner)
- Contrast Medium (Citadel) — Armour · Thinner for Contrast filters and glazes
- Runefang Steel (Citadel) — Armour · Scratches / Chunky highlight
- Stormhost Silver (Citadel) — Armour (edge highlight / scratches) / metal (highlight) · Edge highlight / Highlight
- Evil Sunz Scarlet (Citadel) — Helmet lenses · Chunky highlight
- Fire Dragon Bright (Citadel) — Helmet lenses · Highlight
- Nuln Oil (Citadel) — Metal (shade) / armour (soft shade) · Shade / Soft shade
- Dark Reaper (Citadel) — White / weapon casing · Deep shade
- White Scar (Citadel) — White / weapon casing · Highlight (with chips)
- Dawnstone (Citadel) — Black undersuit · Highlight
🟡 Recommended
Soft shading and extra finishing touches
- Khorne Red (Citadel) — Helmet lenses · Soft shade
- Thunderhawk Blue (Citadel) — White / weapon casing · Soft shade
- Baneblade Brown (Citadel) — White / weapon casing · Chipping (inside the White Scar chips)
- Eshin Grey (Citadel) — Black undersuit · Chunky highlight
🟢 Optional
Dot highlights for a result showcase
- Ungor Flesh (Citadel) — Helmet lenses · Dot highlights
Painting order
Recommended steps
1
Prime with Leadbelcher or a silver spray
2
Basecoat the whole armour and the metals with Leadbelcher
3
Soft shade the armour with Nuln Oil
4
Recess shade Abaddon Black into deep recesses
5
Tidy up the overruns with Leadbelcher
6
Chunky highlight the broad edges with Runefang Steel
7
Airbrush filter of Akhelian Green / Aethermatic Blue / Contrast thinner at 1:1:2 over the blue-green panels
8
Glaze of Akhelian Green / Ultramarines Blue / Contrast thinner at 1:1:2 over the same panels
9
Scratches of Runefang Steel and Stormhost Silver on the impact points and edges
10
Edge highlight the final edges with Stormhost Silver
11
Lenses: base Mephiston Red, soft shade Khorne Red, deep shade Abaddon Black, chunky highlight Evil Sunz Scarlet, highlight Fire Dragon Bright
12
White: base Corax White, soft shade Thunderhawk Blue, deep shade Dark Reaper, highlight White Scar, chipping Baneblade Brown
13
Undersuit: base Abaddon Black, chunky highlight Eshin Grey, highlight Dawnstone
14
Detailed metal: shade Nuln Oil, highlight Stormhost Silver
15
Dot highlights of Ungor Flesh on the lenses
Tips
Hints for this army
1
With no airbrush, thin Akhelian Green and Aethermatic Blue with Contrast thinner and work them over the panels in several thin brush coats.
2
Light is what makes the chameleon effect move, so spread the blue-green panels strategically across the armour.
3
The Alpha Legion often deploys with no iconography. Stay lore-accurate and keep symbols and inscriptions to a minimum.
4
Leadbelcher, Runefang Steel and Stormhost Silver give three tiers of metal, enough to read as relief without a single colour.
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