Horus Heresy (30K) · Traitor Legions
Sons of Horus (XVI) (Traitor Legions) Paint List for Horus Heresy (30K)
Sea-green armour with black panels, red lenses and gold trim. The Sons of Horus adopted this cool desaturated green after Horus became Warmaster, while elite First Company units often add black, red and gold elements.
Prime black. Sons of Horus Green is a distinctive cold, slightly desaturated tone that should stay cleaner and cooler than a Salamanders-style green. Incubi Darkness works well as a soft shade to deepen it without making it muddy.
Recommended undercoat
black
— Several priority paints in this army converge on black.
Paint list
Sorted by priority🔴 Must-Have
Bases — the fundamental colours without which the scheme is impossible
- Sons of Horus Green (Citadel) — Armour · Base
- Mephiston Red (Citadel) — Helmet lenses · Base
- Retributor Armour (Citadel) — Gold / Trim · Base
- Leadbelcher (Citadel) — Metal · Base
- Abaddon Black (Citadel) — Black armour / black undersuit / weapon casing / deep lens shade · Base / Deep shade
🟠 Core
Main shades and highlights — the official Simplified Scheme
- Sybarite Green (Citadel) — Armour · Chunky highlight
- Gauss Blaster Green (Citadel) — Armour · Highlight
- Evil Sunz Scarlet (Citadel) — Helmet lenses · Chunky highlight
- Fire Dragon Bright (Citadel) — Helmet lenses · Highlight
- Corvus Black (Citadel) — Black armour · Chunky highlight
- Dawnstone (Citadel) — Black armour / black undersuit / weapon casing · Highlight
- Gore-Grunta Fur (Citadel) — Gold / Trim · Shade
- Stormhost Silver (Citadel) — Gold / trim · Highlight
- Nuln Oil (Citadel) — Metal · Shade
🟡 Recommended
Soft shading and extra highlights
- Incubi Darkness (Citadel) — Armour · Soft shade
- Khorne Red (Citadel) — Helmet lenses · Soft shade
- Eshin Grey (Citadel) — Black armour (highlight) / black undersuit / weapon casing · Highlight / Chunky highlight
🟢 Optional
Dot highlights for a result showcase
- Wraithbone (Citadel) — Armour · Dot highlights (1:1 mix with Gauss Blaster Green)
- Ungor Flesh (Citadel) — Helmet lenses · Dot highlights
- Administratum Grey (Citadel) — Black armour · Dot highlights
Painting order
Recommended steps
1
Prime black
2
Basecoat the full armour with Sons of Horus Green
3
Apply Incubi Darkness as a soft shade in the recesses
4
Deepen the deepest recesses with Abaddon Black
5
Add broad edge highlights with Sybarite Green
6
Refine the sharpest edges with Gauss Blaster Green
7
Use a 1:1 mix of Gauss Blaster Green and Wraithbone for the final point highlights
8
Paint the lenses with Mephiston Red, shade with Khorne Red and Abaddon Black, then highlight with Evil Sunz Scarlet and Fire Dragon Bright
9
Paint black armour sections with Abaddon Black, then highlight with Corvus Black, Eshin Grey and Dawnstone
10
Paint the undersuit with Abaddon Black, then highlight with Eshin Grey and Dawnstone
11
Paint gold trim with Retributor Armour, shade with Gore-Grunta Fur and highlight with Stormhost Silver
12
Paint metallic areas with Leadbelcher, shade with Nuln Oil and highlight with Stormhost Silver
13
Finish with Administratum Grey and Ungor Flesh point highlights where needed
Tips
Hints for this army
1
Sons of Horus Green is unique within the Citadel range, so there is no perfect shortcut if you want the canonical XVI Legion look.
2
Incubi Darkness adds the cool shadow that gives this armour its depth. A generic dark green or pure black usually makes the scheme look too flat.
3
The final Gauss Blaster Green plus Wraithbone point highlight creates the hard reflective edge that sells a showcase finish.
4
First Company troops can lean much harder into black, red and gold. That variation is worth using if you want elite units to stand apart.
Your collection, at your fingertips
Find the paints you already own, track your stock and build your shopping list.
What do you want to do?
Why ChromaStack
✓ Free
✓ No mandatory account
✓ No intrusive advertising