Introduction

So, with a brand-new book now on its way, and finally seeing Blackshields enter Heresy 2nd Edition, we thought it would be nice to have a look at how you could go about making some example blackshields. And yes, I am going to type ‘Blackshield’ that many times in this piece.

Why Blackshields?

One of the key things about heresy is its nature as a ‘pseudo-historical’ setting (see earlier article for more details on that fascinating notion), which can mean that in terms of things like colour schemes, designs, loadouts etc you may find yourself a little constrictive. Maybe you don’t want to just paint the same scheme, and make the same characters, and build the same models every time? Maybe you aren’t dedicated to just one legion, and want to sample a little of all? Perhaps you have no ‘loyalty’ to either side – seeing the Warmaster and the Emperor as two sides of the same coin?

Well, the blackshields are a perfect force for you. Narratively they are the most malleable force, capable of being assigned to any and all sides of the war, with intake from any legion or background. They represent a fantastic modelling and storytelling opportunity for a player or collector – an army of individuals, each out for themselves in a grim dark galaxy.

Modelling?

Blackshields strip away all of their prior marking and armours. But that doesn’t mean we can’t show character and story in their models.

To try and show this in action, we have two examples from our CatD team:

In both cases the model is clearly a little more custom than just a ’typical’ line marine. With extensive use of additional customisation elements to add story and personality to the Blackshield legionary. In the case of the former, taking a praetor’s axe and a broad mixture of armour types that really gives a ‘patched together’ look. Maybe this is a legionary who has had to scavenge armour from the battlefield? Or maybe its a recently inducted member of the company, who only gets the dregs of their equipment?

In the case of the second legionary the use of additional ammo packs, knives, and holster add a more ‘in the field’ look than their nice clean legion brethren. Here again the skightly mixed armour, and the chainaxe itself could tell a story too. Is this a former World Eater who refused the nails? A Reaver gone rogue? Or was the chainaxe a necessity of their new close quarters combat (like the shotgun)?

You shoudl feel free to mix and match with your construction - to experiement with looks that help to create a force of characters. A smattering of legion specific equipment can also really help with this (helmets, pauldrons, weaponry) depending on how brazen their loyalties/thefts are!

Painting

Now as mentioned, Blackshields are typically, well, black. Armour stripped of their former legion loyalties, they live with a brotherhood of anonymity. But that does not mean they are blank, or devoid of character in their painting. Instead, they offer a painter far more opportunities for doing things they wouldn’t necessarily get to on the more ordered Legion forces.

First thing you definitely should consider – in the case of EMP, scrapcode, or just a lost helmet, how does one of the battlegroup immediately distinguish friend from foe? Is it an overt company sigil? A subtle use of colour? A shared symbol worn somewhere on the armour?

Some examples you could consider could come from the real world:

Or even elsewhere in the Warhammer universe – for example the Tau bonding knife.

It may seem like a small thing, but something like this can really bring an army of oddities together when being fielded on a tabletop.

Secondly, consider the fact that these are not the standard organised line warriors of a tactica compliant legion. These are individual warriors, who will honour personal customs in very different ways. Consider looking at real world modern (or historic) mercenary groups. Troops were outfitted by their employers, so their equipment and colours may vary significantly. Maybe all your force have had to scavenge new weapons over time. Or even new armour plates. Maybe rather than ‘Blackshields’ the company is instead a motley crew of false flags and overlapping rainbow colours from a variety of scavenged corpses (maybe they prefer it that way – to confuse the foe).

As a third point - more individual or personal elements may be added. Kill markings, campaign badges, honour tokens. For the particularly devoted there’s no reason each legionary couldn’t have their own personal heraldry and badge! These are particularly useful n your more standout models (sergeants, commanders, etc) to really drive home their hard-won positions in these mercenary forces.

Conclusions

All in all, the blackshields are an excellent and fun force to have a go at making and (hopefully) playing. We’ll know more details when the book drops mind you, but that shouldn’t stop you starting to assemble your rogue’s gallery! At the end of the day, the hobby is all about ‘your dudes’, and what could be moreseo than ones who you can really go to town on modifying.