Dark Angels Armour and Squad Markings
Dark Angels reference collection
Marking a model
Left and right mean the model's own sides. Keep Chapter identity, company, battlefield role, squad, and personal honours separate. A unit attached to a mixed strike force does not automatically become Deathwing or Ravenwing. Start with the chapter map.
Placement
Power armour normally has Chapter identity model-left and squad insignia model-right. Terminators reserve the left for their Crux and shift identity right. Codex Astartes shoulder convention.
Studded shoulder exception: when Mark VI-style studs occupy the wearer's left pauldron, put Chapter identity on the right and relocate or reduce the role/squad device. The armour layout overrides the usual shoulder arrangement. GW's explanation of the studded pauldron.
Green Dark Angels use white Chapter identity, red role badges, and model-left company knees. Ely's Dark Angels placement guide.
Helmet and rim colours normally follow the armour, rather than Ultramarines-style rank helmets or company-coloured rims. Forehead ornaments, robes and personal heraldry add distinction. Ely's studio-convention checklist. The owner's sergeant shields are an approved addition; they do not replace company knees or squad identification.
TheUse battle companies here are 3–5.; Ely's isolated “2–5” Greenwingis range conflicts with his own later description and the Ravenwing's 2nd-company identity.inconsistent.
Company knees: visual key
These patterns were checked against the diagrams linked from Lexicanum's individual company entries, citing Codex: Dark Angels (7th edition), p.13. Diagram-left/right below means looking directly at the badge, not the model's left/right limbs. Old scans are colour references only in the broad sense; pale fields may read white or bone. They are not paint swatches.
| Company | Pattern as viewed straight on |
|---|---|
| 3rd | Red diagonal / band over dark green. |
| 4th | Upper half black/white chequers; lower half pale. |
| 5th | Quartered: pale upper-left/lower-right; dark green upper-right/lower-left. |
| 6th | Vertical split: pale left, dark green right. |
| 7th | Broad dark-green downward-pointing chevron on pale field. |
| 8th | Diagonal split: black upper-left, dark green lower-right. |
| 9th | Red horizontal band across pale field. |
| 10th | Plain green; no separate patterned company knee. |
Deathwing and Ravenwing identify their specialised companies through livery and badges; use their Deathwing and Ravenwing pages for exceptions and squad heraldry.
Battlefield roles
Dark Angels role devices: double-ended vertical arrow, Battleline; four-way arrow, Close Support; blast, Fire Support. Ely's Dark Angels guide.
The independent 11th-edition review groups current infantry as follows. This is background organisation, not the game's BATTLELINE keyword:
| Role | Infantry examples |
|---|---|
| Battleline | Intercessors, Heavy Intercessors, Infiltrators. |
| Close Support | Assault Intercessors, including jump packs; Inceptors, Incursors, Reivers, Infernus. |
| Fire Support | Aggressors, Desolation, Eliminators, Eradicators, Hellblasters. |
Knotley's advance codex review independently supports the updated list. Older squad types belong in the historical notes, rather than being silently erased from an existing collection.
Infernus remains a source conflict: printed categorisation says Close Support, while GW miniatures and earlier presentation display Fire Support. Lexicanum prefers the visual interpretation; that preference is editorial inference. Either should be labelled by the source followed, rather than described as undisputed. Conflict and citations.
Squad numbers and attachments
The usual battle-company plan is 1–6 Battleline, 7–8 Close Support, 9–10 Fire Support. Reserve squads can extend a reinforced company to 11–20, without repeating that fixed role allocation. The 10th's Vanguard numbering is also more flexible. A ten-man squad split into two combat squads can retain one squad number; two tabletop units do not necessarily mean two permanent organisational squads. Codex Astartes organisation and numbering.
Keep a roster recording parent company, attached company, squad number and chosen badge. Applying the generic attached-company heraldry convention to Dark Angels knees is a reasonable planning interpretation; it does not justify repainting Deathwing bone or Ravenwing black green. Retaining a reserve company's own identity is the more conservative option when no specific attachment example is being followed.