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A question I have in the fluff when the Death Guard went over to chaos some of the marines that were still loyal to the emperor were transferred into the first members of the Deathwatch. Would they still have pre-heresy armour?

I'm thinking of doing a small detachment and wanted to make sure I have the right armour/look.

Cheers

We aren't entirely sure what happens to them yet but I guess if some did they could have pre - heresy armour. Whether or not that armour would still be in use today I am not sure. Quite possibly it would be kept as a relic or possibly lost in battle. 10k years is a long time for armour to be used continuosly, not saying it doesn't happen though.

Pieces of it it would be maintained and added to new suits over the years I guess.

Musing: I don't know if the armour would display original chapter markings, I don't think that you would want a marine walking around with a Death Guard symbol on their armour.

Actually I believe the loyalists from the traitor legions founded the Gray Knights, not the Deathwatch.

 Shredsmore wrote:
Actually I believe the loyalists from the traitor legions founded the Gray Knights, not the Deathwatch.

It could be both, we know that Malcador presented certain individuals to the Emperor and these became the Inquisition, Grey Knights and Death Watch, or the beginning of these orginisations at least. James Swallow has said that Garro et al are not themselves Grey Knights, but I think they will be the ones to train up the initial troops that have the Grey Knight Geneseed.

Edit: ok certainly not Deathwatch as that was formed long after the Heresy, good catch Shredsmore

 Pilau Rice wrote:

 Shredsmore wrote:
Actually I believe the loyalists from the traitor legions founded the Gray Knights, not the Deathwatch.

It could be both, we know that Malcador presented certain individuals to the Emperor and these became the Inquisition, Grey Knights and Death Watch, or the beginning of these orginisations at least. James Swallow has said that Garro et al are not themselves Grey Knights, but I think they will be the ones to train up the initial troops that have the Grey Knight Geneseed.

Edit: ok certainly not Deathwatch as that was formed long after the Heresy, good catch Shredsmore

Right! from what I understood, the loyal remnants under Malcador created the Inquisiton and the Grey Knights.

Their re heresy armour was replaced by the newer MKVI corvus pattern in Garro: Legion Of One

I got my info from the following wiki site http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Deathwatch

It reads -

The origins of the Deathwatch are uncertain in current Imperial records, but can be traced to the arrival of the Imperial Frigate Eisenstein at Terra at the start of the Horus Heresy in the early 31st Millennium when a contingent of Loyalist Space Marines from the Traitor Legions arrived in the Sol System to inform the Emperor of Mankind that the Warmaster Horus had betrayed him at Istvaan III and been corrupted by Chaos. It is implied that Battle-Captain Nathaniel Garro and his Loyalist Death Guard Space Marines, along with Captain Iacton "Half-Heard" Qruze of the Luna Wolves, were amongst the first members of a new Imperial organisation created at the order of the Emperor of Mankind that was the ancestor of the current Imperial Inquisition. While not definitive, it seems likely that the contingent of Loyalist Death Guard Space Marines who had arrived at Terra aboard the Eisenstein formed the initial core of what would later become the Deathwatch, hence providing the name for the new Astartes formation.

So do we think this is not true?

Truth is malleable. Official fluff alone is already inconsistent on whether the Deathwatch belongs to the Inquisition at all, or is just a valued but independent ally.
By nature of how the franchise is run, there is no "one truth" to anything, except perhaps the most common themes that everybody can agree on (the Emperor is a guy, Ultramarines wear blue, etc).
I also heard that the wiki in question contains a lot of fan speculation, even moreso than Lexicanum. That doesn't have to mean much, but in the eyes of some it might devalue its contents.

As to the original question ... personally, I'm with Pilau Rice on this. Even if a Chapter still had pre-heresy armour it would seem a bit unlikely that it has been kept in pristine condition and ready for battle for such a long time. Spare parts are no longer produced, and damaged components would be swapped out for newer parts.
However, as mentioned above, the truth is malleable, so it would be possible to simply dismiss this detail, or have the relevant components still produced somewhere, or have the Marines find a cache of stasis-sealed equipment they proceed to use in battle. Or the Marines in question were stuck in the Warp for a couple thousand years, thinking only a month had passed.

I think the most interesting solution, but also the most difficult one, would be to do a conversion job and work bits and pieces of pre-heresy armour into modern equipment, giving them a mixed look ...

I think mixed armour would give me the most modelling opportunities and make them stand out more.

It also gives the possibility of mixing pre and post heresy chapters ie: Death Guard and Ultras in the same unit.

Well you've all given me lots of ideas, thanks

 GiraffeX wrote:
I got my info from the following wiki site http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Deathwatch

So do we think this is not true?

Don't believe anything on 40k wikia that does not have a direct cited source.

 DarknessEternal wrote:

 GiraffeX wrote:
I got my info from the following wiki site http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Deathwatch

So do we think this is not true?

Don't believe anything on 40k wikia that does not have a direct cited source.

Use the Lexicanum, it's all cited and sourced.
http://www.lexicanum.com/

Any evidence of the loyalist from traitor legions would have been erased, the loyalists themselves prolly given new names, equipment and designations once the deathwatch was officially founded.

 Viersche wrote:
Any evidence of the loyalist from traitor legions would have been erased, the loyalists themselves prolly given new names, equipment and designations once the deathwatch was officially founded.

Forge World's Horus Heresy book includes several quotes from Crysos Morturg in which is he is attributed as "Black Shield" and variously "survivor of Isstvan III" or "former Death Guard"

"Black Shield" would be those Marines that show up to join the Deathwatch with no heraldry. They are not asked what Chapter (or Legion for that matter) they might be from, and are basically join the Deathwatch on a permanent basis.

I think that at the moment, the fluff regarding Garro/Death Guard and their ultimate evolution into either the inquistion, deathwatch or grey knights is pretty unclear.

From the Deathwatch RPG it seems pretty clear that some legionnaires who came from traitor legions have joined the deathwatch as Blackshields, but whether this is directly from the Horus Heresy, with their geneseed being passed from person to person, each being a Blackshield, or whether this is reformed/rogue marines coming back into the fold is fairly unclear.

I think you'd be within your rights to do a deathwatch team made up of ex traitor legionnaires, but I doubt they'd show much of their original imagery, although some hints could show through.