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Alpha Legion has changed a lot, both in game and fluff wise.

In 40k i think they should look like a bunch of unmarked and untraceable space marines - a ghost legion, like they once were. If your whole deal is misdirection and anonymity - it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to paint a shiny teal colour paint on every surface you have with the hydra motif everywhere.
I prefer to imagine them as a bunch of spec ops boys - full camo, decked with gear - and striking hard when the time comes.

Not dissing against guys who do have teal Alpha Legion and like them. Teal and hydra themed designs look amazing. But I envision that as more a 30k look for alpha legion than a 40k look. GW really is trying to make them into the smoke and mirrors army, and its hard for me to see the traditional alpha legion look at fitting that.

Below is how i envision alpha legion, thoughts?

I use their Stegadon Scale green with a bit of the patches, goggles, knives, etc. where I can.

I am working on getting an airbrush, because a friend of mine taught me how to make 'scale camo' using a piece of mesh.

The way I figure, they have 'infiltrate' and 'stealth' options, so their armor is a bit more capable of shifting colors like a chameleon.

In fact, that's what I'd like to do to their pauldrons- give it a chameleon effect.

I would like to think that when they reveal their teal and green hydra paint job that is the point that gak has hit the fan. Either they have revealed themselves (ah ha! you just set off my trap card!) as part of an ambush or they have been caught in a fight they didn't want to be in and no point in hiding who are now.

Besides, this is Warhammer 40K. There is no such thing as reasonable marines. I would like to think that is just a function of the fundamental laws of their universe. Things like use of cover, standard issue night vision goggles, camouflage, close air support/artillery, or even just pelting the battlefield with drop pod sized rocks to kill the enemy/create cover and HERSEY! using your words to settle differences work as well as flapping your arms really fast to fly in our universe.

They wouldn't be covered in gear and pouches like in the pictures. Such would be fit for human operatives, but they are Space Marines, they have no need for that kind of stuff.

The Alpha Legion often operates from the shadows, working through human operatives and infiltrators to sabotage and confuse their opponents. If a Space Marine needs to show himself, a hydra symbol or not doesn't matter. The vast majority of people in 40k have little to no knowledge of Chaos or the Alpha Legion, let alone that they know what heraldry the Alpha Legion uses. Besides, by the point an Alpha Legion Marine needs to show himself publicly, the plan probably is already in its final stage and secrecy no longer matters (like invading a planet that has been thoroughly weakened and destabilised through sabotage and misinformation).
Basically, you only ever get to see Alpha Legion Space Marines when their plans are already in motion and they start operating out in the open.

The exception is when they operate against loyalist Space Marines, at which point they may very well adapt their opponent's heraldry in order to potentially infiltrate them or sow confusion. I could also see them doing this in order to stage false flag attacks. But most of the time I think they will just stick to their own heraldry.

Therefore. if I were to make a 40k Alpha Legion force, I would mostly use Horus Heresy parts because I do not think that Alpha Legion should be immediately recognisable as Chaos Space Marines, but maybe with a few Chaos elements thrown in to showcase their corruption over the millennia.

 Iron_Captain wrote:

Therefore. if I were to make a 40k Alpha Legion force, I would mostly use Horus Heresy parts because I do not think that Alpha Legion should be immediately recognisable as Chaos Space Marines, but maybe with a few Chaos elements thrown in to showcase their corruption over the millennia.

A smart lad, a man after my own heart. You, sir- are a beautiful man and a moderately attractive woman if I drink enough.

If I had a better camera, I'd love to show you my forces.

My Legionnaires wear their Pre-Heresy armor.

Tacticals/"Chaos Marines" wear the Mark IV armor.
Havocs wear Mark III.
Chosen are the Headhunter Kill team on Deathwatch Veteran legs, with lizard scale tabards from Spellcrow.
My Hellbrute is a Dreadnaught with some reptilian touches.
I use Tartaros terminators as standard termies.
My Chaos Lord is wearing some reptile-themed gear from Spellcrow, with Deathwatch veteran legs and some other bits.
My Rhinos and Vindicators all have Legion Colors and markings, and a friend is doing a 'scale' pattern on the Vindicators' siege shield.

FYI, I have encountered someone that saw my Alpha Legion and refused to play because they 'did not look like Chaos'. The guy threw a tantrum and said I was using the miniatures wrong and had 'ruined' my army. He even tried to get me ejected from the gaming club, but his childishness only made people laugh at him. He was 43.

When I first started learning about the Alpha Legion, they seemed more like manipulative renegades. Perhaps a good lot of them are infiltrators, trying to subvert and destroy chaos from within- whether that has worked or not, or is still the plan... remains to be seen. I assume that like many other Chaos Legions, they tend to be fractured with smaller warbands operating independently for the most part.