I was planning out my Planescape campaign and I decided to work in an incomplete fan-made adventure about the Codex of the Infinite Planes. I read up on everything I could find about the codex and I'm going to compile it all right here. This should be a nice starting point for you if you want to use this item in your campaign.Here's the weirdest thing about this magic item. The best material by far was made by a fan and is not official. But you should definitely check it out because it is awesome and fits the lore perfectly.
I'll include that info at the bottom of this guide.The Essential Information. Here's the basic information you should know about the Codex of the Infinite Planes:. It is as big as a bookcase and very heavy. It has an infinite number of pages. It has the ability to take you to any plane. It gives you spell-like powers. Just opening the codex can kill you and reading it can make you go insane.
Every time you read a new page, there is a cumulative chance that you are hit by some kind of disaster. The Codex is sentient and reaches out to people in their dreams. The Codex is older than seemingly everyone. Even the gods don't understand it. In most editions, it is up to you to pick what spells it can give the reader as powers.
In most editions, the codex offers transportation spells and summoning/banishment magic.AD&D 1st Edition. The codex actually first appeared in one of the white box supplements and thus is one of the oldest items in the game. Here in the 1e DMG, we get basic details.
It is heavily tied to Greyhawk lore.We learn that it is sometimes known as 'Yagrax's tome' and that an archmage named Tzunk got his hands on it. The Codex caused the destruction of the isles of woe. Other factoids:. A High Wizard priest of the Isles of Woe used it to dominate the region. It has '99 damned pages.' . If you read it, you have a 99% chance of meeting a terrible fate.
Not a lot of wiggle room there. The pages each take you to a different plane or alternate universe. 'The work will instantly destroy any character under 11th level of experience who touch it.'
. If you're 11th level or higher, you need to make a saving throw to use the powers of the codex.Like most of the items in the 1e DMG, it is up to you to pick the spells and powers inside the codex. It has 16 spells total, the highest of which are level 6.AD&D 2nd EditionThere's not a lot of codex art out thereThe Codex is detailed in. The codex gets a full page and more details are added:. It is so big that two strong men can barely lift it. The cover is obsidian and the pages are thin lead.
There is a lot of writing in unknown languages. ' No matter how many pages are turned, there is always one more.' . The powers of the codex are triggered by reading it. It can open a portal to any plane or world. It has no table of contents/index. Once per month, it can summon a greater fiend to serve you for 24 hours.Pick Your Powers: Once again, the powers of the codex are up to you.
In this book, there is a massive section full of types of magic item powers. They are really great. For the codex, you choose four minor powers and four major powers off of the lists.Curse: Every page read, whether useful or not, has a 1% cumulative chance of triggering an awful fate such as madness or a '10-mile radius clouds of deadly poison (no saving throw)'. We also learn that ' No character can read more than 99 page before doom befalls them.' They give a few possible ways to destroy it:.
Every page of the infinite pages of the codex must be read. One page of the book opens a portal onto the book itself, wiping it out of existence.Iuz the Evil. In, we learn a little more about Archmage Tzunk, who was mentioned in the 1e DMG.
It says here that his body was sundered into a hundred parts to thwart attempts at resurrection. Did the fire genies do this? In Greyhawk, there is a guarded tomb that contains only the hands of Tzunk!.
The tomb is guarded by ' great golems with special powers such as paralysis, petrification and worse.' . The place is guarded with magical traps. The hands will animate and serve whoever frees them from the tomb.
The hands will want to go find the rest of Tzunk's body.Dragon Magazine - The Plane of Truth. This was a collection of articles in issues 203 and 204. I think it was meant to hype up Planescape.
It mentions the codex a bit in story form. This article gives an entire new element to the codex.
It reaches out to people in their dreams and siphons the life out of them. Their life force keeps the codex powerful.Short version: The codex reaches out in your dreams and for the next few days you are compelled to write down the encrypted image. One guy kept waking up new tattoos on his flesh. After a few weeks of this, you become a lifeless husk.In the story, a guy named Fallendor gets sucked in, but he is able to escape somehow by taking over the body of the next guy to get sucked in.
That second guy, Ambran the Seeker, mentions that he knows he is going to teleport to 'Hruggek's Realm' once he finishes his transcription, but he can't stop.Hruggek's Skulls: I decided to look up Hruggek in Monster Mythology. He's a bugbear god.
He lives in pandemonium and is surrounded by the severed heads of his conquered opponents. The heads have magic powers and the book talks about them:'How this has come to be is hard to explain; it would need magical powers well beyond Hruggek's capacity to create such artifacts. This suggests that some deity with major wizardly powers has some form of agreement with Hruggek, although the nature of this - and who the other deity might be, and what that deity has to gain - is entirely unknown.'
I don't know if the codex is involved with Hruggek, but I figured I'd throw it in there.Secrets of the Lamp. The codex is in the Epic Level Handbook. Here's some new developments:. ' Anyone opening the codex for the first time is utterly annihilated with a destruction spell.' . When you spend a day studying the codex, you can learn one of its powers. You must also make a save or go mad.They finally list some powers!
Each of them can be cast at will:. Astral projection. Banishment. Elemental swarm. Gate. Greater planar ally.
Greater planar binding. Plane shift.
Soul bindWhen you activate a power, you need to make a check or else you must roll on the catastrophe chart. It's pretty insane. You might get hit with an earthquake or summon 1d3+1 balors.The Adventure: There is actually an adventure in this book that deals with the codex.
The adventurers need to go to a wizard's tower in the plane of fire.There's a group called the Gleaners who have long sought the codex of the infinite planes. We learn that the codex was stolen by a 'retriever' named Regalid. Regalid stole it from Schaethreth, an infernal. Schaethraeth has owned the codex for 100 years and can actually sense it when he is near it.Regalid is hiding out in a wizard's tower near the city of brass. The codex 'stands on the floor along one wall, nearly filling the area of a normal bookcase.'
Living Greyhawk. Living Greyhawk was an 'adventurers league' kind of thing that was set in Greyhawk. I'm not sure whether or not some of the stuff 'counts,' but if it's cool or useful, it 'counts' to me.They had a series of linked adventures called 'Ether Threat.' It is actually set in the area where the Isles of Woe were, which is the place mentioned in the 1e DMG. In, we get the 4e version of the codex. We get a few little nuggets:.
It is the size of a small table. The symbols in the book use the language of creation, the same language runepriests use.
It was used in eons past to transport armies from one plane to another. Apparently somebody once used the codex to accidentally summon 'Garniax, the Indestructible fiend' and then they had to use the codex to send the demon back to the Abyss.Powers: Once per day you can choose a location. And you and your group appear there. You could even just say you want to go to 'a king's treasure room' and it will take you there.It can return creatures back to their plane of origin.Maldin's Version of the Codex. The author is Denis Tetreault, who wrote dragon magazine articles and apparently was very heavily involved in Living Greyhawk.
This site greatly fleshes out the codex and is, in my opinion, the best resource for those looking to use the codex. Some stuff we learn:.
If the book is left open for a time, it will close and latch itself when nobody is looking. The cover might be comprised of the same material that crystal spheres from Spelljammer are made of. The metal pages cannot be written on in any way. The codex is older than any of the known gods. It is sentient, but it is so alien that nobody can grasp it. It reaches out to people in their dreams and slowly drains their life force. This fuels the incredible power of the codex.Dangers of the Codex: When you open the book, you must make a saving throw.
Fail means you lose up to 11 character levels! Success means that you are attuned to the book. Then you make a second save. Fail this and you go insane.As you read through the codex, you will trigger various curses.
You'll also drain energy sources nearby - fires go out, the temperature drops, etc.The Great List of Names: Pages that list every person that has ever attuned to the book. There have been only 12 people to do so in the last 3,000 years. It lists their truename and how they are remembered by history. If you open it, you will find your name at the bottom of the list.This site actually lists the last 12 names. It includes Yagraz, Tzunk and Zagig! Further down, he goes into detail about each one.He made his own version of the codex with a set of powers.
The powers are all travel, knowledge and banishment type stuff. Here's some of the special things it can do:. Summon and bind planar creatures. Create portals. You can actually break off pieces of the planes. Communicate directly with Gods and demon lords. Create extradimensional spaces.To me, it's not even close.
This is the best, most useful version of the codex by a million miles.The Codex AdventureThat brings us to!The adventure is meant to span from 1st level all the way up to around 20th. I'm going to run a condensed version of it, just hitting the main plot points. The author took all of the lore and combined it, and added all sorts of Planescape stuff. What he's done so far is really cool.It is unfinished as of now. The whole back half is full of stats and it has a complete 5e version of the codex.
It is basically a compilation of all the best ideas of the older versions.If nothing else, you could get this for the tons of 5e stats and converted magic items. It's free so if you have any interest at all.Links.
' We follow in the footsteps of Guilliman. As it is written in the Codex, so shall it be.' —, of theA page taken from the Codex Astartes displaying the organisation and structure of aThe Codex Astartes is a great and sacred tome of military organisation, strategy and tactics written by, the of the, to prevent another civil war like the. It outlines Guilliman's ideal for the moral behaviour, order of battle and tactical doctrine of a Space Marine. While not all Space Marine Chapters in the Imperium adhere to the Codex's dictates with the same rigidity as the Ultramarines, most obey the spirit of the Codex if not the actual letter.
A Space Marine Chapter that generally follows the guidelines of the Codex Astartes is referred to as a ' Codex-compliant Chapter.' With the threat of the held at bay in the wake of the, Roboute Guilliman turned to ensuring that such a catastrophic intra-species war could never happen again, distilling his formidable wisdom into the mighty tome known as the Codex Astartes. This text became a major part of his legacy and the cornerstone upon which the future of the would be based. No complete copies of his original text is known to exist although the majority of his tome has survived and is available to all Space Marines, if not committed to memory.Though for all its multitudinous topics, the most lasting and contentious decree of the Codex Astartes was that the existing Space Marine Legions be broken up and reorganised into smaller organisations known as.
Though many of his brother Primarchs initially railed against Guilliman's decree, almost all eventually accepted the necessity of reorganisation for the security of the Imperium.Upon the Codex's implementation, in an event that would become known as the, each of the old Legions became a conclave of chapters, one of which would bear the name for its forebear legion as well as heraldry, homeworld, and would retain some level of political primacy amongst its peers. The rest would take new names, heraldry, and homeworlds or fortress-monasteries, and stretch themselves across the Imperium. The Codex Astartes stated that each Chapter would be one thousand Battle-Brothers strong and look to its own recruitment, training and equipment. Never again would one man be able to command the awesome, terrifying power of a Space Marine Legion.Over the millennia, there have been many subsequent Foundings of Space Marine Chapters.
Those Chapters that adhere rigidly to Guilliman's teachings are sometimes referred to as 'Codex Chapters.' These Space Marines pride themselves on following the tenets within the hallowed pages of the Codex Astartes and applying its principles of warcraft and devotion to the Emperor. Contents History ' They shall be pure of heart and strong of body, untainted by doubt and unsullied by self-aggrandisement. They will be bright stars on the firmament of battle, Angels of Death whose shining wings bring swift annihilation to the enemies of Man. So it shall be for a thousand times for a thousand years, unto the very end of eternity and the extinction of mortal flesh.' — Opening passage of the Codex AstartesIn the wake of the calamity that was the Horus Heresy, the foundations of the Imperium of Man were laid down.
The first established the structure by which the operated, and described the feudal responsibilities and duties of the planetary lords. One of the most important accomplishments was the reorganisation of the Imperium's fighting forces. This was undertaken almost single-handedly by the of the, who with characteristic speed and efficiency codified the structure of the, the, and the. Of all of his works, the most influential is the Codex Astartes, the great prescriptive tome that lays down the basic organisational and tactical rules for the.The initial inspiration for Guilliman's Codex Astartes came from Sergeant, a veteran of the, who was present on during the war against the treacherous. In the aftermath of the initial assault, he founded small independent task-force squads called the, which were made up of surviving Ultramarines. The Red Marked were responsible for rooting out and eliminating the forces of the renegade warbands that were hiding on the ruined worlds of the Ultramar space.During the important meeting between the Ultramarine's Primarch and Sergeant Aeonid Thiel on one of space stations, Guilliman tore apart the documents of his old doctrines in front of Thiel and made his message clear; from now on, the Ultramarines shall not be a ' horde under a warlord that follows him' but a ' hundred of thousands of individual Legionaries each in support of the other'. Thus was the vision for the Codex Astartes born.Following the end of the Horus Heresy and the retreat of most of the into the, the Codex decreed that the nine remaining Loyalist Legions would be divided into 1,000-man, the of which would be directly beholden to the Emperor Himself and no other, not even the Primarchs of their original founding Legions (save in the case of the single Chapter that would remain under each Primarch's control and retain its Legion's original name).
No one man in the Imperium could ever again control the superhuman might of an entire Legion of 100,000 or more Space Marines.The Horus Heresy had revealed previously unknown genetic weakness in the of the Primarchs and Space Marines among the original 20, weaknesses that left the Legions in question greatly exposed to corruption by the of. This risk was exacerbated by the rapid nature of Space Marine recruitment during the centuries between the start of the in ca. 800.M30 and the outbreak of the Horus Heresy itself in the early 31st Millennium. With the expanding so quickly across the galaxy during the Great Crusade, the need for fresh recruits in the Space Marine Legions was great.
So much so that some Legions had not been as particular in their gene-seed screening practices and recruit selection processes as they should have been. The first objective of Roboute Guilliman in writing the Codex Astartes was to both recognise and purge these weaknesses. As a result, the Codex Astartes decreed that Space Marines would forever more be created and trained slowly.
The genetic banks used to create Astartes implants would be carefully monitored and scrutinised for any defects. Cultivated organs would be subject to the most stringent tests of purity. Young Initiates would undergo trials of suitability before they were accepted, and only those of the very sternest character would be chosen.As a final safeguard, Guilliman tasked the on Earth with setting up and maintaining genetic banks to produce and store tithes of Space Marine gene-seed.
These banks were to provide all new gene-seed for subsequent of Space Marine Chapters. To prevent cross-contamination, the genetic stock of each Legion was isolated whilst that of the Traitor Legions was placed under a time-locked stasis seal, though at the time many believed they had been destroyed. By taking direct control of these genetic tithes, the Adeptus Terra could ultimately control the Space Marines. They alone had and have the power to destroy or create Space Marine armies at will.The Codex outlined a new, more measured process for Space Marine selection and recruitment and insisted that each newly-created Successor Chapter would tithe 5% of its genetic material to the Adeptus Terra and the for testing and monitoring. It also decreed that only the Emperor Himself, through the auspices of the High Lords of Terra, would ever again be able to order the creation of a new Space Marine Chapter. All gene-seed would be subjected to the greatest genetic scrutiny before being used in the creation of new Space Marine implants. To prevent cross-contamination, the Codex rebuked the practice of sharing gene-seed between different Chapters and, thus preventing different Legions with different genetic make-ups.
From then on, each Chapter would have to rely solely on the gene-seed produced in the bodies of its own Space Marines.The Codex also further defined the accepted tactical doctrine, Chapter organisation, order of battle, and recruitment practices for a Space Marine Chapter. It explained the different battlefield roles assigned to each squad of Space Marines in a Chapter, defining them as, or and assigning different equipment and purpose to each (see the excerpts below).There were many other topics covered in the Codex and all of them displayed Guilliman's formidable intelligence and hard-won wisdom. Most of the old Legions were divided into fewer than five Chapters, but the Ultramarines, being by far the largest of the Legions, were divided many times. The exact number of new Chapters created from the Ultramarines is uncertain: the number listed in the oldest known copy of the Codex Astartes (the so-called Apocrypha of Skaros) gives the total as 24, but does not name them all. These Chapters would consist of ten companies of 100 Space Marines each. The breaking of the remaining nine Loyalist Legions into multiple Space Marine Chapters is known to Imperial historians as the, which occurred in ca.
021.M31, seven standard years after the death of.As a result of the Second Founding, the Ultramarines' gene-seed became the favoured genetic stock of most subsequent. The new Chapters created from the Ultramarines are often referred to as the Primogenitors, or 'first born.'
All of the Primogenitor Chapters venerate Roboute Guilliman as their founding father and patron. Only one of the original Space Marine Legions, the, has never been broken down into the ten companies decreed in the Codex Astartes. The Space Wolves continue to organize their forces into thirteen 'Great Companies,' different in organization to those specified by the Codex. Note that the oldest copy of the Codex, the, refutes the commonly-held belief that the Space Wolves have never broken down into separate Chapters, stating that two Second Founding Chapters were created from the Space Wolves ( Index Astartes I, pg. However, the Space Marine Codex (5th Edition) lists only one Second Founding Successor to the Space Wolves: the, who were disbanded at an unknown time because of extreme gene-seed corruption and mutation.The Codex Astartes further defines the tactical roles, equipment specifications, and uniform identification markings of the Space Marines.
With the passage of centuries, some Chapters have strayed from the strict letter of the Codex, introducing unique variations on its teachings but remaining broadly faithful to Guilliman's basic principles. Furthermore, the Codex has been reanalyzed, reinterpreted and modified countless times over the centuries. Regardless, the Codex Astartes remains, as it has always been, the Space Marines' authoritative guide to waging war. As such, it is revered by every Battle-Brother as a holy text; the wisdom of the ancients serving as both scripture and the unbending rod by which they are measured.
These guidelines have evolved in practice from chapter to chapter over the centuries, and the treatise and wisdom of hundreds of military thinkers have been absorbed in their own battle philosophies. The Codex Astartes is revered as a holy text, and many Chapters regard its recommendations as sanctified by the Emperor Himself.Chapter OrganisationThe order of battle of the Ultramarines, the archetypal Codex Astartes-compliant, displaying the full composition of all ten companiesOrder of Battle of the, 'Guardians of the Temple'; an excellent example of a post-Heresy Codex Astartes-compliant companyThe Codex Astartes states that a Space Marine Chapter should be split into 10 of 100 Space Marines each, plus a Space Marine, Company Standard and for each company. Existing outside the Company level organization, each Chapter has an Armoury consisting of the Chapter's, main battle tanks, and other armoured vehicles, a Librarium consisting of the Chapter's, a Chapter Fleet and the, plus various headquarters staff and the Chapter's and human.Veteran CompanyThe 1 st Company of a Chapter consists of and/or. Support for the 1st Company consists of.
Only the 1 st Company may use the hallowed suits of.Battle CompaniesThe 2 nd, 3 rd, 4 th and 5 th Companies of a Chapter are known as Battle Companies and they all have the same tactical organisation. Each Battle Company is split into 6, 2 and 2 comprised of 10 Space Marines each. Some companies also make use of comprised solely of to protect their officers or other specialists like. The Assault Squads can instead be deployed as or on.
Battle Companies often use and dedicated transports, and commonly deploy for heavy fire support.Reserve CompaniesThe 6 th, 7 th, 8 th and 9 th Companies of a Chapter are its Reserve Companies. The 6 th and 7 th are comprised entirely of Tactical Squads, the 8 th of Assault Squads and the 9 th of Devastator Squads. Like the Battle Companies, the Reserve Companies also make extensive use of and transports, though Dreadnoughts are usually only found in the 9 th Company.
The 6 th Company can be entirely deployed on Space Marine and the 7 th on. The 8 th Company can use either Space Marine Bikes or Land Speeders.
These forces are held in reserve to be deployed at the discretion of Force Commanders as tactical situations evolve, often to bolster weak points or aid in breaking through enemy lines at specific locations.Scout CompanyThe 10 th Company consists entirely of and is often not 100 strong as recruitment does not provide a steady flow of to many Chapters. As such, the 10 th Company is the most lightly armed and is most often used as a reconnaissance or guerilla force. Scout Marines are sometimes mounted on Space Marine Bikes, but do not use Rhino or Razorback transports.Siege TacticsWhen manoeuvres break down and rapid strike offensives prove impossible, the Codex Astartes offers two solutions: bypass the heavily defended area, or besiege it. The might enter into attritional sieges that last solar decades or longer, but such is not the way of the Adeptus Astartes. Space Marine siege tactics are many and varied, with most involving a complex series of choreographed attacks.
Defences are probed and then distracted as assaults breach the enemy line or take the heavily defended objective. The Space Marines have a number of vehicles designed for besieging foes, such as and, that are ideal at bringing maximum firepower to bear against any fortress. There is no force in the Imperium that can exploit an enemy weakness more rapidly than the Adeptus Astartes.Stealth TacticsThe small but elite forces of the Space Marines put a high value on the element of surprise. Sometimes this can be achieved through speed - rapid strikes that deploy before a foe can counter. While such sudden assaults are a hallmark of the Adeptus Astartes, they are also able to utilize stealth attacks in a manner few other forces can emulate.
By using auto-senses and sophisticated scanning equipment, some Space Marines learn to avoid visual detection, dodging patrols or enemy pickets when needed. Sniper teams secrete themselves in commanding overviews. And bearing are silently air-dropped into position, while in camo cloaks steal into position.
When the attack comes - coordinated to the millisecond - it is a perfect example of the combined arms approach espoused so often in the Codex Astartes. Brief but bloody assaults follow, throwing the foe into disarray while other elements of the attack join the fray, be they massed transports disgorging troops or hurtling down from the skies. While nearly all Chapters regularly employ covert operations, some, like the, are particularly adept at such missions. Their ability to stalk their prey from the shadows is the stuff of legend.Anvil Strike ForceSometimes, a mission or adversary will demand that a Chapter must mobilise the entirety of its Armoury.
In these instances, fully armoured battle groups are gathered, and truly does the ground shake beneath their treads. Led by mounted in or other tanks, they trundle forward, enemy fire pattering off their thick armour before they answer with a murderous barrage of their own. There are many types of armoured strike force, each tailored to suit the needs of its Chapter, the foe or the terrain. An Anvil Strike Force is perhaps the most famous of these, the strictures for its formation and use dating back to the creation of the Codex Astartes.The annals of the Space Marines are filled with glorious accounts of the Anvil Strike Force's might. In the wilderness of the, Captain Dauuk of the led just such a mechanised strike force into the Warren Worlds. There, among the caustic yield-nests of the Cults, his stalked the sentient mecha-fauna, blasting apart the worshippers and their allies.
No Space Marine, not even an Iron Hands Battle-Brother, could have lived long in that toxic place, though the tanks of Dauuk's strike force endured, and scoured the planet clear of threats in less than a Terran week. The is particularly well known for their lightning-fast armoured assaults, leading the way with Land Raider spearheads supported by suppression forces.
Brother-Sergeant has led many armoured attacks for the, and he has won much acclaim for incorporating aerial support and using transported troops to hold the territory won by his vehicular assaults. The grav-tank has added further power to the armoured might of the Adeptus Astartes.Drop AssaultsUnheralded, the peaceful skies are torn asunder with a violence so sudden that the human eye can barely follow.
Across untold planets since the days of the Great Crusade, the arrival of the Angels of Death has signalled defeat for the enemies of the Imperium. Surgical drop assaults are swift deployments of ground-based forces by vertical take-off and landing aircraft such as the or, or by launched straight from orbit. While there are many tactical variants of the surgical drop assault, and a host of different force compositions, all rely on speed and surprise. They are used to seize and hold vital terrain, to misdirect enemy forces, or to seek and destroy key enemy commanders, defences or war engines.Many an has been halted in its tracks by a Space Marine drop assault. Billions of have been left to squabble amongst themselves after their and his entire bodyguard were annihilated by a sudden assault that came from the skies.
Warhammer 40k Codex 8th Edition
The fabled batteries of Ixx were so powerful they could destroy any fleet that entered orbit, yet they fell prey to a Space Marine assault that opened the entire planet up for invasion. When rebel armies surrounded the 's palace on Dhrax, the Astra Militarum could not react quickly enough, but an Ultramarines holding force arrived from the skies to keep the governor safe.Many Space Marine Chapters have a preferred method of planetstrike assault - such as the Drop Pod and Skyhammer Orbital Strike Force favoured by the - but much depends upon the situation and the forces at hand. No matter its composition, the timing and coordination of a vertical assault are always vital. With correct landing coordinates, Drop Pods can be the ultimate terror weapons, hurtling out of the sky to land at the very heart of the foe. Before the enemy can react, the occupants deploy - either assaulting or blasting their opponents at close range.
Codices 40k App
Landing in rapid succession, the Space Marines can quickly turn a staggered foe into a routing one.Mistime or misplace the drop assault, however, and the Drop Pods will be picked off one by one, the enemy able to concentrate their fire and seize back the initiative. When arriving by Thunderhawk or Stormraven, it is vital for the Space Marines to provide aerial support; keep the skies clear while make strafing runs to ensure the landing vehicles can deploy those inside. The most savvy of Astartes commanders will use a combined strategy: air-dropped in concert with a Drop Pod assault, while Stormravens deploy more squads, and even, to keep the foe off balance. By striking hard and fast, a Space Marine drop assault can sweep the battlefield of targets and be gone even before the smoke clears.HeraldryCodex Astartes-approved heraldry for anThe Codex Astartes contains detailed sections pertaining to the heraldry of Space Marine Chapters. These dictate that a Space Marine should display his Chapter's symbol upon his armour's left shoulder guard, whilst his right shoulder guard should show his squad markings. The Codex also states that a Space Marine should incorporate his company's heraldic colour into his armour, displaying it on the trim of his shoulder guards.
Warhammer 40k Codex Pdf
The Codex suggests a number of variations on this basic system and even advises that each Chapter periodically revise its markings to confound the foe.