Crimson Castellans - 2013 WIP Log

[Jupiter Forge]

Hello again Brothers,

I’ve been absent from posting my own things for quite some time now, at least 2 - 3 months as I’ve had a lot of other things to do in real life… plus every time I sit down to do some Warhammer work I just get distracted. I first thought that it meant I just didn’t want to do it anymore, but I do and don’t at the same time; which is an annoying conundrum. I think I’m just in a “Winter Slump” and downer due to other things going on but in some of the time away from actually working on models I’ve started to refine the fluff for my chosen Chapter; The Crimson Castellans. I’m not giving up on this mission, even if it takes me until the end of 2013!

This Chapter is actually an official one only mentioned in one book (Codex Tyranids 5th Edition), then seemingly nowhere else in any of the Space Marine related books that I’ve read over my time in the hobby. I have taken a lot of liberty with it and I’m really happy with the way it’s progressing. This page was my WIP Log for the work I’m doing, and that hasn’t changed, however this is the new updated version and I hope all you reading it find it enjoyable. If you do see any MASSIVE discrepancies with the actual 40k lore then I really would love to know so that I can change things as much as possible so that it fits in yet stays true to my vision of the chapter.

 

Heck, with the amount of fluff I'm writing for these guys it may even be worth it to get it into book-format, email it to GW and just go "Feel free to rewrite it, but we need more chapters. Stop re-releasing old-hat and give some new official ones!". No hope of that happening... but I'm tempted to try!

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Updates
1) 04/02/2013 - Updated outdated Chapter information based on new fluff creations.
2) 05/02/2013 - 1st draft of the Imperial Datafile for Chapter Master Korealon added. Still no more work done, waiting for my Airbrush and other model purchases to arrive. Oh sweet airbrush, how you will make me a happy chappie!
3) 11/02/2013 - 1st Draft of the Imperial Darafile for Captain Jorael added.

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Original Mission Statement
This Chapter is pretty much dead in the water according to the Lexicon website and other Warhammer 40k websites. The general premise of the Chapter was: "Oh no, some of the Castellans turned to Chaos! Chapter Civil War on some backwards-ass planet! Slimy Tyranids show up and eat everything! Temporary Truce between the Loyalists and Renegades! The Loyalist Chapter Master dies! The Renegade Chapter Master turns-tail and legs it... then gets eaten by the Tyranids along with his new base! No-clue what happened to the remaining Loyalist Castellans as no more fluff exists!". Well!? Here they are, they are going to be made by me. I am also going to work on the Chaos-Corrupted side of the Chapter so that I have two armies created when I have finished the project.

There is virtually no official information about this chapter out there aside from the stuff on the Lexicanum page above and the 40k.wiki page so it's almost a clean slate for me to play around with and do what I want... which is going to be great as I have some pretty unusual stuff that I want to do with them. They don't even list any Founding Chapter or Chapter Colours! So if you enjoy Fleet Based Chapters, if you enjoy little-known Chapter ideas then this may be one for you. I finally settled on the Dark Angels Chapter as their progenitors as since the new models were released with Dark Vengeance and now the Games Workshop official ones are here I think they will look great in the Castellan colours with a lot of kitbashing and converting potential.

I'm going to use this thread as my WIP log so it will be updated with anything I do on the project as time goes on. Depending on how busy I am with real life stuff (like I said back in 2012), or just too lazy to get any work done, this is the place it's going to be posted.

The Full Album of my current work on the Chapter can be found here (and it should be set to public):
Chapter Gallery

Before I go into more detail I'd like to say that the red may be too bright and shiny. In all likelihood I'm going to make it a bit darker and more "Crimson" (obviously!") and the Blue is going to be a "Sea/Ocean Blue". I spent a good few hours doing all of this as I had to go back and re-do them a few times to change colours (still a bit off, darn it!) and the Wargear. But now on with what each picture is in some more detail. Each of these different type of models will be getting name upgrades to go with the fluff but they are not finalised yet so I'll hold off on previewing 99% of those at this stage aside from on the special character (of which there will be a few different titles).

Why have I slapped Blue on the Shoulders, Weapons and other misc places? Well that's because they love water. No, seriously. They love it (their home world was a very wet place). The bulk of their Armour is red because of their Chapter Name (it would look a little odd otherwise) however as a Fleet-Based Chapter and one that used to get their new recruits from a planet that's mainly Oceans (will explain in later fluff) they have a deep respect for all things nautical (DEEP Respect, get it? Ohh J.F...) and as a mark of that respect they adorn their armour with blue on at least one of their shoulders. The brown comes from my demented ideas on "Ye' olde' ships are made of wood, and wood is... brown... so... that's right! No more questions, bed time, bed time!.". But overall I think it looks all right and fits with their nautical theme.

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Fleet Ranks and Equivalents
The Crimson Castellans are a Codex Chapter of the Imperial Space Marines, however they do not follow it as closely as Chapters like the Ultramarines. While they do follow the teachings of the Codex they do not regard it in any reverent way and have made some changes in structure to their force-structure they do see the great wisdom in Guilliman’s teachings, following them when appropriate but not at the risk of a major defeat. The Chapter’s structure is as laid out below:

• Grand-Admiral of the Fleet (Counts Chapter Master: commands the “Wind of Fortune” Strike Cruiser and the full force of the Crimson Castellan Battlefleet)
• Commodore (Counts as Space Marine HQ: 2nd in Command and each lead a Castellan battleship into combatas it’s commanding officer)
• Captain (Counts as Space Marine HQ: leads one of the Chapter’s Space Marine Companies)
• First Mate (Tactical Marine Sergeant)
• Crewman (Tactical Marine)
• Master Gunner (Terminator Sergeant)
• Gunner (Terminator)
• Master Oarsman (Bike Squad Sergeant)
• Oarsman (Bike Squad Marine: for example ordering them into combat could be “Break out the Oars!”)
• Chief Lookout (Scout Sergeant)
• Lookout (Scout)
• Master Surgeon (Counts as Space Marine HQ: Head of the Apothacarium)
• Surgeon (Apothecary)
• Master Shipwright (Counts as Space Marine HQ: Master of the Forge/Armoury. May also go by the Techmarine names proceeded by “Master”)
• Shipwright/Quartermaster/Boatswain/Cooper/Carpenter (Counts as Techmarine: different designations based on their speciality)
• Master Chronicler/of Chronicles/Wavesinger (Counts as Space Marine HQ: Head of the Castellan Librarium)
• Chronicler/Wavesinger (Counts as HQ: Librarian)
• Master Confessor (Counts as Space Marine HQ: Leader of the Chapter’s Chaplains. Plan to use either Grimaldus or Seraphicus model. Choices choices.)
• Confessor (Counts as Space Marine HQ: Chaplain)
• Deckhand/Powder Monkey/Cabin Boy (Servitors)
• Venerable Cannonmaster (Counts as Elite: Space Marine Venerable Dreadnought)
• Cannon (Counts as Elite: Space Marine Dreadnought, an example of this is “All Cannons, Whirlwind Salvos on my mark!” Could be the Master Shipwright ordering all Dreadnoughts to fire)

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Chapter Overview: Present Day
The loyalist Crimson Castellans are a fleet-based Successor Chapter created from modified Dark Angel Gene-Seed in the early years of M36 during the 21st founding, which came to be known as the Cursed Founding as most Chapters created during this time have been eradicated, turned renegade or suffer from mutations that push the boundaries of the Inquisition’s tolerance. Like most Space Marine Chapters they have a Fortress Monastery to call their own however theirs is mobile and rarely seen at a standstill; it is their Flagship and base of operations - the Imperial Strike Cruiser “The Wind of Fortune”. For reasons only known to themselves the Chapter does not like to stay in one place for too long as they feel it would be a waste of their resources and each day they pray to the Emperor that the Galactic Winds will be favourable and lead them to victory against the sworn enemies of Mankind wherever they hide.

Their home world is the ocean planet of Vorl Secundus which lies on the outer reaches of the Ultima Segmentum, however as it has officially been declared off-limits for being too close to a C’tan Tomb World and the Eldar Exodite Worlds they are unable to set foot there. The Chapter is under a strict Edict from the High Lords of Terra not to approach the planet which is a terrible loss and cause for great lamentation, however they remain unshakable in their devotion to the Imperium and one day hope to receive the order to reclaim Vorl Secundus as their own in the name of the Emperor. The Castellans rarely visit Holy Terra due to the vast distances their crusades take them and will only dock their fleet there whenever they are required to make a Gene-Seed tithe or attend key meetings with other Space Marine Chapters so that they can coordinate their combined efforts across the galaxy.

The Castellans are somewhat unorthodox among the majority of their Space Marine brothers as they only follow the Codex Astartes to a point; as while they respect and utilise the teachings of Roboute Guilliman when they go into battle they have their own set of tactics and will do whatever is necessary to win the day... even if it means going against the usual tenets of the Codex. They are undisputed masters of fleet-based Warfare and at ridding entire worlds of all manner of Xenos infestation, not leaving until every last trace of their foe is reduced to blood and ashes either by devastating orbital bombardments or by strike squads of highly trained battle brothers. They have battled many of the dangers that threaten the Imperium and are just as masterful at cleansing the foul stench of the ravening Orks and the mysterious ghost-like Eldar from the face of a planet as they are at purifying sprawling Tyranid Hives and Necron Tombs. They are very rarely called upon to battle the malign forces of Chaos due to an incident in their past where half of the Chapter turned renegade and has put them in a position of scrutiny by the Inquisition, who to this day have not discovered any malodorous taint of heresy among the surviving Castellans yet are adamant that they must be watched closely for any sign of future corruption. An Inquisitorial Retinue led by Inquisitor Velkar of the Ordo Hereticus has been stationed aboard the Castellan Fleet to monitor them and ensure that if they show any indication of ending up like their fallen brethren it can be communicated to the moon of Titan - where swift action can be taken by the Grey Knights to stop the emerging threat.

The Castellans have a very blithe and amiable attitude in comparison to the typical solemn and grim demeanour displayed by the other Space Marine Chapters and much like the raucous and feral Space Wolves they are prone to feasting and drinking on an extravagant scale. To an outsider may seem very indulgent and unbecoming of a so-called Angel of Death, however in reality there is a long history behind this practice and their feasting only takes place before a battle or on a Ceremonial Occasion; the purpose of a Castellan Feast is to honour those going into battle and those who may not return from it. The battle brothers who then fall in glorious battle will be honoured a second time in the Crypt of Antiro - the symbolic resting place of their first Chapter Master aboard their flagship, which in stark contrast to the pre-battle feast is a very sombre and reverent ceremony.

Leaving aside their Space Wolf allies who they are known to fight beside with great respect there is one Chapter over all others that mistrusts the Castellans due to the emergence of their chaotic brethren; the Black Templars. Unfortunately their view of the Castellans is not only coloured by the actions of their heretical former brethren, the renegades who split from the Castellans during the Sephrax tragedy, but because they were already at loggerheads with the Dark Angels over an incident in 998 M41 where the Templars refused to hand over a Dark Angel Prisoner suspected of being the Fallen Angel Cypher. Despite having not direct involvement in the incident itself the grudge the Black Templars carry seems to have been passed down to all Successor Chapters of the Dark Angels.

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Chapter Recruitment
Originally the Crimson Castellans were created from the modified Gene-Seed of Dark Angels Chapter during the Cursed Founding, however after this their Chapter Master, Sojai Antiro, chose the humans of his original home world Vorl Secundus to be the Gene-Stock for future Astartes recruitment. The Chapter also officially took over all listening post duties from their progenitor Chapter on Vorl; claiming it as their true Home World. Prior to the devastating events on the planet Sephrax the Chapter filled out the majority its new brothers from Vorl Gene-Stock and in the end around 70% of the Chapter's forces originated from the home world, with a lot of the Veteran members being made up from the aforementioned Dark Angels.

Being chosen to become a Space Marine of the Crimson Castellans was a great honour for the young men of Vorl; a far cry from the first selection where Sojai Antiro, a young orphan thief, was chosen to become an Astartes. Back during that first selection the Gene-Stock was mainly made up of orphans or children who’s parents could not afford to keep them but in the later days it was a privilege where any young man rich or poor, orphan or not could be put forward. Once selected the supplicants had to pass three tests to progress further into the Neophyte stage of their training; a test of Courage, a test of Intelligence and finally a test of Physical Skill... then their real training could begin.

Once out of training and when all their mental and physical modifications had taken hold the new Marines with Vorl origins learnt their place in the Castellans quickly and soon enough the Chapter’s ranks were at fighting strength - ready to take on even more duties for the Imperium and allowing them to defend more worlds on the outer fringes of the galaxy.

After the Chapter's shaming defeat by the Tyranids on Sephrax, the demise of their Chapter Master and the loss of half their fleet to Chaos barely a handful of veteran Castellans remained. A new Chapter Master was appointed and new veterans from the Vorl-born marines were chosen, then the Chapter could start to recoup it's losses although the untimely end of their beloved Chapter Master and Honoured Veterans haunts them to this day they carry on in the name of the Emperor under their new Master - Grand-Admiral Korealon.

Only once more after Sephrax did the Crimson Castellans make their way to Vorl Secundus to secure new recruits; enough to fill their ranks to maximum capacity once mature enough and fully converted into Space Marines. After this recruitment yet another disaster fell upon the Chapter and while the vast majority of the Castellans were engaged elsewhere fighting deadly Xenos battle-fleets the planet fell pray to the C'tan Deceiver and it's Necron Armies and was lost; it’s land ravaged, it’s seas boiled and it’s air clogged with choking dust and ash. Just like their Chapter Master before it, their Home World was gone.

Now the Castellans cannot recruit from their beloved home world and must take it from other loyalist Imperial worlds. While this is an acceptable practice and any new Marine welcomed into the Chapter as a sworn brother is treated no differently than any with Vorl origins, no longer being able to draw their forces from their Home World is a pain most Chapters will never know.

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+-<Imperial Datafile>-+
NAME............... KOREALON JEN’THANE
CHAPTER....... CRIMSON CASTELLANS
RANK............... CHAPTER MASTER/GRAND-ADMIRAL OF THE FLEET
STATUS........... ACTIVE, LOYALIST

WARGEAR
- ARMOUR......... ARTIFICER
- WEAPONS...... RELIC BLADE, BOLTGUN (HELLFIRE ROUNDS), DIGITAL WEAPONS, FRAG/KRAK GRENADES, MELTA BOMBS
- OTHER............ IRON HALO

NOTABLE EVENTS
- 491.M37........ INDUCTED INTO THE CRIMSON CASTELLANS
- 667.M39........ THE SEPHRAX TRAGEDY

- 276.M40........ THE DEFENCE OF L’SARA (DETAILS CLASSIFIED UNDER INQUISITORIAL DECREE)
- 425.M40........ THE DESTRUCTION OF KELKOR

QUOTES:
"The Wind at our backs, Faith in our hearts… FOR THE EMPEROR, ADVANCE!"

HISTORY: The Grand-Admiral’s Prerogative
Korealon started his Astartes life as a humble supplicant from the Castellan home world of Vorl Secundus; selected at twelve years old from the children of the planet’s Noble Houses along with a handful of other young Nobles and a large portion of orphans. To pass from being a mere supplicant to a Neophyte Korealon bested all challenges he was set by the Master of Initiates, passed the implant-compatibility tests and was then placed into training just after receiving his first implants.

Once fully implanted at the age of sixteen his body had been enhanced to that of a fully-fledged Space Marine and he was able to tower over the tallest Imperial Guardsman, his basic training was then complete. He quickly mastered everything that his instructors could throw at him and finally earned the right to be called a full battle-brother of the Chapter. Soon after all his training was complete he was inducted into a Scout Squad and put into active duty. As part of the Chapter’s further training practice he first spent time with a Scout company before progressing to a Tactical Squad, Assault Squad and then even the Chapter’s Terminator Wing. His time there went by in what seemed like the blink of an eye and while he was not considered outstanding in any of those roles he was a very able Marine... until it came to Fleet Operations and Command. Just like Grand-Admiral Sojai Antiro he had a brilliant grasp of all things relating to Fleet Operations which made him the perfect candidate for promotion to the first Vorl-born Commodore of the Crimson Castellans, a position the existing Dark Angel-born Commodores welcomed him into with open arms. Commodore Korealon then went on to earn himself the rather long winded, yet appropriate, title of "Indestructible Master of War" by those under his command as when his vessel joins a battle he uses it to shield and cover other vessels that can generate more firepower and has personally broken enemy front-lines on numerous occasions, using this tactic to lead his forces to victory in the names of the Sojai Antiro and The Emperor.

He was given the role of Grand-Admiral of the Fleet in the aftermath of a Tyranid-Cleansing and Chapter Civil-War on the Planet Sephrax after Grand-Admiral Sojai Antiro was mortally wounded in a bloody and brutal ambush by a pack of Tyranid Raveners led by the most ruthless monster of them all - “The Great White”. Korealon and his Command Squad were the first on the scene to fend off the Raveners, only managing to save one member of Sojai’s retinue before the deadly Xenos were forced to retreat. There was no time for Sojai to be saved as the Raveners had left him with only one arm and no legs, he died in Korealon’s arms gripping his friend and battle brother’s gauntlet as he gave his final orders; one of those orders were that he be returned to Vorl Secundus to be buried in his native soil, an order that was fulfilled shortly after leaving Sephrax.

Once Sojai's Command-Signal went silent it was instantly relayed to all surviving Commodores; who all held equal rank and station in the battle-fleet. Within minutes each of the Commodores, all ready to assume command at a moment's notice, had cast their vote and a new Grand-Admiral was chosen. It was a landslide and Korealon assumed command with a majority vote, the other Commodores falling into line and preparing to receive new orders from their leader.

With a heavy-heart the newly appointed Grand-Admiral ordered the fleet to pull out of orbit and pursue their heretical brethren the traitorous Crimson Bloodtide, the truce of Sephrax now dissolved. Just as Korealon was about to give the order to fire on the Crimson Bloodtide’s asteroid-base the monstrous living ships of the Tyranids took the opportunity to escape, engaging whatever organic equivalent of a warp-travel-capable drive they had and disappeared from radar - taking with them the Crimson Bloodtide’s base which was caught up in the wake of the warp-travel event, taking them out of reach of the vengeful loyalists. At that time it was unknown what happened to The Crimson Bloodtide and they were thought to have been eaten by the Tyranids, but the truth would be revealed at another time.

There was to be no victory for the Crimson Castellans on Sephrax. In one fell-swoop they had lost their beloved Chapter Master Sojai Antiro, half of their battle-fleet to Chaos and then more casualties to the combined actions of both their fallen brothers and the ravening Tyranids. During his first official tactical briefing with his Commodores, once his equals and now under his direct command, it was decided that returning to Terra immediately, stopping only at Vorl Secundus to fulfil Sojai’s last order, would be the wisest course of action; while this would put them under the baleful gaze of the Inquisition due to the actions of their heretical brethren it was their duty. Even if they had to pay the price with their lives then they would do so with honour in their hearts.

And pay they did, though not with their lives... they paid with their freedom. After extensive Gene-Seed inspection and other purity tests by the Inquisition none of the remaining Crimson Castellans could be faulted; their Gene-Seed was as pure as the day it was implanted and none of the other physical and psychological tests revealed any taint of Chaos or Heresy. The Gene-Seed collected from dead traitor marines however, showed extensive mutation that could either have come from a contaminated batch of Gene-Seed used during their founding or at a later date through unknown means. This discovery did not clear them of all doubt and an inquisitorial retinue from the Ordo Hereticus was assigned to the Castellan fleet to constantly monitor them and to be watchdogs of a sort who would report back to Terra anything that could lead to another incident like The Crimson Bloodtide's emergence.

Korealon now commands the Crimson Castellans under the watchful eyes of Lord Inquisitor Velkar and his personal retainers, having to defer to Inquisitorial Authority of the Chapter to them if so commanded. Despite this Korealon has built up a rapport with Velkar and under all but the most delicate of situations is allowed to exercise his full authority as Grand-Admiral, yet will trust the Lord Inquisitor’s knowledge and wisdom when it is offered. The Chapter still performs the same duties it did before in regards to Xenos-Purification but the Inquisition also keeps them occupied with missions of their own; having them act as Velkar’s own personal guard.

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+-<Imperial Datafile>-+
NAME............... JORAEL SEVROS
CHAPTER........CRIMSON CASTELLANS
RANK................CAPTAIN/COMMODORE
STATUS............ACTIVE, LOYALIST

WARGEAR
- ARMOUR......... ARTIFICER
- WEAPONS...... POWER SWORD, BOLT PISTOL (HELLFIRE ROUNDS), FRAG/KRAK GRENADES, MELTA BOMBS
- OTHER............ IRON HALO

NOTABLE EVENTS
- ???.M36........ TRANSFERRED FROM DARK ANGELS TO THE CRIMSON CASTELLANS
- 667.M39........ THE SEPHRAX TRAGEDY
- 276.M40........ THE DEFENCE OF L’SARA (DETAILS CLASSIFIED UNDER INQUISITORIAL DECREE)

HISTORY
Jorael hails from the Dark Angels Chapter of the Imperial Space Marines, once being a member of their Ravenwing he was assigned to the Crimson Castellans as a Veteran Sergeant but as he displayed excellent leadership skills and a brilliant grasp of fleet operations and command he rose quickly to the rank of Commodore and command of his own Hunter-Destroyer Escort; becoming a close comrade of Korealon very early on as they shared the same tactical genius, even casting his Chapter-Leadership vote in that direction after the untimely demise of Chapter Master Antiro on Sephrax.

As a Commodore under Korealon's command Jorael fulfils all the duties of a Space Marine Captain, leading the Castellans 2nd Company and captaining the Hunter-Destroyer Escort - "The Rising Tide". All Commodores are equal in status within the Chapter however Jorael was one of the first to be given the rank and has garnered a great deal of respect over the centuries; receiving the most votes for Chapter Leadership after Korealon. It is said that if Korealon falls in battle then the mantle of leadership will almost certainly fall to Jorael.

One of Jorael's most glorious moments was when he and Korealon were engaged in a fierce gunfight with a cadre of Dark Eldar Raiders inside an abandoned Imperial Museum. At the time they were only Battle-Brothers and not yet in positions of authority; the odds were against them as the rest of their squad had fallen to a relentless hail of shuriken-fire and the pair hunkered down behind the rapidly crumbling base of a large stone pillar while they came up with a plan of attack. With no other options left the two marines made a break directly into the onslaught of shuriken-fire and by what some would call a miracle they saved by the most unlikely of objects. As the shuriken barbs glanced off the hard-ceramite plating of their armour Jorael noticed a faint power source coming from a smashed display cabinet and dove across the rubble strewn room towards it, where it was revealed to be an elegantly styled yet unassuming cloak. The Auspex built into his helmet identified the power source as a concealed force-field generator that had been elaborately woven into the fabric of the garment. With lightning-reflexes he threw to his companion, hastily voxing that he should hang it from his arm to intercept the incoming fire. This worked brilliantly and as soon as Korealon was in range of the Raiders he made short work of them, tearing into them with ferocity, his power-sword aglow with burning energy… he did not stop swinging the mighty weapon until all the Eldar lay dead at his feet. When making their report to their Chapter Master Sojai Antiro, Jorael and Korealon graciously and somewhat humorously gifted him the precious find as they claimed it wouldn't look as good on them as it did on him. Sojai accepted the gift from his loyal marines with a laugh, promising to them that he would proudly wear it into battle until his final days.

Just before the Heretical Crimson Bloodtide made their move and split from the Chapter Commodore Bloodspite, still going by his old name to all but his most trusted underlings, approached Jorael and desperately tried to persuade him away from Antiro's side and to join him in his rebellion which resulted in a vicious duel; Bloodspite escaping and finally revealing the true extent of the traitorous-cancer in the Castellans' heart. After the whole ordeal Jorael was pushed and pulled to breaking point by the Inquisitors who were investigating the Chapter for further Heresy and Corruption but he always maintained that he never for one moment thought of betraying Sojai. He came close to death during many of these interrogations but never wavering from the Emperor’s Light and in the end being found to be at true servant of mankind - earning himself a name among his men as “The Incorruptible”. Anyone would think that after such treatment he would have some lingering bad-feeling towards the Inquisition, however that would be incorrect as proving his loyalty meant a great deal to him and he even takes great stock in the advice of the Inquisitor who performed the interrogations… Lord Inquisitor Velkar.

 

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That is all for now. I have a LOT more fluff to modify and tinker with but I really would appreciate any feedback, advice, criticisms, concerns... whatever you like. I can't say when I'll post more of the fluff but it won't be months this time! A little sneak peak are some of the headings; "Vorl Secundus: The Rise and Fall" and "The Grand-Admira;'s Perogative". See you soon-ish-hopefully!

All the best,

Jupiter Forge

[War Angel]

Can't wait to see some models, the red brown seems to go well together. You've got me excited!

[Jupiter Forge]

Here's the next part of my fluff for the chapter. As there's no real official information about them, it's all from my own head aside from having to reference their abandoned home world and first Chapter Master. As with the first part, any ideas or criticisms are welcome as this is something I want to keep improving as I move forward with the project. I've added it to the first post!

 

@War Angel - Thanks for the encouragement, I'm pretty excited about the project myself and I'm currently trying to figure out if I can convert the Dark Vengeance models to my cause, but the damn things have so many moulded DA parts that it may be too difficult for an amateur like me.

[Jupiter Forge]

Ok, new update!

 

Here's their homeworld story, I've edited it into the first post. It's not completely finished and will be revised as I go along, but this is what I have so far.

 

I'll do some actual paining. I swear! I work 10 hour days with 40 minute travel times in-between, so it's a little bit of a pain on non-weekends to get anything major done. I've got some undercoating done on some models, but no actual painting yet. It's coming.

 

Have faith!

 

Force Update: Just been slapped around the back of the head by a co-worker who told me that if I don't at least get paint on one model tonight he'll send in the Necrons to finish what they started. I guess that's me told. My Master of the Apothacarium is at least undercoated with black and then has a layer of white/brown over the main parts... so I guess I'll see if I can splash a few coats on him. Scratch that, I just took pictures of what I have instead; far too tired to paint and make stupid mistakes.

[Jupiter Forge]

Well, I now have 5 days off. When I say "Days Off" I mean; not at work. I'll still have to go out each day as my parents are visiting (I live in a different country to them), so it's sort of "Their Vacation". But as they'll want time to themselves it means I'll have more time to do actual work on the Castellans instead of just my writing and fluff. YES!

And so I made a start on converting the Dark Vengeance Miniatures. Please go easy, as this is the first one I've done, but it's turned out ok; after being undercoated then normally painted that'll look as good as a regular blank pad... I hope! :devil:

As those with DV know that is one of the moulded DA shoulders, and the sword part even goes over the lip of the pad. I'll probably make a "final scraping" later, but for now I'm pretty happy with that, especially if Im going to either put a transfer over it or paint a black chapter symbol over it.

Models Scraped of iconography (updated as I go):

- Plasma Gunner

- Tactical Sergeant

- Heavy Weapon's Guy

Plasma Gunner:

Sergeant:

Heavy Weapon:

As I said, these are all WIP and will be gone over again to try and improve them, but that'll be another day!

[Jupiter Forge]

Yet again, just a little cleaning work on some miniatures.

These are the cleaned up "Ultramarines" shoulderpads from the paint-set. I'll be making another pass with the file and knife when I go over the models themselves, but overall I'm pretty happy that removing symbols from the Dark Vengeance and Ultramarines is going so well. And as the DA and Paint set miniatures all have raised tactical-symbols they'll go together in a squad pretty well.

I'll finish off the DA box ones tomorow, just pretty tired after a long day with my family due to their visit. Feels like a work day!

[Jupiter Forge]

AN update to the fluff. And man did I get NOTHING done while my family was visiting! I was so tired after spending time with them that modelling and painting were the least of my "want to do!" list entries. Sleep, sleep and more sleep.

 

But here's the first draft of the founding story and the fall of their original chapter master (updated in the main post). Hope it's enjoyable enough, will be working on Korealon's story today (should be working. for shame, for shame.)

 

Edit: First draft of Korealon's story is up.

[Jupiter Forge]

The 2013 overhaul is upon us, a new board, a new start. My fluff has been updated and I'm going to completely edit the MAIN post of this. I've barely done any painting or actual work on the Chapter (as I've been in a massive slump, see the new main post) but I have been modifying my stuff, thinking about it, and this is the year where I get a full 2K+ point army assembled for 6th edition. The Crimson Castellans live!

[Jupiter Forge]

Two datafile updates in the past week for two of the Loyalist Castellans, any feedback would be appreciated!

 

At least one datafile for the Traitor Castellans incoming in the next few days. Look out for "Arch-Commodore Bloodspite's" datafile soon!

[Jupiter Forge]

Ok, so I didn't quite get back on track with this like I planned. A lot has happened in the world (not, sadly, in modeling and painting department) and I'm still working through stuff that needs to be done in real life. I started up some extra-education and along with a full time job that's pretty hefty going, plus I've been doing a lot of other things besides and it's rarely left me time to pick up my models.

 

But, one piece of good news is... I finally have my first Airbrush. I went back to England on vacation last month and picked it up from my parent's place (as the darn company wouldn't ship it to France) and when I finally get time (hah, WHEN!) I'll be trying that out and getting a speed-on at least with undercoating and base-colouring my models which will leave me a lot more time to do the detailing and actual "fun" part of painting, because let's face it - nobody WANTS to undercoat and then apply a solid colour to models really, do they? Really? The devil is in the details as they say!

 

And I spent more money on models and bits that I don't necessarily need. I am an ebay junkie and bits-shops are my fix - I've bought a lot of random stuff like: Marneus Calgar (to convert to a special character), Tyberos (same), Sevrin Loth (yet again the same), and then other random heads, arms, torsos and the like. After my disasterous paint-job on my Chapter Master last year I decided to take my time modeling first, then I'll spend more time painting each model. so I've got a lot of bits and marines to sort out and get ready.

 

I know not many people will read this, but still, I like to keep it in mind as I still want to get moving with this when I'm not as busy.