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The Castigators The Castigators Chapter has existed, in one form or another, since approximately 2005 - making them ten years old! I have been fortunate that they've always been warmly received by the internet, and am proud that they've proven inspirational for other users over the years. This post is intended to serve as a repository for the Castigators as I continue to develop them. For their Index Astartes article, please see below. Castigators Downloads The Castigators Mega-File is currently located on Dropbox: here Castigators Modelling Threads Commissar Molotov's Castigator Army Thread The Fabricator General's WIP Castigators thread and his Castigators Strike Force. Lunchbox's WIP First-Captain Escalus. Iacton's Castigator Veteran Sergeant Castigators Artwork Aerion the Faithful produced Sergeant Caetrus SeerBrun's Captain Caphius, Hero-Captain Lycidius, Castigator Chaplain and Castigator Honour Guard Cpt Tiberius produced a Chaplain, Captain Malus of the Ninth, veteran, another Chaplain, a Sternguard Veteran, Standard Bearer, Apothecary and many others. Penitent Dreadnought has produced a Scout, Terminators, a Marine a Veteran and another Veteran. Castigators Modelling Bits Matt Schweitzer (of POP goes the MONKEY) has produced a set of Mk 7 Power Armoured Castigator Pads. Plokoone (of Plokoone's Bits) has produced a set of Mk 7 Power Armoured Castigator Pads and a set of true-scaled Castigator pads.

The Liber Cluster Early in the 35th Millennium, the High Lords of Terra issued an inordinate number of decrees to expand the Imperium and settle upon uninhabited worlds. The exact reason for this is unclear, though many Imperial scholars point to the Ur-Council of Nova Terra in opposition of the High Lords of Terra as a potential cause. With so much territory lost in such a short time, bitterly fought over in a bloody civil war, the High Lords perhaps looked to untapped locales for much needed resources. In 328.M35, hundreds of settler fleets gathered to depart for a region of space that Imperial records state never had a human presence. Existing below the galactic plane, separated from the galaxy yet close enough to make Warp travel to it theoretically possible, was a cluster of stars, like a dense, miniature galaxy orbiting our own, akin to a satellite moon. Some thought its distance from the horrors of the galaxy would see it free of its worries and troubles, free for humanity to flourish unopposed. With such thoughts in mind, this galactic satellite was dubbed the Liber Cluster. 16 million settlers left for the Liber Cluster in over a dozen waves through a period of two centuries. 16 million human souls, to map hundreds of millions of suns, to catalog billions of worlds, but most importantly to settle upon the 350 worlds theorized by Mechanicum logic-tenders to be habitable within the Cluster. The sheer number of ships needed dwarfed any other fleet of such singular purpose, a size not seen since the heady days of the Great Crusade. Reports came with slowing regularity, as the dispersal and distance made it difficult to keep in contact. The reports painted a grim picture, for the Liber Cluster was not all that the Imperials had hoped it to be. Though accompanied by Imperial Guard regiments escorted by the battleships of the Imperial Navy, military resources the High Lords found difficult to part with, initial contact with the Cluster encountered a strong Ork presence, which stunted the first few waves of settlers. It took sixty years of grievous losses before the human forces could consolidate their beachhead into the Cluster, declare territory for settlement and conduct deeper explorations. It was discovered that where they had entered the Cluster, deemed the best location for its closest proximity to the nearest Imperial muster world, was dead center in a budding Ork kingdom. Though its back was broken, the Ork menace remained at large throughout the Cluster, making progress difficult. They were also not the only xenos threat within the Cluster. Mysterious disappearances and crippling attacks as if from ghosts forced the human settlers to shift their paths of progression on more than one occasion. Though very little evidence of these attacks was left by the aliens, the patterns fit with known Eldar engagements. Other xeno breeds plagued the Cluster, many of which new and unknown to the greater Imperium. Not all were advanced enough to pose an existential threat to the human settlers, but enough were to prevent them from expanding into all corners of the Cluster. The Warp was unusually calm within the Cluster, with no known Warp-borne aberrations witnessed after an entire century, a level of calm not seen in any other Imperial Sector of comparable size. While initially seen as a blessing, a sign that the corrupting touch of the Warp was too weak here to threaten them, it proved instead only to be the calm before the storm. The last known report was received 527.M35. After nearly a decade of silence, the next scheduled settlement fleet had much of its civilian population replaced with Guard personnel. Embarking for the Liber Cluster in 514.M35, it kept in regular contact with the Imperium in its decade-long journey. With the Terminus Crux station missing, its first stop was at Liber Primus, the first settled word of the Liber Cluster and headquarters to its human population. Their hails went unanswered, and radiation readings showed the world was too hot for even an unmanned probe. This finding, along with a declaration of intent to explore unknown readings from the uninhabited gas giant of Liber Septimus, was the last transmission received by the Imperium. The High Lords who reigned at that time were not the same who had so fervently endorsed the settlement of the Liber Cluster. When no further transmissions were received, all details of the Liber Cluster and humanity’s ill-fated attempt at conquering it were swept under the rug and forgotten. For four centuries, the Liber Cluster was dark. No further attempts were made to enter its depths, and nothing from those already lost to it was heard from again. But the Imperium has ever been a mercurial beast, led by High Lords of distinction and infamy. So it was that when a particularly ambitious, daring Council reigned in the final century of the 35th Millennium a great many changes would occur, and old, failed projects dusted off and renewed. The most ambitious of these projects was a Founding of Space Marines. The twenty-first of its kind, and greater in size than any before it save the legendary 2nd Founding. In large part due to its size, a great many other projects were included in this Founding, namely experimentations based upon uncovered relics of gene-tech. Thanks to the inquisitive and studious High Lord Jahleirr Sultin, master of the Administratum and obsessive collector of ancient documents, a small portion of the Founding was earmarked for a return to the Liber Cluster. Over a dozen newborn Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes would not be subjected to the genetic experimentations common to this particular Founding, but would instead be tasked with more effectively taking the distant Cluster in the name of the Emperor. Another grand wave of settlers will depart the known galaxy, accompanied once more by storied regiments of the Imperial Guard and escorted by some of the Imperial Navy’s finest ships of the line. However, with over a dozen Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes spearheading what was being dubbed the Second Liberite Invasion, tasked with remaining behind in the Cluster as a standing force even if successful in bringing the Liber Cluster to the Imperial fold, their success is now deemed assured… But its fate is up to you… Ground Rules Hello, and welcome to the Liber Cluster community project. This project is about building from scratch an entire Imperial Sector, with the twist being that it is a distant, isolated globular cluster of densely packed stars orbiting the Milky Way galaxy. Anything can go into here, from Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes, to regiments of the Emperor’s stoic Imperial Guard, from Sisterhoods to Knight Houses, from Forge Worlds to Death Worlds. Anyone can contribute on anything within the Liber Cluster. Whether it's lore, artwork or creative writing. Multiple people can even contribute on the same specific matters. Remember to be considerate if, for instance, you and another are working on something at the same time, whether it be an Imperial world or a Warband of Traitor Marines. First, the Golden Rules: All normal board rules still apply. We can speak of, and create, Xenos breeds, but only as antagonists to Humanity. Nothing, for instance, from the Xenos perspective or focus. Anyone can contribute to anything, so long as it is new material. No volunteering old work, no making cosmetic changes to fit it in. Anyone can provide comments or criticism, so long as it is constructive and considerate. Everyone is an equal contributor. Any contribution provided to the Liber Cluster community project is the community’s and not the individual’s. Please bear this in mind before contributing. I, Cormac Airt, will for some bloody insane reason be heading this project, at least for the time being. But, I am only here to guide and not to dictate. You don’t need my approval to be a part of anything, nor does any contribution have to go through me before it can be considered truly a part of the project. I will provide the structure and the goal posts to help the project be further fleshed out. I will step in and settle disputes where necessary. However, I will also be contributing myself, as time and inspiration permits. To make sure that there is no mix-up between myself contributing as an equal to the rest of you, and to myself acting to safeguard this project and keep it moving, I will change my font accordingly. If you see something of mine in this font, then you know that whatever it is, goes. Whether it is putting down a disagreement or putting the thread back on track. If anyone feels that I have become tyrannical with this power, they can to turn to the Moderati of this subforum (Aquilanus, Messor and Olisredan), who are the true law in these here parts, whatever my choice of font color. If somebody else takes over in heading the project, then the same thing here goes for them as well. To get the ball rolling, I have laid something of a framework around which others can add onto, or affect and change around a bit, in the second post, which will be edited extensively over time to include newer developments. Remember the golden rule of being considerate, so if there is something that you wish to change, whether it is something I provided or another contributor, start a discussion on it rather than simply making that change. Perhaps some thoughts can be swayed, or a happy middle reached. This isn’t Minecraft, so no going around planting TNT in other people’s houses.