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After a brief hiatus from 40k I have decided to try get the motivation to get back into it, I have always been obsessed with a zombie space marine chapter so thought I would try and completely flesh out a chapter I have been drafting for the last few years here is the revised version of The Heralds of Salvation well their Origins at least, hopefully I can get some feedback on them so far which I can use to expand on their more detailed background including tactics, beliefs and other stuff. I intend them to be a chapter that is completely wiped out only to return from the grave as zombie marines who worship Nurgle as the God of Death. I welcome any feedback and will try add more as I go Heralds Of Salvation The Dead do not rest easy Warlord: Michael Vilepox Colours: Pale blue Founding: believed to be .M34 Geneseed: Iron Hands Allegiance: Traitoris extremis Homeworld: Original Homeworld purged now fleet based Known Ships: Slaughter class Cruiser "Spectral Revenant" Believed Strength: 140 Traitor Astartes, ~ large unknown number of zombie thralls and daemon engines Speciality: Terror, Boarding actions, , Forbidden Archeotech, Necromancy Battle Cry: Death Beckons Us!!! Fall from grace Founded in the early 34th Millennium it was believed the Heralds of Salvation were solely formed to further the goals of the Adeptus Ministorum, they were their executioners against heretics and those who stood against the Ecclesiarchy in its rise of supremacy. Due to their feral home world, the chapters began to develop a morbid worship of Death devolving into more savage practices and rituals that had many imperial branches questioning the chapter’s Geneseed and loyalty. Founded as part of a initiative by the Imperium to reclaim dozens of worlds fallen to heretics, the chapter became even more merciless against their enemies using terror tactics striking fear in their enemies. Whilst the Ecclesiarchy were disturbed by the chapter’s strange ideologies, the chapter's use far outweighed their questionable tactics resulting in them turning a blind eye to the chapter as this was era with the rise of the Ecclesiarchy as long as the Heralds served them unquestionably they did not care. This ultimately protecting the chapter as well as ensuring the chapter was well supplied and equipped compared to other chapters in their early stages of being created, however the chapter grew the stigma of being over zealous fanatics by other Imperium forces. Their pride and fanatical zeal would be their downfall as their unwavering nature would leave deep wounds within the chapter that would eventually fester and rot leading to their demise. Due to their fanatic devotion the the Ecclesiarchy during the Reign of Blood unlike most chapters the Heralds supported Gorge Vandire's ascension. They saw Vandire as a visionary and dedicated to purging the unworthy within the Imperium. The chapter unleashed a brutal campaign of terror upon those who opposed Vandire committing brutal purges against those who were deemed heretics, this ultimately led the chapter to come into conflict with other chapters who opposed their wanton destruction. With the Death of Vandire and rise of Sebastian Thor the Heralds, who were far from Terra during the second siege of Terra became hunted by those they previously attacked. Labelled as heretics and cut off from the support of the Ecclesiarchy the Heralds continued their war of faith refusing to believe that they were wrong for siding with Vandire. Eventually their crimes would catch up with them as the entire chapter which had surprisingly remained at full strength through the reign of blood, was lured to an Ecclesiarchy sub- sector under the pretence of reclaiming what they had lost. However this was a pretext devised by those who had sworn revenge and a mighty Imperium force comprised of by several elements from different chapters ambushed the Heralds in order to destroy them, though they fought with a fanatical resolve the Heralds were massively outnumbered and were nearly annihilated with barley 300 marines left . They would of been utterly destroyed had the inquisition not stepped in demanding the Heralds surrender and face judgement for their crimes, escorted to Terra in chains the chapter with only a damaged Strike Cruiser left to carry them of the as the remainder of the chapter’s fleet was destroyed or taken as spoils of war along with most of the chapter’s relics. Brought before the new High Lords of Terra, the Heralds were charged with crimes against the Imperium for aiding Vandire following him blindly. Whilst many called for the chapters destruction for their atrocities against the Imperium and siding with Vandire, the chapter was instead sent on a penitent crusade to the far reaches of the Segmentum Pacificius until they could redeem themselves. To add further cause of shame, the Herald's home world was destroyed with all traces of it expunged as well as being forbidden to recruit until absolved of their heresy, this was effectively a death sentence as without the ability to recruit the chapter would slowly diminish to nothing especially with their weakened forces. Slowly doubt began top creep into the minds of the chapter they started to believe that they had been abandoned and betrayed by corrupt forces within the Imperium they had sacrificed so much for. Only their morbid faith kept them going as it began seeking a way to transcend death so they would be able to fight to protect the Imperium from outside enemies as well as the corrupt fools who would destroy it from the inside for all eternity. Joining forces with an exploratory fleet of the Mechanicius under the pretence continuing their penitent crusade, the Heralds sought rumours of an ancient STC that could revive the dead in their quest to transcend death. On an abandoned world known as Orcus the Heralds found their prize, a strike force led by Crypt keeper Michael joined the Explorator Magos as they searched for the STC. In the abandoned mausoleum city they uncovered the STC for the Sarcosan wave form generator, an ancient piece of Areotech that was forbidden millennia ago by the Emperor and Priesthood of Mars millennia ago that could bring the dead back to life through the use of warp energy. When the Magos and his forces tried destroying this forbidden tech for its heresy against the Omnissiah, they were massacred by the Heralds who cut them down with no mercy to protect what the chapter saw as their salvation. Acting quickly the Crypt keeper sent a signal to the rest of the chapter in orbit who opened fire upon the explorator fleet, whilst they were outnumbered the Heralds managed to destroy or capture the majority of the fleet. This was mostly achieved though both surprise and treachery when corrupt elements within the explorator fleet turned on their comrades allying with the Heralds in their goal to transcend Death. However this betrayal could not go unnoticed as moments before the last loyal elements were destroyed they managed to send out a warning to the nearest imperial world through Astropaths. Using the discovered STC, the chapter created a gigantic wave form generator (Anima Chorus) right in the centre of the city which began to bring the dead back to life, through sorcery and forbidden Archeotech the Heralds assembled a massive army of undead including a large amount of corpse thralls, constructs and undead marines of the Heralds which were slain before their censure but whose remains were kept as their chapters cult decreed. Eventually word of their heresy reached the Imperium with a massive crusade fleet assembled to wipe out the newly declared Heretic chapter, elements of nearly all branches of the Imperium were part of the fleet as all had a reason to see the Heralds destroyed. The Mechanicius who wanted to punish the chapter for their tech heresy, those chapters who originally decimated them to finish the job and the newly formed Adeptus Sororitas of the Eccelesiarchy led by inquisitors who were keen to purge the stigma the chapter represented to the Ecclesiarchy through their previous crimes. Even chapters who once sought vengeance for the Herald's past crimes during the Age of Apostasy were once again keen to fully destroy the traitors finally seeking justice against them. Whilst their undead forces and devastating tactics made the chapter deal serious casualties to the crusade fleet, eventually one by one the Heralds were slain as well as their undead army destroyed with Crypt Lord Michael and the chapter's remaining veterans slain making a last stand defending the Sarcosan Wave Generator. Imperial forces destroyed the chapter's forbidden Archeotech however this released a shock wave of pure warp energy which engulfed the entire planet and surrounding fleet as the thin barrier between the immaterium was torn asunder. A warp storm created from the unleashed energy descended upon the sector utterly destroying ships as well as opening small warp rifts from which poured hordes of Nurglite Daemons decimating the the crusade fleet which were desperately escaping from the grasp of the warp. Only a few ships of the mighty fleet survived the devastation, the remainder engulfed by the fury of the warpstorm created by the destruction of the Anima Chorus which sealed off the entire sector for centuries, eventually the Heralds of Salvation passed into myth as all trace of their heresy was purged in order to prevent any from following in their footsteps, however they would not stay dead and would finally transcend death to take their vengeance against the living. Coming Soon!!!!!! The Corrupted Believed to be founded during the start of the M34, it was believed that the Herald's were founded in an attempt by the Ecclesiarchy to create chapter's that were loyal only to them following the church's rapid rise to power and complete control of the High Lords of Terra. Ultimately believed to be of the Iron Hands Geneseed it is unknown which successor chapter they were founded from as even before the purge of the chapters history by the Inquistion. Whilst their predecessor were pure without any mutation the Geneseed of the Heralds became debased and impure resulting in their hyper stimulated Omophagea which became corrupt in the chapters early history. Over time the chapter became addicted to the processes of the Omophagea, actively consuming the flesh of their fallen enemies which began to be ritualised by the chapter seeing it as becoming one with death as well as denying the souls of their enemies an afterlife. Another mutation the chapter suffered in their geneseed was that every Battle Brother over a few years of being inducted into the chapter began to pale taking on a corpse like pallor further deepening the suspicion the Inquisition had about the chapter as well as other chapters that fought alongside them. With the extinction of the Heralds of salvation and the warp rift being unleashed by the destroyed Anima Chorus, the barrier between the Immaterium was shattered enabling the foul energies of the Chaos God Nurgle to rebirth the Heralds into unholy life as decayed revenants. Their forms have become truly corrupt and decayed with foul warp sorcery sustaining their diseased forms. COMING SOON!!!!!! A Growing Threat It is believed that the Heralds of Salvation have little in the way of fleet capacity as there has only been a few ships recorded to be used by them. However with the unholy rebirth of the Heralds the numbers of zombie ships reported in the sectors around the edge of the Segmentum Pacificus has disturbingly been rapidly increasing. These ships to all purposes are devoid of all life filled to the brim with corpses these desolate corpse ships will drift aimlessly through the regions like some mobile graveyard floating through space. To greedy What is most alarming is that the dead on board do not stay dead, if these "corpse ships" are boarded then the the dead are reborn through foul sorcery as shambling zombies. Seemly controlled by an malignant intelligence these decayed monsters will overwhelm those foolish enough to board their ship with even the most determined foe dragged down by the undead's all consuming hunger for flesh. Successful boarding and destruction of zombie ships have led the Inquisiton to believe that the Heralds of Salvation are the cause for this filling captured ships with the dead as well as daemon engines. these daemon engines have limited control of the desolate ships they infected guiding the ship towards the living. Bound with foul sorcery and dark Archeotech the daemon engines contain a wave form generator which reanimates the dead through foul necromancy. There have even been reports of zombie ships crashing into imperial worlds which cause those zombies to survive intact to attack those who investigate the wrecks with zombie outbreaks spreading across the Segmentum Pacificius "Spectral Revenant" http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/mediawiki/images/9/9b/Slaughter_Cruiser.jpg Slaughter Class Cruiser Dimensions: Approximately 5 kilometres long, 0.8 kilometres abeam. Mass: Approximately 28.5 Megatonnes. Crew: Approximately 140 plague marines with 50 000 plague zombies including daemonic support Acceleration: 2.4 Gravities maximum acceleration. A heavily modified and corrupted ship this once proud vessel once served as part of the Imperial Fleet that was sent to destroy the Heralds of Salvation for their crimes against the Imperium, before it's fall it was once known as the "Heretics bane" with a noble history which has now turned black. With chapter's dark rebirth this vessel dubbed the "Spectral Revenant" has become feared as a silent hunter of Nurgle which preys on ships along the edges of the Segmentum Pacificius spreading death and decay. Being masters of undeath this ship serves as the flagship of the Heralds with a crew made entirely of the undead which shamble around the ship's confines, these mindless zombies crew the ship through foul sorcery as well as acting as a limitless defence against enemy boarders. Modified to have Torpedo tubes replacing the ships standard prow weapon this fast and deadly ship has been known to ambush other ships in hit and run attacks with its deadly short ranged weapons that can leave larger ships crippled or destroyed. A disturbing tactic has been observed that the Spectral Revenant uses blasphemous boarding torpedoes filled with deadly plagues and zombies inside. When these torpedoes penetrate their target they release a cloud of noxious gas which kill those within the blast radius, zombies which were crammed within the tubes swarm the interior of the ship so plague and undeath take a deadly toll on the ship's crew. Fitted with ancient Archeotech it features a Sarcosan Wave form Generator that sustains the undead on board through the sorcery of the warp as well as bringing the dead back to life nearby, built within the ship's Warp Field Generator as being undead means the heralds have little to fear from the denizens of the warp. The Spectral Revenant is believed to house an ancient Teleportarium from which squads of Plague marines and worse launch raids against key targets on board other ships or even planets. The Lost Graveyard There is a myth whispered in hushed fearful tones by both Rogue traders and the Imperial Navy of a massive graveyard of ships that lies hidden along the edges of the Segmentum Pacificius known as the fabled Lost Graveyard. It is believed that the area of space was sight to a forgotten fleet battle long ago which mysterious left both sides utterly destroyed leaving the desolate ships to drift within the graveyard. Whilst it is rumoured to be a treasure trove of technological and scientific bounties it is also believed to be haunted by the dead who lurk within the graveyard with those foolish enough to enter never leaving alive again,however in truth it is far worse. The Heralds of Salvation and their armies of the undead have made the graveyard their base of operations within a crippled Repulsive Grand class cruiser acting as their stronghold. The Graveyard's defence lies not only in the horror stories that keep nearly everyone away but those foolish enough to enter the graveyard find their greed be the death of them as they are overwhelmed by the undead which roam the countless desolate ships that drift aimlessly within the graveyard.

Once more I return to the Liber. I really need to stop disappearing as I've done in the past but I can't stop real life. Anyway a while back I vowed to create a chapter for the Brotherhood of Angels (nice little link here for the thread) and so I intend to complete that before I move on with some penitence for all the other vows I've failed. Anyhow, enjoy and any C&C would be great: The Blades of Truth “"In truth, we rise." Summary ▪ GENE-SEED (PREDECESSOR): Dark Angels ▪ FOUNDING: Unknown ▪ ALLEGIANCE: Chaos (Presumed), themselves ▪ CHAPTER MASTER: Lothen ▪ CHAPTER WORLD: None ▪ FORTRESS MONASTERY: The Strike Cruiser. “Lions’ Truth” ▪ MAIN COLOURS: Black edged in red ▪ SPECIALITY: Hit and run ▪ BATTLE CRY: “Destroy their lies!” ▪ CURRENT STRENGTH: Barely two companies of space marines, human numbers unknown ▪ KNOWN DESCENDANTS: None ORIGINS The day Caliban was destroyed. The day lies descended on the Dark Angels Legion and turned brother against brother. This day proved a catalyst for Sergeant Lothen and has squad. Loyal to their primarch, Sergeant Lothen had been taken prisoner along with the rest of his squad for defying Luther and the path they had chosen. When the Lion rained wrath on his own planet, the squad escaped the bars only to be confronted by a lie. Believing themselves saved, they were shocked when the Lions’ forces opened fire on them, believing them to be traitors and like many marines that day, Lothen and the surviving members of his squad were thrown into time and space. Having now become Fallen Angels it wasn’t long, to Lothen at least, for their brothers to hunt them down and began readying themselves that was sure to come. The Fallen Angels soon began work preparing themselves, working their way into the criminal hub of the outcast world and working their way to the top of the foodchain. Soon enough, supplies along were possessed and their numbers had been boosted not only by the mortal mercenaries but by renegade space marines who had been rejected by their chapter for one reason or another. Then they arrived. The Dark Angels reborn in the form of the Angels of Vengeance. Their forces? A battle company aboard the Strike Cruiser ‘The Lions’ Wrath.’ On patrol, they had heard reports of pirates and the possibility of a base hidden away in the system. Easy prey for space marines. The hunters were in for a surprise once the ground assault had been issued. Tough fighting ensured. The Angels of Vengeance were caught by surprise by the mercenaries appearing out of thin air from the deserts only to disappear again. In the end, the space marines had been wiped out with their battered strike cruiser now in the hands of Lothen and his forces. What resources the planet still had were used in repair the strike cruiser and then left to become ruins. PRESENT ACTIVITIES Recently, Lothen and his ‘Blades of Truth’ as he called them have been on the hunt, taking supplies when needed and hitting the Dark Angels and their descendants whenever they can. The Lions Wrath has been sighted during the 13th Black Crusade most recently, seemingly helping the forces of Chaos in their goal to cause havoc. Reports suggest that the Blades of Truth have been known to fire on chaos forces and that the lure of Chaos may not have taken them as well. RECRUITMENT The Blades of Truth lack the means of creating their own space marines with ease. Instead, renegade space marines or outcasts have been recruited to help increase and replace any marines lost during combat. There are rumours however of marines being captured and forced to serve, though the methods used are not known. It is very likely that because of this, the Blades of Truth have focused themselves on using hit and run tactics along with going after easy targets that ensure success with minimum lose to life. It is possible Lothen is planning on getting a more secure way on creating marines. This can be concluded from Unforgiven gene seed being missing from fallen brothers. One of the biggest reasons Lothen has managed to succeed this is that because of his mistrust of Chaos and of its taint, he will not reason with the Dark Mechanicus or any similar force willing to offer the required services. GENE-SEED While the Fallen Angels of the group possess Dark Angel gene seed, their renegade brothers possess gene seeds from most legions such as World Eaters, Imperial Fist and so on. Those recruits that have been made appear to use stolen Dark Angel gene seed. This can be concluded from the remains of Unforgiven space marine corpses having their gene seed missing on recovery. BELIEFS “I will not damn ourselves so we can destroy our foes!” From what can be gathered, it appears that the Blades of Truth believe to have been wronged by the forces they served. This reaches down in to the renegade guardsmen and mercenaries that follow them. Brotherhood is also an important belief, the most likely reason why the group has stayed together and not stabbed each other in the back. This has led to them always trying to keep each other alive and forged a bond of trust amongst themselves. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This is all I have done so far and I'll try and update this as much as I can before the deadline. As I said before any C&C would be greatly appreciated.

Origins The Knights Adamant were a chapter of Ultramarine gene-stock. Up until their distinguished service in quelling a devastating Hrud migration from the Ghoul Stars, the chapter was fleet based. The Knights Adamant had never previously encountered a threat as grave as the Hrud, and the conflict left a mark on the chapter culture. The Hrud’s ability to accelerate entropy, prematurely aging enemy troops and degrading enemy materiel make them a particularly deadly species of alien. The chapter watched in horror as entire Agri-Worlds withered and died, and whole hives collapsed under their own weight as the steel girders holding them up oxidized and crumbled. The effect on the Imperial Guard regiments the chapter was fighting alongside was even more chilling. Young conscripts grew old and frail in a matter of minutes. Fuel lines degraded as if they had not been maintained for decades and vehicles would not function, no matter how the machine spirit was appeased. Not even the transhuman physiology of the marines of the Knights Adamant kept them safe. By the end of the campaign, barely enough marines to field two companies survived. The highest ranking officer still surviving, and not interred in a dreadnought, was a techmarine named Nikola Carnot. In a controversial move, Carnot took up the mantle of Chapter Master. To calm suspicions about his dual dedication to the chapter and to Mars, Carnot formally renounced his vows to the Machine Cult, a slight that would not be forgotten for the rest of the chapter’s service. Carnot also declared that the chapter would begin construction of a fortress monastery on the surface of MX-115, a planet recently reclassified from Hive World to Dead World, where the Hrud incursion had been most destructive. The post-apocalyptic landscape of the planet served as a morbid reminder of what was lost, and the threats that humanity needed protection from. Possibly due to the analytical mind of their Chapter Master, or possibly due to the macabre landscape where they made their home, the Knights Adamant became obsessed with entropy as a physical quantity. It alone determined the fate of any chemical reaction or process. To the chapter, entropy proved an even greater threat than any xenos ever would. They scoured the sector for ancient texts and data repositories where the sages of antiquity described the esoteric rules by which entropy determines all of existence. These heretical texts marked the downfall of the chapter, for in opening their minds to the idea that there existed a fundamental property of the universe that not even the might of the Imperium – not even the might of the Emperor Himself – could overcome, they had damned themselves. Over the next few centuries, the Knights Adamantine returned to near full strength. A silent feud with the Machine Cult of Mars had left the armouries of the chapter with fewer vehicles than the Codex dictates, but the chapter was flush with marines and their genestocks were full. Carnot had also tasked his chaplains with compiling the Index Thermodynamica, a treatise outlining how best to limit the resources lost to the great thief of entropy. Under the oversight of the chaplaincy, squads were sent out to the worlds that the chapter recruited from to conduct an inventory of each of the planets in the sub-sector. The results of the inventory were grim. The planets were found to be excessively wasteful. Imperial bureaucracy, a corrupt and greedy nobility, and an ill maintained infrastructure was losing trillions of units of entropy every year, far in excess of what was deemed necessary by the Index Thermodynamica. At these rates, the planets would survive a scant few millennia before becoming useless in the defense and support of the Imperium. Furious, Chapter Master Carnot penned an ultimatum to the offending planetary governors and noble houses who ruled the planets in the sub-sector. In it he demanded that if the planets were to continue to enjoy the aegis of the Knights’ Adamantine protection, they would have to make steps to comply with the Index Thermodynamica. The response from the planetary leader’s was silence. The terms were wholly unacceptable. The austerity measures outlined in the Index described a level of luxury, while far in excess of the living conditions that the planets menials laboured under, were unthinkable to the upper classes who enjoyed the lion’s share of the fruits of the planets’ industry. Astropathic messages were sent out to the Ecclessiarchy, the Inquisition, and anyone else who would listen, describing the heretical text penned by the renegade Astartes holding the sub-sector hostage. Within months a fleet of vessels led by Inquisitor Pangloss broke system and began a bombardment of MX-115. The orbital defense batteries fired back on the fleet but were quickly overwhelmed. Beyond the automated defenses, no response came from the surface. No chapter vessels were found at anchor in orbit. The planet had been deserted. Inquisitorial scouts reported back from the surface that the fortress monastery was deserted. Signs of internal violence were present, and the corpses of scores of marines as well as no few dreadnoughts lay shattered in the halls of the fortress. The librarium, reclusiam, and armoury were cleared out, but most curious of all was the geneseed repository. Signs of a great fire, and the remnants of demonic formulae were all that remained. Homeworld Coming soon. Combat Doctrine Coming soon. Organisation Coming soon. Beliefs Coming soon. Geneseed Coming soon. Battlecry “No future! No hope!”

My Red Corsairs

One of my favorite threads I've ever read on the B&C, and one of the main reasons I got into the hobby was @Kierdale's thread for his psychopomps. I've similarly enjoyed @WarriorFish's Sundered and what I've seen of @Tallarn Commander's Warpborn. I'm also looking forward to reading about @Slave to Darkness's Khornate Word Bearers warband. I like reading about you guys' custom warbands and I'm going to channel that energy into my own hobby blog. The warband is still a WIP. I have yet to settle on a name that I really enjoy. But I do have some solid themes I want to incorporate and a paint scheme. I mocked up this digital test model with the app impcat. I think I am partial to the one with the black boots. I've also done up a test shoulder pad to see how the colors actually look in real life. I used the new Mantis Warrior Green contrast paint and then a conventional blue black for the trim. I'm going to have to come up with a method for touching up the green, otherwise I'm going to take some years off my life stressing out about painting so much black trim next to my beautiful, bright acid green. I'm choosing a leviathan's cross for the symbol for a couple of reasons. It invokes imagery of the occult It is connected to alchemy where it is a symbol for brimstone (sulfur) It looks cool Its simple enough to freehand that I don't need to mess around with transfers.