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12 August, 2022 Eager to collect as much loot as possible, greenskins have launched an all-out attack on the Cruentes' position in the industrial outskirts of Hive Prime. Our sources tell us that these greenskins call themselves the Death Skulls. This pleases Khorne. Leading the initial defence is Thrax Gorechosen, the Exalted Champion. He is accompanied by the Berzerker squads led by Validon and Dreior, as well as the Helbrute Xarian the Bloody Idiot and Bardûl the Wretched Fool. Lord Kratus is on standby on his flagship, The Eternal Warrior, ready to reinforce if needed. For Agendas, I chose Eye of the Gods to kill enemy characters, and Cull the Hordes because why not. Wary of the enemy's brutish firepower, the Cruentes deploy defensively, hoping to bait the greenskins into a foolhardy charge. With a reverberating Waaaagh!, the Orks fling themselves forwards, led by their Warboss. We are told that this huge brute is not, in fact, the leader of the group, despite their size and aggressiveness. This confuses Khorne. The greenskins with a penchant for pyrotechnics open up on poor Bardûl, who suffers terrible burns and flees the battlefield in mindless panic. Great, it'll take days to find him again... A couple of the greenskins open up on Xarian as well, who - on Kratus's order from orbit - launches a barrage of obscuring smoke. Regardless, one lucky shot does get through and succeeds in causing some significant damage. Grinning with glee, the actual enemy boss - an apparent field mechanic with a very fancy array of weapons - orders a hail of rockets from his large vehicle at Rhino II, knowing that the Cruentes have wasted their chance to screen it with smoke. Many of the shots go wide, but enough punch through the Rhino to disable it. Two Berzerkers are killed in the barrage. Gunning the engine of their truck, the burners hurtle towards Xarian, staggering him with their heavy ram. Despite this, Xarian catches his balance and stops the flimsy vehicle in its tracks, bringing his huge hammer down to wreck the truck's engine. The greenskins pile out, three getting tangled in the wreckage. Here is where Thrax's arrogance began my downfall. Not wanting to commit all his Berzerkers to a single charge, he order them to remain embarked while he and Xarian charged the greenskins in front of them. The Rhino accelerated in first, distracting the pyromaniacs for long enough for the pair to charge unimpeded. Meanwhile, Dreior's Berzerkers threw themselves at the greenskins in the midfield. In a spray of gore, the brutes were dismembered one by one by the frenzied Berzerkers... ...who then piled into the dimunitive greenskin slaves, only for one of the lucky gits to somehow club one of the (unwounded!) Berzerkers to death! Despite the success against the enemies in the midfield (ignoring that one ignoble casualty), Thrax's and Xarian's charge didn't go so well. The Warboss, Grog, dispatches the Helbrute with apparent ease and claims several useful mechanical components for himself. Thrax sweeps aside three greenskins with Gorefather (only a single 6 to wound - with rerolls - and my opponent passed a lot of Waaagh invulnerable saves). Things go from bad to worse: the flamer Orks pass their Morale check with insane bravery and fall back, the rocket-armed Orks blast apart the second Rhino with ease, killing three (!!) more Berzerkers, and Warboss Grog dispatches Thrax without breaking a sweat. The Berzerkers manage to inflict a bunch of wounds on the Warboss (that Fury of Khorne stratagem is gold), but a -1 to wound and a 1+ save makes him very, very difficult to hurt. Over the next turn, Grog would proceed to butcher the rest of the Berzerkers. Meanwhile, Kevdak the mechanic commander blitzes most of the Berzerkers in the middle. The rest were subsequently minced by their monstrous truck. Sensing that things weren't really going well, Kratus decides that now is a great time to finally teleport in. Failing his charge (even with a reroll), he's left facing the guns of every remaining greenskin. It's at this point that my opponent throws me a bone: Kevdak (or "Big Kev") howls a challenge to the Chaos Lord. No Ork is to raise their weapon to impede the challenge. (To be clear: it wasn't just for my benefit. My opponent wanted to force a leadership challenge between Grog and Kevdak.) In a familiar display of luck, Kratus's armour holds against the flurry of blows from the greenskin warlord, but barely. Finally, in my own turn, and with one wound remaining, Kratus cuts apart his opponent's armour to expose the greenskin inside. However, seeing his demise written on the wall, Big Kev unleashes all remaining firepower from his massive armour, with just one shot finding a chink in Kratus's armour. With that, the last World Eater falls. Result: 8-62 Loss Ultimately, this game was lost in my first turn, when I overestimated how much work my Helbrute and Exalted Champion would do. I think I had the right plan to hold one unit of Berzerkers back, but instead of spreading my charge out, I should've thrown the disembarked Berzerkers at the enemies in my backfield. I think they should've had a good chance to kill the Burnas and Warboss on the charge, when accompanied by the Helbrute and Champion. Ah well, lesson learnt. Xarian suffered an Angered Machine Spirit, so cannot benefit from stratagems. On the plus side, Kratus earned two Personal Glory points for killing the enemy warlord, and increased in rank. Khorne saw him fit to bless him with a Scorpion Tail for +1 Attack. Kratus's Personal Glory: 3 -> 4Khorne's Dark God Glory: 6 -> 5Cruentes' Warfleet Glory: 7 -> 7

5 August, 2022 Kratus once again lead a small Combat Patrol against the Death Guard, this time accompanied by his lieutenant, Thrax, Dreior's Berzerkers, and a small mob of Cultists. The mission was to punch through the enemy line to cause as much havoc as possible. For my Agenda, I chose to initiate yet another Blasphemous Ritual to earn some more Glory for Khorne. Unfortunately, I had been painting Kratus's model and completely forgot to bring him along, so a random Terminator will have to be his stand-in. This was my opponent's third ever game of 40k, so it was going to be another relaxed game with minimal pressure. Just throw some dice and have fun! In this mission, my opponent had to deploy his entire army first, and was forced to split it into three parts. I took advantage of this, by putting the bullet catchers highly valuable Cultists in the middle, backed by my Chaos Lord. My main push would be on the left flank, where the Berzerkers and the Exalted Champion Thrax would be able to overwhelm the flank and sweep around to the middle. I won first turn, and moved everything up the field. The Cultists began an Action in the middle of the board to raise some mighty skull piles for Khorne. I was going to use Apoplectic Frenzy on the Berzerkers to yeet them up the field for a first turn charge, but decided against it at the last minute. My opponent was only new to the game, and I didn't want that to be how he found out about such an ability. I told him what I could have done, and against his protestations I continued simply moving the Berzerkers. In his turn, he shuffled some Plague Marines on both flanks to get some shooting off, and left his Blight Hauler in the middle. When all was said and done, a few Berzerkers were slain and most of the Cultists were killed. I forget how many exactly (and didn't take a photo), but I think there were only 1-2 cultists left - but it was enough to keep their Action going. Khorne was evidently pleased with their sacrifice, as the action succeeded and I gained a Dark God Glory point (and a bunch of XP on the Cultists). In my turn, Thrax killed a couple of Plague Marines, continuing his trend of being completely incapable of rolling 6s to wound for Gorefather, even with rerolls. Thankfully, Berzerkers were more than enough to finish the rest. Meanwhile, Kratus bounced off the Blight Hauler. We both dealt just a few wounds to each other - I always forget how tough these damn things are! My opponent continued to string out his Plague Marines on the right and finished off the Cultists. While the Lord of Contagion swept around to take care of Kratus. Unfortunately, Kratus's knack for surviving against the odds abandoned him and he fell to the Manreaper. In my third turn, I declared the centre objective to be the Alpha objective, since I planned to move there anyway. The Berzerkers and Thrax moved up to wrestle the Blight Hauler off the objective...but I foolishly left my squishy Exalted Champion standing directly in front of the Lord of Contagion. This is a theme you'll see me repeat a lot! Wisely, my opponent charged the Champion and Berzerkers, killing the Champion. In return, the Berzerkers carved chunks off the character's armour, reducing him to just a single wound. In my own turn, the Lord of Contagion slew two more Berzerkers, and shrugged off their attacks. At this point, I was slightly ahead on points. Had my opponent just stayed in combat, there was a good chance I could finish the Lord and just hold the Alpha objective until the end of the game, maybe also shuffle over and add to the cultists' pile of skulls. So, weighing his options, my opponent initiated a Hail Mary charge with his last Plague Marines - and he made it. The sons of Mortarion finished the last of my Berzerkers to claim the objective. Result: 25-45 Loss Unfortunately, Kratus gained some wounds that would not heal after the battle, gaining the Deep Scars battle scar (cannot perform Actions, cannot Heroically Intervene). The Cultists also gained a scar, but I ended up just deleting them from my list to make room for other units. Despite losing, I still rolled well for my Chaos Points. Kratus lost a little glory for dying so ingloriously, but Khorne was pleased with the sacrifices and I made sure to keep my Warfleet in Favour. Kratus's Personal Glory: 4 -> 3Khorne's Dark God Glory: 4 -> 6Cruentes' Warfleet Glory: 7 -> 7

Bardûl, the Hand of Khorne Formerly a member of the World Eaters' elite Terminator squads, Bardûl rose to prominence when the former master of the Cruentes, Achaeus, descended irrevocably into madness. Leading his most trusted Terminators against the blood-maddened tyrant, Bardûl attacked Achaeus on his command deck. Despite grievous injuries, Bardûl pushed past his adversary's defences and rammed his chainfist into the Astartes's innards. He was not automatically granted leadership of the Cruentes, however. Seven more challengers claimed the position, and Bardûl dispatched every one of them even in his battle-weary state. He earned the right to command the Cruentes. Claiming his title as the Hand of Khorne, Bardûl claimed to be the mortal who would wield the Blood God's armies as a weapon, to spread bloodshed and violence across the galaxy. In battle, Bardûl is indomitable in his heavy Terminator plate, and actively seeks out the most powerful of the enemy champions to slay them himself. He has the Disciple of Khorne Warlord Trait, but currently has no Relics. Kratus, Terminator Champion Amongst Bardûl's most veteran warriors, Kratus leads his master's elite bodyguard. Kratus and his squad were dispatched to assist another Cruentes warband, led by Xarian Doomgore, where they quickly earned a reputation for brutality and bloody efficiency. When Xarian proved to be an inept commander and warrior, Kratus and his Terminators deposed the failing champion. Since re-integrating with Bardûl's warband, several of Kratus's warriors have been dispatched on missions - ostensibly to track down other Cruentes warbands, though in reality Bardûl is aware that the Terminators together pose a threat to his leadership. Kratus and his four Terminators have the Red Butchers stratagem applied to them, via the Specialist Reinforcements requisition. Validon, Berzerker Champion Validon is one of Bardûl's longest-serving Berzerker Champions, and has been instrumental to the cohesion of the Cruentes as a fighting force. He instituted a gradual change to the Eternal Warrior's fighting pits: instead of individual combat, the pits would focus more on squad-based combat. Through repeated training in this manner over hundreds of years, the instinct to fight in a squad of brothers became so ingrained that even in the deepest frenzy, Berzerkers would know to fight together. Validon leads nine Berzerkers, collectively known as the Bloodthunderers. Dreior, Berzerker Champion A newer member of the Cruentes, Dreior is a vat-grown gift from Fabius Bile's gene clinics. Implanted with false memories, he believes himself to be a veteran of the Long War, and despite his relative youth, he is a consummate fighter. He and his squad are often seen breaking through enemy lines and hunting down specific targets. Dreior leads four Berzerkers known as the Hunters. Gorm, Berzerker Champion Another long-serving member of the Cruentes, Gorm leads the newest inductees into battle. His strict command gives these initiates their first taste at combat, and puts them on the path to becoming fully-fledged Berzerkers of the Cruentes. Gorm's habit of consuming the flesh of the dead, however, often permeates through the ranks of those under his command. As a result, a significant number of Cruentes share his cannibalistic tendencies. Xarian the Bloody Idiot Once the champion of a whole Cruentes warband, Xarian - formerly known also as Doomgore - was deposed of his position after it was apparent that he did not deserve to lead. Originally, he was the lieutenant of a rival World Eaters warband, the control over which he seized through betrayal, before he pledged them to Bardûl. As a reward for bolstering the ranks of the Cruentes, Xarian was gifted with command of his own warband and a rebellious Daemon sword. The sword resisted Xarian's ownership at first, having not been seized through combat. However, after several battles, Xarian appeased the weapon by stabbing it through his own stomach. Amused by this attempt at sacrifice, the sword appeared to capitulate. It soon became apparent that the sword still had not deemed Xarian worthy. Even though its power had been unlocked, it still rebelled at some of the worst moments possible, often leading to Xarian's defeat. Out of frustration, several conspirators - including Kratus and his Terminators - turned on the champion, dismembering his body and burying the Daemon sword deep within the Eternal Warrior. Xarian was kept alive as an amusement, more than anything, and was interred within a dreadnought sarcophagus. Xarian is a Helbrute, armed with a plasma cannon and hammer.

With the Blogs feature unlocked, I have decided to move my previous efforts from the World Eaters subforum to my own little corner of the B&C. Here I plan to catalogue my force's trials and tribulations as we carve our way through our group's own sub-sector of space. War Zone Lalor is entirely a homebrew setting, with the background having been produced over three separate Crusade campaigns that our group has played over the past couple of years. Background The Great Rift It has been at least twelve, gruelling years since the Cicatrix Maledictum, the Great Rift, ripped the galaxy in half. With it, the Imperium was split in twain, designated the Imperium Sanctus and Imperium Nihilus. The Imperium Nihilus, severed from the light of the Astronomican of Terra, has endured a fate unknown. Even the Imperium Sanctus, under the studious protection of Lord Guilliman, is still beset on all fronts by every enemy imaginable. Previous Engagements in War Zone Lalor The Lalor Sub-sector lies within the Imperium Sanctus, in the Galactic North of the Ultima Sector. With the Realm of Ultramar secured by the Indomitus Crusade, elements of the Imperial liberators have been dispatched to the outlying sub-sectors. War for the Twins Breaking through the unstable warp routes to reach the Lalor sub-sector, the Imperial crusaders established a base of operations in the administrative heart of the region, the Geminid binary system. It was not long before the system became the target of a terrible invasion of heretics and xenos. Initially caught in defensive actions all over the system, the Imperial forces enacted a desperate last-minute gambit: a simultaneous trap for an enemy ambush and a counter-ambush crushed the invaders against all odds. With the enemy falling back in disarray, the forces of the Imperium consolidated their hold on their new garrison. Darkness of Rutil Before the dust could settle on the Geminid War, internal conflict arose within the forces of the Emperor. A wave of malaise and suspicion spread through the populace and soldiery, all the way from the bottom to the top. What should have been a great, celebrated victory was instead met with depression and anxiety through all facets of society. Several Imperial commanders separately noticed a psychic anomaly centred in the neighbouring Rutil system. With suspicion rife between the sub-factions of the Imperium, no one communicated this discovery to each other, as they each believed they alone could be trusted to investigate it. Sending small forces to the Rutil system, the Imperial forces each discovered that the warp surrounding the system was eerily quiet. Navigators, unable to detect warp currents, were driven mad. On the primary world of the system, small forces of Necrons, World Eater heretics, and renegade mining colonists were discovered. In the conflict that followed, it was discovered that some kind of warp-dampening technology employed by the enigmatic Necrons was causing the warp to fall dangerously quiet, while the Heretic Astartes were building massive monuments to reignite the empyrean once more. The conflicting effects were causing the unrest in surrounding systems. Setting aside all suspicion and paranoia, the Imperial forces joined for a joint push against the heretics and xenos, however they were successful only in demolishing the fell monuments of Chaos. The battle with the Necrons merely awoke more of the dangerous xenos, who completed the employment of their strange technology. The Imperials were forced to withdraw. The warp-borne malady was cured, though travel through the system was no longer reliable, and so it was quarantined. A Strange Servant With the strange warp-madness subsiding, Imperial forces recommenced the campaign to liberate the whole sub-sector. Responding to several calls for military aid, an Ultramarines strike force discovered a Rogue Trader lost in the void. Their vessel had been crippled and separated from the hulk it was using to transport vast amounts of material wealth. The hulk was known as The Most Dignified Servant and carried trade goods, relics and materiel. The Imperials decided that this materiel would be a great help to the war effort, and so agreed to assist the Rogue Trader in exchange for their materiel contribution. Locating this vast hulk, the Imperials boarded but immediately noticed that not all was as it was laid out by the strange trader. Relics and trade goods were loaded throughout the hulk, however the vessel was certainly not in full control by the trader. Clearly, very little effort had been taken to ensure that the vessel was sanctified, and it had become overrun by Daemons of Chaos, Death Guard heretics and Necrons. The Imperials found themselves surrounded and cut off in numerous sectors of the vessel, and only through the heroic efforts of the Deathwing were the rest of the Space Marines able to escape to safety. This was not before time, for as the last of the Deathwing withdrew, the Servant lurched into the warp, aiming directly for a nearby warp rift. It speared through the rift, opening a corridor to a previously isolated system. The Asturus System The *Servant's* departure left an opening to the Asturas system, which had been thought lost to the warp after the opening of the Great Rift. Dispatching a force from their base of operations in the Geminid system, the Imperials moved in to the Asturias system to assess the tactical situation. They found that the system's most populous world, the hive moon Janus, to be besieged by heretics and xenos over the whole planetoid. The majority of the world's populace resided in two hive cities, with smaller settlements scattered across the surface. Hive Primus was already in heretic control, flying banners featuring the tri-lobe of Nurgle and the skull rune of Khorne, however the fate of Hive Secundus was unknown. No military movements were detected in Secundus, and no vox traffic was coming from the city. Other settlements and fortified positions were barely holding out, some with only a PDF company or two fighting protracted campaigns against heretics, mutants and greenskins.

Tactica: World EatersI have yet to see anything regarding tactics for the Eaters of Worlds in the Horus Heresy. Just about every other legion has their own thread, but not us. I believe it is time to change that. Unfortunately, I'm an aspirant to the world of 30k, and due to unforeseen warp storms my copy of the rule books wont be here for quite some time (read UPS doesn't deliver to FPO/APO addresses). What is a fledgling god of the arena to do? I can write fluff till the cows come home, and assemble models till my fingers bleed (I'm sure a certain god would just love that), but I have no direction, no insight into what works best for the bloody VIIth. I'm calling on all the brothers of the World Eaters Legion. This is your chance to create a comprehensive depository on how to best rampage your way through the galaxy. For when the day comes that you must fall in the heat of battle, lying dead atop a mountain of the enemy, it does the rest of us no good if you take all your knowledge and leadership skills with you. ...And go!

CRUSADE GAME 6 - TAU VS WORLD EATERS This keeps happening. Well, this took a while for me to upload. I've been a little distracted by work, and the irresistible allure of the square base. Shame I can't share any Warhammer Fantasy stuff on here, but it is what it is. I need to get around to making my own actual blog. Anyway, this was the second fight of the day after my game against the Death Guard, giving me a fun Oops! All Chaos! weekend. Thing is, I'm starting to get the impression that I should be staying out of close combat with my Tau! Weird concept. This has been an issue all Crusade, maybe our boards are too small? I feel like I should have half my army in close combat at the end of turn 1. I dunno, I could probably do a better job of placing my lads behind cover, further back, and so-on, but it was particularly bad this time thanks to all that fun WE movement tech. I'm just gonna stop Infiltrating these guys, it never ends well. That aside, this final outing - in the Crusade - for Heath's World Eaters was fun, and close, though ultimately a loss for me. Heath is swapping over to the new Emperor's Children, it's early enough in the Crusade that he can assemble them in time for our upcoming matches later this month. Painted? Well. We'll see. Fun moments included holding out in close combat with like half of his army with some lucky battlesuit saves and the power of Big Guns Never Tire, and deleting the poor Defiler with my railgun. Very satisfying. We'll be doing more 750 point games next, and I believe the first set of rematches with previous opponents. We'll see how that goes.

Forces for Battle. Vanilla CSM need not apply.

Man, I‘ve recently picked up Betrayer by ADB because I heard it was good, and because I kind of always liked the World Eaters for their pre-heresy color scheme but never for their fluff. Too much crazyness and blood lust, too much barbaric horde and too little organization and tactics and working together like a proper legion. So I WANTED to like them, but never really did. Boy does that book change things. I mean anyone who’s read any of ADBs books know he’s really good. I didnt like the Night Lords before reading his omnibus either. But he actually got me to like the World Eatersa lot now, and I’m even dangerously close to start painting my second hand Blood Angel army in white and blue with icons and decals of the 12th (Krautscientist bears some blame as well with his incredible Eternal Hunt). Oh the heresy! Anyway, enough mindless rambling - if you havent read Betrayer and have even just a passing interest in the World Eaters legion I can highly recommend it! There’s way more to them than mindless slaughter, and it’s great to read about the how and why they came to be what they are today.

Hello folks, I've had the DI primaris marines since their release a few months ago and have not been able to figure out what to do with them. I have been a World Eaters fan for a while now and I am currently working on an army for 30k. I thought creating a primaris chapter from World Eaters geneseed would be a cool project. I managed to get this intercessor painted up. Now, I am a mediocre painter on my best day so I tried to go with something pretty simple. Unfortunately he still looks pretty bland right now due to a lack of heraldry or weathering (I'm looking at buying the WE transfer sheet for the War Hounds symbols, and I'm currently trying to learn how to accomplish decent weathering). I'm also working on some fluff to go with the chapter as well. Anyway, I welcome any feedback or critiques anybody has because I could sure use it. Thanks, Lhorke the First

A friend of mine is working a loyalist World Eaters force for 30k, and wanted something unique for his leader, so I helped him out. I'm loving how this guy turned out!

I am not posting anything new here, as the background is the same that you can find in my army log. Despite this, I decided to open a separate topic in this section, because I am specifically looking for critics, comments and feebacks. I put quite some effort in making up my fluff and would really like to refine it. I'd like to hear from you what you like and what you don't, what works fine and what is weak, what makes sense and what does not. Any comment and constructive criticism is more than welcome. Thank you all for you attention /ACCESSING ARCHIVES/ /SEARCH CATEGORIES: XII LEGION/XVI GREAT COMPANY / /ALL RECORDS SEALED/EXCOMMUNICATE TRAITORIS/INSERT IDENTIFICATION CODE/ /PROCESSING/ /IDENTIFICATION CODE ACCEPTED/LORD INQUISITOR VAN HEKT/ /ACCESS GRANTED/ /SEARCH CATEGORIES: XVI GREAT COMPANY/NOTABLE BATTLES/ /PROCESSING/ /SEARCH RESULTS/ ++ERROR: RECORD EXPUNGED++ ++BAEBLONIAN INCIDENT [RECORD AVAILABLE]++ ++SIEGE OF HIEROTZELEM [RECORD AVAILABLE]++ ++ERROR: RECORD EXPUNGED++ ++GOLGOTHAN SLAUGHTER --- ERROR: RECORD EXPUNGED ---SIEGE OF SARUM [RECORD AVAILABLE]++ ++CLEANSING OF ARRIGATA [RECORD AVAILABLE]++ ++GHENNA SCOURING [RECORD UNAVAILABLE]++ ++NIGHT OF THE WOLF [RECORD AVAILABLE]++ ++ERROR: RECORD EXPUNGED++ ++ISSTVAN III ATROCITY [RECORD AVAILABLE]++ ++ISSTVAN V DROPSITE MASSACRE [RECORD AVAILABLE]++ ++ERROR: RECORD EXPUNGED++ ++SHADOW CRUSADE ---ASSAULT ON MARDRION [RECORD AVAILABLE]++ ---ANTROTH CAMPAIGN [RECORD AVAILABLE] ++ERROR: RECORD EXPUNGED++ ++ERROR: RECORD EXPUNGED++ ++ERROR: RECORD EXPUNGED++ ++BATTLE OF TERRA [RECORD TEMPORARILY UNAVAILABLE]++ ++ERROR: RECORD EXPUNGED++ Numeration: Legio XII, Company XVI Primogenitor: Angron the Conqueror Battlebarge: The Merciless Tactical specialization: Boarding assaults, Exterminatus and Zone Mortalis operations, Line-breaker attacks Allegiance: Traitoris Perdita http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20121009164521/warhammer40k/images/4/43/World_Eaters_Pre-Heresy_Icon.jpg Dramatis Personae [updated to: The Fall of Virtus Prime] The World Eaters Legion Tiberius Thanatos, Centurion and ship captain Irex Nornas, Legate Commander [KIA: Isstvan III] Solomon Drakon, Champion of the Pits Borg “Redhands”, Champion of the pits [shadow Crusade/Pits of the Merciless – Drakon] Skath, Chaplain Garalth, Master of Signal [KIA: Isstvan III] Verjell, High Codicer [isstvan V/Pits of the Merciless - Thanatos] Regran, Primus medicae [KIA: Cleansing of Arrigata] Kallax “Night Lord”, Primus medicae Arkadios, Apothecary Drapaes, Apothecary Abyron, Apothecary Ancient Daegron, Contemptor Dreadnought Balon, Contemptor Dreadnought Rhaskos “Headbutter”, Sergeant – II Tactical squad Lennar “Blooddrinker”, Sergeant – IV Tactical squad “Bad Luck” Kull, Sergeant – XII Tactical squad Urron, Sergeant – I Outrider Squad [MIA: Isstvan V] Gerakh, Sergeant – I Outrider Squad Rakhan, Sergeant – II Assault Squad Personnel of the Merciless Val Kheren, Senechal BIRTH: Hounds of war The first known references to the 16th company of the 12th Legion come from the fragmented accounts of the 32nd Fleet, where it is reported as one of the three War Hounds companies assigned to the Expedition. By that time, the Legion had already cemented his savage reputation by repressing the Cerberus Insurrection [OPEN EXTERNAL DATA], and the Merciless -as the 16th was named by their horrified comrades of the Imperial Army- lived up to that fame, acting as brutal shock troops for the Expeditionary Fleet. [OPEN DATA: BAEBLONIAN INCIDENT] [OPEN DATA: SIEGE OF HIEROTZELEM] EVOLUTION: Sons of a broken God As the Legions grew in size and many came to be reunited with their Primarchs the task of reinforcement became less important, and the 12th Legion was brought back together under the banner of the “Bloody 13th”, the Expeditionary Fleet with the largest number of War Hounds along with dedicated assault and fleet support elements. The 16th mustered on the planet Bodt along with the rest of the Legion, and saw its ranks refilled with new stocks of wargear and fresh recruits to be trained on volcanic sands. Available informations about the finding of the Primarch Angron can be found here [OPEN EXTERNAL DATA]. In this account, it will be enough to say that in a Legion already based on honor and fighting prowess the martial ideal represented by Angron found a vast number of devoted followers, not least among them Centurion Thanatos of the 16th. Having been told of the latter's escalade to command the Primarch laughed his approvation, thus “officially” confirming his position as captain of the Battlebarge Merciless and commander of three hundred Astartes. After reshaping the War Hounds and making them his World Eaters, Angron departed Bodt with his men and launched himself in a bloody rampage across the galaxy, where his Legion gave a total new meaning to its fame for brutality and bloodshed. A report of the late Heresy era states that “The planets upon which the World Eaters fell were not merely crushed – they were destroyed utterly. Where once resistance had been found, now were left only grave worlds in their stead – planets not merely burned or blasted from on high but slaughtered in their streets and palaces, factories and fortresses […] the World Eaters Legion became a byword for unbridled violence and slaughter on a gran scale, shunned by many of their fellow Legions for their excesses and whispered of in fear by those who in theory they had been created to protect”. The first known target to have suffered their wrath was the Golgothan Sector [OPEN EXTERNAL DATA]. The campaign that ensued lasted eleven terran years and entered in the annals of the Imperium as the “Golgothan Slaughter”, and saw “no less than forty-eight worlds and outposts ravaged […] and seven separate dangerous xeno species rendered extinct”, though only minor documental evidence of these conflicts survived to these days. Most of the informations we currently have focus on what is spoken of as the first and most important battle of the whole campaign: the Siege of Sarum. Non-16th company specific informations about the siege can be found here [OPEN EXTERNAL DATA] [OPEN DATA: SIEGE OF SARUM] Its wargear repaired and restocked by the Red Priests of Sarum, the 16th Great Company is also reported to have partecipated in Spake Hulk cleansing operations during the extermination of the Ork empires of Blitzklaw and Neverlight and in line-breaker assaults against the xeno Khrave of Serreak-17 and the Craftworld Tuonoetar. The same report previously quoted in this account states that “nor were human and abhuman worlds spared the Legion's wrath: Susa, Gwydion, Jubal, Badlanding and a dozen more all fell before those Angels of Death[...]” and altough no documental evidence survived of the 16th's involvement in such massacres, it's not hard at all to hypotize it, as there is no other document stating XII Legion activity anywhere else in the galaxy at that time. The first documental evidence we have about the 16th Great Company after its involvement against the Craftworld Tuonoetar comes in the form of a sworn testimony made by Praetor Tullius Maemnionem of the Ultramarines Legion during Lord Guilliman's denounce of his brother's methods that ensued their collaboration on the rebel planet Arrigata. General informations about the conflict can be found here [OPEN EXTERNAL DATA]. [OPEN DATA: CLEANSING OF ARRIGATA] The World Eaters' spiral of violence had its apex in the most dreaded Scouring of Ghenna [RECORDS UNAVAILABLE], when the planet was deprived of its whole population in the course of a single night. As the massacre's bloody legend began to circulate, so did the rumors about widespread use of psycho-surgery within the Legion. The confession of Hjell Serask, berserker of the warband “Angron's Chosen” that is suspected to originate from the 16th company, should be certainly taken as that of a snake-tongued heretic, but also represents the only direct sources we have about the company's involvement in such practices. The studies conducted on Serask's body about the cortical implants called “Butcher's nails” can be found here [OPEN EXTERNAL DATA]. The berserker revealed that the Primarch Angron himself had been implanted such devices on [REDACTED], and wanted to pass them on to his sons to boost their battle prowess and ferocity to yet higher levels. Most of the Legion accepted it: some enthusiastically, others reluctantly, but all willing to be closer to their genetic father. The Merciless were among the first kind: the Nails quickly saw widespread use within the Company and Centurion Thanatos greatly encouraged their use, being one of the first in the whole Legion to willingly submit himself as a tester for the implancts reproduced by the Apothecarion of the Conqueror. As soon as the wispers about this practice became openly voiced demands for censure from Imperial authorities -Roboute Guilliman first among them, after witnessing the Legion at work on Arrigata- the Emperor sent Primarch Leman Russ to meet Angron on the very field of Ghenna and make him stop with such a prohibited and foul surgery. This resulted in the incident known as “The night of the Wolf”. [OPEN DATA: NIGHT OF THE WOLF] After that, the Emperor directly called Angron before him for reprimand, forbidding once more the use of the Butcher's Nails and exiling the World Eaters in the northern fringes of the galaxy, where they could slaughter a great number of xeno races aways from the Imperium's core worlds. Unfortunately, there is no surviving source regarding this period of the Company's history. BETRAYAL: The blood of my brother The name of the World Eaters returns in the annals of the Imperium in occasion of the mustering called by Warmaster Horus Lupercal in order to suppress the Isstvan III uprising. General informations about the rebellion and the infamous Atrocity that followed can be found here [OPEN EXTERNAL DATA] [OPEN DATA: ISSTVAN III ATROCITY] MASSACRE: Void hunter It would later be clear that many of the experimental implancts received by the Merciless were particularly strong, and degenerated faster than those of their brothers. After the Betrayal many of them had already reached the point of no return, though a pirric majority still retained some kind of control over the Nails. Those members who returned from the ruined surface of Isstvan III were quickly reorganised and resupplied on board of the Merciless as the Warmaster prepared the next stage of his plan, which would come to be known as the Isstvan V Dropsite Massacre. General informations regarding the battle can be found here [OPEN EXTERNAL DATA]. [OPEN DATA: ISSTVAN V DROPSITE MASSACRE] CONQUEST: The Five Hundred Worlds Burn After the ninety eight days of Isstvan V, the World Eaters were sent in the Segmentum Ultima along with the Word Bearers to begin the bloody campaign which would come to be known as The Shadow Crusade [OPEN EXTERNAL DATA], meant to shed enough blood and despair to tear the veils of reality and unleash a violent warpstorm capable of isolating the realm of Ultramar from the rest of the Imperium. In the opening stages of the conflict the Merciless were sent right outside the borders of the Five Hundred Worlds, in the Australis Ultima Sector, and tasked to unleash as much devastation as possible to cause a minor storm which would cut off that border of the Ultramarine Empire from every possible link with Australis. Other than the aid given by the massive presence of traitor solar auxilia, it is safe to assume that the ranks of the Merciless had been refilled before the beginning of the attack, as their numbers after the Isstvan Campaign would have never been enough to sustain the amount of losses required in the invasion of a System. [OPEN DATA: ASSAULT ON MARDRION] [OPEN DATA: ANTROTH CAMPAIGN] With no Astartes left to protect it, and with the local militia severely weakened by the attrition war sustained against his traitor counterpart, the Prosperine System was little more than a hopeless victim waiting for the final, murderous strike. The World Eaters were free to unleash their savage instincts on its worlds, each of them ravaged beyond recognition and forever scarred in its history. Everything that remains of this period are the horrific Prosperinian tales about the atrocities and slaughterfeasts committed by the sons of Angron, which I renounce to describe in detail in this account. A collection of those stories can be found in the volume [REDACTED] by [REDACTED]. /ACCESSING ARCHIVES/ /SEARCH CATEGORIES: XII LEGION/XVI GREAT COMPANY / /ALL RECORDS SEALED/EXCOMMUNICATE TRAITORIS/INSERT IDENTIFICATION CODE/ /PROCESSING/ /IDENTIFICATION CODE ACCEPTED/LORD INQUISITOR VAN HEKT/ /ACCESS GRANTED/ /SEARCH CATEGORIES: XVI GREAT COMPANY/PIC-CAPTURES/PERSONALITIES/ /PROCESSING/ /SEARCH RESULTS/ Captain Tiberius Thanatos, Commander of the Merciless First born son of a Terran tech-barbarian warlord, Tiberius Thanatos was taken as a tribute and recruited in the Emperor's 12th Legion after his father was cast into submission at the end of the Unification Wars. He swiftfully emerged from the ranks, being the exact kind of officer the twelfth needed at the time: a brutal, cunning but noble leader driven by his own pragmatic honor code, as he had been raised up to be when he was meant to inherit the mantle of command in his tribe. When the 16th Company's Centurion died in the Siege of Hierotzelem, Tiberius won command over the Merciless by defeating every other pretendant in the ritual fights that followed: not yet satisfied, he also challenged those of the other two companies attached to the 32nd expedition along with the 16th, who had also lost their respective Centurions during the Siege. Bending or killing every opponent, he found himself alone to command a battleship and -at full strenght- three hundred Astartes, a position that would later be confirmed with a laughter of approval by the Primarch Angron. In the following years he proved himself a skilled void commander and a warm brother for all of the 12th Legion, respected for his insight and martial sense of humor as well as for his physical resilience and hand-to hand skills, but he was never animated by the same fervour some of his brothers had towards the Emperor of Mankind. To Tiberius he was a distant, brutal tyrant who destroyed the life he was meant to live and whom he was forced to serve by lack of choices. This is why when Angron came to the Legion with his tragic story and his bloody warrior code he was seen by Thanatos as a similar soul to him, and easily won his loyalty over that for the Emperor. In Angron, Thanatos found a true leader to follow, someone he would gladly fight for, and who would also later give him the opportunity to stand against the Emperor he so clearly hated. Such was Tiberius' devotion to his genesire that he was among the first to volunteer as a test for the cortical implants soon to become widespread within the Legion, and it comes to no surprise that he followed him in the events of the Horus Heresy. Unfortunately his Nails were a particularly strong device and degenerated sooner than expected: after the battle for Isstvan V they had already eroded much of the man he was, allowing him only glimpses of the leader his men were used to and turning him into a colder, killing addicted monster who gladly broke his former self on the same anvil that twisted his father, and would do so again even knowingly. Contemptor Dreadnought Ancient Daegron An original Warhound from Terra who fought since the foundation of the Legion, he reported critical wounds after Hierotzelem's self destruction and was interred in one of the recently issued Contemptor Pattern Dreadnoughts. At first he was a well esteemed veteran among the 16th, and even Thanatos often sought his wisdom, but when Angron's hand reshaped the Legion, not being able to receive the Nails isolated him from the once respectful Merciless. He was left alone, with High Codicer Verjell and the other outcasts from the Librarium, to remember the times of the Old Legion and see the new one fall into corruption before his eyes. By the time of Isstvan III the Contemptor's machine spirit had put its capricious roots deep into the warrior's consciousness, who was now awaken by his forgetful brothers only when war called as a weapon to be used and then restrained without remorse. Primus Medicae Kallax “Night Lord” Recruited from a death world during the Golgothan Slaughter, Kallax had pale skin and ice-blue eyes that made him stand out from the rest of his Legion. Proving himself a quick learner, he was chosen to be part of the Conqueror's Apothecarion and suitably trained by the masters of the 12th. The match between his world's man-hunting culture and anathomical studies soon gave birth to a cynical and sadist individual with a passion for psycological tortures and those mouse-and-cat situations which he would come to live quite often given the 16th company's -where he was detached at the end of his training- specialization for Zone Mortalis and Boarding actions, and this would prove to him a Nails-feeding method far more satisfying than crude slaughter. Kallax became Primus Medicae of the Merciless when his predecessor Regran was slain during the Cleansing of Arrigata, being by far the strongest member of the Apothecarion left alive. He started getting called “Night Lord” after the ninety-eight days of Isstvan V, where after the chase for any loyalist survivor a VIII Legion Praetor had his suit improved with fearful embellishments and silenced serfs for stalking operations in memory of the “great time they had together”. Kallax is nevertheless a trusted lieutenant to Thanatos, who greatly esteems his feral cunning and discipline-enforcing methods. Sergeant “Bad Luck” Kull A Bodt born Astartes who entered service during the Ghenna Scouring, Kull is a cynical officer who has since earned many honours. He is famous in the company for wielding a bolt pistol with Space Wolves iconography earned in the Night of the Wolf, despite the Legion's belief of inherited weapons bringing bad luck. “Only the weak needs luck” he always says, and has so earned the nickname “Bad Luck” Kull. During the assault on Mardrion, a Raven Guard terminator punched his head with a powerfist: an ironic fate wanted Kull lucky enough to survive by some dark miracle, though half of his skull and even part of his brain needed mechanical replacement. Sergeant Lennar Lennar is a Terran Veteran of renown among the ranks of the Merciless who led the the 4th Tactical Squad through most of the Great Crusade. Some reports state that he lost his mind on Isstvan III and started drinking his loyalist brothers' blood. He led a task force in the vaults of the Alpha-51 training complex on Mardrion, retrieving a relic phase-walker device that was stored as a trophy in the armory of the Merciless. Pit Champion Borg “Redhands” Arrogant, unsubtle and Nails-driven, Borg was among those recruited on Bodt to replenish the Legion's ranks before the retrieving of their Primarch. He became the 16th 's youngest officer of all times after leading a band of survivors who had lost contact with the battlebarge against the Khrave of Serreak-17 for more than three months, surviving against all odds and even organising a series of raids against those foul xenos. After rejoining his brothers he was named a line officer, a position he shared with Irex Nornas: they often clashed, the latter being far more cool headed and reflective than the bold and young Borg, who was instead impulsive and eager to prove himself worthy of his position. He ultimately did so in the Pits of the Merciless, where brotherhood was forged and legends written in blood. His elegant fighting style with his charnabal blade earned him a reputation in all of the Legion, and he rarely met any match before Delvarus himself stepped in for a challenge at third blood. Borg managed to inflict two wounds to the champion of the Conqueror, before being finally defeated in a match that was discussed and remembered for a very long time. His nickname “Redhands” is due to the rumor that he smashed a Space Wolves Centurion's head with his bare hands during the Night of the Wolf. Borg met his end in the pits during the Shadow Crusade, finally bested by Vexillarius Solomon Drakon, who took his place as Champion of the Merciless. Pit Champion Solomon Drakon First mentioned as a rank and file Astartes during the Cleansing of Arrigata, Drakon rose to the position of Company Vexillarius at the beginning of the Horus Heresy. According to Senechal Val Kheren's personal audio logs, Drakon mantained a singular rationality despite the Butcher's Nails. As the mental conditions of Tiberius Thanatos worsened every day faster during the civil war, Solomon emerged de facto as a leader among men, taking those internal decisions that the Captain did not bother anymore and mantaining the Merciless as united and efficent as possibile. During the Shadow Crusade his importance was contested by Borg “Redhands”, who claimed such an authority for himself, being the Champion of the Pits and a veteran of longer date than Drakon. This conflict inaivoidably led to a face-off in the arena, where to everyone's surprise a new champion was appointed after a spectacurarly brutal fight. Drakon would be put to test again during the Siege of Iulia Augusta, when he led a task force into the city to free Captain Tiberius, captured by the enemy Salamanders during the opening phase of the conflict.

Blood for the Blood God! Skulls for the Skull Throne! Now that reviews are starting to come out for World Eaters and the Codex is up for preorder today, I figured we should start a tactica thread for 9th Edition, however short that may be. I don't think we're quite ready for a Unit of the Week entry without getting a decent grasp on general army tactics and builds. Similar to the other Legion threads, it's intended to discuss things such as Combinations Army Lists Unit roles Army composition Use of strategems, warlord traits, relics, etc. Other general tactics Especially with the new Codex in, I think it's going to be good to start theorizing, experimenting or otherwise figuring out what works, and what doesn't. Some useful resources so far Goonhammer article on the new Codex

I've been working on some World Eaters stuff for a while now, and I've finally finished my first model. I figured now is as good a time as any to start a WIP thread on it. First up, we've got a rhino completed. I used the Deimos rhino, and added some bits from a Chaos Rhino to spike it up a bit. I was originally doing a gold for the trim, but I really liked the look of the runelord brass the WH painting team did in their tutorial, so I switched it up today. The only thing left is decals, but I'm waiting until I see what might be in the kits before I decide what to put on there. I should have another Rhino done soon enough, and then some Terminators and Khârn are also coming along (no pictures yet). Looking forward to our big release next weekend!

This thread is an opportunity to share what units/builds fellow World Eaters players are using in their current games of 9th. We have multiple threads for wishlisting and such, so this thread is very much just for a conversation involving what we’re playing and having (one hopes!) fun with. I’m still just running a max MSU berzerkers horde (I.e. 6 units of 5 models). I always arm them with all swords and axes and champs with power fists, though nowadays I feel like I’d be better off with a pair of lightning claws on the champs instead. Red butchers x10, just because I love everything about them. I haven’t had that much luck with getting them into combat, but I’ve so far used combi plasmas and lightning claws. My ideal/dream load out is actually chainfists on all of them, but i need to get better at using this unit. Deep strike essentially guarantees I’ll never make the charge (I have awful luck, even with +1” and reroll with icon of wrath, I have not made a charge with them yet out of deep strike). I will think about apoplectic frenzy. Leviathan: loving it with the melta gun arms, backed up by Khârn for refills. This guy does lots of shooting damage, though not having a claw or drill to wreck face in combat feels so so wrong. HQs, I’m really not thrilled with any of our options. Terminator lord with gorefather has been awesome when rolling hot. No fun when all the necrons stand back up, but he can really mow things down. Dreadclaws and rhinos: I love transports for this army, as footslogging berzerkers are so easy to kill. Dreadclaws deep striking are cool but as with the terminators, the occupants never make their charge. The dreadclaws often do, and can deal not terrible damage in combat. How about you all? What are you having fun using?

https://youtu.be/GxZOgct_BeA Cheers, Thoth

The Eyes of Tivan Blood for Blood Cast in the image of nobility and austerity, the proud, conflicted warriors of the Eyes of Tivan chose the wrong path to end their suffering. Broken warriors humbled and enslaved to wills greater than they, the passing of millennia and the incessant turmoil of war has eroded their identities until they can no longer tell the difference between servant and god. Age of Heroes "Come, sons of slaughter. The Enemy of All desires your presence, your power, your blood. Stare deep into the smoking mirrors and be reborn as Those Whose Slaves We Are. His eye is upon you already. In His sight, Tivan knows you.” -- High Priest of Moyscax, fourteen centuries before the Emperor unifies Terra The World Eaters' 30th Echelon had been ordered to break itself. The Warmaster's treachery had begun, but they were too distant to join in the wars on Istvaan III. And so its commander had been ordered, by their broken father, to purge his ranks of the weak of heart and arm upon the bloody shores of whichever world they came upon. Unknown to Captain Brute Tyrke, the feral jungles of Moyscax proved a more than adequate crucible. The world of Moyscax was one of deep green lands, broken only by the smudges of black and glaring red that marked the extensive fires that tried, and failed, to keep the jungles at bay. Fire of a different sort afflicted the world on the day of new stars. The 30th Echelon landed upon the world of Moyscax like a doomsday rain of meteors. The World Eaters' orders from their commander had been simple and exactly the kind they loved to hear. The world of Moyscax would not be brought into compliance. It would be butchered wholesale. With the Nails hammered into their skulls singing of blood and pain, the World Eaters tore through the settlements. Primitive warriors stood their ground against them and were struck down with impunity. Their wives and children were easier targets. However, no matter how easy the massacre, one truth played out across the world as the conquering sons butchered their way across. No matter the victim, no matter their abilities, they knew as little fear as their killers. Hate only was in their eyes. No matter the futility, they would strike back with all their weak might as life was torn from them. The first sign of the dangers Moyscax would pose was in the religious centers of the world. Great, mountainous piles of bones dominated the centers, flaming torches upon their peaks illuminating blood sacrifices that should never be known by humanity. Bodies with their hearts torn free would be kicked from the peak and tumble to the bottom. These bodies would barely begin to settle at the base when, horrifyingly, they would stand and race, screaming murder, for the nearest living thing. The World Eaters laughed in the face of these charges, but the laughter turned to blood in their throats when the unclothed, unarmed bleeding dead struck with enough power to shatter chainaxes and stab through ceramite armor. With blunt claws would they tear open the enemy, and with small fangs would they engorge themselves of blood and flesh. This was how Moyscax would defend itself against would-be conquerors. Had it been any other conqueror, they might have won. The chained warriors of the World Eaters welcomed death in the pursuit of bloodshed. No World Eater flinched from the dead, no matter that a dozen would die before the black-eyed monstrosities could be put down. The mountains of dead were toppled, the rituals subverted and those already turned struck down, at great loss. At the center of the world, deep within the primitive civilizations' grandest city, built upon an island of skulls that thrust from a shallow lake of blood, the World Eaters were held back the longest. As religious centers everywhere were stamped out with finality, often at the cost of the last living World Eater to assault it, Captain Tyrke led his finest up a mountain of dead that dwarfed the grandest of Moyscax's natural mountain ranges. Bodies twitched and with great fury freed themselves from the slopes to throw themselves upon hulking Astartes. Many Marines simply disappeared as hands void of muscle yet great of strength pulled them under too fast for the victim to roar with anger at his demise. None of it slowed their advance. As a force that began as hundreds, mere dozens reached the beclouded peak. Like the home of ancient gods, Moyscax's great temple was dark, foreboding and splashed red with blood. The survivors of Tyrke's command never once hesitated. The Nails prevented them from ever experiencing that. As one, they mobbed the Temple to meet and kill the dark gods of Moyscax. The Foundations Cracked "How could anyone champion this insanity? Necessity be damned, along this road lies only that fate from which we flee." -- Ragiin Loeras, former Techmarine of the Emperor's XII Legio Astartes, Lord of Outer Night Captain Tyrke's 30th Echelon left the burning world of Moyscax with a mere one hundred and fifty Marines, a loss of more than four for every five. Their lord father would have been pleased, if would ever care to know. The world of Moyscax had broken them, shattered them, and those few that emerged from the darkened temple high above the burning land had been marked, changed. Clutched tightly in his hands, Tyrke carried from its depths an icon of obsidian, which shined bright with the deepest black, torn bloodily from the hands of the Archpriest. Carved into its surface was a single, staring eye and its gaze was upon them all. The 30th Echelon no more, for there was no longer enough to form a Battalion, nor even a second Company. The World Eaters repainted their worlds clenched by the jaws upon their shoulders into that of the obsidian eye, christening themselves the Eyes of Tivan. Though small in strength, the Eyes of Tivan entered the battles of the Heresy as they always did. No hesitation, or a care for losses sustained. Reports abounded of a World Eater force that would strike loyalist worlds, burning their cities before drowning the flames in blood. They were fearless and savage, many so far gone that they didn't bother to arm or armor themselves before striking enemy lines with obscene force, their black eyes seemingly void of life or thought. Behind the naked savagery was the armored core. Just as relentless, just as savage, just as merciless. One band of World Eaters, releasing its own torrent of bloodshed to take part in the galactic flood, the rising tide finally slapping upon the shores of noble Terra. The actions of the Eyes of Tivan upon Terra are lost to history. The Siege was too great in scope for the minor details to be retained, but they left their mark nonetheless. Ten thousand years later, it remains a customary greeting to the denizens of the hives of western expanse of Hy Brasil to shine a light upon their face, to prove honorable intentions by showing the whites of their eyes. However, what history does hold is that the Warmaster's horde was defeated upon his death. Like their brothers, the Eyes of Tivan fled Terra. The Eye of Terror's gaze upon them burned like the obsidian eye of their icon, drew them in and embraced Blood is Life, Life is Eternal "They cannot hide the falseness of their faith. They believe it frees them, but it only chains them further. I know, oh, I know. I can feel the chains, the tick-tick-ticking of them in my head. These chains; we will never be free. Kill them all." -- Brute Tyrke, Red King of the Eyes of Tivan The Eyes of Tivan fared poorly during the Legion Wars following the Horus Heresy. More and more of their brethren fell to the singing of the Nails, to the brutal whisperings of their black-eyed patron. Though terrible in battle, their losses were more horrific still. It was a lesson their brothers had already learned. Give in to the blood, give in to the pain, and be free within it. It was a lesson their Lord refused to heed, as decades turned into centuries, though it was a battle he was destined to lose. The obsidian idol, never far from Tyrke's presence, was an ever-present companion within his own mind. There, from that pocket of red darkness that itched with such familiarity, understanding came. Life was enslavement. Death was no escape. The eternal game of the Gods would hold them hostage as pawns for as long as the game was played. Only the death of a God could upset the balance enough to end the game. Only with the game over could freedom be gained. As that dark presence within Tyrke's mind roared in victory, the Eyes of Tivan finally, finally gave in to the bidding of their Blood God, by vowing to take his head. Their eyes blackened, their minds deadened, their fury deepened. Lesser servants of their patron bonded to them, one and all. From that point on, sanity was expelled from their souls. They would wage war across the galaxy, working ever to undermine the actions of their own brother warbands. All the while, never knowing they have become nothing more than a tool for a lesser deity of the Warp to gain ascendancy within the Blood God's court. For Khorne cares not from whence the blood flows. Only that it flows. Combat Doctrine "Hrngh. Ah, the Nails bite is strong. Days in the blood pits, still they demand more. Damn them. Must I blacken my eyes to be free of this? Must I?" -- Blood-Sergeant Agalito Brog The Eyes of Tivan fight with all the bloody rage common to World Eater warbands. Aspects of war like ranged combat or armour divisions have become foreign elements, lost alongside their sanity. The Eyes of Tivan include themselves in the terrible crusades that spill with regularity from the oppressive Eye of Terror, spreading murder and hate across the Imperium. How the Eyes of Tivan strike out at the enemy varies by each member of the Warband. Some, such as their Chaos Lord, the Red King, wade into battle fully armored and armed. Many behave like further degraded Berzerkers, their rush to enter combat brought on by such a great need that things such as war plate or weapons are forgotten where they fall from clawed fingers. Like the tortured, lost sons of the Great Angel, the Eyes of Tivan exhibit many cannibalistic traits in their rages, preferring to drink of the blood rather than simply letting it spill upon the earth. Though nothing brings them more pleasure than slaking their bloodthirst upon the worshipers of the False Emperor, often it appears that their true intent is to break their own crusades. At the cusp of victory, the Eyes of Tivan turn from their grand slaughtering of the foe to visit the same destruction upon their erstwhile allies, all too often tipping the balance so that the forces of Chaos are routed. Though none now doubts the perfidy of the Eyes of Tivan, there are always over-prideful Chaos Lords who feel themselves invulnerable to such betrayals and rarely is the Warband without such a warhost. With such servants, their patron gains in power primarily by weakening or destroying the powerbases of its rivals. Organisation "There! Did you hear that? In the wind, listen! The whispers, they sound so near. The words are madness. Wait! What was that?" -- Last transmission of the 451st Jarglundd Recon; first recorded report of the phenomenon known as the Black Wind The numbers of the Eyes of Tivan are forever in flux. Though their recruitment process is quick, their manner of war means that it is rarely enough to keep them ever more than three, four hundred Marines. The Eyes of Tivan practice a terrible blood ritual to convert a recruit. The hapless victim is taken and their heart torn free. As the body twitches in its death throes, the blood and heart of a dead Marine is forced down the corpse's throat, while a Lord of Outer Night performs the binding ritual that seals one of their patron deity's lesser servants into the body. The practice fails more often than not, but enough of the recruits stand from the altar under their own power to keep the Eyes of Tivan from extinguishing themselves. Within the Warband, there is a very strict hierarchy. Lord of all is the Red King, Brute Tyrke, a hulking monster in Terminator armor with the obsidian eye implanted into the chestplate, though many say within his own chest as well. Though his own eyes shine just as black, it is no mere servant that inhabits his body alongside his own soul, but their patron, Tivan itself, that is bonded to him. Beneath him are the Lords of Outer Night, those high officers and commanders of the former 30th Echelon who, upon surviving the crucible of Moyscax, were granted the boon of Tivan's greater servants, blood gods themselves who were worshipped on that dark world. The remainders are the legionaries of the Warband, though a lesser caste exists below. These are the cultists that rally behind the Warband, the recruits whose transformations are stillborn, the Marines, of any rank, who failed to control themselves. These are the Blood Slaves, feral beasts without intelligence but full of ferocity and power. The Blood Slaves are the warband's shock troops, the first cast into battle. Rarely do any survive to leave it. Beliefs "Take their hearts and eat of it. Slice their throats and drink from it. Blood is power, so we keep it for ourselves. It makes our deaths all the more sweet, for it will not be our blood alone that flows from our veins." -- Ta'omes, Lord of Outer Night Over the millennia, the Eyes of Tivan have had their consciousnesses subverted by the entities they have taken into themselves, who now wear their skins. Though many have retained their former identities, much was lost. Most now identify strongly with the entities' memories and recall themselves as ancient blood gods, older than humanity. Whether the individual was lost to the daemon within, or was so corrupted that the two became one, is unknown even to the individuals themselves. Whatever the case, their bodies are suits no different from the armor they wear over it. The Eyes of Tivan are worshippers of Khorne of a different sort. Though they do not praise him specifically, they rally to his cause and are clearly crafted in his image. Their true beliefs are far more self-centered. The only gods they openly praise are themselves. This is their worldview, that they are the mortal forms of eternal gods, birthed for the sole purpose of preying on the galaxy. In interactions with other traitors, kin or otherwise, the rivalry they feel can be so overwhelming that they seek nothing more than their total destruction. Battle cry "I see you." --- --- --- --- --- --- --- http://i.imgur.com/F99l5vX.jpg Their icon is typical World Eater one, but replace the world with a black ball carved into an eye. Not the Eye of Horus, I am imagining a simple circle in the center to look like a pupil, with the cracks leading from the fangs looking like red veins. Thanks go to Kol Saresk for helping me come up with ideas.

So I suppose its time to get this thread sorted as I am about to start work on my World Eaters force after pretty much completing, painting and converting my friends Death Guard force. Over the next few days the last pieces I need/want to actually begin will be arriving. I have quite a few plans for the models, as well as a fair amount of background fluff which I have been working on for a few years. So I suppose its time to start. First off we have my Centurion. Borrox (The sketch is really rough) If you care for a bit of fluff, take a read: its poorly written and pretty bloody. Onto the model. Just to get a view of what I intend to do, my plan is to do a fair bit of work with the Gabriel Seth model probably removing the cape and modelling a new one from green stuff or playing around with the already added cape. I will more than likely remove the Evicerator blade completely for my Flesh Eaters force and replace it with a MKIII Evicerator from the forgeworld weapon upgrade kit keeping the pose as is, or replace the weapon entirely and chuck in a reaver chainaxe and give him a plasma pistol. Will have some updates over the next couple of days.

Quick clarification - 'Epic' here refers to the 6mm scale, rather than any indication of quality! I've been collecting Epic 6mm for some time now, and thought it would be interesting to write up a blog featuring some background (which will hopefully help direct the course of the project), miniature and modelling pics as well as battle reports as I go along, featuring both the infamous 12th legion and the foes unfortunate enough to lie in their path. I realise that the little guys aren't the most common scale, so this will hopefully act as a guide as well to anyone who fancies having a go themselves. So if anyone has any queries about the things featured in this blog, please ask away! So without further ado.. Background and Setting This project will cover the exploits of the 12th Legion following the discovery of Angron, and the re-naming of the legion as the World Eaters. Angron has (somewhat reluctantly) taken his place as Primarch of the legion and his influence has started to be felt, in the form of the Butcher's Nails psycho-surgery that transforms the troops into raving lunatics that want to hurt things badly. This quote from the Horus Heresy book 1: Betrayal (via Lexicanum) captures the exact moment in Pre-Heresy history: After this event (the Ghenna Massacre), the Emperor moved to intervene, reprimanding Angron and ordering the prohibition of the Butcher's Nails and similar psycho-surgery. He further ordered the World Eaters out of the main line of the Great Crusade, sending them to the northern fringes of known space to combat xenos instead of human foes. This exile, likely intended as a punishment, instead allowed the World Eaters the freedom to operate without higher Imperial observation; they did not cease from the practices the Emperor had forbidden My own take on this is that an Expedition of the Crusade (one of the later ones, the 3001st) of the World Eaters, Blood Angels, Imperial Army (inc. Abhuman regiments) has ventured into the distant galactic north, beyond the Segmentum Obscurum. There they have encountered an enormous Ork Empire, which is currently expanding and gobbling up both human worlds (un-encountered since the Long Night) and other alien worlds. Why this setting? Well for me the most interesting period of the World Eaters was always when they had started to transition into the frothing berserkers that they would later become, but elements of the 'Combined Arms' still exist - which gives a lot more modelling variety and opportunity to represent units from all aspects of warfare, and all of the elements that involves. Finally, the 6mm epic scale gives an ideal opportunity to have thousands of troops clashing amongst ruined city blocks, while Titans and other massive war machines fight alongside them. Orks would be a great opponent for them (no double looking forward to the good scrap!) and also have a great miniature range at small scale. The inclusion of the Blood Angels is to allow me to do some other Legion troops if necessary - Coming from Signus Prime, these companies have got their own demons to hide so probably wouldn't be looking too closely at their peers in the 12th. Also we do know that the Great Crusade often grouped 'more hurty' troops and legions together, to complement each other when they didn't want prisoners, so the combination seemed a logical one. The 'other aliens' bit allows me to include some of the more flowery denizens of the 30/40k universe - maybe even some we haven't seen yet! That's it for now - I'll start posting units I've already finished soon, as well as more 'in character' posts based on the stories of the 3001st expedition! Any comments (or even challenges) to the background definitely welcomed! http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_HLHHRrTQbv8/Sl8JfMkD3bI/AAAAAAAAAD8/un9opbzLzUo/S150/backginfoicon.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/7vsAoyb.jpg “What did you do? Answer me.” “I saved him, Khârn. It was the only way.” 
- Khârn, 8th Company Captain and the Primarch Lorgar Aurelian Greetings Loyalist and Traitor alike! Unsubtle title, hey? Welcome to my log of what is my new project, the equally unsubtle XII Legion. After a long break from the hobby, I have decided to finally get my juices flowing with my World Eaters, a project I have been sitting on for a while with boxes of bits hanging around waiting to be built. Those of you who know my previous work, my Flesh Eaters and my Black Legion, should know what to expect - I have always had a ‘thing’ for the more blood thirsty Chapters and Warband aspects of 40k, so my first foray into the Heresy was always going to be Angron’s unwanted sons. As you may have guessed buy the quote from Betrayer, I am going to be setting this army as late heresy, post Nuceria. By that, it will be post ascension of Angron and coloured in the newer, white and red scheme published by Forge World. I won’t be going overly Khornate, but there will be a few Khorne runes and fetishes dotted around the army - the warriors may not even know what it means or simply view it as a good luck charm - I am sure the fact that their Primarch has turned in to a :cussing huge Daemon Prince have some baring in their outlook in life ! My decision on the late heresy setting was also helped by the fact Angron is currently out of stock at Forge World, surely a sign from the Blood God? ;) Righto, enough rambling, time for some pictures. First up, test dude - http://i.imgur.com/y8FfcqK.jpg http://i.imgur.com/UQ7VSXR.jpg http://i.imgur.com/3v7ABbP.jpg http://i.imgur.com/EfDMToe.jpg http://i.imgur.com/QgAmhIM.jpg He was basically just thrown together with spare marine parts, there is in fact only his head, shoulder pads and arms that are actually HH !! Quite happy with how he turned out really, as white can be troublesome (the red and brass were already decided on) and I wanted it to look good, but not take an absolute age to do as, let’s face it, I don’t get a great deal of hobby time any more. I will be going for the green glow on power weapons and eyes as per my Flesh Eaters. Also, I know his pose doesn’t look particularly late heresy XII Legion (ie, lost the plot pose!) but hopefully his mates do a bit more - http://i.imgur.com/aS5ftnW.jpg Some of my faves - http://i.imgur.com/sSpLjmV.jpg The Sarum pattern helmets, also marine sporting arm from a Khorne Bloodreaver - http://i.imgur.com/cHRLs0R.jpg And finally, my entry in to Grotsmashers “Warlord Conversion Challenge” over in the WIP forum, Praetor Drakus Ghorn, 17th Assault Company - http://i.imgur.com/FEeuoMG.jpg Rawr http://i.imgur.com/Gz8h9iE.jpg http://i.imgur.com/Gyv3tEN.jpg I know, I have done the cloak of skulls in the past, but it just feels right for this guy! So the story goes, he was killed at Terra after rampaging his way through single combats with loyalist champions and adorning his cloak with their skulls. He was last seen duelling a red skinned Daemon thing with an equally impressive cloak of skulls atop a statue of an aquilla, enveloped in blood red smoke at the height of the fight obscuring the outcome. Neither was seen once the smoke abated. Maybe. His powerfist is magnetized, as will his back pack be for a jump pack, as I am planning on running two squads of assault marines :tu: Also in the works (read in a box, unbuilt under my bed) are a Spartan, a Leviathan with a Lucious Pod, and some various things requisitioned from my other armies including a Deredeo. I also have 50 FW Chainaxes of varying types :tu: The Spartan in particular is a point of interest as I have had it for 3 or 4 years! Surely, now is the time :D Anyway, c&c most welcome, hopefully you enjoy the bloody ride and in the words of the XII, “Kill or be killed!!”

Index Daemonica: The Antecruorian Daemonkin of Tivan Chaos is unstable. It fluctuates incessantly, its very flow counter to the rational mind, to order. As the domain, so are its denizens. Though the Chaos Gods are forever, they are not eternal. Though they have existed since time immemorial, they came into being well into their pre-existence. Once born, always existed. Though the daemons never truly die, their lives can be but the brief flickers of candlelight lost in the wind. These entities are forever changing, forever different, never uniform. The Antecruorian, the Born Unborn, are valuable examples of this reality. These daemonic creatures embodied certain aspects of Khorne since stripped, and perpetuated those aspects upon the galaxy. They were the blood-embrace, the first angels of death. They were the anger that raged quietly in the dark. It was they who lent killers their formidable charisma, who enticed and beguiled the innocent and the young to give the blood of life that their master so craved. To forsake the mundane life of virtue for an eternity of power and thirst. None encompassed the devil's blood-thirst like these monstrosities. Since before the beginnings of human history, these beasts, beautiful of form but terrible of spirit, plagued reality. Mankind was no stranger to their penetrating stare, the Antecruorian featuring in many legends, their nightmare following them from the darkness that surrounded their small fires to the empty black about their star. But the flows of the Warp change, and the waters of madness swelled with the pregnancy of a new god, born of the passions and addictions of an ancient race. Not all of its vast power was new, owned solely by this newborn deity. None either was borrowed, but drained or snatched whole, forever, from its equals. To be so diminished, to find oneself sharing the power of all between four where there was once only three, was not well received by the older gods. None raged at the birth of Slaanesh more ferociously than Khorne. For the birth of Slaanesh had erased, with sudden finality, one of his infernal Hosts, the Antecruorian. Once born, always existed. Slaanesh’s birth erased time and wrote it anew, giving this god an eternity of life before birth, just as it had done for those gods before Slaanesh, and as it will for those gods after Slaanesh. With time and existence making room for Slaanesh, the Antecruorian were erased from it. Time undone, atrocities, and afflictions visited upon the galaxy by the never-existed would fade away as a shattered timeline. Who could know what was lost, that which had never happened? Yet, not all was lost. Some memory of the Antecruorian remained, yet anchored by their daemon king, who by blood and ritual managed barely to survive the oncoming wave of unreality. Though known by many names of many tongues, the name given by the ancient Rumanii of Old Earth has remained with them past their nonexistence. Other names, distant legends, erased or subverted, become something else, such as the wamphyr, the strigoi. Perhaps it is because of their dark lord, protector of their gates, whose mortal name is long forgotten. When he rose to become Prince of the Antecruorians, he was known first as the Dracruor, the Blood Dragon. Some say he was the first Prince of this breed. Some say he was the last. Both true, both false, both irrelevant. In this now, he is the only. The Last Immortal, he has been seen across many other cultures of Old Earth, as well as other domains of humanity and beyond, and been known by as many names. When the shattered lands that once linked Nord and Sud Merica together were still enveloped with hot life, he was the War Serpent, Kukulkan. To the Lunar Chirurtechs, he was the Silent Scream. To the Eldarkin, before the rise of another would erase all memory, He Who Thirsts. Upon the distant colony of Moyscax, where he and his children reigned as Blood Gods in the outer night, where they would entomb themselves within protective earth from the galaxy-shattering cry of a new power, imprisoning their black souls within black stone, he was Tivan. For a thousand years, these blood gods survived on this world, Reigning supreme, but bound still. By replacing mortal hearts with these onyx coffins, Tivan and his children could possess and dominate. But never could they reach beyond, extend their infernal souls to be replenished in the winds of Chaos, for they yet remain anathema to its present design. To release themselves fully from their self-imprisonment in this time would be more than simple folly, it would unwrite their very existence from all of time. Only by being remade in the image of Khorne in the Blood God's current incarnation could they ever burst free from the chains they have bound themselves. Carnage, mayhem and massacres, the unthinking ferocity of murder and mindless fratricide. These are what the Blood God favor, what must be enacted a million times over for there to be metamorphosis. Though, there are some who say that this is not intended to receive once more their blood-father’s favor, but that the ritualized letting of Antecruorian blood is of altogether different symbolic relevance, a shifting of their daemonic essences to make them unaligned and free. Either possibility is irrelevant. The population of Moyscax would never be enough. But if bound to the XII Legion echelon in orbit, sent by the will of a false god in spite of a destiny writ in the blood of true divinity, the Antecruorian may yet live again . . . The story of the Antecruorian continues, as the Eyes of Tivan. =][= =][= =][= =][= =][= =][= =][= Roen screamed. His rifle lay inches away, but forgotten. The titan who towered above him encompassed the whole of his vision, and of his breaking mind. The beast, shaped like an angel of the Emperor yet so corrupted, so different, bellowed back, spittle spraying from the grille upon his helm that sizzled and burned wherever it touched, including Roen. Screaming still, in fear and agony, the guardsman weakly tried to pull himself away from the monster, across the rubble-strewn stone bridge. The titan’s head jerked back and to the side, shards of armor splintering away, the instant before the loud crack of a heavy-caliber rifle reached Roen’s ears. Roen paused in his scrabble, staring at the giant, his screams whimpering down to childlike moans and grunts of pain and exertion as he waited to see if the marksman, likely Lieben, had hit true. The traitor marine slowly rotated his head back, his whole frame visibly shaking as if containing an uncontrollable rage. Roen was struck by the vision he beheld, the fragmented helm revealing what was underneath to the light of the sun. Skin, white as marble and threaded by thick ropes of dark veins, framed an eye of all the madness of fury. As Roen stared, tiny flickers of flame appeared upon the exposed skin, the eye shriveling from the growing heat. The titan bellowed and contorted, stumbling towards the guardsman as it shed armor and skin alike. Any further screams were choked from Roen’s throat by the sight of the beast that had hidden within the World Eater. Almost Ork-like in appearance, yet devoid of its overdeveloped musculature, the tusks more finely pointed like fangs. Long and thin of limb, distended of belly, and aflame. Roen’s stomach lurched at the sight and his vision swam. The daemon pounded across the bridge, every footfall, and swipe of its claws tearing the bridge apart faster than a baneblade. Roen gagged, blood tears streamed his face, unable to flee. Distantly, the sniper Lieben lay twitching, his ears bleeding, as his mind tried, and failed, to comprehend the destruction that was being rewritten and undone as he witnessed it be wrought. The immense, burning hand closed about Roen’s torso, slamming downward with enough force to break through the bridge floor. The two forms plummeted between the towering hive spires amidst the rain of pulverized stone. The creature held fast his grip, pulling the rapidly dying guardsman to blackened lips. As the lifeblood left Roen, leaving him cold and dead, the last sight before unseeing eyes was of the diminishing bridge above, shifting back and forth between whole and pair of broken stubs. Fed upon blood, source of all power, did not save the daemon, as the consuming flames reached a fevered intensity. The creature shrieked, its cry shrill and terrible, and then detonated with nuclear fire. The expanding sphere of pure, unbound, yet flickering light was immediately visible to vessels in low orbit, and within seconds enveloped them. The planet splintered, cracked under the pressure, pieces of the world began moving independent of each other as . . . Trembling fingers found the trigger. Another resounding crack, and Roen’s rifle kicked against his shoulder. The beam burned through exposed flesh and into the brain behind the fiery eye. The World Eater ceased its contortions, and slowly collapsed, causing the stone bridge to tremble under the dead weight. Deep in the titan’s chest, a heart of black stone burns cold, empty. Daemon cage, it sat empty, void of unlife. What might have happened, in another reality, had it been filled? What destruction might such a creature have wrought when freed? Irrelevant. The battle continues. =][= =][= =][= =][= =][= =][= =][= TIVAN War Serpent of shattered sons, Blood Dragon of darkened skies The earliest recorded mention of the daemon now known as Tivan can be found deep in the central radwastes of Urazi, within the Ruslav Spires. There, kept under lock and key by the Inquisition, is a treasure trove of ancient, mythological information pertaining to the local region. These records are incomplete, and suffer greatly from countless generations of scholarly rewrites and biases, leaving only old recorded analyses of older analyses. These antiquated strictures detail a period of great turmoil for the Rumanii, as barbaric, eastern peoples waged terrible war upon them. Salvation came to the Rumanii in the form of one of their princes, whose prayers to the Sole Divine did not go unanswered. A legend speaks of this prince, visited in the night by a winged shadow, granting him angelic blood. This prince grew powerful, crushing those who had gathered before his gates, toppling all rivals to his domain, and inflicting a reign of terror upon his own. The name given to this prince upon his birth is long lost, all that remains is what, in frightened whispers, his people would call him long after his passing. Dracruor, the dragon of blood. This change of man into demon is far from thoroughly recorded, but accounts attributed to this Dracruor continue centuries after a would-be natural, mortal demise. Though somehow deposed from his position of political power, this entity would become a well-known terror within the darkness of night, preying upon humanity with rarely opposed abandon. The records state that this Dracruor had the capability of creating others like him and that many such children were made. However, no evidence has ever been found of these beasts crawling forth from his den. It was as if, in the process of transformation, they simply ceased to exist. Often throughout history, the Dracruor would fade from mortal memory, as if possessed of some demon trait to cause forgetfulness in all who consider him. Tracing his path upon Old Earth will lead one to the shattered islands of Meztli that link the Merican landmasses together. While even less reliable than the information found within the Ruslav Spires, there is some evidence of a feral god, the Kukulkan. This foul deity, popularly depicted as a great serpent, demanded blood sacrifices in his name, and molded the local tribes to his will. Though much in the myth of the War Serpent points to it and the Dracruor being the same entity, the matter is left unsettled due to the often-conflicting time periods, with some records of the Kukulkan pre-dating Dracruor. However, it is possible that the Kukulkan deity predates the creature known as Dracruor, and that in Dracruor’s travels he would come upon its worshipers who would mistake them for their terrible god. It is impossible to tell how long Dracruor took on the Kukulkan persona, as the march of central pre-civilization would eventually reach this western expanse, and with its coming bury these feral tribes beneath concrete and steel. In this age of ignorance and savagery, those dark times before Humanity would rise into the stars as a truly civilized race, the Dracruor was a figure of legendary malice. War-perpetrator, this vulture of the dead instigated conflicts of theretofore unheard of levels of bloodshed, every drop shed upon dry earth as refreshing to it as the drops that would pour down its inhuman throat. His myth also featured great amounts of guile and charisma. While when caught in the savagery of war this monster would be death for millions, it would also stalk the darkened alleys and shadowed recesses of Mankind’s villages, singling out individual victims and alluring them into its embrace. Often this latter persona of Dracruor’s was connected to the rise and fall of Luna, which perhaps makes it unsurprising what one can find in the recorded histories of the Selenekh Hallowdomes. The populace of Luna has long been a fey lot, easily given over to superstitions, but in this, they may not have been far from the truth. How or why the Dracruor traveled to Luna is not understood, but it quickly began making its mark once it set foot upon the grey dust. In time, the dusty plains surrounding the Selenekh Hallowdomes were littered with the desiccated corpses of the enchanted and the enticed. The chirurgeons of Luna were distressed by the bodies, their faces pulled tight and mouths frozen wide, caught in an eternal silent scream of horror in their final, tortured moments. The Dracruor would plague Luna for centuries, yet could never be cornered or brought to task. In fact, there is little to confirm that this creature of the moon is the Dracruor, but for its identifying behavior and what few reputable eyewitness accounts one can uncover. While potential incidents may have occurred that prove the Dracruor’s continued presence within the Sol System, it appears as though the beast took refuge within the great Hibernatships of Mankind’s initial diasporas into the greater black. Little reliable sources can be found on the creature from this point, though all told points to it perpetuating an age of darkness and blood upon many a world. During the Age of Strife, when the warpstorms isolated and swallowed the domains of humanity, all mention of the Dracruor ceases. Ancient cartographical data originating from the Great Crusade reveal the potential home of the Dracruor during this period. Labeled Moyscax, it was given a peripheral scan and superficial planetside exploration. What was found was a planet enveloped in dark jungles and hot waters, populated by warlike native humans who had truly gone feral upon the fall of civilization millennia prior. A false faith was prominently catalogued, as was the habit of Imperials of this age. The tribes of Moyscax worshiped a pantheon of dark gods who thirsted for blood, and who walked among them as if of them. Though their highest god, the most devoted one by the name of Tivan, matches all prior descriptions of the Dracruor, there are oddities to be found. For one, this Tivan is described as a god contained within the heart of stoneblood, and who walks and massacres among its faithful by means of a devoted taking this stone device within him or herself, replacing their mortal heart. Secondly, this account holds the only reliable source on the so-called children of the Dracruor, often hinted in older legends but never given weight due to severe lack of evidence. Matching in behavior and description, though in varying degrees sorely lacking in strength of will and physical prowess, these lesser deities are likewise encased within small, eye-scoured blocks of stone. Whatever the case may have been, the planet was tagged for immolation at the hands of the XII Legion, a task undertaken in the opening days of betrayal that would bring the Great Crusade to an end. Decades later, when Imperial vengeance entered Moyscax space, they found a planet still in a slow blaze, with the few survivors taken into Imperial possession raving of their need to attract their gods back to them with acts of bloodshed. They were in short order put down. In the process of confirming classification of Moyscax as a Dead World, no material evidence of their false faith was found, beyond the ruined remains of ossified temples splattered with boiled blood. Whatever was on Moyscax, if it was the Dracruor, left with the World Eaters. =][= =][= =][= =][= =][= =][= =][= BLOOD OF STONE Blood Nonetheless Rodon found the talisman archaic, rudimentary, and foul to his senses, as any trueborn son of Magnus would the blunt work of the Blood God. Yet, he could not help but admire the effectiveness to be found within its simplicity. The stone was warm to the touch, lightly pulsating in the semblance of beating life. Everything about it spoke to its nature. A rock of black glass, forged from the fiery blood found deep within the heart of a world. Its shape smooth and smoky, yet contoured to fit perfectly within the cavity of a full-grown man’s chest. An indentation upon the stone, that of a small circle, gave it the impression of an eye. It was the ritual importance of the eye that lent it its power and integrity, and yet the carving upon the stone predates the power of the eye as a ritual device. The Eye of Terra, not yet raised, not yet corrupted. The Eye of Terror, symbol of the Warp upon the material plane, not yet named. Eye of Horus, of Abaddon. The Eye of the Warmaster not yet born. The eye stared outward from the stone, and by looking out prevented all sight of within. It was basic, lacking in subtlety or complexity, yet Rodon found the blood-washed stone alluring. How this Tivan had the knowledge or wherewithal to even conceive of these black hearts, constructs that would house beings existing outside time that was, is and will be, was completely beyond him. Both the device and the daemon were decidedly unlike anything the Thousand Son had ever encountered among the Khorne-sworn. But then, he supposed that may be the point. =][= =][= =][= =][= =][= =][= =][= To Become a God If Able Krune tore the twelfth heart from a screaming savage. It was a sacred number to his brothers, for it was their Legion numeral in the ancient past. It meant nothing to Krune, as this Legion many of his older brothers were once a part of meant nothing to him. Nevertheless, he tightened his grip on the young boy thrown flat upon the stone as it went into spasms. Krune passed the heart to a brother, who held it aloft with a roar before devouring it, and gestured for one of the gods to be handed over. Dutifully, an attendant serf, one of the Blood-touched, heavily scarred from the lash and the pit-duels, passed him the obsidian stone with reverence, his hands and forearmed heavily threaded with black lines from the contact. It was one of hundreds kept in the possession of Krune and his brothers, who each bore one within them as well. All had been upon a stone slab such as this one, their hearts ripped free and replaced. Gripping the small form of this lesser god in his armored palm, Krune once again marveled at the ease with which he could simply crush it, grind it into dust. Though such acts of deicide were not uncommon among his uncontrollable brothers, it was well known that all god-slayers are hunted down, slain and their skulls and obsidian hearts ground to powder, lest their perfidy taint the warband further. As always, Krune dismissed the thought and plunged the hand gripping the stone of liquid black into the boy’s chest cavity, holding it in place where the heart once was. Instantly, the body arched its back upwards, veins becoming visible as something darker than the space between stars threaded through. The screams sputtered and became choking, the spasms grew in strength. One of the serfs reached over with some gear taken from the corpse of a medicae, and stapled the boy’s chest closed. The boy’s head snapped around as the noises escaping his tortured throat became filled with anger. Eyes of the deepest black stared at Krune with pure hatred. Then the flesh around the eyes browned and blackened, and small embers formed in the eyes. The roars of anger degenerated back into screams of pain, as blackening spots appeared across the body. With a snarl of disgust, Krune tossed the boy off the altar with a swipe of an arm. It came to rest at the base of the temple of skulls among blackened skeletons just as flames began to flicker across the skin. Krune looked across at the other half dozen altars built upon the smoldering plains of this feral world. One of his distant brothers roared in triumph, holding high his sacrificial victim by the throat. Even across this considerable distance, Krune’s enhanced sight bore witness to the changes beginning to come upon the boy. He let out a deep growl as he gestured impatiently for the Blood-touched to drag forth another of the crying masses below. Krune tore the thirteenth heart from a screaming savage.

Hello friends, I decided to gather all my 30k related work in a single thread for easier viewing and whatnot. I'm gonna try to give a better idea of my thought proccess when making my models. - Alpha Legion - After reading the awesome Praetorian of Dorn by John French I knew I had to put together a small Cell of operatives. http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w194/darkman1111/P1240815.jpg Alpha Legion Sergeant. Basing : The harrowing is taking place somewhere in the Sol System, Alpha Legion vs Imperial Fists, firefights in an urban setting. I gave GW's sector imperialis bases a try and I was pleasently surprised, the details are copied from the SE Realm of Battle but are also flattened, marines stand on them nicely because of this. Modeling / Painting : The arms were cut and pinned to get the pose I aimed for, then greenstuff the gaps. Simple and effective. Gave him a tabard inspired by the art of HH books, observed on warriors of all ranks. Even tho I dont know the meaning of this, I sculpted this hairy item next to the cloth. These things also appear on the AL contemptor... Hmmm... For the armor I used mainly metallics and tamiya paints, following Kizzdougs' recipe as a starter and taking it from there. C & C welcome.

It's been a long time away, but I have been lurking for years. I semi-officially "retired" from the hobby back in 2015, deciding to put my free time into video games as they were simpler and I could stay in touch with friends scattered across the US. The bug never left though, even through the myriad of sell-offs I undertook. I couldn't part with the massive SM collection I had amassed or my beloved Orks. I did part with my entire CSM Bits collection (a whopping 10 pounds worth) which I still regret. Ah well, the new CSM sculpts are light years better than the previous ones. I've been reacquainting myself with my hobby tools, paints, brushes etc. Tossing out old paints that are no good, etc. My kids bought me an airbrush package a couple of Christmases ago, so I've broken that out and started that (steep) learning curve as well. As an exercise, I pulled out a 3 man set of Primaris Intercessors and spent a couple of weeks with them. The first one I painted to "completion", not worrying about clean blends and niggling details, just the joy of painting again. It's always been my zen place. The place where I have lost thousands of hours over the last three decades. Also the first steps towards cementing a scheme for my massive army that I've never painted. The airbrush gives me hope. Pics are all from my iPhone. My light booth and camera setup are all still stuffed away, so it might be some time before I can get better images. This is all brush work, using P3 paints exclusively as I know exactly what they can and cannot do. It felt good to not only paint a model for the first time in 4 years, but actually allow myself to call it good enough. No worries about smooth blends and clean lines, just exploring the sculpt with the brush. I'm my own worst critic (as are many hobbyists) and I'm trying to put that aside in favor of enjoyment. Painting & converting at the professional levels sucked all of the joy away from the hobby which led in large part to my retirement. With the first model wrapped up I mulled it over for a few days and went on to the second. I went for a lighter gray base color, wanting more of a "cool" white. A bit neater this time, playing more with the hard edges and recesses. The first one used green on the lenses, so I went with blue on this one to see the difference. I didn't bother finishing the base as these are not the bases the army will be standing on. A bit closer now, much smoother. Muscle memory starting to come back to me. The third I focused entirely on the white, ignoring pretty much everything else. I'm not going to have any bare heads in the army, so no point in working on the head. Still working out whether or not to add a dark red to the helmets for sergeants. I've added a skull to the backpack of the sergeant to indicate rank and to make them easier to ID on sight. (Not that I play or anything.) The lighting in the pic almost makes it look unpainted, but the white is indeed painted and the smoothest white I've done in years. Trouble is, it was with the brush and if I want to finish the army some time in the next decade I will need to focus on the airbrush for the majority of the work. Fortunately power armor lends itself very well to that.

New stuff pretty much Starts on Page 3! Older stuff in this post being spoilered

Old content here in the OP, can disregard, I'm keeping it here to edit/modify it in the future. The first page is discussion re: a discarded idea. Had this thread moved to WIP forum to be merged with my other WIP thread. Thank you for looking! Currently writing up a bunch of narrative for fun as well, hope to share that soon. Much more to come!