On naming Grey Knights

[Silent Requiem]

I had been intending to steal Adioneus' idea for naming Grey Knights. He named all the knights in a squad after stars in a given constellation.

 

However, these names are all primarily arabic or scientific, and I'm worried about the "feel" of it. Think PAGK "Saiph", "Meissa", "Alnilam" or "Rigel".

 

Then I came up with the idea as heck using characters from Shakespeare's plays. But would these names have have too much connotation? Think PAGK "Romeo", "Othello" or "Iago". Are the villanous names to be avoided? The tragic ones? The Leonardo Di Caprio ones?

 

I'd like some feedback on which is the better idea before I start painting :unsure: Feel free to post your reasons or alternative ideas. I only want to do this once (more).

 

-Silent Requiem

[Brother Tual]

I dont name all of my Ultra-marines but I do name the squad sergeants and significant models -

 

Ultra-marines have a 'style' though - greek - roman - and now 'gothic' I use a mixture of latin and biblical names as well as those I just find through reading -

 

My alias here - Tual - Came from an introduction from a Fantasy novel - It was the name of a sword - Tual Masok - or Blood Drinker - (I dont really remember the exact meaning - something Similar- )

 

I name my venerable Dreadnought Astus Fortis - It means Brave and Cunning in latin - or there abouts - The name suits the model AND my army theme - I have other latin names which they first earnt and then I gave to them - I have a Veteran Sergeant (not used in my batrep) that has a habit of slayng models that he should not be doing - Taking the last wound off Dante, downing multiple assault terminators etc - He has earnt the name 'Giant Killer' or Maximus Occido (powerful slayer) and instantly my regular opponents tell me to put him back in my case when I bring him out.

 

I found the name Aricin on some random web site - It has no meaning but I liked it - same with Caelestis -

 

I dont think it would be bad to pick the names you like even though they cross themes - Ie star names and shakespearean names in the same unit - It may lack a 'theme' but if you pick the right ones it should not be noticeable - to no one else but your self that is - just breaks up the overly one sided "feel" -

[Pistorius]

Personally, I name my Grey Knights after Early Church Fathers/Prominent Theologians. Who better to be slaying daemonkind? Thus, my GKs are named: Irenaeus, Cyprian, Origen, Justin, Clement, Cauvin, Ludher, Arminius, Basil, Gregory, Ignatius, etc.

 

I even named my Dreadnought after John Chrysostom, which is Greek for "Golden-mouthed," so I painted the lower half of his "face" gold.

 

Of your two suggestions, I like the star/constellation idea because Shakespeare is so well-known that your references will be obvious. GW themselves like to make you work a little bit to discover their inspiration, and I like this. It's fun when you finally make the connection and see how they were inspired in creating their background/fluff.

[Feor]

Most GK names tend towards Latin(Gothic) names. I personally suggest taking your constellation ideas and then "gothicizing" your names.

 

Saiph = Saiphus

Meissa = Meissan

Alnilam = Alnilamas

Rigel = Rigelan

[Call of Valhalla]

What about squad names? I've come up with some Latin words, like "Punitor" (Punisher) and "Talios" (Retribution), but I think it's a little bit too corny.

 

I haven't come up with any individual names for my PAGK, but my BC is named Mordecai Crassus. And for one of my dreads, I came up with Abulurd Mephistes.

[Feor]

Grey knights typically follow Codex squad naming proceedures. That is, the squad is named after the squad sergeant. (So your Brother Captian's termi squad would be Squad Crassus, for example)

[CorvidMP]

I'm acutally going celtic with mine.

 

One squad of PAGK will be named after Finn Mac Cool and the Fianna, another afterCu Cuhulain and the Knights of the Redbranch.

Termies get named after gods (lugh, herne ect.)

and my seraphim squad named for the numerous warrior women (Aife, Skye, Maeve ect.)

 

I'm even trying out a little varient on the paint job, using a green ink wash in stead of the blue, and using dark green, bleached bone, and a little bit o brown for the heraldry.

[- 7eAL -]

The Knights are the best and purest of the human species - it seems fitting to me that the Knights would draw recruits from all worlds and all races as they pursue the strongest, fastest and smartest psychic representatives of the species as a whole. For this purpose, I simply name them after the greatest and most admired historical and legendary heroes of as many cultures as I can find.

Even "Tepes" is fine as the nickname of the historical Vlad Dracula, for the man is a folk hero in Romanian culture despite his infamous cruelty.

 

As far as heraldry goes, I even give the knights different colours. I use a limited palette for this part of course, but the great expanses of (tarnished) silver armour and (muddied) white tabards and robes are sufficiently unifying for the majority of the force.

[Death and Gravity]

I like to name them after angels, such as Michael, Uzziel, Remiel, Raguel, etc. It seems fitting for the Emperor's most faithful warriors.

[Whizzer]

On a more comical, trollish note, a guy I know from my local gaming store named his Grandmaster "Father Badass". Don't get me wrong, he earned the name on a regular basis, but then one game 4 fire warriors beat him to death, and hes never been seen since. :teehee:

[Feor]

On a more comical, trollish note, a guy I know from my local gaming store named his Grandmaster "Father Badass". Don't get me wrong, he earned the name on a regular basis, but then one game 4 fire warriors beat him to death, and hes never been seen since.

 

Trained for decades to battle the horrors of Chaos, he found himself woefully unprepared for the menace that was... The Greater Good

"Get away from me you damned hippies! No. NO! Not the daisys, anything but the daisys! Aaarrrggghhh!"

 

Unofficially (as in never actually wrote it on him) I dubbed my Thunder Hammer/NFW toting commander Grand Master Charlie Hammer. or GMC Hammer. Sometimes I'll even give him an Icon of the Just, so you truly can not touch that. :teehee:

 

Even "Tepes" is fine as the nickname of the historical Vlad Dracula, for the man is a folk hero in Romanian culture despite his infamous cruelty.

Also not a bad nickname on account of the fact that, by Imperium standard, Vlad was pretty mild. :)

[- 7eAL -]

Even "Tepes" is fine as the nickname of the historical Vlad Dracula, for the man is a folk hero in Romanian culture despite his infamous cruelty.

Also not a bad nickname on account of the fact that, by Imperium standard, Vlad was pretty mild. :)

I guess it's important to have Knights with a little personality rather than a pack of mindless destroyers - no harm in having a Knight that's say, particularly bloodthirsty ...

[NosMO]

Well I am using names from Shakespeare's plays.

and I must say that Justicar Iago is one bad ass grey knight. and my good luck marine. as long as he is on the board I still have a chance to win. But that is just me.

 

NosMo

[Liltom]

I dont know if it could be applied to grey knights, but I name all my blood angels things like "Lemmy", "Greg" and "Garfield".

Vindicator "Splat death", Baal predator "Big red Baal". I love the story "Father badass"

[Red Lost Soldier]

It's just not fair that Blood Angels get all the sexually insinuating names. :rolleyes:

 

I keep changing my mind as to what I should name mine. I've named a few for their battlefield exploits, including a Justicar who simply cannot seem to hit anything. I had a similar idea to the Shakespeare one for naming, but not being restricted to one source. I was looking through all my books/games/movies and picking out characters that I enjoying reading about, and the idea was that my Knights would take on the personality of those characters fondly etched in my memory.

 

Brother Taita, from River God. Brother Dorian, from The Potrait of Dorian Grey. Brother Vincent, from FFVII. Brother Sydney, from Vagrant Story. Brother Leonard, from Memento. Brother Justicar Guts, from Berserk. Etc.

 

Shakespeare does have the right sounding names though. The Roman/Grecian style suits the Gothic universe of the Imperium. You have to be careful though, as some like "Demetrius" appear several times with vastly different characters. Some like "Iago" don't really fit with the Grey Knights in general, unless you're going for an interesting slant on them.

 

When you give a name to a Knight that already means something to you, you're instilling a previous personality into them to guide their future actions. I'm thinking of either giving the Knight the name that suits what he has done, or giving the Knight the name of a character already known to me and instilling the 'soul' of a fondly remembered character with new life on the tabletop.

[cryptomancer]

Depending on your souces they might be a bit harder to find (check the nearest University Library or something), but what about Greek plays? Since you don't need anything other than names, they're a much more heavily populated source than, say, Greek mythology. Usually there's six or seven male characters minimum in each play. The dialogue is so stylized it's really not worth wading through for most people; just look up the dramatis personae or whatever.

[Silent Requiem]

There have been some great ideas here, and I'd like to thank everyone for them. I think I'll go for "latinising" the star names, as that gives me a blank canvas to work with.

 

When you give a name to a Knight that already means something to you, you're instilling a previous personality into them to guide their future actions. I'm thinking of either giving the Knight the name that suits what he has done, or giving the Knight the name of a character already known to me and instilling the 'soul' of a fondly remembered character with new life on the tabletop.

 

This is an often overlooked point, but one that I am in COMPLETE agreement with. Names have power. And that is why I'm not going with the Shakesperian or Greek play names, even though I think they sound better (Iago is such a cool name! Othello and Lear also rock). Too much previous connotation. (Brother Captain Oedipus for the loss :tu:)

 

Still, I'm sure that none of these ideas will go to waste, as I think most of us like to put something in that little "name tag" on all our GK.

 

-Silent Requiem

[amuro_ray]

On naming my knights, i usually have several choice

 

1. European Legendaries: Thor (The Hammer), Gram (The Black Sword)

2. Japanese Legendaries: Musashi, Benkei

3. PC Games Characters: Tiber (from Elder Scrolls), Daedalus (Deus EX)

4. Animes: Amuro (Gundam)

5. Movies: Maverick (TOP GUN)

6. Books on naming babies

7. Random Jumbled names that sounds cool: Gav

 

I mixed them so they doesn't sound coming from the same colony/planet/whatever

[NosMO]

Well I also have Brother Capitan Marv....From Sin City, but I do also live in Sin city. So I think it fits.

And just for you at home taking notes, Justicar Iago just went 3 rounds of hth with a DA chaplain and manage to lay 2 wounds on him before Iago went down. Not to shabby.

 

 

NosMo

[vytzka]

I use Latin names for my Grey Knights (usually Marcus, Lucius and so on for PAGK squads), and I generally like researching historical figures to steal names from for the prominent characters.

 

My Grand Master is named Flavius Aetius.

[elShoggotho]

My GK characters have pseudo-German names, the justicar names are blatantly ripped off from Vampire: The Masquerade. The Camarilla has Justicars - mighty characters, one of each clan, with great names. I just used these. Brother Arlon, my dreadnought, has his name from some video game mid-boss.

[Inquisitor =D=]

It may just be my personal fancy but all of my Grey Knights bear the names of my personal friends and family. Seems silly I know but it makes my army that much more mine. Besides, it gives me the challenge of altering existing models to better suit their namesakes.

[Thaelion Hexis]

I don't have any specific themes, as Grey knights are recruited from a wide variety of savage worlds.

[Silent Requiem]

@ Inquisiton =D=: That is what I currently do, but I get all bothered by casualties. Which friend takes the hit? Do I feel guilty if one of them gets killed more than the others (such as the incinerator model against power armour)? Why is he a marine, and he a justicar? No. It's time for a change. I just get way too "emo".

 

@ Marshal Paul: I understand the concept. But many religious and psuedo religious organisations, it is customary for a new name to be taken on becoming a full member.

 

It re-enforces the idea that the past life is gone, an important concept for GK, for whom old loyalties could be manipulated by the Enemy.

 

Finally, it creates a stronger sense of group culture, which is again critical for troops that are often isolated against an enemy that attacks the mind/sanity/identity as well as the body.

 

-Silent Requiem

[Inquisitor =D=]

I understand your sentiments Silent. Sometimes you do feel guilty for taking certain models off the board. Only way I get past it is that I'm playing the wrong army to worry about that. :) We're friggin Grey Knights! They're all gonna die by then end of the battle. I'm used to that. A lot of my games end with only my tanks and the justicars on the board. Doesn't mean I don't win, its just usually a really close game.