DARK TUSKS

[Conor The Great]

I just started reading Brothers of the Snake and it has just got to the part with the Dark Tusks.Now it iniatially they are refered to as a tzeench cult,but then they attack the Iron Snakes with poisoned weapons that corrode flesh?That not sound a little on the Nurgle side of things?

I ask because a friend of mine liked the book(his 1st 40k novel)and decide to start a Dark Tusks army,He dosnt know which way to go with his warband.

Any Help?

[Nurgle71]

I would say start an army of both with a Tzeentch lkeader or something like that.

[Dark Disciple]

From what I remember of the Dark Tusks they do sound more Nurgly than Tzeentchian.

The book never did state why they were there. I read it as the squad that Damocles faced were scouts.

It explains why the majority of the Dark Tusks attacked the facility later.

Your friend however, could do both.

Life and Death. Stagnation and Change

 

Disciple

[Commissar Molotov]

Having read Brothers of the Snake, I've wondered why more people haven't picked up on the Dark Tusks. I remember thinking that they seemed quite cool.

 

Pg. 72 of the book describes... 'the hulking, pustular form of a Dark Tusk warrior, cackling over the smoking muzzle of his weapon.' Another warrior is described as wielding a 'rusty, barbed lance' and Priad can smell the 'foetid stench of corrupting matter'. A third is described as 'whooping and sucking with liquid laughter.'

 

Pg. 73 describes the death of Maced to 'poisonous splinter barbs from some inhuman Dark Tusk gun' and 'a dirty, toxic knife'.

 

Pg.74 depicts Raphon being impaled by 'a barbed and rusted spike' - Abnett goes on to describe the warrior, 'half as big again as [Priad and Raphon], ancient armour black and shiny like a great scarab, dressed with filthy loops of chain'. He is described as a 'vile thing'.

 

Pg. 78 depicts 'Dark Tusks, in two assault teams, with Razorbacks in support.'

 

I didn't see anything to depict them as Tzeentch worshippers. I believe the cult on Rosetta was a Tzeentchian cult (c.f. P.70) but the Dark Tusks themselves seem to be Nurgle worshippers, or at the very least undivided with a heavy leaning towards Nurgle. They appear to be a renegade Chapter rather than a splinter of the Death Guard, given their use of Razorbacks (though they could have been captured) - that said, the warrior is said to wear 'ancient armour'. They seem to enjoy killing the Iron Snakes, and I think you can take them in a number of directions depending on how you want to depict them. They could practice their worship of Chaos/Nurgle in a specific way - because sometimes we make the mistake of thinking all Nurgle worshippers (for example) would worship their patron God in exactly the same way. They're definitely fertile ground for your friend to build upon in whatever direction he'd like.

[Conor The Great]

Cheers ill let him know

[Drudge Dreadnought]

They struck me as being the nurgle counterpart of the Iron Snakes, what with their use of spears and the like. Its who i've always planned to do if i ever do nurgle.

[Magnus Thane]

They do sound interesting. Does anyone have a piccie of how their colorscheme might look?

[Sarr]

From what I remember, they had a glossy black armor. Not much else in the way of description.

[Commissar Molotov]

Indeed, the quotes in my post are all you get from Brothers of the Snake. "ancient armour black and shiny like a great scarab, dressed with filthy loops of chain." But there's a lot you can do with that to build upon it. It makes me think of those times you see spiders and insects under super magnification and they're so alien and other that you can't help your skin crawling. I see the Dark Tusks as being rather menacing indeed!