army for soul drinkers

[baoh]

hi, im planning on making a soul drinkers army. its only a small one, but i want 2 tac squads 2 dreads (dont know which ones are best) and im not yet quite sure on a hq choice, what do you think is best?.

also they will all be assinged drop pods for transport.

it'll be for close range firefights, but i want them to be able to defend against getting assaulted.

 

in case your confused and i havent put it out clearly, i need advice on;

 

hq choice

 

dreadnought loadouts (2 of them)

 

good points and bad about the drop pods (why i should/should not use them. whichever your opinion may be)

 

thanks alot

 

baoh :blink:

[Giga]

HQ:

Librarian Sarpedon - just make sure you convert him to have spider legs

Captain with terminator armor

Chaplain Iktinos

 

Troops:

tactical squads with no heavy weapons, but with flamers and plasma guns

scouts of any type

 

Fast Attack:

Assault marines with no special weapons, and without jumppacks

 

Everything footslogs. No other transport except drop pods, and no dreadnoughts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well that's how they roll in the books. Cold and Fast indeed. =/

 

 

 

I personally considered making a Soul Drinkers army but using the chaos marines codex for it. I'd have a khorne berzerkers unit led by converted Tellos, to represent Soul Drinkers footslogger assault marines, and a sorcerer with tzeench flying mount to represent sarpedon and his ability to move fast & climb over everything. Just dunno how I'd represent Iktinos.

[Hellios]

I personally considered making a Soul Drinkers army but using the chaos marines codex for it. I'd have a khorne berzerkers unit led by converted Tellos, to represent Soul Drinkers footslogger assault marines, and a sorcerer with tzeench flying mount to represent sarpedon and his ability to move fast & climb over everything. Just dunno how I'd represent Iktinos.

 

Chaos Lord with Mark on Tzeentch and a power weapon you now have a 4++ and your crozius and your a lot meaner than your avarage chaplain ;)

[DarkGuard]

I agree with Giga, no vehicles except for Drop Pods.

 

However, I would have to disagree and say that you can use jump packs with your Assault Squads, they are still used by the remaining Assault Squads.

 

I've also thought about, and so this is my thought on how to play the Soul Drinkers with C:SM:

 

HQ -

Sarpedon = Librarian with bike epistolary and the avenger psychic power (the Hell rendering everyone infront of him incapable of combat.

Other HQs are pretty self-explanatory. (ie. Captain, other Librarians and Chaplain - no Master of the Forge). Command Squads are a yes but no Honour Guard or Chapter Master.

 

Troops -

Tactical Squads, lots of them. Don't be afraid to try for 10 man squads, the Soul Drinkers do still use them, and go mad with special and heavy weapons, Squad Salk uses a plasma gun and a heavy bolter by Chapter War..

Scouts depending on what 'era' you are doing.

 

Elites -

Perhaps one normal Terminator Squad, and/or one Sternguard Squad. Techmarine and Servitors are fine. No Dreadnoughts or Assault Terminators.

 

Fast Attack -

Assault Squads, with or without jump packs. Perhaps one Vanguard Squad. I'd say no to any type of bike squad, and no to Land Speeders.

 

Heavy Support -

Devastator Squads yes, everything else no.

 

Also, it might be worth saying that you really can't use many special characters with a Soul Drinkers army, although you could argue that Kayvaan Shrike could be used as a Captain Luko, they both have lightning claws, it isn't unfeasible to assume that he may use a jump pack every now and then. Also, this gives you the fleet ability, which will emphasize the Cold and Fast nature of the Soul Drinkers, getting into combat quickly where they have the advantage.

 

Of course, you could also go for a pre-schism Soul Drinkers army, in which case field everything except the newer things, but then where would be the fun in that?

[baoh]

so all in all, people think i should go for mainly troops, no dreads (why not?) and sarpedon... only thing with him is i cant be arsed to make and convert a marine into the right type because im quite ocd, thus it would be expensive to make and take ages. i like the idea of mixing the chaos and normal, but i think they'd look predominately imperium as they still have a soft spot for the emperor! haha! i REALLY like the chaplain idea, im sure he can be a single hq choice or am i wrong? i could easily make him. the termie captain i like but i know id just buy a SM metal captain in termie armour and call it at that!

[Giga]

I agree with Darkguard on everything except... Isn't Luko a sergeant? I only read the first 3 books. Did they promote him later?

[DarkGuard]

I agree with Darkguard on everything except... Isn't Luko a sergeant? I only read the first 3 books. Did they promote him later?

 

Why thank you :D

 

Yeah, Luko was promoted by the time Chapter War started, and was the most senior Captain by the time of Hellforged IIRC. Both are good books as well, well worth a read. It's quite handy as well, they promote Luko when you can no longer give Tactical Sergeants Lightning Claws....

 

Of course, there is no evidence in the books that Luko uses or prefers a jump pack (he probably served in an Assault Squad like every Space Marine before joining a Tactical Squad), but it seems completely in character with him, and is a nice way to get some decent rules to help field a good Soul Drinkers army.

 

baoh, the Soul Drinkers were originally the ship-to-ship assault elements of the Imperial Fists before being broken from the Legion. Daenyathus devised his philosophy around striking hard and fast. However, although it is feasible that they may have used Dreadnoughts before breaking with the Imperium there has been no evidence that they use vehicles after the schism with the Imperium. In fact, the only vehicles they have used are assault gun ships (the boats in Soul Drinker), in addition to nicking some Chimeras from the Imperial Guard in the Bleeding Chalice. With their equipment and resources, it is unlikely that the Soul Drinkers can currently deploy and mantain a large amount of assault vehicles, and Dreadnoughts would probably need a bit more maintenance.

 

Basically, the Soul Drinkers just can't deploy vehicles and other Dreadnoughts in their operations. Most of their recent actions have been quick assaults using Thunderhawks and other assault ships, or infiltration before striking out. There is no place for vehicles in this.

 

As for Sarpedon, he doesn't always lead the Soul Drinkers. Between Crimson Tears and Chapter War he would coordinate the Soul Drinkers' battles, but wouldn't show himself to Imperial Worlds, instead allowing Iktonis, Luko or Karraidin to represent him.

[baoh]

backstory and clear concise explanation = SUPERB! thanks darkguard! i have read up on them although i havent had the chance to read the novels im afriad! :D and if you were wondering what era, i figured just as they split and went on thier own, so thier armour isnt 'chaos-ed' up, besides in some of the book covers they dont have dodgy spiky bit on them! haha.

giga, do you know of any piccies of what this chaplain looks like?

 

also me thinks;

 

hq - chaplain or termie bloke

 

troops - 2 tac squads, both sarges w/combi flamers. plasma guns, not sure about heavies although if the book says heavy bolters then i will include them.

 

elites - vanguard/sternguard whichever has jump packs i'll remove (good or bad move? in terms of playability and cohesive-ness to the story)

 

all w/ drop pods

 

the force will be small to start with i think. anything else guys? your doing excellently so far! haha!

[Giga]

Iktinos looks like a normal chaplain. There's nothing special about his appearance, if memory serves. His face, I think, in one scene where he removes his mask, is dark skinned and he has dark eyes. As far as I know, he doesn't have any special mutations.

 

The cool thing about modeling Soul Drinkers is that you can give them all sorts of mutations, since pretty much all power armored battle brothers have mutated in some way.

 

Sergeant Graevus, for example, has a massive mutated hand. This could be represented by giving him the huge mutated claw-like arm from chaos marine mutations sprue. Some battle brothers have stuff like scales growing on the back of their arms, three eyes, horns, etc.

 

Also, you should pick up the Soul Drinkers Omnibus and read it. It'll give you a good idea of what you're dealing with + it'll likely serve as a well of inspiration.

[baoh]

looks like i should!! the color scheme grabbed me and the background (lexicanum) was amazing. plus its a good transition from my iron warriors

[Hackbar]

Don't limit yoruself to just heavy bolters. I imagine the Soul Drinkers would be light onheavies like the plasma or las cannons, simply because those are high tech, but I know in the beginning of bleeding chalice it is mentioned that Dreo's squad had a missile launcher before they ditched it because it was un-needed dead weight. I would say low-tech heavy weapons like heavy bolter and missile launcher, but the others would be rare (1 per army?) both because of their high-tech nature and thr chapter's preference for close combat. (some squads should have no heavies)

[DarkGuard]

backstory and clear concise explanation = SUPERB! thanks darkguard! i have read up on them although i havent had the chance to read the novels im afriad! :P and if you were wondering what era, i figured just as they split and went on thier own, so thier armour isnt 'chaos-ed' up, besides in some of the book covers they dont have dodgy spiky bit on them! haha.

giga, do you know of any piccies of what this chaplain looks like?

 

also me thinks;

 

hq - chaplain or termie bloke

 

troops - 2 tac squads, both sarges w/combi flamers. plasma guns, not sure about heavies although if the book says heavy bolters then i will include them.

 

elites - vanguard/sternguard whichever has jump packs i'll remove (good or bad move? in terms of playability and cohesive-ness to the story)

 

all w/ drop pods

 

the force will be small to start with i think. anything else guys? your doing excellently so far! haha!

 

The book says that Squad Salk uses a plasma gun in Bleeding Chalice, and that one of the members (Karrick) started using a heavy bolter around the time of Chapter War. So feel free to take whatever heavy weapons you want. It is feasible that will use lascannons, missile launchers, plasma cannons whatever is need to do the job. Despite the fact that they are Excommunicate and an assault based Chapter doesn't stop them from using heavy weapons. In Hellforged they were using a Devastator Squad (I think it had missile launchers).

 

However, what I am trying to say is that apart from the main characters (ie. Sarpedon, Iktonis etc), feel free to try out different equipment with this force, because they will still have supplies. I do agree with Hackbar though, in that they would prefer low duty, easy maintenance weapons such as the humble heavy bolter and missile launcher.

 

Vanguard are fast attack, and don't worry about removing the jump packs, Soul Drinkers still use them. In Chapter War Squad Graevus used them, and in the Bleeding Chalice Tellos led about 3 Squads who all used jump packs. However, if you are doing a post Crimson Tears army, then it may be better to limit your Assault Squads and Jump Pack units to about 1 per army.

 

And in terms of playability, keep the jump packs. The Soul Drinkers need as much help as they can get, which is why I suggested a counts as Shrike as Captain Luko (round the time of Chapter War - Hellforged), as having fleet for an assault based Chapter is a good idea, and the equpiment between Shrike and Luko isn't to different (just the jump pack).

 

A note that the termie bloke (or Karraidin) is armed with a power fist, storm bolter and terminator armour, so no the best choice playability wise IMHO.

 

Sergeant Graevus, for example, has a massive mutated hand. This could be represented by giving him the huge mutated claw-like arm from chaos marine mutations sprue. Some battle brothers have stuff like scales growing on the back of their arms, three eyes, horns, etc.

 

Also, you should pick up the Soul Drinkers Omnibus and read it. It'll give you a good idea of what you're dealing with + it'll likely serve as a well of inspiration.

 

Sergeant Graevus still uses his axe in that hand, so for modelling I'd just bulk out the hand with green stuff, or put the axe on that mutation hand :lol:

Game wise, using a Vanguard Sergeant with Relic Blade wouldn't a bad idea, representing a stronger blow at a slower pace (although his hand is supposed to be very dextrous).

 

I second that you should read the books, they are awesome. The Omnibus has the 1st 3 books, and then there is Chapter War followed by Hellforged.

 

baoh, if you are doing an army when they have just split from the Imperium, I'll give you a quick run down through the best ideas for the army from the Codex.

 

HQ:

Sarpedon - Libby on bike and epistolary (force staff and spider legs) (or Chapter Master as there are no psychic powers similar to his in the book. A relic blade can be the Soulspear and the OB can be his power, sort of).

Captain Karraidin - Captain with power fist, storm bolter and termy armour

Captain Dreo (before Bleeding Chalice) - he was a good shot so try and get a bolter or storm bolter in there (he had a bolter in the book)

Chaplain Iktonis - standard Chaplain

Librarian Tyrendian - epistolary with shooting powers (force sword)

Librarian Gresk - epistolary with combat powers (force axe)

Command Squad is fine.

NO Chapter Master (thats Sarpedon) or Honour Guard (even if you use the CM profile for Sarpedon) and no Master of the Forge.

 

Elites:

1 Terminator Squad (no assault terminators would be a good idea, the don't use many terminators in the books, but Karraidin had a squad)

1 Sternguard Squad

2x Techmarines (I'm sure they had around two at this time).

Sevitors.

NO Legion of the Damned or Dreadnoughts of any kind.

 

Troops:

Tactical Squads (and lots of them!)

NO Scouts and no transports except Drop Pods.

 

Fast Attack:

Assault Squads.

1 Vanguard Squad.

NO bikes, attack bikes, scout bikes, or any type of Landspeeder.

 

Heavy Support:

Devastator Squads.

NO units with an armour value.

 

Just a clarification on my last post :)

 

Also, can I point out that the Soul Drinkers were arguably in their prime between the events of Chapter War and Crimson Tears. SPOLIER They were using Scouts, had promoted Luko (although Dreo was gone), and they had only lost Tellos and some Assault Squads on top of this (and one Techmarine I think) with previous losses to the Chapter being filled. SPOILER. Also, their endeavours in this time aren't recorded, so you could say that your battles are what they did in that time! Also, this era (apart from pre-schism) gives you the most amount of freedom in picking a list.

 

Sorry about the length of the post, but I hope it helps.

[night walker]

my soul drinkers are

 

sarperedom (dp with flight mot wind of chaos and warp time) (looks like a giant spider with a marine body

 

and spammed marines (with plasma and flamers no heavy weapons)

 

and converted berzerkers to represent lukos assault squad

 

and converted berzerkers to represent lukos assault squad

 

 

meant greavus used a spawn arm with a power armour glove and axe looks sweet in the end

[Giga]

my soul drinkers are

 

sarperedom (dp with flight mot wind of chaos and warp time) (looks like a giant spider with a marine body

 

and spammed marines (with plasma and flamers no heavy weapons)

 

and converted berzerkers to represent lukos assault squad

 

and converted berzerkers to represent lukos assault squad

 

 

meant greavus used a spawn arm with a power armour glove and axe looks sweet in the end

Post some pics! :tu:

[night walker]

aie I will (will need to borrow a digtal camera mines in the states at the moment and im in nz :))

[baoh]

i second that, id like to see some piccys! darkguard your the don! you've basically supplied me with the whole story of the sould drinkers! haha. ive already started making itkinos using chaos bits and normal marine bits. hopefully he'll pop out ok! i checked my codex and it said that if i take the jump packs off the assault marines then they can have a free transport (drop pod) but as you've clarified that its feasible to have one termie squad then i might have to indulge in that. although i dont mind just having some sternguard. if i could, i'd love to have all of my guys in drop pods! as everyones said to get the books im gonna have to buy them now!! haha

[DarkGuard]

i second that, id like to see some piccys! darkguard your the don! you've basically supplied me with the whole story of the sould drinkers! haha. ive already started making itkinos using chaos bits and normal marine bits. hopefully he'll pop out ok! i checked my codex and it said that if i take the jump packs off the assault marines then they can have a free transport (drop pod) but as you've clarified that its feasible to have one termie squad then i might have to indulge in that. although i dont mind just having some sternguard. if i could, i'd love to have all of my guys in drop pods! as everyones said to get the books im gonna have to buy them now!! haha

 

I haven't quite given you the entire story of the Soul Drinkers, rather their army composition during the era you said you were picking, plus some ideas on what equipment etc you can take in the list.

 

Just remember that the later you place the era, the less likely they are to use more complicated equipment, as it becomes harder to maintain it without the proper facilities.

[baoh]

i'll keep that in mind! cheers for the help guys!

[pryor]

Don't forget Sgt Grivillin (would have to check spelling) who ended having 2 sets of eyes if I remember correctly.

Consider him as the devastator sergeant (not cannon I know but...) so the extra eyes could count as the signum.

[night walker]

and the assault sargent with chainswords for arms (also made him :rolleyes:)