Is there any individuality in the Black Legion?

[Julgolax]

I think Im gonna finally go with the Black Legion because, honastly, they are all chaos and no bull:cuss... stupid pirates :P

 

About my lord though, and any of my fellow black legionnaires out there, what makes him special in a super legion of similarly colored, similarly goaled, similar in almost every way warriors?

 

I dont know much about what happens when a space marine chapter, or even so little as a squad or member of a squad takes to chaos, so if anyone could enlighten me with some fluff of such an event. The only thing I have ever heard outlined is the red corsairs and the sons of vengeance chapters, and those are even vague...

 

Either way, BL is awesome, and all I have to say is...

 

DEATH TO THE FALSE EMPEROR!!!

[minigun762]

So you're wondering what would make a Black Legionnaire (or any Traitor Marine) special, is that it?

 

Honestly I'd say that part of the lure of Chaos is it allows you to do what you want. No longer are you bound by the same rigid rules of the Imperium or your Chapter, instead you are only subject to the rule of power "he who has the most power, makes the rules".

 

For the Black Legion, your character could be an ancient who fought on Terra and constantly strives to push the "long way" forward, one bloody step at at time.

 

Perhaps he's a Marine who has felt the attention of all the chaos gods, as the Black Legion's alliance to the warp was rather fickile and now he has a weird case of multiple personalities clashing.

 

Perhaps he's a new recruit from some other Chapter, seeking to join those who served under the great Warmaster and rise through the ranks.

 

You have alot of room to flesh out your character really, but all Chaos Marines are going to be selfish, brutal and ultimately risk takers as their lives will end in death, spawndom of daemonhood.

[David the Despoiler]

Just because your Chaos Lord is apart of the Black Legion now, doesn't mean it was the first Legion he joined. Many flock to the Warmaster's banner, and so you'll find myriad of Chaos Lords. Power grubbing maniacs, tactical geniuses, tank fanatics, daemon lovers, egotists, the list goes on! Just take any part of a human, emphasize the worst in it, sprinkle some greed on top and you have a recipe for a successful Chaos Lord.

[Redbaron997]

The Black Legion also has Horus. You are the Warmasters own, you can see his death as the great sacrifice to save manking, or perhaps you think he is still with you in spirit. There is plenty going on the Black Legion.

[Battle-Captain Garro]

We are all individuals...

[chillin]

BL is awesome indeed.

All armies, including s/m, csm, and all others, are similarly colored, similary goaled, similary in almost every way. BL has just as much indivualality as any other chaos legion and way more then sm chapters, actually more individuality.

"BL is without a doubt the most diverse Legion. Individual companies can be very different from one another. the preferences and history of the oommanding chaos lord are the only real arbiter of their make-up." C:csm 3.5 (the old one, with fluff in it, ohh, I mean

correct [/b ]fluff in it).

BL lords have very different goals and different ways of achieving them. It's a HUGE legion and the companies and respective chaos lords have alot freedom. Much more so, then say the very strict WB's or uber orgainized AL.

My BL chaos lord has his own histort and fluff that goies back more then a decade (thousands of years in 40k time :P ).

So go crazy, make him as special as you want, his own character, his own fluff, in the old dex you could pretty much custom build your chaos lord with loads of D. gifts and wargear, unfortunately in this dex they are rather generic as far as building them goes.

[chillin]

Just because your Chaos Lord is apart of the Black Legion now, doesn't mean it was the first Legion he joined.

 

Yes it does.

This craptastic fluff of BL being made up of malcontents and rejects from other legions contradicts 15+ years of established fluff. Thorpe couldn't wrap his head around BL's (who had always been BL and nothing else) worshiping difffferent gods, so incorrectly assumed that khorne worshipping BL used to be WE's and nurgle worshipping BL used to be DG, if he had bothered spending 30 min.'s or so reading BL fluff he would have relized that wasn't the case.

[incinerator950]

Just because your Chaos Lord is apart of the Black Legion now, doesn't mean it was the first Legion he joined.

 

Yes it does.

This craptastic fluff of BL being made up of malcontents and rejects from other legions contradicts 15+ years of established fluff. Thorpe couldn't wrap his head around BL's (who had always been BL and nothing else) worshiping different gods, so incorrectly assumed that Khorne worshiping BL used to be WE's and nurgle worshiping BL used to be DG, if he had bothered spending 30 min.'s or so reading BL fluff he would have realized that wasn't the case.

 

Last I checked Thorpe made it that the Legion took Cults and random marines from other Legions as Abbadon's power grows.

 

However, you are correct when he used those cults as from the other Legions, he even wrote it that very few people outside the WE or BL can become Berzerkers, same with Plague Marines.

[chillin]

Last I checked Thorpe made it that the Legion took Cults and random marines from other Legions as Abbadon's power grows.

 

I said right in my reply that "Thorpe made it". If thorpe , who is infamous for making bad codices and army books, told WE's players that WE's suddenly worship slannesh, or NL's players that NL's were masters of negotiation and diplomaciy, or WB's players that they were not decended from Logar and don't worship chaos, and soon after writing that, Thorpe "no longer works for GW" (which he does not). Do you think that WE's, NL, or WB's players would accept the total trampling for their 15+ year old fluff, b/c some guy that got canned soon after writing that said so ?

Well any BL players that have been playing BL since before 2007 (I think that was day before yesterday) are not going to buy the " BL really isn't a legion, but is made up of malcontents and rejects from other legions" stuff eather, just b/c, Thorpe, who

who couldn't be bothered to reseach/write an indepth dex, "made it that way".

[Wolfbiter]

@Lord Eregoth,

 

If you haven't already read them, I highly recommend checking out the following fiction:

 

"Honor Among Fiends" is a short story in the "Heroes of the Space Marines" collection about a Black Legion squad whose leader is on a strange quest. I highly recommend it because it shows Black Legionnaires as both vicious and tragic, and gives them a bit of personality beyond the stereotypical Evil Marines.

 

The Horus Heresy novels "Horus Rising," "False Gods" and "Galaxy in Flames" give a very good picture of the Legion both before and as it became corrupted by Chaos, and may give you some inspiration for your character's backstory. They also provide some descriptions of the Legion's fighting style and devotion to Horus.

[Magnus Thane]

@Lord Eregoth,

 

If you haven't already read them, I highly recommend checking out the following fiction:

 

"Honor Among Fiends" is a short story in the "Heroes of the Space Marines" collection about a Black Legion squad whose leader is on a strange quest. I highly recommend it because it shows Black Legionnaires as both vicious and tragic, and gives them a bit of personality beyond the stereotypical Evil Marines.

 

The Horus Heresy novels "Horus Rising," "False Gods" and "Galaxy in Flames" give a very good picture of the Legion both before and as it became corrupted by Chaos, and may give you some inspiration for your character's backstory. They also provide some descriptions of the Legion's fighting style and devotion to Horus.

 

 

Hmmm didn't know about that short story. *orders it*

 

And yes the Black Legion gives one a lot of leeway regarding battlegroup fluff.

Whereas the UM are rather rigid background-wise despite being the versatile staple force unit-wise, BL allows you to do pretty much as you please.

 

The BL has a strong core of 'true Legionnaries' but over the millennia the ranks of the Legion have swollen with warbands, renegades, turncoats etc defecting to Abaddon.

Your Lord can be whatever you want, Daemon Prince or Lord and with a philosophy and tactical doctrine up to you: going from blitzkriegs over surprise attacks to psychotic mass assaults.

Though all are united by combinations and/or of greed, bitterness, loyalty/dedication to the Warmaster and a belief in the Chaos Gods.

So your Lord could be a veteran of the Heresy, a renegade/fallen Space Marine or a former Chaos Space Marine Lord of a non BL warband. Your men can also be of a single origin (mostly) or a hotchpotch.

[incinerator950]

Last I checked Thorpe made it that the Legion took Cults and random marines from other Legions as Abbadon's power grows.

 

I said right in my reply that "Thorpe made it". If thorpe , who is infamous for making bad codices and army books, told WE's players that WE's suddenly worship slannesh, or NL's players that NL's were masters of negotiation and diplomaciy, or WB's players that they were not decended from Logar and don't worship chaos, and soon after writing that, Thorpe "no longer works for GW" (which he does not). Do you think that WE's, NL, or WB's players would accept the total trampling for their 15+ year old fluff, b/c some guy that got canned soon after writing that said so ?

Well any BL players that have been playing BL since before 2007 (I think that was day before yesterday) are not going to buy the " BL really isn't a legion, but is made up of malcontents and rejects from other legions" stuff eather, just b/c, Thorpe, who

who couldn't be bothered to reseach/write an indepth dex, "made it that way".

 

chillen I'm not trying to provoke something out of you, I've been nailing away at Thorpes blogs about the codex already, we know how much he flopped it and how he refuses to answer the more direct questions of why he flopped it and other things.

[chillin]

chillen I'm not trying to provoke something out of you,

I've been nailing away at Thorpes blogs about the codex already,

 

Didn't think you were :P

Good

[Julgolax]

Ill have to read those books than at some point. I didnt place much stock in the Horus Heresy series because, like all WH+WH40K novels, the fluff is tainted by the author's viewpoint and the need to appeal to a variety of readers, not just the table top fans. BUT, if I should read them, I definatly will.

 

Thanks for the replies also, some interesting views in there. ;)

 

As for my personal chaos lord, I thought a bit about it and came up with a rough draft, though Im afraid to post it for fear of the burning, peforating lol's that inevitably come at my work. :P My inspiration, odd as it may be, came from the cover art and screen shots of Dawn of War II: Chaos Rising. I based Lord Azephor off of that awsome lord there.

 

Ill post my backround if it's worth a go.

 

As for the individuality, it seems that the old addage "there is no originality left in the world, only new ways to represent the same things." comes into play here but, then again, we are basing everything off established backround right? :P

[incinerator950]

Ill have to read those books than at some point. I didnt place much stock in the Horus Heresy series because, like all WH+WH40K novels, the fluff is tainted by the author's viewpoint and the need to appeal to a variety of readers, not just the table top fans. BUT, if I should read them, I definatly will.

 

Thanks for the replies also, some interesting views in there. ;)

 

As for my personal chaos lord, I thought a bit about it and came up with a rough draft, though Im afraid to post it for fear of the burning, peforating lol's that inevitably come at my work. :P My inspiration, odd as it may be, came from the cover art and screen shots of Dawn of War II: Chaos Rising. I based Lord Azephor off of that awsome lord there.

 

Ill post my backround if it's worth a go.

 

As for the individuality, it seems that the old addage "there is no originality left in the world, only new ways to represent the same things." comes into play here but, then again, we are basing everything off established backround right? :P

 

I always screw around and actually add 4chan's random encounters as background, like the Love can Bloom escapade that was severely awesome and somehow not finished.

[Vissah]

We are all individuals...

 

I'm not... :devil:

[Prot]

Eregoth,

 

For some real flavour of chaos on a micro (squad, or individual) level, I'd recommend you pick up Heroes of the Space Marines. There are some great, motivating short stories in there. But one I think you'll like in particular focuses on a small, but extremely potent and ancient squad of Black Legion marines that were actually part of the Heresy.

 

These guys have seen it all. They are very individual even though you could say they belong to the largest (?) undivided and undefined army.

 

Sometimes I have actually started a basic history, like I did with my Iron Warriors many years ago. Then as you include your army in smaller battles, and larger ones (like Apoc) you find motivation and ideas for growing the history of your little corner of the chapter.