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Where do you find inspiration for your Armies?


incinerator950

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Go where everyone else goes for "original" inspiation now a days; mythology. I'm sure if you did enough digging in Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Middle Eastern, Chinese, etc myths then you'll find the inspiration your looking for.

As for symbols, just look up traditional symbols and the history behind them. One such example is the way the 8 pointed star is used in real life and its symbolism in certain cultures. After that, you can take whatever symbol you want and find a way to warp the symbol for your needs.

Once you finish that you can find a way to tie it back into the 40k fluff without making it sound incredibly cliched.

As an extension on the mythology bit, you can also do some research on H.P. Lovecraft, he created a very detailed mythology of his own that's not too different from Chaos, you might find some weirdness there that could give you some ideas.

Source: Badguy/other.

 

Serenity: Reavers.

Quake 4: Strogg.

Spawn: Pretty much any demon.

Spider Man: Carnage.

Elfen Lied: Storyline. (Be warned, it is not for youngsters to google)

Higurashi: Concept (Similar as above, avoid watching it)

28 days later & 28 weeks later: Zombies/Disease concept.

Death Race: The vehicles.

I am legend: Horror things. (I don't know their name)

Friday 13th: Duh.

Underworld 1&2&3: The werewolves. (screw the story, the werewolves were done right for once)

 

And a large plethora of other sources of inspiration. I used to use the zombie box set for a while to make up my stuff, then I went to making my own internals with bending small wires, and various other ways to make torn flesh and likewise other body parts.

 

Chaos is Horror.

You don't HAVE to use mythology, and of course the very best stuff is made up without having the baggage of a prior mythology to weigh it down (after all, someone had to make up those mythologies in the first place...), so make sure you at least add your own flavor if you don't go full-out original.

My inspiration just sorta came to me (if we're on a mythology kick, I got "mused"!). However, I backed that up with some good, solid 40K lore (a mix of renegade chapters, psyker corruption, the Raven Guard, etc), which is really the only thing you need to worry about. So long as it's not so completely ridiculous for the setting (ex.: Khornates who hug bunnies) then you should feel free to go whichever direction your imagination takes you. Since your picture looks an AWFUL lot like the Night Lords, I'd recommend starting there and working your way out.

I bought the old Nightlord Heroe model and almost made my army some weird Nurgle converted Nightlord Warband.

 

However, I'm not in the mood to do something related to the Anthesis of Yggdrasil. I'll probably take something out of the Archdemons of DA or other unfortunate side castings people will ignore.

 

I also happened to have forgotten what my original plan is, I might have to make it a Nurgle themed army on Anamnesis.

(I originally thought you were leaving 40k) - 40k can always sit around when you're in the mood for it.

 

You can be a fluffmaster and just make up tons of different stories or one big story, and go with what you feel is best.

 

Does not have to be something from local history or distant mythology. Just because someone can relate to it, or you can refer to it as a source or relation of your force does not mean its the best you can create.

 

Terror, Fast Strikes, Bat Theme, Stand-off-ish mindset. Batman comes to mind, but bear with me on this.

 

The theme was struck before in many different settings. Could try making your own bio-warfare terror strikers. It would be terror enticing to see boils start growing rapidly on your skin, then see a chaos raptor drop from the sky and start chopping me in half.

 

Or just get to the part where holding a city hostage with bio terror weapons, making the city turn on itself.

 

 

So, coupling that. Add in a little laughing gas joker theme with evil batman, and you've got quite the terrorists. An easy theme to make a story background too IMO. A personal theme.

An army based off of the Bat Man movie and Night Lords with a Nurgle mix?

 

That was good, I'm going to think of something further.

 

To answer your previous question, I'm too lazy to start anything else and I figure I'll do something with what I have.

Keep on kicking.

 

My nurgle has the story of being left alone for 7 years (ironic eh?) only to have my old iron warriors, black legion and several other bands being integrated into the nurgle theme as plague marines and demi-plagues(undivided/fighting the disease not wanting that fate but stuck with their 'own kind').

 

Its almost orky-like with all the rust, battered tanks and green plaguestuff seeping everywhere.

I still haven't finished the Aaliyah model I was working on.

 

I intend to base the army off the theory of Amnesis by Socrates.

 

I interpret Nurgle as a patron of Life and Death as well as Disease, so I'll be using this to work something out.

I always held onto the belief Nurgle is a reverse life deity.

 

His diseases live and consume just like humans do. Just at a micro level, that happens to kill the host if the host does not also venerate nurgle. And like all life it eventually ends. The diseased life gets taken by nurgle, turned into a demon and jealously kept by the caretaking nurgle father. You feel no more pain, the social environment is perfectly equalized there is no good or bad. Everything you do be it killing to save people from their painful life/afterlife for papa nurgle.

 

I believe he's called the grandfather because your 'parent' is the disease that gives reverse birth to you as a demon. (death/claiming your soul)

 

Reverse life. Painless until the end of time.

 

He has a nice system going for him, since the diseases break down the morality of the person and starts re-educating them of nurgle's new ways and embrace them. He is the equalizer.

  • 2 weeks later...

Anywhere and everywhere. The 40K universe and FB world are both themselves wodnerful hodge podges of actual history, mythology, literary and pop culture references, cinematic influence and so on and so forth. I know alot of Slaaneshi worshippers who look to the works of Clive Barker, H.R. Giger and the Marquis de Sade for inspiration. If you're a Nurgle acolyte, how about going for a walk in the woods, finding some interesting mould, fungi, worms or insects? If you have the stomach for it, even medical journals that provide pictures of actual diseases might be worth while research material. Khorne is very easy indeed; warrior cultures; the ancient Celts, Goths, Spartans, Samurai, Mongols; the forces of Vlad Tepes and so on and so forth. Alternatively, you could go the "horror movie" route, making your army a homage to the butchers of screen and cinema. Tzeentch? Surrealist art; Salvador Dali, Francis Bacon, Max Ernst etc. Movies such as John Carpenter's remake of "The Thing" are also superb fodder. Then you have the obvious "Egyptian" influence; the histories, mythologies and ceremonies of that ancient Empire are simply chock full of potential material, and this is before we even broach upon the wealth of symbols, images and monstrosities one could derive from classical occultism (which is another of Tzeentchs aspects, of course).

 

Specific legions? The Word Bearers: look to the Spanish Inquisition, the Crusades, religious and holy wars throughout history. The Iron Warriors? Science Fiction dystopias are rife with potential resources, as are historical events such as WW2.

 

Really, there is no limit here; there is so much potential out there, so much that could form a strong thematic back bone for your army, one could write pages and pages and barely even scratch the surface.

I am taking inspiration from just reading the codex. It started with a small picture and very little els, I liked the color schem now I am expanding on that. I chose Slaneesh as the pirmary chaos god influncing the warband. It has developed to heavy transports and deep strike. That is all i really have apart from the outline of my lords backround story.
Emotions, philosophies, and concepts are pretty good for inspiration, religions/mythologies than inspire you work well too. I'm a fan of the emotions and such (Like World eaters in ways) because they mean a different things to different people. Even better, the only emotion that's really fleshed out as a faction is anger, despair, unending hope and to a lesser extent pleasure/excess. The more abstract the concept, the less likely it's been done before too!
My Slaaneshi renegades are inspired partly by the movie Repo, the Genetic Opera, in particular basing my lord on the character Pavi Largo. I mean, how more Slaaneshi can you get: surgery/perfection-obsessed, arrogant as all hell, and wears womens faces.
My Slaaneshi renegades are inspired partly by the movie Repo, the Genetic Opera, in particular basing my lord on the character Pavi Largo. I mean, how more Slaaneshi can you get: surgery/perfection-obsessed, arrogant as all hell, and wears womens faces.

 

That was a surprisingly entertaining movie.

 

I can't help but personalize my choices.

"which Legion would I want to be part of?"

"which one most closely matches my personality?"

"if I was in there shoes, how would I want to do something?"

 

Now the scary thing is that I always find myself between the clinical massed firepower of Iron Warriors and the unpleasantries of the Emperor's Children so whats that say about me? :P

 

p.s. but in the end, I want the big guns! ^_^

Every year me and some friend se nightmare before critsmas before cristmas and every year I get this genius idea that I should make a pumking themes chaos army. I forgott it and since I recently started with SW I will not do it.

 

Think about it! Pimping headed troops and terminators. The defiler could be a giant pumpking with metal legs! And not forget the headles horseman, AKA the headles bike rider with his head in one hand!

I concur on the mythology oncept. I for example have a very tiny hive fleet, calling it hive bleet Kharybdis. Im planning on making a nidzilla army :)

 

and my upcoming chaos army will be called "the faithful", but Ill play them as either word bearers or Iron Warriors (or both, depending on the enemy :P)

and I like mythology :)

I get inspired by some random conversion I make. Say I make a Chaos marine/loyalists heavy bolter conversion. Well, what is this cool looking guys name? Lets name him...Raenetrei. How about a backstory to go with him? Well....
Now the scary thing is that I always find myself between the clinical massed firepower of Iron Warriors and the unpleasantries of the Emperor's Children so whats that say about me? ;)

 

p.s. but in the end, I want the big guns! ^_^

 

In the beginning I had a similar dilemma .

 

But it included the Sons .

 

I also went for the guns , as the Gods are fickle , and the Weaver is the epitome of the previous statement .

 

You can't go wrong with the big guns . It much less harder to miss , to begin with .

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