Bix's Blood Drinkers

[Julius Firefocht]

@Bix:

 

I echo the rest in saying that you have done the Blood Drinkers proud, with the quality of your work. Keep it up, Brother!

[Bix]

It gets better and better :D

 

Yes, I would wait until you have it all reasonably compiled, then submit it. You may have to do some revisions or indexing to make it meet quality standards, but I think the Librarius here is pretty lenient as long as the content is strong, which it is ^_^

 

Note: There's a Star Trek reference in the name of your Auxiliaries. +1 for that.

 

:D Big Thx for the support and full marks for the ST spot B) . I'll try not to be so slow with the next installment :) , which should (if I keep GW codex as a guide) be a more in depth look at the Chapter organsation then onto the real fun stuff. Honour roles and Characters.

 

No worries TrentL happy to oblige. If you're talking about the Scouts ,which I must admit received the best skin jobs ;) I've done to date. Its a base of Dwarf Flesh, a Flesh Wash, more Dwarf Flesh then highlights with Elf Flesh building up to some very very minimal skull white on brows cheek bones etc. Then just a very watered down (almost wave the paint at the mix) Dwarf Flesh to blend the whole effect. Oh and a bit of luck from the painting Daemon. :P

[Demoulius]

:o woah alot of effort went into that! and i feel guilty for chuckling at the title of the head of your SG, it reminded me of mass effect 2 :(

 

*deactivates guiltymode* amazing effort brother :) could you explain how you made that? (as in with what programme and such)

 

Cheers Demoulius ;) I just looked up the Harbinger ref (I played ME 1 but not 2) no I don't think there's a family resemblance ;)

 

Again its a simple yet time consuming (well for me cos Im dead slow and get distracted easily) use of MS paint. I just started with a Jpeg of parchment and repeatedly cut,pasted and resized the same pic for the different info boxes. The other pics again are odds and sods I've collected over years of surfing the net etc..

good to hear ^_^

 

harbringer was basicly a "boss" unit in ME:2 that kept mindcontrolling puny weakling minions, gave them roughly 3-4 times their health back and upgraded their guns inmensly. for comparison: he turned grots into meganobs :P (they were also slow as well)

 

so i kinda see him sitting in his battle battle and controlling assault marines from orbit while he slaughters and maims the minions of chaos down there :P

 

Harbringer: assuming direct control!

[Bix]

Quick update so's not to drop of the board. I've sadly had no time to further the Chapter project of late. Had another 1000 pt game against the foul greenskins this time. And once again my Drinkers served me proud, the Evocati Immortal and a five man squad of Evocati cutting a bloody swathe through two Ork Nob Biker squads who were foolish enough to charge them.

The Evocati squad were finally set free from their madness when they were torched by a Mob weilding flamers and some Nobz with metal bodys shredded my RAS. But the Immortal and Magister Morgrim soon sent the Mob and the rest of the Ork line to oblivion. Thanks go out to my good mate Tommo for a great fun game.

 

As most of what I was fielding was unpainted (and a hotpotch of counts as) I thought it was about time I did some more work in that department. Pics to follow but Im currently juggling two five man squads of Evocati (Just so love the new Death Company figs) and am about to assemble and paint my forge world Chaplain Dred as my Evocati Immortal.

 

But fear not I will return to writing duties very soon.

[Darkapostle222]

By the Emperor! I had been searching for some fluff on the Blood Drinkers and I end up finding an amazing wealth here! I realize you've gotten plenty of compliments but I must say that this is some the best fan made fluff I've seen.

 

If you don't turn this into an IA then I'll have to post it myself (giving full credit to you of course :rolleyes:)

 

Oh, and I hope you don't mind but I planned on incorporating the Blood Drinkers into a fan-fic that I'm writing and I'd like to use the names that you gave the captains, companies, and ships, as well as numbers. Would that be ok with you? Since it's your material I'd like your permission before I do anything.

[Bix]

Darkapostle many thanks for the positive feedback :whistling: and I must apologise for my delay in replying, work really is playing havoc with my 40k lifestyle at present (damn them, but how else can I fund the addiction ;) ).

 

Fear not all will be posted in time. Also Id be honoured for you to use whatever you like from my scribbles for your fan-fic; its there to share. Plus I'd be very interested in reading your work. Best of luck with the writing. :D

[Looted Monolith]

That looks Awsome

would like to see more of your force if they have been completed

[Kalsir]

The force organisation chart looks great. Immortals sounds good, might be I will add some furioso immortals to my army in the near future. We have quite a lot of landraiders by the way. And what did you have in mind when making the auxiliaries part? Huskarls doesn't sound very romanish or are they some sort of mercenaries. Anyways thanks for making such a lot of fluff for the Blood Drinkers. Now I will have to choose a company. There are probably some grammar errors in the chart like: cruentus should be cruenti or venati (my fault) should be venatores, but I dont really care. Venati sounds way better so I prefer that.

[Bix]

Thx Looted :D

 

I have an up comming 1000 pointer against the Ruinous Powers of Nurgle this Fri, so what little time I've got will be devoted to planning their downfall. But with any luck I'll be back to the brushes next week and perhaps the Codex writing before that. *Utters a small prayer to the Gods of Days Off*.

 

Kalsir as always mate, your feedback and insights very welcome. I don't think we should beat ourselves up too much over our poor Latin, the masters themselves at GW are often crafting words that owe more to Pig Latin than anything else. And I think if we start going down the lines of Masculine / Feminine; nominative, dative etc... we'll end up like poor ol Brian and his 'Romanes eunt domus' ;) And yes the stuff you came up with does sound better.

 

Yeah we've got a lot of the LR's but we've got three less than the BA's and I figured we've been around less time than them so may still have most of our original issue. Plus Im working on having the Chapter be close allies of the Legio Gryphonicus (War Griffons), with fluff lined up for before and after their home worlds destruction at the claws of Hive Fleet Leviathan. So they may help us out with kit hoping to get a sneaky look at our Stormravens :P

 

As for the auxiliaries they are made up from the warriors who failed The Trials of Ascension, they are fully human, although their position with the Chapter allows for some mods and juvant processes to extend their lives beyond the average mortal. They guard places like The Maw , the Campus Gladius and the Fleets orbital docks and gun forts in the Acheron asteroid belt.

 

The Huskarls are those few Aspirants who have failed but survived the process of becoming an Astarte. I ended up using a term already used in the HH novels for such people as I couldn't find anything fitting in Roman terms. They are physically Blood Drinkers , but through severe injury or fault never made it beyond initial stages of training. They are the most trusted aides / retainers of the Chapter. This post was often filled by Freedmen (Libertus in Latin) during Roman times but these were slaves who earned citizenship, I didn't think that really sat well with failed Marines.

 

Happy to hear some alternatives for the final edit :)

[Bix]

Ok so the battle was hard fought but the BD's emerged victorious once again, well a partial victory anyway. Morgrim scythed through a squad of Plague Marines and then bested a Chaos Lord, sadly he was forced to retire from battle having been well and truly singed by a squad of terminators with melta combis. :)

 

My Evocati Immortal punched through another squad of PM's only to be faced by a Greater Daemon of Nurgle who popped from the squad. He got a couple of wounds in before being turned into a dustbin lid. Thankfully my valiant Predator crews held the line and pummeled both the GD and Typhus back to the warp with sustained fire from Las cannons and Hunter Killer missiles helped a little by my scout snipers. :P

 

The 5 man Evocati rushed to face the fury of the 5 Chaos Terminators and a drawn out scrap ensued which eventually the foul enemy won but for the loss of two of his number. At this point we called time on the proceedings.

 

You'll be glad to know this is not all I have to post today. Yes avid readers I have finally pulled my keyboard from under all my rule books and have completed another addition to the BD codex. So sit back, grab a strong coffee ( as you know by now I do go on a bit ) ;) and I hope you enjoy.

[Bix]

Chapter Organisation

 

The Blood Drinkers like all Blood Angel Successors; structure their Chapter as closely in form to Guilliman’s Codex Astartes as the Flaw will allow. They have however taken this discipline a step further than their brethren, eschewing the heraldic ancestry of the Blood Angels in favour of strict adherence to those laid down by the Codex.

 

Some suggest that Vladarius instigated this divergence as a further layer of discipline to bind the Flaw, others that he merely wanted his newly founded Chapter to stand apart in some way from the previous Successors. What is without doubt is that this discipline suits the pragmatic nature of the Blood Drinkers who strive for order and efficiency in all things.

 

As the codex demands, the Chapters nominal fighting strength is a thousand Battle Brothers divided into ten companies of around one hundred marines each.

 

The 1st Company named ‘Primigenia’ (First Born) an honorific for the company being the first founded by Vladarius. Its ranks are made up of the Chapters most experienced veterans, warriors who have mastered the craft of death through centuries of warfare. It is also home to the Chapters most venerable and ancient Immortals, the Furioso’s. The 1st hold the honour of being sent on the most testing undertakings and are always deployed where a battle is at its most ferocious.

 

The 2nd through to 5th are the Battle Companies, if the 1st are the Chapters fangs then these are its razor sharp claws. Always at the core of any strike force and each capable of fielding six Tactical, two Assault and two Devastator squads plus their support elements; these versatile formations can turn their hand to any campaign and bear the brunt of the Chapters undertakings.

The names of these companies 2nd ‘Cruentus’ ( The Bloodthirsty) 3rd ‘Fidelis’ (The Faithful) 4th ‘Invictus’ (The Unconquered) and 5th ‘Metui’ (The Dreaded) are uttered in reverence by awe struck neophytes eager to earn a place in their legendary ranks.

 

6th Company ‘Callidus’ (The Cunning) and 7th ‘Interritus’ (The Fearless) are line Tactical Companies who act as reserve for the Battle Companies and can also reinforce a strike force during large scale deployments. These stoic marines have already proved themselves in both the Assault and Devastator squads of the Battle Companies and now await selection to their Tactical Squads.

 

8th Company ‘Talus’ (Talons) are a specialist Assault Company; they are aerial masters and bring the fury of ‘Lightning Warfare’ to the battlefield. Unlike the other companies whose marines represent a fairly even mixture of the tribal backgrounds from San Guisuga; the majority of the 8th are formally Dushara. Their natural affinity with the air and impetuous spirit making them perfect for training with the Chapters Land Speeders and Stormraven Gunships of which the company has custodianship. They rarely take the field as a whole (but when they do, it is a sight of awesome and terrible beauty), instead being divided as support elements amongst the other companies.

 

9th Company ‘Ferrata’ (Ironclads) are the Chapters siege experts, the specialist Devastator Company. Again rarely fielded as a whole; this company’s skills are employed to crack the toughest of defences. Accomplished engineers (most of the Forge’s Artisans have long service in the 9th) deft at finding and exploiting any defensive weakness. Its squads mobile arsenals are capable of levelling bastions and turning armoured columns to super heated scrap.

 

10th Company ‘Venati’ (The Hunters) the Chapters Scout Company where its Neophytes truly begin their service to the Chapter and the Emperor; getting their first real taste of combat as an Astarte. Once selected to one of the ten squads, each commanded by the Chapters most senior veteran sergeants. They serve as reconnaissance elements to the other companies; rarely if ever will the Chapter risk its future by fielding the 10th as a whole.

 

As already stated, the Chapter’s 2nd to 5th companies often fight as a whole; however the most common formation is a strike force. Made up of various elements drawn from several companies tailor made for a specific undertaking; it is traditional for the force to be unified under one name for the duration of that undertaking. This is chosen from the pages of the Liber Potoris by the Magister of the Librarium; often recalling a legendary hero, a celebrated victory or even one of the many virtues required of a Blood Drinker as laid down by Vladarius.

 

All companies (apart from the 8th see above) maintain their own motor transport section consisting of Damocles Rhinos, Rhinos, Razorbacks and Black Shadow Bikes. In addition to this the Forge possesses an impressive number of specialist vehicles with which to support any undertaking requiring them; Predators, Whirlwinds, Vindicators and the mighty Land Raiders.

 

The Chapters long association and close ties with the Legio Gryphonicus (War Griffons) the Titan Legion of the Forge World Gryphonne IV. Has resulted in surprisingly cordial relations with the Adeptus Mechanicus and is oft sighted as the reason the Chapter has such an abundance of rare armour. Although the marines are not blind to the possible ulterior motives of the Tech Priests in attempting to acquire the templates of the Baal Predator.

 

Outside the company formation the Chapter maintains two other fighting units; the Sanguinary Guard and the Evocati.

The Sanguinary Guard hark directly back to the Chapters Primogenitors the Blood Angels, held up as examples of all that is great and glorious in the scions of Sanguinius. Selected from the cream of the 1st Company’s Terminators, armoured and equipped with ancient relics from the heady days of the original Legion each warrior is the epitome of lethal nobility.

 

Due to their unique resilience to the Flaw, the Blood Drinkers only appear to fall to the Black Rage after succumbing to mortal wounds; as though at the moment of death the iron discipline caging it is finally torn open. Each fallen marine is placed in stasis to await transport back to The Maw. There they lie in state in a Reclusiam chapel known as The Grove. Here the High Chaplain the Rex Nemorensis (King of the Groves) maintains vigil over the bodies. Most will never stir and are eventually removed for entombment in the Elysian Crypt.

 

But a few brothers do rise again as fury filled monsters, the stuff of nightmares. Overcome with madness and blood lust, they are lost to the Rage. The High Chaplain wielding the mighty axe Calvaria Morsus engages each in combat, extolling litanies of faith and prayers for redemption. Attempting to reach into the bothers tempest wracked mind and grant him salvation. Most are beyond saving and are quickly consumed by the Red Thirst. The High Chaplain must grant them release by his hand, decapitation being the only way to end their onslaught.

Some hear the words of the Chaplain, pining the fragments of their sanity to them and chaining the rage on a fragile leash; these are the Evocati.

 

The Chapter keeps these tormented souls in the grip of cryo sleep; awaiting the opportunity to unleash them in battle so that they may reclaim their honour in death. This is no easy feat, the Evocati are an almost unstoppable force, shrugging off injuries that would fell the strongest of their marine brothers and tearing the enemy to pieces in their desperate attempt to find a foe capable of besting them.

For those that do not die on the field, the long cold embrace of the stasis vaults awaits until another conflict and another chance of redemption.

 

Chapter Command

 

Ultimate rule of the Chapter rests with the Chapter Master, a mighty warrior selected by the co-consulship of the Sanguinary High Priest and High Chaplain; having proved his worthiness to lead with countless heroic deeds and centuries of faultless service to the Chapter. It falls to him to continue the legacy of the Blood Drinkers as fearless guardians of humanity.

 

He does not walk this path alone however and is supported and counselled by the ‘Senatus’ (Senate) consisting of all the high ranking officers vital to the running of the Chapter. The High Priest, High Chaplain and Magister of the Librarium. Also the five Tribunes, the Commander of the Forge, First Ship Master commanding the Fleet. The Lord of Acheron, commanding the defensive forces of the Auxilia. The Warden of the Vaults, in charge of the Logisticiam and the Harbinger, commander of the Sanguinary Guard.

 

Finally each company has a voice in the Senate represented by their Centurions each bearing titles relevant to their duties above and beyond the command of their companies. Some are as old as the Codex itself, others are unique to the Blood Drinkers. Such as First Spear, responsible for the Chapters ancient Tactical Dreadnought Armour and leader of the elite Terminators who wear it. Or Flame of Helios commander of the honour guard of Vladarius’s shrine on Baal.

[Bix]

Well I've gone and done it. I've taken all my scribbles here and created an IA over in the Liber Astartes thread thanks mainly to all your encouragement. I've put a link in my sig for those that want to take a look. Hope you like it and fingers crossed it gets picked up for the Librarium.

 

Now I can get back to painting, well after I've earned a few credits from the wife ;) , having been holed up in my office for the past three days. :)

[Vel'Cona]

Grats on the posting; as I said in my reply on the new thread, I really hope our brothers at the Librarium pick up your excellent article. I think it's fine that there's already a similar article there, as different interpretations of 40k background are a great deal of what make the universe so intriguing.

 

Definitely take care of the family now, though; wife aggro is the #1 threat to wargaming! :rolleyes:

[Bix]

I 'aint dead! Just so's you knows ;)

 

Been busy with Battles, a new Blog (shameless plug) and a whole heap of real life; hopefully normal service will be resumed shortly.