IA: The Host Incarnadine

[Grey Hunter Ydalir]

I'm not a fan of the Sidebar that brings in direct reference to Astaroth the Grim, Dante and the entire Blood Angels chapter itself.

 

It smacks far too strongly of 'piggybacking on the official', to quote Octavulg's Octaguide.

[Plague Angel]

Eh, you can't please everyone. When I posted an earlier version of the IA on the Blood Angels forum, most of them thought that a doctrine change as major as the Black Eleventh needed a section explaining Astorath's reaction and approval/disapproval of such a thing. I think I agree with them. As the Codex is right now, it is written: "Here is a new character, who is in charge of killing all the Death Company from every successor Chapter." Making my own successor Chapter the way I have, and not explaining the particular relationship their Death Company would necessarily have with Astorath, would leave a huge, nagging, unanswered question in the mind of any Blood Angels player. Better to mention an official special character, than leave a gaping, hemorrhaging plot-hole.

[Captain Juan Juarez]

I see both sides of the sidewalk - it helps to avoid being hit by cars.

 

But the basic thing is that the further you need to draw actually background elements into your IA, the more subtle and careful you need to be.

[Grey Hunter Ydalir]

I see both sides of the sidewalk - it helps to avoid being hit by cars.

 

This, this is what makes you rather quotable CJJ. Just golden. ;)

 

But the basic thing is that the further you need to draw actually background elements into your IA, the more subtle and careful you need to be.

 

This is what I should have said, if I was more diplomatic.

 

Better to mention an official special character, than leave a gaping, hemorrhaging plot-hole.

 

This is true, but I'd err more on the side of a 'rumored conflict' perhaps, or fears of being the unwanted focus for Astaroth. He already has a hell of a lot of ground to cover and it is far from well explained as how Astaroth actually travels across the entire Imperium in order to slay these survivors in time to save them when anyone in their chapter could have more easily ended their lives.

 

It's just a little too 'in your face' in the way it brings in the official works, not it's role in helping balance out your chapter.

 

I made a BA successor a while ago. This was before the most recent BA codex and there was no Astaroth and I paid no heed to how the BA perceived how they dealt with Death Company, though in mine they didn't allow one so I suppose I got off a bit easier than you have.

[Aegnor]

What? Asteroth personally kills every member of every Death Company that doesn't fall in battle, across all the Blood Angels and their successors? Really? If that's the case, it's the dumbest thing I've ever heard of in GW fluff.

[Plague Angel]

What? Asteroth personally kills every member of every Death Company that doesn't fall in battle, across all the Blood Angels and their successors? Really? If that's the case, it's the dumbest thing I've ever heard of in GW fluff.

 

I didn't say it was good fluff. Merely that it's current canon and I have to take it into account. I'd much rather not deal with it, but oh well.

 

Actually it brings up a point I was thinking about in the earlier part of the IA. Is this rather silly amount of work part of the duties of the Redeemer of the Lost? Or is it a personal decision Astorath made? Since however old he is, Astorath was probably not the Redeemer at the time of M35. When the first of the Host fell to the Black Rage, would it have been the past Blood Angels Redeemer of the Lost who came to kill them, or just a Chaplain from their training cadre? There is of course no actual answer to this (oh, Ward — sigh) and so it has to be up to me. I'm leaning to it just being a nameless Angels Sanguine Chaplain, since making up a historical High Chaplain for a First Founding Chapter seems like a liberty I don't want to take.

[Aegnor]

Oh, I wasn't blaming you fir that fluff. As you say, it's in the codex and you do want to work within that, but jeez whoever wrote that part of the description in the Dex really didn't stop and think about it, did they?

[Grey Hunter Ydalir]

Honestly, with idiotic fluff I tend to do whatever I can to bypass it altogether or minimize it's reference as much as possible.

 

You could just make them not Blood Angel successors and have a different flaw. In that way you could even tailor the genetic fault to your specifications.

 

That said, you probably want them to be BA successors in the same way I want my own one to be. Ah well, such is life working with GW.

[Plague Angel]

Oh, I'm definitely a Blood Angel in my heart. If you take the three basic aspects of this hobby — storytelling, modeling, and gaming — this is my army, which I use nigh exclusively for all three.

 

I was going to link to a post I made in the BA forum, but I decided I'd just quote it instead. It's a decent "behind-the-scenes" post and I suppose the thread could benefit from it, here out of the way of the IA itself.

 

The page of successor chapters in Codex Blood Angels is a nice one. I flip-flopped a lot.

 

I almost went with Flesh Tearers, because the colors are very appealing, and because I could use Gabriel Seth as himself without doing any counts-as.

 

I almost went with Angels Encarmine, because their fluff is my favorite and "carmine" has always been my favorite word for a shade of red. (You're talking to a man who obsesses over the names of colors as one of his hobbies, by the way.) But I couldn't bring myself to play them because the Angels Encarmine wear vermillion armor, and the Angels Vermillion wear carmine armor. I know that's incredibly silly of me, but it's my own particular brand of OCD and I can't shake it.

 

I almost went with Angels Sanguine because I love halved schemes on my Astartes.

 

But in the end, since I was so indecisive, I decided that the best thing to do would be to create my own successor chapter that combined the elements of everything above that I liked, let me leave out parts that didn't matter to me as much, let me flesh out as I liked without worrying about anybody else's views on the chapter, and could bring in elements I thought were interesting that hadn't been done before (stigmata, in this case). We were the Angels Incarnadine for a bit, but then I decided that "Host" was one of my favorite words in the English language, so here we are.

 

This is my color scheme:

 

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o215/Animus_Seed/warhammer/hostincarnadinetactical-2.jpg

 

 

As you can see, I used the halved-scheme from the Angels Sanguine, and the wine-and-black of the Flesh Tearers, along with a word that means "to cause something to be carmine-colored." Also it's a Shakespeare reference since 40k has a few of those already, which I enjoy. So... for a project that started with such silly goals, I feel satisfied that I've accomplished them.

[Octavulg]

Distant descendants of the Primarch Sanguinius,

 

Distant? It's not like they're the BA's great-great-grandsons or something.

 

which never heal and, in the most intense of moments, are visible even through their armour.

 

Count me in as another one not buying the 'visible through armor' angle.

 

No, not even with that special thing you just thought of.

 

No.

 

I say good day, Plague Angel.

 

Founding Chapter Angels Sanguine

Founding Early M35

Chapter Master Malkovius Ventrue

Homeworld Longinus

Fortress-Monastery The Cruorem

Main colours Halved-red and black

Specialty Assault, boarding actions

Estimated Strength ~800 Battle-brothers

Battle Cry "By the Deus Vermillion!"

“By blood bound!”

 

If only there were some kind of document that could be written to convey this information. Maybe 3000-5000 words, clearly dilineated sections. It'd need a snappy title. Maybe the Libram Marine? No. Hmm...There's something to this idea. I can feel it.

 

But until I can figure that out, I'll just point out that detailing the colors when there's a bloody great picture of them just makes me feel patronized.

 

The records of the Host Incarnadine date to the earliest years of M35, before the true depths of the gene-seed’s curse were fully known, and the High Lords of Terra thought the Flaw had been bred out of the Sons of Sanguinius.

 

...In M36 they were trying to fix it in the Cursed Founding. In M35 they didn't know about how bad it was and thought it was gone.

 

Bit of a disconnect.

 

Plus, that's a really big detail to be creating about the universe.

 

The Host protested. Why should their brothers who fought and defeated the followers of the Dark Gods, strengthened by the power of Sanguinius, only to be killed by their cousins after the battle was won?

 

Because best case scenario they're a danger to those around them, worst case scenario they just drop dead anyway?

 

The home-world of the Host Incarnadine is the planet Longinus,

 

I get it!

 

Death Company of the Chapter’s Black Eleventh is left on the otherwise abandoned moon, and permitted to run free under the eyes of the Chaplains.

 

What, do they pick flowers? Play tag with chainswords?

 

The most staunch supporters of the Host were the people known as the Medici. When the Host found the Medici, they were little more than a barbarian tribe dwelling on the moon Lancia, isolated from the rest of the population. Under the influence of the Host, the Medici have become artisans and craftsmen, and their poetry ranks among the finest literature of the Imperium. Possessed of strong bodies, dominating personalities, and fiery temperaments, the Medici have served the Host well. The strongest of their sons are drafted into the Chapter to replenish their dwindling numbers. Those who are not chosen are still invaluable to the Chapter, for the Medici supply the Host with much-needed blood to satisfy the Red Thirst. It is seen as a great honor for a Medici to supply blood to an Angel of the Host, and they display their scars as trophies to lord over the other peoples of Longinus.

 

Medici is far too obvious a name. Choose something less obtrusive.

 

The Host Incarnadine carries the gene-seed of the Blood Angels, and shares their twin curse of the Red Thirst and the Black Rage. Centuries of exposure to the energies of the Maelstrom have mutated them still further, resulting in the signature blood-marks for which the Chapter is known. The first sighting of stigmata among the Chapter’s brothers was noted by the Sanguinary Priesthood during the final battle for Longinus. As the Priests inspected their brothers in preparation for the battle, they noted bloody palms among some of their charges. There was no explanation for these open wounds. This was of great concern to the Captains of the Host, and these brothers were taken and checked for madness. Sure enough, they showed signs of the onset of the Black Rage, and when the Word Bearers came they took to the battle in the black armour of the Death Company.

 

You know, you could just have them be Cursed Founding. Works just as well.

 

Due to their great reverence for their Death Company and their fierce independent streak, the Host came into direct conflict with the Blood Angels. It is the duty of the Redeemer of the Lost to slay surviving Death Company brothers after every battle, and Astorath the Grim has taken on this duty for every successor chapter as well as his own. However, Chapter Master Ventrue refused Astorath’s attentions, viewing the High Chaplain’s actions as a challenge to his authority and a threat to his Chapter’s very existence. Fearing the outbreak of a civil war, Dante and Astorath agreed to accede to Ventrue’s wishes and leave the Host to its own beliefs. Astorath has kept close watch on the Chapter, however, prepared to resume his duties should their Black Eleventh grow too numerous and the Flaw consume their number entirely.

 

Leaving aside the dumbness of him having to take care of every Death Company marine personally - this is a weird place to talk about them leaving the Death Company alive. You should address it more directly, and be a lot clearer about when they first took up the practice.

 

Also, re: Venture - I get it!

 

As the Chapter deteriorates, they have become desperate for every link to Sanguinius they can find. The Death Company, who lives within the mind and rage of the Primarch, has come to be viewed with awe and reverence. They are saints and living martyrs, walking relics and gods among men.

 

The stigmata has also entered into the Chapter’s rituals, and is used to bind the brothers into bonds of deeper fellowship. Each Marine handles his weapons in private before every battle, soaking his bolter and chainsword in his own blood, marking it as his own and making it an extension of his body. Only then will he don his power armour. When a sergeant takes command of a squad, each member of the squad lets his stigmata drip into a grail, where it mixes with the blood of his squad mates. The sergeant then takes the grail and drinks the collective blood of his charges. The ritual is mirrored company-wide, and the sergeants then collect their blood in the same fashion and offer it to their captain. With this ritual, it is said that the brothers of the Host can fight as one, almost as though the mixing of their blood allowed them to read each others’ minds in combat. Only veterans of the First Company are exempt from this ritual, instead choosing to pour their grails in libation to the Primarch and the God-Emperor.

 

I'd expect the Veterans to pool it all and then drink it all, myself.

 

On the ground, the Chapter prefers mid-range weaponry and fast, lighter-armoured vehicles. The Baal Predator is their vehicle of choice for most engagements, for the Host has precious few Land Raiders and cannot risk losing them. Of late the Chapter has been vigorous in expanding the number of their Techmarines to take better care of their armoury.

 

Of course, the Adeptus Mechanicus has refused to train them, because they don't tolerate people hanging onto STCs. The chapter'll be dead by M42. Shame.

 

I'm sorry. Matt Ward gives me a headache, and it makes me lash out. Why do you have to play a Codex that makes me so angry?

 

* * *

 

You deal with the unique formation of the chapter only peripherally. It's weird. Just explain it up front at some point.

 

A little more emphasis on their connection with their heritage and philosophy toward that might be a good idea.

 

Had you noticed how stupid most of the fluff in the latest codex is? It doesn't seem so bad, then you watch people try to build on it and it all falls apart.

 

The Medici could use some further explanation and integration into the whole.

 

Rather than explain how they got Longinus, maybe explain more about their relationship with the place?