Black Legion Warband: The Aphotican Oath

[A D-B]

This'll be long, and almost definitely boring. I apologise in advance. It'll also be very stream of consciousness, as I spill half-gestated and potentially abortive plans from my brainjunk onto the screen, via the clickety-clack of fingertips on my trustworthy G15 keyboard.

 

So, here's the deal.

 

- The Pitch -

I'm trying to get into a system starting in March where I don't work weekends, and essentially free up a little more time for myself. As it is, between the evil trio of deadlines, WarCraft, and my fiancee Katie, I have pretty much no time to myself. (Actually, that's a lie. I read for about 2 or 3 hours every night, but I'd rather chop my arm off than stop doing that. It can't be changed; I need to make time elsewhere.) In short, it's time to stop gathering sprues and boxed squads, and actually do something with them again. I've been really slack the last few years, painting once in a while, and I've reached the point where me and several of my friends want to play semi-regularly again.

 

So a gang of my chums and guildies (beloved future bride included) are setting up a campaign to hopefully start playing midway through 2011. I volunteered to come up with the framework for the storyline, which is underway.

 

 

- The Storyline -

It's set shortly after the Gothic War, in a region of space called the Thracian Caul. The region earns its name from two factors: The "Thracian" part comes from Lord Marshal Kardan Thracius of the Imperial Army, who was responsible for pacifying the cluster of systems and bringing them into the Imperium during the Great Crusade; and the "Caul" is a reference to the flesh membrane sometimes covering babies' faces when they're born, which are often superstitiously associated with the infant possessing good luck, special gifts, or a sixth sense. In this instance, the Caul itself is a nebula of pale gases that act as a natural and harmless (but cosmically beautiful) shroud that drifts through most of the key systems, faintly obscuring many worlds to the naked eye.

 

The region is deep in Segmentum Tempestus, and not located near any major historical locations or warp-transit thoroughfares. However, the Thracian Caul possesses many worlds and moons with excellent mining prospects, a dozen or so populous hive worlds, and the Adeptus Mechanicus has its fair of deep space installations here. At least one Adeptus Astartes Chapter has a secondary fortress-monastery in the Caul, and it recruits from several worlds in the Caul itself. These are the Shadow Wolves (Katie's Chapter, who are incidentally destined to be annihilated by the tyranids close to the end of the millennium, as noted in Helsreach).

 

The two main subsectors in the Thracian Caul are the Amnion Core, and the Odrysian Verge Worlds. The Amnion Core is the central solar system, with the region's capital hive world of Amnion at its heart, and several dozen nearby systems. (Pointless note: 'Amnion' in biology is another name for a baby's caul, I think. Need to research that for sure.) It's the most valuable galactic real estate in the whole sector, because it's massively populated and extremely wealthy. On the outer edge of the Caul territories are the Odrysian Verge Worlds, which have - several times in the last few hundred years - attempted to secede from the Imperium of Man. Comprised principally of agricultural worlds, pirate havens and lesser hive planets, the Verge World uprisings have always been swiftly ended by the Imperial Guard and allied Astartes forces, restoring the production and flow of much-needed food exports to the Amnion Core, which is now too populated to sustain itself without Verge World help.

 

This time, as the Verge Worlds rose up once again, the forces striking out from the Amnion Core realised that it was a much more desperate situation than yet another insignificant rebellion. The forces of Chaos are behind this latest betrayal, with profane cults rising up on the Verge Worlds, overthrowing Imperial rule once and for all. The Shadow Wolves, sworn to defend the region, are leading a vanguard invasion to reclaim the disputed territories before the Amnion Core worlds are strangled and starved. Several other Astartes Chapters are making themselves known, including the Dark Angels and the Grey Knights, who are drawn to the Caul by the fact that the famously independent Shadow Wolves are struggling to quell the uprising alone. Even among loyalist forces, there's the potential for conflict, as the Shadow Wolves defy the other Astartes who infringe upon their jurisdiction; the Dark Angels act upon their own agenda; and so on.

 

Opposing them are warbands from the Iron Warriors, the Black Legion, and a renegade Astartes force called the Fist of Malarius (formed mostly of Death Guard and a few rare Space Marine traitors) sworn to serve Nurgle, God of Disease. The Chaos fleets are securing their hold in the Odrysian Verge Worlds, and pressing forward into the Amnion Core, stepping up to begin full conquest.

 

Now, the army I want to raise is a Black Legion warband, called the Aphotican Oath.

 

(Pointless note: the Aphotic zone is the part of a lake or ocean where no sunlight ever reaches. I learned that by accident a few years back, when trying to research why I was so uncomfortable when staring into deep water.)

 

Obviously, I'm still working out the details, but here's where I'm at:

 

 

- The Warband -

I'd like to make a classic Black Legion warband, heavy on the elements that make Chaos so awesome to me. Specifically, the twin notions that 1. The Warmaster's Own have risen to dominance through a Genghis Khan-style crusade of beating the snot out of other warbands, and offering them the chance to swear allegiance or be destroyed; and 2. The idea that the Chaos Astartes are united only by their own hatred. They don't like each other - not at all - and they only join together in the name of necessity. The leaders of my warband aren't just waiting for the right moment to betray the Iron Warriors and the Fist of Malarius, they're even waiting for the right moment to betray their own brother-leaders, and take sole command of the Aphotican Oath.

 

I'm envisaging a triumvirate of commanders, highlighting a cool spread of Chaos allegiances. The first commander will be a fairly stoic, traditional Chaos Marine warlord, making up the core of the force. His warriors are sworn to Chaos Undivided and the Blood God Khorne, and he maintains the largest resource of battle tanks and vehicles. In game terms, he'd lead the traditional Chaos Marine squads and the Khorne Berserkers, ruling over them with an iron will, risen to a position of command through ruthless ambition and combat prowess. He is Black Legion to the core, and was a ranking Son of Horus. A low-tier captain, perhaps, or a sergeant that steadily rose through the ranks of the dying Legion in the years of the Sons of Horus's near-destruction after the Heresy. Each squad will have its own name and history, as I get to the painting part.

 

The second commander is the one who directly opposes the first, and is a powerful sorcerer who matches his rival with spells over steel, if you'll excuse the High Fantasy comparison. He was once one of the Thousand Sons Legion, and blackened his armour uncountable centuries ago, believing wholeheartedly in the ascension of Abaddon and the Black Legion's eventual dominance. He has the services of a few lesser sorcerers, forming his small cabal, and has close ties of mercenary allegiance in the past with a cannibalistic Raptor Cult, called the Algol Masquerade, who are in turn named for the so-called "Demon Star" Algol, and wear silver daemon masks to complement their warped armour. He also maintains a severe hatred of his former Legion, and delights in destroying Thousand Son sorcerers, only to bind their Rubric Marines to his own cause. These Rubric Marine units are collectively known as the Syntagma (after the language rule of words in a sentence all being linked to each other - a boring rule, but a cool word). I'm not sure if I'll have their armour painted in Black Legion colours or not, though. I might enjoy painting the blue as a break from the black, black, black. The sorcerer's only access to vehicles is - I think - probably going to be a Defiler.

 

The third commander is the overlord of the Aphotican Oath, and only takes to the field in the largest battles. He rules by virtue of personal might, and keeps the other two leaders at each others' throats by pitting them against one another for his favour. He is a Daemon Prince, and his subcommanders loathe him even as they're forced to respect him. He ascended to his exalted position in a great battle some decades before against an undecided Space Marine Chapter, when the Aphotican Oath was responsible for annihilating three entire companies of Astartes. This third lord orchestrated no casualties among his favoured squads, and reaped a vicious harvest of life, while engineering the battle so that the forces under the first and second lords were the ones to take all the heavy losses. In recognition of both a mighty victory and some truly excellent backstabbery, he was rewarded with god-runes etched onto his soul, and ascended to the role of a relatively minor Daemon Prince. In game terms, the Daemon Prince will be the one who rules over the Possessed Squads, which will be few in number, but greatly respected by the warband. In echo of the old Realm of Chaos / Slaves to Darkness lore about the Black Legion, most of the Possessed Marines are survivors of the ancient Legion Wars, when the Sons of Horus sold their bodies out to daemons in a desperate attempt to gather strength against the other Traitor Legions.

 

So that's the background.

 

 

1. Painting.

Technique: There's an awesome guide to painting the GW Studio Dark Eldar Kabal a few White Dwarfs ago (I'm a subscriber, leave me alone), and I really loved the 'cold' black that came on their armour. It doesn't exactly look amateur friendly, though. I've played 4,000 point High Elf armies in the past where one spearman was painted. I am a slow, slow, slow painter, so I may end up just dipping (Boo! Hiss!). If that's the case, any advice on dipping black armour would be appreciated, as well as general cool Black Legion tips.

 

Colour Scheme: In the Index Astartes article, the Marines in the datafile have green-rimmed black armour, as well as the more common gold rims. I'm tempted to try that, as it's more like a reverse of the Sons of Horus armour, and I think it'll look more interesting than the plain old black 'n gold. Anyone have any experience with that?

 

Vehicles: I am woeful at painting tanks. Absolutely woeful. I can never get them with a smooth finish, and in all honesty, I don't have the money to screw up a Defiler just because I wanted to see what would happen. So any tank tips would be great.

 

 

2. Modelling.

Squad Leaders: I think mutated squad leaders would look pretty pimp, and might give that a try. I dunno, do you guys find that unbearably cliche'd and dumb? It feels like it fits with most Chaos Marines, but especially the Black Legion.

 

Fallen Squad: I'd really love a (small, maybe 5-man) Dark Angel Fallen squad. I think it would be a cool alliance, with them grudgingly hanging out with my warband (perhaps as mercenary allies of the sorcerer), and it would give the Dark Angels something to hate me for. My problem is that I never know just how much iconography the Fallen actually display - assuming these are Chaos Undivided "evil" Fallen, not misunderstood guys who want redemption.

 

Chosen: I have no idea how to make Chosen look distinct and interesting, beyond using the Dark Angel robed bodies. That option is sort of out the window if I use those minis for my Fallen Squad, but I still dig the idea of a Chosen squad with 4 or 5 flamers, unleashing delicious torrents of liquid fire.

 

 

3. Gameplay.

Army List: I'm playing non-competitively with my friends. None of us care about winning lists, really. I think that's probably obvious from my unit description choices. Suffice to say, pretty much everyone will be playing Codex: Space Marines, Codex: Grey Knights or Codex: Chaos Marines. There may be one Imperial Guard player, and an Eldar player, but that's not confirmed. Assume MEQ in most instances. Beginning army lists will likely be 750-1,000 points.

 

The Gang: 6-9 of us. For the record, one of the players is probably going to be a former Throne of Skulls winner. But he's promised to behave.

 

 

4. Forge World Additions.

Flyers: Man, I freaking love the Hell Blade Fighter. Love, love, love it. It's beautiful. Does anyone use it? Is it game-breakingly unbalanced? Is it difficult to make?

 

Dreadclaws: I'm getting married in the summer, but if I can free up the cash, I want to shell out for a Dreadclaw, because they look killer. Similarly to the Hell Blade, does anyone have any experience with them? In-game, are they balanced and fun? Modelling-wise, are they a nightmare to make and keep together?

 

Chainaxes: I've heard these are flimsy and break a lot, or are just plain difficult to model with. Anyone have any first-hand experience with them? I'd rather hear it from you guys, instead of distant gossip.

 

 

5. Your Opinion On All This.

So my question is basically this: What do you think? Is the campaign fluff too static and traditional? Does it sound interesting? Is the warband fluff cool and thematic, or does it make you grind your teeth at yet another Black Legion force? What advice can you give to a new Chaos Marine player, beyond "Play Counts-As Blood Angels"? (Be nice: Remember, I work with Gav and he's the world's nicest dude. He also never, ever smiles when I tease him about the codex...)

 

Oh, and if you read this far down, I owe you some very sincere thanks.

 

So, like, ta.

[Captain Tezdal]

Well to me the background for your campaign, and your warband sound pretty damn cool, I love how the Black Legion incorporates renegades and other traitors in to one Imperium crushing whole. Anyway, can't really give lots of painting, modelling, or army list advice, being a cult guy and all....but sounds like you and your friend fellers out to have one interesting campaign, Good Luck Sir *coughcoughworldeatersnovelcough*

[Chapter Master Ignis Domus]

Giving fluff advice to a fluff writer... This should be interesting, to say the least.

 

and the "Caul" is a reference to the flesh membrane sometimes covering babies' faces when they're born, which are often superstitiously associated with the infant possessing good luck, special gifts, or a sixth sense. In this instance, the Caul itself is a nebula of pale gases that act as a natural and harmless (but cosmically beautiful) shroud that drifts through most of the key systems, faintly obscuring many worlds to the naked eye.

 

You'd think that in such a tolerant, Kumbayah culture like the Imperium, the babies would be killed at birth for this minor mutation.

 

The region is deep in Segmentum Tempestus, and not located near any major historical locations or warp-transit thoroughfares. However, the Thracian Caul possesses many worlds and moons with excellent mining prospects, a dozen or so populous hive worlds, and the Adeptus Mechanicus has its fair of deep space installations here. At least one Adeptus Astartes Chapter has a secondary fortress-monastery in the Caul, and it recruits from several worlds in the Caul itself. These are the Shadow Wolves (Katie's Chapter, who are incidentally destined to be annihilated by the tyranids close to the end of the millennium, as noted in Helsreach).

 

According to the main rulebook, there are something like 3,280 Hive Worlds, out of one million worlds total. Depending on the size of your region of space, I doubt there would be a dozen in the area. And I thought I recognised the name Shadow Wolves.

 

The two main subsectors in the Thracian Caul are the Amnion Core, and the Odrysian Verge Worlds. The Amnion Core is the central solar system, with the region's capital hive world of Amnion at its heart, and several dozen nearby systems. (Pointless note: 'Amnion' in biology is another name for a baby's caul, I think. Need to research that for sure.) It's the most valuable galactic real estate in the whole sector, because it's massively populated and extremely wealthy. On the outer edge of the Caul territories are the Odrysian Verge Worlds, which have - several times in the last few hundred years - attempted to secede from the Imperium of Man. Comprised principally of agricultural worlds, pirate havens and lesser hive planets, the Verge World uprisings have always been swiftly ended by the Imperial Guard and allied Astartes forces, restoring the production and flow of much-needed food exports to the Amnion Core, which is now too populated to sustain itself without Verge World help.

 

Getting a bit carried away with our babies, are we? ;)

 

This time, as the Verge Worlds rose up once again, the forces striking out from the Amnion Core realised that it was a much more desperate situation than yet another insignificant rebellion. The forces of Chaos are behind this latest betrayal, with profane cults rising up on the Verge Worlds, overthrowing Imperial rule once and for all. The Shadow Wolves, sworn to defend the region, are leading a vanguard invasion to reclaim the disputed territories before the Amnion Core worlds are strangled and starved. Several other Astartes Chapters are making themselves known, including the Dark Angels and the Grey Knights, who are drawn to the Caul by the fact that the famously independent Shadow Wolves are struggling to quell the uprising alone. Even among loyalist forces, there's the potential for conflict, as the Shadow Wolves defy the other Astartes who infringe upon their jurisdiction; the Dark Angels act upon their own agenda; and so on.

 

How many Grey Knights are we talking?

 

(Pointless note: the Aphotic zone is the part of a lake or ocean where no sunlight ever reaches. I learned that by accident a few years back, when trying to research why I was so uncomfortable when staring into deep water.)

 

Ah, so there is another like me. Did you ever figure out why?

 

The second commander is the one who directly opposes the first, and is a powerful sorcerer who matches his rival with spells over steel, if you'll excuse the High Fantasy comparison. He was once one of the Thousand Sons Legion, and blackened his armour uncountable centuries ago, believing wholeheartedly in the ascension of Abaddon and the Black Legion's eventual dominance. He has the services of a few lesser sorcerers, forming his small cabal, and has close ties of mercenary allegiance in the past with a cannibalistic Raptor Cult, called the Algol Masquerade, who are in turn named for the so-called "Demon Star" Algol, and wear silver daemon masks to complement their warped armour. He also maintains a severe hatred of his former Legion, and delights in destroying Thousand Son sorcerers, only to bind their Rubric Marines to his own cause. These Rubric Marine units are collectively known as the Syntagma (after the language rule of words in a sentence all being linked to each other - a boring rule, but a cool word). I'm not sure if I'll have their armour painted in Black Legion colours or not, though. I might enjoy painting the blue as a break from the black, black, black. The sorcerer's only access to vehicles is - I think - probably going to be a Defiler.

 

How does he bind Rubrics to his service?

 

So there you have it. Please don't have a Grot mercilessly beat up a poor, little scout named Domus for criticising you. :(

[Gree]

Chosen: I have no idea how to make Chosen look distinct and interesting, beyond using the Dark Angel robed bodies. That option is sort of out the window if I use those minis for my Fallen Squad, but I still dig the idea of a Chosen squad with 4 or 5 flamers, unleashing delicious torrents of liquid fire.

 

For my chosen I plan mix in bits from the Possessed box alongside various Mk.4 bits I have left over from some Templars. (In essence trying to get as many Heresy-era plastic bits as I can find) but that might not work for you if you are putting Possessed in the same army.

 

I can recall the Studio Black Legion Army from 3.5 having their Chosen marked out by gold trim on the legs. I have the article. Essentially they did gold trim on the shoulders and silver on the legs. You mentioned you wanted to have green trim possible on your Astartes. You could always have gold trim reserved for the veterans.

 

A final idea I had but I never implemented was give them wolf pelts and trophies as a throwback to their Luna Wolf days. I never did it because of cost, but I was inspired by HH era picts that had Horus and various XVI Legion Astartes with wolf pelts. Anyway it should be easy to get that sort of thing due to the new Space Wolf plastic boxes.

[Hyaenidae]

Good God, I'm not sure where the hell to start...well, I can definetley say that my two Hell Blades are great for apoc games. I usually use them to stalk and pop light transport tanks when they're in the middle of a kill zone, dumping infantry too far away from cover...I've literally butchered a Imp. Guard army during a 5 x 5 game with just this tactic. Avoid buying and using any more than one or two though, or else your opponent will realize too quickly how big a threat they are, and smoke them before they get a chance to suckerpunch your opponent. They're not game breaking, but your opponent will really feel some pain if he ignores it for too long, and you use the fighter right. Modeling-wise, the main body sometimes comes warped as hell, but a soak in hot water and some gentle bending got it looking good again. If the AC's are warped, BE CAREFUL bending them back...they're a bit weak.

 

Your fluff is friggin' great (really man, you gotta ask? heh.), but I'm not sure about the green trim. Try it out on the Army Painter, and post the resulting shade you're thinking about.

 

Fallen...Hells yes. As for iconography, just think "twisted version of the DA symbol'; broken wings, or the Lion Sword super-imposed over a star of chaos, and you can't go wrong.

 

 

I'll get back to ya if I can think of more, brother. Good luck on the build, by the way.

[A D-B]

Must rush a couple of answers quickly, before getting back to work.

 

Well to me the background for your campaign, and your warband sound pretty damn cool, I love how the Black Legion incorporates renegades and other traitors in to one Imperium crushing whole. Anyway, can't really give lots of painting, modelling, or army list advice, being a cult guy and all....but sounds like you and your friend fellers out to have one interesting campaign, Good Luck Sir *coughcoughworldeatersnovelcough*

 

Thanks, dude. There's actually a Horus Heresy meeting this weekend, which I'm missing due to sadly undramatic but necessary reasons. However, Dan has a list of stuff to read out on my behalf, and I never say much at the meetings, anyway. I'm 70% certain my next HH novel will be a World Eater one.

 

 

You'd think that in such a tolerant, Kumbayah culture like the Imperium, the babies would be killed at birth for this minor mutation.

 

I can still barely believe humanity ever thought it was awesome, especially in the Stupid Ages.

 

 

According to the main rulebook, there are something like 3,280 Hive Worlds, out of one million worlds total. Depending on the size of your region of space, I doubt there would be a dozen in the area. And I thought I recognised the name Shadow Wolves.

 

Yeth. Good point. I go with the notion of "degrees of hive-worldliness", like one world would be stacked with hives, another might just have a single cluster of hive cities, but yeah, I'll reword that before the final curtain call. Thanks for catching it, it's a great point.

 

 

Getting a bit carried away with our babies, are we? :(

 

I like the idea of these massive, distant solar systems all clinging to ancient pre-Gothic word roots, and the Imperial peons that live there never have any idea why. "Weren't the Thracians a nation of ancient historical dudes? And wasn't the Odrysian Kingdom a gathering of Thracian tribes?" "No. Shut up, Simon. That's crazy talk. Get back to your cogitator."

 

 

How many Grey Knights are we talking?

 

A cross between a realistic "Not many" and "Someone wants to play Grey Knights, so...".

 

 

Ah, so there is another like me. Did you ever figure out why?

 

Cowardice runs thick and fast in the Dembski-Bowden bloodline.

 

 

How does he bind Rubrics to his service?

 

By killing their sorcerer squad leaders and shackling the automatons to his will through the judicious application of powerful sorcery.

 

LIKE A BOSS.

[Khestra the Unbeheld]

1. Painting.

Technique: There's an awesome guide to painting the GW Studio Dark Eldar Kabal a few White Dwarfs ago (I'm a subscriber, leave me alone), and I really loved the 'cold' black that came on their armour. It doesn't exactly look amateur friendly, though. I've played 4,000 point High Elf armies in the past where one spearman was painted. I am a slow, slow, slow painter, so I may end up just dipping (Boo! Hiss!). If that's the case, any advice on dipping black armour would be appreciated, as well as general cool Black Legion tips.

 

I totally cheat with mine. I hit them with the Chaos Black spray paint, then paint the details. Black Legion are dirt easy and amazingly fast if you don't care a fig for things like shading black. Once the metals are done, wash them with slightly watered Badab Black wash and let it settle into the crevasses.

 

Colour Scheme: In the Index Astartes article, the Marines in the datafile have green-rimmed black armour, as well as the more common gold rims. I'm tempted to try that, as it's more like a reverse of the Sons of Horus armour, and I think it'll look more interesting than the plain old black 'n gold. Anyone have any experience with that?

 

I've got various squads of auxilia from other Legions attached to my Black Legion Grand Company, and while they all wear black armor, the trim is the color differentiation between factions. Example, for Death Guard auxilia, I used Gretchin Green trim on the pads (along with suitably Nurgley mutations and a light dusting of Rotting Flesh on the black of the armor to make the black look less "clean") with a very light highlight of Scorpion Green on the trim.

 

Vehicles: I am woeful at painting tanks. Absolutely woeful. I can never get them with a smooth finish, and in all honesty, I don't have the money to screw up a Defiler just because I wanted to see what would happen. So any tank tips would be great.

 

Again, flat black, then just paint details. Defilers are detail-heavy, but getting the bulk of the armor, hull, legs, etc done in a basic black takes care of about 55% of the paint scheme.

 

 

2. Modelling.

Squad Leaders: I think mutated squad leaders would look pretty pimp, and might give that a try. I dunno, do you guys find that unbearably cliche'd and dumb? It feels like it fits with most Chaos Marines, but especially the Black Legion.

 

I don't find it cliche'd at all. If I'm not using mutations to denote Asp Champs, it's usually specific helmet designs or wargear. I've also taken to using *gasp* alternative helmets from Maxmini.eu (Steam Knights line is boss) for squad Champs to make them really stand out.

 

Fallen Squad: I'd really love a (small, maybe 5-man) Dark Angel Fallen squad. I think it would be a cool alliance, with them grudgingly hanging out with my warband (perhaps as mercenary allies of the sorcerer), and it would give the Dark Angels something to hate me for. My problem is that I never know just how much iconography the Fallen actually display - assuming these are Chaos Undivided "evil" Fallen, not misunderstood guys who want redemption.

 

Definitely go with the robes for these guys. If the old Cypher model is any indication, his only iconography was the spread-eagled skeleton on his chestplate; the shoulderpads were devoid of any markings. I'd go minimalist with these guys, were I you.

 

Chosen: I have no idea how to make Chosen look distinct and interesting, beyond using the Dark Angel robed bodies. That option is sort of out the window if I use those minis for my Fallen Squad, but I still dig the idea of a Chosen squad with 4 or 5 flamers, unleashing delicious torrents of liquid fire.

 

For Chosen I use the nifty little hoard of extra bits in the basic CSM sprue. Those are the guys with the high horned helmets, the stars of Chaos Undivided sticking up off their power packs, the shoulderpads with the little horns and spikeys sticking out of them. Where my line CSMs get Dwarf Bronze on all their trim, armor decorations, etc, the Chosen get Shining Gold like the Lords get, as a measure of the favor bestowed upon them for their dedication, their obedience, and their lethality.

 

 

3. Gameplay.

Army List: I'm playing non-competitively with my friends. None of us care about winning lists, really. I think that's probably obvious from my unit description choices. Suffice to say, pretty much everyone will be playing Codex: Space Marines, Codex: Grey Knights or Codex: Chaos Marines. There may be one Imperial Guard player, and an Eldar player, but that's not confirmed. Assume MEQ in most instances. Beginning army lists will likely be 750-1,000 points.

 

The Gang: 6-9 of us. For the record, one of the players is probably going to be a former Throne of Skulls winner. But he's promised to behave.

 

In that case, stick to whatever guns you've opted for in fluff. Min-maxing for competitive play will inevitably end up with you having a lot of Obliterators, Plague Marines, and dalliances with the business end of Lash of Submission.

 

 

4. Forge World Additions.

Flyers: Man, I freaking love the Hell Blade Fighter. Love, love, love it. It's beautiful. Does anyone use it? Is it game-breakingly unbalanced? Is it difficult to make?

 

It's not horrible as FW models go for building purposes (I built one for a client a while ago, was much easier than the Fantasy Chaos Dragon, for example) just be prepared to take a Dremel to the parts for flash removal and smoothing. It's not terribly game-breaking (t/l autocannons hitting side armor will annoy light mech stuff, Land Raiders will laugh at it and call it a bitch).

 

Dreadclaws: I'm getting married in the summer, but if I can free up the cash, I want to shell out for a Dreadclaw, because they look killer. Similarly to the Hell Blade, does anyone have any experience with them? In-game, are they balanced and fun? Modelling-wise, are they a nightmare to make and keep together?

 

No idea, never used one, never built one. Want to someday.

 

Chainaxes: I've heard these are flimsy and break a lot, or are just plain difficult to model with. Anyone have any first-hand experience with them? I'd rather hear it from you guys, instead of distant gossip.

 

Chainaxes are a pain in the ass. The heads snap off where they meet the hafts, or the hafts snap where they join to the hand. I've jealously guarded my surviving ones with foam bedding and careful attention, while trading them out for chainswords on every Berserker I can manage to squeeze them onto. The FW ones might be sterner stuff, but I doubt it.

 

 

5. Your Opinion On All This.

So my question is basically this: What do you think? Is the campaign fluff too static and traditional? Does it sound interesting? Is the warband fluff cool and thematic, or does it make you grind your teeth at yet another Black Legion force? What advice can you give to a new Chaos Marine player, beyond "Play Counts-As Blood Angels"? (Be nice: Remember, I work with Gav and he's the world's nicest dude. He also never, ever smiles when I tease him about the codex...)

 

He has no reason to smile. . .EVER AGAIN. :P

 

My opinion is that I want to PLAY this campaign. Like, seriously. I've done online campaigns before with less thought-out fluff than what you've got. The Grey Knights might prove problematic if they decide they want to flex on the other Astartes (or "disappear" all the IG for seeing things they weren't supposed to). As for "yet another" Black Legion force, it's pretty hard not to see Black Legion in any force coming out of this Codex, but at least you're nice enough to actually choose to fly the Eye of Horus at full mast. Fair warning, though: if you don't like to lose, you're probably in for some very hard times a'comin.

[rhunicus]

Fallen Squad: I'd really love a (small, maybe 5-man) Dark Angel Fallen squad. I think it would be a cool alliance, with them grudgingly hanging out with my warband (perhaps as mercenary allies of the sorcerer), and it would give the Dark Angels something to hate me for. My problem is that I never know just how much iconography the Fallen actually display - assuming these are Chaos Undivided "evil" Fallen, not misunderstood guys who want redemption.

 

Chosen: I have no idea how to make Chosen look distinct and interesting, beyond using the Dark Angel robed bodies. That option is sort of out the window if I use those minis for my Fallen Squad, but I still dig the idea of a Chosen squad with 4 or 5 flamers, unleashing delicious torrents of liquid fire.

 

Why not making the Fallen squad chosen marines? It makes sense (to me) fluffwise. They are 10,000++ years old and have been in the warp for just as long, so why wouldn't they be carrying around some better than average weaponry? They also probably wouldn't want to march up the battlefield with the rest of the warband, as they would be "grudgingly hanging out" with the em....so why not infiltrate or outflank?

 

As for modelling them, I would recommend you check out the Chaos Space Marine Chirugeon Backpack (link might work for U.S. store only) if you haven't seen those, for the bad**s fallen angel backpacks. Those + incense burners + robed marines = awesome fallen angels.

 

It is also exactly what I am going to do with my chosen...I have a soft spot for Dark Angels and was trying to figure out how to fit some of their awesomeness into my army and that is what I came up with.

[Warsmith Aznable]

You'd think that in such a tolerant, Kumbayah culture like the Imperium, the babies would be killed at birth for this minor mutation.

 

The superstition and ignorance of the Imperium can work both ways, so it could be added as a flavor of the Ecclesiarchy. You could suppose that the minor mutation thing somehow got attached to a Living Saint, and its continued manifestation is a reminder/promise of return or whatnot. It could also be an in to write some reason for the Grey Knights to be involved, through the interconnected (at least conceptually) nature of all things of faith and heresy.

[Chapter Master Ignis Domus]

Oh, the tangled webs of heresy we weave...

 

That, Señor(my apologies to the Spaniards) Max, is an excellent point. I highly agree.

[Lord_Starscream]

A D-B, the real problem with this game you have designed is the core of the actual campaign. It really hurts me to see you damage your incredible writing talents by doing this campaign. Do you have no respect for your friends or something? Its shameful man, its downright shameful.

 

The Shadow Wolves would feel no threat from the incoming forces, not because they are Chaos Space Marines, but because the Black Legion is affiliated with them. C'mon man, don't you kid yourself. We know for a fact the Imperial Forces in the region were sitting there as this war begins to ramp up, going-

 

"Sir, we have incoming transmissions from ships in orbit, they are demanding our surrender."

 

"What's the transmission Lieutenant?"

 

"Putting it through now sir."

 

"Planet Tusca, I am Lord Nereus of the Black Legion, Master of Hell's Anvil, the destroyer of Lyok II, you will kneel before the will of the Dark Gods or be trampled under my boot."

 

"Sir, what should we do?"

 

The Planetary Governor, being a wise man and having in depth knowledge of how the Black Legion operated, merely responded. "Nothing."

 

The men in the room grew silent, had their commander gone mad?

 

"He's with the Black Legion men, this battle is already over. The moment they make contact with our women and children, they will be fought to a stand still and overwhelmed by their own incompetence and stupidity. I was worried for a moment. Thank the Emperor its only the Black Legion."

 

[Gree]

And why exactly should the Black Legion not be considered competent or threatening?

[Neigorath]

I assume because of the age old "ha ha" of Abaddon "failing" in all of his Black Crusades, when people don't understand that most of them were not even aimed at Cadia.

 

Also a word for ye Aaron, give us some Black Legion love in the form a book.

 

 

-Belial Neigorath

Lord-Captain of the 8th Company "Cthonia Firma"

Black Legion

[A D-B]

A quick pre-driving-Katie-to-work thought:

 

and the "Caul" is a reference to the flesh membrane sometimes covering babies' faces when they're born, which are often superstitiously associated with the infant possessing good luck, special gifts, or a sixth sense. In this instance, the Caul itself is a nebula of pale gases that act as a natural and harmless (but cosmically beautiful) shroud that drifts through most of the key systems, faintly obscuring many worlds to the naked eye.

 

You'd think that in such a tolerant, Kumbayah culture like the Imperium, the babies would be killed at birth for this minor mutation.

 

For all we know, they are, actually. That's a curious point. Is it deemed a mutation in 40K, or does the endlessly vital hearth wisdom of midwifery still allow it to be considered a natural and rare thing in humans? Probably on some worlds, it's a known dealio. On others, a sign of some gross deviancy. The Imperium is nothing if not varied.

 

I suspect I'll keep the region named the Caul purely for the nebula streak "cauling" the subsector, but still, the birth aspect is an interesting thought. I may see if it'll fit as a throwaway concept in my Grey Knights novel.

[Lord_Starscream]

For the record, my post was meant to be sarcasm. Obviously the Black Legion are a threat. Women and children would have difficulty defeating them, they would need at least three, perhaps four guardsmen present to stand a real chance against the Sons of Horus.

 

Perhaps if the Imperium of Man had Cobra Troopers to throw into the fray, it could be like watching Red Shirts and Storm Troopers go at it. :P

[A D-B]

Breaking this into manageable chunks before I start work today:

 

 

The Fallen:

 

Definitely go with the robes for these guys. If the old Cypher model is any indication, his only iconography was the spread-eagled skeleton on his chestplate; the shoulderpads were devoid of any markings. I'd go minimalist with these guys, were I you.

 

Yeah. The little pic in our current codex is pretty inspiring in its minimalist mysteriousness. I almost want, like, a blacker black for these guys. Colour-wise, what I think I'll do is take a leaf out of the Horus Heresy artwork collection, and have the Fallen very much like Pre-Heresy Dark Angels, going heavy on the black, grey and silver. That'll mark them out as different from the black, gold, bronze, and green of the main force.

 

 

Fallen/Chosen:

 

For Chosen I use the nifty little hoard of extra bits in the basic CSM sprue. Those are the guys with the high horned helmets, the stars of Chaos Undivided sticking up off their power packs, the shoulderpads with the little horns and spikeys sticking out of them. Where my line CSMs get Dwarf Bronze on all their trim, armor decorations, etc, the Chosen get Shining Gold like the Lords get, as a measure of the favor bestowed upon them for their dedication, their obedience, and their lethality.

 

...and...

 

Why not making the Fallen squad chosen marines? It makes sense (to me) fluffwise. They are 10,000++ years old and have been in the warp for just as long, so why wouldn't they be carrying around some better than average weaponry? They also probably wouldn't want to march up the battlefield with the rest of the warband, as they would be "grudgingly hanging out" with the em....so why not infiltrate or outflank?

 

As for modelling them, I would recommend you check out the Chaos Space Marine Chirugeon Backpack (link might work for U.S. store only) if you haven't seen those, for the bad**s fallen angel backpacks. Those + incense burners + robed marines = awesome fallen angels.

 

It is also exactly what I am going to do with my chosen...I have a soft spot for Dark Angels and was trying to figure out how to fit some of their awesomeness into my army and that is what I came up with.

 

...and...

 

I can recall the Studio Black Legion Army from 3.5 having their Chosen marked out by gold trim on the legs. I have the article. Essentially they did gold trim on the shoulders and silver on the legs. You mentioned you wanted to have green trim possible on your Astartes. You could always have gold trim reserved for the veterans.

 

A final idea I had but I never implemented was give them wolf pelts and trophies as a throwback to their Luna Wolf days. I never did it because of cost, but I was inspired by HH era picts that had Horus and various XVI Legion Astartes with wolf pelts. Anyway it should be easy to get that sort of thing due to the new Space Wolf plastic boxes.

 

 

Hell, yes. That'd all be awesome. My problem now is that I want 2 squads of Chosen: the first would be a 5-man squad of flamer-bearers with golden armour trimmings and wolf cloaks, and the second would be a 5-man squad of ancient, bitter archaic knights from the former Dark Angels Legion, armed to the teeth with relic power swords.

 

I just checked my bitz box(es), and I actually have 4 of those winged Cypher backpacks, too. I have no idea how, or when I acquired them, but game on.

 

 

Army List:

 

In that case, stick to whatever guns you've opted for in fluff. Min-maxing for competitive play will inevitably end up with you having a lot of Obliterators, Plague Marines, and dalliances with the business end of Lash of Submission.

 

I suspect I'll have zero Plague Marines (not keen on the models, and they don't fit smoothly into my army background), and my Daemon Prince won't be Slaaneshi, so no Lashy-Lashy. I'm tempted by the idea of some of the awesome Terminator Obliterator conversions I've seen on here, as well as Dan the Daemon's and Brother Nihm's flawless 'heavy weapon teams'. However, they're low on my list as I know, deep down, I'd be doing them because I'm scared of painting tanks, and it's time to nut up or shut up on that score. Gotta learn some time.

 

Fair warning, though: if you don't like to lose, you're probably in for some very hard times a'comin.

 

I suspect the Nurgle/Plague Marine army will give me some grief, at the very least.

 

 

For the record, my post was meant to be sarcasm. Obviously the Black Legion are a threat. Women and children would have difficulty defeating them, they would need at least three, perhaps four guardsmen present to stand a real chance against the Sons of Horus.

 

I'll show you. I'll show you all. Loyalists will tremble in abject terror, instead of shaking with laughter at how much I pay for wargear.

 

 

Misc Jazz:

 

Also a word for ye Aaron, give us some Black Legion love in the form a book.

 

I'd like to. My schedule is rammed for the next year or so, but I plan to pitch an Abaddon/Sons of Horus/Black Legion series. Let's just say I wouldn't exactly be surprised if my publisher says "Great idea, go do it."

 

I said in an interview not so long ago that I'd make the first two novels The Talon of Horus and The Black Legion. The first would be set around Abaddon reuniting the Sons of Horus in the Eye of Terror, after taking years of beatings from the other Legions. The second novel would be about the first Black Crusade, with its ultimate goal of Abaddon breaking from the Eye in order to find Drach'nyen.

 

But I didn't want to write two Chaos series at the same time, so it'll be after the third Night Lords novel next year, and it's by no means a guarantee - just something I'm keen to do. It's certainly not something BL are definitely planning yet, and there's every chance someone else could jump in and do their own thing. I have no claim to it, but Abaddon's story is basically The One 40K Story I'd Most Like To Tell, at some point, if I ever got the chance.

 

Hope that self-indulgent nonsense was at least slightly enlightening. Thanks for the vote of confidence too, dude. Always appreciated.

[Lord_Starscream]

Breaking this into manageable chunks before I start work today:

 

 

For the record, my post was meant to be sarcasm. Obviously the Black Legion are a threat. Women and children would have difficulty defeating them, they would need at least three, perhaps four guardsmen present to stand a real chance against the Sons of Horus.

 

I'll show you. I'll show you all. Loyalists will tremble in abject terror, instead of shaking with laughter at how much I pay for wargear.

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the rather entertaining response. I lolled.

 

But on a serious note, I generally like the direction of your campaign. If someone can make the Black Legion a threat its you. Its a cool concept, the Son's of Horus, most bitter of the Chaos Legion, favored most by the gods, out for revenge and to finally strike down the Emperor of Mankind, sitting upon his golden chair. The only problem is Abbadon has become somewhat of a Skeletor really. A maniacal creature whose goals and objectives are too large, too far reaching, and too imposing on the 40k universe to ever be allowed to be worked towards. His nefarious plots are so brutal that were they to succeed, it would either damage the franchise, or enrage many players (Cadians, I suspect. Strange that, having your army's home world burned to ash... might affect mini sales :D).

 

He's a complete badass in game piece, I even use an "Abbadon" Level Chaos Lord in the RARE times I dust off the old Word Bearers and give them a run.

 

If you ever do get your hands on the Black Legion, my piece of advice (I know, advise from a fan...) would be to allow them a manageable objective, at least in the short term. Generally the Franchise for them has been handled poorly because really, what they want they ain't gonna get, at least for as long as GW is happy with the status quo.

 

 

On a funny note again:

 

I remember when Chaos Rising was previewed for Dawn of War II. I was so excited to finally play the Dark Powers, and I love Single Player as well. Would Relic bring back the Word Bearers? Bring back the Alpha Legion? Bring back World Eaters? Let us play the Night Lords, or perhaps even allow us to fight against the much loved Thousand Sons?

 

Well, as soon as they displayed the Black Legion, any illusion of my enemy having a chance to win vacated from my mind. Ironically, I felt mildly more threatened when Eliphas the Inheritor arranged for his master to die, and took over the Black Legion forces. You see, because Eliphas was, at one point, a Word Bearer, and therefore may actually manage to achieve something close to victory ;) (He didn't, which means he must have gotten a geneseed transplant somehow ;))

[Hellios]

On the FW stuff... nah it isn't gamebreaking (Hellblade/talon or dreadclaw) especially if you are not using a version of the dreadclaw where units can assault the turn it lands.

 

The biggest issue is what flyer rules are you going to use, the apocalypse stay on the board forever rules or the older normal 40k rules from FW where flyers make attack runs (Obviously dreadclaws don't...) or evenhouse rule to make flyers some sort of fast skimmer. AA can be an issue for some races such as Tyranids and Necrons but marines, eldar and especially guard have access to AA.

 

 

As for chainaxes... how did you break them!?!?!?!?!

 

As for the story I wouldn't worry that much unless you plan to have certain events triggered by what happens in game (twists if you like), otherwise the game will evolve as it is played and the challenge will be to update the story (if this is your plan?) as the game goes along to make it interesting and make sense. Anyway a lot of that depends on what kind of campaign mechanics you are using? Is anyone else tasked to do that or has it been done?

[Rik Riorik]

It looked neat and structured so I couldn't help but read it.

 

I rarely get a game what with not knowing many people who play and not really bothering to getting to know new ones so the idea of running a story based campaign has me salivating at the mouth. Hope you guys and gals have loads of fun! The campaign sounds like the generic hook. But then there are only so many ways you can peel a banana and chances are if you've read a few books, seen a few movies, you're not going to be dazzled by much of anything but the most intricate and elaborate plot with more twists than hands in a whorehouse on a Sunday afternoon. It sounds like an excellent way to start things off.

 

Looks like you're with me on the painting. I have played a War of the Beard game of 4000pts with only a single model (Ironbreaker) painted too albeit on the side of the Dawi! I am a silly perfectionist without even being good at painting which is a real bad combination. That Ironbreaker took me like 4 hours to paint and he is mostly just armour for goodness sakes!

 

On the background I like the tie in with the Possessed and the early years following the Heresy. Nice touch and lends some more elements that very old feeling.

 

For Chosen (Word Bearers in my case) I originally modelled up guys in robes (Dark Angel veteran style) but since then I modelled up a Kill Team force made from basically just using the Chaos Warriors from Fantasy, greenstuffing the arms slightly and sticking weapons on them. I find their more imposing look has put them in consideration for the post of Chosen for me. One might argue that the way I've done them they don't look very Chaos MARINEy but that doesn't really bother me since I enjoy this look all the more. Below you'll see how one of my Chosen would look with a flamer, maybe that can provide some inspiration (had to use blue tac to keep him together mind you). There are a few more on the ole bloggerino.

 

 

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Cg1j3whtyjM/TV0PEQdMm9I/AAAAAAAAABk/UkF0fcs49MU/s1600/Chosen_flamer2.jpg

 

 

 

Getting a unit of Fallen in the mix is an excellent idea. Its always nice to just have a few different and stand out models in ones army. I plan on having one of my Terminators be an Imperial Fist traitor (based on the Lysander model) and leave him to be mostly still painted as a Fist. Gives a bit of character and in my case pays homage to probably my favourite loyalist chapter.

 

 

 

*Algol isn't that the name of the planet where the Ultramarines travel from in the opening of Ultramarines the Movie?

 

 

PS. Gav plays/played offensive Dwarfs in the attack minded sense of the word (but possibly they were also quite rude) and that forgives a lot. You know who also played Dwarfs? Mike Walker. And if you do as Big Mike does, odds are you might be forgiven a wrong step or two.

[Khestra the Unbeheld]

Breaking this into manageable chunks before I start work today:

 

 

The Fallen:

 

Yeah. The little pic in our current codex is pretty inspiring in its minimalist mysteriousness. I almost want, like, a blacker black for these guys. Colour-wise, what I think I'll do is take a leaf out of the Horus Heresy artwork collection, and have the Fallen very much like Pre-Heresy Dark Angels, going heavy on the black, grey and silver. That'll mark them out as different from the black, gold, bronze, and green of the main force.

 

My Cypher ended up with Codex Grey trim on his shoulderpads and legs. The only pieces on him that weren't black and grey were his sword (mostly Hammered Copper from the Vallejo line), his pistols (Boltgun Metal, Brassy Brass, Ice Blue), his hair (Sunburst Yellow because I thought he'd be blond), his face (Elf Flesh with Devlan Mud wash), and his robe (Skull White with Bleached Bone drybrush). He's still the most minimalized model I've painted.

 

 

 

 

Army List:

 

 

I suspect I'll have zero Plague Marines (not keen on the models, and they don't fit smoothly into my army background), and my Daemon Prince won't be Slaaneshi, so no Lashy-Lashy. I'm tempted by the idea of some of the awesome Terminator Obliterator conversions I've seen on here, as well as Dan the Daemon's and Brother Nihm's flawless 'heavy weapon teams'. However, they're low on my list as I know, deep down, I'd be doing them because I'm scared of painting tanks, and it's time to nut up or shut up on that score. Gotta learn some time.

 

Tanks are a lot more forgiving than infantry are; they're just intimidating because of their size. Start with one side at a time and keep the Chaos Black handy for corrections, and don't bling them out too much if you're not keen on spending a day painting little skulls and pointy bits. Like I said, with Black Legion most of the work is done with the basecoat, the rest is just detailing. I'm doing up a World Eaters Land Raider right now that's going to be sixteen shades of Hell to tackle in comparison, because Red is not universal the way Black is.

[esinhorn]

This is a link to my Black Legion with the Charadon Granite/Badab wash I told you about

makes the best Ancient Black IMO

http://z15.invisionfree.com/The_Great_Crus...c=2894&st=0

[Khestra the Unbeheld]

This is a link to my Black Legion with the Charadon Granite/Badab wash I told you about

makes the best Ancient Black IMO

http://z15.invisionfree.com/The_Great_Crus...c=2894&st=0

 

Clever trap, baiting us into having to register in order to view your topic, but those of us who were there to tear the walls of the Imperial Palace down are wise to your game. :)

[Khestra the Unbeheld]

Double post. :)

[esinhorn]

I swear I had no idea,I was just lazy and did not want to have to find all the photobucket links

to prove the point

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f295/wilis516/Picture328.jpg

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f295/wilis516/Picture329-1.jpg

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f295/wilis516/Picture327.jpg

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f295/wilis516/Picture330-1.jpg

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f295/wilis516/Picture331-1.jpg

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f295/wilis516/Picture340-2.jpg

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f295/wilis516/Picture341-1.jpg

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f295/wilis516/Picture342-1.jpg

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f295/wilis516/Picture346-2.jpg

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f295/wilis516/Picture347-2.jpg

[Dràyhèn]

General tips:

 

Regarding the assembly, I'd suggest modelling some little details on every Astartes. Things like chains, gun-belts, some 'nades or/and horns make them look much more interesting and more like the elite they're supposed to be. Even the rank & file troops deserve their share of extra stuff, so don't go into town just with the chosen when it comes into detail. Using those holsters you get with the sprue is also a nice addition (the "new" boxes still have these, right?).

 

Paint scheme

 

The BL paint scheme is easy to screw up - quite as easy as it is to paint. What ruins most BL armies' look (for me at least) is the lack of warmness on them (ie. the usage of "cold" colours only - and I'm not counting top knots). Or if the warmness is missing, there are no different shades of black on them to save the day either. Those little, warmly painted details can really do wonders, trust me. Just highlighting with grey helps the case immensely too and goes for warmness (at least partially). The black and gold just won't cut it, not alone. Dunno if adding soft green trimms helps the case.

 

Also, splashing in some dirt, blood and damage markings can make the models stand out a little bit more.

Everything except the different shades of black should be easy to do. I think jarhead has nailed this well. Linky: http://www.coolminiornot.com/217156

 

Something along those lines is what I prefer.