Null Blades

[Ecritter]

No where near crap. Adds a nice personal touch to the IA. I'll try to give the IA a once over this weekend .... long days this week and still trying to work on my own IA. ^_^

[Guest Mordray]

I like the images. So keep them. You could try for a more elaborate one if you like but I also like the look and style of your Null Blades images. Your marines look a lot more professional then those I'm used to seeing. That's a very good thing.

 

 

I've read over the work and don't see anything that jumps out but I also didn't/don't have time to sit down and just tear it apart... that said I like these guys they come off a professional/modern soldiers without sounding like uber gods of war... something I'm failing at with my own chapter. I'd recommend the age old standby of sit down and rewrite it don't edit, just rewrite it one section at a time. It's a pain in the ass, but I've found it helps.

 

 

Perhaps I'll have more time in a few weeks but right now I'm limited in my functional free time.

[Ecritter]

Here's my take on the Chapter. Some may be issues covered by others before me.

 

Battlecry: None, instead battle brothers live by the motto: “Munus et Mortis”

 

Latin is good, its better if we know what it means. Could always put translation after it. I see you do put that at the end.

 

Created from the Geneseed of the Genesis Chaptor, the exact date of the Null Blade’s founding is lost, possibly going back as far as the middle of the 33rd Millennium, if the chapter’s patchy records are to be believed.

Though the records of their founding member’s identities have long since been lost, it is apparent that the Null Blades, originally chapter 466, embraced the independent nature and tactical flexibility from their Eccentric First Master, bending the teachings of the Codex Astartes to new extremes in their quest for tactical superiority.

 

So the HLoT and AdMech, as well as the Chapter have lost records? Seems odd.

 

The original chapter master, whose name is omitted from the few records that remain of the time, is quoted by sergeant Acturion as being

“As strange and unorthodox an Ultramarine descendant I could ever imagine.” upon Taking command of the newly formed chapter.

Being mysterious, aloof and utterly paranoid, he skilled chapter 466 in extreme stealth techniques, impressing on them the importance of learning the codex teachings but being prepared to discard them on a whim in order to dumbfound any enemy.

The chapter master went on to train the chapter extensively in unorthodox tactics, some Battle-brothers claiming that he made things up as he went along, formed around his ‘Null blade’ philosophy.

 

If he's that memorable, then how did they forget his name?

 

This exact nature of this philosophy no longer exists, but it is known that at some point in time the entire chapter took on the name Null Blades, maybe suggesting a point where the chapter’s eccentric behaviour and unpredictable nature met the standards of their original master. The Master was originally an outspoken and charismatic Captain in the Genesis Chapter and some believe that his unorthodox views shed him in a poor light among the Genesis Chapter Hierarchy.

It is believed that his tasking to take command of a new chapter may have been a result of political manoeuvring, a successful effort to get rid of a troublesome force while appearing to be an honourable promotion.

 

The exact time, and by whom, a chapter is named has been argued .... but it is most definantly named upon them going opeational at the latest. Changing names later is a sin among SMs. You need a really good reason to do it, if it is done.

 

Whatever the reasons for appointing such an oddity as commander of the Null Blades, they took the ethos of adaptability so far they made a near fatal mistake shortly after their first successful campaign, nearly damning the whole chapter before it could be properly formed.

Though the nature of this mistake is still shrouded in mystery, it left the chapter with no evidence of its own existence in these times lest a dark longsword, its skull laden form being handed from Master to Master as a badge of office.

It is said that the blade belonged to one of the founding members, and was responsible for the death of the first Master himself.

The Null Blades keep this single relic of their past, the blade serving as a symbol of their strength and a reminder of what becomes of those who stray from the proper path.

 

Makes no sense. Do I really exist, I find no evidence saying I do.

 

The Null Blades share the views of many older chapters in the belief that the Emperor is the greatest man to ever live, and therefore worthy of great respect and admiration as a literal creator figure, with their individual Primarchs close behind. They differ to other chapters however, in that they refuse to acknowledge the existence of sentient warp powers, seeing the patrons of the archenemy as raw power, manipulated into being by the undisciplined egos of men.This gives them a sombre approach to war fighting, teaching their ranks that the quest for glory always leads to failure and an untimely death.

An informal saying among the Battle Brothers remarks

“Duty is done better alive and unseen, rather than glorious and dead.”

 

So Orks, Eldar, Tau, etc are just figments of my imagination? Remember, Chaos is but one enemy of the Imperium.

 

Unusually for an Astartes chapter used to being flexible in its war making, the Null Blades Abhor Psykers and have no Librarians among their ranks. They also stay away from allied Psykers on the field of battle and upon being confronted by an enemy who is touched by the warp, they will single them out for extermination above all other threats.

 

You may indeed hate psykers ... but you do use them. Your ships are going nowhere fast without them.

 

Not caring for ostentation, admiration or obedience from humans, the Null Blades decided to keep their presence a secret, digging their fortress deep into the bedrock of the planet and disguising the entrances. The vast underground base was based around an immense tunnel network with thousands of rat runs, emergency exits, dead ends and pitfalls deliberately placed to confound any potential intruders.

In this way, the fortress needed no large static defences, instead a defence would be a long, drawn out series of ambushes and false fallback positions, luring any would be attackers into a hell of attrition in kilometres of claustrophobic corridors, never knowing what would await them around the next corridor.

 

You really believe you're going to hide 1000+ SMs, a huge Fortress complex, and a fleet in orbit?

 

From this location the Null Blades went about their business of recruitment, opting against the usual ritual trials and combat to select promising aspirants, choosing instead to spy on and screen selected demographic groups within the hives, abducting anyone they deemed to have potential.

This practice went on for a number of years until the chapter records suddenly draw a blank sometime after the Chapter’s first successful campaign, the purging of the Ork stronghold on Calmundus, a sparsely populated settlement on the fringes of the Maelstrom.

 

So .... Huge, heavily armored, men 'sneak' around and kidnap kids in a highly populated region?

 

Even though the current location of the Null Blade’s Homeworld is a closely guarded secret, Imperial planets in the Null Blade’s patrol arcs have much higher statistics of missing young males, strongly suggesting this practice of abduction is still the way the chapter increases its numbers.

Due to intense observation periods and medical screening, a process conducted to decrease wastage, a high level of genetically compatible aspirants are obtained, which would initially seem a very positive side effect of the selection process.

 

Why?

 

-------------------------------------------

 

Overall not a bad concept, needs some work. Is the "secret Chapter" concept really necessary. What is to keep other chapters from attacking them, they may be chaos for all anyone knows. There is no record of them after all.

[Darkchild130]

Here's my take on the Chapter. Some may be issues covered by others before me.

 

Latin is good, its better if we know what it means. Could always put translation after it. I see you do put that at the end.

 

As I did translate it, why comment on it?

 

So the HLoT and AdMech, as well as the Chapter have lost records? Seems odd.

 

Fine, tell me the exact date of the tenth founding.

 

If he's that memorable, then how did they forget his name?

 

they didnt forget, his details were deliberately expunged from records.

 

The exact time, and by whom, a chapter is named has been argued .... but it is most definantly named upon them going opeational at the latest. Changing names later is a sin among SMs. You need a really good reason to do it, if it is done.

 

They didnt change their name, they didnt even have one until he named them

 

Makes no sense. Do I really exist, I find no evidence saying I do.

 

Yes it does, read "records expunged" like earlier. If I have to explain why they were expunged, you clearly havent read it properly.

 

So Orks, Eldar, Tau, etc are just figments of my imagination? Remember, Chaos is but one enemy of the Imperium.

 

this make absolutely no sense, how have you confused not believing in chaos gods with not believing in the physical threats of Ork, Eldar and Tau?

 

You may indeed hate psykers ... but you do use them. Your ships are going nowhere fast without them.

 

erm, Black Templars. same attitude torwards psychics, still use them as a means to an end. I never said Null Blades dont use astropaths and navigators, thats a given for every chapter

 

You really believe you're going to hide 1000+ SMs, a huge Fortress complex, and a fleet in orbit?

 

No, I never said their fleet was hidden, only the homeworld. raptors manage it well enough.

 

So .... Huge, heavily armored, men 'sneak' around and kidnap kids in a highly populated region?

 

again, no, read the IA and this becomes clear. The sneaking is done by failed aspirants who survive the recruitment process.

 

Why?

 

Instead of recruiting through trials of ritual etc, they recruit purely on genetic markers, meaning they get plenty of compatible aspirants. their main reason for recruit wastage therefore comes from those weak in the mind, which ironically would have been discovered earlier if they had conducted said Ritualistic trials. So to the Null Blades themselves they think they are being all superior by not resorting to "outdated methods", when in actual fact they are creating a self perpetuating cycle of slow recruitment

 

 

Overall not a bad concept, needs some work. Is the "secret Chapter" concept really necessary. What is to keep other chapters from attacking them, they may be chaos for all anyone knows. There is no record of them after all.

 

they are not a secret chapter, their homeworld location is a secret. And yes it is necessary, as they are paranoid by nature (a hangover from their original masters) and not knowing the start of their own history compounds this. And if you read it again you will see there are plenty of records of them in the 6 thousand or so years they have been operational, just a hundred year gap at the start.

 

thanks for the critique.

 

Darkchild

[Ecritter]

* Well when you first mentioned it, I wrote it. Only at the very end did I see the translation. You may want to either translate it at the beginning or just drop it from the beginning to stop confusion.

 

* Easy fix, just say "founded during the 10th Founding" no need for date or explanation of lack of date then.

 

* But if his records were expunged, why do we have people that know so much about him?

 

* "This exact nature of this philosophy no longer exists, but it is known that at some point in time the entire chapter took on the name Null Blades, maybe suggesting a point where the chapter’s eccentric behaviour and unpredictable nature met the standards of their original master."

Then is all this necessary? Kinda reads confusingly.

 

* The sentence makes no sense is what I was getting at. Try reading it out loud to a friend and see if they understand without explanation what you're trying to say.

 

* I was pointing out that their odd belief in Chaos dictates too much in their combat approach by that sentence. They combat much more then Chaos.

 

* I know, but you may want to put in that the Blades still see them as a necessary evil ... as everyone must use them.

 

* Still hard to believe that no one has noticed that the Blades' fleet ends up around the same world over and over. You see what I'm getting at, how is the homeworld hidden with the fleet in orbit around it?

 

* So you trust the finding of new recruits to failed recruits?

 

* You missed the highlighted section that the 'why' was directed towards. What purpose does the hidden homeworld hold? What does it add to the Chapter? Those kinda questions are always gonna come up.

 

* But they are a secret. Homeworld secret .... lost or fogotten history ... records expunged ... etc. Again, what does this add to the chapter. I'm sure in your mind it is all clear, you need to explain it to us what this adds. That's the key in this.

[Darkchild130]

* Well when you first mentioned it, I wrote it. Only at the very end did I see the translation. You may want to either translate it at the beginning or just drop it from the beginning to stop confusion.

 

wont change this, I'm sure everyone can read to the end, if they cant be bothered then they dont need to know what it means.

 

* Easy fix, just say "founded during the 10th Founding" no need for date or explanation of lack of date then.

 

good point, I will do that.

 

* But if his records were expunged, why do we have people that know so much about him?

 

because his legacy is part of the character of the chapter, his story has been passed word of mouth down through the centuries. the modern Null Blades dont even know what is true or what isnt about their own past. It is integral to their character.

 

* "This exact nature of this philosophy no longer exists, but it is known that at some point in time the entire chapter took on the name Null Blades, maybe suggesting a point where the chapter’s eccentric behaviour and unpredictable nature met the standards of their original master."

Then is all this necessary? Kinda reads confusingly.

 

ties into my comment above, they know what they are, but not necessariliy why they are like it, which serves to only make them more odd.

 

* The sentence makes no sense is what I was getting at. Try reading it out loud to a friend and see if they understand without explanation what you're trying to say.

 

well you didnt highlight the entire sentence, it makes sense in the context of the paragraph.

 

* I was pointing out that their odd belief in Chaos dictates too much in their combat approach by that sentence. They combat much more then Chaos.

 

this is true, but that is one of their character flaws, they are so afraid of corruption it affects everything they do in combat. Of course in practice this just means they fight with a cool head.

 

* I know, but you may want to put in that the Blades still see them as a necessary evil ... as everyone must use them.

 

Nope, its so obvious I dont need to mention it, a chapter would not exist at all without a fleet. Every chapter without exception uses astropaths and navigators, and a few hate psykers.

 

* Still hard to believe that no one has noticed that the Blades' fleet ends up around the same world over and over. You see what I'm getting at, how is the homeworld hidden with the fleet in orbit around it?

 

How can you say this when you have absolutely no idea where or what the homeworld is? You dont even know its a planet. It could be a large asteroid, or a dead world.

Again, Raptors seem to pull it off fine, so my marines pull it off fine.

 

* So you trust the finding of new recruits to failed recruits?

 

Yes, there are many fine soldiers that couldnt become Space marines. Space Marines are truly exceptional, a soldier is a brave human with the capacity to be trained. Different things.

 

* You missed the highlighted section that the 'why' was directed towards. What purpose does the hidden homeworld hold? What does it add to the Chapter? Those kinda questions are always gonna come up.

 

It highlights their paranoid nature, and the fear that evidence of their early dabbles may catch up with them.

 

* But they are a secret. Homeworld secret .... lost or fogotten history ... records expunged ... etc. Again, what does this add to the chapter. I'm sure in your mind it is all clear, you need to explain it to us what this adds. That's the key in this.

 

It works on a number of levels. The primary one is their overarching sense of paranoia, linked to an inherent guilt felt by their prejudices.

On a practical level its good soldiering, how can anyone attack you if they dont know where you are?

 

I must point out that I leave things half explained sometimes on purpose.

You are meant to read the IA and figure out for yourself why they are like they are, I dont like plainly spelling it out for people, where's the fun in that?

 

All the reasons why the Null Blades do what they do are in the IA, it just requires some effort to figure it out.

It may be a failing on my part, as I am more used to writing stories than dry articles.

 

Darkchild

[Guest Mordray]

I must point out that I leave things half explained sometimes on purpose.

You are meant to read the IA and figure out for yourself why they are like they are, I dont like plainly spelling it out for people, where's the fun in that?

 

All the reasons why the Null Blades do what they do are in the IA, it just requires some effort to figure it out.

It may be a failing on my part, as I am more used to writing stories than dry articles.

 

Darkchild

 

This reasoning is probably why I like this chapter so much. It's not spelled out it's got some mystery and makes you think. When everything is handed to you on a platter why bother?

[Arkangilos]

The real IA do not spell everything out for us either... So yeah :D

[Darkchild130]

thank you Brothers!

I plan on updating again this weekend, will attempt to tighten things further, will amend the part about the founding that Ecritter brough up and may start to expand the notable actions section.

I also intend to add a notable personnel section at some point, with just a short paragraph on a couple ofthe characters that will be in my story.

 

Darkchild

[Algesan]

to which they say

"It's just warp energy reacting to dirty psykers and their dirty rituals, kill kill kill."

 

Its really not a hard concept, merely satire. Why is this hard to accept?

 

Real life = oceans of scientific evidence disproving existence of god, yet we get religious people in our 'enlightened' age.

 

40k= oceans of evidence proving existence of gods, yet the Null blades are atheists, applying rational thought to absolute chaos.

 

both are exercises in futility, showing a null blade a bloodthirster will not shake his faith, he has had a lifetime of (incorrect) indoctrination telling him exactly why that bloodthirster is there.

 

Darkchild

 

Real life fundy athiests mutated into Space Marines in 40k. Now this is funny as satire, although perhaps not as you think, in fact, almost certainly the reverse of what you think, but this is not the forum for that discussion.

 

Otherwise, not too bad, but I think the biggest problem with "knights in space" doesn't come from GW as much as it comes from players, but considering that there is only about one Space Marine per Imperial planet, that view is probably inevitable. I see too many Black Templar (the most blatant knights in space rip off) players who think bolt pistol and chainsword are the only way to equip their Initiates, even if it contradicts the fluff that says that even though "many" do go armed that way, the majority use the bolter.

 

Correct, there must be a creed of some sort there, as you correctly point out even fundy atheists have a philosophical worldview based on their assumptions and interpretations and will stick with it despite all the evidence to the contrary. From this derives their reactions to life.

 

OT>> One thing I wish GW would get over themselves on is trying for 100% conformity for armies. Why can I not field an elite shooty army. For 5 points per model, they all get +1 BS. Or a veteran skill for 3 points. I'd love to field Vostroyan IG, but the only way to do so is to take all Vets, no possible chance of having a new regiment with carapace armor.

[Arkangilos]

I do have to agree with Ecritter that sentence that he said was confusing did kind of confuse me too (even with the paragraph) the first time I read it.

 

I think it is the "lest a dark longsword, its skull laden form being handed from Master to Master as a badge of office" that is what is making it confusing. That part does not really fit in well. And saying that, I think that it is the word "lest."

Here is how that line translates in my mind:

 

"it left the chapter with no evidence of its own existence in these times lest a dark longsword, its skull laden form being handed from Master to Master as a badge of office."

= (at least in my mind)

"It left the chapter with no evidence of its existence unless a dark longsword, its skull laden form being handed from master to master as a badge of office."

 

That is my only complaint ^_^

 

In 4th edition you could do that. They had differant options to where you could customise your armies. SM had good ones and draw backs, and IG had "doctrines." That would include carpace for everyone, +1 ballistic, etc. You could only choose 4 I think though.

[Darkchild130]

Real life fundy athiests mutated into Space Marines in 40k. Now this is funny as satire, although perhaps not as you think, in fact, almost certainly the reverse of what you think, but this is not the forum for that discussion.

 

Otherwise, not too bad, but I think the biggest problem with "knights in space" doesn't come from GW as much as it comes from players, but considering that there is only about one Space Marine per Imperial planet, that view is probably inevitable. I see too many Black Templar (the most blatant knights in space rip off) players who think bolt pistol and chainsword are the only way to equip their Initiates, even if it contradicts the fluff that says that even though "many" do go armed that way, the majority use the bolter.

 

Correct, there must be a creed of some sort there, as you correctly point out even fundy atheists have a philosophical worldview based on their assumptions and interpretations and will stick with it despite all the evidence to the contrary. From this derives their reactions to life.

 

OT>> One thing I wish GW would get over themselves on is trying for 100% conformity for armies. Why can I not field an elite shooty army. For 5 points per model, they all get +1 BS. Or a veteran skill for 3 points. I'd love to field Vostroyan IG, but the only way to do so is to take all Vets, no possible chance of having a new regiment with carapace armor.

 

Please dont assume you have any idea what I think about, but other than that thanks for your comments!

 

I agree with you about the conformity thing, IMO we should be able to tailor our armies to a minute degree (within the boundries of said army of course), but I doubt GW would go for this as it would mean no more codex updates and it wouldnt be user friendly for new players.

I suppose they could provide 2-3 template armies in each codex for those who cant be bothered, but its merely a pipe dream ... ;)

 

@telanicus: Yes that sentence is incorrectly worded, I will change it when I get the time.

 

thanks all!

 

Darkchild

[Arkangilos]

For the army list thing, those really only apply to the tournaments and "official" games. You can field whatever you want in home games and even games with other people (so long as they agree to it).