A Fresh Start

[BERZERKER!]

Hi all,

 

Here I am again, at square one. After bulding a Blood Angels army (still in progress), considering Grey Knights, starting a small Chaos force and toying with the idea of Dark Angels or Iron Hands armies, I have come to the conclusion that DIY is the way for me to go. I want the complete freedom this gives me with my models, painting and fluff.

 

After trawling for endless hours through conversions and fluff, searching for inspiration, I realise that two key themes stand out as what I want for my army; the bionic enhancement of the Iron Hands, and the sinister flavour of the Dark Angels.

 

I've looked at a number of ways of achieving this. I wanted to include some of the 'inner circle' structure of the DA, but I'm not really interested in the rest of their unique fluff. I decided it was easier to justify a sinister, monastic, robed Iron Hands successor than a bionics obsessed Dark Angels successor, so this is the direction i have decided to go in.

 

So, first things first, a name. I came up with 'Iron Harbingers', but I'm not sure this rings the right bells. Any ideas are welcome!

 

Secondly, any ideas on how i might develop these themes would be greatly appreciated!

[Olis]

So, first things first, a name. I came up with 'Iron Harbingers', but I'm not sure this rings the right bells. Any ideas are welcome!

 

Have you tried the Chapter Name Creator at the top of the page? Might I suggest a name synonymous with 'Hand' or 'Talon' or 'Claw'? Use of a metallic word is pretty much a must though. Steel Talons maybe?

 

Secondly, any ideas on how i might develop these themes would be greatly appreciated!

 

So will they use the codex organisational system or the IH one (like the Sons of Medusa)?

[soddinnutter]

Maybe they dabble in Sorcery. That could be a dark secret. Summoning Deamon-hosts for the reason of interrogation. Only the Inner Circle and a select few of the Librarians and Chaplains know of this.

 

Or they may conduct unholy rituals of gene-splicing. Not gene-splicing the gene-seed but trying to find the perfect aspirant and when they can not they make one. It's only semi-illegal in Mechanicus Law to do this but do you want to explain the finer points of law to the other Cahpters?

[BERZERKER!]

Thanks for the ideas guys, keep them coming.

 

I thought that the sinister secret might be that the chapter has decided that the Omnissiah is their master, rather than the Emperor, and that maybe they experiment with alien technology.

[Olis]

Thanks for the ideas guys, keep them coming.

 

I thought that the sinister secret might be that the chapter has decided that the Omnissiah is their master, rather than the Emperor, and that maybe they experiment with alien technology.

 

I'd pick one OR the other, brother. Making them beholden to the AdMech is nothing new but it's a decent idea, ALSO making them hereteks (tech-heretics) would be a bit much. ;)

[BERZERKER!]

Ahh, not so much beholden to the Ad-mech as the Machine God itself, and so maybe any technology would be deemed to be the work of the Omnissiah and hence fair game for the chapter's techpriests to play with.

[soddinnutter]

Except that xeno-tech has no machine spirit and as such is an abomination that must be melted down for scrap

[Dominicus]

I would have them worship both the Emperor and the Omnissiah in equal porportions to their brother Chapters, but deep inside their inner circle (made only of tech-Marines, tech-Chaplains, and tech-Librarians, as well as the odd teched-out marine) worship the Omnissiah only. And they like to dabble by mixing technology with psychic powers.

 

A name:

Iron Fists (an Imp.Fists icon, coloured gunmetal grey on a red background)

[Olis]

I would have them worship both the Emperor and the Omnissiah in equal porportions to their brother Chapters, but deep inside their inner circle (made only of tech-Marines, tech-Chaplains, and tech-Librarians, as well as the odd teched-out marine) worship the Omnissiah only. And they like to dabble by mixing technology with psychic powers.

 

I like this suggestion. ;)

[BERZERKER!]

I would have them worship both the Emperor and the Omnissiah in equal porportions to their brother Chapters, but deep inside their inner circle (made only of tech-Marines, tech-Chaplains, and tech-Librarians, as well as the odd teched-out marine) worship the Omnissiah only. And they like to dabble by mixing technology with psychic powers.

 

I like this suggestion.

 

So do I! Thankyou, brother!

 

Xenos tech aside, do people think it would be acceptable for a chapter to develop their own tech?

[Olis]

Xenos tech aside, do people think it would be acceptable for a chapter to develop their own tech?

 

Not really. It's tech-heresy. Unless you WANT them to be hereteks, of course. :P

[ChaplainMathreyn]

The idea that, "they finagle with xenos stuff", is really cliche. and really does destroy the awesome, crunchy "darkness and despair" that make up the core of the universe. We know Eldar hover technology would immeasurably help humanity from it's grinding level of universal 'Meh', but it won't, maybe it can't, and it definitely will not. Besides, that is what the obnoxious, Binary-babbling gear heads from Mars are for... You are a Space Marine. You kill stuff. Kill it dead.Then kill the remnants, and kill everything that was around it... Not poke at a Tau weapon to see how it works... That isn't your purpose. Unless you proceed to club said Tau to death With it's weapon, then sure. Go ahead. You Might need to be ritualistically cleansed by the Chaplain for handling said xenos stuff, and/or serve some penance however. Space Marines do two things: You pray, and you kill. And eat... Three things. Pray, kill, eat. Maybe you pray to kill again... Four things, pray, kill, eat, then pray to kill more...

 

I Do like the Omnissiah-worship thing, though. That has a nice ring and twist to it. As a Space Marine, you are indoctrinated to believe that the Emperor is the pinnacle of human... what, "awesomeness"?... Having someone say "Yeah... Probably not..." really quietly is cool... The sticking point, though is Why? Even though the Iron Hands practice many of these "abhorrent" practices, like swapping out living flesh for bionics in the name of Ferrus Manus, their Primarch, I've never gotten the feeling that they'd willingly toss out the Emperor in favor of the Omnissiah... That belief is strictly the domain of the Mechanicus... And the One, overriding thing I've gotten from the Mechanicus is, they don't like to Share. At. All. Whether it be their faith, their knowledge, their technology, etc. They hoard it, and who Knows what really they do with it all... >.> ... The Imperium's most advanced mechanical puppy... Arf arf...

 

Something plausible might be a xenos weapon/artifact, that the Chapter as a whole heartily believes was "touched by Ferrus Manus", while the Inner Circle know that it is really, just some abominable xenos... Thing... That fits very well into the "blinded faith" of the Space Marines.

 

I like "techno-sorcery"... But, I'm also biased... And that's very "Dark Mechanicus" and Obliterator Cult (I Believe that is what they are... The infusion of magic and machine... They can spawn a weapon from their flesh as needed...), and it's going to very strange to try and pull off with tact... If your Captain suddenly turns his left arm into a heavy bolter, People are going to notice... Techno-sorcery is not only going to piss off the devout of the Imperium, but also earn the ire of the Mechanicus, as well...

[BERZERKER!]

Just to clarify, it isn't so much that i want to have involvement with xenos tech as part of my chapters fluff.

 

I want to include some, lets say, developments on standard Astartes tech, because i have some really cool concepts for models/units (and for me the hobby is all about building cool things), and really wanted to write this into the chapter's fluff to make it all a bit more plausible.

 

More than anything, i need to develop a good, believable reason why my chapter might have slightly more advanced versions of this or that piece of tech than another chapter. I know that chapters have developed vehicles and such in the past (take the Land Raider Crusader for example).

 

On another note, this:

And they like to dabble by mixing technology with psychic powers.

Has given me an awesome idea... i will keep you updated!

 

Cheers all,

Thanks for the input so far!

[NightrawenII]

More than anything, i need to develop a good, believable reason why my chapter might have slightly more advanced versions of this or that piece of tech than another chapter. I know that chapters have developed vehicles and such in the past (take the Land Raider Crusader for example).

Well, I would like to quote someone else from another forum:

 

*A great warrior doesn't have to have magic in his blood or a tragedy behind his past. He only needs an unwavering determination and a steeled soul. With that, even the gods will fall by his blade.*

[ChaplainMathreyn]

I do believe The Mentors are a sort of "testbed" Chapter, using a variety of slightly "tweaked" weaponry... Still a bolter, but with different configurations of bolter, etc.... Maybe experimental stuff... " Here, go kill something with this. And if you explode, the Mechanicus sends it's regards and an 'Ooops. Our bad'..."

 

I see no overwhelming reason why you couldn't incorporate some testbed-ishness into yours... It'd require some work with the Mechanicus, though... Figuring They have the capability to finely tune, and/or customize such weaponry like the bolter, or the plasma gun... Marines with lasrifles... Now THAT'S tough... :tu:

[BERZERKER!]

Well, there is good potential there for strong ad-mech ties, considering the parent chapter will be the iron hands.

[Octavulg]

An idea for bionics-obsessed Dark Angels: they're obsessed with becoming incorruptible and decide bionics are the way to do this. The process begins as the DA rise higher and higher through the chapter, and by the time they reach the Inner Circle they're basically not even human any more.

 

Sinister and monastic Iron Hands...they're basically there. They just need robes. Closer ties with Mars could do it, as suggested. Another option would be to have them recruit from a world with a lot of monasteries, and thus end up with something similar to the Clan Companies (Cloister Companies is the obvious one). Or perhaps they believe more fervent dedication to the Emperor will save them from their impurity and weakness (having been inspired by such things as Living Saints or what have you). I could see them going through cycles of prayer to the Emperor -> no blessing -> I am impure! -> add bionics -> repeat.

 

Keep in mind that official doctrine, IIRC, is that the Emperor is the Omnissiah. That's the political compromise that let Mars join the Imperium, IIRC.

[BERZERKER!]

Hi guys,

 

I think i have decided the route i want to go down, and have started writing bits of fluff in the style of a codex (basically I want to write some homegrown rules for a few unique units, which might end up being the whole army :D ). I think I have decided to call them the Iron Spectres.

 

Basically the whole chapter will be techmarines, of sorts. Here is a piece of fluff for the chapter's Veterans, a WIP at the moment, just to give an idea of what I mean.

 

"Each Veteran of the Iron Spectres has earned the title of Tech Adept, for each has an intrinsic understanding of the chapter’s weapons and machines, and is gifted with access to the chapter armoury. A Tech Adept is deemed worthy to wear a suit of the chapter’s precious Power Armour, and each maintains his own wargear with the skill of the Techmarines of other chapters...."

 

I want the chapter to be limited in its technology, to an extent, but to have some some powerful weapons etc. Tacs will deploy in a form of scout armour. Power armour will be limited, and suits of TDA will be extremely rare if i put them in at all. Vehicles will be extremely limited... Maybe limited to land speeders, bikes and dreadnoughts only. I'm yet to decide on a reason for this... possibly they operate beyond the bounds of the Astronomican, or somewhere where supplies cannot reach them.

 

I'm also trying to decide how to do a Grey Knight-esque squad of psykers, or possibly (more likely the more i think about it) some form of anti-psyker, who focus their power through special weaponry. I was looking at the rules for Culexus assassins, but that didn't inspire me. I'm also thinking about giving them a special rule that makes them explode when you kill them, and force every psyker within a given radius to take a Perils of the Warp test.

 

Anyway, gentlepeople...

What do we think?

 

Cheers