The Aphotican Oath - A Word Bearer Warband (Update: Aug 24)

[A D-B]

Let me start this with an apology. This thread will be part-campaign resource, part-project log, and may be almost supernaturally tedious to anyone not playing in the campaign. As stated on a former thread, 2011 was the target year for me to stop screwing around saying "I really want to play 40K again", and to just start playing instead. It's taking a lot of preparation, but The Thracian Caul is my attempt to raise an army as a bunch of my friends do the same, and center it around a narrative campaign.

 

I'm sure that, at some point, the other players will jump in with photos and updates of their own, and I hope this eventually reaches the point where battle reports are a very real possibility, alongside fully laid-out army shots. But it's early days yet, and between real life, deadlines, getting married, money struggles, and whatever else we all have to deal with, many worthy projects die in their infancy.

 

Still, morale is high, so let's do this. Here's the campaign background.

 

The Thracian Caul

In the early decades of M41, the region of space known as the Thracian Caul devolved into rebellion against the Imperium. Imperial reinforcements arrived only to turn the attempted secession into open warfare, pushing the rebellion into a deadlock that lasted several years, spanning almost a dozen systems.

 

The region earned its name from two factors: The "Thracian" part came 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; two significant hive worlds; a wide spread of populated worlds; and the Adeptus Mechanicus possesses several deep space installations in the subsector. 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 (my fiancee 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 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 of its massive population, dense manufacorum industry, and reserves of wealth. 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-populated planets, the Verge World uprisings have always been swiftly ended by the Imperial Guard and allied Space Marine 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, lead 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 Eye of Terror and the Maelstrom, each sworn to their own allegiances, bound together only by tenuous pacts of mutual ceasefire. The Chaos fleets have secured their hold in the Odrysian Verge Worlds, and now press forward into the Amnion Core, stepping up to begin full conquest.

 

The Crunchy Bit

Getting this organised won't be easy. We need time to raise our armies, and that includes time to get tabled-up and some decent scenery on the go. When it comes to the weekends we'll play, it's unlikely everyone will be able to make it at once, so it really comes down to just having enough of us here at any one time. That shouldn't be too much trouble.

 

We're starting at 1,000 points. So far, everyone is using traditional codices for their armies, with no proxying going on. The list of players goes a little like this, with more info to be added when army fluff is all worked out:

 

-- The Odrysian Reclamation --

Andy - Grey Knights.

Katie - Space Marines (Shadow Wolves).

Steve - Space Marines (Dark Angels).

Emma - Eldar (Craftworld TBC).

Ben - Imperial Guard (The Siculean 7th - the "Lucky Sevens").

Sarah - Space Marines (Silver Skulls).

 

-- The Bitter Tide --

Sander - Chaos Marines (Iron Warriors: Warband Name TBC).

Aaron - Chaos Marines (Word Bearers: The Aphotican Oath).

Ben - Chaos Marines (Nurgle: The Fist of Malarius).

John - Chaos Marines (Night Lords: The Vassals of Megaeron).

Rachel - Chaos Marines (Night Lords: Warband Name TBC).

 

As you can see, the beloved forces of evil are a little outnumbered, but we'll see how it comes out in the wash. As a note of interest, several of these folks are published by or work for Black Library/Games Workshop, one of them has won Throne of Skulls and several other tournaments a bajillion times, and one of them is marrying me in the summer. It's a mixture of people I've met in WoW, in work, and just in general.

 

Fascinating, I know.

 

Now, here's where I'm going with all this...

 

The Aphotican Oath

 

"With the taste of my brother's blood on my lips,

I swear unto the last breath in my body,

My life for the Oath, my death for our masters,

My soul for the Fall of the False God's Throne."

 

-- Ninety-second Declaration of the Aphotican Oath.

 

 

The Aphotican Oath is a Word Bearer warband forever on the edge of destroying itself. Three leaders share an unequal command over the warband, leading their own subfactions within the force itself. The Aphotican Oath can only lay claim to two warships: the Heresy-era battleship Shadow of the Golden Son, and the more recently-stolen Adeptus Astartes battle-barge Black Spire Rising. The former takes its name from antiquity, when it was one of the Seventeenth Legion's proudest warships during the Great Crusade and the Heresy that followed. The latter was taken by force from the Executioners Space Marine Chapter three hundred years before the beginning of M41, and renamed in honour of Lorgar's tower at the heart of the City of Grey Flowers - the capital of Colchis, lost homeworld of the Word Bearers.

 

Most of the Aphotican Oath's forces are made up of warriors claiming membership with the Word Bearers' Chapter known as the Bleeding Scourge. During the Great Crusade and the Heresy itself, the Bleeding Scourge was one of the lesser-known Chapters within the Seventeenth Legion, lacking the later prestige found by Lord Argel Tal's Serrated Sun Chapter, for example. Originally taking its name from a constellation in the Colchisian sky that resembled a whip with several lashes, at its height the Bleeding Scourge numbered almost 1,600 warriors. However, its forces are greatly diminished over the millennia of battle, bloodshed, betrayal that followed Horus's rebellion.

 

The triumvirate of commanders leading the Aphotican Oath have little love for one another, united only because they are too weak to survive individually, and each one lacks the strength to oppose the other two with any guarantee of victory.

 

-- The Warlord --

The first is Lord Rakash Vel, Subcommander of the Bleeding Scourge Chapter, and a traditionalist to his core. He rose steadily through the ranks during the Great Crusade, and was once the favoured lieutenant of Chapter Master Kalis, who used to lead the warband in its glory days. He leads the largest faction with in the Aphotican Oath, commanding the allegiance of most warriors without hesitation. He's considered the best strategist among the warband's officers, though recent years have seen him adopting an increasing degree of bloodlust in his engagements. Rather than command from the rear and oversee his forces to victory, Rakash Vel has repeatedly ventured into battle among the vanguard, perhaps seeking to earn personal glory and the blessings of the gods.

 

In addition to commanding the greatest number of Marines, Rakash is also the most careful about maintaining close bonds to the Bleeding Scourge Chapter's former infrastructure. His principal allies in the Aphotican Oath are traditionalists much like himself, most notably Forge-Lord Garad (a former Techmarine, ruling over the warband's armoury), and Genetor Kor Sal, Overseer of the Bloodline, (formerly the Chief Apothecary) - both of whom are highly-respected Aspiring Champions in their own right.

 

Rakash's forces are largely known as The Remnant, or more simply the Bleeding Scourge, since he commands most of the warband's warriors.

 

Rakash also maintains close ties to the cannibalistic Raptor Cult known as the Algol Masquerade, which is named for the so-called "Demon Star" Algol. The Masquerade's warriors wear silver daemon masks to complement their warped armour, and though they show little symbol of allegiance on their armour, they are rumoured to be all that remains of the Word Bearers' Burnished Mask Chapter, thought lost several thousand years ago. In recent battles, Rakash has often joined with the Masquerade on the field, attacking from the sky with a squad of Raptors rather than marching with his ground forces as he once did.

 

Rakash is hardly ignored by the Ruinous Powers. He carries the daemon blade Shah'jar'qan, earned several decades ago when he tore it from the dead hands of the Night Lord Champion Krukesh the Pale.

 

 

-- The Apostle --

The former Chaplain, Hekaion, now leads a small band of Apostles called the Wardens of the Wrought Chalice. It's a cliche, but if Rakash is the heart of the Aphotican Oath, Hekaion is the soul. He is the Master of Rites, leading the warband in prayer, and he is the one to award Sacred Seals to those warriors most deserving. In a Legion of fanatics, Hekaion exemplifies a crusader pushed the limit of cold madness through absolute devotion to duty.

 

The Wardens, and Hekaion specifically, are responsible for overseeing those who actually wish to swear the Aphotican Oath and join the warband. He is the one to prepare a concoction of his own blood for new recruits to drink when they first make the so-called "black promise" to serve, and he is revered for his piety and holiness, even if he lacks the military insight that Rakash claims so easily. His lesser Apostles - the other Wardens - often lead squads as Aspiring Champions, but Hekaion himself is a lethal warrior to match any other in the warband. Like all Wardens, he wears his ritual armour much like a traditional Chaplain, though with obviously Chaotic modifications. His crozius is an accursed artefact, screaming when wielded in battle, but its exact powers are unknown. All that has been proven is that Rakash and Hekaion are rarely seen in each other's company, for their cursed weapons shriek and bleed when brought close to one another, causing great agony to both warriors.

 

Each of the Wardens bears the icon of the Wrought Chalice on their armour, representing the grail carried by Hekaion himself. The Chalice is one of the warband's few ancient relics, and it remains the most precious. Before every battle, the warriors drink cold blood from the grail, and repeat their original devotions upon joining the Aphotican Oath. However, for all the respect he is offered, Hekaion remains a distant figure to most of the warband. When he goes to war, it's more often at the head of a horde of summoned daemons, and his power over the warp is one of the main reasons he's managed to hold onto his position for all this time.

 

Hekaion has few allies, but maintains one curious alliance with a Thousand Son warlock of modest renown. The sorcerer travels with the warband, but has never sworn the Aphotican Oath himself. He commands a few small, ragged squads of Rubric Marines 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). Between Hekaion's warp-mastery, the respect he commands, his daemonic slaves manifesting on a whim, and the dull-minded might of the Syntagma, it is unlikely any will successfully challenge the warband's Apostle any time soon.

 

 

-- The Blessed --

The final overlord in the uneasy balance of power is both the strongest and the weakest. The majority of the warband have little respect for him, but he is unarguably favoured by the True Gods. He commands the fewest warriors, and claims no daemons in his retinue, but his few followers are among the Aphotican Oath's greatest warriors. Xen Quelath was once a sergeant among the Bleeding Scourge's Terminator elite - the Mukrah Jal ("Consecrated Iron" in Colchisian - a reference to their armour). As such, he was subservient to Rakash and Hekaion alike, and renowned for nothing beyond a blunt, brutal efficiency. He was no tactical genius, and lacked the charisma for true leadership.

 

Until fate took a surprising turn.

 

In the vicious assault on the Executioners' battle-barge Torrid Spite, Xen Quelath showed his treacherous ambitions at last. His Terminator squads deployed on board the crippled warship, and as they bore the brunt of the hellish fighting, they also selectively turned their weapons on several squads in their own warband. In a single hour, Xen Quelath decimated the Oath's chances for victory, and teleported his warriors back to the Shadow of the Golden Son, taking control of the capital ship and leaving Rakash and Hekaion's forces to be destroyed unless they swore allegiance to allow him equal position on their council. Faced with death aboard the Torrid Spite (especially if they delayed, and the Executioners' reinforcements arrived), the two warlords were left with no choice but to concede, allowing the Terminators back into the fight.

 

In the battle that followed, Xen Quelath not only annihilated his way through the Executioner defenders, he literally saved the Aphotican Oath from destruction. Offering the Space Marines' gene-seed as sacrifice to the Powers, as well as the lives and souls of his betrayed brothers and thousands of Executioners' crew and Chapter serfs, Xen Quelath was rewarded above any of his brethren. He ascended to Daemonhood, making him physically the mightiest of any within the warband.

 

Despite being loathed by his kindred commanders and most of the Aphotican Oath, Xen Quelath's position is assured not only from personal power, but from the simple fact that he commands the Mukrah Jal. With a company of Terminators at his disposal - all of whom are fanatically loyal to their clearly blessed (at least in the eyes of the gods...) leader - the treacherous former sergeant has consolidated his place among the warband's leaders. If Rakash or Hekaion require the aid of the Mukrah Jal, it is Xen Quelath who must be appeased first.

 

While he is hardly the greatest of Daemon Princes, he is still a creature to be feared by mortal men - and in the cases of Rakash and Hekaion, he remains a creature to be destroyed the moment its winged back is turned for long enough.

 

 

Paint Scheme & Modelling: I have Index Astartes: Dark Apostles. In fact, I have several copies of it. One of my photocopies from Games Workshop's archives (sent as a mass-collection when I was researching The First Heretic) has a slightly faded image of the example armour colours. While I've seen no shortage of Word Bearer visual resources showing a slightly crimson "wine red" tint to their ceramite, my faded photocopy looks surprisingly cool, and I'm going to try to paint them to that shade instead. I've done 2 test models, and they came out looking pretty swish; they're just basic bolter-carrying guys, but pictures will be up soon.

 

Basically, we're looking at medium red with silver trims for most of the normal Marines, and black, gold or bone trim for the officers and commanders.

 

Helms: While I really like most Chaos Marine horned helms, I like them to stand out rather than being the most common thing in the army. Ragged, converted armour made from a variety of Marks is dead cool, but I think I'm going to have my helms look fairly "uncorrupt" - using a selection of Space Marine and Forge World Mk. II, III, IV and V should help with that. Both of my test minis went this route, and I was pretty happy with it. Again, pics soon. My bad. I'm writing this in the hours before I go to New York for 10 days, and don't have time to slap the photos up.

 

Gubbinz: In some art of the Sanctified (a Word Bearer splinter warband), I saw some black purity seals, which was pretty freaking cool. The Aphotican Oath also use a variant of Purity Seals, known as Sacred Seals. Sacred Seals are affixed to armour by an Apostle or squad leader, using black wax rather than traditional red. The parchments detail a specific blessing from the Book of Lorgar appropriate to the warrior wearing the seal. In general, they're seen as a mark of favour in the warband, and once they've earned the right to wear them, warriors reverently repair any damage to them after every battle.

 

Fallen Angels: I'd really like a squad of Fallen (perhaps as Chosen) allied to the warband. Most likely allied to Rakash, actually. I've had some great tips about how to make them look unique and killer, but as always, any more advice is welcome, especially in regards to paint schemes. Black armour and red trimmings/robes would obviously stand out, but also fit in with the rest of the army's general redness. Not sure how I could arm them; perhaps as close combat specialists to amplify the knightly aspect.

 

Vehicles: As stated elsewhere, I'm sort of terrified about painting tanks. In the past, when I tried, I always ended up with vehicles that looked ruined by obvious brush strokes. To quote myself: "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."

 

My army list is slapped up in this exquisite table, right here:

 

The Aphotican Oath - 1,000 Points

Chaos Lord - jump pack; daemon weapon; meltabombs.	135
10 Chaos Marines - meltaguns x2; Icon of Chaos Glory; Aspiring Champion (power fist; meltabombs); Rhino (extra armour; havoc launcher).	290
10 Chaos Marines - flamers x2; Icon of Chaos Glory; Aspiring Champion (power fist; meltabombs); Rhino (extra armour; pintle-mounted combi-bolter).	270
Chaos Dreadnought - twin-linked lascannon; extra armour.	140
5 Chaos Raptors - Aspiring Champion (meltabombs; pair of lightning claws).	145

 

I'm aware it's not exactly a mega list, and the HQ seems to be an especially weak choice, even to my inexperienced eyes. I'm making most of my choices based on what I like the look of, and what will make for an interesting story. To be honest, half the people in the campaign have so much experience that even if I had an optimised list, they could still take me to pieces if they wanted to, so it's just not something that's really on my mind much.

 

The first 1,000 points really represents a typical force brought together by Lord Rakash. I think I'll make the two squads' Aspiring Champions into Forge-Lord Garad and Genetor Kor Sal, respectively.

 

A Note on this Thread: I'm not much of a painter. I enjoy making models (especially kitbashing, rather than any actual artistic talent at conversion), I enjoy writing army lists and making army fluff, and I dig actually playing the game (I was always a Warhammer, Necromunda and Gorkamorka player, so this is me bouncing back into 40K for the first time since the Dark Millennium expansion in 2nd Edition).

 

What I don't enjoy is painting. I'm okay at it, but I'm very, very, very slow. So to save time (and my career) I'll be dipping, and my models will be tabletop quality at best. Still, feel free to criticise and call me lazy. I have no shame.

 

Anyway, I guess it all boils down to this. Does the campaign seem interesting enough, even in its young, half-formed state? Does my warband come across as interesting? Any campaign tips, army advice, or modelling thoughts are always appreciated.

[Task Force Gauntlet]

Can we see some of your kit-bashes? And I'm just like you painting wise, I can take a month to finish a single model completely.

[Khestra the Unbeheld]

I am madly jealous that I'm not playing in this campaign, and everything about this sounds delicious. :devil:

[Lorenzen]

as far as tanks go investing some money in a spraygun/airbrush will do you a world of good.. the other option is to purchase a can of red primer and work from that.. afterall you cant get brush strokes if you dont use a brush..

 

another thing to make vehicles look better with very little effort is weathering them. best way is to paint the model a dark rusty brown colour, dab some masking agent on (anything from vallejo liquid mask to marmite) with a sponge in select places, then paint over it.. once thats done rub away at the masked areas and youll get funky looking peeling paint and scuffs. worth testing out on a random piece of stuff you have lying about first.. i dont want angry emails about how marmite ruined your defilers!

 

now its not entirely possible none of that made sense.. i just finished work and am sleepy.

[subtlebrush]

This is very interesting. I love the depth that you've added to your army. If only I could find a group that would go to such lengths as I would with my Sons of Malice in a similar fashion :[ I eagerly await updates and to see what your working on good sir.

[malika666]

The campaign looks like an Astartes get together, which is cool of course, but wouldn't be that common. (I'm just being a smart ass here) It's a shame the Chaos list doesn't allow you to field human troops as well. I think that would have been great for the Word Bearers, to have tons of slaves running in front of you, getting shot to pieces whilst your marines then jump at the enemy. Might be an idea to try out different armylists, perhaps the Tyrant's Legion, Grey Knights, or even something as controversial as the Orks! :lol:

[Dorns Padawan]

Sounds pretty damn cool to me! If this is only the 'basics' as it were, I can't wait to see what it is like when it gets serious & we get to see the potential battle reports with pics!!! I like the sound of The Warlord - Lord Rakash Vel, sounds an interesting character. Also the idea of using different bits of armour from a variety of Mks sounds great (automatically when I read this part it made me think back to your Night Lords novels).

 

Out of interest, what made you choose the Word Bearers? You prefer them more than the Night Lords or they just happen to be your fav chapter (actually, aren't they still a Legion?). Anyways, look forward to seeing more when you have more free time.

[Khestra the Unbeheld]

Out of interest, what made you choose the Word Bearers? You prefer them more than the Night Lords or they just happen to be your fav chapter (actually, aren't they still a Legion?).

 

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/index.p...222610&st=0

 

That thread answers this question, somewhere on page 3.

[blackbabyjesus]

To go with what Lorenzen said, while it's a bit of weird technique, underpainting with a rusty/chipping colour and then masking it before spraying with your actual colour is a really easy way to break up large flat areas.

 

I use salt and hairspray (no, really)... Spray the model with your chipping colour, then spray it with hairspray and chuck a load of salt at it, the salt will stick and the hairspray will evaporate, then spray over this with your base colour and wipe the salt off with a stiff brush. Instant chipping, just add highlights!

 

As for the dipping, go for it, it's really effective if you're after tabletop quality models quickly.

[Kurgan the Lurker]

Ahhh, a pre-A3 War event. :devil:

[MagicMan]

Giving the squad leaders meltabombs seems redundant if they have a powerfist. Could save yourself 10 points for something there...

[Dorns Padawan]

Khestra the Unbeheld: Cheers for the link mate

[Paulochromis]

Wings > Jump pack for the Lord, same ability to fly around the board, but wings allows him to hide in a Rhino.

[Trevak Dal]

Wings > Jump pack for the Lord, same ability to fly around the board, but wings allows him to hide in a Rhino.

 

 

Indeed, and you get 2 sets in the Possessed box. Its the best way to fly-if you're chaos.

[spu00sed]

Love the background and ideas. I always like armies made with background in mind rather than if they work (it has worked for all my marine armies and chaos warriors, I sometimes even win)

 

Just one question.

 

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).

 

When did you decided to wipe out your fiancée’s Chapter?

 

Did she start making them and you thought that they would make a nice extinct chapter, or did you kill them off in a single sentence and she took pity on them and started collecting them?

[nurgling6688]

It all sounds awesome man, as is expected from your writing. As far as list building goes, I would say just go with what you like, what fits your story and what looks cool. Unless you really want to win, but if you are just playing for fun then keep the jump pack. From the sound of your fluff your lord wouldn't be riding around in a Rhino anyway. He would be taking to the skies to rain death down upon the Emperor's lap dogs with his Raptors. So keep the jump pack, besides it seems like demonic gifts is more the Blessed's thing then your lords.

 

Also curious about the Shadow Wolves. Seems like it would be a good way to win a dispute with your fiancee.

 

"Oh yeah?" Types a few lines in novel. "Well now your chapter is dead. Its canon. Take that."

 

Been watching Game of Thrones lately and can't help but give you the name Aaron Dembski-Bowden "Chapter Slayer".

[Marshal Rohr]

Anyway, I guess it all boils down to this. Does the campaign seem interesting enough, even in its young, half-formed state? Does my warband come across as interesting? Any campaign tips, army advice, or modelling thoughts are always appreciated

 

The fluff is killer, dude. Holy Christ. This campaign has more character than the entire Blood Ravens Omnibus.

 

As for how to paint and stuff like that ask better painters. The whole Astartes get together thing is fine, as basically the campaign is the highlight reel of the campaign and the billions of guardsmen fighting are just secondary to the movers and shakers of the campaign.

 

For running the campaign, weekly write-ups are the lifeblood. Giving the players something tangible that they can invest in is a must too. Some kind of map that everyone can see. As for you army, well you picked chaos... so... good luck. For modelling inspiration check out CavPathfinders Word Bearers. They are my favorite M41 Word Bearers by far.

 

 

Now I have just one question: What happened to your Templars? ;)

[Khestra the Unbeheld]

Certainly has it in for the Marines Errant as well. ;)

[MagicMan]

When did you decided to wipe out your fiancée’s Chapter?

 

 

"Honey, my Mothers coming to stay the weekend.''

[Pasta]

When did you decided to wipe out your fiancée’s Chapter?

 

 

"Honey, my Mothers coming to stay the weekend.''

:tu:

 

Pasta

[GooseDaMoose]

Certainly has it in for the Marines Errant as well. :tu:

 

Haha I did notice that! Poor guys..

[AlexCrute]

Welcome to 5th Ed A D-B, you'll have lots of fun. Now, to what you asked for:

 

Your campaign background ticks all the mandatory boxes*, but I would suggest you need to up the stakes a bit. What I mean is, quelling a planetary rebellion is absolutely bread and butter work for astartes chapters, even system-wide rebellion. At least xenos campaigns are a bit exotic. The Badab War had high stakes because at its core was an identity crisis for every astartes warrior. The Horus Heresy had the entire theocracy (and identity) of the Imperium of Man at stake.

 

But anyway, you're the writer. Threaten a sacred elephant of the established fluff. Shock people. Make the good guys into bad guys or something.

 

Your warband on the whole is plenty interesting, but Rakash Vel needs more of a hook to identify him. Being a Word Bearer with a jump pack and a daemon weapon isn't enough. Make him the only guy to ever have done X or never to have done Y. Maybe he's a xenos-lover. Maybe he's the betrayed bleeding heart of the Traitor Legions, fuelled by bitterness over the injustice of days past. Maybe he continues to this day to offer his surrender to any Imperial marine commander, if only that commander will acknowledge the majesty of Chaos....

 

Also, kudos for having a campaign with girls in it. That's how you tell you have 'made it'.

 

*Location with cool creepy name - check, multiple antagonistic factions each with a reason to be there - check, potential for further storytelling as factions clash/change sides/reveal their true nature/whatever - check.

[A D-B]

Okay, I have an update (of a sort).

 

The kickoff for this has actually been set back for summer of next year, to give everyone time to raise 1,500 points. That probably seems insane to people who play every weekend (or even every month) and to people with several armies, but it's still big juju to get 10-12 people organised, painted up, and so on. So, Summer 2012. If you look at it from my perspective, it's still not going to be a fast process. In fact, you can take it in book releases, instead of months, and I need to be ready in only one book release's time. Scary stuff.

 

I suspect there'll be a few rehearsal games here and there, natch.

 

 

Can we see some of your kit-bashes? And I'm just like you painting wise, I can take a month to finish a single model completely.

 

Sure, this weekend or next week. Bear in mind I've only got five models assembled, and two painted right now. And they're not exactly thrilling kitbashes - just Chaos Marine boxes mixed with Forge World Heresy-era armour. Though, if I do say so myself, the lack of horns kinda adds to the overall look.

 

Which is weird, since I love horns.

 

 

I am madly jealous that I'm not playing in this campaign, and everything about this sounds delicious. :devil:

 

The plot thickens. One of the other players is probably going to co-run it with me, and we're dreaming up some consequences and rewards for winning and losing each battle, with stuff like faction communication and stories written between battles, to keep interest up.

 

 

another thing to make vehicles look better with very little effort is weathering them. best way is to paint the model a dark rusty brown colour, dab some masking agent on (anything from vallejo liquid mask to marmite) with a sponge in select places, then paint over it.. once thats done rub away at the masked areas and youll get funky looking peeling paint and scuffs. worth testing out on a random piece of stuff you have lying about first.. i dont want angry emails about how marmite ruined your defilers!

 

Hmmm. I may hit up Forge World (and YouTube) for some advice on weathering. That's a great idea, dude. Many thanks.

 

 

This is very interesting. I love the depth that you've added to your army. If only I could find a group that would go to such lengths as I would with my Sons of Malice in a similar fashion :[ I eagerly await updates and to see what your working on good sir.

 

On the plus side, the Sons of Malice are inherently beautiful on the tabletop, while I'm a cliche'd "another red army". So you win.

 

 

The campaign looks like an Astartes get together, which is cool of course, but wouldn't be that common.

 

Yeah, that bugs me a bit, too. But I'll try to get it fluffed up and realistic, given the armies on parade. I think the guy playing Grey Knights is now musing over Eldar, which would be a pretty swish move.

 

 

Out of interest, what made you choose the Word Bearers? You prefer them more than the Night Lords or they just happen to be your fav chapter (actually, aren't they still a Legion?). Anyways, look forward to seeing more when you have more free time.

 

At a push, I'd say my fave Legion is the Black Legion, but the answer is really "I like whatever Legion I'm in the mood for that day". I can't think of a Chapter or a Legion I actually dislike, to tell you the truth. I ended up choosing Word Bearers because:

 

1. I can't paint Nurgle minis. They're disgusting, and mine would look terrible. The Death Guard and their associated warbands were out.

2. I didn't want to play World Eaters, as the lore on whether they're all Berzerkers or not is vague.

3. I screwed up two test minis trying to do the Black Legion, and that was a week's worth of my spare time on its own.

4. I write about the Night Lords, and I don't like the idea of any idiot saying "He plays Night Lords, that's why they always win in his books".

5. Iron Warriors look great on the tabletop, but one of the other guys already picked them. Also, Katie's Shadow Wolves have a lot of silver in them, so our armies facing each other would be a bit bland.

6. The Thousand Sons are lush, but I'd go insane trying to convert the helmet crests.

7. The Alpha Legion are brilliant, and I totally almost went for them.

8. But I painted the red test mini first, so it was the Word Bearers in the end. I also had a feeling the Aphotican Oath concept was better with the WeeBees, so all is well.

 

 

To go with what Lorenzen said, while it's a bit of weird technique, underpainting with a rusty/chipping colour and then masking it before spraying with your actual colour is a really easy way to break up large flat areas.

 

I use salt and hairspray (no, really)... Spray the model with your chipping colour, then spray it with hairspray and chuck a load of salt at it, the salt will stick and the hairspray will evaporate, then spray over this with your base colour and wipe the salt off with a stiff brush. Instant chipping, just add highlights!

 

As for the dipping, go for it, it's really effective if you're after tabletop quality models quickly.

 

Man, I owe you for that. Many thanks.

 

 

Giving the squad leaders meltabombs seems redundant if they have a powerfist. Could save yourself 10 points for something there...

 

You make a persuasive argument, sir. Even by my hideous standards of army list design, that was a boneheaded move. Duly noted.

 

 

Wings > Jump pack for the Lord, same ability to fly around the board, but wings allows him to hide in a Rhino.

 

I know, but... jetpacks are cool... /whining voice.

 

 

Wings > Jump pack for the Lord, same ability to fly around the board, but wings allows him to hide in a Rhino.

 

Indeed, and you get 2 sets in the Possessed box. Its the best way to fly-if you're chaos.

 

But jetpacks are cooooooooooooooool...

 

 

Did she start making them and you thought that they would make a nice extinct chapter, or did you kill them off in a single sentence and she took pity on them and started collecting them?

 

Good question. The answer is dripping with personal bias.

 

I sort of see 40K as largely retrospective. Like, it's a future history - the bleeding edge of the 13th Black Crusade isn't the "present" - there is no present as such, and we all focus most of our games in the 1,000 years of M41. In short, we play in the Dark Millennium, more often than not. Plenty of Chapters will have fallen over ten thousand years since the Heresy, and I think it's cool that the one I mentioned in canon for her got gacked in an outstandingly killer way. To me, that makes them more a part of the setting than yet another Chapter that claims to be in existence riiiiight at the start of the Thirteenth Black Crusade.

 

 

Also curious about the Shadow Wolves. Seems like it would be a good way to win a dispute with your fiancee.

 

"Oh yeah?" Types a few lines in novel. "Well now your chapter is dead. Its canon. Take that."

 

I am not a man who ever uses his power for Good.

 

In this case I was trying to be nice, however, I totally prefer your version.

 

For running the campaign, weekly write-ups are the lifeblood. Giving the players something tangible that they can invest in is a must too. Some kind of map that everyone can see. As for you army, well you picked chaos... so... good luck. For modelling inspiration check out CavPathfinders Word Bearers.

 

All very sweet advice, and taken to heart. Also, oooooh, hot damnable daffodils, he does good work.

 

 

Now I have just one question: What happened to your Templars? :D

 

They live. Sorta. I made five of them. They mock me with how great they look, in their unpainted glory. They'll get their starring role in Helsreach II: The Reaches of Hell.

 

 

But anyway, you're the writer. Threaten a sacred elephant of the established fluff. Shock people. Make the good guys into bad guys or something.

 

Your warband on the whole is plenty interesting, but Rakash Vel needs more of a hook to identify him. Being a Word Bearer with a jump pack and a daemon weapon isn't enough. Make him the only guy to ever have done X or never to have done Y. Maybe he's a xenos-lover. Maybe he's the betrayed bleeding heart of the Traitor Legions, fuelled by bitterness over the injustice of days past. Maybe he continues to this day to offer his surrender to any Imperial marine commander, if only that commander will acknowledge the majesty of Chaos...

 

My instinct here is to both nod and say "Totally", while also shaking my head and saying "But... but no..."

 

My issue runs thusly. I didn't want to make it a mega "now or never" campaign - it was supposed to be just one of many countless similar operations all taking place in the Dark Millennium. Like, it wasn't whole Chapters answering the call, just 50-150 from every force. That said, it's so Marine-heavy, and the scope is so large, that it would be a bit of a major deal in some ways, at least on the subsector level. So yeah, it'll be more "critical" when things start falling into place.

 

Similarly, I wanted my guys to be pretty much standard, frontline Word Bearers - a look into the trenches, if you will. They're not the charismatic preachers leading kersquillions of dudes, they're the rugged, ragged edge, with a few thousand crew and cultists. But yeah, Rakash Vel and his co-commanders will definitely get a lot more work, especially as I'm planning (read: hoping) to write something almost novella-length about this over time, with him as one of the main characters.

 

Nothing official, natch. Just for me, the thread, and the other players.

[Khestra the Unbeheld]

I am madly jealous that I'm not playing in this campaign, and everything about this sounds delicious. :D

 

The plot thickens. One of the other players is probably going to co-run it with me, and we're dreaming up some consequences and rewards for winning and losing each battle, with stuff like faction communication and stories written between battles, to keep interest up.

 

 

 

Be right back, getting a passport. :devil:

[Brother Cambrius]

I must say A D-B this is looking like it's going to be a blinder of a campaign between you and your friends. The background's looking strong indeed for a campaign due to start in 2012 (here's hoping the Olympics won't distract you... :P).

 

Looking forward to more and seeing the kitbashed models you've put together! (and I'm just as jealous as Khestra right now btw... :))

 

Cambrius