Index Astartes article templates

[Brother Tyler]

I'm working on a few articles to help members write Index Astartes articles for their Chapters. These won't be articles giving advice on content (we already have a fair few of those, including one I wrote over a decade ago). Instead, these will provide members with some tools for formatting their articles and also augmenting a few existing articles (i.e., BBCodex 101: A Tutorial, Army List Entry Tables, The Bolter & Chainsword Space Marine Painter, and Editing Badges on Your Marine - I plan one on hexadecimal coding for SMP colors, and perhaps others).

 

The intent with the Index Astartes article formats is to give members a template that they can copy into a word processing program and then create an article without having to do a lot of "wheel reinvention". Members with the knowledge and confidence will be able to tweak these templates to suit their needs, but other members will be able to just file off the serial numbers and enter their own information for a workable article.

 

One will have the classic Index Astartes format, such as we saw with the "First Founding" series of articles. We have quite a few of those. I'll probably just break out my collection of White Dwarfs to distill a basic format, unless I get lazy and can find an existing article that uses the generic format of those articles (in which case I'll turn that one into a template).

 

Another is the format that Imperial Armour presented to us in the Badab War books. Only one Liber Astartes article using this format jumps to mind, Brule the Spear-Slayer's Avenging Lions. So I took his article and turned it into a template for inclusion in the final article (saving me the work of having to play with formatting on my own :P ).

 

The classic Index Astartes article format is far and away the most popular style. However, it is not the only[/] format of these articles, as evidenced by the format used in the Badab War books (unfortunately, not many members seem to have latched onto that variant format for their DIY Chapter articles). In addition, I'd like to have templates that players can use for their Chaos Space Marine warbands, renegade Chapters, Orders Minoris of the Adepta Sororitas, etc. Can anyone recall other formats GW has used? Also, we might develop some basic templates (especially for those other organizations I've named).

 

Here's an example of the template. All players would have to do is cut and paste everything inside the Code tags into their word processor, enter the appropriate information (generally everything in the <<>> blocks), and then paste the result into their article:

[table=THE <<CHAPTER NAME>>] 
[tr][td=30%][img=<<image URL - should be about 350 pixels x 350 pixels][/td][td=70%][font="Courier New"][size=3][b]CHAPTER NAME:[/b] .............. THE <<CHAPTER NAME>> 
[b]FOUNDING:[/b] ..................<<##>>[sub]<<ST/ND/TH>>[/sub] [M.<<##>>] 
[b]CHAPTER WORLD:[/b] .............<<CHAPTER WORLD NAME>><</CRUSADING CHAPTER>> 
[b]FORTRESS MONASTERY:[/b] ........<<FORTRESS MONASTERY NAME>> 
[b]GENE-SEED (PREDECESSOR):[/b] ...<<PROGENITOR LEGION>> [<<ACTUAL PARENT CHAPTER NAME (IF NOT THE 2ND FOUNDING CHAPTER NAMED FOR THE LEGION>>] 
[b]KNOWN DESCENDANTS:[/b] .........<<ANY KNOWN, CLAIMED, OR SUSPECTED CHAPTERS CREATED FROM THE GENE-SEED OF THIS CHAPTER, OR "NONE">>[/size][/font] 







[i]"<<Quote, battle-cry, or whatever else you want to fill this space>>"[/i] [/td][/tr][/table] 
[dropcap]<<First letter of first word>>[/dropcap] Initial paragraphs cover the general background of the Chapter, starting with an overview of the Chapter's earliest history and some pivotal events later history.>>

<<Then there are one or more paragraphs concerning the Chapter's combat doctrine, including how much or how little the Chapter adheres to the Codex Astartes and how it views that tome.>>

<<Then comes information about the Chapter's homeworld, fortress monastery, and fleet.>>

<<Then comes additional information on the Chapter and things that differentiate it from other Chapters.>>

<<images of Chapter members to display color scheme, power armour on left and terminator on right:
[captionleft=[img=<<image URL>>]]<<Title/Name>>
<<Chapter Name>> <<#>> Company
<<A few lines of information (make sure you hard return each line)>>[/captionleft]
[captionright=[img=<<image URL>>]]<<"Veteran Brother" or Chapter-appropriate title/Name>>
<<Chapter Name>> 1st Company
<<A few lines of information (make sure you hard return each line)>>[/captionright][clearfloat][/clearfloat]Use the Space Marine Painter without weapons to create the images>>

[b]ORGANIZATION[/b] 
<<A paragraph or two on the Chapter's organization (short paragraph if Codex-adherent, longer if the Chapter has some degree of deviation)>>

<<Paragraphs to describe the key distinguishing characteristics of the Chapter>> 

<<Paragraph to describe the Chapter’s fleet and combat organizations>>

<<Paragraph to describe the Chapter’s heraldry and appearance>>

[b]SELECTED BATTLE HONORS <<include 1-3 of these, avoid hyperbole>>
[i]<<Battle/Operation/Campaign Name>> [###.M##][/i][/b] 
<<A few paragraphs to describe the battle/operation/campaign and why it was notable for the Chapter>>

[i]<<Battle/Operation/Campaign Name>> [###.M##][/i][/b] 
<<A few paragraphs to describe the battle/operation/campaign and why it was notable for the Chapter>>

[i]<<Battle/Operation/Campaign Name>> [###.M##][/i][/b] 
<<A few paragraphs to describe the battle/operation/campaign and why it was notable for the Chapter>>

[b][size=4]COMBAT SQUAD <<SQUAD NAME>>[/size]
[size=3]<<#>><<RD/ST/TH>> <<BATTLE/RESERVE>> COMPANY[/size][/b]

[captionleft=[img=<<image URL>>]]Veteran Sergeant <<(or other title)>> <<Sergeant's name>>
Commander <<Tactical/Assault/Devastator/Scout>> Squad <<Sergeant’s name>>
<<#>><<rd/st/th>> <<Battle/Reserve>> Company <<Chapter Name>>
<<A few lines of information (make sure you hard return each line)>>[/captionleft]
[captionright=[img=<<image URL>>]] <<Chapter Name>> Chapter Icon
Common Armorial Use[/captionright][clearfloat][/clearfloat]
[captionleft=[img=<<image URL>>]]Brother <<(or other title)>> <<Battle-brother's name>>
<<A few lines of information (make sure you hard return each line)>>[/captionleft]
[captionright=[img=<<image URL>>]]Brother <<(or other title)>> <<Battle-brother's name>>
<<A few lines of information (make sure you hard return each line)>>[/captionright][clearfloat][/clearfloat]
[captionleft=[img=<<image URL>>]]Brother <<(or other title)>> <<Battle-brother’s name>>
<<A few lines of information (make sure you hard return each line)>>[/captionleft] 
[captionright=[img=<<image URL>>]] Brother <<(or other title)>> <<Battle-brother's name>>
<<A few lines of information (make sure you hard return each line)>>[/captionright][clearfloat][/clearfloat]

This will give players something similar to Brule's Avenging Lions article (linked above).

 

So if you have any suggestions on an article using the classic IA format, or if you have ideas for alternate formats, please let me know.

[Octavulg]

The classic form is probably easier for the new-to-BB-code user, since tables are...kinda evil.

 

Honestly, GW seems to have only used the classic format. The old format was certainly the most prolific example!

 

If you do a template for the classic format, you can either go the somewhat garish "skullheaders everywhere" route, or do the more subdued "skullheader at top with bolded text as headings" route (which is what I usually do). Including sidebars would also be a good idea.

 

The one exception would the the original three IAs: the Ultramarines, the Mentor Legion, and the Legion of the Damned. WD 97, 98, 99, and all on page 39 (I think I figured out how White Dwarf saved on editing costs). Those are basically excuses to present rules, though, and IA:UM has both too much and too little detail to be good for the aspiring DIYer.

[Reyner]

Ahh the Forge World style IA, I have been thinking how to do one of those for my Chapter. Thanks Argos:D

 

lmao :lol:

[Octavulg]

...That's not Kurgan...

[Reyner]

*facepalm*

[Cpt_Reaper]

perhaps the ImpArm version could be for advanced users who wish to make their article look a little different?

[Chapter Master Ignis Domus]

...That's not Kurgan...

 

Technically, It's Brother Tyler.

 

I like the BB Code guide, though. And I agree, the more common formt would be nice, too, though it's not as annoyingly complicated as making tables.

[Warsmith Aznable]

Interesting. I like this idea, and it might give me the needed push to go and do my re-write on the Iron Hounds. I seriously need to get back to that project...

[Brother Tyler]

We will provide templates for a variety of formats. At present, there are two "strong" formats (the classic and the Badab War formats). The initial templates I create (one is above) will be based as closely as possible on the actual format used by GW/FW. After that, I might provide some variations (i.e., using the colored headers, etc.)

 

The whole intent is that the beginning user can take whatever format he/she wants, replace the information in the <<>> with the appropriate information for the Chapter, and then post a presentable article. No knowledge of the BBCodes will be necessary in this case as the basic format is already created through the template. More advanced users can tweak the templates. We will not advocate one format over any other - the choice of format is entirely up to the user based on personal preference.

 

I'm working on a template for the "classic" Index Astartes right now. I'm working on two images for that format, though: the "Index Astartes" header image in yellow/orange gothic font and the Chapter badge in wings image (both appeared in the grey/black column giving the title of each Index Astartes article in the 3rd edition White Dwarfs). Later on I'll tweak both the classic and Badab War formats for some variants, and then I'll go hunting through my White Dwarf collection for other formats. I know that the Third War for Armageddon website had some mini articles on a variety of Chapters and Orders of the Adepta Sororitas, and I archived all of those, so I'll see if those present anything we can use.

[Evz]

This is a really good idea and I believe it will make everything a lot easier for us new people.

[Octavulg]

I really, really, really think it'd help if we stopped calling "writing about a DIY Chapter" an Index Astartes. Calling the whole the same thing as a subset is a large part of why that subset dominates, IMO.

 

And honestly, the brief blurbs on the Armageddon website are really, really different. Calling them the same thing as the things in IA9 and IA10 and calling those the same thing as the WD articles is just silly.

 

That, or call one the FWIA, one the ACIA, and one the WDIA. But even that inherently implies you can't move outside the existing framework.

 

If you say "these are DIY Chapter Articles, and these are some of the existing formats", it makes a lot more sense and, IMO, is a lot more likely to encourage people to move outside what currently exists.

[Chapter Master Ignis Domus]

Wasn't there a thread a bit ago where we decided on names for all of these? It was around the time when Brule started his [insert name for Forge World chapter description]. I remember one of the suggestions being IAIA for Imperial Armor Index Astartes.

[Brother Tyler]

Decisions:

 

Official Index Astartes articles have taken various formats over the years, so for our purposes, all articles about (DIY) Chapters are "Index Astartes" articles, regardless of format. We will not name these things.

 

Players may provide as much or as little as they want in their articles. It might be as little as those brief blurbs on the Armageddon website (or even less), up to an Encyclopedia Galactica's worth.

 

Period.

 

End of sentence.

 

What I'm trying to do now is find some of the more common official formats in order to provide templates that players may use.

[Brother Tyler]

"Classic" article format (variant 1 - basic half headers for areas):

[center][size=4][b][color=orange]Index Astartes[/color][/b][/size]
<<Chapter Badge>>

[size=5][b]The <<Chapter Name>> Space Marines Chapter[/b][/size][/center]
[imageright][img=<<Space Marine image URL (showing color scheme)>>][/imageright][basicheaderhalf=black]Origins[/basicheaderhalf]
<<Information on the origins of the Chapter>>

[basicheaderhalf=black]Home World[/basicheaderhalf]
<<Information on the Chapter’s home world>>

[basicheaderhalf=black]Combat Doctrine[/basicheaderhalf]
<<Information on the Chapter’s combat doctrine>>

[basicheaderhalf=black]Organization[/basicheaderhalf]
<<Information on the Chapter’s organization>>

[basicheaderhalf=black]Beliefs[/basicheaderhalf]
<<Information on the Chapter’s beliefs and warrior cult>>

[basicheaderhalf=black]Gene-seed[/basicheaderhalf]
<<Information on the Chapter’s gene-seed purity/mutations/lost organs>>

[basicheaderhalf=black]Battle-cry[/basicheaderhalf]
<<The Chapter’s battle-cry or motto>>

<<The next part is only needed if you have special rules for your Chapter>>

[size=4][b]USING A <<CHAPTER NAME>> ARMY IN WARHAMMER 40,000[/b][/size]

<<Provide the special rules for your Chapter>>

[Brother Tyler]

"Classic" article format (variant 2 - special text for headers):

[center][size=4][b][color=orange]Index Astartes[/color][/b][/size]
<<Chapter Badge>>

[size=5][b]The <<Chapter Name>> Space Marines Chapter[/b][/size][/center]
[imageright][img=<<Space Marine image URL (showing color scheme)>>][/imageright][size=3][b]Origins[/b][/size]
<<Information on the origins of the Chapter>>

[size=3][b]Home World[/b][/size]
<<Information on the Chapter’s home world>>

[size=3][b]Combat Doctrine[/b][/size]
<<Information on the Chapter’s combat doctrine>>

[size=3][b]Organization[/b][/size]
<<Information on the Chapter’s organization>>

[size=3][b]Beliefs[/b][/size]
<<Information on the Chapter’s beliefs and warrior cult>>

[size=3][b]Gene-seed[/b][/size]
<<Information on the Chapter’s gene-seed purity/mutations/lost organs>>

[size=3][b]Battle-cry[/b][/size]
<<The Chapter’s battle-cry or motto>>

<<The next part is only needed if you have special rules for your Chapter>>

[size=4][b]USING A <<CHAPTER NAME>> ARMY IN WARHAMMER 40,000[/b][/size]

<<Provide the special rules for your Chapter>>

[Marshal Rohr]

Naughty, Naughty. Someone deleted my post for no reason.

 

 

Is there really any point to giving the formats separate names or distinctions? Why not just go the fast food route and name them small, medium, and large. Though the idea of naming them anything, to BroT, seems to imply we are forcing some kind of massive fluff restriction on the author or the smaller versions will be viewed as incomplete and have less validity than the traditional Index Astartes formats.

 

 

Honestly, do you really view us as that snobbish?

 

Oct-y's point is that Forge World calls their articles profiles, which it seems to him is meant to be purposefully different from an index on a chapter. How is his point of view wrong? If Forge World wanted to called them Index Astartes dont you think it'd be on the title for each chapter's entry?

[Brother Tyler]

Naughty naughty indeed, but posts weren't removed "for no reason."

 

It seems that an explanation is necessary, but this is more for the public than for the Lexicanii since the Lexicanii were part of the discussion in which the decision was made.

 

How players develop and present their DIY Chapters (or Chaos Warbands or Orders of the Adepta Sororitas or whatever) is entirely up to them. They can develop as much or as little as they want. Ultimately, the decision is up to the player. What Brother Tyler or Octavulg or Marshal2 Crusaders or anyone else wants to see in an article is only important if the creator wants to do that. If the creator wants to do something different, that is his prerogative and everyone else needs to be courteous enough to accept that decision.

 

Unfortunately, a trend has developed over the years where the collective members have done more and more to dictate certain terms, limiting players' freedom.

 

Part of this stemmed from good intent and can't be faulted - the standard Index Astartes article is a very good format and provides a reasonable amount of information. The downside to this, though, is that too often players were being urged to develop material or present it in a certain format when that wasn't their desire.

 

I was the first to advocate the use of that format for DIY Chapters here at the B&C, writing an article after the first few of the First Founding articles was published in White Dwarf and having that article posted at multiple sites (with several updates over the years). I continue to support that format. However, I recognize that my own personal preference is nothing more than an opinion, and that other players shouldn't feel compelled to use the same format if that isn't what they want to do. Some players might not want to develop that much information on their Chapter, and there's nothing wrong with that.

 

The typical Index Astartes format isn't the only format, nor should anyone feel constrained to use it if they'd prefer to use some other format.

 

Truth be told, "Index Astartes" isn't really the name for that format as official Index Astartes articles have taken a variety of formats over the years, varying with the authors and the subject matter. Yes, most of us (including me) associate "Index Astartes" with the basic format we saw for the First Founding, but we saw slight variations among those First Founding Legions/Chapters as well as different formats for the Third War for Armageddon, Scouts, etc. Going back to the earlier editions, the Index Astartes articles took a very different format. Calling this format the Index Astartes format might work well enough, but it isn't truly accurate. Properly speaking, though, "Index Astartes" is the tome (or series of tomes) in which the articles on the Adeptus Astartes are collected. There could just as easily be an Index Sororitas, an Index Mechanicus, etc. We already know that there is an Index Xenos (articles on Eldar, Tau, and other races so far) and an Index Malleus (an article on daemons).

 

Over the years, Games Workshop (and Forge World) have presented information on Chapters using a wide variety of formats. The players of the game should feel freedom to use just as wide a variety, and more. After all, the ability to exercise creativity is one of the aspects of this hobby that appeals to players. Games Workshop hasn't really given formal names to any of the formats, however, and it would be presumptuous of us to assign names. We might commonly associate certain names/terms with certain formats, but that is nothing more than a practice of convenience rather than any official assignment of a name.

 

So the Bolter & Chainsword will not assign names. Nor will we put pressure on players to use certain formats. The article seeks to present a variety of formats as examples, describing the relative merits and weaknesses of each. The intent of the article will be to provide players with templates for a variety of formats, describing those formats and providing examples of finished versions in order to let players make their own decisions. Players can choose formats with as much or as little detail as they want to develop. The easiest usage of the templates will be to use them as-is, simply replacing the templated information with the information for the player's Chapter/Warband/Order/whatever. More enterprising players can modify the templates. Some players might even find inspiration to do something completely different, not using the templates at all and doing something of their own creation. The templates will merely be tools to help players.

 

Most members were either unaware of the discussions in which these decisions were made, or were only peripherally aware of them. The Lexicanii were fully part of the discussion, though, so this should serve as a refresher to the basic points of the discussion and the decision that was made. We're on a path, and it is a good one. All tasks benefit from continual re-evaluation and refinement, and we'll definitely apply those to this project as it progresses. However, whether or not to include other formats and whether or not to name formats is not open to discussion. We will include other formats and we will not name them. We'll describe them as necessary, but naming formats is the prerogative of Games Workshop.

 

Now most of the above is a repeat of earlier posts in this discussion, and the counterarguments have also been repetitive. The decision has been made and it is now time to move forward. Continuing to debate the issue is nothing more than a waste of time and it is getting really tedious, so we're not going to continue the debate.

 

Our place is merely to promote the hobby, and the way we can do that right now is to identify other formats that might be included, develop templates for the various formats, and possibly develop basic variants of formats (including those for which templates have already been created). Further participation in this discussion will be along those lines. Everything else will be removed as irrelevant.

 

+EDIT+

 

As an afterthought, we also need to consider how we might adapt the formats to the other army types (Chaos Space Marine warbands, Adepta Sororitas orders, etc.)

[Marshal Rohr]

I'm fine with the anything goes idea and the prefab templates.

 

The real question is of classification.

[Brother Tyler]

We're not going to see "classification" so much as "description." ;)

 

From my researches, there are two standardized (somewhat) formats - the classic Index Astartes article and the Badab War articles. As we've already seen, other Chapters have been presented using a variety of other formats, but these don't appear to be standardized or formalized. Also, except where they expanded upon already well-known Chapters, these "lesser" articles gave much less information than we saw in the other formats. This is good because it provides options for players that might not want to create in-depth articles.

 

The article will provide three baseline versions for each:

• Font-based headers
  
• BBCode headers
  
• Graphic headers
  

I'll create a gallery of graphics that players might use, or they might create their own (substituting the URLs in the templates with their own). As we've seen, there was some variety in the organization of some of the Index Astartes articles, so I'll try to create a variety of generic graphics to suit different header choices players might make. If players make more customized choices, I'll provide the stock images (backgrounds and text) so that they can use those for their own custom headers, or they can create their own graphics. Font-based and BBCode headers are easy to customize through the standard BBCodes.

 

Looking through other types of Chapter articles that have appeared, none appear to be formalized. The article will describe a number of those. Since there are already a number of articles that sufficiently cover "how" to write an article, this one will simply refer to those and focus on the different format choices available to players.

 

There will also be another article on alternatives to creating "Chapter" articles, but I'll cover that another time. ^_^

[Chapter Master Ignis Domus]

I could've sworn there were more posts, including some from the esteemed Octy, between your last two posts.

 

Could we get any sort of better name on them? While I understand your reasoning for the vague and non-descriptive names above, I do fail to understand how placing the name 'Index Astartes' on a template would create restrictions on people. I think it would actually promote the use of these templates, as people would be more inclined to use them when they can relate to an official GW and affiliates published item as a starting point. Were you to assign, say, the Imperial Armor version of the Chapter Description Formatting the name of 'BBCode Format 3', for example, not many people would know what you're talking about, or have any idea what to do with it. Games Workshop and Forge World have already given us names for these formats, so why not use them?

[Brother Tyler]

No, we won't be naming them. As said before, that's GW's prerogative.

[Chapter Master Ignis Domus]

So we'll have to call the Index Astartes Layout 'Font-based headers' from now on? Remembering which is which probably won't work so well, especially since we've been calling them IAs for a very long time. I still fail to see the logic in this.

[Octavulg]

But you will name the general category of articles about DIY chapters, using a name that GW has already used?

 

I mean, surely if things that are unnamed cannot be named, co-opting existing names is no more appropriate.

 

If we're not to name things, let's avoid the official use of the term Index Astartes altogether, and just call them 'chapter articles' or something of that nature.

[Brother Tyler]

You guys are obsessed with an inconsequential issue. The article will give sufficient attention to the matter.

 

It's past tedious now, so drop it.

[Brother Tyler]

Okay, it's evident that you guys (a) aren't interested in helping find/develop the things I've asked for (formats GW has used to present articles on Chapters), and (b) are focused on something I've indicated isn't an issue for discussion now, I'm going to shut the discussion down. I'll provide updates as I get them. If anyone has ideas for templates, please provide them via PM.

 

Don't PM me with the any messages pestering me on the issues that I've indicated aren't up for discussion now.