DIY Chapter: Sol Katanas

[Commander S. Caesare]

Where are the samurai marines? I want marines with katanas! C&C are very welcome!

Thank you Kurgan the Lurker for the post on those samurai bitz!

 

http://kromlech.eu/?p=443

 

DIY chapter:

Sol Katanas

 

Founding: 25th

Why: incoming threat of Tau forces invading Imperial worlds. Ultramarines occupied elsewhere, so no go for them.

 

Homeworld

The feudal world of Shodyosu

 

Location

The Eastern Fringe, along the chain of worlds known as the Pyrgo Palisades

 

Geneseed

The Guardian of the Progenoids

This is an ancient tale that dates back to the years of the Horus Heresy. Many a time it was told with the children of Shodyosu by the roaming bards and hermits, all whom twisted but still retain the tale of the Apothecary Noun, the one who gave birth to the Sol Katanas.

During the War for Terra, as the Arch-Heretic Horus and his Legions landed upon the holy soil of the great planet, a young Apothecary of the fallen Luna Wolves, Noun, ran with his traitor brothers down the many citadels, unleashing death to its citizens.

Aye, his sword was bloody and his soul was blinded by avarice and the promises of Horus. Now, Noun was a youth, just given his seed not so long ago, and aspirations drove his beating hearts and mind like most younglings. Emotions pushed him into blind rage of fury, much like he was before in the depths of the hive gang territories of Cythonia.

Yet, the seed that sat among his insides had once belong to a venerable, and honoured, warrior, a hero of the times with the Interex to the period at Isstavan system, having once met Sol and his golden glory.

Thus, the young Noun had gained a vision. A duty charged by Sol himself. None of his brother Wolves noticed his sudden stop, as they paid heed to their master's wishes, reveling in the fighting. Noun, now afraid, had wept under the shine of the dream, as Sol grabbed his hand and smiled, telling him to save his lost sons, the dead brothers of the loyal Chapters that were ruthless murdered by the Traitors.

Noun obeyed without question. When his brothers were away from a battle, he took upon seeds of the dead, every Astartes he came upon, regardless the Chapter, except his master's allies.

With his satchels and cases full of seeds, he stole away, and hid deep within the planet, forcing his way past homes of the dead and living. He ventured in the under-hives, into the depths of the core. He fled from the sites of others, going deeper.

Finally, with little breath and life, he found an abandoned shrine of Sol, where he sealed the place with everything he could with his equipment. He placed the seeds within a void-cell he was able to take from the lifeless body of a fellow Apothecary earlier, preserving them from age and harm.

Then he waited.

For 10,000 years, he sat in suspended animation, his suit passively drawing in the lifeforces of Terra, as the will of the enthroned Sol kept his loyal son alive.

Noun was soon found under-hivers, whom wished to plunder the little chapel's little materials. Under fear, they attracted the attention of local custodians, whom awaken the sleeping warrior.

His words were dry, and a little whisper came, speaking to the thin air: "I'm not forgotten...The final embrace has finally arrived..." and with a sigh, he crept slowly to the still-powered void-cell, and unlocked it. Then he had vanished into a flare of light, leaving only his ancient sword.

From the seeds and the crossing of them, the gene-seeds of the Sol Katanas were born.

 

Formation/Organization

The Sol Katanas are commanded by the Lord Akira, or Chapter Lord. Their current Lord Akira, and first, is Tokugawa Eieasu, whom wields the Sol-no-kage starforged-katana set, The Shadows of Sol, and the master-crafted plasma pistol, Sutāfaiā.

The "Shogunate" are the many "Shoguns" commanders (works similar to the Great Companies of the Space Wolves and Crusades of the Black Templars) whom command a company of some number called the Cloud Clans (they do not follow the Codex Astartes company of 100 Astartes).

 

Some of the Clans have a special troop force, for example 7th Shogun Kyuhasa Iga has the assault unit called the "Kagemusha". 9th Shogun, Bushiadu Heian, has his entire Cloud Clan filled with disgraced master Astartes: Gunrōnin, meaning the lost unit. These special troops also have symbolic accessories, like the Kagemusha has dull black armor that are swathe in black cloth, such as the "Shinobi" hood mask, and the Gunrōnin wear large straw hats in front of their heads to hide their faces and as metaphor to veil dishonour.

 

Combat Doctrine

As they have on their homeworld, Shodyosu, they are master swordsmen, keeping their sword katanas and wakizashi from childhood training to their full honours as a Sol Katana Astartes. They also experts at marksmanship, especially with the bow, or the Yumi, thus the birth of the Astartes Yumi arrowheads, a powerful, power-weapon-like projectile. Plasma weaponry is their primary Astarte-standard weapon of choice, as it serves their enemies a reminder of the star they are named before.

 

They have strict laws, The Bushido Chapters Samurai, besides the Codex Astartes. Humiliation is not taken lightly, as honour is a highly prized thing among the Sol Katanas. Many a failed Space Marine have felled themselves to the Hara Kiri, the ritual of absolution, as said in The Bushido Chapters. Those whom are deemed too precious are sent to the Gunrōnin, unlike most Chapters, who give their fallen sons to the Ordos Xenos Deathwatch Chapter.

 

Their fighting style varies, as there are many arts to fight with the traditional katana and other weapons. Usual forms of their styles utilize finesse and reaction on the offensive, like the "Kôgeki". The "Sohei", or the warrior monks Clan, use polearms, such as staffs and spears, as the pole of the weapons are used to redirect and deflect the flow of attacks.

 

Beliefs

Many meld their traditional ways from Shodyosu with the Imperial Cult, which many of the Ecclesiarchy frown upon on this mixture of faith. An example from Shodyosu is Sol, which many of Marines use it to symbolize the God-Emperor. The Sohei monk Astartes act like Codex-standard Chaplains, performing rituals and battle rites to their fellow comrades-in-arms.

 

Battlecry

Soru no ikari o kanjiru! Feel the wrath of Sol! *main battle cry*

Watashi ga kuru no kage kara... From the shadows I come... *Kagemusha battle cry* (other troops sport their own cries)

 

Special Troops List

Sohei (warrior monks)

Kagemusha (ninjas)

Gunrōnin (disgraced warriors)

 

more to come!!!

 

Ranks

Katanakaji (weaponsmiths) = Techmarine

Lord Akira (Chapter Lord) = Chapter Master

Ishi (doctor) = Apothecary

Daimyo (captain) = Sergeant

Shogun (general) = Captain/Company Master

Purīsuto (priest) = Chaplain

[SnakeoilSage]

Looks good! I'd love to see some completed models. What about a paint scheme?

[Commander S. Caesare]

I was thinking of a variation of colours for each Clan. Like one Clan would be white and navy blue to signify Tokugawa Ieyasu forces with the clover on the banner.

[SnakeoilSage]

That's one way to go about it; is the Chapter partially inspired by Legend of the 5 Rings? If so that would actually be pretty cool.

[TrashMan]

Insipred by something = good.

 

Being a carbon copy of something = not good.

 

 

Like how Ultramarines are basedon Romanl Legions...not that apparent when you look at them, is it?

[Darkchild130]

Some guy on Dakka did samurai space marines years back, I'll try and dig up some pics later they were really good.

 

Darkchild

[Brother Tyler]

There have been a number of DIY Chapters that borrowed from the theme of Feudal Japan in the past. A lot of the same advice is relevant here. In order to give a broader perspective on each, I'll provide some links:

 

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/index.p...howtopic=219124

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/index.p...howtopic=218173

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/index.p...howtopic=217319

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/index.p...howtopic=146226

 

The existence of similarly themed DIY Chapters shouldn't deter you from making your own. My advice, though, is to look at the advice that was given to each of these members and consider how that advice might apply to you. You might have slightly different goals than these other members, however, so take everything with a grain of salt and consider the context in which it was given.

[Inquisitor lok]

Ceaser,

The one on the left is the try with the green putty. The sword on the right is a shaved down chainsword.

Which one do you like more?

[Commander S. Caesare]

C'mon, you know it has to be a katana! Curved, slim blade.

[Inquisitor lok]

The GP sword on the left didn't work. The one on the left I am still shaving down to make into a katana. In other words, it will be easier to make the katanas from the chainswords themselves and not trying to custom make them.

[Ace Debonair]

OK.

 

I'm going to warn you right off the bat - the following C&C wil not be pretty.

My focus here is to help you make this chapter believable within the 40k universe, which I've got to say will take some effort.

 

So, brace yourself, and please don't take the following C&C personally in any way, because it's not intended as an attack of any sort.

 

Founding: 25th

Why: incoming threat of necrons in the Eastern Fringe, along with Tau forces invading Imperial worlds

 

I'm pretty sure neither the tau nor necrons were a real threat until after the 26th founding.

Kudos on picking 25th rather than 26th though - just change the founding reason to Orks, and happy days.

 

Dark Angels, except the Adepts Biologoci of the Mechanicus has modified it into a feudal Japanese set

What does that even mean?

 

Also, heck no.

 

Feudal japan is, like, long forgotten. Like feudal everywhere else.

That's why GW doesn't describe the space wolves directly as "You know the vikings? Yeah, them, but in space and werewolves."

 

And the whole messing with geneseed thing is basically heresy. If anyone found out it'd happened, odds are they Imperium would kill everyone involved and maybe bother to ask the last one a quick question before they execute him. If they're feeling kind.

 

Formation/Organization

The Sol Katanas are commanded by the Lord Akira, or Chapter Lord. Their current Lord Akira, and first, is Tokugawa Eieasu, whom wields the Sol-no-kage starforged-katana set, The Shadows of Sol, and the master-crafted plasma pistol, Sutāfaiā.

The "Shogunate" are the many "Shoguns" commanders (works similar to the Great Companies of the Space Wolves and Crusades of the Black Templars) whom command a company of some number called the Cloud Clans (they do not follow the Codex Astartes company of 100 Astartes).

 

Ugh.

This is the big problem with the overblown-Japanese-themed chapters.

 

Out of all those words I recognize Shogun, because I own a total war game. :)

You shouldn't have to understand japanese to understand a Japanese-themed Chapter.

 

The Space Wolves, again as an example, have Rune-Priests. They don't have whatever the norse translation as their rank.

 

Also, why don't they follow the Codex?

Space Wolves and Black Templars are really not good examples to follow for numbers, and having more marines doesn't make your chapter more interesting.

 

Some of the Clans have a special troop force, for example 7th Shogun Kyuhasa Iga has the assault unit called the "Kagemusha". 9th Shogun, Bushiadu Heian, has his entire Cloud Clan filled with disgraced master Astartes: Gunrōnin, meaning the lost unit. These special troops also have symbolic accessories, like the Kagemusha has dull black armor that are swathe in black cloth, such as the "Shinobi" hood mask, and the Gunrōnin wear large straw hats in front of their heads to hide their faces and as metaphor to veil dishonour.

 

Ninja space marines.

Come on dude, ninjas are cool and everything, but there are limits.

 

I'd have thought Ronin would have been more appropriate as a curse used against traitors, myself.

Otherwise, you've got a LOT of disgraced Astartes in your ranks, which doesn't actually make sense.

 

They have strict laws, The Bushido Chapters Samurai, besides the Codex Astartes. Humiliation is not taken lightly, as honour is a highly prized thing among the Sol Katanas. Many a failed Space Marine have felled themselves to the Hara Kiri, the ritual of absolution, as said in The Bushido Chapters. Those whom are deemed too precious are sent to the Gunrōnin, unlike most Chapters, who give their fallen sons to the Ordos Xenos Deathwatch Chapter.

 

Wait, isn't it an honour to be picked for the Deathwatch?

 

Beliefs

Many meld their traditional ways from Shodyosu with the Imperial Cult, which many of the Ecclesiarchy frown upon on this mixture of faith. An example from Shodyosu is Sol, which many of Marines use it to symbolize the God-Emperor. The Sohei monk Astartes act like Codex-standard Chaplains, performing rituals and battle rites to their fellow comrades-in-arms.

 

Why do they believe the Emperor is a God?

 

 

Special Troops List

Sohei (warrior monks)

Kagemusha (ninjas)

Gunrōnin (disgraced warriors)

 

Space Marines are all kind of warrior monks.

Ninjas... well.... don't really fit Astartes to well. I like ninjas, and I like space marines, but blending the two is an awkward, awkward thing to do without basically making the Raven Guard again.

Disgraced Warriors would surely refer to traitors, unless of course you want your chapter to have sub-par marines in it, in which case fair play.

 

 

 

Katanakaji (weaponsmiths) = Techmarine

Lord Akira (Chapter Lord) = Chapter Master

Ishi (doctor) = Apothecary

Daimyo (captain) = Sergeant

Shogun (general) = Captain/Company Master

Purīsuto (priest) = Chaplain

Majo (witch) = Librarian

 

Your Sergeants are ranked as Captains, and your Captains are ranked as generals. ;)

And I'm sure your librarians really embrace the official title of Witch very happily. :)

 

I'm going to quote an ol' buddy of mine, because he seems to have fallen off the planet as of late, and I'm sure he would want this said.

*Waits in silence for the day, when someone made a Japanese-themed Chapter without obvious rip-offs like samurai, ashigaru, ninja's and katana's.*

 

 

..... after 50 years of patient waiting, NightrawenII died with his wish unfulfilled. ^_^

 

I really, really like the idea of a Japanese-themed Chapter.

I really, really dislike when people just plant a bunch of japanese names over Space Marine titles, add some ninjas, curve their powerswords, and call it a day.

 

My honest advice would be to restrict any Japanese language to the homeworld.

Make your Chapter Space Marines first, Japanese second.

 

Move the focus to the personality of the chapter; unyielding, courageous, and utterly, utterly dedicated to the cultivation and maintenance of honour.

 

Explain any changes you make to the ranks or organisation, and don't make them for the sake of changing something.

 

Add something about the fallen, since you're DA geneseed and that's kind of the whole point of DA successors.

 

And move them away from the galactic far east. Seriously.

Have them fight Chaos, on the other side of the galaxy - surely nothing stains the honour of Astartes like the existence of traitors?

 

 

Of course, you could also ignore everything I've just written, and carry on. ;)

Either way, best of luck with the Chapter.

[NightrawenII]

I'm going to quote an ol' buddy of mine, because he seems to have fallen off the planet as of late, and I'm sure he would want this said.

None have fallen nowhere.... Okay! I fell, when I was drunk, but that doesn't count! :D

 

*cough*

 

I will look at this Chapter during weekend, if there will be free time. I'm still reading the topics, I missed during holiday, so bear with me.

[Inquisitor lok]

Ok, first of all, thank you for the C&C.

 

Secondly, about the ninjas, you say that it would be awkward, its for that very reason that no one has ever tried to do it. My friend and I also love ninjas and space marines so much that we think it will work. All it takes is trial and error, imagination, and a little modeling and boom, you have just created something that no one thought was possible (like the atomic bomb).

 

Thirdly, about the enemies, (i am going to pull this from my 1998 rule book) both the Tau and the Necrons were listed as Dangerous Aliens encountered during the 25th founding. The Tau were already a know race that was still developing and the best reason for Necrons is that they have tomb worlds spread all over the galaxy from the kronus expanse to the eastern fringes where the Tyranids begin their dreaded advance. And if its traitors that they need hunt to maintain their honor then there are plenty of heretic worshipers.

 

Fourthly, why not Feudal Japan, no one else has a Japanese Samurai army. Its original! All that it takes is a little imagination. When it comes to the geneseed, the Adeptis Bilogici is the ONLY group that is allowed to do this. Just like the Adeptis Mechanicus is the only group allowed to change and make new technologies. Orders like these have to be around anyways in order to fix any tamper equipment or geneseeds anyways.

 

When it comes to failed Space Marines I should probably know this the most since most of my marines have failed me time and time again. If anyone knows how I feel then you have my sympathies because it has probably happened to you to. I actually stopped playing space marines for a couple of YEARS! My space marines basically make up an entire legion of the damned.

 

"I really, really dislike when people just plant a bunch of japanese names over Space Marine titles, add some ninjas, curve their powerswords, and call it a day." I know that you mean no harm in your C&C but I am going to have to take this one in the gut. My friend and I have no intention of leaving them with some names and swords. I sorry if we didn't put anything else up but we are trying to do this a step at a time.

 

BY THE WAY, EVERY SINGLE IMPERIAL CITIZEN AND SPACE MARINE BELIEVES THAT THE EMPEROR IS A GOD!!

 

Thanks for the C&C though. ;)

 

Cheer's

 

Lok

[Brother Tyler]

BY THE WAY, EVERY SINGLE IMPERIAL CITIZEN AND SPACE MARINE BELIEVES THAT THE EMPEROR IS A GOD!!

Incorrect:

The main point of contention between the Space Marines and the Ecclesiarchy occurs in how they perceive the Emperor. To the Ecclesiarchy, the Emperor is a god, the most divine being, the Savior of Mankind and its eternal guardian. The Space Marines revere the Emperor as a brilliant, inspired man, but a man nonetheless.

There are some Chapters that view the Emperor as a god, but these Chapters are exceptions and likely number in the single digits. The overwhelming majority of Space Marines view the Emperor as a man.

 

As far as the criticism goes, the issue isn't the choice of Feudal Japan as a wellspring of inspiration. Rather, the problem is the overt use of that inspiration. Instead of taking the Space Marines and applying a few touches here and there to give a sense of Feudal Japan, you've taken a few touches of Space Marines and added them to Feudal Japan. This is a practice commonly called "over-theming" here at the B&C (and probably elsewhere).

 

Ultimately, it's your army (or perhaps Command S. Caesare's - it's difficult to tell who this army will belong to right now ;) ). If the goal is to have a Samurai army, go for it and don't worry about any feedback you get that you don't like. The feedback you're likely to get here at the B&C will be in the context of helping you to mesh your concept in with the shared universe. The overt Samurai theme you've described doesn't mesh well with the commonly accepted shared universe, so the majority of feedback will be aimed at helping you to reduce the elements that are perceived as beyond the pale while retaining the core Feudal Japan concept in the finished product. If you don't care about meshing, however, or if you really want to retain the basic elements originally described, let everyone know so that they can back off. In that case, the feedback might tend towards helping you to tighten things up a bit, including spelling, grammar, and any glaring problems while allowing you to keep whatever it is that you want.

[presc1ence]

Hey CSC, time for a tiny bit of C&C!

 

I think the japanese theme is just too spread out at the moment. Maybe try not to japanese everything up, but find a couple of aspects that most appeal to you about feudal japan and work that into a standard marine set up.

 

Though if what lok says is true and you just want ninja marines ;) , I'd ditch the rest of the japanese stuff and just go full on with the ninja theme, and start thinking ravenguard.

 

 

I do have to agree with ace here though:

 

Dark Angels, except the Adepts Biologoci of the Mechanicus has modified it into a feudal Japanese set

What does that even mean?

 

Yeah umm, what was modified into what now? :blush:

 

Other than that good luck! A cool samurai lookin' chapter is sorely needed!

[Inquisitor lok]

Brother Tyler,

 

I wasn't aware of the fact that only a couple of space marine chapter believed that the emperor is a god. I get most of my source fluff from my old 2nd addition rule book. By the way, all the credit for this DIY army should go to Commander S. Ceaser. It was his idea from the start. I am just trying to help him along the way. I like it when people try and put together something from scratch which is why I defended the idea as I did. Part of the challenge of DIY armies is the fact that it is hard to get them woven into the story line the way the original chapter were.

 

Thanks,

 

lok

 

presc1enc,

 

I believe that Ceaser is going for a more diverse army than just ninjas. I think he mainly wants samurai but the ninjas to be the assault marines. I mean they are already told out to be acrobatic so it kind of fits together nicely with the roles of the assault marines on the battle field. Although I do understand what you mean when you say that the fluff is really kind of out there.

 

Thanks,

 

lok

[Ace Debonair]

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

 

 

EDIT: Well, Brother Tyler nailed it perfectly there. His comments make everything I've just written look like a total afterthought.

Oh well, rather than delete my stuff, I'll just congratulate him on his accuracy before I begin. :devil:

 

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

 

I do rather default to helping people trim down anything that doesn't gel marvellously with the wider 40K-verse.

If you'd rather leave things as they are, that's fine too, but bear in mind that I don't presently know if that's the case or not.

So, I'm simply treating this the way I would any other DIY project.

 

Ok, first of all, thank you for the C&C.

 

Secondly, about the ninjas, you say that it would be awkward, its for that very reason that no one has ever tried to do it. My friend and I also love ninjas and space marines so much that we think it will work. All it takes is trial and error, imagination, and a little modeling and boom, you have just created something that no one thought was possible (like the atomic bomb).

 

Oh no, I think there's a bit of a misunderstanding there.

 

Ninja space marine models? Totally love it. Do it. It'll be absoultely badass. :D

But making them like ninjas in the story of your chapter is a difficult thing to do well, and will take some time and effort.

 

I don't mean to talk you out of doing it, though if you're set on it.

Just consider this a heads-up that making it work well might cause you some headaches down the road.

 

Thirdly, about the enemies, (i am going to pull this from my 1998 rule book) both the Tau and the Necrons were listed as Dangerous Aliens encountered during the 25th founding. The Tau were already a know race that was still developing and the best reason for Necrons is that they have tomb worlds spread all over the galaxy from the kronus expanse to the eastern fringes where the Tyranids begin their dreaded advance. And if its traitors that they need hunt to maintain their honor then there are plenty of heretic worshipers.

 

They've changed things since, I'm given to understand.

Now the tau and necron aren't really a threat until after the 26th founding.

There's a timeline at the top of the forum compiled from all sorts of material, which is where I've got my information from. ^_^

 

Fourthly, why not Feudal Japan, no one else has a Japanese Samurai army. Its original! All that it takes is a little imagination. When it comes to the geneseed, the Adeptis Bilogici is the ONLY group that is allowed to do this. Just like the Adeptis Mechanicus is the only group allowed to change and make new technologies. Orders like these have to be around anyways in order to fix any tamper equipment or geneseeds anyways.

 

A few people have samurai marines, actually. I've seen a few in the WIP modelling and hall of honour forums.

They're really cool, for the most part.

 

What I mean is, just popping up and saying 'they're feudal japanese in space' isn't a good way of writing it.

And directly using the original language isn't strictly a good idea in and of itself, since everyone in the Imperium speaks something called 'High Gothic' and 'Low Gothic' which is basically wacky pseudo-latin.

For the sake of the reader, everything's translated into english, more or less.

 

Like Bro T said, it's applying the theme too heavily to be easily believable.

But if you're happier with it than with adjusting it, then leave it.

 

And the geneseed tampering is still totally heresy. It's the Emperor's work, and to fiddle with it is to think you know better than the Big E himself.

 

Finally, the geneseed has about as much to do with feudal japan as a zebra has to do with corkscrews.

Any japanese-style influences should really come from the Chapter's Homeworld.

 

"I really, really dislike when people just plant a bunch of japanese names over Space Marine titles, add some ninjas, curve their powerswords, and call it a day." I know that you mean no harm in your C&C but I am going to have to take this one in the gut. My friend and I have no intention of leaving them with some names and swords. I sorry if we didn't put anything else up but we are trying to do this a step at a time.

 

Apologies if that sounded a little harsh.

What I meant was, people have done the 'just-add-samurai-stereotypes-and-japanese-sounding-names' in the past, then gone away and sulked when we told them it was a bad way of doing things. They gave up on what could be a genuinely cool chapter rather than sticking with it and seeing it evolve into something glorious.

 

To be honest, I'll be really pleased if you guys stick with this project and make it work. ^_^

 

BY THE WAY, EVERY SINGLE IMPERIAL CITIZEN AND SPACE MARINE BELIEVES THAT THE EMPEROR IS A GOD!!

Out of curiosity, is that from the 1998 book too?

As Brother Tyler pointed out, things have changed somewhat on that front since then. ^_^

 

With regard to doing things from scratch:

All my chapters are built from scratch, likewise my evil and nefarious chaos warband.

I like good DIY Chapters a lot more than I like most GW chapters. People here have such awesome ideas, and I enjoy helping them make those ideas work within the Larger 40K universe, be that through deconstructing and reworking ideas, or clapping my hands like a giddy child and demanding more. :)

 

Ninja-style assault marines would be novel. Use them to attack from unexpected directions during a battle to catch the enemy unawares, maybe? Possibly they could neglect using chainswords until they're 'discovered' by the enemy in the midst of the battle because the chainswords would be too noisy for stealth work?

[tiny sam]

I agree with the comments of Ace and Tyler but I will put some usefull references as a concrete help :P

 

I wasn't aware of the fact that only a couple of space marine chapter believed that the emperor is a god. I get most of my source fluff from my old 2nd addition rule book.

 

you will probably be realy interested in this link Lexicanum, personnaly I tend to double check almost everything I write with that. :P

 

I believe that Ceaser is going for a more diverse army than just ninjas. I think he mainly wants samurai but the ninjas to be the assault marines. I mean they are already told out to be acrobatic so it kind of fits together nicely with the roles of the assault marines on the battle field. Although I do understand what you mean when you say that the fluff is really kind of out there.

 

Personnaly I would use Ninjas as Scout. (in my mind): The initiate doesn't have honor at that time and are capable of doing things a normal Sol Katana won't do (like infiltrate, hide and backstabbing), they wore a mask to protect themselves from the shamefull action they are going to make ;)

 

as for the rest of the text,

I suggest you to read the Octaguide it's probably the best ressources to make an excellent DIY army that fit in the 40k universe.

[Inquisitor lok]

Thanks again for the C&C.

 

About the 1998 rule book, the only reasons why I prefer it to the new ones is:

 

1. almost every codex was in that i book which forced people to mostly look at the rules instead of all the fluff that they put in the new one.

2. I like the old scenarios.

3 I guess that is really it.

 

cheer's

 

lok

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Majo (witch) = Librarian

Problem: The Japanese word for "witch" SPECIFICALLY refers to females- literal translation, "Magical Girl" or "Devil Girl"- so unless the Sol Katanas have female Space Marines...

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Instead of "Majo" as a title for the Chapter's Librarians, may I suggest Onmyoji (literally "Yin-Yang Master" or "Master of Light and Darkness")?

[tiny sam]

About the 1998 rule book, the only reasons why I prefer it to the new ones is:

 

1. almost every codex was in that i book which forced people to mostly look at the rules instead of all the fluff that they put in the new one.

2. I like the old scenarios.

3 I guess that is really it.

 

you do realize you're saying that on a sub-forum mainly focused on fluff :D

[Inquisitor lok]

I do. The only reason I said that is because when I play I would like for people to just follow the rules. Even I like to complain about rules and will reference fluff in games but some people take it to the extreme

 

cheers,

 

lok

[Commander S. Caesare]

Dang it, Lok. I believe its MY fluff.

 

@Ace Debonair

I agree with most of what you're saying. I understand that I overdid on sprinking some wasabi on these marines. I just wanted the C&C to develop this chapter. So thanks for the feedback!

 

@Brother Tyler

Thanks for the advice! It should still keep the core Japanese concepts. The overthemeing was kinda overwhelming, so maybe ill thumb things down when it comes to the naming.

 

@Bjorn Firewalker

Guess I asked my cousin the wrong thing when I asked her how to say "witch". I should've told her what it was intended for. But she'll just laugh at me. Whatever.

Thanks for the heads up, though!

[Inquisitor lok]

Ceaser,

 

I was not referring to your chapter when I was talking about fluff. Sorry for the misunderstanding.

 

lok