New chapter

[Hellrender]

Hello,

 

I want to make space marine chapter, and use the wolf/bear icons from the SW kits. But i really don't want people to immidietly think that they are space wolves or a successor chapter, because thats not what they are.

I can't sadly enough think of a name or colour scheme. My girlfriend said purple, but she always says that. I would do this as Hormagaunt Purple, washed with Leviathian Purple, with a suitable highlight. But does any have another scheme, that is near as easy?

 

I don't care about much else, as long:

1) it has certain uniqueness

2) uses the wolf/bear icons

3) name fits the colour or icons.

 

Thanks in advance

[sal of manders]

I guess the first question is whether you're adding in the whole power armour covered in animal hide thing that the the space wolves have, or if you're just using the icon bits. That by itself doesn't scream space wolf as loudly as you'd think, but it does pretty much demand that your chapter come from some manner of savage world. I personally wouldn't go with purple for such a chapter. It just feels too "civilized," if that makes any sense.

 

Also determining what kind of homeworld they come from might help determine things like local culture and color schemes.

 

with regards to uniqueness, I might try orange as a dominant color.

[Race Bannon]

Hmm. Purple is unique I'd think. :P

 

What's in a name? Everything. Other than the wolf/bear theme visually, have you considered any theme name? Something broad like ... animal (i.e. Purple Dragons) or something with a "definition" (i.e. Purple Protagonists). Ok, those were not the best examples but I hope you get the point. Does the name have to be one-worded or will three be ok? Have you considered an icon you know you *must* use? I'd recommend using something that already exists but using it for you. Obvious but I think it should be said.

 

The wolf thing ... honestly, if you use SW stuff, then it would be challenging NOT to think of a link to the Space Wolves - it's the nature of the beast, no pun intended. I can only counsel to put that aside and just go with what you like ... you'll be looking at the models more than anyone else :D

[Hellrender]

Exactly, and the more i look at the space wolves i build 3 years ago (just assembled, not painted), the more i like them. The only thing is that my Librarian in TDA (expensive model) is not that useful if i indeed go full space wolves. For the rest i can use anything i liked in Codex: Space Marines.

 

Btw, the home world i had in mind:

A planet with a blue moon. Due to gasses in the atmosphere the sky turns purple at dusk and dawn, and the night always has a eerie purple glow to it. It is a world once conqeuered by the Imperium (at M32 or something). but in M34 there was a daemonic invasion that butchered over 70% of the population before it was stopped. After that there was a small ork invasion, and they have never left. The human settlements are found on the 2 poles, while the orks live more around the middle part (forgot the name). They are mostly dormant, but get restless in the night cycles. The day cycles last longer on this world, due to the slow turning of the planet. Dusk and dawn last about a week, with night and day lasting from 3 to 4 weeks. 2 weeks into night you look at extreme colds, and 2 weeks into day you look at extreme heat. Only at the poles it's possible to live for humans. In the night cycle there is evil activity. People get abducted, mutilated and murdered. But it's unknown wether this is done by Chaos Daemons or by Ork Kommando's.

 

The population has fallen back to a tribe setup, much like fenris. They are a warrior people afraid of the dark. Only the most tough and willing are chosen for nightwatch. They are a superstitious people that see the colour purple as dead itself. Wolves are just living on the planet, and are seen as the Heralds of dead, due to the howling when the moon rises.

 

As you can see, this a very similar planet to Space Wolves. Atlough i was originally thinking to use Codex: Space Marines, just going C:SW would save me a lot of thinking on a name and colour scheme i will never be 100% happy with (i'm too indecisive ;)) Where it gets easier if i just accept they are as they are.

[Destecado]

Purple and Space Wolves iconography huh….that’s a tough one.

 

If they were renegades or traitor marines, I might have something for you, but a loyalist chapter is more difficult. In case, you wish to play renegades, which would still allow you to use the space codex, rather than actual chaos marines, then the name might still work for you.

 

Lazar Wolves

 

Ok, the name is a bit of an inside joke and homage. The “joke” part is that Lazar Wolf is the name of the butcher from Fiddler on the Roof…the name within the context of the musical itself is ironic. As for the homage, it is in reference to the Lazar tigers from Frank Herbert’s Children of Dune…genetically modified tigers of “ancient Terra” bred on Salusa Secundus and transported to Arakis (dune) to kill Leto II and Ghanima Atreides. Lazar is also an archaic term for a leper or beggar.

 

The imagery of diseased animals infecting other animals or even people is a powerful one. Rabies, bubonic plague, bird flu, West Nile Encephalitis….there are nearly 40 diseases, that people can catch directly from animals. The name implies that they would be servants of or falling towards nurgle. If you go that route, then I guess you could also call them the Plague Dogs.

 

After some thought about what such a chapter’s name would be before they fell to chaos, I had an idea. I mean they wouldn’t have originally been called the plague dogs or Lazar Wolves, with the intentional disease references. F you wanted to retain the Lazar Wolves as a loyalist chapter, it could be that the name is a shortened form of Lazarus Wolves.

 

Lazar is an alternative form of the name Lazarus. There is debate about whether Lazarus the leper and Lazarus the dead man raised by Jesus are the same person, but if you go with the resurrection theme and ignore the leprous alternate context, then you might have a potential background for the chapter. By the way, the name Lazar means “God is my help”. You of course do not need to use this in reference to the Christian god. Perhaps it is in reference to some mythical wolf-like beast that is worshiped as a god or as a spirit guide.

 

You could potentially work in a variation of the Romulus and Remus myth. When the twins were born, they left them to die (exposed to the elements) by the usurper of their grandfather’s throne. They were found by a she-wolf who suckled and protected them. The tow are considered the Legendary founders of Rome…which might give you a basis for using Imperial purple or a variation as the color of their armor…although that might be a little bit of a stretch. Maybe the color of the mythical beast from the history of the chapter’s home planet is a shade of purple; allowing it to blend in with its surroundings.

 

Come to think of it, you may want to watch the animated movie Princess Mononoke. It might provide some good resource material on which to build. San (called Princess Mononoke by the villagers of Iron Town) was adopted by giant intelligent wolves. The story concentrates on involvement of the outsider A:cussaka in the struggle between the supernatural guardians of a forest (and San) and the humans of the Iron Town who consume its resources.

[Hellrender]

I really enjoyed readin that. But i really want to stay loyalist. But it happens i have a lot of spare bits of SW, a Nurgle Daemon Prince, and a Chaos Battleforce.. i might make a themed 500pt army around that Plague Dogs theme. It sounds very much fun to work that out!

 

But for now i really want to focus on a Loyalist chapter. Considering the amount of stretch and thinking it requires, i'm leaning more and more to just Space Wolves. Especially after i saw a guide to paint them good and easy.

 

But again, it's a very interresting read. And certainly worth to make a DIY renegade chapter out, which i then make no more then 500pts of. WHich should be doable.

 

Thanks again

[sal of manders]

Exactly, and the more i look at the space wolves i build 3 years ago (just assembled, not painted), the more i like them. The only thing is that my Librarian in TDA (expensive model) is not that useful if i indeed go full space wolves. For the rest i can use anything i liked in Codex: Space Marines.

sounds like we're sticking with a wolf theme then

 

 

Btw, the home world i had in mind:

A planet with a blue moon. Due to gasses in the atmosphere the sky turns purple at dusk and dawn, and the night always has a eerie purple glow to it. It is a world once conqeuered by the Imperium (at M32 or something). but in M34 there was a daemonic invasion that butchered over 70% of the population before it was stopped. After that there was a small ork invasion, and they have never left.

1. With a homeworld like that, I can see purple making sense, since it's a reference to their homeworld.

2. So those orks have been there for how long? Six thousand or so years?

 

The human settlements are found on the 2 poles, while the orks live more around the middle part (forgot the name). They are mostly dormant, but get restless in the night cycles. The day cycles last longer on this world, due to the slow turning of the planet. Dusk and dawn last about a week, with night and day lasting from 3 to 4 weeks. 2 weeks into night you look at extreme colds, and 2 weeks into day you look at extreme heat.

So is a full rotation of the planet 3-4 weeks or 6-8 weeks? I'm assuming these are seasonal variations.

 

Only at the poles it's possible to live for humans. In the night cycle there is evil activity. People get abducted, mutilated and murdered. But it's unknown wether this is done by Chaos Daemons or by Ork Kommando's.

By the way, is your chapter's headquarters planet-side, on the moon, or somewhere else?

 

The population has fallen back to a tribe setup, much like fenris.

just a note that tribal/clan set-up doesn't have to mean Space viking, unless you mean to say that their origination resembles the space wolves in particular. "Tribe" can range from island archipelago to frozen steppes, from dense jungle to equatorial desert. If you want polar environment, you've still got anything from Vikings to, Eskimos, to Mongols (not a polar region, but have you seen what the winter weather is like there?), to any number of other peoples that live in ridiculously cold environments. If you want to go with north-eastern Europe like GW did, that's fine, but your first post seemed to suggest you wanted to get away from that, and that's why I mention those other groups.

 

They are a warrior people afraid of the dark.

While I think I understand what you're going for here, it just makes the people of this harsh world sound like pansy cowards cowering under their bedsheets like a small child. I'm just saying.

 

Only the most tough and willing are chosen for nightwatch. They are a superstitious people that see the colour purple as dead itself.

So in their culture, purple is the color of death? Works for me!

 

Wolves are just living on the planet, and are seen as the Heralds of dead, due to the howling when the moon rises.

Death Wolves? Dread Howlers? Death Heralds? Just throwing out names here...

 

As you can see, this a very similar planet to Space Wolves.

Not necessarily. What little you've said of the climate doesn't suggest frozen planet in manner that Fenris is, and wolves live or have lived in numerous climates on different continents. With that said, I just want to go back to your original post...

 

But i really don't want people to immidietly think that they are space wolves or a successor chapter, because thats not what they are.

 

Maybe I'm totally miss-understanding your meaning here, but it sounds like you're going back on trying to make this NOT be a space wolves successor chapter. It just seems like something with the potential to be unique, interesting, and perfectly feasible within the fluff is sliding into the realm of cookie cutter here.

 

Atlough i was originally thinking to use Codex: Space Marines, just going C:SW would save me a lot of thinking on a name and colour scheme i will never be 100% happy with (i'm too indecisive :tu:) Where it gets easier if i just accept they are as they are.

See above.

 

EDIT: a few more name suggestions...

Wolves of the Purple Veil (i.e. this would be the veil of death, in your planet's case)

Violet Wolves

Purple Wolves

Night Guardians

Wolf Warriors

[DarkLiege]

They are a superstitious people that see the colour purple as dead itself. Wolves are just living on the planet, and are seen as the Heralds of dead, due to the howling when the moon rises.

Seeing as how the Wolves are seen as 'Heralds of the dead'. You could name the chapter as 'The Doom Wolves', where the tribes see them as 'death gods'. Have the tribes whisper their name in fear of what's to come.

People get abducted, mutilated and murdered. But it's unknown wether this is done by Chaos Daemons or by Ork Kommando's

From this quote, you could have it has when food becomes less and less in the poles, the tribes travels to the middle to find food. This comes into conflict with the Orks. It is also one of the ways the marines recruits. The part of people getting abducted could be the marines doing to get a recruit, where like wolves they stalk their prey for days, weeks or even months from the shadows to see if they are fit to in included in their ranks.

Maybe a color scheme something like this, though its not the best color scheme. I try to make the purple stand out but liche purple is a little of and warlock purple is too Emperor Childern-ish. The colors for the eyes are blood red, the soft armor is gore red and the browns are bestial brown. Hope you like it. Enjoy. ^_^

[Destecado]

Sal of Manders idea of using Howlers in the name coupled with Doom instead of Dread might work better. I'm just not sure if it works better as a chapter name or a specific unit type...like Grey Hunters or Blood Claws...or a compant designation. For the overall chapter name, what about Iron Hounds? The primary color of the armor could be boltgun metal or another subdued metallic color. Purple could be used for the trim color...either for the entire chapter or a specific company.

 

The glow of power weapons and possibly the eyes could also glow purple. This glow would be reflected of the base metallic color of the armor reflecting and amifying the eerie pure nimbus. Instead of actual wolves or dogs, they could have robotic versions of the animal, like the cyber hounds used by the adeptus arbites. The chapter tales it's name from these robotic sentinels, which in times past were used to protect their lands.

[sal of manders]

@Destecado: I'd agree that Doom Howlers sounds like a good name.

I might also suggest Death Howlers or Doom Heralds.

 

@Darkliege: I don't know about the OP, but I like the color combination. Reminds me of a sunset... of Doom! (but seriously, I think it works here).

Having people go missing because they got abdu-I-MEAN-recruited by the chapter seems to fit some how, at least in my mind; but then I'm not the OP :) .

[Hellrender]

As i'm still thinking, i came up with some issues, just in general with starting a DIY chapter.

 

The whole reason to DIY for me, is to make them more standing out of the crowd. If you don't do much more than changing the name, you might aswell take an already existing chapter. This ofcourse stops once you write extensive fluff for it.

 

Now we already established a pretty cool fluff. But i was wondering, what other ways than wolf pelts and robes are there that one could use to adapt the marines more to his theme. This just in general speaking, and not much limited to the current fluff established here.

 

Thanks in advance

[bento-of-the-earth]

If you're dead set on using purple then by all means do. However there is always the possibility of the Executioners, a suitably savage chapter with a grey and yellow scheme (not to mention a cool sounding name that you may or may not prefer over your girlfriends ideas) wolf pelts and icons would work quite well on them...

[Destecado]

Now we already established a pretty cool fluff. But I was wondering, what other ways than wolf pelts and robes are there that one could use to adapt the marines more to his theme. This just in general speaking, and not much limited to the current fluff established here.

 

You may want to get a hold of as many Beakie helmets as you can. If you round off the end you could possibly make it look more like a wolf / dog muzzle. I know they have some wolf helms for the Space Wolves, but personally think they look pretty awful. You could accent the look of the beakie helm by adding ears made from plasticard and green stuff. The long snout and pointed ears would give you something that look like a Doberman or Jackal…very menacing.

 

Jackel Headpiece

 

Are you familiar with the shark-face nose art that is paint on the side of attack aircraft? You might be able to find (or have produced) water slide transfers or create a template to paint jaws on the sides of the beakie part of the helmet.

 

Of course the problems, with these ideas, are that I’m not sure that they would look that good with the orange and purple color scheme. If you are going with an animalist feel, you may want to include reds and earth tones. Purple might still work, but paired with black or other darker colors…possibly symbolizing the color of the sky as the sun sets (twilight).

 

 

I can’t remember if you had come up with a chapter symbol yet, but I have something that might work. What about a wolf’s jaws on a black background?

 

Wolf Fang Emblem

 

The chapter insignia could possibly symbolize one of the signs of Ragnarok. The children of Fenrir will tear at the very heavens, devouring the moon, and the sun ray by ray until it's waning, blood-red light is extinguish entirely.