Renegade Warband Composition

[Nuclear Fridge]

I’ve shelved my Iron Warriors project in favour of a new army of Renegades. I have a few ideas about fluff and origins, but I’m stuck on some bits. Any thoughts or ideas would be very welcome…

 

First of all, the Blood Spectres are not a fragment of one of the ‘Big Leagues’ Traitor Legions; they’re much more recent converts to Chaos.

 

The core of the warband is a group of defectors from a loyalist Chapter. I’m thinking of the Emperor’s Swords, who were subverted and then destroyed by the Alpha Legion. My renegades made a break for it as the Emperor’s Swords broke into factions and started blasting one another. They fled the system and made for the closest Imperial outpost – only to find that word of the disaster had already got there. They came under heavy fire from the orbital defences and were forced to run…

 

That happens (according to the CSM Codex) in mid M40. That gives me a good ‘window’ prior to the 13th Black Crusade for the Blood Spectres to commit some heinous acts. It also explains why I’ll have a few bits and pieces of Loyalist SM armour – a backpack here, a Mk 6 helmet there – on the models.

 

This warband is strictly small-time, but its leader wants to build up his war chest and forces, and he’s got his eye on a (very) secondary subsector of Imperial space… He’s no Huron Blackheart, but his raids on outposts and supply bases give me a campaign to add in more forces as his infamy grows.

 

One of my starting Troops choices is a group of World Eaters. The Blood Spectres ‘enlist’ them after their master fights a duel with the Spectres’ leader and is killed. Berzerkers respecting brutal combat skills and the like, they swear allegiance as long as they get to charge madly at whatever poor PDF garrison happens to be in their way.

 

My initial plan – and what I’m painting up right now – is a squad of World Eaters, a ‘vanilla’ squad of Undivided CSMs, a small squad of Chaos Havocs, and the Lord, who is going to be a Terminator. I also have a 5-man squad of Possessed in the works.

 

Waiting in the wings I have a Terminator Sorcerer, a few Rubric Marines, a Chaos Rhino, and some Chaos Terminators. I’d really like to add in the Sorcerer – who joins the Blood Spectres for his own unexplained reasons – but with the Berzerkers already on board, can I rationalise it?

[minigun762]

I’d really like to add in the Sorcerer – who joins the Blood Spectres for his own unexplained reasons – but with the Berzerkers already on board, can I rationalise it?

 

We have some precedent for sorcerer's working as navigators on ships, the same could be said for possessed as well.

 

A rogue sorcerer is fairly easy to explain I believe, as they're 1) more tempting targets for daemonic possession and 2) its a fine line between psychic powers and true sorcery and its easy to cross.

[Azekai]

Rationalize a sorcerer with 'zerkers in the same warband? Sure. They don't have to like each other, but that doesn't mean the parties in question would try to off one another on principle (remember that Khorne's archenemy is Slaanesh, not Tzeentch). If your warlord is brutal enough or simply persuasive, he could simply force them to work together despite their differences.

[Warsmith Aznable]

Easy to rationalize. You've got a strong and charismatic warband leader. Everyone is too afraid of the leader to be actively hostile over their prejudices, so they are kept in line. They don't have to hang out and get along, as has been said, they just have to play their parts on the battlefield. This gives room for creating fluff for your Aspiring Champions, and maybe inspiration for their modeling.

[Nuclear Fridge]

Thank you for the good advice & tips. I now have a solid starting point & a direction to take these guys.

 

For the moment, I'm going to leave their vehicles alone and focus on the grunts. The tracked stuff can wait.