Fluff for a Night Lords (Counts-as Blood Angels) army

[Kaika87]

I wanted to write a fluff piece for my NL army using the BA codex, and I've come up with this. It has to be small enough to fit on a sheet to display next to the army at an event, and this fits on one page in Word, but I probably need to cut some out. Big points I have to mention are:

 

1) I'm terrible at coming up with names, so any feedback there would be appreciated.

2) Like it says up top, I have never written anything for 40k before. I've done some writing in other settings, but nothing nearly as established and developed.

3) My base points were I wanted fluff to explain a) my army using 3-4 Predator tanks B ) using the Blood Angels codex (read: Baal Predators). The Excouriator's capture of the Faithless Song was in the audio drama "Throne of Lies," and since the captain of the ship was never discussed, I figured this would be a good starting point.

4) While my army doesn't include any Death Company yet, the inclusion of unleashing possessed marines onto the enemy forces is supposed to explain their use if they ever do make it into my army.

 

VIII Legion – 23rd Company

Captain Teraud of the Night Lords Legion commands a pair of vessels for his warband, the Excouriator, a sleek strike cruiser that has served as the company’s original flagship since the Great Crusade, and the Faithless Song, an Endeavor-class cruiser captured from the Imperial Navy prior to the Legion’s assault on Uriah III. During the Crusade and the Heresy, the 23rd Company earned a reputation for favoring its armored units - tanks, Land Raiders, and siege weapons, and even brought a trio of Baneblades to the Siege of Terra, all of which were lost. When fleeing to the Great Eye, apothecaries of the 23rd recovered a wounded Iron Warriors warsmith and managed to stabilize his condition with the help of Mechanicum adepts. Warsmith Norrick pledged his allegiance to Teraud and the Night Lords, earning his place in midnight clad by working to maintain the armory of the company during the Long War.

 

While Captain Teraud recognizes the threat of corruption by the Ruinous Powers, he also sees the usefulness in drawing power from the warp, and most of his company has resisted temptation over the millennia. Librarian adepts are tolerated some levels of physical corruption, but they are closely monitored for signs of possession by the watchful eyes of the company's apothecaries. Those members of the 23rd that succumb to complete corruption are imprisoned in isolation. Teraud refuses to execute the monstrosities they have become in favor of using them as expendable shock troops. The daemonic Astartes are unleashed upon a battlefield, where their rage overcomes them and they run at the enemy, screaming and gibbering oaths of worship.

 

Among Captain Teraud's more recent and celebrated (primarily by himself) victories was the raiding and annihilation of an Angels Encarmine battle barge. The loyalist sons of Sanguinius were lured in by distress call tortured out of the local populace that Xenos raiding parties had attacked. The Angels Encarmine eagerly responded and were ambushed by the two VIII Legion ships, leaving the ship crippled. Teraud’s elite, the esteemed 1st Claw of the 23rd, led the assault on the battle barge. These fearsome warriors are all the most hardened veterans of the 23rd company, a unit of assault troops whose packs are adorned with wings and whose jump packs are modified for sustained flight by the Warsmith, and each of whom carries a relic power sword of the Great Crusade. Some were crafted by the Legion’s armorers, some taken as trophies from xenos warriors, and others ripped from the dead grasp of loyalist Astartes champions during the Heresy. Teraud himself led his soldiers to battle, 1st Claw accompanied by 2nd, 3rd, 5th, and 6th Claws. With no power in the battle barge, the Night Lords had the upper hand, and systematically terrorized their way through level after level, slaying every soul aboard the barge. Unlike when the Faithless Song was taken, Teraud had no mind to capture the ship itself. After the barge’s cargo of weapons and vehicles was taken for the VIII Legion, the Captain ordered that the barge be left adrift in orbit. Should other elements of the Angels Encarmine come looking for their lost ship, they would find the battle barge devoid of any life, with the bridge crew massacred, flayed, and crucified above their stations. Written in Astartes blood above the command chair are three words, translated from their original language to High Gothic for the sake of those who would read them…

 

Ave Dominus Nox

[Iron Warrior w/ Servo Arm]

I'd love to see some pics of Possessed Death Company.

 

Names are fine, as long as you like them and not silly. It's your work in the end. But I personally try to stay away from Roman names as those are mostly loyalists.

[muadib02]

1. Theme for names...go with eastern Europe (Greek, Serb, Croat, Armenian, etc)....it worked for ADB

3. Generally its best to avoid having your fan fic intersect with more published works (in my opinion)...so I would come up with an original ship name

4. Full on possessed Night Lords have got to be part of a pretty wacky warband as NL go.

[Kaika87]

Is that where those names came from? Fantastic, thank you so much, that's much easier than pulling names out of thin air.

 

As for (3), like I said the only "established" canon is that there is a Night Lords ship named the Excouriator, and.that it's a similar ship class to the Covenant of Blood.

[muadib02]

Talos was a giant bronze man who protected Europa

Cyrion was an armenian catholic saint

Uzas is derived from the word for horror/terror in Russian

 

etc.

[Vesper]

4. Full on possessed Night Lords have got to be part of a pretty wacky warband as NL go.

 

For my NL warband, my sorcerer, whose title is "the Adorcist", is a creepy guy who uses his powers to punish NL brothers that fled or failed in their mission by making them possessed. Fluffy enough ?

[Kizzdougs]

I like your fluff and the names seem to be pretty good but I'm not sure about 3-4 Baal predators. I understand that they were captured trophies from the battle barge but it still seems a bit excessive.

 

Good luck with the tournament and I'm sure I'm not the only one who would love see some pics of your NLs :lol:

[Kaika87]

I like your fluff and the names seem to be pretty good but I'm not sure about 3-4 Baal predators. I understand that they were captured trophies from the battle barge but it still seems a bit excessive.

 

Good luck with the tournament and I'm sure I'm not the only one who would love see some pics of your NLs :lol:

 

I actually only have 2 Baal Predators, but then I take 1-2 HS Predators and one Razorback. Sorry, I worded that explanation poorly. As for pictures, this army was my LPC, if you want to check it out.

 

Thank you all for the feedback, I changed my Captain's name to one I liked better, derived from the latvian word for "steel."

[Kizzdougs]

Fair enough. That sounds pretty good!

 

I had a look at you LPC thread. Very nice. I especially liked you counts as Sanguinor. Is he your captain?

[Kaika87]

Fair enough. That sounds pretty good!

 

I had a look at you LPC thread. Very nice. I especially liked you counts as Sanguinor. Is he your captain?

 

Teraud I envisioned as either being fielded as Dante or the Sanguinor, since I never plan to field them both in the same army. Sanguinor version is him after the corruption of Chaos has taken root. After all, no mortal, human or transhuman, can live in the Great Eye for so long and escape the claws of the Ruinious Powers...