DIY: The Knights Sangria

[Espada Azul]

Purpose: Partly as a project to occupy those rare moments of slow time here at work, and partially to expand on the background of the "neighbors" my DIY shares in. The Knights Sangria also give me an excuse to FINALLY paint up a Blood Angels-rules based squad of Assault marines, but that comes secondary to the lore expansion. I wanted to do a renegade warband, but I just need to get this out of the way first.

 

Meta: The Knights Sangria exist in the small corner of the galaxy that the Azure Blades, Storm Condors and Vortex Wardens also occupy. They do not exist in the Philverse (that's crowded enough as it is). They may exist in the shared universe that Liber also occupies (this DIY is a start in that direction), as well standard 40k -- at least until a GW or BL author gives them a mention, most likely to have them slaughtered.

 

Here are what I have so far. This is obviously pre-draft, so many of the ideas here might not actually work well in practice, but I'm pretty much just throwing out the core concepts.

 

The Chapter: The Knights Sangria

 

http://unequivocalhorizon.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/knightssangria.jpg?w=450

 

The Concept: Blood Angels successor obviously, and a relatively old one; thinking 8th or 9th Founding here. Their answer to "taming" the Red Thirst is to turn inward rather than looking for external solutions to the Blood Angels gene legacy. This means there's more of a bias towards meditation, or various activities (such as weapons training) as-tools for a sort of meditative "focus". Like many of the things tried by Blood Angel-descended Chapters, this approach has met with mixed results over the millenia, but it's worked relatively well so far, so the Chapter has sticked with it.

 

If I were to describe the character of the average marine, is philosophical (due to increased focus on meditation) but still practical; a marine is equally capable of musing on a pebble disturbing the flow of a running stream as he is at gutting a greenskin in three clean strikes. This has an unintended added effect of making them seeming more aloof than usual (then again, what passes for Imperial koans can do that).

 

The Death Company, of course, is still very much in evidence, as it's inevitable that the call of the Primarch becomes so powerful that no mere concentration can keep it at bay. Their number is small, barely more than a ten-man squad until very recently, and these battle-brothers are looked on with a mixture of pity and fear, as it is a fate that can befall anyone.

 

Recently (at least within the millenium), there are disturbing signs that the meditative practices that the Chapter had been using has started to fail, as more and more brothers are giving in to the Red Thirst, and succumbing to the Black Rage. A good segment of the Chapter still trust that the methods it has used so far will still see it through, but there are some that think that the Chapter must now consider other contingencies, just in case. The recent call by Dante to defend Baal is seen as a mixed blessing for the latter, as they would be able to compare the methods used by their cousins, and see which works and which generally don't.

 

And that's it. Literally bare-bones at this point, but I think it's workable.

[greendestiny]

I like what you have so far. I am not too keen on the pink color, but that is a personal opinion. I look forward to seeing you expand the fluff. Thanks for sharing.

[Espada Azul]

... Pink? I actually used the army painter here (this was nearly a year ago) for the image, and as I remember, that's actually Scab Red, and not pink. o_o

 

*coughs* I think a good chunk of the influence for the medidative aspect of the Chapter will be from Buddhism, mostly the Chinese Zen school (or Chán), though I'm kind of torn where to get the warrior influence to balance things out. As they're named Knights, a more Western perspective is expected, but I AM using Zen as a base... Mmmph.

[Pistorius]

I find the word "sangria"to be inappropriate for this context. Perhaps "sanguine" as an alternative.

[Octavulg]

First and foremost, Espada: is this really the connotation you want for your Marines?

[Espada Azul]

Thanks. Do take note that the concept is already at LEAST two years at this point, but I wasn't able to devote much time to it until recently.

 

Also, I didn't think of that, as the initial inspiration for Sangria was, well, this, the Sangreal. It's why there's a grail on the Chapter symbol.

 

Though, the idea of a fruit punch does tickle me a bit there, Octavulg. :)

[Octavulg]

Fair enough. But the term sangria is fairly common, at least in UK and Canadian media. Everybody remembers alcohol.

 

The meditation stuff makes sense, though its uniqueness will depend on the spin you put upon it.

[greendestiny]

sorry about the pink comment. The aquilla looks pink on my computer, it could be something with my screan. Also I thought you were referring to wine as well. And that they are essentially, high class, deap thinking, killers.

[Octavulg]

Looks pink to me too, now that you mention it.

[Espada Azul]

Yes, I suppose the meditation aspect will be an important part, which is where I suppose most of the work will be done. I'm not exactly an expert on Zen Buddhism, particularly the native branches found in China and Korea (Zen in Japan is different as well), nor meditation. Much reading on that I suppose.

 

And I just used the default GW colors available in our painter here at the time. ^^; It doesn't really look pink, but then again I never added the dirt filter.

[Lord Scytha]

Thanks. Do take note that the concept is already at LEAST two years at this point, but I wasn't able to devote much time to it until recently.

 

Also, I didn't think of that, as the initial inspiration for Sangria was, well, this, the Sangreal. It's why there's a grail on the Chapter symbol.

 

Though, the idea of a fruit punch does tickle me a bit there, Octavulg. :)

 

Well, booze or bloody, you're chapter symbol will work for both. :D (I now soo want a chapter with a Martini glass as their chapter symbol)

 

I'm a bit interested on how your name will work. On posting my own DIY idea the Knights Terror there is a discussion about the grammatical feasibility about the name. It seems too me that we're in the same boat sort of.

[Espada Azul]

Hmm, lets see if I can knock some more ideas out, since I'm stranded here at home due to the rains for the past two-odd days. Bits and pieces, yes? Note the slight modification to the chapter name, just to clear out any confusion, and take away the possible connection to vino or grape punch. :)

The Knights Sangreal

CHAPTER NAME: .............. The Knights Sangreal

FOUNDING: ..................9_TH [M.33]

CHAPTER WORLD: ............. Cardinale IX

FORTRESS MONASTERY: ........ Sanctum

GENE-SEED (PREDECESSOR): ... Blood Angels

KNOWN DESCENDANTS: ......... None known

"Our outward calm is nothing but a reflection of the fury we keep at bay within us."

-- Brother Captain Said