Shadow Wardens WIP

[Tiberius Cato]

I like the suffixes -hold, -holm, and -heim a lot. They remind me of my WoW days which were grea, but I don't have the income to spend on both haha!

[Olis]

My gamerside should be shamed, I do not know that reference :l But it sounds pretty cool.

 

*cough!*HalfLifeTwo!*cough!* 

[Tiberius Cato]

This my seem blasphemous Brother Olisredan, but I have not played Half Life 2. But I will say, Half Life 3 confirmed ;)

[Olis]

http://1d4chan.org/images/8/83/HeresyStamp.png

[Resarys]

It's true. Nest and roost are not exactly the most... inspiring of suffices. But -hold -holm and -heim are all very good.

[Tiberius Cato]

Shadowholm is a name I have in mind. For how it looks, I was thinking of basing it off of Helms Deep or Whiterun from Skyrim.

[Conn Eremon]

Building it out of a mountainface, going by Helm's Deep as my laptop can't handle Skyrim, is nice. It's got that "build off of/be one with the land" vibe that is fitting for a hunter/elf themed Chapter, without actually being a log cabin built into a tree (oh, how I remember building the Lumbermarines on /tg/).

 

It's a bit dwarven, but then in Elder Scrolls the ancient Elves that ruled everything were basically dwarves too, so there is that.

[Tiberius Cato]

Yea, I have yet to see a fortress-monastery carved into a mountain so I sprung on the idea :D

[Tiberius Cato]

Now that I think of it, Minas Tirith would be pretty cool to base it on aswell.

[Nineswords]

I also have no idea what Lords of the Vale is.

It's from Game of Thrones.

[Tiberius Cato]

 

I also have no idea what Lords of the Vale is.

It's from Game of Thrones.

Ah, pardon my ignorance.

[Resarys]

In brief, the Vale is a mountainous region, with it's capital a citadel that is unassailable, due the dizzying heights it exists at.

[Tiberius Cato]

Since my chapter takes great pride in hunting the enemies of man, I thought it would be a good idea for them to be strong allies with the Deathwatch.

[Teetengee]

Seems reasonable, do they have any interesting traditions around their inductees into the deathwatch. For example, is it done when a marine wants to prove his worth and be allowed to join the 1st company? (although I doubt all marines would join it that way.)

[Tiberius Cato]

I feel like over time it would have become necessary to serve in the Deathwatch to advance rank in the chapter. In addition to merit from chapter service, the marines would also need to prove their mettle in the Deathwatch, with the chapter's greatest warriors having done multiple tours in the Deathwatch. As such, it is seen as one of the highest honours one to serve in the Deathwatch and it is not uncommon for marines to keep their ordo xenos shoulder pad on their armour to signify his participation in the Great Hunt.

[Teetengee]

Are you going to model these guys at any point? It would be neat to see the deathwatch shoulder pads used to represent vets and vet sarges. Also, characters with deathwatch shoulder pads are always an interesting rarity to see.

[Tiberius Cato]

I've actually started them. I have a tac squad and a captain in the works. :) My plan is not to have every single veteran with a Deathwatch shoulder pad, after all we're not the Deathwatch; it would be pretty evident though that many of the veteran brothers spent a lot of time hunting xenos. I'll also have to find a way to make trophies to adorn their armour. I may use some SW bits as well to represent the hunter aspect of the chapter.

[Teetengee]

You may also consider some of the xenos only trophy racks on some chaos sprues. (Particularly terminators).

[Tiberius Cato]

What kits are those a part of? That would be pretty cool to have on my minis, ofcourse if the heretical mark of chaos is absent haha.

[Teetengee]

The chaos terminator kits I know have them, although I wouldn't be surprised if you could find other kits with similar.

[Tiberius Cato]

Interesting, I'll have to check that out. Thanks for pointing that out! :)

[Conn Eremon]

I feel like over time it would have become necessary to serve in the Deathwatch to advance rank in the chapter. In addition to merit from chapter service, the marines would also need to prove their mettle in the Deathwatch, with the chapter's greatest warriors having done multiple tours in the Deathwatch. As such, it is seen as one of the highest honours one to serve in the Deathwatch and it is not uncommon for marines to keep their ordo xenos shoulder pad on their armour to signify his participation in the Great Hunt.

I think it loses some of its value if you make it a universal thing. That, and where do you draw the line? A Marine could progress in "rank" anywhere from five to ten times, not to mention the rank progression for Marines in auxiliary roles like Apothecaries, Chaplains, Librarians or Techmarines, and most of those wouldn't quite cut it for a veteran force like the Deathwatch.

 

I would perhaps say that, due to the close working relationship the Chapter has with the Ordo Xenos and its Chamber Militant, it is not unknown for the particularly ambitious and bold to petition a place for themselves on the next scheduled list to be seconded, knowing that any honors or glory the Chapter gains by their service in this regard will earn them special favor in their bid to claim some of the highest offices in the Chapter.

[Tiberius Cato]

That does sound a lot better. I could then make it so two or three captains bear the shoulder pad of the Deathwatch, whilst the others simply have the special bolter that comes in the upgrade sprue. Are there other things that can be used to signify service in the Deathwatch?

[Captain Juan Juarez]

Anyone returning to their Chapter - alive! - from service in the Deathwatch gets to keep their DW shoulder pad and that is the mark of service.

[Teetengee]

Also, keep in mind that the deathwatch is always in need of techmarines, chaplains, and apothecaries as most chapters are reluctant to give up such resources. It may very well be that your chapter helps bridge this gap more often as they see the deathwatch as a high honor.