++ The Dark Council - A Word Bearers Community ++

[Noctus Cornix]

I blame the poor quality of the picture. Its difficult understand what's going on with the model and I can't make out the runic carving or Colchian astrological charts. My main issue is the helmet... Its so bland.

[GrandMagnus]

Greetings my new brothers. I have shed the shackles of the Imperial Truth and stepped into the light of the Dark Gods. At the verge of the heresy I prepare my chapter to bring fire to the Imperium of man.

 

Or in other words, Im starting a Word Bearers army for the Horus Heresy :P Ive created my own chapter, Chapter of the Bleeding Hand. And I just recieved my first 10 marines for the first tactical squad, which Im currently testing. Im not entirely sure wether I will be going for a crimson mid-heresy chapter or a slate-grey early heresy / pre heresy scheme, set after the Pilgrimige to the Eye.

 

Anyways I will give you some fluff and stuff when Ive ready.

 

Let the galaxy burn!

[Chaeron]

Let it burn!

 

I've just bought Lorgar - result.

[Lord Marshal Ragnrok]

(IC)

 

I Dark Apostle Harkon Dolohov of the Prikyth Durcor Jal  renew the pledge of myself and my chapter to the Legion and Lorgar and vow to follow the true Word!

 

(end IC)

 

should i just post the link to my thread or make a long a$$ post here?

[Forté]

should i just post the link to my thread or make a long ass post here?

Totally up to you. Couple of links as a taster with a link could work well.

[GrandMagnus]

Brothers, a quick question. The "praetor" in HH rules, what title would he have in the Word bearers legion? Chapter Master or Dark Apostle?

[Forté]

Praetor

[Lord Marshal Ragnrok]

in that case, 

 

Behold the (WIP) Prikyth Durcor Jal

 

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/277616-prikyth-durcor-jal-wb-chapter/page-2?do=findComment&comment=3854656

 

http://the-lord-marshal.deviantart.com/gallery/45166855/Word-Bearers

[GrandMagnus]

Praetor

Well that makes it easy... :P

[Daemon2027]

 

Brothers, a quick question. The "praetor" in HH rules, what title would he have in the Word bearers legion? Chapter Master or Dark Apostle?

  

Praetor

Forte is basically right, I would say that Praetor is an imperial title, and I what he would be known to Al Imperial agents, however within the legion he might be known as a Chapter Master, a Captian, Cult Leader, whatever you wanted. The Dark Apostle would be a Chaplain, according to the background in Extermination, the Word Bearers always has 2 senior leaders, a Praetor and a Chaplian, both had equal seniority, both had their own role, which is why in the heresy rules the Word Bearers must always take a second hq.

[Lord Marshal Ragnrok]

yea to be honest thats a good way to describe the WB situation with praetors.  i guess that would make Kor Phaeron the official praetor with Erebus his equal because of him being First Chaplain

[GrandMagnus]

SO! Rules question. The Dark Brethre ROW says that atleast one HQ has to be a diabolist. And WB rules says that they have 2 mandatory HQs one of which has to be a centurion or chaplain. Also, according to Betrayal you can only take a rite of war if you have a praetor. Does that mean that you need the following:

 

A praetor, a centurion/chaplain and a diabolist? Or does the diabolist serve the same role as the chaplain/centurion?

 

Ive also started working on my WB chapter, over at the Age of Darkness subforum.

[Kol Saresk]

SO! Rules question. The Dark Brethre ROW says that atleast one HQ has to be a diabolist. And WB rules says that they have 2 mandatory HQs one of which has to be a centurion or chaplain. Also, according to Betrayal you can only take a rite of war if you have a praetor. Does that mean that you need the following:

 

A praetor, a centurion/chaplain and a diabolist? Or does the diabolist serve the same role as the chaplain/centurion?

 

Ive also started working on my WB chapter, over at the Age of Darkness subforum.

Yes, it does mean that you will have at least three HQs if you do the Rite of War, specifically for the reasons you stated above.

[GrandMagnus]

 

SO! Rules question. The Dark Brethre ROW says that atleast one HQ has to be a diabolist. And WB rules says that they have 2 mandatory HQs one of which has to be a centurion or chaplain. Also, according to Betrayal you can only take a rite of war if you have a praetor. Does that mean that you need the following:

 

A praetor, a centurion/chaplain and a diabolist? Or does the diabolist serve the same role as the chaplain/centurion?

 

Ive also started working on my WB chapter, over at the Age of Darkness subforum.

Yes, it does mean that you will have at least three HQs if you do the Rite of War, specifically for the reasons you stated above.

 

Okay then. Good thing I like characters :P

[Terkael]

 

SO! Rules question. The Dark Brethre ROW says that atleast one HQ has to be a diabolist. And WB rules says that they have 2 mandatory HQs one of which has to be a centurion or chaplain. Also, according to Betrayal you can only take a rite of war if you have a praetor. Does that mean that you need the following:

 

A praetor, a centurion/chaplain and a diabolist? Or does the diabolist serve the same role as the chaplain/centurion?

 

Ive also started working on my WB chapter, over at the Age of Darkness subforum.

Yes, it does mean that you will have at least three HQs if you do the Rite of War, specifically for the reasons you stated above.

 

Erebus frees up some HQ slots since he is a chaplain and can take that special rite.

[Soldier of Dorn]

'I am the Word. The Word is my breath and the Word is my life. As the Word commands, I obey. As the Word leads, I follow. I shall speak naught but the Word. I am its servant, as it is my master. I am the will of Lorgar. I am the speaker of the Word. I am the Word.'

First Battle Canticle of the 210^th Company,Chapter of the Ruined Gate,

Legio XVII 'Word Bearers',  c. M31

 

THE CONSUMED

Numeration: 210^th Company, the XVII^th Legion

Primogenitor: Lorgar Aurelian (Traitoris Maximus)

Warleader: Captain Gannon Vul, now known as the Carnivorous King

Cognomen: (Great Crusade Era) None, the Consumed (the Khegorata)

Observed Strategic Tendencies: Orbital Bombardment, Massed Infantry Assault, Enemy Command-Level Elimination

Noteworthy Domains: Unknown Subsector-Equivelents of the Ocularis Terribus

Allegiance: Excommunicate Traitoris, Traitoris Maximus

 

The seven companies of the Ruined Gate Chapter was founded late in the Great Crusade, directly after the completion of the Word of Lorgar. They were considered, even amongst their brethren, zealots, in every sense of the word.

Their first reported action was at Isstvan V, where six of those companies were all but destroyed before the guns of the Iron Hands. The survivors were absorbed into the final remaining company, the 210^th, under the watchful gaze of Captain Gannon Vul.

After the Istvaan campaign, Vul requested of his primarch to be allowed to rechristen the single-company chapter, as a reminder of their failure. The Urizen granted his permission, and the Khegorata, or the Consumed, were born.

When Argel Tal and the survivors of the Serrated Sun Chapter returned to the Legion, many of the Consumed regarded the coming of the Gal Vorbak as a sign, that the future of the Khegorata was to be found in warriors such as the ones that walked before them.

And so, events came to pass. They fought at Calth. They took daemons into their flesh. They attacked Terra, and fled when they failed once more. And here we are now. The Possessed brethren of the Consumed attack the Imperium of the 41^st millenium, led by a being clad in the flesh of Gannon Vul, called the Carnivorous King. No walls will stop them, no weapon shall harm them, for long millenia of hiding has made them thirsty for revenge.

[Rayray]

This page is a lovely resource. I'll be reading more when I get off of work.

[Tenebris]

I will propose a discussion if I may, my brothers of the Word. 
 

Word Bearers portrayal in the novels. 

 

Indeed this has been a thorn in my side for quite some time. With the exclusion of ADB and Reynolds in their more than eloquent portrayal of the Word Bearers, I have find all other fonts lacking in their presentation of the XVIIth legion. The horror that is the Battle for the Abyss, but also masterpieces like the Calth series do an injustice to the Word Bearers in my opinion. Most of the time, if not all the time, they are presented as a very incompetent breed of astartes. In BfA Cestus kills them extremely easy, in Calth they seem to be of zero threat to a single Ultramarine unless in substantial numbers, in the other novels the process is repeating. 

 

Now I give creed to the virtue of an author's licence and the point of view which is supposed to be centered on the main faction in a novel but to represent an astartes, every astartes of the Word Bearers as a very poor specimen of geneforged might is offensive to me. It may be as I have said artistic licence, but how can it happen that soldiers, seasoned space marines who have been perhaps the most further crusading legion in the last days of the Great Crusade, to be presented as incompetent oafs in power armor. 

 

It is double the injury if we take them in consideration in the Ultramarines novels. Sure the Sons of Guilliman must be given a chance to perform their heroics, to preserve the spirit of their liege and the imperial belief system but to use and abuse Word Bearers as a "plot device" for this purpose is, as I have said, offensive. 

 

Now how can one of the perhaps more organized and spirited legions perform so crudely on the battlefield. How can veterans of battles on the rim of the known reality fare so bad in open conflict, how can they be scythed down as wheat by the latest arrivals in the loyalist legions. We speak of the sons of Lorgar, warrior priests all, learned, educated and dour warriors, with a grim and concentrated purview of astartes warfare, we speak of a legion which has thousands upon thousands of warriors dedicated to single aspects of strategy, tactics and learning, as well as a strong core of generalist formations. Tell me why and in which context should such warriors of the highest breeding perform so bad in open combat with their loyalist cousins. Why? 

 

And what puzzles me most of the whole argument is why the other traitor legion do not suffer the same injustice in the portrayal of their warriors and their warrior creed. Food for thought. 

[Chandrian]

*Stand and Claps* 

Thank you Tenebris for putting to words what I felt as well.

BfA has to be the one book, out of the HH series that I have read so far, that I regret reading. Solely for the fact that the Ultramarines mow down the Word Bearers as if they were nothing and paint them as lesser Astartes. 

[MaliGn]

The widely maligned Blood Angels books were a pretty poor treatment of the legion too. Then again the antagonists in most books always seem to come PFF as inept compared to the protagonists anyway. I though know no fear handled them with at least a modicum of respect though, although a mirror novel from a more Word Bearers perspective would be quite interesting to read.

[Tenebris]

Well I look on the whole thing in the following light. We have an Ultramarine and a Word Bearer. Both are sons of a primarch known for his scholar pedigree, a great grasp in diplomacy and people skills, with a clear vision of what is an empire and how it should be run. More important than all, both primarchs know full well where their own warriors belong in their vision and in the vision of the Emperor's work.

 

Following, both the Ultramarine and the Word Bearer come from a highly streamlined recruitment and geneforging process. On Ultramar they have academies, on Colchis and the worlds conquered by the Word Bearers have this vast "harvest facilities", in both types of recruitment the whole business is a faceless affair with the clear purpose to put not only many boots on the ground but highly indoctrinated warriors too. 

 

The training as well as the principal doctrines are equally spread in both the XVIIth and the XIIIth legions. Both primarchs are men driven by a vision, leaving their legion day to day operations to laws and codes to make them run efficiently rather run them themselves. We can easily expect a novitiate Word Bearer to be of equal martial worth to a novitiate Ultramarine, considering that the whole process which brought them there is nearly the same. 

 

The first division comes in the form of the indoctrination. On one hand an Ultramarine is expected to learn more of tactics where a Word Bearer is educated in various branches of social sciences (of which theology is just one). At the end of the day both marines have the required skills to run an empire efficiently for that is what their primarchs demand of them. Their true work, per say, begins when the last bolt is fired. 

 

In this study I think we see that the Ultramarines and the Word Bearers are simply mirrors, both come in existence with the sole purpose of not only conquering an empire, but most important than all, to run and maintain one. Hence their more scholarly approach to warfare. 

We see that an Ultramarine is equal to a Word Bearer in martial might. So whence came the portrayal of a Word Bearer as an inferior warrior. It is my understanding that religion, not only makes a warrior fiercer, but it also allows him to cope better with combat shock, fatigue, stress. Religion gives to a warrior that which cold tactics and logic cannot, a comfort, a purpose, a greater understanding of the self and the whole, and in the case of 40k metaphysics the prospect of a tangible esoteric reward. 

 

Bear in mind, while a Word Bearer in the novels is a zealot, zealotry itself hardly impacts the performance of a warrior, especially if we speak of a warrior conditioned as an astartes, where zealotry is simply another layer to his "geneforged" might, both physical and spiritual. 

 

So again, the question is simple, why?

[MaliGn]

I think that you are missing the damage that the emperor's censure caused the word bearers. The very way that they have had their entire faith stripped away once and then had to rebuild it in a new way, including thinning their own ranks will have had an impact on them.

 

In any religion one is required to have faith in times of hardship, whereas in the secular Ultramarines there is only Theoretical and Practical. When faced with particularly challenging situation the Ultramarine's conditioning will give him the tools he needs to resolve it, however the Word Bearer is more likely to stick with the dogmatic approach.

 

Despite Ultramarines adherence to the Codex Astartes as an organisation being second to none there are more reports of individual Ultramarines flouting its tenets to achieve victory than any other Chapter/Legion even compared to the chapters that deliberately ignore it.

 

Looking at Calth again, the Word Bearers plot relies heavily on fickle daemonic support and the setting up of the rituals required to get it, rather than on the complete obliteration of their disorganised foe before they regroup. This is ultimately how they snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.

[tikhunt]

This seems like the perfect place to introduce myself, my new project and consequently first (hopefully) full army, The Host of the Scripted Anvil

The Scripted Anvil's history goes back to the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy mostly made up of members who lost the bulk of their squad, company and even very rarely their Chapter. The Chaplain Gar Taruq, known as Taruq the Great to his Chapter, was said to have chosen these survivors because they had been reforged as stronger than their deceased brothers and thus in his eyes would build the strongest Chapter in the eyes of the Gods.

After the traitor's defeat at Terra Taruq was made a member of the Dark Council on Sicarus, rarely taking to the battlefield alongside The Anvil choosing instead to allow his Coryphaeus to lead in his stead, only making war at the death of his Coryphaeus or when the Gods required it. It was in one such battle that Taruq was struck down during Abaddons 11th Black Crusade, although he survived the battle with the help of his Host he took it as a personal message from the Gods that he had failed them and thus remains completely silent inside a custom Contemptor Dreadnought suit designed to cause eternal torment to the wearer for their failure.

The Scripted Anvil meanwhile has fallen to two new Leaders and is now on a self destructive path that could change the Word Bearers Legion forever.

That's longer than I intended but it gets the overall theme out there. As I get all my models done I'll make my on thread with pictures and tales galore.
 

Chief Dark Apostle: Taruq the Lesser

Coryphaeus: Vilhelm Wielder of the Eighth

Specialization: Possessed, Spawn and Hellbrutes

Number: Very few Astartes, hordes of Spawn and Possessed, Millions of Cultists

Battlebarge: Guided Malice. Unknown class Battlebarge  

Edit: Stupid phone only sent half the post.

[MaliGn]

Have we all seen the latest forgeworld bulletin?

http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/News/FORGE_WORLD_BULLETIN_43.html

Is that another word bearers contempt or only possessed up?

[tikhunt]

Looks to me like some odd word bearers daemon engine I have no idea what though.