WIP: Some rough Sketches

[Filius]

Keep in mind that this novel depicts the Thousand Sons point of view. If you read Prosperro Burns or Battle of the Fang or any other Vlka Fenryka novel and you will see that there is a difference between mindless barbarians and noble, axe swinging, freakin' owning vikings.

Yeah, sure! I immideatelly started to reading "Prospero burns". Although … the first pages already start with Slaughter, hehe.

[Filius]

I love the ideas of both the bears and the Thousand Shields. They have so much potential and I would love to see them fleshed out. Also on another note I sadly appear to have run out of likes :/

 

Superthanks for the Kind words! Currently I very much like the Idea of first fleshing out the Thousand Shields further, with a slight change of the current plan: I'll have them be a feral Imperial Fists Successor Chapter, applying the same Twist as with the Mortifactors: Obviously the are a very untypical successor, and their cousins for other IF-Successors as well as the IF themselves don't like them. But they are convinced that they are totally true to the teachings of Rogal Dorn.

 

Plus: They fit well in the Colorscheme I like most: Thunderhawk-Blue for the Main-Parts, together with lots of yellow and red as secondary Colors for Tribal Markings and white and black as third level colors.

 

[Filius]

Now that I wrote it down, I really like the Idea a lot: Having a spiritual and supestitious, brawling and bearded Imperial Fists Successor Chaper coated in pelts and dirt, among the stiff and humorless Imperial Fists and their Successors sounds be a lot of fun. Yeah, I think, I'm gonna stick with this.

[Kelborn]

Sounds good, man.
Excited to see the first results. Incoming space vikings with shields.

[Filius]

Almost a year later … I pick up the work and this thread.

Soo … it's time for a little sum up. Where am I standing?

I am working on a DIY-Chapter, which …

- … contains Parts of the here already described Spirit Bears, Ghost Ravens, Pale Wolves and Thousand Shields.
- … is a Imperial Fists successor and know it.
- … is archaic and feral, and in many ways similar to the Space Wolves and White Scars.
- … have aspects of North American Natives, Mongols and Vikings, but without simply copying those.
- … are very un-pompous, the "Do you know that while you are shaving and polishing your armor, we fight?" attitude …
- … have a Chapter Organisation even more away from the Codex Astartes than the Spaces Wolves.
- … of course claim, that they are the truest followers of the ideals of Rogal Dorn.
- … will serve as the basis of my first Army based on the Space Wolves Codex, but also allow me to play Imperial Fists and Blood Angels.
- … carry Powerarmour in Thunderhawk Blue with bright Yellow Shoulder Pads and Red (Tribal) Markings.

I abandoned the Ideas of the Spirit Bears, Ghost Ravens and Pale Wolves because they were to "plain" and "striking". And I also abandoned wider parts of the Idea of the Thousand Shields, because they are too far away from the Ideal I have in Mind, and I couldn't see how to get a grimdark enough side to them. But many things of those Ideas will live on in the next Chapter Idea.

Next Step – Name and Badge

I am currently looking for a name and and a badge . While building the first Minis I realized that I am not the best Painter (suprise, suprise), so I'll especially stick with Transfer Sheets for the chapter Badges. That limits my choice for the Chapter Badge (namely a red wolf, a red fist or the red Deathwing bage) and by the that also the the Name. I currently have these Favorites …

- Harbingers of Dorn – I like the Idea of the Chapter being somehow "outside" of the other Imperial Fists successors, but at the same time being fanatically true to Rogal Dorn. This name would support their Authority and Claim and at the same time making clear that they are not just another fighting force (the Harbinger is always ahead of things). It also has the advantage that it doesn't predefine the badge. As the relation to the imperial fists is already within the name, I could also choose the Wolf (which might make good Harbingers) and the Deathwing/Darkangels badge (which also fits well with Harbingers).
- Thousand Fists – It keeps the advantages of "Thousand" (prosaic, humble and the connection to the Thousand Sons, hehe), while making clear that it's a Imperial Fist successor. The badge would of course also be a Fist, and I tend to a red fist on a yellow shoulder pad.
- Burning Fists – A little less prosaic and more feral. It would of course also lead to the Red Fist as the chapter badge. It also leads way to some self maiming in the masochistic tradition of the Imperial Fists.
- Burning Griffons – Pretty close to the Howling Griffons, I know, but …somehow it sticked with me. I would probably use the Deathwing markings or the Blood Angels Markings as a badge, although both don't fit too well. Using an animal leads way to shamanistic traditions and the burning griffon itself could be something like the phoenix-myth or a reference to the eagle-mythology of native americans and siberian cultures. And finally there could of course be real Griffons on the Chapters homeworld.

Next Step – Homeworld and Chapter "Fortress"

I initially chose Agri-World for the Thousand Shields as an homeworld. But that does not fit well with a strong tribal/shamanistic/feral Background. So I'll leave that Idea behind, though I keep aspects of that: The homeworld would be quite old, so there are no big mountains and most of major continents lie within temperate zone with only slight variations of the seasons. So most of the landmass is actually kind of plains, inhabited by large herds of (partly very large) herbivores (buffallos, mamoths, woll-rhinos etc.), which on the one hand hinder the growth of woods and on the other hand are food for large predators (yeah, the usual). I imagine most of the World as a giant sea of grass, often taller than a grown man, and the Tribes roaming through the Sea of Grass, following the Herds, hunting them and being hunted by larger predators. As the landscape offers hardly anything for humans to protect themselves against the herds as well as the predators, the became masters of defence in the open range, forming circles and the like …

The World fell back into a pre-modern society during the long night and was brought back to the imperium during the great crusade by Rogal Dorn himself, and the world was used to gather recruits for the Imperial Fists even during the great crusade.

During one of the early foundings, the World became home to an own, new Chapter (the one we're talking about here) but . The inhabitants by now know of the Imperium and the Space Marines but both are mostly Myths to them. The Marines themselves have their Chapter "Fortress" on the World, but as they prefer the life in the open, most of the "everyday life" in the Fortress happens in an open area under the open Sky, consisting of not too much more then a village of tents. The more complex parts of the fortress, such als hangars, library, apothecarion, burial grounds, defence lasers are burried deep beneath the surface and are accessible only through a small number of entry points.

Although they stick to the tribal traditions of the people the descended from (and live among them), they of course know much better about the truth of the life in the 40 millenium of mankind and the emperor and his teachings. They consider reading (which is mostly unknown among the tribes), writing and books as the key.

Next Step – Dark Side … and a Side Note

Quite late in the process of creating the Thousand Shields, I realized that – imho – every chapter needs a dark, grimdark side. The Space Wolves are Werewolves, the Blood Angels are Vampires, the Dark Angels are traitors, the Imperial Fists are masochists, the Black Templars religous Fanatics … and all of them are Ubernazis in almost every way. It's tempting to work on the dark side later on, just to add something that is "not soo bad" or somehow justified by the grimdark circumstances, but I don't want to go this way, this time. So I am still looking for something fitting …

… as a side note: My Shortstories focus on the Chief-Apothecary of the Chapter who is willing to break the ban on studing Xenos (and at least the Chapter Master and all higher officers know and appreciate that) and does wide spanning experiments and studies on Tyranids and Genestealer Cults (and other Xenos). Maybe that's one way into a dark side …

Next Steps – Writing the IA

While writing the IA for the Thousand Shields, I realized, that the pure Data-Slate-Form doesn't fit to well to my way of writing and I rewrote the whole IA-Article into a series of Letters from one Space Marine Apothecary of the Chapter to a Colleague at the Scythes of the Emperor. That worked very nicely so I think, I'll stick to that.

Like always: Thanks for the Help and Feedback in Advance!

And by the way, if anyones interested: The reason for me to come back now is the publication of the new "Kill Team"-Box/Rules which offers me a chance to play 40k in time slots that fit better into my life, than 1.800 point battles.

[Filius]

Ah … and … P.S.: My wife likes "Harbingers of Dorn" most, which might also be a big pro for that name, hehe.

 

And this is the "Backlist" of Candidates for Chapter Name (in case anyone's interested) …

• Burning Blades
• Divine Fists
• Dorns Fury
• Dorns Hunters
• Emperors Servants
• Fists Beyond
• Ghosts of Dorn
• Harbingers of Revelation
• Imperial Archers
• Imperial Blades
• Imperial Glory
• Imperial Revelation
• Imperial Harbingers
• Imperial Vanguard
• Rising Sentinels
• Rising Fists
• Thousand Fists
• Thousand Hammers
• Thousand Blades
• Thousand Spears
• Thunder Fists
• Wandering Fists
• Wandering Wolves
• Wandering Blades
• Wolves of Dorn
• Wrath of Dorn

[NightrawenII]

 

Quite late in the process of creating the Thousand Shields, I realized that – imho – every chapter needs a dark, grimdark side. The Space Wolves are Werewolves, the Blood Angels are Vampires, the Dark Angels are traitors, the Imperial Fists are masochists, the Black Templars religous Fanatics … and all of them are Ubernazis in almost every way.

Beware.

 

To be more constructive: Use this (and ignore the comments)

 

 

~ NightrawenII

[Kelborn]

Nightmares is right. Use the creation table to create the basement of your chapter.

 

It's pretty good. It helped me a lot while creating my own chapters.

 

If you've done that, you can present it and we can help you to flesh it out. :)

[Filius]

Ah! Yeah! Thanks! I should have found out about that myself, as my main inspiration for the Imperial Fists comes from 1d4chans "What it means to be an Imperial Fist". Thanks!

 

Does anyone have feedback or an opinion on my upcomming choice for a name and badge?

 

Edit: Removed Link to 1d4chan …