A Lesser Son of Greater Fathers: Dabbling in Epic

[BrotherCaptainArkhan]

Thanks a ton for the comments, guys.

 

Going to be a while before I move all the pics over to a new photo hosting site. Not going to lie, kind of frustrating. It's not ideal, but there could be a silver lining as I was looking to rework the thread a little anyway, as some of the old fluff needs editing or removal. Probably going to move to Imgur for the time being.

 

Watch this space, entering restorative hibernation...

[BrotherCaptainArkhan]

With the demise of Photobucket, this actually coincides rather well with a plan to revitalise this log with a clearer structure, a more obvious theme and more coherent storytelling. I plan to start a Hall of Honour thread clearly laying out the brief background and history of the Black One Hundred, as well as giving a much clearer and better-presented look at the models and their individual backstories.

 

However, as the saying goes, to plant a new seed you have to churn and hew the earth. And to advance the story of the Black One Hundred some serious bloodshed is on the horizon. The slate must be wiped clean. Old fluff must be brought full circle to a tabula rasa. Without further ado...

 

_________________________________

 

 

The Dream Shatters

 

 

Moros, in orbit, four months after the fall of Armatura

 

 

...XIV Legion IFF tags confirmed.  Enemy vessels logged as Stalwart, Grim Aspect, Unyielding Resolve and Echo of Barbarus. Initiating XIII Legion combat log, Moros mark 0.00.00.00. Commanding officer - *static. audio interrupt*

 

*static* - lance damage to starboard engines and dorsal batteries. Atmospheric breach in dorsal habitation quarters. Emergency lockdown in effect. Redesignate Grim Aspect to capital-class vessel, unknown weaponry configuration.  All ahead full. Master of Ordnance, forward bombardment cannons full effect, focus all fire on the Grim Aspect.

 

Enemy shields holding. Give me firing solutions for extremis-pattern ordnance. I don't care if we have to bleed the reactor dry, we maintain speed until the torpedoes have a firing solution.

 

Repeat, I say again, repeat last. Grim Aspect has pulled back. Its shields hold. Where is my firing solution? Stalwart and Echo of Barbarus are on our flanks, redirect starboard and port batteries to counter-ordnance fire spreads.

 

Negative, maintain shields at maximum capacity. Incoming ordnance, all decks brace for impa - *static, audio loss* Shield breach in forward docking bay. Seal off the entire section, that ordnance was cover for boarding torpedoes. Vent atmosphere from the forward docking bay and direct Pankrator and Pugnator tacticals to hold the forward concourse.

 

Brother-Captain, boarding parties on board the Ardent Vigil are confirmed. Echo of Barbarus is pulling alongside. We'll hold them but once the shields are down we won't be able to block teleporter signals or further boarding parties.

 

Negative, my lord. Ferrata can hold the reactor core.

 

Brother-Captain, with respect, your command lies elsewhere. Take the company and redeploy planetside, the magnetic storms will delay these XIV Legion inbreds.

 

Disobedience is why the Hundred were formed, sir.

 

Copy all. Ferrata, redeploy to Concourse Maximus, reactor core approach. Pankrator and Pugnator, cascading retreat toward the aft docking bay. All XIII Legion units, initiate full combat drop, Moros planetfall, maximum dispersal. Follow the Captain.

 

Ferrata, with me. Today the lesser Legions find out what it means to face the War Born of Macragge.

 

 

-final audio log recovered from command deck of XIII Legion vessel Ardent Vigil, crash site on Moros

 

_____________________

 

For four months after the fall of Armatura, the disgraced warriors of the Black One  Hundred pursued the forces of the invading foe sweeping across Ultramar and the Five Hundred Worlds. Whether the Hundred and their unidentified leader sought to return to the rest of the Legion is unclear. Certainly, minor warp storms across Ultramar appear to have isolated the Hundred from XIII Legion reunification attempts following the devastation of Calth. Over the course of four months the Hundred fought several engagements in the void and planetside against the nefarious forces of the Shadow Crusade. Striking from the battle-barge Ardent Vigil, the Hundred effected minor victories at Dacian Primaris, Justiniax and De'Veyr's World. As a small raiding force, the Hundred escaped the attention of the Traitor Legions sweeping across Ultramar for longer than might have been expected.

 

But ultimately it was a new foe who brought about the darkest hour of the Hundred. Above the ruined world of Moros, devastated by magnetic flux storms and gravitic anomalies, the Vigil found itself ambushed by a significant force of the warriors of Barbarus, the XIV Legion Death Guard, sweeping into Macragge's southern reaches from battles unknown.

 

Despite their reputation within the Legion, the Hundred reacted with the signature adaptability and tactical flexibility of the XIII Legion. The Battle of Moros lasted for seven hours without pause. The Death Guard capital class vessel Grim Aspect was structurally decimated by extremis-class ordnance, rad-phages sweeping through its decks and annihilating the mortal crew to the last man.

 

But the warriors of the Death Guard were no stranger to fighting through hell itself. Striding through the voracious rad-phages and devasting dispersed phosphex bombardments that had brought low the Grim Aspect, Legionnaires from the Echo of Barbarus boarded the Ardent Vigil and systematically purged deck after deck of all life, cleaving through the skeleton crew of XIII Legion warriors and mortal armsmen left behind to defend the vessel.

 

http://i.imgur.com/S6VEV84.jpg

 

In the final battle aboard the Vigil, at the very heart of the vessel, Concourse Maximus, the approach to the reactor core was defended by the elite of the Black One Hundred. Breacher squad Ferrata, supported by the Destroyers of Atrox and Pugnator tactical, held the approach to the reactor core while the tech-priests of the Vigil sought to overload the vessel's reactor and deny the XIV Legion the prize of an Ultramarines vessel.

 

http://i.imgur.com/NUYDDa8.jpg

 

 

What passed in those final minutes of brutal, vicious battle do not survive in any official record. But it is known that the Vigil crashed upon the surface of Moros three hours later, its reactor core leaked dry and its gravitic stabilisers reduced to scrap.

 

What became of Ferrata, of Brother-Sergeant Castra, who led the defense of the Vigil in its final moments, none can say. But the brutality and desperation of the warriors who fought with bolter and blade, and when those gave out with fists and teeth and animalistic fury, can only be imagined.

 

http://i.imgur.com/XO9mc1M.jpg

 

 

The final fate of the Vigil was to be stripped by the XIV Legion before they quit Moros days later, deciding that the ongoing culling of the Hundred denied them from partaking in the critical battles faced elsewhere by their dark master, the Reaper Lord. But when the XIII Legion eventually came to reclaim their own, weeks later, Concourse Maximus was entered by Ultramarine scouts and a scene of utter devastation was found.

 

 

http://i.imgur.com/WxgxYNt.jpg

 

 

The Death Guard had stormed through hail after hail of withering fire, the walls and decks falling apart around them, grinding down the XIII Legion shieldwall inch by inch, man by man, bringing low the sons of Guilliman through brute tenacity and a sheer refusal to die. Even as the Vigil had fallen through Moros' orbit, the Death Guard and Ultramarines fought without regard for their own lives, tearing at each other with gladius, knife and bloodstained gauntlets.

 

In the days and weeks that followed, the Hundred were hunted through the tunnels and flux-storms of Moros by warriors from no less than three Legions. The Battle of Moros was the first time the warriors of the Hundred matched themselves against the relentless Legionnaires of the Fourteenth, and the trauma of that defeat would leave scars in the psyche of the warriors who bore the black-and-cobalt for decades to come.

[BrotherCaptainArkhan]

^^Part 1 of a 2-part update. All Death Guard and Dark Mechanicum in the above are by Disease.

[Thousand Eyes]

More please! Good fiction and great models, thanks for taking the time to do it all up.

[Iron Bars]

Great batrep, it wil be a treat to see the new post with fluff and pictures.

[BrotherCaptainArkhan]

Cheers guys. Part 2 incoming. In the meantime, just wondering what you guys think of this kitbash for dual hunter-killer missiles on a Javelin?

 

http://i.imgur.com/HA7kAOM.jpg?1

[Grim Dog Studios]

Fantastic fluff mate. The Javelin kitbash looks good as well!

I just love how well your army looks when its all together, this picture in particular is just great.

 

 

 

http://i.imgur.com/S6VEV84.jpg

 

 

I have to admit, I think you are the biggest source of inspiration to me and my Ultramarines. Keep up the great work, excited to see/read part 2!

[hushrong]

That was a great read and awesome battle to follow! Definitely loving your marines pictured in battle.

[BrotherCaptainArkhan]

Fantastic fluff mate. The Javelin kitbash looks good as well!

I just love how well your army looks when its all together, this picture in particular is just great.

 

I have to admit, I think you are the biggest source of inspiration to me and my Ultramarines. Keep up the great work, excited to see/read part 2!

 

It's mutual mate, I really like your very dark and very gritty Ultramarines. Loved Centurion Burgii and his cyber-hound in particular.

 

That was a great read and awesome battle to follow! Definitely loving your marines pictured in battle.

 

Thanks, man! Hope you like pt 2 :)

 

So, in August I am going to Warhammer World in Nottingham with a friend to play in the Throne of Skulls - Assault on Angelus Minor event. I'll be taking the Black One Hundred who will be eager to salvage their perpetually stained honour. As part of this event, an Iterator model is required of each player. I figured I'd go with the limited edition Princeps model as my base. I also finished a Javelin squadron with dual hunter-killer missiles earlier this evening. Tentatively, I'd like a Damocles Command Rhino as well, but might not be able to build and paint it in the time before the event. We'll see. Anyway, for now these guys will definitely be part of the list. Still working out what else I'll be bringing...

 

http://i.imgur.com/lGV10Js.jpg

[Augustus b'Raass]

Great stuff here as per usual. I love the fluff you always write for the batrep pics you publish. 

The javelins look good, it's a wonderfully subtle conversion, and I doubt anyone would be able to immediately spot that it is. 

I'm looking forward to your iterator!

[BrotherCaptainArkhan]

All Come to Ruin

 

 

Moros, planetside, several weeks after the fall of the Ardent Vigil

 

 

The heathen priests of Old Terra had a saying that a father's sins are always visited upon his children. When I first read the text containing the quote, in the Grand Library in Magna Macragge Civitas, I took it to mean the following: that as a child grows, so it shall take on the sinful traits of its father, thus perpetuating an endless cycle of sin from which we must all strive to break free.

 

I think, now, at this final moment when the beat of my hearts starts to slow, that I had the meaning of it wrong. I think that the saying was a warning; that the misdeeds of the father will one day return to haunt his sons, and punish them in his stead for his own failures and shortcomings.

 

Diocletian would laugh and say I have studied too much, if he yet drew breath. Lepidus would merely have sneered. Lepidus is dead now. I wonder which of them I shall see first in the afterlife.

 

But I am sure, now, that the second meaning is correct. Our father had perhaps but a single flaw, but it is a flaw that undid us all.

 

Once, I believed I did not need to know an enemy to fight them. I, and those with whom I joined the Legion, believed in the legend of the Ultramarines. We believed our Legion, at the head of the greatest empire within the Imperium, could best any adversary and overcome any obstacle. I am War-Born, XIII Legion, I and many others would say; I need only shells for my bolter and a sharp gladius by my side and my foes are as good as dead. And there is our Legion's great flaw, and our father's, clear for you to see. So clear now that I wonder we were not punished for it earlier.

 

Hubris.

 

________

 

 

http://i.imgur.com/QLbsIkT.jpg

 

 

________

 

 

The monsters that followed us onto Moros defy description. I cannot describe in mere words something which pays no heed to the laws of reality. The creatures which pursued us in the wake of the fall of the Ardent Vigil are daemonic in every sense of the Old Terran word. Perhaps that is why, here at the end, I think of that old text which warned against the sins of the fathers. It, too, spoke of daemons and sorcery and byblow monsters that distorted reality in their wake.

 

Perhaps if our father had not seen fit to disband the Legion's Librarius, that cadre of warriors who look into Hell's mouth with every waking dream, we might have better guarded against the cataclysm which has torn apart fair and once-beautiful Macragge. Was it hubris that stayed his hand? Did he believe, as we did, that our fists and bolters were enough to overcome any foe, even those that lurked in the realm outside reality?

 

But now it does not matter.

 

________

 

 

http://i.imgur.com/oemu5XK.jpg

 

 

________

 

 

As the daemons pressed us, hounding us through the valleys and flux-storms of Moros, behind them rode warriors from the VIII and XVII Legions, Curze's psychotic half-breeds and the craven thinbloods of Lorgar. They herded Warp-born aberrations before them, shepherding the beasts after my warriors, wearing us down before moving in for the kill.

 

________

 

 

http://i.imgur.com/Xqpw0Yj.jpg

 

 

________

 

We made our stand in a wide valley amidst the ruins of a nameless settlement that dated to pre-Imperial times. For nine hours the foe came against us and broke upon War-Born shields, leaving their dead in piles as they retreated, broken by our rage and hatred. I killed twenty-one of the foeman. Fourteen Word Bearers and seven of Curze's murderers. Many more of the nameless Warp-born horrors.

 

________

 

 

http://i.imgur.com/X8sMCGk.jpg

 

 

________

 

There was nothing of valour in our defence; valour is for defending something greater than oneself. We simply fought to kill, and kill, and kill. Even as the blood pools in my lungs, and the vision in my eyes starts to fade, I only regret that I did not kill more. I have an eternity of hate and violence and revenge to visit upon those who destroyed our dream of fair Macragge.

 

________

 

 

http://i.imgur.com/WmAYirp.jpg

 

 

________

 

 

In the end, it was a son of Curze who dealt the blow that left me here, dying upon this nameless mountainside. I slew a great abomination of the Warp, a beast with a blade burning brighter than plasma-fire, breaking its skull with my shield after my own blade had shattered like glass against its foul, tainted weapon. Even as I broke its brain-cavity open and tore at it with my gauntleted fist, the bastard creature laughed and laughed.

 

And that is when the warrior struck. A nameless son of Curze, on a steed of iron and ceramite clad in lightning and midnight-blue, whose blade pierced me from the side and left my entrails lying bare upon the rocky ground. He was laughing, too. I remember the sound of his laughter as he took the helm from my head as a trophy. I do not wonder that he left me to die slowly on this mountainside, surrounded by my fallen brothers.

 

________

 

 

 

http://i.imgur.com/cGzi2BW.jpg

 

________

 

 

As I lie here, I hear gunfire echo in the distance, and I know that the men under my command are not all dead, not yet. I know that at least as long as they draw breath, the darkest decision of my existence is justified. Lepidus will wait for me in the afterlife, I know. He will wish to take his revenge, and he will be right to do so.

 

But I was right, too, to do as I did. I am guilty of my father's sin, of being proud, of being arrogant. I am guilty of not being the son I ought to have been: the perfect son should have been a better warrior, a better scholar, a better leader, a better brother. He should not have been disobedient, arrogant, vindictive. But most of all, he should not have been one who raised his hand against his brother.

 

I can say it, now, as I feel the life passing from me. I am guilty of many things, but this darkest secret is now lifted from me.

 

Lepidus, vainglorious, arrogant Lepidus who shared so many of my flaws, had you only lived longer, had I only stayed my hand as an obedient warrior should, we might all have died in that forgotten battle so many years ago, when I believed the lesser of two evils was to slay one brother to save many more from his pride and hubris. We would never have had to see the breaking of Macragge nor the shattering of our glorious dream.

 

It has all come to ruin. All our bright dreams and hopes for an Imperium of truth and civilisation, and for its shining jewel, Macragge, to become the paragon of all which is good and noble.

 

As my final breath passes, as I hear the beat of eagle's wings to carry me to the afterlife, I wish for it to be known that it is not my father's sin, but my own, that I carry with me into the afterlife. Pride is gone from me. I am a lesser son of greater fathers, and I embrace death as the only form of redemption I will ever know.

 

________

 

http://i.imgur.com/F9wh3mx.jpg?2

Edited July 16, 2017 by BrotherCaptainArkhan

[jimbo13]

Perfection..... That's all i shall sully this post with.

[Kordhal]

Wow...words cannot describe how awesome that post was..

[Kennyjapan]

Absolutely fantastic. I've been suppressing the need for blue for many months now... with the return of the Black One-Hundred, the level of blue awesomeness has risen significantly and I find myself being swayed back to the XIII

[BrotherCaptainArkhan]

Perfection..... That's all i shall sully this post with.

 

 

Wow...words cannot describe how awesome that post was..

 

 

Absolutely fantastic. I've been suppressing the need for blue for many months now... with the return of the Black One-Hundred, the level of blue awesomeness has risen significantly and I find myself being swayed back to the XIII

 

Cheers guys. I think it's a bit exposition-heavy, but it seemed right as a way to tie off the 'old' style log before a larger update in future to kind of re-work the army's presentation/fluff etc.

 

Any comments/criticism welcome as per.

[Captain Mike]

Honestly compared to your other stuff it was a little clunky. I know loquaciousness is an Ultramarine vice but sometimes you can call a bike a bike!

 

Still, pretty epic close to a great log. Still my favourite ultramarine blog on this here forum.

[BrotherCaptainArkhan]

Honestly compared to your other stuff it was a little clunky. I know loquaciousness is an Ultramarine vice but sometimes you can call a bike a bike!

 

Still, pretty epic close to a great log. Still my favourite ultramarine blog on this here forum.

 

That's a fair comment. I appreciate straightforward feedback, so cheers for that. I think it represents a dying man's last rambling thoughts reasonably well, although from a reader's point of view you're right, it does go on a little.

 

It isn't the end of the log, but it is the end of the old style of fluff-updates with each unit, I think there's a better way to do fluff + pics in future. There's never been a really clear layout to this thread or to the Black One Hundred project which is something I always meant to fix. Maybe that lack of organisation is reflected in this last update ;) I'll bear it in mind in future pieces.

[KrautScientist]

First of all, what a fantastic piece of fluff! All the gravitas and tragedy we have come to expect from this project! :)

 

Alas, I hate to be that guy, but I simply have to say it: I am correct in assuming that the new model you are working for right now as part of the August Arena event is to replace your old commander - the one who's busy dying in your latest update and who can be seen in the last, sepia-tinted photo of the post, right?

 

Anyway, I just have to say that the old model is really brilliant, and perfectly embodies the particular flavour you have created for this army: Maccragian warriors fallen from grace, while they still keep fighting, because in spite of all their possible shortcomings, that is the amount of their perseverance. By the same token, the commander looks like someone who's a fantastic and powerful warrior, and a centre piece for the army, but there's also a workmanlike, subdued feel to him -- not a fabled hero of the legion, this one, but someone who had to step up in spite of everything, in spite of himself.

 

And, erm, you know: The new guy? He's coming along nicely, but so far, he just doesn't exude the same, perfect unity of effect. Maybe it's the fact that he's just a tad too flashy. Maybe he just lacks that certain, down-to-earth je ne sais quoi. Maybe it's just that I'm in love with the old guy -- I don't know. And I fear this isn't the most helpful comment, exactly. But as a follower and admirer of your work (and of the fact that this is very much an Ultramarines army with its own voice), I cannot help but point this out. So take this rambling comment as you will, I suppose...

[Brother Pheidias]

*sniff*

 

Brings tears to the eye it does!

[hushrong]

Perfection! Such a great and well presented post! Things like that are what make me love warhammer so much.

 

Definitely a great read and Now I want some Ultramarines of my own...

[BrotherCaptainArkhan]

First of all, what a fantastic piece of fluff! All the gravitas and tragedy we have come to expect from this project! :)

 

Alas, I hate to be that guy, but I simply have to say it: I am correct in assuming that the new model you are working for right now as part of the August Arena event is to replace your old commander - the one who's busy dying in your latest update and who can be seen in the last, sepia-tinted photo of the post, right?

 

Anyway, I just have to say that the old model is really brilliant, and perfectly embodies the particular flavour you have created for this army: Maccragian warriors fallen from grace, while they still keep fighting, because in spite of all their possible shortcomings, that is the amount of their perseverance. By the same token, the commander looks like someone who's a fantastic and powerful warrior, and a centre piece for the army, but there's also a workmanlike, subdued feel to him -- not a fabled hero of the legion, this one, but someone who had to step up in spite of everything, in spite of himself.

 

And, erm, you know: The new guy? He's coming along nicely, but so far, he just doesn't exude the same, perfect unity of effect. Maybe it's the fact that he's just a tad too flashy. Maybe he just lacks that certain, down-to-earth je ne sais quoi. Maybe it's just that I'm in love with the old guy -- I don't know. And I fear this isn't the most helpful comment, exactly. But as a follower and admirer of your work (and of the fact that this is very much an Ultramarines army with its own voice), I cannot help but point this out. So take this rambling comment as you will, I suppose...

  

 

Actually, despite what you said in the Arena thread, this is exactly the kind of feedback I'd rather hear and very helpful. You raise an issue about the new model I'd been subconsciously aware of myself, I think. However, I do have a question - do you think it's the helm alone that makes the difference, given the new models helm is the only real point of difference in loadout (except for the fur pelt on the original,

which is going to be added on)

 

I'm considering replacing the pteruges/balteus (hi Kage) with a fur-lined loincloth as well, as that might reinforce the slightly more brutal nature of the original - any thoughts?

 

At any rate, your advice/criticism is very welcome so don't hesitate in future, this sort of stuff helps me develop too.

 

 

*sniff*

 

Brings tears to the eye it does!

Cheers mate. Feel free to critique as desired.

 

 

  

Perfection! Such a great and well presented post! Things like that are what make me love warhammer so much.

Definitely a great read and Now I want some Ultramarines of my own...

Love to see them if you get around to it! Thanks mate :)

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

 

Actually, despite what you said in the Arena thread, this is exactly the kind of feedback I'd rather hear and very helpful. You raise an issue about the new model I'd been subconsciously aware of myself, I think. However, I do have a question - do you think it's the helm alone that makes the difference, given the new models helm is the only real point of difference in loadout (except for the fur pelt on the original,

which is going to be added on)

 

I'm considering replacing the pteruges/balteus (hi Kage) with a fur-lined loincloth as well, as that might reinforce the slightly more brutal nature of the original - any thoughts?

 

At any rate, your advice/criticism is very welcome so don't hesitate in future, this sort of stuff helps me develop too.

 

 

I have to echo Kraut's sentiments here that something is just not quite right with the new figure and after staring at it for several minutes, I'm not entirely sure what it is. I'm inclined to say it's the helmet because despite changing the crest  - good job on that by the way - it still looks like the same helmet I've seen in hundreds of kitbashes, but I could be biased simply from the burn out of seeing it so often. 

[BrotherCaptainArkhan]

_______________

 

 

 

 

_____________

 

They were the warriors who should have fallen at Calth.

 

Their way of warfare was mired in the ways of the War-Born of old, the Thirteenth Legion that was.

 

In the ranks of the noble Battle-Kings of Macragge, the Thirteenth Legion that is, there is no place for warriors such as these.

 

I will not sacrifice willing warriors needlessly. Yet neither will I permit avarice, cruelty, barbarism and savagery to exist within the ranks of my Legion.

 

The sons of Macragge will one day be tasked with the rebuilding of this shattered empire that my father sought to establish. Nobility. Honor. Courage. Peerless wisdom and renown. These shall be the cornerstones of the warrior-kings who will follow in our footsteps, rebuilding what was torn asunder by Horus and his Legions.

 

These warriors I see before me know nothing of such noble ideals.

 

Give them to Sasebo Tezuka. Let the Black One Hundred be reborn anew with a purpose that matches their brutality. Let them be the scourge that reaves the bastard whelps of the Traitor Legions from the face of the galaxy. Let mortifaction be their watchword, and vengeance their epitaph.

And when their task is done, let them be forgotten.

 

____

 

-Attributed to Roboute Guilliman, after the Second Battle of Nuceria
 

[Dagoth Ur]

Finally, this thread returns!

[Grim Dog Studios]

 

I've been looking forward to an update to this thread for far too long Arkhan!