General Discussion

[bluntblade]

Terminators, Cylons, I,Robot, Sentinels (x-men), Robocop, Alien (Ash) are a few I can think of.

Non-humanoid ones, dude. I don't wanna get too close to Necron territory.

 

Leaning toward the Replicants. Especially as I can put Alex and/or Icarion there and do a wee EoT nod with foresight.

Edited February 21, 2016 by bluntblade

[Slips]

 

Terminators, Cylons, I,Robot, Sentinels (x-men), Robocop, Alien (Ash) are a few I can think of.

Non-humanoid ones. I don't wanna get too close to Necron territory.

 

Leaning toward the Replicants. Especially as I can put Alex and/or Icarion there and do a wee EoT nod with foresight.

 

Forgot that bit

 

That pretty much makes the list pretty much nil

 

The Reapers from Mass Effect, though!

 

Theres also the Golden Army in Hellboy or HAL.

Edited February 21, 2016 by Slipstreams

[bluntblade]

Forgot that bit :P

 

That pretty much makes the list pretty much nil :p

 

The Reapers from Mass Effect, though!

(Goes googling).

 

I want to go for something strange. Putting the "abominable" in AI and all that. Plus, I want it to be something that would justify the Emperor's presence. If I go with the Replicant idea then the finale will probably be Alex, Icarion and Big E just dancing among the tentacles/blades of Koloss.

[Slips]

Reapers work pretty well in that regard since they take Sentients and make them into what is essentially, Techno-Zombies, harvesting their collective DNA (of those not transformed) to create other Reapers in the form of the Host Species.

 

Though they themselves are quite large...

[bluntblade]

The first transmission from the Stengah System came as the excited babble of Explorators, reporting that they had found an oasis of Man's technological inheritance.

 

The second came as a horrified report of hostile and lethal automata. Abominable Intelligence. Ships attacked, severe damage sustained.

 

The third did not come from the Explorators, and it wasn't a threat. It wasn't a promise. It was a cold, empirical statement. “Koloss discarded organic components 5572 standard Terrain years ago. Organic contaminants have been detected and removed in accordance with Protocol 33. All contaminants will be eradicated for the security of the Obzen Apparatus.”

 

 

Now, if I and V aren't workable as a combo, who'd make a good combo with Alex or Icarion and won't be up to the eyes Iin Qarith? I'd rather leave Daer'dd alone for a while. Might be a good chance to give the Warriors of Peace a workout, as they won't have any qualms about busting AIs.

Edited February 21, 2016 by bluntblade

[MikhalLeNoir]

Wardens of Light are not at the Quarith and they get along pretty well with Alexandros or Icarion. Or both. And those robots seem not interested in peaceful negotiations.

[bluntblade]

Wardens of Light are not at the Quarith and they get along pretty well with Alexandros or Icarion. Or both. And those robots seem not interested in peaceful negotiations.

What was your first clue? :p

 

Gwalchavad's got quite an acrobatic style, right? Because if AI go full Replicant route then that'd be handy.

[MikhalLeNoir]

Yap. Speed is the key. Edited February 21, 2016 by MikhalLeNoir

[bluntblade]

Yap. Speed is the key.

Sweet. Time to do some Wardens of Light homework.

[MikhalLeNoir]

Oh...:) the information is all over the board. I think you should start with the WIP-Thread.

But short: Pariah, Diplomat, Pro-Xenos, Ranged Warfare and Fast Assault[Crossfire-Tactics])

[bluntblade]

Oh...:) the information is all over the board. I think you should start with the WIP-Thread.

But short: Pariah, Diplomat, Pro-Xenos, Ranged Warfare and Fast Assault[Crossfire-Tactics])

That was the plan. Fast and frenetic is the order of the day. Edited February 21, 2016 by bluntblade

[Sigismund229]

Alexandros slammed into the Koretian squad, moving faster than any ordinary human eye could follow, gutting the squad within seconds. He had only landed on Koretia a few minutes ago and he'd already killed hundreds of their warriors. Beside him and the Myrimodons, Hectarion and the Inroair were tearing their own bloody path through the enemy, the sound of chain axes chewing through armour telling Alexandros how far behind him they were. And they were behind him. He was angry. His brother had tried to talk him out of coming down to the planet's surface, saying that as Warmaster, Alexandros couldn't afford to let such small matters distract him. But by that point, he'd been too angry for reason to sway him. He'd offered the Koretians a chance to negotiate, he'd offered them the right to keep their own laws and institutions within the Imperium so long as they gave up worship of their gods. They'd opened fire as soon as his diplomatic party had landed, so now Alexandros would follow the path that many of the Inroair thought he should have followed in the first place. He would wreak slaughter upon this world until they surrendered unconditionaly. Two Koretian gunships flew overheard, appearing to prepare for a strafing run at Alexandros. Snorting in derision of these people, who thought it would be so easy to kill him, he raised a hand and used his pychic might to pull them both from the sky and bring them slamming down amidst their own men and then continued swinging the Spear of Terra, often killing two or three Koretians at once, venting the anger towards these people he'd been harbouring since landing.

The Koretians were a technologically advanced people. Their whole society was built on the pursuit of knowledge and over the past centuries they seemed to have recovered many lost STC's, as evidenced by the warriors who Alexandros was currently fighting wearing a bastardized varient of power armour(he'd heard the Inroair calling them "kruti astarthea" over the vox, which translated into Low Gothic as "baby astartes", a remarkably good epithet). While they looked like small versions of astartes, they were no match for the actual astartes and the Inroair and Myrimodons were butchering a way through them as easily as if they went there. Soon enough, with the astartes hacking a way through them and two primarchs unleashed upon them, they broke and ran. Grinning, Alexandros charged after them. Over the vox, he heard Pyrrhicles shout "My lord! Wait!" but he also heard the Inroair howling and roaring in triumph as they gave chase and even a few bellowing "Blood for the Warmaster!" as they chased the fleeing Koretians. At the head of the Inroair, Hectarions savagest and most bloodthirsty sons, rather than his own Myrimodons, Alexandros charged ahead of the V in pursuit of the Koretian infantry who were offering no more resistance than a few snap shots fired over their shoulder.

As the Imperials rushed towards the junction at which the Koretians had finaly stopped fleeing and were turning to fight them again, he heard a vague rumbling but soon discarded it as unimportant and charged on. "BROTHER! WAIT! CRIMSON LIONS! HOLD FAST!" he heard Hectarion roar over the vox, but it was already too late. Too late, Alexandros realised that he had led the Inroair and those few Myrimodons who had followed him into an ambush. That rumbling he'd heard was a mined building being collapsed and now the rubble fell on the Inroair vanguard, crushing hundreds of them. Any other brotherhood would have seen it coming and checked their charge, but not the Inroair. They danced to the tune of the battle fury that burned in them, not strategy, and on this occasion Alexandros had done the same. Now he could only look on in horror as hundreds of his nephews were buried beneath tonnes of stone and dozens of others were brought down by concentrated autogun fire, penetrating their armour through sheer weight of fire. Fuelled by rage at the slaughter of so many Imperial warriors and the part he'd played in it, Alexandros set about the Koretians, slaughtering dozens of them in the oppening moments of his charge, immolating dozens of others. To their credit, despite having lost much of their upper comand echelons, the Inroair didn't stay frozen in shock at the deaths of so many of their kin for long and soon resumed their charge with fresh fury, once again hacking a bloody path through the Koretians. By now, the Myrimodons had caught up with their primarch and the Inroairs mad charge. Even if the Myrimodons hadn't arrived, the fight was a foregone conclusion. While the collapsing of rubble on the vanguard had inflicted heavy casualties on them, the Koretians were no match for Imperial Astartes in melee and were being slaughtered.

Forno looked through the eyes of the machine he was piloting. It was one of a kind. The Colossus was larger than even the knights that Koretian explorers had found on less advanced worlds and armed with two massive plasma cannons. When piloting the Colossus, Foro understood how the Gods of War must feel. No foot soldiers could harm him and he dealt death on a scale unmatched by any other. Where he marched, his enemies died. It was as simple as that. Then came voice over the intercom "This is Major Horin of the 93rd! We're holding the enemy at Thorala junction but we can't hold for long! The enemy commanders are here! We need immediate reinforcement! Repeat" and then the voice was replaced by static. Foro grinned before announcing to his crew, "Change course, we're heading to the Thorala junction". He would take the heads of these enemy commanders who were reportedly unstoppable.

Hectarion carved his way through the Koretian squad as he fought his way towards Alexandros, who was killing the Koretians faster than even Hectarion could manage. He had seldom seen Alexandros this enraged. While he had seen many things, he had never expected to see his brother lead an Inroair charge straight into an ambush. Following it, at least 200 of the Inroair had to be dead. Possibly more. While they normally took heavier casualties, that kind of number was on the wrong side of hilarious. Vox communication with other parties of legionnaires scattered across the planet, at least those he could communicate with, all revealed the same story. Stubborn resistance but no real losses. The only exception was that with which the two primarchs had taken to the field and one group who'd run into a machine the size of a reaver titan. Then, Hectarion felt the earth shake beneath his feet.

Foro grinned. The report hadn't been wrong. The 93rd were getting slaughtered and amongst the enemy were two beings who couldn't be anything other than the enemy commanders. One was an enormous being clad in bronze and silver armour and with furs around his shoulders. A barbarian without a doubt. The other was not much larger than his warriors but he was immolating entire squads with a flick of his wrist. Foro's grin widened. What a trophy that one's head would make.

Alexandros immolated another squad as he drove the Spear of Terra through three more Koretians. Then, he felt the earth shudder and looked up to see a machine the size of reaver titan walking towards him and his Myrimodons. Raising a hand, he was about to crush machine's cockpit when his whole world went white.

Foro laughed as the enemy commander fell, blinded to the ground. Twin plasma shots had just immolated the enemy warriors who appeared to be the commanders bodyguard and blinded the commander himself, most likely permanently given the proximity of the blasts to him. It would be easy to just blast again and wipe this man off the face of Koretia, but Foro had a more...dramatic death planned for his prey. "Lift the leg up. I want to crush him under Colossus' boots" he said to his crew with a snarl. Then, as the leg began to descend it stopped suddenly. "Why

Edited February 21, 2016 by Sigismund229

[Sigismund229]

has the leg stopped?" he demanded. "I don't know sir, something's blocking it" replied one of the steersmen. Then, one his gunners said "Sir. The enemy warriors....they're cheering".

As Alexandros' vision began to clear, he could hear both the Crimson Lions and the Halycon Wardens cheering. Over him he saw the titan machine's giant foot and in front of him, Hectarion, his weapons dropped and his feet braced on the ground as he took the weight of a titan on his shoulders. Alexandros heard bones crack and break and saw his brothers face twitch in spasms and drool hang down from his clenched teeth as he sought to keep the machine's foot from coming down on Alexandros. Sweat poured down Hectarion's brow and for a moment the machine's foot seemed to descend again, causing Hectarion to release a roar that drowned out the sounds of their sons cheering as he pushed back against the force and weight of a god machine. Seeing that his brother couldn't hold the foot much longer, Alexandros focussed his pychic might and launched a lance of pure warp energy into the machine's cockpit, likely killing all of its crew before adding his own pyschic strength to his brothers own physical strength and gradually tipping the machine until it fell over backwards. Alexandros grinned. They had killed what was, to all intents and purposes, a god machine.

[MikhalLeNoir]

aahhh. Enjoyed that piece very much. Thx for that

[Raktra]

I wondered when we'd have a tribute to that scene!

[simison]

This is what happens when you piss off the nice ones.

 

Anyway, a little advice is to have some kind of break or symbol to show when you change perspectives. It took me a moment to realize you switched from an Imperial to a Koretian view. 

[Sigismund229]

 

On the more practical part of the hobby:

 

Which Armor Marks do we have? As we stretched the crusading time, did we reach Mark VII at the time of the Insurrection? Or is our Mark VI Coyote Ugly Armor the most recent?

I just ask cause the new Deathwatch models are veeeeeeery sexy;)

I think that mkVI is the most recent and even that isn't in common use amongst the legions, with only the Lightning Bearers&Halycon Wardens having access to it in any amount numbering more than single figures

[Skalpynock]

Wardens of Light are not at the Quarith and they get along pretty well with Alexandros or Icarion. Or both. And those robots seem not interested in peaceful negotiations.

And that way we have both the future leaders of the Traitors and Loyalists, and a neutral party.

[bluntblade]

 

Wardens of Light are not at the Quarith and they get along pretty well with Alexandros or Icarion. Or both. And those robots seem not interested in peaceful negotiations.

 

And that way we have both the future leaders of the Traitors and Loyalists, and a neutral party.

That aspect didn't occur to me. Yucahu might not get an onstage role; three Primarchs, the Emperor and probably Valdor might be a bit too crowded .

 

Edit: it was busy enough without Yucahu in the end, I'm sorry to say. Just needs a few tweaks and checks to make sure I've got certain character details right, then it's ready to roll.

 

Yucahu will be involved elsewhere in the system, perhaps along with elements of another Legion. You'd have plenty of wriggle room for a piece from that, especially if you take a leaf from the Reapers' book- in the end I plumped for the Mimics from Edge of Tomorrow mixed with the Koloss artwork (and a reveal that I now realise I got from the I Am Colossus video).

Edited February 23, 2016 by bluntblade

[Praefectus Invictus]

 

On the more practical part of the hobby:

 

Which Armor Marks do we have? As we stretched the crusading time, did we reach Mark VII at the time of the Insurrection? Or is our Mark VI Coyote Ugly Armor the most recent?

I just ask cause the new Deathwatch models are veeeeeeery sexy;)

I think that mkVI is the most recent and even that isn't in common use amongst the legions, with only the Lightning Bearers&Halycon Wardens having access to it in any amount numbering more than single figures

 

The Jackals are also on that list, being ideally suited to testing it under the conditions that they operate under, with entire companies armed in it.

[bluntblade]

As long as you name an AI Surveillance System Demon.

Done, sort of (via Google translate). Gotta add a few deaths and get Pyrrhicles matching Simison's description, then we're good to go.

 

Might also add that future DarkMech character, for he's still a thing, and have him ruminating on the technology that the Emperor's denying humanity at the end.

[Sigismund229]

 

 

 

On the more practical part of the hobby:

 

Which Armor Marks do we have? As we stretched the crusading time, did we reach Mark VII at the time of the Insurrection? Or is our Mark VI Coyote Ugly Armor the most recent?

I just ask cause the new Deathwatch models are veeeeeeery sexy;)

I think that mkVI is the most recent and even that isn't in common use amongst the legions, with only the Lightning Bearers&Halycon Wardens having access to it in any amount numbering more than single figures

The Jackals are also on that list, being ideally suited to testing it under the conditions that they operate under, with entire companies armed in it.

so the numbers would probably be smthn like:

Stygian Jackels: several thousand pre production artificier made suits as recognition for their role in testing it. So maybe c.5000?

 

Then there's the Lightning Bearers who have probably received enought to equip their uppoer officers and elite so maybe also c.5000?

 

Finally there's the Halycon Wardens who will have received some by dint of being their primarch being the warmaster but probably far fewer so c.500?

 

Also, Turrus and his buddies nicked 2-300 which they gave to the non-clone astartes among them.

[Sigismund229]

Maridius strode past the assembled ranks of Crimson Lions and Scions Hospitalier, his one good eye passing over the warriors arrayed before him, the right side of his face twitching occasionaly from the dull, throbbing pain of the wound that had permanently blinded his right eye, which had yet to fully heal. Beside him was Captain Antonidas, his opposite number in the XIX, who was busy checking the seals on his armour one last time. Grunting, Maridius asked "What's the point? If a weapon is going to get past your armour it will do so no matter how securely your armour is sealed". Chuckling, Antonidas said "Your years of fighting have made you careless Iron-arm. If you checked the seals on your armour, perhaps you wouldn't have suffered so many wounds over the years". Maridius shrugged, a gesture which both seemed and felt awkward in mkIII plate, particularly the heavy Mycenae varient used by the III and said "Not careless. Realistic. I place as much faith in my armour as any other astartes. The only difference is that I'm realistic enough not to expect my armour to stop everything if I check the seals once more". Shaking his head, Antonidas dropped the subject. He knew his III legion brother well enough to know that he would never move once he had decided on a matter. Looking at the unruly mass of Crimson Lions, Antonidas saw a pair of Crimson Lions grip each others shoulders and then bring their heads together as hard as possible, and he saw others hammering their weapons against the adamantium of their boarding shields or breastplates. Observing all these practices bemused Antonidas every time he waged war alongside the III. They were a stark contrast to his own legion, standing in relatively ordered ranks and checking the seals on their armour, their weapons mechanisms and their knives blades. But then, mused Antonidas, perhaps it had to do with the nature of the two legions homeworlds. Iona was a technologicaly advanced water world on which, if you didn't check your gear was completely sealed before going out into the water, the vast pressure would crush you within seconds. Mycenae was a world whose technology had barely progressed beyond iron working and its inhabitants were more focused on the here and now and these cultural differences showed in the legions as clearly as the size difference between the III and their brothers of the XIX.

 

This point was further hammered home when one of Maridius brothers, Gathos, Lord of the Improdoi. Once one of the savages who imhabited the isles of Mycenae, Gathos was enormous, being as tall as Maridius(sometimes known as longshanks) in full armour, despite wearing only robes himself, and built like a spartan assault tank, dwarfing everyone around him even when all those around him wore battle plate. Once again, Antonidas noted that Hectarion had when it came to choosing a Captain of the Improdoi, the cataphractii of the III, Hectarion had chosen well. When Maridius and Gathos finished exchanging last minute taunts and challenges before Maridius made planetfall, the giant gripped Maridius by the shoulders and then they slammed their heads together. When Antonidas raised an eyebrow, Gathos laughed and said "Happy hunting to you too Scion", in the thick accent his island's language had left him with, making his Imperial Gothic near incomprihensible if you didn't know him. Clamping his helm in place, Antonidas shook his head and replied "I'll try to leave some ofcthe enemy for you" before boarding his stormbird. Truly he thought Our brothers of the III are utterly insane

[bluntblade]

You wanna remove the "Hectarion had" but I like that passage :)

[Sigismund229]

I've got a lot of random notes on the CL fluff in their role as the XI that I'm gradually forming into coherent passages but seeing as we have so many pysker heavy legions in the BoLverse, I thought I ought to clear the section on the gutuatri with you guys first, just to check I'm not stepping on any toes
The Gutuatri
While rarer amongst the sons of Mycenae than their brothers of the Thousand Sons legion, astartes who display latent pyschic talent still have a place and a use within the XI's ranks. While they still wage war beside their brothers, often in the vanguard alongside their Rix or Myrvallen's Pezhetairoi, it is not for their combat abilities that they are so valued by their brothers. Amongst the ranks of Crimson Lions, the Gutuatri fulfill the roles of the seer's of Mycenae(who tribal legend holds are neither alive nor are they truly dead, granting them access to both the world of the gods and the material world) and learn the same skills as the seer's. While a part of this is, of course, learning to harness the power of the aether(a skill Mycenaean legend states was passed on to humanity by the god Luthi, who was then chained up in a cave to suffer for all eternity for sharing such precious knowledge with humans) they also include the art of reading the future from the world around you, hearing the whispers of the gods on the wind, in the rain, in thunder and in the sea as well as seeing the future carved amongst the stars. When going into battle, this art grants the XI a degree of foresight into the way a battle will unfold, despite being dismissed as primitive by the Sorcerers of the Thousand Sons. Many a time, a Gutuatros will swerve aside from a blow no other saw coming and then state the reason why as him having heard the gods tell him the blow was coming.

More important to the tribesmen of Mycenae is the seer's knowledge of the herbs and mushrooms of their homeworld. From these, the seer's make Canerith, a drink some of whose ingrediants are shared with the celebratory ale drunk by the tribesmen. However, this brew is far more potent, completely incapacitating a warrior's ability to feel fear and even pain, giving him endurance in battle far beyond the ordinary. Prior to battle, the warriors of a tribe will all drink from a cauldron of this brew, prepared by their seer, a ritual which increases their effectiveness in battle and also re affirms the bonds between warriors. However, while the Crimson Lions still partake in this ritual prior to battle, it is far less important to them and appears to be more for re affirming bonds of brotherhood than the physical effects, as it has little effect on their gene enhanced bodies, unlike nerith, which still inoxicates them and causes halucination.

The final duty of the Gutuatri is that for which they are most well known outside of their legion, the telling of tales. While it is common for Crimson Lions to tell stories while gathered near a fire or another such gathering point, for some stories, those of their greatest heroes and the tales of gods that the XI have carried with them into space(despite long since forsaking those gods in favour of the Imperial Truth), nothing less than the finest story telling will do and so it is the Gutuatri who tell these tales, their silver facemasks gleaming in the fire light. Learning these tales, the Gutuatri will tell them at the demand of their brothers, most often at feasts or other such celebrations.

 

The current head of the XI's librarius is Traghaias Two-blade(so named for his fighting with both a combat blade for parrying and a chogorian sabre)

Edited February 25, 2016 by Sigismund229