Lost or Forgotten? – The Knights Templar

[Crizza]

“No matter the cost, the Legion must survive; therefore you are inducted into the ranks of the Knights Hospitaler. Your first and foremost duty is the wellbeing of the Legion.”

 

The Legion who would later be known as the Knights Templar was created as the second Legion, when the First was already fighting in the fierce wars of unification.
As such the Legion was deployed alongside their brothers of the first, most of the time in a supporting role.
During one such engagement the detachment of the first legion suffered dearly, with almost all of them being killed by an unknown device. Barely 250 warriors of the second had accompanied them and faced with destruction or retreat, the commanding officer Valerius Magnus decided to hold.
Untypical for the early legions, the second had a high share of Apothecaries, which accompanied the breacher squads. This would prove as the decisive factor of the day.
Covered by the slab like shields of their brethren the twenty Apothcaries harvested the geneseed of the first legion in untold numbers while Valerius Magnus managed to consolidate their position.
In the end, only the reinforcements of other elements of the First saved the day, but still; the stalwart defence of the second allowed the first legion to rebuild their losses without great difficulty.

 

Just as some sort of introduction...
So, where do I stand? As of now, not owning a single HH miniature :D

Despite this I’m pretty set on my paint scheme, since I use it for my 40k army, but I’m a slow painter and repainting everything is a pain in the ass...

I tried the absorb every detail of the Legion Astartes, of their primarchs and so on. While reading through this board I stumbled upon this tarot thingy and considering it’s either the High priestess or furtune... I like the idea of furtune pretty much.

So, what do I have on the fluff side?
I go for the second Legion and considering that each Legion had their speciality, what made them unique, I decided to set them as ... well, Apothecaries :D
I put a lot of thought into the point of which miniatures I should buy first and for most of the time I was hell bent on buying Cataphractiis, but recently, I’m more confortable of starting with what defines my second: Two sets of breacher guarding two Apothecaries.
I’m also very much into volkite weaponry, so does anyone knows which of the various sets is compatible with a breacher squad?

 

 

Oh and yes, the title is heavily inspired by the one of Athrawes, if this is a problem, I will change this.

[MikhalLeNoir]

Welcome to the lost and forgotten legions. Always happy to see new attempts on them. As said before, you don't need a miniature to start a legion. the idea behind is what counts.

 

Knight Templars then....just got me hooked on. Tell me more^^I am eager to learn more about their downfall, lore and about their primarch.

 

So we have a name. how about the color scheme? we have here on the boards great tools in order to make a preview of your legion.

Edited September 13, 2015 by MikhalLeNoir

[AlphariusOmegon108]

Wow nice start man! As a lost legion creator myself, its always refreshing to see new ideas, keep it up and tell us more :D ;)

[Crizza]

The color sheme is modelled after the original Knights Templar. Fluffwise they'll loose much of their equipment early on, but are honored by the Emperor naming them "The poor fellow Knights of the Emperor and the Temple of Imperial Truth", shortened to "Knights Templar". As such their scheme will be kept simple. grey armor (leadbelcher as basecoat), white shoulder guards, red Templar cross and most of the time golden trimming. Oh and robes, in that they are close to the first Legion.
As I wrote above we have the Knights Hospitaler, as their Apothecarion, but compared to other Legions, the Hospitalers are guarded at all time by their dedicated Knights, typically 5 per Hospitaler. Together, they stand outside the chapter organisation outlined in HH book 1. If we have a chapter consisting of 100 Astartes, if there are 5 Apothecaries attached,the chapter numbers 125.

The Primarch... I'm not that sure about his homeworld, but his name :D
Christophorus, the flesh weaver, the blade that heals.
In my first attempt he crashlanded on a forgeworld and was raised by a magos biologis, so by the time the Emperor arrives, he has amassed quite some knowlege about gene forging.
But come on, a Forgeworld, dunno.
More recently I play with the idea of him ending up on a former Forgeworld, which has lost much of it's knowledge and is ruled by a Knight House.
Thoughts so far are, that the young primarchs capsule bored itself into the depth of the now abandoned machine workshops and so on. As such the young primarch will grow up alone, but since they are being known for great skills at young ages, he can read and so on.

In another instance he ended on a world, where technobarbarians wage war not unlike preunification Terra. However, the warords know not much about the process of creating genengeneered transhuman beings. These are created by a caste of flesh weavers, which create the warriors blablabla. The primarch is taken in... dundundun.

So... I know where I end: The Primarch will become an accomplished gene-wright, second only to the Emperor. As he is based on Fortune, he won't like being restricted in making the Astartes even more powerful or trying to look deeper into the Fleshchange and so on.
Being overly trusting with his brothers, he will listen to one brother way to much and after trying the unthinkable, he will...well... killed? Locked away in the imperial palace?
Oh; and since the Legion is based on the Knights Templar, he will be a swordsman.

[Athrawes]

This is really, cool. Also I'm glad you are using the tarot major arcana interpretation for your legion and primarch. Fortune will be a cool basis, I modeled my own primarch using the High priestess.

[Crizza]

In fact reading your legion fluff pointed me towards the tarot major arcana interpretation and the high priestess will be the one responsible for his downfall.

So, what about my question concerning volkite weaponry and breacher squads?

[MikhalLeNoir]

I can check it tomorrow, because my daughter is sleeping and she guards the entrance to my working room.

 

Nice coincedence: Gwalchavad is Fortune as well.

 

Will your templars be very french influenced? Would be a nice thing.

[Athrawes]

I think the gene smithing and the abundance of medicae would be a cool idea, I know in the Brotherhood of the Lost project in special projects sub forum, there are a few missing legion ideas floating around with genetic tampering and a love of apothecaries. So I think the idea definitely has a lot of merit.

[dogfender]

So how does this legion have power armor if they haven't been found?

[Crizza]

Depends on what you mean exactly.
I try to use what is possble of the historic Knights Templar... to quote:

 

There was a threefold division of the ranks of the Templars: the noble knights, the non-noble sergeants, and the chaplains. The Templars did not perform knighting ceremonies, so any knight wishing to become a Knight Templar had to be a knight already. They were the most visible branch of the order, and wore the famous white mantles to symbolise their purity and chastity. They were equipped as heavy cavalry, with three or four horses and one or two squires. Squires were generally not members of the Order but were instead outsiders who were hired for a set period of time. Beneath the knights in the Order and drawn from non-noble families were the sergeants. They brought vital skills and trades such as blacksmithing and building, and administered many of the Order's European properties. In the Crusader States, they fought alongside the knights as light cavalry with a single horse.Several of the Order's most senior positions were reserved for sergeants, including the post of Commander of the Vault of Acre, who was the de facto Admiral of the Templar fleet. The sergeants wore black or brown. From 1139, chaplains constituted a third Templar class. They were ordained priests who cared for the Templar's' spiritual needs.All three classes of brother wore the Order's red cross patty.

Also the Dark Angels with their Master of Orders are inspired by the crusading era themselves.
Outremer as name for the kingdom of Jerusalem will be the name of the legions flagship. Major ships will be named after Acre, Askalon and other fleet assets.
Likewise Commander of the Vault of Acre will be the rank of the legions fleet commander and so on.
Were possible I will try to implement the latin rule/code of behaviour of the historical knights.
So... what do you mean with french influence? :D

[MikhalLeNoir]

Just hoped for a Lot of french names cause they have a nice Sound to them and as the templars were founded in South france, it would have been nice :)

 

It will be interesting to see how you make them Different from the dark angels and templar brethren.

Edited September 13, 2015 by MikhalLeNoir

[Crizza]

Hm... their future first grand master was Hugues de Payens, who approached King Balwin II of Jerusalem about the funding of the order. The King agreed, most likely at the council of Nablus. But I agree, the french names have a certain flavor, so I'll include some of them.
Currently there are several names, like Master of the Forge Phaestus, his apprentice Ibelin (there you go), Master Hospitaler Hypocras and first Hospitaler Klepius.
Apart from them there is Master Valerius Magnus, who'll end up in a Contemptor and First Master Phaerus (of him I actually created a figure, but I don't know if his armor would work as MKIV).

Yeah, the differences with the Dark Angels will be interesting to flesh out. Are there sources on their early organisation during the great crusade, before they found Caliban?

[Sigismund229]

So far it looks like you have a lot of cool ideas. And did I read your fluff correctly in that your legion uses lots of breachers?

[Crizza]

Thanks and yes, this is my plan :D
In my mind I have this picture of a breacher squad covering an Apothecary while he harvests the geneseed.

I've always wonderes just how the harvesting proces works. I simply cannot imagine that one Apothecary per company would be enough. While this seems to be respected canon... well, I'll change that and since the Legion will fall, no one has to care :D

 

Plus: The shields of a breacher squad are no stormshields, so this should be okay ^^

[MikhalLeNoir]

i just put them together and volkite charger fits to breacher shieks. could be, that you have to customize the arms tough

[Crizza]

So how does this legion have power armor if they haven't been found?

Uh, what? The Legion was, like every other of the first twenty created and raised on Terra of course.

[marine7312000]

I think you have a really good start from which to move forward. Of the two basic ideas you presented for the home planet of the Primarch, I think I prefer the Forgeworld idea more with the focus on former Forgeworld rather than an active one.

[Crizza]

Fluff time
While I would love a HH like entry... dunno how this is to be created

 

The Knights Templars

Numeration: The II^nd Legion

Primogenitor: Christophorus

Cognomen: Knights of the Red Cross, Templars of the Imperial Truth

Observed Strategic Tendencies:
Massive Deployments of Apothecaries, Search and Rescue operations.

 

“You carry a heavy cross. You have served all across Terra, in some of the fiercest battles, doing your duty, saving the wounded, administering the fallen. As such you shall be the Knights of the Red Cross, the Templars of the Imperial Truth” – attributed to the Emperor of Mankind.

 

Before the reunion with their primarch, the second Legion was led by Lord Comander Valerius Magnus. His recruitment differed from other Legion that he was from the very beginning groomed for command. Taken from the same genestock as the vaunted members of the Legio Custodes, he was the first Astartes created of the second. Tutored by members of the first Legion during the implantation process, he was later teached by none other than Alajos. No one knows exactly who ordered this, but when the first company of the second was declared combat ready, Valerius named as their Captain. Since he’d served as squire to Alajos; an unprecedented fact which would allow him to create the second as he saw fit, apart from being an accomplished leader, Valerius happened to be one of the most skilled swordsman of his time.
And indeed the early years of his command saw the second Legion acting more or less as a supporting element for the first. It must be noted however, that many of the early Astartes of the second showed great skills and interest in the then young field of the Apothecarion, some reports estimate that from the first 100 Astartes close to forty had been marked for potential use as Apothecaries. This would prove as one of the defining traits of the second.
Valerius, recognising that it was simply not useful to field such numbers of Apothecaries, choose those who showed the greatest skill: Hypocras and Klepius, who were instrumental in fleshing out the role of battlefield Apothecaries.
Indeed they were able to convince Valerius that it was more than useful for a high number of Astartes being able to treat wounds or, should the actual Apothecary fall, take over.

And once my tablet has recharged its battery thingy, I'll post a pic of Preator Phaerus, student of Valerius.

As a sidenote: Were Indomitus pattern TDA fielded during the great crusade?

Edited September 14, 2015 by Crizza

[Demus Ragnok]

Yes Indomitus terminators were around.

[Crizza]

This my good friends opens a whole new opportunity, since I have around 60 TDA figures floating around, some of them being my first kitbashes, essentially replacing the hammerheads of Thunderhammers with sword blades hm... pictures^^

Edit: Woah, wait, after reading the fluff part, I realize that I got carried away, some parts don't make sense even in german
So... changed some parts, hope the segment makes sense now...

Edited September 14, 2015 by Crizza

[marine7312000]

A suggestion, make Valerius a consummate tactician and a moderate swordsman. Every one want their special character to be the best fighter. I'm trying to place the name for Valerius' trainer and can't for some reason.

[Crizza]

Alajos accompanied the Lion during a meeting with the Nighthaunter during the Thramas crusade. There he was slain by Sevatar.
He also apears in John Frenchs Templar something along the line "one of the finest Astartes to ever raise a sword". I thought about making Astelan Valerius teacher, but then went for Alajos.
And shortly after uniting with Christophorus, Valerius will end up in a dreadnought all the same, but I'll keep the OP-factor in mind.
The special character of the project is Phaerus :D

[MikhalLeNoir]

Hmmm, just one thing i often see, which is a logical hole to ME in Most Legion attempts:

 

Why are there from the starting point already a Lot of apothecaries? It would Seem logical,that the emps inserted the talent in the genestock, but ( and that is a very Great but) isn't it a veeeeeeery Big coincedence, that Christopherus Landes on a Planet, where the fleshweavers Are so dominant and he is so interested in genes.

 

You could alter the Origin of the Second a Bit and introduce the apothecary Element After they where reunited with the primarch. Otherwise it Looks at least to ME a Bit cheesy and unbelievable.

 

I think a Legion is defined bei their primarch, Not before.

 

Make them swordsmen, because the majority of aspirants were drawn from a sword fighting Culture or because they function as close combat support during the unification wars and introduce the apothecary Element as defining style from their primarch

Edited September 15, 2015 by MikhalLeNoir

[Crizza]

What you say has merit and I wanted to show the potential, but have the high part of Apothecaries in the end reduced to two per company.
The fleshweaver planet as his homeworld will be dropped. I started to play with the former Forgeworld-idea a bit.
As such the world is ruled by a dominant Knight House, with their future leader witnessing the fall of Christophorus.
 

The two Knights stopped at the rim of the impact crater. Whatever had caused the devastation had bored itself deep into the earth. As much as it itched Zantios to enter the crater, he knew full well that parts of the planet were not stable and more then one Knight had been lost to sudden cave-ins.

"My Lord, we should return, sensors are showing nothing but dirt and rubble."
Zantios' Knight paced the rim like a caged predator all the while. He knew deep within himself that something important had vanished into the planets deep, but there was no way his Knight could follow.
With a heavy heart he turned his Knight around and strode towards their Stronghold, vowing to himself to return someday.

 

What does that mean? Well, the young Primarch will grow up alone, in a remote part of the buried forges beneath the surface of the planet. As it happens he'll end up in some remote area where power is still working so he can access the vast datahubs of the forge. He will read about technical wonders the world once held, but as he is alone he will crave companions. I imagine the young primarch sitting before some sort of lithocast, watching images of humans all over again, before stumbling across old records about the genebreeding of Skitarii, thus coming across his first parts of how it is possible to shape life.

 

Oh and about Valerius: I remembered that his dreadnought form will be named Foehammer, after his favored weapon while he was alive, as such the swordsman part will be dropped. I have that model of the Master of the fleet somewhere and I know I wanted the to a little conversion, so this will be the base of Valerius.

Edited September 15, 2015 by Crizza

[Crizza]

Just to show that I'm realy working on the Knights for a long time.
This was one of my first attempts at what I think can be called kitbash.
The pictures are not great, he's dusty but I present:

Phaerus, the Dawn Spear

If I did something wrong by creating the gallery, please say it now.
I know it is all but impossible to see details, but if you happen to say he is not finished, that's true :D
I started to paint him and after the gold paint was empty, I was forced to buy one of the new colors and realized that this meant painting him all over again -.-