"We Stand At the Gate" - The Terminus Guard

[ElectricPaladin]

I've been thinking about the Necromancy discipline I posted above, and I've got a second draft based on how badly I want to incorporate a Legion of the Damned squad in my army, plus a couple of other better and - I think - mechanically simpler ideas.

 

Psychic Discipline: Necromancy

 

Primaris - Grim Summoning (Special, Conjuration) - The Terminus Guard is known for the spectral Astartes that accompany them into battle. With this ability, a librarian from this chapter can call these shades more efficiently. This power operates differently from other psychic powers. Instead of being used in the psychic phase, it alters the way other portions of the army function. if a character who knows this power is alive and on the battlefield and your army includes any squads of Legion of the Damned, you can chose which turn they arrive. Furthermore, if the Legion of the Damned squad is initially placed within 6’’ of the psyker, they do not deviate.

 

1 - Hands from Below (1 Warp Charge, Witchfire) - Spectral hands reach up from the earth, dragging their victim down into the cold embrace of the grave. This psychic power is a ranged attack with the following profile: Range 18’’, Assault 4, Strength *, AP 2, Concussive, Grav.

 

2 - Draining Gaze (1 Warp Charge, Witchfire) - The psyker’s eyes flash with unnatural energy, draining the life force from anyone unlucky enough to meet his gaze; even steel and ceramite buckle before the force of his will. This psychic power is a ranged attack with the following profile: Range 12’’, Assault 1, Strength 6, AP 2. If the attack deals a wound, the psyker may regain a lost wound up to his normal maximum.

 

3 - Shadow Walk (1 Warp Charge, Blessing) - The psyker shifts himself and his allies partly into another dimension, one full of whispering shades and swirling mist. The psyker and his unit immediately move 12’’. This movement is not impeded by terrain - including impassable terrain - or intervening units. However, the psyker and his unit must make a dangerous terrain test for every unit or object of impassable terrain the move through. A unit that benefits from Shadow Walk cannot declare a charge in the following assault phase.

 

4 - Entropic Aura (1 Warp Charge, Blessing) - Just as the psyker’s will can snuff out life energy, so to can he drain away the energy of incoming attacks. Projectiles lose their momentum, falling harmlessly to the ground, opponents striking in melee feel as though their limbs were encased in jelly, and even powerful energy weapons fizzle out. All things die in the end. For one turn, the psyker and his unit reduce the Strength and increase the AP of all attacks directed against them by 1d3+1, rolled once when this power is used successfully.

 

5 - Ethereal Blessing (2 Warp Charges, Blessing - 12’’) - The psyker’s mutant mind imbues a nearby ally with unearthly power. The target of this blessing gains the following advantages for one turn: a 5+ invulnerable save (or improve an existing invulnerable save by +1), Ignores Cover for their ranged attacks, and the Slow and Purposeful USR.

 

6 - Memento Mori (2 Warp Charges/Malediction - 24’’) - Shades of the victim’s dead swirl around them, accusing and imploring. If the target has a heart of stone, this does nothing but lend him a fearsome aura, but if he gives in, the shades will distract, confuse, or even attack! This power targets a unit, which must make a Leadership test on 3d6. If the unit is successful, they gain both Fear and Fearless for one turn. If they fail, however, roll a single d6 and consult the following chart:

• 1 to 2) The shades distract and confuse. The target unit is reduced to WS and BS 1 for one turn.
• 3 to 4) The enemy is frozen by grief and fear. The target unit loses Fearless (if they have it) and is Pinned for one turn.
• 5 to 6) The ghosts attack! The target unit suffers 1d6 wounds, allocated as per shooting, with no armor or cover saves allowed (invulnerable saves can still be taken).

 

Thoughts?

[ElectricPaladin]

Hey all, I thought I'd update you with some truly terrible photos of the honor guard I've bodged together.

 

First, I think you've seen this gentleman before, my company champion:

 

http://40.media.tumblr.com/0ac4e246639e0213edaec34d9e1dda03/tumblr_o19cfpOSkr1rgb5qno2_1280.jpg

 

And then a few generic veterans:

 

http://41.media.tumblr.com/4f9b1323295e42587b821798cb290d3e/tumblr_o19cfpOSkr1rgb5qno3_1280.jpg

 

http://40.media.tumblr.com/2ae0cdc39d7db72c520edff258260126/tumblr_o19cfpOSkr1rgb5qno4_1280.jpg

 

A non-character power axe isn't as good as a non-character fist or thunder hammer, but I'll take what I can get:

 

http://41.media.tumblr.com/438681a994d2076fc2db571437024567/tumblr_o19cfpOSkr1rgb5qno6_1280.jpg

 

And the standard bearer:

 

http://41.media.tumblr.com/0cabf12563503333394f67523e59aab7/tumblr_o19cfpOSkr1rgb5qno5_1280.jpg

 

Everyone, get together for a group shot!

 

http://41.media.tumblr.com/056e38143f3043949d04d1be41711845/tumblr_o19cfpOSkr1rgb5qno1_1280.jpg

 

Thanks for following me so far. More to come!

[CaptainStabby]

Love that standard bearer!

[ElectricPaladin]

Love that standard bearer!

 

Thanks - he's one of my favorites, too. In fact, that's one of the first models I planned when I was first inspired to start this army... I'm glad I finally got all the bits I need to build him.

 

Here's some fluff and some rules for the captain I'm planning on building next:

 

Captain Ezekiel Moros - The captain of the Second Captain is unusual among the Terminus Guard in that he was not born on Ossuary. Rather, he was born on one of Ossuary’s outposts, Fengdu Station, a watch-station named after the Webway gate that it was founded to keep an eye on. In mid M40, Fengdu Station fell to Dark Eldar, who released a plague engineered to kill only the adults. While the body of the xenos host moved towards Ossuary, one haemonculus and his entourage remained behind to hunt the children who remained. The Eldar did not count on the twelve year old Ezekiel Moros, who organized the rest of the orphans into a fighting force. Using their superior knowledge of Fengdu Station’s many tunnels and passages and weapons scavenged from the station’s stores or stolen from Eldar raiders, the children harried and harassed the Eldar for months. Thanks to Ezekiel’s bravery and skill, dozens of children survived to be rescued when the Terminus Guard broke the Dark Eldar siege on Ossuary and chased them back to the Webway. The surviving orphans were all sent to Ossuary’s schola progenium, but the male children were tested for compatibility with the Terminus Guard geneseed. Several of them were inducted into the Terminus Guard immediately. Unsurprisingly, Ezekiel Moros rose swiftly through the ranks, proving himself a charismatic leader and a cunning opponent in boarding actions and close quarters firefights. He eventually rose to the rank of captain and remains the leader of the the Second Company, the “Reborn.”

 

And...

 

 

Ezekiel Moros, Captain of the 2nd Company (195 Points)

Captain Ezekiel Moros is a HQ choice for a Terminus Guard army.

• WS 6, BS 5, S 4, T 4, W 3, I 5, A 3, Ld 10, Sv 2+/3++
• Wargear: Artificer Armor, Darkling, Boarding Shield, Frag & Krak Grenades, Iron Halo, Meltabombs, Relic Blade, Signum, Teleport Homer, Vox Damnatus
  • Captain Moros’s Boarding Shield improves his invulnerable save from 4+ to 3+.
  • Darkling is a bone-crow, a variant of the Terran raven that early settlers brought with them to Ossuary. Bone-crows are significantly smarter than Terran ravens, almost as intelligent as a young human child. Darkling’s sharp senses and limited ability to communicate with Captain Moros allows him to reroll Dangerous Terrain tests and allows his squad to reroll Mysterious Objective and Look Out Sir! rolls.
  • Vox Damnatus is a master-crafted combi-melta. Vox Damnatus’s melta chamber is extraordinarily well crafted, which allows the weapon to be used as a meltagun twice per game.
• Special Rules: And They Shall Know No Fear, Corsair’s Bane, Chapter Tactics, Preferred Enemy (Dark Eldar), Void-Hardened Armor, Warlord Traits: Command Access/Master of Ordnance or 
  • Corsair’s Bane: Captain Moros is the veteran of hundreds of boarding actions and is adept at bringing the fight to his enemy at close quarters. This specialty provides Captain Moros with a number of advantages that are only available in a Zone Mortalis game:
    • Elite Cadre: Captain Moros can take one squad of Sternguard Veterans as a Troops choice. This squad also gains the Void-Hardened Armor special rule. Captain Moros begins play joined to this squad and cannot leave it (though he retains the Independent Character special rule and can join other squads if they are killed).
    • Sixth Sense: Captain Moros his unit may avoid the effects of any damage effect caused by a Catastrophic Damage table result by passing an Initiative test.
• Warlord Traits: If Captain Moros is your Warlord, his Warlord Trait is predetermined rather than rolled. In a Zone Mortalis game, his Warlord Trait is either Command Access or Master of Ordnance depending on whether his player is the Attacker or Defender. In other games, he has the Storm of Fire Warlord Trait.

Note: Outside of narrative play, Captain Ezekiel Moros is a Space Marine captain in artificer armor with an auspex, digital weapons, melta bombs, and a teleport homer, wielding a storm shield, relic blade, and combi-melta - 185 points.

[ElectricPaladin]

Hey, guys - a brief update with another homebrew special character... though I'll have a finished model to show you soon!

 

Maximilian Templar, “Triumphant Requiem,” Captain of the 9th Company (155 Points)

Captain Templar is a HQ choice for a Terminus Guard army.

• WS 4, BS 5, S 6, AP 12/12/10, I 4, A 2, HP 3, Type: Walker (ch)
• Wargear: Gloaming Shield, Two Twin-Linked Lascannons, Searchlight, Smoke Launchers
  • The Gloaming Shield is a relic of Ossuary’s independent past. This device projects an aura of darkness around Triumphant Requiem, protecting both the dreadnought and those around it from harm. Maximilian Templar has the Shrouded special rule and friendly infantry within 12’’ has the Stealth special rule.
• Special Rules: Helical Targeting Array, Signum Uplink
  • Helical Targeting Array: If Captain Templar is stationary in the movement phase, he gains the Skyfire and Interceptor special rules.
  • Signum Uplink: Once per shooting phase, if Maximilian Templar was stationary in the preceding movement phase (ie. when his Helical Targeting Array is active), when a model within 6’’ of and in the same detachment as Maximilian Templar gives up its own shooting to use a Signum, chose one of the following additional benefits to apply to the entire unit’s shooting:
    • The Skyfire USR
    • The Wrecker USR
    • The Monster Hunters USR
    • +1 to all rolls on the vehicle damage table.
• Warlord Trait: if Maximilian Templar is your Warlord, his Warlord Trait is predetermined rather than rolled. He always has the Storm of Fire Warlord Trait.