Ashen Claws Fluff

[RandomMarine]

Well in one of the blurbs the nightlord commander on the ground is convinced that the ashen claws are the remnants of the 11th rather than 19th so maybe fw just gave us the 11th legions colour scheme

[b1soul]

Aren't Ashen Claws black?

[shandwen]

Well in one of the blurbs the nightlord commander on the ground is convinced that the ashen claws are the remnants of the 11th rather than 19th so maybe fw just gave us the 11th legions colour scheme

Many of the HH books show that not everyone actually knows what is going on. The Night lords have a couple spots like that, where they point fingers in the wrong direction (on minor things).

[Brother Aiwass]

Well in one of the blurbs the nightlord commander on the ground is convinced that the ashen claws are the remnants of the 11th rather than 19th so maybe fw just gave us the 11th legions colour scheme

 

No, it doesn't say that. If the blurb you're addressing is the one I think, it is data corruption, with several words missing letters and using symbols like #@%& instead, so it say XI# IIRC.

[RandomMarine]

I'll have another look when I get to in

[Conn Eremon]

It's the "XI#<* Legi#*"

 

Considering that piece uses one symbol to replace one letter, it's intended to be the "XIXth Legion"

 

But, it does seem obviously intended as a Missing Legion reference, just not an in-universe one. More like an inside joke between the writers and the readers.

[RandomMarine]

Yeah having had another look at it yeah is XIX garbled up

[depthcharge12]

Maybe the writer was drunk :P

[b1soul]

Another Red Herring by FW...bravo

[Nusquam]

It says "... ghosts XI-# Legi#*, the the last survivors of a fallen #-gion." Neither the Ashen Claws or RG fit that bill. RG took a hurting sure, but fallen/last survivors they are not. That would suggest it's still possibly XI legion that tagged along.

[Loquille]

Page 142 has this at the bottom as a vox reply to the Imperial fleet in the Nostromo sector. 

 

'The Emperor consigned us to the care of a Tyrant who sought to see us dead and forgotten; now the Raven Lord himself is dead, we care not to see the collar of servitude clasped around our necks once more, neither in service to the turncoat Warmaster or a failed Empire.' 

[Kol Saresk]

It says "... ghosts XI-# Legi#*, the the last survivors of a fallen #-gion." Neither the Ashen Claws or RG fit that bill. RG took a hurting sure, but fallen/last survivors they are not. That would suggest it's still possibly XI legion that tagged along.

But what also would you call the few thousand remaining from a Legion that once numbered tens of thousands? And I'm assuming the Ashen Claws numbered at least one thousand. Not even considering the fact that this is four years later, where the Raven Guard have mostly taken on a role of destroying supply trains or isolated fleets and outposts. If I was a Night Lord who was at Istvaan and I saw the bodies and wreckage of the X, XVIII and XIX Legions and I knew that the survivors were scattered into tiny, insignificant warbands, I too would consider them to simply be "ghosts" that refused to go quietly into the night.

 

And besides, this is Forgeworld's usual attempt to "implicitly state" a fact without "explicitly confirming" it. They're telling us who the Ashen Claws are. And it's the same Ashen Claws from Massacre.

[Nusquam]

It looks like a purposefully vague story element for us to choose how to expand on.

 

They also confirm they are the Ashen Claws from book 3 outright in the next section anyway, we don't need hints. These red text are 'logs' by in-lore characters.

[b1soul]

It looks like a purposefully vague story element for us to choose how to expand on.

 

Bingo

 

The potential reference to XIth Legion is entirely deliberate and something FW likes to do.

 

I think it would be a little cooler is these clues add up to a partial picture of the XIth (or IInd), rather than just being just meaningless little red herrings

[Silk]

Hello guys,

 

I am sorry that I reanimate this thread, but after searching on google I found out that the Ashen Claws are the exiled Raven Guard and get traitors.

 

Here I am I wanna play some bad guy's in the heresy which a little bit unique.

 

Now I have to ask you 2 questions guys:

 

First, do you see them in Mark IV or in an other armour?

 

Second after which rules would you play them, Blackshields or the Raven Guard rules and using their Rite of War?

[m0nolith]

Because they exiled during the Great Crusade, they'll mostly have equipment from that time, so mkII should be the mainstay, although you could always add other marks of armor under the premise they raided other legions since then.

 

To the second question, Id personally play them as Blackshields, but ether or is good IMO.

[jeremy1391]

Being as the ashen claws split before corax had much influence on the organization of the legion of use the black shield rules.

 

For armor I'd use a mix of all marks, to represent the fact they pick clean those that they defeat and their own dead out of necessity. I'd even use some of the legion specific stuff and just deface it and paint it blackish grey, and weather it so some of the original legion colors show through.

[Nusquam]

There's pictures of them in MKIV in retribution. Considering their predation techniques any armor would be fine. Bonus points for mixing an matching.