Traitorous Question of the Week (Week 9!10-22)

[Plaguecaster]

I like a mixture of vampire counts and skaven for bits especially since I more collect Nurgle plus skaven have the amazing warp lighting kit which is conversion gold for making your own artillery platforms

[Greenz]

Hmmmm seems I missed last week's question somehow. I'll take a stab at both questions then! I've always enjoyed reading up on Chaos, and while I enjoy many aspects of it, I'm always drawn to Khorne. When I picture my LatD (because I'm still a while off of getting anything together), I picture grimdark, but not over the top. Bloody killers, but not mindless idiots. So for me, I'll largely be kitbashing and greenstuffing a mix of Cadians as well as the Khorne models from the AoS line.

[Hasrothrin]

My favourite kit bash is any kit bash. I take the lazy FW conversion kit approach so I applaud people who use their imagination and what they have lying around. I have seen some fantastic examples on B&C alone.

[Goreshed]

So another week down... I've got to say that I've enjoyed seeing other people's views on this fun, love-able army that has taken a hold of our hearts.

 

My own personal favorite kit bashes you ask? Well that is easy. Take anything Imperial and make it Chaos! Dur....it's what we do. We kit bash and drink and know things! (Had to throw that Game of Thrones line in at some point....but I probably butchered it)

 

So...now the Traitorous Question of the week, show us your favorite R&H artwork. The one that gets your ideas flowing or maybe the one that sold you on the army? Perhaps it is just an amazing piece of work in general? Either way, toss that picture up!

[GreenScorpion]

I don't really know why but whenever I think of artwork and R&H the first image that comes to my head is this one from the Eye of Terror book:

 

 

http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/warhammer40k/images/7/7d/Traitor_Guardsmen-0.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20160821154456

 

The odd thing is I've seen better artwork but this is the one that says R&H to me for some reason.

[Warsmith Uveron]

It has to be

 

http://orig00.deviantart.net/776d/f/2013/049/7/a/chaos_renegade_leader_by_xleshiyx-d5vel6d.jpg

[Plaguecaster]

http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/warhammer40k/images/3/3c/Magister_Anakwanar_Sek.jpg

This one of Anakwanar Sek from the old Sabbat crusade book is pretty cool

[Goreshed]

Well I love all of those pictures really, they all come together to really make R&H shine. I try to find new pictures all the time to give me inspiration and this Khorne one really caught my eye.

 

It's a little large so I'll just link it...

 

But onto the next question!

 

What do you envision a world given over to Chaos looks like, one that a R&H force has taken over? Feels like? How is it governed? How do they sustain themselves or do they just ravage and move on? What would your army do? How would they recruit? How would they grow? Would they just move on? Give us some fluff about what or how your army would defeat the Emperor's lap dogs on a world wide scale and what they would do with the planet afterwards.

[GreenScorpion]

My army would be an army of conquest so their overall plan would be one based on patience and discipline.

 

1st phase: individual agents would be sent into the target planet and infiltrate in every military and planet management organizations, analyzing the most important targets in the planet.

 

2nd phase: once the places of high importance were identified, small elite forces would infiltrate in preparation of an almost synchronized wave of carefully planned sabotages, waiting for their signal. "Sleeping" platoons would infiltrate the local populace around places of high importance (maybe living as regular workers with families and everything) and await the signal to defend/attack critical positions during the invasion. This phase could take months or evens years depending on the planet and their native population.

 

3rd phase: with all things in place the main army would attack the planet as the sabotage teams crippled the defences and the "sleeping" platoons ravaged most resistance before it even organized itself.

 

4th phase: with the planet occupied by the army, the locals would either accept the Dark Gods or be sacrificed in their name. As the locals were gathered to serve their new masters, engineering teams would repair defences and reinforce them as needed to make the planet less likely to fall against Imperial forces.

 

5th phase: the families of the members of the army would be brought into the planet to help with the colonization. Industry would be put to work on all necessary items for the campaigns and any useful supplies would be collected/produced whenever possible (food, mineral materials...). Officers who had proved their worth on the conquest would compose the ranks of the new government system with a strong leader as the planetary governor.

 

6th phase: as soon as the planet became a thriving population center, the main army would attack the next planet already on the 2nd phase, always expanding the influence of their mighty leader. The growing population of the planet would be conscripted as needed to fill the ranks of their master, providing defense to the planet or assisting in the invasion of other planets. Conscripts would be trained to become disciplined and skilled in using weapons, tactics and even leading other men (you never know where an useful officer will appear from). New soldiers would learn that the rewards for success were many but the punishement for failure would make them wish for their deaths.

 

Short version : infiltrate, sabotage and invade. Allow the locals to submit or die. Turn the planet into a militarized version of the common Imperial planet, keeping a similar government system (more efficient though). Use the planet to help prepare the next invasion. Eventually reach Terra and destroy the Corpse Emperor (this one would be extremely unlikely :D ).

[Carrack]

Fewood

 

 

Fewood was a minor agri-class world in the Siliquastrum sub-sector. It's primary exports, and its main tithe burden, were derived from its bountiful orchards and productive timber industries. Hardy fruits with a long shelf life, along with a local variant of supple pine were grown in the regions outside the tropical zones. While a wide variety of exotic fruits, along with a dark hardwood, were harvested in the tropical regions. In spite of the quality of the fruit and lumber, Fewood remained a poor and backwater world. Most worlds in the subsector could produce approximate, if not quite as nice substitutes.

 

The societal structure of Fewood was largely feudal in nature. Landed lords owned vast orchards and timber tracts. These lords answered to, and were taxed by a handful of Bond Lords, who in turn answered to the Imperial Governor. The common men and women of Fewood fell into three categories. The first were the serfs that worked the timber industries for the lords, as well as agricultural and other menial jobs required by their lords. The second group were the clansmen, who migrated to the orchards when the fruit was in season, grouped together in clans of a few to several extended families. They contracted with the lords to harvest the orchards. Several clans were known to support themselves through banditry, when they did not find a contract to their liking. The third group were the freemen, largely consisting of the people living in the few urban areas, but also including specialist employed by the lords.

 

Defense.

 

The official PDF of Fewood was a small, but professional force that answered directly to the Imperial Governor. The officers of the PDF were drawn from the court of the Governor, and while nepotism was common, this was offset by requiring all officers to matriculate from a reasonably modern military academy. Some of the more senior officers had historically attended more prestigious off world academies, with most of the PDF Marshals having sawn to their education under the brutal, but effective academies on Cadia. The PDF is rather officer heavy, yet that fit their role of commanding the disparate militias of the landed lords. The rank and file, as well as the non-commissioned officers were drawn exclusively from the freeman class. The PDF served three roles, one as an elite, quick reaction force, the second was the unifying command of the various militias, and thirdly was as both the functional and ceremonial guard of the Imperial Governor.

 

The vast majority of Fewood's fighting forces were composed of the militias of the landed lords. These ranged in numbers from a squad or two, to regiment sized forces. They also ranged in quality from near Imperial Guard levels to conscripted serfs that drilled and trained two weeks out of the year with antiquated weapons. In spite of their sometimes poor quality, they had the advantage of intimate knowledge of their lord's lands.

 

The migratory clans frequently had strong martial traditions, yet their allegiance was always to their clan before all others, and as such, were infrequently employed by either the landed lords or the PDF. However, in years that the Administratum required a founding of Imperial Guard Regiments from Fewood, the clans often made up the bulk of the recruits. This in part, was an effort to control the sometimes troublesome population of the clans.

 

No matter the organization of the fighting forces of Fewood, they all possessed some valuable skills as warriors. Fieldcraft, camouflage, and the unique challenges of fighting in wooded terrain, all came naturally to the warriors of this heavily forested world. Because of this, the defenders of Fewood almost exclusively fought as light infantry.

 

History.

 

Fewood was colonized along with the rest of the Siliquastrum sub-sector, and had changed very little since. However, three recent events have dramatically effected the agri-world for the worse.

 

The first of these events was the battle of Fewood. This naval battle was the first major attempt by the Imperials to drive the Black Maw Warband of the Black Legion from the nearby planet of Frederic III. It was also the first engagement of the Cardinal Weaver Crusade. The crusade fleet, consisting of the majority of Battlefleet Siliquastrum, an Astartes Strike Cruiser from the noble Angels of Immolation chapter, and the merchant fleet of the Rogue Trader Barnus carrying several regiments of the Emperor's Hammer, had planned to link up in the Fewood system, and from there make the short jump to Frederic III in better fleet cohesion. However, the Imperial plans were compromised, and the Black Maw's fleet lay in ambush at the translation point, which they had heavily mined. The battle was a disastrous defeat for the Imperial fleet, and a huge setback for the Cardinal Weaver Crusade. Subsequently, Fewood was seen as cursed, and trade with the rest of the sub-sector dwindled away.

 

The second event that brought further ruin to Fewood, was closely tied to the first. The destruction of the subsector Battlefleet, along with the reduced traffic to the system, as well as the proximity to the Black Maw's base of operations, combined to see a dramatic rise in piracy in the region. The system was too strategically unimportant for Lord Carrack to send his Legionnaires in to conquer the agri-world at the time, but renegades and pirates loyal to him frequently targeted Fewood, due to its proximity to their port of call, and it's meager defenses. Warehouses and lumberyards overflowing with materials waiting to be exported were emptied by the scum of the void. Towns and orchard plantations were depopulated by slavers. The brave, but undermanned and ill equipped defenders fought the raiders where they could, but when they adequately defended a site, the raiders would strike elsewhere. The Lord Governor was forced to levy crippling taxes, and take out financially unwise loans, just to pay his planets tithes, which were never adjusted to reflect the economic situation. These increasingly burdensome measures stirred up unrest amongst his once loyal Bond Lords, and created fertile grounds for the formation of Chaos Cults, no doubt sponsored by the Black Maw.

 

The last, most recent, and most tragic event to bring ruin to Fewood, was the invasion by renegades and pirates allied to the Black Maw Warband. This invasion took place shortly after the destruction of the sub-sector seat, at the Red Hive of Siliquastrum. Commanding the heretical forces was Commodore Mallori, who brought three destroyers from her escort squadron along with an equal number of converted troopships, with holds filled with hordes of mutants from the Daemon World of Vaaska, along with mortal warriors of the Black Maw and mercenaries from Howler's Charn. She had also, somehow enticed a few squads of Black Legionaries to take part in this invasion.

 

The first stage of the invasion was neutralizing Fewood's paltry orbital defenses. The speed of Mallori's destroyers did not allow any repositioning of the few orbital guns protecting the world. To make matters worse, many of these guns were merely for show, having broken down or been damaged over the last few decades of economic troubles and frequent pirate raids. In any event, the orbital bombardment of the Chaos destroyers, coupled with surgical strikes from the traitor Astartes and some of the more elite mortal renegades, quickly saw Fewood's orbital defenses neutered, with the exception of the better maintained guns protecting the governor's palace. The Black Maw had achieved orbital supremacy, and but for the space above the palace, orbital dominance.

 

The second stage of the invasion saw the safe landing of Mallori's armies and the initial conquest of most of the world's resources. The invaders were assisted by saboteurs and traitors from the Chaos cults that had been established prior to the invasion. In spite of several defenders valiantly selling their lives at a high cost in the invaders' blood, the second stage was largely a resounding success for the Black Maw. Only the lands around the Governor's palace, as well as those of a few minor lords on the peripheries and marginal lands remained firmly in Imperial control.

 

The third stage was an assault on the Imperial Governor's lands, followed by mop up operations on the minor lords who escaped the second stage. However, Mallori had to contend with several problems at this point in the invasion. Most frustrating, was controlling her own troops. Mallori's designs for Fewood were to conquer the world and rule it as her own. However, most of her troops goals merely wished to pillage as much as they could, and leave the planet wealthy men and women. Because of this, the commodore's long term goals for the planet were damaged by the short sighted aspirations of her warriors. She has had some success keeping the feudal structure of Fewood intact, and installing trusted lieutenants as landed lords. In a few instances she has even kept the existing lord in power, provided they acknowledge her sovereignty. Such was the discontent amongst some of the lords prior to the invasion. Equally troubling, was the incessant guerrilla warfare waged on her forces in lands they ostentatiously control. This irregular warfare forced her to keep her invading army on Fewood longer than she would like, thus further reducing its value as her army continued to pillage. Her intelligence reports already indicate that the guerrilla warfare will be worse when she conquers the marginal lands and the lands on the peripheries, yet the longer she lets them survive unmolested, the stronger the resistance will become. Lastly, the assault on the Governor's palace, which had to happen quickly before the resistance rallied behind him, was not as easy as overcoming the militias of the petty lords. His palace had been heavily fortified, and his guard wad the best trained and equipped of all of the defenders. They also knew that to lose the battle, was to lose not only their lives, but their families as well. They knew that no one with a claim to the Governorship, no matter how tenuous, could be allowed to survive. Their stubborn resistance, though ultimately futile, proved both a blessing and a curse for Commodore Mallori. It was a blessing as she was given the opportunity to rid herself of some of the more troublesome contingents in her army, as well as kill off large numbers of mercenaries that she would have had to pay, but a curse because it cost her more time and resources than she was initially willing to commit to capturing the world.

 

Fewood Under the Flag of the Black Maw.

 

On the surface, little has changed for the subjects of Fewood. The serfs still pick fruit and fell trees for their lords, some of whom are the same lords they toiled for under the Aquilla. Likewise the freemen still work in their same crafts in the cities and keeps of their lords. The lords still collect oppressive tithes for the ruler of Fewood. Life appears not to have changed. Beneath the surface, everything is different. Newly installed lords and bond lords are servants of the dark gods, some can no longer even be called human. The cults walk openly among the people, and build temples to the gods, which offer promises of power to the powerless, and sacrificial deaths to the unbelievers. These temples serve as recruiting stations for mortal warriors of the Black Maw, places where discontent clans and groups of serfs can gather, to be picked up by the warband's troopships to carry them to the next world the Black Maw will devour. The burning of timber tracts and orchards during the invasion, has displaced large numbers of people, many who see opportunity in fighting alongside their conquerers in the stars.

 

Commodore Malori rules Fewood largely as an absentee landlord. She uses the world as a steady, if smaller than expected, line of legitimate trade within the growing kingdom being carved out by the Black Maw, and occasionally other worlds controlled by other warbands of the Despoiler's Black Legion. Beside the trade, she earns influence in the court of the Black Maw each time a troopship fills its holds with warriors eager to earn the glory of the gods. Malori has also found that rewarding the loyalty of her captains and lieutenants with land and titles has helped her keep better control of the ambitious officers of her squadron.

 

[Carrack]

I think each world ruled by a chaos army is going to be different, much like worlds ruled in the name of the False Emperor, but one thing that is going to affect them is the time they have. How long the world remains in the clutches of the dark gods, is going to have a major impact on it. A world ruled by a mutant underclass of a forge world, that broke their shackles and overthrew their Admech masters, might not have long before Imperial retribution comes calling. Such a world might devote every available resource to fighting off the coming vengeance, and not be concerned with sustaining the world for the long term. While a world on the edge of the Imperium, cut off by warpstorms, might have centuries before they can expect a counter attack, and can take a longer strategy.

[Goreshed]

All excellent submissions! But I think Carrack also hit the nail on the head. Depending on the location of where the planet is really depends on how things will play out in the long run.

 

Personally I envision my more nurgle aligned army slowly weeding their way in to spread the love of nurgle before the main force hits. Then its only a matter of time before the zombie outbreak wipes out any hive while the rest of the army walks right on through. But enough of last weeks Traitorous Question of the Week, onto this weeks!

 

A lot of armies have quite the selection of special characters to field, but R&H doesn't have any (to my knowledge) and never really had any (unless it was back in RT era days but even then I'm doubtful). So this weeks TQAW is simple, make a special character for the Lost and the Damned! This could be for your own army or maybe a simple character upgrade for a unit. Whatever it is, make them special!

[Khornestar]

In their quest to entertain themsleves and hone their skills against all manner of foes, the Khorne Daemonkin legion known as the Brass Stampede periodically raids realspace not just to slaughter, but to return to their strongholds within the Eye with captives forced to fight to the death in gladiatorial matches.

 

The reaver-lord known as Ostor Karkidon is among the most renowned of these captives, significant beyond merely emerging victorious. This onetime renegade Imperial guardsman was brought to the bonesand of the goreworld Indarkeria's arena alongside hundreds of other former guardsmen. A lowly sergeant, armed with nothing but a chainsword and a plasma pistol, managed to triumph over deranged murdercultists and other mortal warriors of Khorne. Gradually, as their numbers were inevitably cut down, the guardsmen were forced to turn on each other. Those unwilling to participate were slaughtered on the spot, though Karkidon had no such objections to murdering his former comrades. 64 survivors faced off in the final match.

 

To make the match interesting, the skull champion presiding over the bouts ordered his underlings to unleash a herd of juggernauts into the arena. Atop one of these terrifying beasts of brass rode a daemonic herald of the Bloodfather clutching a whip of fire. As the fight commenced and Karkidon sawed his way through soldiers he was once proud to command, the juggernauts seemed to respond to the herald's fiery whip, charging and splattering the mortals with each crack.

 

A fell understanding took root in Ostor Karkidon's mind; in no small part due to powers of observation, but also due to a voice in his mind. Despite the horror surrounding him, the bloody sergeant seemed to understand that the unholy whip of fire was calling to him. As the herald rounded its juggernaut to charge directly at him, Karkidon decapitated a former private rushing at him with a bayonet. Before the body had a chance to hit the ground, he grabbed it and managed to hold it upright in front of him. He could hear the herald laugh, as if this weakling mortal thought a juggernaut couldn't obliterate two human bodies as easily as one. Ostor had no such delusions, but was obscuring himself from his adversary as he overcharged his plasma pistol.

 

Moments before impact, Karkidon dropped the guardsman's corpse and dove to the side as he released the charged plasma blast into the herald, blowing its torso apart from the waist up and scattering its limbs. The juggernaut barreled onward into the surrounding battle, seemingly indifferent to its master's demise. Sergeant Karkidon dropped the hissing pistol onto the sand as he sprinted to the herald's dismembered hand and pried the clawed fingers apart. As he closed his own hand around the brazen handle of the firewhip, Ostor screamed in triumph. He flung the flaming thong of the whip up and cracked it. The crowd of spectators roared their surprise and approval as they leaned forward on the railings surrounding the arena.

 

The whip bestowed an understanding on Karkidon, and the juggernauts responded to his goading by trampling and annihilating the rest of his men around him. He shouldered his chainsword, and with a final crack of the whip called the juggernauts to encircle him. Eight living battering rams covered in gore calmly devoured the mangled human remains at his feet. Amused by Karkidon's victory (and surely his uncertainty of survival if he himself jumped into the pit), the skull champion declared this mortal worthy of joining the ranks of the Brass Stampede.

 

It wasn't long before Ostor raided the brutal juggernaut stables on Indarkeria to bolster his herd. Now dozens of the hulking monstrosities charge to the crack of his whip, this once meager mortal riding amongst them to revel in the carnage. The daemon voice within the whip speaks to Karkidon, guiding his wrath and permitting mastery of the herd. Over the decade following his victory, Ostor Karkidon - the Herdmaster - has killed many rivals on Indarkeria beneath the brazen hooves of his juggernauts.  A recent raid on a fellow goreworld within the Eye allowed the Herdmaster to enslave the daemon smith presiding over the world's brazen helforge. So long as he's able to provide the blood and souls needed for their creation, Karkidon wil be able to expand the size of his herd to untold numbers. He has set his sights on realspace, eager to reap a massive tally of blood to earn the Bloodfather's favor and transcend his mortality.

 

Ostor Karkidon is an HQ choice for a Chaos Renegades army. He is an Arch Demagogue with the following stats:

 

Points (Undecided):

 

Ostor Karkidon: WS4 BS4 S3 T4 W4 I3 A4 Ld:8 Sv:4+

Unit Type: Cavalry

Special Rules: Independent Character, Stubborn

Wargear: Carapace Armor, Refractor Field, Chainaxe, Juggernaut of Khorne (+1 Toughness, Wounds, & Attacks incorporated into profile), Frag & Krak grenades, Arri'gast, Chaos Covenant (Khorne)

 

Arri'gast: This daemon-whip allows Karkidon to command his herd of juggernauts, whispering secrets into his mortal mind that allow him to utilize their brutality on the battlefield.

S: User, AP: -

Melee, Daemon Weapon, Rending, Soul Blaze

 

Demagogue Devotion: Herdmaster

It is nearly unprecedented for a mortal to hold dominion over juggernauts, let alone a vast herd of them. Guided by the daemon-whip Arri'gast, Ostor Karkidon is eager to earn greater favor with Khorne by dominating all foes and rivals that challenge him.

Units of Renegade Chaos Spawn* in an army led by Ostor Karkidon may add up to 5 additional Renegade Chaos Spawn for 20 points per model. In addition, Chaos Renegades units within 12" of Ostor Karkidon have the Furious Charge and Counter-Attack special rules. 

 

Ostor Karkidon may be taken in a unique version of The Purge detachment.

 

Restrictions:

Slaves to Darkness: All units in this Detachment (except Fortifications) must have the Chaos Renegades faction.

 

Pledged to Khorne: No models in this detachment may take a devotion or covenant other than a devotion or covenant of Khorne.

 

Command Benefits:

 

Daemonkin Legion: All units in this formation with the Infantry, Cavalry, and Beast unit types, as well as any unit type with with the Daemon special rule, receive the Blood for the Blood God! special rule (see Codex: Khorne Daemonkin). Characters also receive the Skulls for the Skull Throne special rule (see Codex: Khorne Daemonkin).

 

 

 

*Since juggernauts aren't a unit type of their own, Renegade Chaos Spawn are a stand-in. Their cost reflects the 55 points for 3 models in the Vraks book. Since 55/3 is ~18.3, I figured rounding up to 20 was fine.

[Goreshed]

A beautiful entry Venomlust! I love the flavor of it! My own short entry into this...

 

Father Pots

WS 4 BS 2 S3 T4 W3 I3 A3 LD9 Sv 3+ 4+

 

Whos is Father Pots? No one can really say who the man who became this iconic follower of Nurgle was before he came onto the battlefield. Some believe him to be a former preacher of the Imperium while others seem to think that he was just a orphan who was found amid the plague fields after an invasion by the Death Guard on his home planet. What is known is who he is now. A wandering preacher of Nurgle who travels from one army to the next (well those that will have him anyways) preaching of the glory of Nurgle. In battle he ushers his followers forwards with quiet words of plague and death while in peace he tends to the wounded in hopes of bringing them to the glory of Nurgle. 

 

Father Pots is an HQ choice for any Renegade Army. He and his followers count as one unit.

 

Censure of Nurgle

This deadly weapons spews forth noxious fumes in battle and is a potent symbol of Nurgle's blessing upon the mortal who wields it. In combat it gives +1S and has the Poisoned (3+) rule.

 

Symbol of Nurgle

Around his neck Father Pots wears a symbol of Nurgle created out of various former Imperial artefacts. This ultimate defile in the name of Nurgle bestows upon Father Pots at 4+ inv save.

 

Special Rule

Blessings Be Upon You

Every Nurgle unit within 12 inches of Father Pots increase their FNP roll by 1 (5+ becomes 4+, etc) and a unit that does not have FNP gaints a 6+ FNP. 

 

Followers of Father Pots

Choose either a single unit of Plague Zombies or a single unit of Veteran Renegades to accompany Father Pots. He may never leave the unit if this option is chosen and they count as a single HQ unit.

 

Now onto the next Traitorous Question! We've covered quite a lot so far but one thing we haven't covered yet is just how the traitorous hordes get around? Now I'm not talking about your average Chimera or your superheavy tank, but instead how about those big starships? Did they take over a battleship? Is is just a humble Cruiser? What starship do you think fits your army the most? Do you even think that Renegades should have access to those ships to begin with?

[Carrack]

My Black Legion warband, the Black Maw, has carved out a small kingdom in real space. Their base of operations is the port of Howler's Charn. The warband allows pirates and smugglers use of this port in return for tribute and oaths of fealty. These oaths require the scum of the void to join the fleet of the Black Maw during major operations, and serve a portion of each year at the command of the warband. Frequently this involves transporting the mortal hosts of the Black Maw to battle. A large contingent of these pirates and raiders is made up of the fleet of Zanazar.

 

 

Zanazar's fleet.

 

Zanazar was a rouge trader whose family writ was signed and sealed by the High Lords of Terra in the late 38th millennium, awarded to Lord Marshall Zanazar upon his retirement from the Astra Militarium. At the dawn of the 40th millennium, the Zanazar fortunes began to slide, and when the current Zanazar inherited the Warrant of Trade, the family was down to operating a single packet ship carrying small cargoes, passengers, and mail.

 

The new Zanazar was determined to see his dynasty's fortunes flourish back into the extravagance of the family legends he was raised with. To this end he cast aside his scruples in exchange for coin. He evaded tariffs, smuggled illegal cargo, traded in proscribed xenotech, and even acted as a courier for heretics based in the Ocularis Terribus. For decades he amassed fortunes, while dodging local customs, the Imperial Navy, and even the Ordos of the Inquisition.

 

By the time the Inquisition had enough on him to forfeit his Warrant of Trade and excommunicate his dynasty, his single packet ship had grown to a small fleet. Rather than face the ire and the fire of the Inquisition, Zanazar fled to the Eye of Terror and took employ with the Black Legion. In particular, the Black Maw warband lead by Lord Carrack, the Doom of Kasr Woolten.

 

As an influential human renegade of the warband, he is required to answer any request for service the warband asks of him, and council Lord Carrack when called to do so. In practice however, Lord Carrack allows Zanazar to operate his merchant fleet as he sees fit when they are not needed for a major campaign, and the tribute freely flows. In return, Zanazar sails under the protection of the Black Legion Colors and can call port in many areas controlled by the Black Legion. At least those hospitable to the Black Maw.

 

The Ruby Mace

 

 

The Ruby Mace is a heavily modified Lunar class cruiser that serves as Zanazar's Flagship. The prow armor and weapons have been removed in order to open up additional cargo capacity. Likewise, the vessel has been refitted with smaller engines for the same purpose. The smaller engines employ a xenotech power plant adapted from the mysterious Demiurge, and subsequently, there is no major loss in speed. The Ruby Mace still retains its port and starboard macro cannon batteries which make it a capable, but less effective battle cruiser.

 

Zanazar came into possession of the Ruby Mace through subterfuge and piracy. During his days as a semi legitimate rogue trader, he had subverted a staff officer from Battlefleet Obscuras with bribes and later blackmail. This officer occasionally feeds Zanazar with intelligence on patrol routes that are filed at Battlefleet Headquarters on Crypta Mundi. On one such occasion, Zanazar found out about a solo mission the Ruby Mace was undertaking to reinforce Battlegroup 3 stationed near the Cadian Gate. Zanazar collaborated with the Kabal of the Envenomed Blade, and waited in the wings while the Dark Eldar ambushed the Ruby Mace and enslaved all survivors of the battle. After the Kabal fled back to the webway, Zanazar swooped in and hauled the ship to a secluded point in the void where he could affect rapid repairs and bring the ship to port at his Black Maw patrons facilities on Howler's Charn. Three years of modifications and the Ruby Mace was reconsecrated as a Black Legion Vessel.

 

 

Unfortunately for Zanazar, the hasty refitting failed to completely kill the loyal machine spirit. The remains of the loyal navy machine spirit strikes back in revenge from the shadows when it can. Sometimes it will vent plasma into a unsealed conduit. Other times doors will jam at crucial times. As a result, accidental deaths are noticeably more frequent aboard the Ruby Mace, but not enough to have a major affect on the operation of the warship. The Dark Magos of the ship have divined a way to kill the loyalist machine spirit once and for all, but it involves binding a demon into the data core, which Zanazar is reluctant to do. Rumors also abound of a group of loyalist that have hidden themselves in the spaces between decks, and wage guerrilla warfare on the current crew, but then, void sailors are a superstitious lot, and life on a warship always has hidden perils.

 

When called upon by Lord Carrack to serve in his fleet, the Ruby Mace has the honor of carrying much of the armor, and mechanized infantry, of the mortal host that follow the Black Maw warband. But the Ruby Mace also has the higher honor of trailing Lord Carrack's flagship, Bitter Revenge, protecting its stern and able to rush in with its punishing broadsides to respond to any enemy that breaks into the Black Maw's formation. The fact that the Ruby Mace has no prow weapons to aim into the Bitter Revenge's stern has alluded no one.

 

When Zanazar voyages out on his own trade interests, he often travels in a large convoy with the Ruby Mace in the center. This offers his ships and cargo protection from minor pirates and raiders, while providing a more daunting target to the larger warbands that prowl the fragile trade routes in the Eye of Terror. The Ruby Mace is too well known to be seen close to the Cadian Gate, and if Zanazar wishes to leave the Eye he must do so at less stable access points.

 

 

Thrall's Lament

 

 

The Thrall's Lament is slow, she has no real teeth, and her armor is minimal. Yet she can do one important task very well, she can haul cargo. Particularly, she can haul unwilling, human cargo. This huge ship is filled with slave pens and containment cells, as well as the never ending echoes of screams. The crew and slavers of the ship are those that revel in the suffering of their fellow man. This is a trait that is carried from the lowliest whip master to the ships captain, who goes by the title of The Lady of the Nine, a reference to her symbol of office, a nine tailed mono wire scourge. Time and time again, she has passed up opportunities to take command of both more lucrative merchantmen and more prestigious warships alike, as such offers would not afford her the same opportunity to preside over the misery she revels in on Thrall's Lament.

 

Although small holds are scattered throughout the ship, the majority of the cargo is held on four main decks. The bottommost cargo deck is known as the Deck of Despair, and it's crew is deep in the sway of a cult of Nurgle. This deck tightly packs in the least valuable of slaves taken in war, the rudest of the untrained labor, as well as the sick, and infirm. Disease and starvation whittle down the chattel until only true survivors remain to be sold at the next port of call. Above the Deck of Despair lies the Bloody Sands deck. The Bloody Sands deck is aptly named for both its large sand-floored pens, and it's crew who openly worship Khorne. On this deck, prisoners are forced to fight one another for the amusement of the crew and to honor the Skull King. The lost revenue of killed slaves is recuperated, in part, by being able to sell proven warriors. Above the gladiatorial pens of the Bloody Sands, lies the Halls of Mystery. This deck consists of individual cells where the Tzentch aligned crew conduct experiments and introduce mutagens to its doomed passengers. The top most main cargo deck is called the Theater of Excess, and it is best not to describe the performances that are conducted there.

 

The Lady of the Nine is a vassal of Lord Carrack of the Black Maw, after her services were acquired from Abaddon in reward for actions that benefitted the whole of the Black Legion during the Gothic War, known as the 12th Black Crusade. Although a direct vassal of Lord Carrack, the Lady of the Nine falls under command of the truly rogue trader Zanazar, due to personal debts she has accrued to him in repairing the Thrall's Lament, and the support role of her ship. In battle the Thrall's Lament stays to the rear, waiting for an opportunity to sweep in after an invasion and fill her holds with the soon to be damned. However, on one occasion following a closely fought defeat of the Black Legion on Hyron's Rock, she took a more prominent role by emptying the holds of tormented souls were onto the planet in order to distract and delay Imperial pursuit.

 

 

Full Coffers

 

Full Coffers is a packet ship, designed to carry small cargoes, a handful of passengers, and correspondence. It is comparatively small for a warp capable ship, well under 500 meters in overall length. It lacks armor and weapons other than four ballista pattern auto cannon turrets, which are more suited for blasting away flotsam that drifts too close to the fragile vessel than other ships. What Full Coffers has going for her though, is tremendous speed. The value of a packet ship is that it can carry dispatches faster than a traditional merchantman. In a sense, packet ships compete more with astropaths than with other ships. They are obviously slower than psychic transmission of data, but they are the next fastest means of communication, and have the advantage of being able to transmit massive amounts of data without the fear of the vagaries of interpretation of psychic messages. They do have to contend with the uncertainty of warp travel however, so are not an entirely reliable form of communication. In any event, Full Coffers can run. Before Zanazar's fall to Chaos, the ship had won a number of prestigious void races, including the Katan Gambit.

 

Full Coffers is commanded by Zanazar the Younger, heir apparent to the Zanazar fleet. He carries dispatches for both his father, and his master, Lord Carrack, Slayer of Multitudes. Expensive forgeries and tampered Identity transmitters have also allowed Zanazar the Younger to frequently infiltrate Imperial space at the behests of his father and the Black Maw warband. These voyages usually serve three purposes. First and foremost, they are intelligence gathering missions. Zanazar the Younger and his specialists assay the defenses of Imperial worlds, take note of troop and fleet movements, and learn what they can of events in the Imperium. Secondly, these missions often insert trained cult magos into Imperial societies, where they can found cults and weaken the worlds for future conquest. Many of these cultist are the so called Disciples of Lavam, proselytes of the Black Legion Dark Disciple Lavam. Thirdly, Zanazar the Younger carries small but valuable cargo to trade with the Imperium, a minimal trade, but sometimes a lucrative one. He is fond of dealing with works d'art, gemstones and expensive drugs used in juvenat treatments.

 

Only when the entire fleet of the the Black Maw embarks on a massive military operation, will Full Coffers be included. In these circumstances, the fast ship is usually called on to scout the enemy and avoid engagement at all cost. She did manage to win one battle honor during the conquest of Frederic III, now called Hells Holdfast. In the aftermath of the conquest, Zanazar the Younger caught the Imperial Governor fleeing in his undefended void yacht, and tore apart the orbital pleasure boat with his defensive turrets. When they recovered the Imperial Governor's lifeboat, the disgraced former ruler had fell upon his sword for honor. Seeing the opportunity, Zanazar the Younger voided the airlock on the only other witnesses, his bodyguards, and claimed that he killed the governor in a personal duel.

 

[Goreshed]

An excellent submission Carrack! I love the multi-deck theme you have on Thrall's Lament.

So, we've done a lot so far from what you think a R&H army is, favorite inspirational picture, what units you wished we had and of course which god is the best for R&H (Nurgle of course... ) But what can tie your entire army together?

This weeks question is thus:

What unit do you feel brings your army together? What unit really makes you want to paint it to the topmost quality that you can achieve to show off your army? A renegade Knight? A baneblade? Maybe it is just an HQ model? Share your favorite that you use or are planning to do!