Choosing a Crusade Name

[Octothorpe]

Hi all,

 

Somewhat veteran 40k player here, but only recently getting into BT- I wanted to try a chapter that could use some of the newer C:SM units, but still had awesome background and look- long story short, I bought a BT upgrade kit and a box of marines and I'm happily assembling and converting away. That said, I'm a bit stuck on what to choose for the name of the particular crusade these fine fellows are on. Any tips on what inspired crusade names and/or badges for you?

 

[Aqui]

Hi all,

Somewhat veteran 40k player here, but only recently getting into BT- I wanted to try a chapter that could use some of the newer C:SM units, but still had awesome background and look- long story short, I bought a BT upgrade kit and a box of marines and I'm happily assembling and converting away. That said, I'm a bit stuck on what to choose for the name of the particular crusade these fine fellows are on. Any tips on what inspired crusade names and/or badges for you?

I'm not a Templars player, but when I'm making a DIY in general, I always try to decide a few things early on that will help me shape it:

Where in the Imperium are they (as in which Segmentum, which sub part etc)

What enemies have they or do they face?

Their homeworld/recruiting workd(s) - what kind of people(s) do they have? Are they barbaric and primitve? Are they more technologically advanced?

What are their motivations asides from doing the Emperor's work? Do they have a grudge against a faction or Xenos race?

Once you've answered some of these, hopefully a name will come up and you can go from there Do you have a "theme" for your Crusade? What I mean is, for example, my Iron Hand successors have a steampunk Italian Renaissance feel and the natives of the planet have a predilection for flight (both as a necessity and a genuine love of), which filters through to the Chapter after a sort. What kind of theme did you want for yours?

[Marshal Mattias]

Well, here's the thought-process behind mine:

 

I'm simply a sucker for Latin-esque 'High Gothic' names - to me they are the perfect partner for my crusading space-knights. That means I tend to brainstorm a few words that suit the intended model/character and then run them through a Latin translator/thesaurus and look for ones I like! I have lots of 'Zeal' themed vehicles (Consecrare, Devotio, Alacritas, Zelus Talus) for example. When concocting my Crusade, I wanted a really multi-syllable name to imply a bit of pomp and grandeur. My models were undergoing a lot of stripping/dismantling and re-building, some 8 or 9 years after I put together my first space marines, so the idea of 'rebirth' lead me to 'Renascibilitas,' which was just the mouthful I was looking for! This theme continued to my badge, which has an unusual kind of Aquila/Phoenix hybrid, offset against a traditionally Templar quartered shield and Maltese cross. It is meant to be obviously Black Templar, but stand out as a little different.

 

Maybe that helps, maybe it doesn't :P

[Firepower]

When it comes to Crusades, by in large they tend to be named either after their location: Terran Crusade, Armageddon Crusade, Purging of Lastrati (note here, it doesn't have to have the word Crusade in it), etc.

 

But a lot of players choose incentives like Vengeance Crusade or whatever, others just choose names that sound cool.  And you can always just look at the Templar fluff for pre-existing canon, and decide if you want to do any of those Crusades.

[Marshal_Roujakis]

Crusades are typically named by the Crusade objectives... so if you can build up a fluff of what the High Marshal deigned your objective to be then you could name it after that...

 

For example,

• the Armageddon Crusade was the Crusade to defend the Armageddon System from the invasion of the Orks
• the Terran Crusade was the Crusade intended to free Terra from High Lord Vandire
• Purging of Lastrati - it's in the name
• Mattias' Renascibilitas Crusade - because it's focud was to recover relics and weapons of war and revive them for the Templar cost
• Acebaur's Jericho Crusade - which focuses on eradicating the enemy in the Jericho Reach after the previous Achilles Crusade failed
• Memoria Crusade - which focuses on obtaining relics and the history of the Black Templars
• Nemesis Crusade - which targeted Imotekh after Helbrecht ascended to High Marshal status
• Vengeance Crusade - which Firepower mentioned :p and focuses on seeking Vengeance upon any enemy which has been successful in wiping out a previous Crusade.

[Servant of Dante]

When it comes to Crusades, by in large they tend to be named either after their location: Terran Crusade, Armageddon Crusade, Purging of Lastrati (note here, it doesn't have to have the word Crusade in it), etc.

But a lot of players choose incentives like Vengeance Crusade or whatever, others just choose names that sound cool. And you can always just look at the Templar fluff for pre-existing canon, and decide if you want to do any of those Crusades.

I'm a bit late to the conversation, but unless it was mentioned somewhere else first, the Purging of Lastrati had nothing to do with the Templars as it is described in the 2E Sisters codex. Not super important, but an interesting tidbit.

pg. 11

I guess it's vague enough that you could shoehorn the Templars in if you wanted, but I kinda like to think it was just a bunch of humans being grimdark.

[TheOneTrueZon]

Obviously the Ministorum has its fall backs in the accuracy of it's records. I present to you records from the Eternal Crusader, the Athalor Crusade of the Black Templars was responsible for the purge.

 

http://i.imgur.com/zbOViny.png

 

Basically, we got the word that this planet LOVED purging heretics, and when we came over to give some props and found out it's just a bunch of blood-worshipping cultists. There is no wrath like a disappointed Templar. 

 

So we can shoehorn all the live long day, just as long as that horn part is very very sharp. 

[Servant of Dante]

Obviously the Ministorum has its fall backs in the accuracy of it's records. I present to you records from the Eternal Crusader, the Athalor Crusade of the Black Templars was responsible for the purge.

 

http://i.imgur.com/zbOViny.png

 

Basically, we got the word that this planet LOVED purging heretics, and when we came over to give some props and found out it's just a bunch of blood-worshipping cultists. There is no wrath like a disappointed Templar.

 

So we can shoehorn all the live long day, just as long as that horn part is very very sharp.

Thank you for filling me in! I do love a good purge, and the Templar's do some of the best :P

 

Sorry if I came off a bit harsh :)

[Canadian_F_H]

It seams that the "imperium that restablished contsct" was the black templar crusade that then purged most of the remain 2.5mil people.

 

As for crusade names. I went with the usual route.

 

The Acadian Crusade, is an imperial compliance action taken out against the Acadian subsector. The sector was discovered and briefly brought into compliance during the great crusade but when garrisons were withdrawn to fight during the heresy the local powers reasserted themselves and expelled/killed most imperial officials. Due to poor record keeping during the heresy it wasn't for nearly 10k years that it was realized the subsector was passed due on its imperial tithes, and a crusade was called to claim His due.

[Kisada]

Gradarius Crusade ... 

 

I've yet to complete a functional army list and yet to play in anything resembling a full real game.  This is in part to my vow of only fielding fully painted miniatures and also a severe lack of time.

 

I like Gradarius because it sounds grim darky 40k ish yet gradarius is latin for "going step by step, slow" which I feel best describes my venture into miniature hobbying.  
Each unit I've worked on I've tried to add something new to my skill sets.  My most recent steps being into the world of airbrushing.

[Soldier of Dorn]

My Crusade, the one that'll probably never get finished, or possibly even started, is the Crusade of Ashes. So named because of their habit of putting worlds, literally, to the torch. They'd use a lot of flamers and heavy flamers and meltaguns and multimeltas, y'know, weapons that are good at burnination. I rather like fire. ;)

[Firepower]

Thank you for filling me in! I do love a good purge, and the Templar's do some of the best

Templars arrive to Lestrati- "Oh no no no! You've been purging all wrong. Come here, let me show you the proper way...heretic."

[Canadian_F_H]

Thank you for filling me in! I do love a good purge, and the Templar's do some of the best

Templars arrive to Lestrati- "Oh no no no! You've been purging all wrong. Come here, let me show you the proper way...heretic."

PRAISE THE EMPEROR!

BEHOLD HIS IMPERIAL TRUTH!

CLEANS!

PURGE!

KILL!

BATHE IN THE ETERNAL FLAMES OF HIS MERCY!

[Octothorpe]

Thanks for all the ideas- would have responded sooner, but the downtime happened pretty much at the same time I finally settled on a name. Starting out with a "4th edition style" crusade, with only the "old-school" units available (assuming Vanguard/Sternguard as sword brethren), though as it expands I'll probably add some of the newer toys that Codex chapters get (I have visions of centurions with hurricane bolters riding around in a Crusader). But as far as a name, I was playing around with some random online name generators as I like to name my characters, and ran across Sigismund's name in the "Gothic" one.

Ended up looking at actual Goth words, and settled on "Algianus Crusade". I've taken liberty with the spelling and the ending to make it less awkward to me, but the original (aljanon) translates as "be zealous". As soon as I saw that, I couldn't think of a more fitting name Fluff-wise, I'm seeing them as situated in the Maelstrom region of space, tasked with stomping out all of the enemies of the Imperium, wherever they may show themselves- most of the time I play against Chaos or Tau in friendly games, so that part of the galaxy works well for both. I also kind of see the crusade's character as hearkening back a little more toward "the old ways"- hence starting out with 4th ed units. I read somewhere that combat shields strapped to the bolt pistol arm were considered "the old way" by space marines, so I'll probably be using those where possible as well.