IL XVII - The Warriors of Peace

[~Drakzilla~]

Following the traditions of their homeward, the Warriors pay great respect to their dead, as long as they have lived an honorable life. If possible, they will keep a record of those who have died so that they can add a tablet bearing their name to one of the great shrines back on Jin. 

 

Dreadnoughts are treated with particular veneration, almost seen as a walking shrine to a dead brother. Perhaps more than any other legion, the dreadnoughts are seen as great sources of wisdom, and commanders will often consult them before taking important actions.

[bluntblade]

Wondering about a name for the General's armour. The Equilibrium Plate?

 

Also Drak, have you considered elites any further? I like the idea of Terminators, but assault/palatine blade type warriors could be fluffier.

[~Drakzilla~]

I believe Sim had it as the Armour of the Physician, although Equilibrium Plate sounds pretty sweet as well...

 

Currently, our Palatine Blade equivalents would be the Iron Monks, who can take a variety of weapons. They are in the elites slot currently. For unique units, the Warriors have the Dragonhawks (jetpack-y gunslingers), and the Monks. So I think a terminator bodyguard unit could round out the options pretty nicely.

 

Right now the idea in my head is Tartaros armour, with a power fist and thunder gauntlet loadout, possibly some kind of ranged weapon too.

[bluntblade]

Thunder gauntlet?

 

Built-in storm bolters and such would be my first instinct

[bluntblade]

I'll attempt banners for the established elites and the General's rules page fluff.

 

Do I assume that pre-Jade Jin tech was on par with era of the Three Kingdoms?

[~Drakzilla~]

Thunder gauntlets are lighter power fists that retain their concussive ability but allow the wielder to fight with more dexterity. I.e. +1 WS on the charge. I'm thinking either built in bolter weapons or armor-mounted grenade harnesses.

 

Pre-Jade era Jin is pretty much Three Kingdoms tech, yeah. Although there are a lot of remnants of Old Night tech buried away that might also have made its way into powerful hands on rare occasions, and that Jade would have unearthed or reverse-engineered.

[Sigismund229]

Idea triggered by the name Equilibrium Plate. What if Jade's armour had some kind of in built stabilizors? So doesn't matter where he is, he'll be perfectly stable and therefore able to function with precision?

[bluntblade]

Hmm. How often have we actually seen a Primarch at all disoriented, though?

[~Drakzilla~]

The armour does have built-in medical properties, so I imagine defenses against concussive hits and disorientation or that sort of thing might be included. But yeah, I imagine most Primarchs would be very hard to shake.

 

I think I'm liking the sound of the Equilibrium Plate better, since the apothecary aspect of the Warriors is being downplayed a bit.

[bluntblade]

I'm just thinking that from canon the only time a Primarch was seriously shaken up was Lorgar being hit with a Titan's plasma canon. Certainly Guilliman and Ferrus held their own with skull fractures, delivered by Primarch-forged weapons.

[~Drakzilla~]

So Blunt, do you need any info from me for the elites? I know the terminators are still up in the air.

[Nomus Sardauk]

Also Drak, have you considered elites any further? I like the idea of Terminators, but assault/palatine blade type warriors could be fluffier.

WoP Termies... *mentally pictures* Mmm, I really love the idea of that gorgeous Chinese aesthetic merged with Tartaros plate, that would look so good! Perhaps the head of the WoP's Termies could take inspiration from Cao Ren of DW? He often reminds me of Terminators with his heavy plate armour and defensive fighting style:

 

http://zt.tgbus.com/UploadFiles/356/2011/2/201102221637320904.jpg

[bluntblade]

Cao Ren is an excellent shout.

[~Drakzilla~]

This unit would probably have Terminator armour more akin to this guy, except Tartaros Pattern:

 

 

Having less of a classic Termie "hunchback" would just make them look more maneuverable.

 

For rules, I'm thinking they'd be very elite, so they'd start as squads of three, and pretty expensive. WS 5, Initiative 5, 2 Wounds, 1 native attack but 2 total because of dual specialist weapons. The Thunder Gauntlets give +1 WS on the charge. So the idea is that when they first charge, they'd usually hit first with the Gauntlets for a total of 3 concussive attacks each at WS 6, although only AP 5. This hopefully leaves enemies concussed, so next round they would use the unwieldy power fists to finish the job. Any thoughts?

 

Edit: Revised ideas

Edited July 26, 2017 by ~Drakzilla~

[bluntblade]

The Jade General

Honed on the battlefields of Jin, the Jade General’s mind set him apart even among his brothers. Unsentimental to the point of foregoing a name, many assumed he would be a distant commander, directing rather than leading his troops. However the Primarch swiftly dispelled this notion, viewing his own power as a weapon to be wielded like any other - with utmost precision. Combining an understanding of biology that few could equal with the breathtaking finesse of Jin martial arts, in battle he was a warrior of absolute composure, no matter the chaos around him.

 

While adept with a wide variety of weapons, the General preferred to employ his astonishing martial arts ability - one might say unarmed, but such a word never truly applied to a Primarch. Often his foes were undone by their sheer bewilderment when they faced him. Few things were so incongruous in an age of volkites, plasma and grav-weaponry as a warrior who slew with fists and feet. He became a strange paradox, taciturn in person but inspirational on the battlefield.

 

However, there existed a flaw in his composure; a distrust of psykers, fed by disasters he witnessed on Jin, that bordered on the obsessive. His efforts to combat their spread by engineering an increase in the number of pariahs were blunted first by opposition within the Imperium and then brought to a complete halt at the Vizenko Prosecution. Resentful and with his obsession undimmed, the Jade General seized on Icarion’s offer of the freedom to continue his research. It was not without remorse that he ordered his sons to turn their guns upon their kin, but with cold clarity he deemed it necessary. Along with Kozja he made a point of taking the gene-seed of enemy Astartes where possible, and his ambitions began to curdle.

 

War and Peace

The product of many years’ refinement, these unique thunder gauntlets and boots contained archeotech disruptor-cells of rare potency, surpassing almost any full-sized power fist in sheer power. Coupled with the Primarch’s native strength, speed and skill, they sealed the fates of uncounted foes.

 

The Obsidian Fang

The finest example of Jin blade-crafting ever to exist, the Obsidian Fang was the sword favoured by the Jade General whenever he required such a weapon. As with all his weapons, it was optimised for lightning-quick attacks and economy rather than the heavy blades wielded by many of his brothers. Rumour dogged the blade, claiming that it employed technologies from the Age of Technology which allowed it to sap a foe’s strength.

 

The Equilibrium Plate

Favouring mobility over protection, the Equilibrium plate nonetheless was incredibly strong. The product of several months’ toil in the XVIth Legion’s forges, it was a suit of artificer armour based on Crusade-pattern armour but vastly improved by the artificers. Its already sophisticated systems were further augmented with medicae devices fashioned by the Jade General himself.

[bluntblade]

Pondering the merits of Guan and Ju-Long as nemesis to Raiden, Guan would mean getting away from the one-on-one vendetta Sigismund had with Abaddon. Ju-Long could then come chasing after this worthy opponent later, having been part of the force which broke the last remnants of Icarion's empire, which Raiden was trying to hold together.

[Sigismund229]

Drak, what proportion of the WoP would have chosen to remain on Han by the time the Lions show up?

[~Drakzilla~]

Not sure their homeworld is called Han anymore, I was under the impression it was named Jin.

 

Also, I wasn't aware there was going to be an attack on it, but what time frame would this be occurring?

[Sigismund229]

Around 037, the Crimson Lions sack Han/Jin, or at least that was sim's and my idea.

[simison]

The idea is that early into the Insurrection, Alexandros charges Hectarion and the Lions to secure Segmentums Pacificus and Obscurus. Although he orders Hectarion to ignore any Legion homeworlds, the Crimson Lions assault both Jin and Mexicatii. 

[~Drakzilla~]

Thinking of tweaking the name to "Jiin" to give a different feel. 

 

Anyways, I imagine that early on in the war, the Warriors would want to retain a sizable force on their homeworld for the probable event of Imperial retaliation. So I'd say around a third of their number would remain and stand guard, in addition to PDF troops. Once word of an actual invasion came, their allied Forgeworld Xei-An would also send reinforcements.

 

So basically around 20,000-25,000 Warriors of Peace.

[simison]

Let me know if that works out for you.

 

So, are you dropping the mass exodus idea now? Which isn't a problem for the narrative, but just want to confirm.

[MikhalLeNoir]

No long march? That would be a shame.

[~Drakzilla~]

Nope, no intention of dropping that. I think it would be a really neat moment in the Warriors' history.

[simison]

Gotcha.