Scars of Rangdan

[depthcharge12]

"It was the scars from these battles that would change them..."

 

http://i911.photobucket.com/albums/ac316/treacyjohn2/844FB7AC-1421-4A1B-B208-B8724301A9D8_zpsroefwucn.jpg

 

Pict capture:

 

+++Unfinished Thallax Cohort rushed to 1st Legion to combat overwhelming Rangdan Xenos+++

 

Origin: Xana forgeworld

 

 

 

 

This is my attempt to get back into the hobby...lots of ideas...need execution ;) There will be Dark Angels...

 

[depthcharge12]

I'm planning to make some veterans of the Xenocides using Medusan Immortal bodies, also some cataphractii terminators with Deathwing command squad torsos...I'm trying to put some thematic life into my army.

 

Watching Athrawes bring fully painted armies to our games has shamed me enough with my bare plastic ;.(

[bluntblade]

Looking forward to seeing the force coalesce, Depth

[IronDrake28]

This sounds exciting, looking forward to seeing more. :)

[Reaver Lord Soul]

Certainly looking forward to seeing what happens here :)

[A D-B]

It begins!

[Kelborn]

1st Legion + AdMec vs Xenos?

Count me interested. :)

[Marshal Rohr]

Glad to see you back DC12. I tried sending you a PM but the it's giving me an array error. Shoot me a message when you get a chance :)

[Olis]

This looks like it might be interesting indeed. Looking forward to more, brother.

[depthcharge12]

"The Angels Tenebrae I shall send to deal with this evil. First blood is their right..."

 

- The Emperor of Mankind, Rangdan Apocrypha

 

http://i911.photobucket.com/albums/ac316/treacyjohn2/06CFE31D-DCDD-4BAB-B734-1E3918D12CE1_zpsbdrjm8xt.jpg

 

+++Pict capture recorded by Lazarus the Bard depicting part of Veteran Squad 'Revenant'+++

 

+Left to right: Brother Pellinore, Brother-Sergeant Balmorgineas, and Brother Aglaval the Protean+

 

 

**Note...Veterans are armed with extremis-authorized micro acid bolter rounds. Reserved for only the most foul of Xenos.

[Spaced Hulk]

Nice work mate! One thing worth mentioning though is that the Dark Angel's knightly customs are heavily implied to originate from the Orders of Caliban (at least both HH: 1 & HH: 6 mention the Legion changing dramatically after the Lion is discovered), whilst the Rangdan Xenocides possibly happened well before that point.

So while the First Legion may have referred to themselves as knights during Rangdan, it's also quite likely that was a much later development.

I'm hedging my bets with my own army's fluff by only writing about the closing stages of the Xenocides, as I reckon the mopping up operations of such an apocalyptic campaign may have dragged on for a considerable amount of time,

Of course, when the next HH book is released it will almost certainly expand and clarify this background completely, but until then we're kind of just making educated guesses.

[Reyner]

Awesome! Looking forward to progress as I love the Rangdan conflicts and hell MK3 1st Legion rocks!

[Marshal Rohr]

Nice work mate! One thing worth mentioning though is that the Dark Angel's knightly customs are heavily implied to originate from the Orders of Caliban (at least both HH: 1 & HH: 6 mention the Legion changing dramatically after the Lion is discovered), whilst the Rangdan Xenocides possibly happened well before that point.

So while the First Legion may have referred to themselves as knights during Rangdan, it's also quite likely that was a much later development.

I'm hedging my bets with my own army's fluff by only writing about the closing stages of the Xenocides, as I reckon the mopping up operations of such an apocalyptic campaign may have dragged on for a considerable amount of time,

Of course, when the next HH book is released it will almost certainly expand and clarify this background completely, but until then we're kind of just making educated guesses.

I think the Lion was found before Rangdan Xenocides. He and Perturabo were found around the same time, and only two Primarchs after Dorn and Guilliman (both of which were found like 50 years into the Crusade).

[depthcharge12]

 

Nice work mate! :tu: One thing worth mentioning though is that the Dark Angel's knightly customs are heavily implied to originate from the Orders of Caliban (at least both HH: 1 & HH: 6 mention the Legion changing dramatically after the Lion is discovered), whilst the Rangdan Xenocides possibly happened well before that point.

 

So while the First Legion may have referred to themselves as knights during Rangdan, it's also quite likely that was a much later development.

 

I'm hedging my bets with my own army's fluff by only writing about the closing stages of the Xenocides, as I reckon the mopping up operations of such an apocalyptic campaign may have dragged on for a considerable amount of time,

 

Of course, when the next HH book is released it will almost certainly expand and clarify this background completely, but until then we're kind of just making educated guesses.

 

I think the Lion was found before Rangdan Xenocides. He and Perturabo were found around the same time, and only two Primarchs after Dorn and Guilliman (both of which were found like 50 years into the Crusade).

Lion discovered - 849

 

Third Rangdan Xenocide - 890 (book 5)

 

Forty one good years for the Lion to exert his influence ;)

[Spaced Hulk]

I think the Lion was found before Rangdan Xenocides. He and Perturabo were found around the same time, and only two Primarchs after Dorn and Guilliman (both of which were found like 50 years into the Crusade).

That's not really the impression I get from HH: Retribution though. This is the exact text from the DA section:

"Once the most numerous and powerful of the Space Marine Legions, their numbers would be depleted and primacy ended by decades of savage warfare, particularly in the wars of the Rangdan Xenocides, one of the most apocalyptic campaigns of the Great Crusade. The scars of these battles would change them, as would their reuinification with their Primarch Lion El'Jonson and the introduction of fresh blood from his adopted world of Caliban. A death world dominated by a warlike, feudal society of techno-barbarians, Caliban's warrior orders provided fertile ground for the Legion's regeneration, and it's martial codes and practices were extensively incorporated and adopted by the rebuilding Legion."

Although anything can be read subjectively, I personally interpret the chain of events from that text as this:

- The First Legion, most powerful and numerous of their kind, spend somewhere between twenty and ninety years crusading (it can't be any more than that, as the text describes decades of savage warfare, not centuries.)

- At some point during this period, they are deployed to counter the xenos threat at Rangda (from the info in HH: Betrayal, we know one of the Xenocides definately features the Slaugth, as they mortally wound the 12th Legion's Master of Ordnance, who then spends a century in a Lucifer dreadnought before the liberation of Sarum, where Angron commanded his full legion for the first time and the War Hounds become the World Eaters. I think this is another indication that Rangdan happened very early in the Crusade.)

- The First Legion suffers high attrition during the Xenocides, losing it's status as the most numerous and powerful. Their power may have been waning before Rangdan, but I think it's fairly safe to say that campaign pushes them over the edge, otherwise it wouldn't have been given such emphasis in the text.

- They are reuinited with their Primarch and start rebuilding their strength, using the knightly orders of Caliban to increase their numbers and adopting many of their traditions and martial codes in the process.

I suppose you could possibly interpret the text from Retribution to say that both Rangdan and the discovery of Caliban happened either concurrently or very close together. However, it definately says that the Legion's rebuilding and regeneration is very much influenced by Caliban's knightly orders. So the only other scenario is that the First Legion is badly mauled by other campaigns, reunites with Caliban and the Lion, rebuilds, then gets deployed to Rangdan, where they get mauled again. To me that doesn't seem to be the intention of how that text is written at all. It also may also contradict the info from Descent of Angels/Fallen Angels, but it's been a whilesince I've read those and I can't remember if they mention the Lion's first campaign with his legion.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not questioning your time scale of the Lion being found. To be honest, I don't know enough about the order of the Primarchs rediscovery to really comment on that. However, in my opinion ,I think that the Rangdan Xenocides (at least the ones where the First suffer so badly) happens pretty early in the Great Crusade.

In the section from HH:6 about the Xana Incursion, it states that the Imperium of 846.M430 doesn't try to invade the forgeworld of Xana, because the Rangdan Xenocides, "the greatest existential threat of the Imperium's first century of existence" is looming on the horizon.

Now, all the information above could be completely contradictory, and we won't know for definate whether the Lion fought at Rangda until at least HH: Book 8 is released (unless Alan Bligh, or someone who knows him - hint hint ADB feels like answering our questions).

However from the info we currently have, my personal opinion is that whatever evil the First Legion faced at Rangda, they faced it without their Primarch.

[Marshal Rohr]

I think the Lion was found before Rangdan Xenocides. He and Perturabo were found around the same time, and only two Primarchs after Dorn and Guilliman (both of which were found like 50 years into the Crusade).

That's not really the impression I get from HH: Retribution though. This is the exact text from the DA section:

"Once the most numerous and powerful of the Space Marine Legions, their numbers would be depleted and primacy ended by decades of savage warfare, particularly in the wars of the Rangdan Xenocides, one of the most apocalyptic campaigns of the Great Crusade. The scars of these battles would change them, as would their reuinification with their Primarch Lion El'Jonson and the introduction of fresh blood from his adopted world of Caliban. A death world dominated by a warlike, feudal society of techno-barbarians, Caliban's warrior orders provided fertile ground for the Legion's regeneration, and it's martial codes and practices were extensively incorporated and adopted by the rebuilding Legion."

Although anything can be read subjectively, I personally interpret the chain of events from that text as this:

- The First Legion, most powerful and numerous of their kind, spend somewhere between twenty and ninety years crusading (it can't be any more than that, as the text describes decades of savage warfare, not centuries.)

- At some point during this period, they are deployed to counter the xenos threat at Rangda (from the info in HH: Betrayal, we know one of the Xenocides definately features the Slaugth, as they mortally wound the 12th Legion's Master of Ordnance, who then spends a century in a Lucifer dreadnought before the liberation of Sarum, where Angron commanded his full legion for the first time and the War Hounds become the World Eaters. I think this is another indication that Rangdan happened very early in the Crusade.)

- The First Legion suffers high attrition during the Xenocides, losing it's status as the most numerous and powerful. Their power may have been waning before Rangdan, but I think it's fairly safe to say that campaign pushes them over the edge, otherwise it wouldn't have been given such emphasis in the text.

- They are reuinited with their Primarch and start rebuilding their strength, using the knightly orders of Caliban to increase their numbers and adopting many of their traditions and martial codes in the process.

I suppose you could possibly interpret the text from Retribution to say that both Rangdan and the discovery of Caliban happened either concurrently or very close together. However, it definately says that the Legion's rebuilding and regeneration is very much influenced by Caliban's knightly orders. So the only other scenario is that the First Legion is badly mauled by other campaigns, reunites with Caliban and the Lion, rebuilds, then gets deployed to Rangdan, where they get mauled again. To me that doesn't seem to be the intention of how that text is written at all. It also may also contradict the info from Descent of Angels/Fallen Angels, but it's been a whilesince I've read those and I can't remember if they mention the Lion's first campaign with his legion.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not questioning your time scale of the Lion being found. To be honest, I don't know enough about the order of the Primarchs rediscovery to really comment on that. However, in my opinion ,I think that the Rangdan Xenocides (at least the ones where the First suffer so badly) happens pretty early in the Great Crusade.

In the section from HH:6 about the Xana Incursion, it states that the Imperium of 846.M430 doesn't try to invade the forgeworld of Xana, because the Rangdan Xenocides, "the greatest existential threat of the Imperium's first century of existence" is looming on the horizon.

Now, all the information above could be completely contradictory, and we won't know for definate whether the Lion fought at Rangda until at least HH: Book 8 is released (unless Alan Bligh, or someone who knows him - hint hint ADB feels like answering our questions).

However from the info we currently have, my personal opinion is that whatever evil the First Legion faced at Rangda, they faced it without their Primarch.

Oh, awesome :) I missed that in book 6! Thanks for the clarification!

[Spaced Hulk]

Lion discovered - 849

Third Rangdan Xenocide - 890 (book 5)

Forty one good years for the Lion to exert his influence

Obviously I was still typing as you posted this! Two things immediately spring to mind.

One, is there a contradiction between Alan Bligh's history of the Great Crusade and the Primarch discovery order?

Two. The Third Rangdan Xenocide happened in 890.M30. When did the First Rangdan Xenocide occur? Which Xenocide did the First Legion take part in? How long did the Xenocides actually last?

I'm honestly not trying to spoil your armies fluff mate. I've just spent a lot of time reading and thinking about this, and I think the available information is still vague enough to warrant a bit of caution.

I'm actually taking a break from the B&C for a while now, as I feel like I'm spending more time reading forums than writing or painting, which are the parts of the hobby I enjoy most but are also, sadly, most easily distracted from. So my apologies for not continuing the discussion any further.

I wish you well with your project mate, all the best .

[Kol Saresk]

Descent of Angels definitely does not feature the Xenocides. Lion conquers Caliban, Legion comes to Caliban, then the Lion and Legion are visiting a world recently brought into Compliance, and then they're killing a demon. Then Luther&Co. are being shipped back to Caliban while the Lion keeps the guy who tried to kill the Emperor around as a close personal friend. Whose head he literally punches off in a short story.

[Spaced Hulk]

@ Kol Saresk: Ah, the wonders of the Black Library's DA HH fiction (not including Savage Weapons of course, and I haven't read Angels of Caliban yet). This is why I'm trying to write my own You'd have got a Like btw, but I've used my quota.

Now I'm taking a break for a while (at least until my self resolve weakens and my B&C addiction kicks in again. So will probably be posting again tomorrow )

[depthcharge12]

@spaced hulk

 

Completely understandable man, it makes sense to me as well...more or less it's just a literary piece to attach knight to surmise grandeur lol

[Vazzy]

Keeping an eye on this, as I'm starting up Dark Angels as well. I may PM you later!

[exsanguis]

I personally think the Rangdan Xenocide would have occurred before the Lions discovery, as that would have allowed the knightly orders of Caliban to make a far greater impact on the Legions mentality and structure once he was reunited with them(i.e. once most of the Terran vets were dead).

 

Either way, I hope FW put some more work into this! Some of the threads that are popping up around it are excellent.

[depthcharge12]

How shall your Angels fight, Lord?

 

...arm them with fire.

 

What if they are attacked from without, Lord?

 

...clad them in steel.

 

What if they are attacked from within, Lord?

 

...arm them with faith.

 

- Primus Litany, Principal Bellicosa

 

 

http://i911.photobucket.com/albums/ac316/treacyjohn2/9DF50324-13DC-4AB2-82F8-8B238509FB43_zps53pg8gpp.jpg

 

++Veteran Terminator Squad Mordaunt++

 

+Inquiry: Possible detachment from Deathwing protocol? Unconfirmed.+

[Forward Assist]

Whilst I'm not usually a fan of the 40k look for Heresy era DA, those look sweet!

[Spaced Hulk]

Those are brilliant mate! ☺ Did it take much converting/alteration to get the Knight's torsos to fit the Cataphractii legs?