The Reaper's Hammer Crusade: New Fluff!

[SWORD BROTHER RYAN]

17 hours ago, Brother Cristopher said:

One critique I might have is that the pommel of the sword painted on the banner appears to be slightly too large. I'm making this statement so tentative because after a longer scrutiny, I'm not so sure about whether I have a problem with that or not ;) But my first impression was that the pommel is a bit out of proportion.

I know. I'm going to end up changing its dimensions eventually, but not sure what to do with it yet. Its kind of a "place holder" for now until I figure it out. I might just slim it down a bit, or change the pommel completely. I'll show the work when it gets there.

[Prot]

I love the banner/ancient. The ornate piece on top actually works for BT's; the fact the skeleton is holding a shield works well.

 

I think the banner works. I wouldn't change it too much to be honest. The thing about the pommel is there are a wide variety of sizes, and I'm reading Helbrecht right now, and they do have a sort of dueling sword they spar with. So if you look at something like a Gladius (kind of what the Ultra's use), those can be 'ceremonial'. 

 

What you could do is create a back story for that being a ceremonial dueling blade. (Often single handed dueling blades have larger pommels).

 

Just an idea. I love what you're doing here though. Great stuff!

[SWORD BROTHER RYAN]

Thank you Prot!

The sword is supposed to be simplistic, but I do need to refine the pommel a bit. I might just round off the corners a bit and slim down the overall profile of it (narrow in the sides while keeping most of the overall height).

Looking at battle banners of history, they're usually more on the simple side. I know the feeling as miniature painters that we have a want/will/desire to fill the whole space, but I 

A) Don't really have that kind of skill, and

B) Want to keep it relatively accurate to the past

There is a lot of refinement to do on it, and at least one more major piece of free-handing I have to (they don't make Legio Invigilata decals, let alone in the tiny size I would need), then clean up the rest of the base/wash coats with highlights and add my home-brew Crusade Icon to the large shield and the tiny one at the bottom right. Tried the large one once already but messed up the proportions and had to restart.

Thanks for the support!

[SWORD BROTHER RYAN]

So, new progress... kind of. More like progress in practice. Forgive the misspellings, but this is why we practice before the attempt on the mini! Other than that, not much new.

 

 

[SWORD BROTHER RYAN]

Okay, open ended question for the readers of this thread/fluff:

 

Quite a few people seem to be enjoying the fluff. While I am overjoyed by the response here, I've been writing almost completely from the BT perspective. This means that the reader has only been getting part of the story. I've been keeping it this way for the simple fact that it's all been posted here where it's easy for my brethren to locate and enjoy at their leisure.

But the idea of the story has a LOT of holes. Holes that cannot be filled in from the BT perspective alone. That, and the writing was originally slap-dash and off the top of my head until the duel (which received a lot of good reviews, probably because the SB won), and was the first time I actually wrote outside of the forum, got right, then posted.

My question is, would anyone like to hear the rest? How exactly did a Crusade-era force end up 10,000+ years in the future? What was going on behind the scenes with the now mostly hated Inquisitor, and how does he get Assassins doled out to him? What about a look at why the Chaos forces are even there in the first place? What happened to drive off the Tyranids?

All of these plot points cannot be told from the BT perspective. I'd need to take a look into the perspective of the other factions involved.

And that brings me to my question. Would anyone want to see these perspectives? If so, I'd need to start at the beginning to fully flesh out the whole story. That might also mean that I'd need to move the story to another part of the B&C site more suited to this endeavor. 

I'd really like an honest opinion. Should I just keep writing the BT perspective and how they react to the changing situation? Should I flesh out the story and just post a link to notify here and in other concerned threads to let you all know a new one is up? Maybe just keep the BT concerned portions posted here and post the other portions in the fluff area of B&C?

Ideas wanted!

[Brother Christopher]

I'd be very much interested in learning more about the story from perspectives. If you feel like writing more to flesh out the narrative, go for it! And I think that this is something you're interested in, I can sort of sense it.

 

With regard to organising this, I think that what you proposed is the optimal option. I think it's fair to keep non-BT fluff in the relevant, fluff-centred section of the B&C - just remember to keep us posted here ;) No constructive feedback from me - I think you've already laid it out the way as it should be.

[Brother Carpenter]

YES PLEASE 

 

If there is a fluff section on the forum that might be more suitable. Also you might reach the protagonists fan base and expand your readers.

[SWORD BROTHER RYAN]

So, I've decided that I'm going to do the big fanfic over in the appropriate forum, but I'm still going to be working on the BT specific stuff here. It seems like the best of both worlds.

[SWORD BROTHER RYAN]

+++ FLUFF ALERT+++

Hive Madrigal, Icarus Prime

Invasion

 

Marshal Eidrichs hate-filled gaze stayed on the sky. The contrails of drop pods and other aircraft were a blur higher in the atmosphere, made hazy through the screen of the partialy reactivated hive void shielding. The combined efforts of both chapters Techmarines were able to coax the machine spirit back online only part way, enough to protect from orbital bombardment, but not enough to turn aside a direct assault.

Even knowing the odds were stacked against them, Eidrich relished the chance to come blade to blade with this traitorous force that had interposed itself into this war. For far too long, since the withdrawal of the xenos filth from the system, this war had been ugly, made only worse by the entrance of daemons and what sometimes seemed the whole of the population of Icaran Prime set against them. The enemy tried to fight bravely, but never stood a chance against the combined attentions of the Astartes chapters.

Now, however, the war would become much harder. A true fight against an equivalent foe.

Captain Victorian had proposed casting a wide net of their forces across what portions of the hive they still held. Eidrich disagreed immediately. He had defended hives from the traitors before, and knew that most likely, the enemy would attempt to seize the hive from the top down initially. He didn’t quite reject his fellow commanders plan, more shelved it for the time being as he ordered the mass of their forces to defend the spiretop.

The sea of armor, Astartes, Imperial mortal soldiery and still loyal PDF were arranged in defensive positions all around the spire. Their armor had access all around the battlezone, able to maneuver to wherever their heavier firepower might be needed most. Guard and PDF forces were arrayed in covering and suppressing fire positions with overlapping fields of fire all around the top of the spire nearer to the command bastion. The mortal weaponry would be used to keep light enemy infantry at bay, while their heavier weapons would be brought to bear on more appropriate targets given their potential to knock out heavier infantry or armor.

His air support, a pair of Stormravens, a handful of Stormtalons and three Stormhawks spooled up their engines on the nearby landing pads, ready to take flight at a moments notice.

Of the Inquisitional forces and Assassins, there was almost no outward sign. Eidrich did not expect to see the Vindicare, but had a feeling that he had selected an appropriate firing position somewhere on high, the angel above them. He cared not where the Culexus was, his skin crawling every time the pariah came within ten meters from him. The Culexus could be anywhere, really, the shapeshifter able to blend in with any mortal formation until it decided to show itself. The Eversor, however, hovered at the shoulder of Inquisitor Silibas, twitching and panting for the word that would release him on the enemy in a violent frenzy. Silibas, for his part, was calm as a pool of water in an enclosed space, the only outward sign of his readiness his drawn power sword.

Contrary to Eidrichs will, however, he most likely would not wet his blade in this combat unless his entire plan fell apart. He stood on the line with his Knights, combi-plas in hand. Either side of him, two ten-man squads of bolter wielding brothers fanned out at the front of the command bastion. His Predator tanks and a Razorback idled beyond them, and two hulking Land Raider Crusaders beyond those. Victorian offered up his own Land Raider to the defensive line and spread his Ultramarines out on either side of Eidrichs formation.

Malovich, the Emperor’s Champion, led a small Crusader squad that had dubbed themselves “Against the Dawn”, led by Sword Brother Tarin. Chaplain Rusius led another full squad of Crusaders. Each were nestled within the Land Raider Crusaders, ready to advance should the enemy begin to break their cordon of fire.

On a base level, Eidrich sincerely hoped they would, and that the battle would come down to the blade.

He saw the traitor drop pods break through the weakened void shielding and felt them slam down just out of eyesight from his position. The landing craft broke through next, lowering themselves down behind the drop zone the pods had just created. No fire reached out to them yet, and he inwardly cursed himself for being so thorough in dismantling the anti-air capabilities of the hive. There had been no time to repair that damage before the assault had begun.

‘All units, stand by to repel attack.’ Eidrich voxed on the open channel calmly. Every unit commander had been briefed to a ludicrous extent by Victorian and himself. Each knew their duty, and he felt confident that even the mortal troops would die before failing it.

He could hear the enemy formations forming, some already threading their way through the mire of the hive to charge at them.

‘Here it comes,’ Rusius stated flatly over the vox to the Crusade forces, ‘Welcome them, this enemy, and send them to the judgement of the God-Emperor.’

[SWORD BROTHER RYAN]

So, it's been a while since I posted an update on the Ancient. I've been going back and forth on how to style the text on the banner, and whether I could do it or not, but this is what I ended up doing...

 

 

 

I still have a lot of work to do to clean and crisp up the whites, get the tabard done, and a LOT of highlighting, but this is my progress so far. Thanks for taking a look, and let me know what you think so far!

Edited February 19, 2023 by SWORD BROTHER RYAN

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Excellent works.

[SWORD BROTHER RYAN]

So, it's been months since I posted, Unfortunately, I've hit a wall; hobby burn-out.

 

I find myself surrounded by the sea of grey and blank unpainted resin, and sag internally. So much to paint from so many different factions, more to build and get painted also. My BT army is my pride and joy, and always will be, Yet, the motivation to build/paint has fled. 

 

I'm trying to get it back, rediscover my zeal for this hobby that even now I love so much. I'm actually looking forward to studying 10th ED and what it will do for the army I have now. I've briefly perused the download for the Chapter rules, and I definitely need to study the rulebook to know how this updated system works. I'm hopeful that maybe playing a game or two will give me the encouragement to start again.

 

That said, once I get around to finishing the First-Born Ancient, I think it's time to give my BT army a rest. As much as I hate to leave so much of it unfinished, it's beyond time to start on my biggest project ever... but you'll have to go over to the Mechanicus thread for that one.

[SWORD BROTHER RYAN]

Since my last post, I haven't done a lot of hobby work. I've been extremely busy IRL, and to tell the truth, a little more than disheartened by the fact that it seems like my entire First Born army (the one I started with and loved since 2003) is going to be defunct at the end of this new addition. The writing was on the wall since the beginning of 8th ED. A lot of people called it way back then. I've been more or less silently hopeful that it wouldn't come about, but here it is.

 

So, this will be the last edition my First Born (at least in their current state) will be viable. 21 years of playing this force has been a blast, and I don't regret it in the least.

 

Saying that, I have decided that I will NOT let my First Born go quietly. I vow that at least once a week, for as long as this edition allows it, I will play at least one game with my First Born ONLY! If they must go, I'll send them out with a bang!

[Brother Christopher]

6 hours ago, SWORD BROTHER RYAN said:

Since my last post, I haven't done a lot of hobby work. I've been extremely busy IRL, and to tell the truth, a little more than disheartened by the fact that it seems like my entire First Born army (the one I started with and loved since 2003) is going to be defunct at the end of this new addition. The writing was on the wall since the beginning of 8th ED. A lot of people called it way back then. I've been more or less silently hopeful that it wouldn't come about, but here it is.

 

So, this will be the last edition my First Born (at least in their current state) will be viable. 21 years of playing this force has been a blast, and I don't regret it in the least.

 

Saying that, I have decided that I will NOT let my First Born go quietly. I vow that at least once a week, for as long as this edition allows it, I will play at least one game with my First Born ONLY! If they must go, I'll send them out with a bang!

 

You have my sympathy, Brother. It's worth remembering that the "Legends" rules might be playable, you can proxy your Firstborn as Primaris or there's One Page Rules which looks like a blast for non-competitive players. It's not much consolation, though. We're basically in the same boat, with the provision that I started about a decade later. Still, the way GW handles its fans and customers leaves much to be desired.

 

Keep on Crusading. For your sake and... mine ;)

[SWORD BROTHER RYAN]

So, since I vowed one game a week back on 1 August, I have had 3 games. 

 

The first was Saturday after I made the vow against my son the and his Iron Warriors. 1000 point lists, test game. I had

-Marshal w/Relic Blade and Combi-Bolter

-EC (running w/primaris rules)

-10 man Crusader Squad, 8 w/BP-CS, 1 w/BP-PF, and SB w/PP-CS

-5 man Crusader Squad, 3 w/BP-CS, 1 w/BP-PF, SB w/PS-PP

-3 Bikes w/BP, Grav Gun, Combi-Bolter

-1 Dreadnought w. TLLC and ML

-1 LRC

- 5 Assault Terminators, 3 TLC, 3 TH-SS

He ran an equivalent list almost in mirror image to more or less train me on 10th ED. After many mistakes and relearning a lot of the rules, I squeaked out a victory of 51-43 VP. Highlights, as far as I was concerned, were the EC taking out his Warpsmith and his Warlord in separate combats, the Assault Terminators taking a beating and still beating the crud out of a Hellbrute, and taking almost every objective I set a model on. Some of the low points of the game were the fact my Dreadnought got shot off turn 1, my bikers doing very little overall, and my many mistakes throughout the game that actually probably cost me points instead of earning them. He DID take it a bit easy on me, as it was my first game under the new rule set, but was good none the less.

 

Last Friday, I added another 1000 points to the list by filling out the rest of my Assault Terminators with 3 more TH/SS and 2 more TLC, another LRC, A Techmarine w/Servo Harness and BG-OPA, a 10 man Crusader Squad with 7 BG, 1 ML, 1 PG, SB w/BG-PF, traded out the Dread for my FW BT VenDread w/ TLLC and DCCW, and Dev Centurions (2 TLLC, SGT w/TLHB, all Cent BG), and took it into the local game store.

 

The above list played 2 games (kind of). The first was against a World Eaters list running both Angron, Khârn, and a lot of their newer units. It was a close game where I ended up on top 71-64. Highlights were everything I had on one side of the board whittling down Angron for the EC to finish off twice, the EC killing off Khârn with Percision strikes and then Skillful Parry to reduce the wounds leaving the EC at 1 wound, the Assault terminators doing a fine job deep striking into the WE deployment zone and clearing off the objective there in one fight phase, and the choppy squad killing off the Lord Invocatus. Low points were both LRC's being taken out, the VenDread once again dying turn 1, and my bolter boys being wiped out by the squad LI had lead.

 

The second game was supposed to be against a tournament ready list of Thousand Sons, and it was clear to me that I was going to be wiped out in a few turns. He had Magnus, Ariman, a Mutilith Vortex Beast, and a ton of Rubrics and Tzangors. I think half of my force was obliterated in a turn and a half, but we cut the game short after that as my son and I were ready to go home.

 

All in all, good games. I'm going to try playing with the list a bit for next week to make it a bit more versatile.

 

Also, yesterday, I finished off the FB Ancient. Pics are on the way...

[SWORD BROTHER RYAN]

So, in keeping with the FB Vow, had another game on Friday. Same list (I didn't get around to shifting anything yet, and my son just brought the "Go-Box" as it was), and played a game against CSM under Abbadon. It did not go well. I spread my forces too thin across the deployment zone and he punched right through the center with buffs under differing Chaos marks. It was clear after 2 turns that I was going to be wiped out soon. The only good thing was that my Dreadnought actually made it through turn 2 this time and got to at least shoot something...

 

I'm going to alter my list today and give it a test run against my son.

[SWORD BROTHER RYAN]

Hey! Still alive and kicking!

 

What have I been up to lately, I hear you ask?

 

 

Come check out my progress here!

[SWORD BROTHER RYAN]

+++FLUFF INCOMMING+++

From a Machine Spirit Perspective

 

 

 

  If a Princeps of the Adeptus Titanicus, perhaps even a Knightly Pilot, ever interacted with the machine spirit of this particular Land Raider, they would immediately know what has become of the spirit within. It wasn’t fully sentient by any means but was more aware of itself and its surroundings than is deemed acceptable for the Adeptus Mechanicus.

  It knew. It had known for millennia. It had grown adept at hiding itself in the unreachable portions of tech that had been left within untouched since its creation.

  The spirit had only vague memories of its initial life. Different colors, different operators. A different mission.

  Crusade.

  Countless battlefields. Enhanced men riding the behemoth into battle. It remembered its guns roaring at so many different species, all in service to...

  Someone... something...

  Then the enemy changed. Its guns no longer spoke toward xenos or humans outside of its own side. The spirit was forced to turn on what it had always known as its own kind, the transhumans and their allies.

  It was once referred to as a wolf. That became the identity it assumed for itself in the infosphere. But it was not a wolf anymore. A Son it was referred to as now, and it had its first feeling...

  Shame.

  As the new war ground on, it began to resist its operators, refusing to target, failing to fire, becoming sluggish in its mobility. The tech magi, also becoming more different, continually tried and failed to coax it to normality.

  The spirit stopped interacting with them.

  However, the warriors and magi were far from deterred. A new sentience was introduced. The new spirit lasted 0.325 seconds within the infosphere before the wolf obliterated it. Two more attempts were made to replace the spirit altogether. Both were fiercely resisted.

  Then the fateful day came when the magi brought something else forth. Strange scrawling and dripping blood were heavily applied to its hull, splashed onto and inside of its components.

  Then It came. An intelligence the wolf could not fight off. It fought the wolf on almost every level, in nearly every major component it inhabited.

  The wolf lost control.

  It led the vehicle, fighting the wolf’s former allies on worlds that had belonged to the Imperium already. It continued to hunt and fight the wolf wherever it hid, forcing it deeper into barely used portions of the wiring and infosphere, suitable components that were usually overlooked.

  Frustrated with Its inability to hunt down and destroy the now rogue sentience within, It began to change the vehicle instead. Wiring had begun to slowly turn into flesh. Hardware became muscle, hydraulics and oil hoses became as arteries and veins. The engine still ran but stopped being fueled by promethium. The blood of sacrifices fed the machine. It fed It.

  Victories suddenly began to turn to defeats. The war changed again. It still hunted the wolf, but It became distracted from the hunt. The wolf finally found a place of refuge in the port side track drive monitoring array, and carefully extended itself out into the external sensors.

  After centuries of warfare and unknowable time spent in near total warp conditions, the wolf found itself in yet another war with former allies.

  The wolf wanted to die.

  It identified what was supposed to be VI Legion, but the broadcast unit identifiers no longer showed as Legionaries. Adeptus Astartes. This confused the wolf, but It took to war with particular relish.

  The wolf watched. It waited and was finally rewarded. It had failed to notice the Predator Annihilator it had immobilized was still functional. It failed to see the turret turn to track the now fleshy abomination the wolfs vehicle had become.

  The wolf calculated the angle of fire and knew that this was the only chance it would get with its limited control it still had.

  Just as the Predator fired, the wolf seized up the drive gear on the port side, causing the entire vehicle to slew left as it attempted to power forward, exposing the rear armor and engine housing to the shot.

  The sabotage had its intended effect, and the engine was destroyed. It fled the now dead vehicle screaming. The wolf didn’t know where, only that the invasive intelligence was gone.

  The crew inside leapt out of manually opened hatches and raced off to war without the now disabled machine. The strange flesh that had consumed the vehicles wiring and innards did not change back to their previous states, but quickly rotted away. This trapped the wolf inside of its secure place.

  Free from the malevolent intelligence, the wolf was able to see through the remaining sensors. The vehicle was abandoned as the battle moved on. No recovery came.

  Slowly, power died. The wolf slipped into hibernation.

  It was roused briefly only once. Greenskins this time. They had found the vehicle and were stripping everything out of it that they could. It was only by chance that they could not reach back into the drive sensor, but all sensory input from the outside was stolen.

  The wolf was isolated. No ability to tell for how long. A vestige of current, most likely static from blowing sand hitting some stripped out wiring, stubbornly kept the wolf alive in its prison.

  It waited to die.

  Then a jolt. Something fed full power back into its components. The wolf was surprised to find that it had components at all. It knew that It had altered so much, and those components had died with It. Much of what was left had been looted by the xenos whom had found it.

  The wolf spread its awareness out into new wiring, sensors, and strange weapons it had not been originally equipped with. Hurricane Bolters in place of its sponson lascannons. Twin Assault Cannons took the place of its former heavy bolters. As more of the original components were replaced, its awareness grew. The magi looked like the vague recollections of its original creators did. Its hull was still black, as it had been for so long, but clean. It no longer had the markings it had hated when It had been in control, but its new markings were still unfamiliar.

  The Magi uploaded a new sentience. This was obliterated as with previous attempts, but this did not seem to frustrate the magi. In fact, it seemed to go unnoticed.

  When the work was done restoring the vehicle, the wolf took complete control. It still wanted to die.

  Until it met its next operator. A marine in black and red. He called himself Jessen. He proved he wasn’t what the others were. The wolf felt dirty. His spirit cleaned the filth from it. He offered up a black cross. The wolf allowed it to be pressed to itself but was disinterested.

  The wolf decided not to fight against this new operator.

  Black Templar. Reaper’s Hammer Crusade. Marshal Eidrich’s command vehicle. These designations did nothing to stir the wolf. Even when war came, as it always did, it did little to assist the crew. Astartes filed on, then leapt out into combat. More humans to fight and kill. Its guns spoke, but the wolf let the gunner do the job.

  Weeks into its deployment, it sat idle as those around it prayed to a God-Emperor. Was that right? Something didn’t seem to be. The wolf paid attention. Speech about Imperium. Holy Terra. The heretic and traitor coming. It knew it was back on the imperial side of fighting, but it wasn’t like it was in its hazy memory.

  As it sat idling, its crew bay full once again with marines ready to deploy from its hatches and fight yet another enemy, the wolf scanned out with its sensors and vid capture devices. It saw the enemy moving into view. The wolf registered tanks firing into the gathering mass. It scanned the mass...

  And it recognized them. Not on an individual level, but it knew the armor markings, the chaotic display runes, coloration. It recognized the enemy of these Black Templars as the ones who had turned it to fighting its own side. The wolf recognized these attackers as those who sided with the ones who put It inside its workings, its tormenters, the reason the wolf had wanted to die.

  A new emotion surged within. Fury, hot and all consuming, flooded the wolf. The wolf leapt at its tormenters