Sliver Skulls in 8th ed.

[yodaid764]

Hello all,

 

Just getting back into 40k after several years away. I primarily play Crimson Fists, but after reading the Silver Skulls short stories and novel a few year back, I started developing a small SS contingent. So far, I have a Captain, Librarian, and Tac Squad.

 

Looking at fluff and the 8th ed rules, how would we build a fluffy and at least somewhat competitive SS force? I know they are a codex force so "anything goes", but since they take skulls, I always felt they might be more CC oriented.

 

I kind of like the Reivers for them.

 

Thoughts?

[Brother Clavero]

 I've started my own SS army and have been using different Ultra Marine lists for ideas. I'm going for a more 'balanced' list with a mix of assault and shootie units.

 

  Fluff wise, I know its controversial but, I've always liked the idea that the SS were built around loyal (heresy era) Iron Warriors. The skull taking could be tradition brought to the chapter from the more "savage" aspirants. I think Sara Caldwell's (?) short stories allude to this.

[yodaid764]

I thought Sara was trying to push them to be White Scar successors?

[Frater Cornelius]

Hehe, SS. Get it? ...I'll go back into my corner now.

 

Seriously though, get Reivers, support them with Scouts and you have a solid start. Maybe also Scout Bikes? Beyond that, it depends on how old school or Primaris you are and how you picture your Skulls. As a Primaris fan I would take the above and get some Aggressors and Redemptor(s), get Intercessors with Assault Weapons and maybe even give the Hellblasters Assault Weapons to play aggressively. A Repulsor never hurts either.

 

On the non Primaris side we have melee TDA, Vanguard, Tacs in Razorbacks, ASM, and basically anything capable of pushing the line.

[yodaid764]

I have to assume a primaris librarian would be fluffy

[Frater Cornelius]

I wouldn't know, since I do not know much about them. But if they do mystic mumbo jumbo, then yes, of course.

[Brother Clavero]

Primaris librarians should fit perfectly. According to the fluff, the librarians (Prognosticators) are revered and have almost as much power as the Chapter Master, with that said, its unknown just how they (the SS) would react to "outsiders" being given such high positions in the chapter. Personally, after rereading the stories last night, I think that any new "additions" to the chapter would initially be viewed with suspicion but eventually welcomed and integrated with the rest of the chapter, especially since the accepted primarch of the chapter (Guilliman)  ordered it!

[Spiky Norman]

As the primaris marines hit the shelves, I've taken my first step into playing Space Marines, having previously stuck to Chaos and some Orks.
Originally I wanted to paint Iron Warriors, but seeing as these new awesome models were loyalist, I searched around for a suitable chapter, and I also came upon a post here on B&C that described a "theory" that the Silver Skulls originally may have been loyal Iron Warriors that, along with Barabas Dantioch was accepted by Guilliman into the Ultramarines Legion to hide them from the oncoming scouring after the Heresy was broken. That theory obviously clicked and settled my plans on making my primaris marines army be of the Silver Skulls chapter.

So long story short, I am also very interested in hearing what could constitute a fluffy Silver Skulls list!
I have only read what I could find on Lexicanum and the 40k wikia, no Black Library novels yet, so I'd also love to draw upon the knowledge of those that know the Silver Skulls lore a lot better than me. :-)

Also one thing I really would like some advice on is what the Silver Skulls do to mark certain troops. I can read on the wikia, that Apothecaries have a black stripe on their helmet. The Silver Skulls in the Rogue Trader book also have a black stripe on his helmet, so I guess thats one way to signify an apothecary.
But what about Lieutenants? Sergeants, Captains, Librarians etc?
Are there any pointers on that from the Silver Skulls books maybe?

 

A short semi-derail if I may - I looked around for Silver Skulls decals, but couldn't find any, so I set about creating my own decal sheet for the chapter. I'd love to share, if it has any interest, though I have made it to fit with the Iron Warriors theory, as mentioned above and as I wanted the yellow in there to reference back to IWs, I chose to make my army of the 2nd company.

Unfortunately it seems I'm not allowed to use image extension on this community, so I do not yet know how to share images of what it looks like?

[Brother Clavero]

   Hello Spiky Norman!   The only stories that I know of were written by Sarah P Cawkwell. I got mine in the books "The Best Of Hammer And Bolter" Vols. one and two.   The stories are : "Primary Instinct, Action and Consequence, Cause and Effect, and The pact.  They can probably be found on the Black Library site as downloads.

 

   As far as markings go, there is not much listed fluff wise. Since they are a codex compliant chapter, you could use the Ultramarines as a guide, red helments for sgts., etc. I made mine pretty much plain with only little things to mark rank such as using the helments with the little skulls on the foreheads for sgts. and things like that. With so little fluff, the choice is yours!

 

   I've been using the Forge World Iron Warrior transfer sheet for the chapter markings, still going for the loyal Iron Warrior theme. I play the third company so all of my squad designations (tactical, fast attack, etc) are painted green. Remember, for decals, micro soil and micro set are your friends! 

 

   For a fluffy list, since they are listed as a "codex compliant" chapter, I feel as long as you lean towards a balanced list and don't go too heavy towards one style (assault, etc.) then you should be fine. I finally started using balanced lists (usually featuring two Librarians for fluff) and have done well ever since.

 

  Remember though, at the end of the day, its your models, time, money, and your vision of the 40k universe that matters. Do what is fun for you to do! Cant wait to see what you come up with!

[yodaid764]

I was recently looking for Silver Skull shoulder pads. Years ago I got metal ones from the GW webstore, but now they are gone. On Ebay, I found 10 plastic ones that said they are from 30k. Has anyone else seen those or can point me in the direction to find them?

[Spiky Norman]

   Hello Spiky Norman!   The only stories that I know of were written by Sarah P Cawkwell. I got mine in the books "The Best Of Hammer And Bolter" Vols. one and two.   The stories are : "Primary Instinct, Action and Consequence, Cause and Effect, and The pact.  They can probably be found on the Black Library site as downloads.

 

   As far as markings go, there is not much listed fluff wise. Since they are a codex compliant chapter, you could use the Ultramarines as a guide, red helments for sgts., etc. I made mine pretty much plain with only little things to mark rank such as using the helments with the little skulls on the foreheads for sgts. and things like that. With so little fluff, the choice is yours!

 

   I've been using the Forge World Iron Warrior transfer sheet for the chapter markings, still going for the loyal Iron Warrior theme. I play the third company so all of my squad designations (tactical, fast attack, etc) are painted green. Remember, for decals, micro soil and micro set are your friends! 

 

   For a fluffy list, since they are listed as a "codex compliant" chapter, I feel as long as you lean towards a balanced list and don't go too heavy towards one style (assault, etc.) then you should be fine. I finally started using balanced lists (usually featuring two Librarians for fluff) and have done well ever since.

 

  Remember though, at the end of the day, its your models, time, money, and your vision of the 40k universe that matters. Do what is fun for you to do! Cant wait to see what you come up with!

In terms of markings then I have kept everyone with silver helmets so far, but that is because I wasn't sure which markings to do, if any. :-)

Maybe I'll make a test with a red helmet on one, or maybe just a stripe down the middle of the helmet. Sort of like the original image in Rogue Trader.

 

Also I have bought a set of Micro Set/Sol and Micro Film, although I haven't used it yet. I've read that it can be a pain when making your own decals, but I have to give it a shot.

After I started on mine, I found that a GW painter is also painting up primaris Silver Skulls, and I believe he is using the Iron Warriors decals from FW as well. Check out his pictures on his Twitter account:

https://twitter.com/DarrenLatham/media

 

 

I was recently looking for Silver Skull shoulder pads. Years ago I got metal ones from the GW webstore, but now they are gone. On Ebay, I found 10 plastic ones that said they are from 30k. Has anyone else seen those or can point me in the direction to find them?

I know that there is a Silver Skulls shoulderpad in the Deathwatch set, and before I decided to make my own Silver Skulls decal sheet, I considered buying up a good bunch of those from various bits sellers.

The problem is, that it is only the basic marine shoulderpad, and that I would still be left without any for the terminator-sized ones like the Aggressors and Gravis Captain. Plus the mono-pose models from the Dark Imperium set would take a little work to switch shoulderpads on, because the shoulderpad is moulded onto the arms.

 

By the way, I uploaded a preview picture of the homemade decal sheet for Silver Skulls that I made:

http://bolterandchainsword.com/uploads/gallery/album_13629/gallery_100841_13629_11368.png

If it has any interest I can make proper PDFs for printing on white and transparent decal sheets.

[Brother Clavero]

Yodaid764: Try these:

https://Picclick.com/Silver-skulls-Shoulder-Pads-x10-Tactical-Squad-40k-18267129746.html

 

It says that they come from the Deathwatch kit and best of all they are plastic!!!!!

 

Spiky Norman:  Nice work on the decals! I wish that I would have had that to work with when I started!

I think the helment stripe would look great, really rogue traderesque.

Edited August 15, 2017 by Brother Clavero

[yodaid764]

Brother Clavero, I clicked the link and it shows the old metal GW SS shoulder pads, not plastic.  I looked at the other auction suggestions on the link, but don't see plastic SS pads. Am I missing it?

Whomever is the seller is on crack if they think people are going to buy 10 shoulder pads for $25

[Spiky Norman]

Brother Clavero, I clicked the link and it shows the old metal GW SS shoulder pads, not plastic.  I looked at the other auction suggestions on the link, but don't see plastic SS pads. Am I missing it?

Whomever is the seller is on crack if they think people are going to buy 10 shoulder pads for $25

Here is a link to the Silver Skulls marine shoulderpad from the Deathwatch kit:

http://www.bitzarium.com/en/deathwatch-40k-bitz/10320-shoulder-pad-p-deathwatch.html

[Brother Clavero]

   yodaid764:  The one that I saw were indeed plastic an I believe that there were ten being sold in a bunch, someone must have snatched them up! I never liked the metal ones as they seemed to stick out too far from the shoulder pad. The upside is now we know that they can be found on the Deathwatch sprue. I may get a few to put on my characters to make them stand out a bit more.  

[yodaid764]

I agree that the metal ones protrude too far. Looks weird

[Brother Clavero]

   So what Primaris units are you guys planning on adding to your SS force?

[yodaid764]

Reivers seem appropriate. However, the tactica form shows that the pistol/blade combo is inferior, even though it looks cooler and fits my concept of SS. I have few models yet for SS so I am trying to decide what to get next.

[Spiky Norman]

   So what Primaris units are you guys planning on adding to your SS force?

Since I'm starting with a blank slate, I'm going to go with primaris only. So far I have the marines from the Dark Imperium and a Redemptor, but I plan on working in an Apothecary, and certainly one, maybe two, Librarian/Prognosticators as it just seems appropriate.

I am considering getting some more standard primaris marines to convert to librarians* and perhaps a non Gravis-armoured captain. Also a Repulsor for a big unit of Hellblasters, but I'm sure yet.

 

I have a feeling that we'll continue to see more primaris releases, so I want to leave some stuff undecided, at least till I have everything else painted.

 

 

*Less robes, more skulls, is my initial thoughts. The stock librarians long flowing robes are a little too much, I think

[yodaid764]

I am not sure we will see any more primaris releases TBH. I think all the primaris models shown in the codex have already been released and the rules for said models are in the codex.

[Spiky Norman]

I am not sure we will see any more primaris releases TBH. I think all the primaris models shown in the codex have already been released and the rules for said models are in the codex.

Really? I think that is sort of like saying that there might not be any more Space Marines releases. I doubt that :-)

But yea, probably not for a little while at least, but that is okay with me. Gives me some time to catch up and get everything painted and maybe build some experience playing 1000/1500pts games.

I am not adverse to including some non-Redemptor dreads or maybe some vehicles (Predators or Stormravens) though.

 

By the way, do you guys have any favourite Silver Skulls blogs/galleries or other useful pools for inspiration?

[Brother Clavero]

  I cant suggest including an all lascannon Predator (or two)! They seem to be better in this edition and make great fire magnets. I recently fought the Tau and my opponent used almost half of his "hard hitters" trying to knock just one out! 

 

  I think that I'll add a  coupe of units of Hellblasters and a Primaris Librarian (Prognosticator) at the very least. I want to represent a reinforced army instead of a completely new one. I believe that there will be more new releases as time goes. For me, its going to come down to including the units that fit my play style, also, when playing with a regular group of players, its nice to be able to change your list from time to time to keep things interesting  

 

  As far as blogs and galleries go, I really don't know of any off hand, if you find any please share!