Need some help with my Word Bearers army background

[MasterDeath]

Hello everyone, first Topic started by me. Long time reader, 8th Edition re-convert. (A sorry up front for mistakes, not a native speaker)

 

I currently own about 2500 Points of Nurgle Daemons and the army will be very soon be finished. Basically once Blight Wars hits, I will have all models I want. And I was thinking about starting a new army by expanding on to my Daemons. Also, I really love religious fanatics. One of my first ideas for my next army was a Ecclisiarchy Army (non-sister) but thats kinda hard to do, as I lack basically everything especially crazed zealot mobs. So my eye fell on the Word Bearers. Easy to combine with my Daemons, deeply involved in the story (not really the Xenos guy) and they fit the fanatics description.

Currently I am reading as much background  as I can get my hands on (Horus Heresy especially) and think how to combine my love for rotten nurgle-things with the true believers.

 

According to the story, Lorgar himself does pretty much look down onto the single-god legions and ordered his legion to worship the pantheon. I assume a Host that prays to only Nurgle would be ostracized pretty quickly. That made my head think about a Host that actually is apart from the legion. How can that happen? In one of the Horus Heresy books  I found information about the Destroyers, the specialists for among others biological warfare, that always have been Outsiders. Worshipping Nurgle seems kinda logical for these guys, as their own weapons kill them. So maybe a Host mainly consisting off former Destroyers, a group where the legion sends those Marines they see unfit for glorius front line service, to do the dirty work. Basically a Penal Legion of the Word Bearers.

Looking up already existing WB hosts I stumbled upon the Broken Scythe, a host destroyed on Calth that specialized in infrastructure destruction. That seemed to fit the bill. Destroying streets, bridges, power lanes and food stocks doesn´t seem too glorious for me. being a Penal Legion the single god devotion could just be another sign of the worthlessness of these troops in the eye of Lorgar, so he just uses them in pretty suicidal ways to get rid of them.

 

About the actual army list, I thought about the following options

- Apostel (obviously)

- Lord (Buffing shooty squads and summoning)

- Sorceror (secondary summoner)

- Exalted Champion (Melee Buffer)

- Marines (Short Range Shooting/Melee in a bigger Squad)

- I would not use Cultist, as I can easily get the numbers I need via taking a Daemon Detachement

- Plague Marines (All purpose, basically the Destroyers)

- Mutilators (I would call them "Exalted Possessed", basically I just want to try what they can do with Nurgle Daemon Buffs)

- Possessed (Obvious, work with Daemon Buffs)

- Chaos Spawns (Maybe, a Penal legion should have some of those)

- Raptors (The Ashend Circle was Jump Troops right?)

- Obliterators (not that fluffy I assume, but they look very tasty on paper)

- Some Daemon Engines (Do Word Bearer use those notably?)

 

Another way of combining Nurgle and WB would be one WB Detachement and one for the DG once the book comes out. That way I could use both Stratagem-Lists.

 

What do you think guys? Have I missed some notable WB units? Is the idea of a Penal Legion imaginable? Is there any fluff that Lorgar does not tolerate something like this in the slightest? Note: I am more interested in background than in having a super powerful list, altough I would take something thats absolutely needed even if its not 100% background safe.

[Marshal Loss]

Well, your warband could be a splinter faction. The Sanctified (look them up) are a splinter faction of the Word Bearers who exclusively worship Khorne, and they are daemon-summoning specialists. There's no reason you can't do the same thing with Nurgle, and an ex-Ashen Circle/Destroyer based force that used chemical weapons certainly fits the bill for an extermination of all life theme. I don't think you need to make your warband a 'penal' Legion to make the lore work, unless that's what you really want, lore-wise of course.

[Dhar'Neth]

There are many sub-sects and specialised chapters within Legion structure and Lorgar secluded himself from Legions affairs long time ago. There are many prominent Warlords within the council that collectively guide the Legion. There are many animosities within Legion though (Kor Phaeron vs Erebus, etc.)

I think anything goes if you like it. There is a lot of space to create within fluff.

Edited August 27, 2017 by Dhar'Neth

[Leonite]

To give an example of divergences, my warband - the Burning Word - are made up of an elite group of Word Bearers from the Heresy era, and traitors from other chapters or legions, converted by the Dark Apostle and Diabolist in one way or another.

[MasterDeath]

Thanks guys, I read something about the Sanctified so Mono-God-WB would be a way. Now I have to think about the Penal legion thing a bit more. I always had a heart for penal legions :D

[Leonite]

Thanks guys, I read something about the Sanctified so Mono-God-WB would be a way. Now I have to think about the Penal legion thing a bit more. I always had a heart for penal legions

It's a shame you aren't using cultists then. I can see the Apostle of Nurgle/Apostle of the Plague in your army converting a Penal Legion to be their cultists.

 

Penal regiment inside a penal legion warband

[MasterDeath]

 

Thanks guys, I read something about the Sanctified so Mono-God-WB would be a way. Now I have to think about the Penal legion thing a bit more. I always had a heart for penal legions

It's a shame you aren't using cultists then. I can see the Apostle of Nurgle/Apostle of the Plague in your army converting a Penal Legion to be their cultists.

 

Penal regiment inside a penal legion warband

 

Hm... I think you got me there... a gathering of Despaired Ones.

[Trevak Dal]

So GW had background on Wordbearers who worshiped khorne above all else.

 

Anyway, when they released Khorne Daemonkin, I wanted all the more daemonic stuff to be in my KDK army with the more 'regular csm' being in my Black Legion.

 

I had this idea of 'The Brass Apostle', a daemon Prince of khorne who had formerly been a Dark Apostle of the Wordbearers, and found Khorne to be supreme over all the others. Erebus and company tried to have him censured and brought to heel, but he kept killing everyone they sent, finally ascending in glory.

 

Sa'am's unyielding, proselytizing condemnation of other gods remained-he is good friends with Giselburtus, a half possessed sorcerer in my Black Legion.

 

When things would go sideways and away from the set plans that Alphonse (Warband leader, formerly Alpha Legion) had passed along, Giselburtus ('Bert') and Tyrael Adrastus ('Drat') would summon Sa'am and his angry, zealous friends and say something like "Those guys said Khorne takes it from Slaanesh and likes it!"

 

To which Sa'am would chuckle a little as the veins started to throb along his head,

 

"Oh, oh is that right then? WELL THOSE :cussERS ARE ABOUT TO HEAR THE GOOD NEWS!

OH OHH OHHHHHHHHHH! " And it would be a continued rant and proselytization like a Freewill Baptist minister in full swing during a revival, with lots more cursing.

 

He's the only Wordbearer I like except for Argal Tal.