Knight House Brainstorming - soliciting feedback

[frosteldar]

Hello!  As some of you may know, I have a young AdMech army - Forgeworld Illuminatum.  My Forgeworld backstory is that it is a cloaked Ark Mechanicus which seeks knowledge and works for the Mechanicum and Inquisition.  I have a couple Armigers I'm working on and am planning a full-blown Knight force to play alongside my AdMech, as well as stand-alone.  So, based on my Forgeworld background, I've come up with some ideas for how to incorporate a Knight force.  I'd appreciate any ideas or feedback you have!

 

1.  Create my own Knight House and make it AdMech-aligned.  An obvious choice, but I dislike that based on how I paint it and decal it- I could miss out on using half the rules.  Not sure how strict people are if you decal it Imperialis vs Mechanicus?

 

2.  Create my own Knight House which takes knights from other worlds (think Deathwatch), which give up their house colors and become my new house - perhaps retaining their coat or arms?  Then I could put a decal of both Imperialis/Mechanicus (one on each shoulder) to indicate they come from all knightly houses and then use whichever rules I want at the time.

 

3.  Create an alliance of Freeblades - Perhaps the Forgeworld only incorporates Freeblades and they make joint contingent (like The Exiles from Knightsblade).  Then I could create unique backstories and use Freeblade rules, or state they are using certain Imperialis/Mechanicus house rules, based on who is "leading" the group and their access to their previous house training etc.  Trick would be making sure the variety of colors don't clash too much with my AdMech color-scheme.  

 

So, a variety of possible ideas and I thought I would see if you all have any particular feelings on the matter.  Also, an important point is that I'm not trying to metagame the rule sets,;I just like to have fluffly reasons why I can use a variety of rules without excluding myself from options if people are strict about paint-schemes/modeling.  I am a narrative gamer foremost!  

 

Thanks for the help!

[Felstone]

Hello!  As some of you may know, I have a young AdMech army - Forgeworld Illuminatum.  My Forgeworld backstory is that it is a cloaked Ark Mechanicus which seeks knowledge and works for the Mechanicum and Inquisition.  I have a couple Armigers I'm working on and am planning a full-blown Knight force to play alongside my AdMech, as well as stand-alone.  So, based on my Forgeworld background, I've come up with some ideas for how to incorporate a Knight force.  I'd appreciate any ideas or feedback you have!

 

1.  Create my own Knight House and make it AdMech-aligned.  An obvious choice, but I dislike that based on how I paint it and decal it- I could miss out on using half the rules.  Not sure how strict people are if you decal it Imperialis vs Mechanicus?

 

2.  Create my own Knight House which takes knights from other worlds (think Deathwatch), which give up their house colors and become my new house - perhaps retaining their coat or arms?  Then I could put a decal of both Imperialis/Mechanicus (one on each shoulder) to indicate they come from all knightly houses and then use whichever rules I want at the time.

 

3.  Create an alliance of Freeblades - Perhaps the Forgeworld only incorporates Freeblades and they make joint contingent (like The Exiles from Knightsblade).  Then I could create unique backstories and use Freeblade rules, or state they are using certain Imperialis/Mechanicus house rules, based on who is "leading" the group and their access to their previous house training etc.  Trick would be making sure the variety of colors don't clash too much with my AdMech color-scheme.  

 

So, a variety of possible ideas and I thought I would see if you all have any particular feelings on the matter.  Also, an important point is that I'm not trying to metagame the rule sets,;I just like to have fluffly reasons why I can use a variety of rules without excluding myself from options if people are strict about paint-schemes/modeling.  I am a narrative gamer foremost!  

 

Thanks for the help!

 

I love the backstory, i'm a fan of option 2. You could always create whatever relevant banner you want to use and just magnetize it so you can swap it for another house later.

 

this is what i'm going to attempt, on a larger scale for my new knight

[Stray]

Don't punish yourself by thinking you're metagaming via paint schemes. I promise, you're not :)

 

Rules and paint are really different things, just make it known and clear what rules you are using, and enjoy painting your models however you wish :)

 

I don't know what option I'd choose out of the selections personally, my best piece of advice really would be to remember the above, and have a look around the internet at some Knight paint schemes. Get inspired! You don't have to copy one exactly if you choose to do something unique, but it certainly doesn't hurt to riff off of something you like (hell, that could even work into a backstory I suspect).

 

Inspiration borrows, genius steals ;)

[Templeton Murkery XIII]

I am stealing #2

[Vel'Cona]

Don't punish yourself by thinking you're metagaming via paint schemes. I promise, you're not

 

Rules and paint are really different things, just make it known and clear what rules you are using, and enjoy painting your models however you wish

 

Agreed.  Since 8th edition has come out, paint schemes in general have become largely "suggestions" so it's really just a matter of doing what you like paintjob-wise and using the rules you enjoy most or that meet the strategy you're employing.

[frosteldar]

Hello everyone!  I just thought I'd follow-up with what I decided to do.  After reading through our shiny new book, I've revised my thinking a bit.  It seems there are many examples where Knights are loaned to titan legions (some even permanently), loaned to explorator fleets (like my forge world), or stay attached to other Imperial forces (honor-bound).  So, I think my Knight House will not be a distinct House, but a group of Knights which have been selected for the honor, been sent by their Knightly lords, joined searching for glory they couldn't get at home, or are the last of their House but are asked to join -rather than becoming Freeblades or coverting from Freeblades. 

 

After too many hours of thought, I've come up with the name Custodes Aeternae - which is Latin for Guardians of Eternal Light.  They guard the light of knowledge, truth, and the light of the Emperor and Omnissiah.  They will serve my AdMech forge world explorator fleet, alongside it's Inquisitorial partners.  Thus they will sit at a rectangular table where the appointed leader of the Questor Mechanicus will sit at one end to represent the Omnissiah and the appointed leader of the Questor Imperialis will sit at the other end to represent the Emperor, and the Knights have equal standing.  Then depending on the House traits I wish to use, it'll represent training from that branch of the house.  And the oddball member can be represented by Freeblades.

 

I plan to have each knight (big ones at least) have symbols for both the Imperium and Mechanicum  (one on each shoulder)- perhaps that skull-cog with a wing (though I'm not sure what it represents exactly)?  Then each knight will have the coat-of-arms or symbol of the "house", and each will maintain their personal heraldry (like Questor Imperialis knights tend to do). 

 

Should provide lots of tactical flexibility for playstyles and allow for some interesting fluff/character creation for heraldry and backstories. And, it makes sense in the context of my forge world and how they are part of it, while maintaining the element of secrecy required for a cloaked Ark Mechanicus. 

[Wargamer]

If I were to make a Knight army, I would likely go with a Bretonnian theme - every Knight has a unique heraldry! The higher ranking Knights naturally get a more sophisticated heraldry.

[Kinstryfe]

I really like the idea. I have 2 Knights on the way and have been trying to figure out how to fit them into each of my armies with a single paint scheme. It's quite vexing.

 

I also haven't done much with Latin since that one semester way back in college, but I think you're missing a word from the name. Custodes Aeternae/i/a Lux I /think/ is what you would want to add light in there (depending on gender desired), though "Eternal Guardians" on its own still sounds properly High Gothic for a collection of Knights.

 

As far as dual symbolism is concerned, there may be other options you can consider. The current version of the Imperial Aquila is often said to symbolize the union of Terra and Mars, and could be used as a unifying symbol. Alternatively the lightning bolt, being the personal symbol of The Emperor, since he is after all the Omnissiah. Or maybe an Aquila clutching a lightning bolt in one claw and a cog in the other, or crowned by the same. That's the fun part of symbolism, you can get wild with it and still have it mean almost anything you want.

[frosteldar]

I really like the idea. I have 2 Knights on the way and have been trying to figure out how to fit them into each of my armies with a single paint scheme. It's quite vexing.

 

I also haven't done much with Latin since that one semester way back in college, but I think you're missing a word from the name. Custodes Aeternae/i/a Lux I /think/ is what you would want to add light in there (depending on gender desired), though "Eternal Guardians" on its own still sounds properly High Gothic for a collection of Knights.

 

As far as dual symbolism is concerned, there may be other options you can consider. The current version of the Imperial Aquila is often said to symbolize the union of Terra and Mars, and could be used as a unifying symbol. Alternatively the lightning bolt, being the personal symbol of The Emperor, since he is after all the Omnissiah. Or maybe an Aquila clutching a lightning bolt in one claw and a cog in the other, or crowned by the same. That's the fun part of symbolism, you can get wild with it and still have it mean almost anything you want.

Thanks for all the input!  I had wondered about the name, so I checked two different translators, but they are only as good as their operators!  LOL!  Yes, Eternal Guardians may have to do, as I didn't want the name too long.

 

Great point on the Aquila!  I forget that it already represents the union of the two.  Perhaps I can find one where one half is mechanical....that would be cool.  But the lighting/cog in the claws is also a great idea!