Connecting the Threads: Cult to Army

[ThePenitentOne]

This is my first post in the Chaos Subforum- I just bought the start collecting box, so my army has gone multidimensional, and I figured that this would be the place to figure out how to connect the various detachments into an unholy armoured fist.

 

To begin, this army is growing from a Kill Team of Cultists of Slaanesh- The Cult of the Carnal Light. It is loosely based on something from the classic Dune novels- Semuta. If you're not a fan of classic Dune, Semuta is a trance state created by a combination of drugs and music.

 

The Cult forms during an illegal rave attended by the youth of the noble Thresher families on an agri-world. One of the recordings played that night was recorded by noise marines; a tainted hit combines with the music to awaken a latent psyker, who immediately allies with the drug dealer that sold him the tainted drug. Between them, they recruit enough Threshers to round out a Kill Team.

 

The Cult Leader is the dealer; he fights with a needle pistol, and his victims become thralls to Semuta and children of the cult. The Rogue Psyker has a custom power that allows him to create thralls in battle. Threshers are represented by Necromunda models, both classic metal and modern plastic. As the new recruits travel further down the path to chaos, they are replaced by cultist models.

 

If the Cult fights Imperial Guard, the resultant cultists will instead be represented by BSF traitor guard.

 

I battle at Kill Team scale until I've recruited 3 full units of 10 cultists to the cause. At this point, the Psyker and the Dealer become HQ choices, and the Kill Team becomes a battalion.

 

On the planet, there are six abandonned Explorator sites, lost among the vast oceans of crop grasses. Specific missions in particular territories can allow a faction to find these sites, and one of these sites hides a dormant Daemon Forge built around a Noctalith Crown. If the cult manages to find it, they can recruit Daemon engines.

 

The Cult is also engaged in pushing the limits of Semuta, and learning more about their Daemonic inheritance. This will allow them to summon Daemons, ripping the veil between realspace and the empyrian in territories where they've seized control.

 

If the cult succeeds in recruiting either the Daemons or the Daemon Engines, they will attract the notice of Slaanesh, who will send a force of Emperor's Children, dominated by Noise Marines. 

 

I just learned about Inspiration Fridays, and while I'm too late for tomorrow's deadline, the whole point behind this campaign is generating ideas for fiction [rather than winning games], so it is likely that the Carnal Light will make more than a few appearances is in 2020.

 

So why am I posting here?

 

Well, first off is this storyline intriguing? Are the connections between the various facets of the army legitimate? It's essentially 4 distinct armies- cultists, daemons, daemon engines, and CSM.

 

I'm a bit wary of the CSM pieces- I tend to stay away from marines of all types- but I really like the idea of the Master of Possession and Greater Possessed, and the Lord of Discord is really the HQ for Daemon Engines. Is there a precedent for regular old human cultists to be gifted by their patron in such a way that they become CSM?

 

I want the two original Cultists to remain central figures to the combined army, but all of the cool HQ options are so Marine-esque that you really can't escape them. The Dealer/ Leader totally fits the Dark Apostle role while the Rogue Psyker totally fits the Master of Possession role, except both look like marines, not cultists.

Edited December 26, 2019 by ThePenitentOne

[Zephaniah Adriyen]

Here's what I suggest. Your HQs can use stolen powered armor, but still be human behind the helmet - or even be juiced up by the power of the Warp so they use stolen, warped Astartes equipment because it fits them. I know a guy who runs a counts-as World Eaters army which is fluffed to be Iron Warriors and World Eaters equipment and remnants left over on a death world, where the inhabitants fell to Khorne, picked up the Astartes equipment and went ahead with their RIP AND TEAR lifestyle. Doesn't explain his Khârn, but it explains the army.

[ThePenitentOne]

Thanks for the suggestion; I like the idea of non-marine power armour; my Inquisitorial Acolytes used to wear it in 3rd when it was legal for them. Trying to think of who on the planet may have lootable power armour. I'll have to put more thought into it as the campaign advances; there are plenty of games that need to happen between now and then.

 

Once the games are actually played, the narrative thread will suggest itself...

[Lord_Caerolion]

Perhaps a Deathwatch Kill-team got dispatched by some curious Inquisitors, who ended up getting overwhelmed?