Inspiration for darkmech skitarii/chaos titans

[Lucerne]

Anyone have reference art/conversions for either of these? Lore mentions are also useful.

[Goreshed]

Right off the top of my head I can think of...

 

Horus Heresy novel Mechanicum towards the end when the Dark Mech assault Magma City.

 

Outside of that the earlier novels concerning the dark mech were at the really early stages of it.

 

On the more present side, or something to maybe help with getting a feel of it, is the fact that on a number of points its been stated that due to the sheer amount of killing that titans do it is common place for them to be far more gifted by the chaos gods for their dedication. Also not uncommon for daemons to be possessed within them.

[Xin Ceithan]

I tried sketching some ideas for DarkMech allies in our home brew Legion Wars RPG.

Design wise, I found it pretty hard to nail down a decent look, especially if you come from the Adrian Smith / John Blanche style of things.

There are so many cowls and robes and things already. Also most AdMech stuff doesn't look very healthy to begin with. . If you do not go for the full mono god conversion, you end with spikes and chaos star halos very quickly ;p

My sketches were thus pretty messy....

 

Taking a cue from the FW stuff, I also dabbled in adding totemic masks and skulls. The more shamanistic vibe goes well along the more "barbaric" look of non aligned Chaos factions. I'd also like to go for a more insect like look on armour and appendages, as well as more "bio-organic" look akin to Giger style artwork.

 

For inspiration, I'd also suggest artwork for Confrontation's Darkness faction, especially the later Alchemists of Dirz. Eduard Guiton (sp?) did a lot of concept art that can be easily found around the Internet.

[sitnam]

The novels Skitatius and Tech-Priest take place on a DarkMech forge world and has various descriptions of DarkMech forces.

 

I guess I’d start by asking: do you want a direct analogue for the AdMech Skitarii (Rangers, vanguards, Sicarians, upcoming horse and wing dudes) or are you using the term Skitarii to cover the whole gambit of AdMech forces (Servitors, tech-priests, electro-priests, etc)

 

If you want to have your own corrupted versions of normal AdMech forces, I think the simplest conversion to start with is head swaps. Whether it be third party of GW, the appropriate head swap could really make a miniature. Alternatively, a great kit for conversions is the Genestealer Cults Neophyte Hybrids. Simple head swaps alone could do it, or you could combine the kit with the Ranger/Vanguard kit. A Chaos Space Marine life wouldn’t be a bad addition, if only for bits conversion. If you wanna go mono-god, then a marine or daemon (or even AoS kit) might not be a bad idea

 

Now if you don’t wanna just have a datk copy of normal AdMech, but instead want your own unique ideas, the ideas can go anywhere. The Arcoflaggelents kit combined with some daemon kits could be some sort of possessed kill-machines.

 

A good reference, model wise, are the Negavoly Cultists

[Lucerne]

I'm interested in what a dark mechanicus "mirror" to the various AdMech skitarii would be like- more specifically, 40k-era equivalents of their vanguard, ranger, and Secutarii titan-escorts after 10k years of the Warp twisting them to better fill their niches.

 

In short: given the basic "concepts" of each, what would the "CSM'ification" of those roles look like in terms of taking their core concepts and twisting them into servants of Chaos while still maintaining the recognizable niches?

 

I suppose the question I'm asking is- what are the core "concepts" for each, and what would warpification of the molds that these regimented specialists are stamped in the image of (especially given that unlike the CSM, the magi are unlikely to be overly concerned about keeping individual skitarii around for 10k years and have thrown traditions and continuity out the airlock) look like?

 

Each are made for purpose en-masse, so what might that look like when the craftsmen start following the ruinous powers?

 

Probably unaligned.

Edited May 19, 2020 by Lucerne

[Goreshed]

And here is the beauty of chaos. Imagine it this way.

 

There is some factory set up where the raw material is fed into the feeder shoots of some giant mechanism that is powered by the warp by the Adepts. The material is probably humans or sub humans, a bunch of random metal from various sources in various stages of refinement, and the raw power of the warp itself. Add some sacrificing done over the entire thing to keep the warp happy and we are ready to cook up some dark mech units.

 

The Adept plugs in the specs and out will pop a creature that the demonically possessed machine figures is the best for it. This is after all mass production. But there are still some of those silly old school styled adepts who do it to each individually. What comes out is the perfect killing machine at that moment that the machine can make with the materials at hand. But then the next one comes off the assembly line and its radically different yet does the same role. Why? Because they don't always have exactly the same materials that they are working with in that moment. Each mortal that goes into the machine is different. The warp is a constantly changing power source as it were and thus it will change the varying degree in which is applies itself to these creations. Then of course is the other raw materials added. Might have enough to make a power sword, might not. Who knows? Maybe they just have a bunch of spiked chains because that's what the demonically powered machine thought would be great at the time.

 

The core concepts are simple.

 

It is a creation of both the physical world and that of the raw stuff of chaos in some way. Some are more warpy than others. Some are blessed by one god or another. Some have more limbs because thats what the techy wanted to do, others less. But the basics of it remain the same. It is a machine that has been enhanced by the raw power of the warp. It really is no different than what the warp does to the Chaos Space Marines, its just on a different scale.

 

Whatever comes to the mind is basically free game. Can there be some uniformity? There are tons of it within Chaos, specially when it comes to numbers and their meanings. Does there have to be? No not really. The warp usually blesses those who perform and curses those who don't.

 

It would stand to reason that the lesser an adept is the less warpy their creations are to some extent if they are doing it on their own. More experience is usually more control over how to guide the warp into their creations.

 

Then of course one could get into exactly where are they created this abominations? If its somewhere in the Eye or Maelstrom it is entirely possible that the laws of physics get thrown out the window. If its somewhere outside of those warp tainted areas it would be harder for the warp to get through and thus the 'chaosy' aspect would be less.

 

Uniformity to the level that is done with SM/AM/Mech/Imp Knights just isnt there in a true force of chaos. Now, if we get Tzeentch involved there could be some sort of uniformity but good luck trying to figure that out because its the Changer...

[Xin Ceithan]

I like the idea of looking more into core concepts as a sort of "theme" that goes into the design.

It could go along the lines suggested in "Talon of Horus" were mutations are seemingly random but reflect the core personality of the being receiving them (as in a stubborn or headstrong person receiving tusks in the example given IIRC)

 

So maybe Vanguard get more bulky and tanky while Rangers are more akin to Warp Talons -skimming in and out of reality, as an example?

 

The look and theme might also primarily rest upon the Magos in charge - as you say, there will probably only a few Skitarri surviving over the time, so outlook and mentality of the leading Magos that builds them might imprint a certain "type" in a sort of corrupted STC analogy?

 

Will have to think about this ....

[Dr_Ruminahui]

It is worth noting that not all dark admech are involved with chaos, and even those that are do not necessarily restrict their endeavors to producing chaos tainted artifacts.  The unifying element for dark admech is that they are involved with forbidden technologies - this involved not only the use of the warp but also the forbidden study and use of xenos and other technologies deemed to be heretical (for example, AI).

 

So, an interesting take on admech would be incorporate portions of xenos models alongside of chaos and imperium parts.  For example, you could use the big crystal from that eldar tank as part of a knight weapon, or (for example) you could kitbash the tau insect flyers or tyranid gargoyles with the new mechanics jump pack units.

[Lucerne]

" They were clad in shell-like ceramite beneath thick coats and cowls, and clutched antique radium carbines. Strange sigils had been carved into the ceramite, and their coats, like his own, were made from a patchwork of stolen flesh. Some wore grotesque masks beneath their cowls, while others had exposed faces thatwere more metal than meat."

 

"More of the cybernetic soldiers followed the palanquin at a disciplined lope,their radium carbines held at the ready. These were more heavily armoured than the others, less meat and more machine, sealed in crustacean-like shells of almost organic-looking metal. They wore masks that had been wrought in the shape of daemonic faces, and their coats were branded with the runes of the four Ruinous Powers. They steamed with unnatural heat in the open air, as if whatever passed for their blood was on the cusp of boiling over"

 

Here's a Reynolds description of some darkmech meeting Bile.

[Goreshed]

Given the scope of that GW universe, all of those are incredibly viable. Part of what makes Chaos so diverse. To be fair, if they are basically just an adept trying to mimic something but not use Chaos they should really have a category of their own. More of...independent Mechanicus as opposed to Dark Mechanicus.