IInd Legion: Dawn Knights

[StrangerOrders]

Hi folks, been writing a story on SB for a while and have had an ongoing effort to try and make nominal rules for them to sort of make a mental reference. Trouble is I sort of suck when it comes to rule-making and so am turning to you folks for advice. Any feedback is appreciated! .

 

The Dawn Knights​

 

Numeration: The IInd Legion.

 

Primogenitor: Galtine Ap Ailbe, called the Retaliator.

 

Cognomen: The Wild Hunt, The Cavalcade; (Prior) The Witch-Eaters, The Fox-Headed Ones (Informally called the 'Omen Dogs' by allied forces, a moniker which yet retains currency within the Old Hundred).

 

Observed Strategic Tendencies: High-Tempo Maneuver Warfare, Counter-Aetheric Operations, Cunctatori Counter-Offensive Campaigns, Societal Recalibration, Deep Range Penetration and Acquisition Raids.

 

Noteworthy Domains: Calengwag (Imperial Designation: Hollow), The Eight Daughters.

 

Allegiance: Fidelitas Totalis

 

The Second Legion are much like every other one of the gene-lines of the Astartes, idiosyncratic, occluded and so removed from their source as to become something akin to a parody of myth. It is perhaps telling of the traits bred into the Astartes that their own distinct oddities make them prone to thinking themselves alone in their eccentricity, any who have delved into this forbidden archive are by now well-familiar with the tales. The occult secrecy of the Fifteenth, who in their pride sought no help as their flesh rebelled. The all-consuming hunger for complexity that devoured the twentieth whole from their birth. The overwrought tales sung by Wolves of stories that they have hidden from even themselves. And of course, the inviolate pride that animated the First from their very inception as they clad themselves in the expectation for others to recognize honors they themselves deem others as unworthy of knowing. While these are perhaps the most extreme cases, it cannot but be noted that this peculiar form of madness dogs every Legion.

 

And that is perhaps just, for why should the actions of something that is not human make sense to those who are? The Astartes are creatures fashioned to feed from glory the way a baseline human seeks water and meat, a bellicosity whose merit has proved its worth countless times across the long centuries of the Crusade and the Unity before it.

 

Yet the Second were made in a way distinct from their fellows in this regard, they are as a bloodline uninterested in personal glory, markings of triumph or even the occult victory tallies held by those Legions who disdain the conventional praise of the masses as worthless. This is not due to a lack of the bellicose pride nor due to some form of beatific humility, it is best said that the Second Legion, the Dawn Knights, were born with a singular battle wedged deep in their minds. A war to whom all others are merely single steps on the road to a victory whose very existence can be debated.

 

It is in this that every scrap of oddity, every discrepancy in their long history and their seeming disinterest that the Dawn Knights of the House of Ailbe can be understood. From their seeming appearance out of thin-air during the dawn of the Legiones Astartes, to their seeming death as a Legion on Drem to the things that emerged from shallow grave as a cavalcade of knights lead by a pair of figures that seem in their own ways as mad as the thing they were bred to kill.

 

The Second were made for the simple purpose of ending the things in the Warp. All else is to them simply preamble, a setting of the stage to a battle which they themselves can neither define or fully understand.

 

Origins: The Ill-Omened Foxes

 

It is generally speculated that among those who have access to the records of the Terran Court that the Second Legion first became active at some point around the midpoint of the Unification Wars. While it cannot be said with any certainty, records of figures which match the gene-traits of the Second most credibly begin appearing around the time the secondary Legions began to gain numbers after the First began functioning as independent hosts.

 

These accounts are perplexingly not taken from the reports of Imperial Army Officers, nor from other figures within the nascent Imperium such as the Emperor's scientific cadres or the agents of the Sigilite. Instead coming from the preserved ravings of madmen, the chronicles of long-dead heroes and those extracts of pre-Imperial writings spared from the fires of the First and Seventeenth.

 

The first of these, dating from 628.M30, tells of a curious encounter by one of the chief War-Magisters of the Teledon Citadel decades before it surrendered to the armies of Unity. The War-Magister Eldara De La Tormenta tells of a giant clothed in ragged robes and 'with the face of a fox with lead for eyes' which haunted her nights for a span of months. This figure which she called 'the fox-headed monk' always seemed to appear regardless of what measures she took to prevent its intrusion, each night repeating the names of those slain to fuel the blood-forges that provided the city with its unnatural weapons. A long-time opponent of this debased psyarkana, the War-Magister at first deemed the creature a manifestation of her frustration as no others reported its presence. Over time, she began confiding her frustrations to the creature, which in turn provided counsel so eerily well-shaped that she came to be certain that it was some sort of revenant seeking to provide her with the means of avenging its death.

 

A belief that proved true when it began guiding her along the paths of the great Hive-Citadel, whispering her down halls which should have been heavily defended but yet stood like crypts in their silence. It gave her weapons hexed to kill the secretive psy-agumented smiths of the blood-forged, it guided her hands as she slit the throat of witch after witch, each time watching as the monk fed on the lambent brain-meat of the sorcerer. The thing would then guide her back to her chambers each night, whispering to her what she need do to ensure that the death could be of use and feeding her a sort of tea which drained her of fear, fatigue and her memory. Over and over again, this story repeated itself over and over again until one day the fox-headed monk stopped appearing and the blood-forges of Teledon came to a stop as the knowledge to fuel them was lost. When the armies of Unity finally made their way to the Citadel-Hive, it was not a besiegers but instead as honored allies welcoming the Citadel-Hive and its vast production capacity and craftsman into the Imperium. The story of the long-dead War-Magister and the fox-headed monk would not be discovered until years later.

 

The Tale of the War-Magister and the Fox-Headed Monk forms a template as to the early days of the Second, cells of either a single Astartes or a small squad ranging far beyond even the scouts of the Vth and inserting themselves into cultures that fit one of two key criteria. Assets which would be valuable to Unity and a pre-existing and problematic tendency to the culture's existence within the Imperium, most often behaviours steeped in superstition and esoterica. In this the Second Legion acted to manipulate actors within these cultures to take steps to preserve the one and uproot the other, often through the deliberate adoption of local mythemes to present themselves as hallucinations or creatures of superstition. An impression which while obviously laughable becomes increasingly uncomfortable as one reads more of these sources.

 

The haunted monks of Ankerwycke, which lead mobs to rip apart the homunculus house of the Black Barrow and opened the way for their rejuv-harvesting technologies to fall into the hands of the Imperium, told of their ancestors driving them mad as they whispered of atrocities from their tombs. The fear-riven warrior Ushiwaka who purged the witch-clan Tairashi from Nippon centuries before the Imperium made war there, she was said to have been raised in the wild heights of the crumbled mountain by a tattered spirit. The Kindly Broker who gave Tak Apple-Sewer the means to reclaim the Last Forest from the Harvest Reavers in the great wastes of Udsen's Depression and preserved one of Terra's last sources of autocthonic flora-samples.

 

While no lab records survive to tell us of the Second Legion's original cull or even any data to indicate from their creation, there is a great deal which can be gleaned from these tales.

 

Firstly, the Second seemed possessed from the beginning of a strange ability to see into the hearts of men and to manipulate those they caught in their stories to achieve results which would not garner useful results for generations at least. These indicate either a gene-quirk or doctrinal focus which gave the Second Legion an extremely long-term view of warfare and a singular ease in shaping agents over long periods of time to act in their stead. More tellingly, it shows that some factors in their early creation made the Second seemingly unable to field considerable assets even long after Legions which entered service long after the first of these Legions achieved Chapter-Strength.

 

But perhaps most telling is the most consistent element in all of these tales, and one which would over time come to identify the Legion as they began to act more openly. Their tendency to devour the brains of the psykers and abominists they directed heroes to kill for them.

 

A behaviour which would see them be called 'Witch-Eaters'.

 

LEGIONES ASTARTES (DAWN KNIGHTS)​

All models and units with this special rule are subject to the following provisions:

• Legiones Astartes: Units with this special rule may always attempt to regroup at their normal Leadership value, regardless of casualties.
• Seeker's Madness: Units with the Legiones Astartes (Dawn Knights) may reroll failed Leadership Characteristic Tests and are immune to the Fear Special Rule when inflicted by a unity with the Daemon or Psyker Special Rule. Units with this rule have the Preferred Enemy (Daemons, Psykers) Special Rule. Lastly, units with this special rule may not be targeted by Psychic Maledictions.
• Soul Readers: Enemy units locked in melee with units possessing the Legiones Astartes (Dawn Knights) rule receive -1 Attack penalty to their attack characteristic (to a minimum of 1) when they possess fewer models than an assaulting enemy unit. Should more than half of a unit with this rule be removed, the remaining models gain the Hatred Special Rule but must move towards the nearest enemy unit after the assault is resolved.
• Knights of Oddity: When an enemy unit must take a Morale Test as a result of losing an Assault to a Unit with the Legiones Astartes (Dawn Knights) Special Rule, they must reroll the lowest of the two dice. Allied units within 12" of a model with this special rule suffer a -1 to their Leadership Score.
• The Hunters' Cavalcade: May not include more (Tank) Vehicles than (FLyer) Vehicles in a Primary Detachment with this Special Rule. Any unit in the detachment that may purchase an additional Close Combat Weapon must do so. Additionally, any Primary Detachment chosen from the Dawn Knights must take a second Compulsory HQ Choice on the Force Organization Chart. That choice must always be a Lord-Errant or Exemplar Consul. Legion Veterans must take Weapon Masters or Stalkers.

LEGION SPECIFIC UNITS​

In addition to those found in the Army List, the Dawn Knights Legion has particular access to the additional unit types: Balor Terminator Squads (which are an Elites choice on the Force Organization chart), Fragarach Destroyer Squads (which are an Fast Attack choice on the Force Organization chart) and Dian’Cecht Apothecary Detachments (which are an Elites choice on the Force Organization chart). In addition, it has a specific options of Consuls unavailable to other Legions; the Exemplar, the Lord-Errant, the Balor Executioner and the High-Savant. 

 

LEGION SPECIFIC RESTRICTIONS: PATTERNS OF THE WAR GUILDS​

Champion, Chaplain, Esoterist, Librarian, Primus Medicae, Primus Nullificator, Mortificator, Moritat or Warmonger Consuls along with Apothecary Detachments and Destroyer Squads may not be used in a Dawn Knights Primary Detachment.

 

LEGION SPECIFIC WARGEAR​

The Dawn Knights possess a host of strange exotic technologies, most carved to their innate antagonism with the Immaterium:

 

Moraltache-Pattern Greatsword: Known as the Weeping Swords, Fate-Chewers, Mors Mortale and a host of other names by those of more outdated beliefs, the favored weapons of the upper Echelons of the Second Legion are things of terrifying and indecipherable providence. No shortage of fanciful tales claim that these horrid weapons can cut through both ancient defensive mechanisms and even psychic phenomena with unsettling ease, legends that are made difficult to confirm both due to the frustrating shortage of records stemming from the Second Legion and the queer nature of the weapons themselves. The pale metal that forms the lengths of these weapons induces a curious effect on onlookers, eyes strain to hold the so-called 'White-Metal' and it is often difficult for most to recollect the exact features of the weapons after-the-fact, a trait made more unsettling by the fact that even the finest pict-capture technologies of the Mechanicum seem unable to capture anything more than ill-defined blank spaces where the weapon should be. Some even accredit stories that those outside of the legion that attempt to make use of these weapons suffer from an instant mind-death as a consequence, although such tales are often dismissed as exaggeration. While current speculation suggests all of these curious observations and the keening of the weapons is the result of some ill-understand technology, it would be dishonest to say that it was easy to ignore that there was a certain foulness about this handful of swords.

• Any Character HQ with the Legiones Astartes (Dawn Knights) special rule may purchase a Moraltache for +30 points.
• Range: Melee Str: +1 AP: 2 Type: Two-Handed, Psy-Lash, Keening (-1 to Enemy Invulnerable Save)
  • Keening: It is said that when drawn, the white-metal swords produce a queer sound. A quiet yet pained note that tickles at the back of the mind, an oscillating note as if something somewhere is weeping in torment. Whatever strange providence imbues them with the esoteric property it seems tied to the infamous and inexplicable power of the Moraltache, for it grows to an ear-piercing wail when the blades make impact with what by rights should not be cut. Void shields crack and shatter like glass, barriers distend and warp before bursting and electro-magnetic arc away in fear of these strange weapons. Any model seeking to roll an invulnerable save against a wound inflicted by a weapon with this special rule is treated as having +1 to their save roll to a maximum of 6+.

Bane Mask: It is a hotly debated subject as to whether the 'Bane Masks' can be categorized as a true piece of technology in its own right or whether it is merely yet another eccentricity of the Second Legion. A Bane Mask is the name given to the unique masks of 'White-Metal' commonly integrated into the helmets of the upper-echelons of the Second Legion, faceplates which are invariably shaped into the likeness of some grotesque visage of unknown providence, each made unique save for the odd theme of pain and torment etched into the features. It is unknown what precisely is the meaning of the Masks, as they do not seem to be affiliated to any specific honor and appear inconsistently between the ranks, but it should be noted that there is an odd pattern noted among wearers that has led some to speculate as to the purpose and nature of the masks as something beyond mere aesthetic. Warriors wearing these masks are noted to be, for lack of a more rational term, lucky in the extreme. Records show near impossible parries, leaps which stretch a touch too far and a litany of wounds which by rights should have been fatal. The grimmest of these tales claim that in such cases, the Bane Masks accrue unexpected or unrelated damage at an unexpected rate as if to absorb the ill-luck of the wearer, only to appear at a later date undamaged. Such tales are difficult to disprove as the White-Metal is known for its bizarre resistance to pict-capture or even more conventional scrutiny and the Second legion is known for explanations without answers.

• An Independent Character HQ with the Legiones Astartes (Dawn Knights) special rule may purchase a Bane Mask for +10 points. Any model equipped with a Bane Mask may roll a single D6 at the beginning of an Opponent's Turn, on a 4+ the model gains the Eternal Warrior Special Rule for the duration of the Turn. This test may be passed on a 3+ on any turn that begins with the model within 12" of an opponent-controlled model with either the Daemon, Daemon of the Ruinstorm, Psyker or Brotherhood of Psykers/Sorcerors Special Rules.

Psyk-Out Munitions: Any unit may take Psyk-Out Grenades for an additional +5 points. Any unit with a Missile Launcher may take Psyk-Out Missiles for an additional +15 points.

 

[StrangerOrders]

Legion Allied Matrix

 

Legiones Astartes

• Sworn Brothers: Emperor’s Children, Space Wolves, White Scars. 
  
• Fellow Warriors: Alpha Legion, Sons of Horus, Iron Hands, Thousand Sons. 
  
• Distrusted Allies: Death Guard, Iron Warriors, Night Lords, Word Bearers, Ultramarines. 
  
• By the Emperor’s Command: Blood Angels, Dark Angels, Imperial Fists, Salamanders, Raven Guard, World Eaters. 
  

 

Forces of the Crusade

• Sworn Brothers: Mechanicum
  
• Fellow Warriors: Talons of the Emperor, Questoris Knights
  
• Distrusted Allies: Imperial Army
  

[Grey Hunter Ydalir]

Can I ask whether you're particularly married to the idea of these guys being a 'lost legion'? I can see much of this could be quite easily adapted to a current Chapter.

 

Is this for 30k or 40k?

 

The reason I ask is that filling in the Lost Legions historically tends to attract a lot of flak. Current Liber thankfully doesn't have the same teeth the old one did, but it's often seen as a faux pas to categorically fill in what is canonically a mystery.

 

If this is purely for your own headcanon, no worries and the Liber can advise.

 

 

However, if it's rules you're after, the Liber deals with Lore specifically, you might get better traction in another forum.

[StrangerOrders]

Can I ask whether you're particularly married to the idea of these guys being a 'lost legion'? I can see much of this could be quite easily adapted to a current Chapter.

 

Is this for 30k or 40k?

 

The reason I ask is that filling in the Lost Legions historically tends to attract a lot of flak. Current Liber thankfully doesn't have the same teeth the old one did, but it's often seen as a faux pas to categorically fill in what is canonically a mystery.

 

If this is purely for your own headcanon, no worries and the Liber can advise.

 

 

However, if it's rules you're after, the Liber deals with Lore specifically, you might get better traction in another forum.

That explains it.

 

Roughly 30k

 

Its a pure AU story in the sense that it is following a 'what if' story around the Second Primarch (Galtine and the DKs dont go missing per my plans, potentially the 11th neither depending on whether I am happy with how their concept plays out or not), I have been writing it for about 4-ish years on SB and have been slowly trying to figure out how to get rules for various things down since folks asked for abstractions and stuff and I think its neat framework trick (with the obvious 'doesnt scale well' caveat). The trouble is that I am not that creative when it comes to rules. Most of my readers liked the ideas but I dont really have any hardcore 'rulehound' readers that could aid me really that I know of.

 

Case in point, the Keening custom rule above was one of my first and I was pretty pleased with it, then Crusade came out and I had to come to grips with the fact I needed to rewrite it but didnt have any ideas. The same goes with alot of the custom units. That I am frankly not the most skilled player also builds on this.

 

I did ask for advice on where to post this to receive help from the mods and they suggested that here was the best fit, which given the current result was obviously a very questionable idea in hindsight.

 

As to how AU, I asked the Mods as well and the glacial pace of my story (320k words and only at 832.M30 and hyping up Fulgrim actually getting into the story lol) combined with the fact that the Legions are largely going to be the same saw them direct me here on the grounds of other forums being less active and my story not being that AU.

 

I do honestly apologize to folks if this was faux pas. And Im grateful for the silence and polite warning instead of the proverbial pyre.

 

That being said, I appreciate any help people are willing to give. I have more stuff I am hoping to get advice with but I wanted to sort of test the waters first.

Edited October 23, 2020 by StrangerOrders

[Grey Hunter Ydalir]

 

I do honestly apologize to folks if this was faux pas. And Im grateful for the silence and polite warning instead of the proverbial pyre.

 

 

It's not that big of a deal and now that I (and I assume others) more properly understand what you're after, it'll nip in the bud anyone (except those who don't have great reading comprehension) who is about to get onto their proverbial soap-box about it.

 

If I was going to volunteer anything, I'd suggest reading the Octaguide (linked in my sig) for anything narrative and can really help to overall shore up the structure of your work if you're intending it to be an 'IA style' piece for others to read.

 

In terms of the rules, if the people you're playing with are ok with homebrew and house-rules then you've no obstacles really. But if you want it to be balanced, I'd likely take heavy inspiration from something that already exists and simply tailor it to your own legion. The reason I suggest this is that generally I've found that people making up their own rules tend to have a bias in their guys favour, which is natural. So you tend to get into a 50-50 situation where you're either - deliberately or not - boosting their power, or being too harsh on them as you're keeping in mind constantly how you don't want them to seem overpowered, so you unintentionally nerf them though that unintended opposite bias.

 

I personally don't mess with the rules, I just use what's provided by much smarter people than I.

 

That said, other people may have more for you. Good luck. :tu:

[StrangerOrders]

Well... Imma throw out some additional stuff out, again any feed back is deeply appreciated! 

 

Special Characters

 

Guildmaster Alten'lo of the Ailbe 215pts

'First Captain of the Dawn Knights', Lord of the Witch-Eaters, The Old Lion of Phobos, The Golden Master.​

A number of the curiosities of the Second Legion are well-encompassed in the enigmatic former master of the Legion. While records attest to his being surrendered to the genesmiths early in the history of the Astartes his formal record until his induction as Legion Master during the first muster of the Legion on Luna is ill-attested to, his being called the 'Lion of Phobos' being just one of the incongruities of the documentation. What is known of him presents a capable but unremarkable commander who led his legion with reasonable success during the conquest of Sol and in the early years of the Crusade. A capacity which is at odds both with the otherwise exceptional records of other Legion Masters and the unmitigated catastrophe of the so-called 'Legion-Death' at Drem, a failure which he was commended for by no-less than the Emperor himself. That he was elevated to his sire's side rather than demoted or otherwise executed by the Retaliator only raising this confusion among historians of the Great Crusade.

Yet in the aftermath of the discovery of his Primarch, the master of the now-defunct Witch-Eaters has revealed or otherwise developed a genius for war that is unmatched within his own Legion and ranks highly among the echelons of the Crusade. A peerless practitioner of the Second's ill-reputed Fabian stratagems, the Golden master has lead countless empires on long and grinding campaigns that have seen them stretched out and drained as he isolated and destroyed their armies and cities, often leaving broken civilization in his wake with such a minor drain on the war material of the Second as to be deemed a miser in the eyes of some. In this he embodies the patient ideal of the Golden Logic, forsaking obvious glory in favor of allowing foes to destroy themselves.

Alten'lo: WS 6 BS 5 S 4 T 4 W 3 I 5 A 3 Ld 10 Sv. 2+

Wargear:

• Mastercrafted Boltgun
• Artificer Armor
• Iron halo
• Reminder of Drem
• Paragon Blade

Special Rules:

• Legiones Astartes (Dawn Knights)
• Master of the Legion
• Independent Character
• Ancient Calm
• Peerless Mentor

Warlord:
 

• Walker of the Golden Path: Alten'lo must select his Warlord Trait from either the Command or Strategic Tables of the Rulebook rather than rolling.

Reminder of Drem: The right gauntlet of Alten’lo’s armour is forged from the same golden aurumite as the warplate of the Adeptus Custodes, an ancient honor delivered in recognition of some forgotten deed. It is said that esoteric mechanisms within the gauntlet are responsible for the golden light that at times suffuses the High Seneschal, mending his flesh and allowing him to press on where others would fall. The Reminder of Drem grants Alten’lo the It Will Not Die and Eternal Warrior special rules.

Ancient Calm: Amongst the most ancient of the Astartes, Alten’lo has witnessed horror beyond imagination and fought monsters who were rage personified. Now anger is merely a distraction, rage is sloppiness and hate is weakness. Alten’lo has gains the Preferred Enemy USR against any model with the Rage, Furious Charge or Fear Special Rules. Should the target already qualify as a Preferred Enemy, he may instead gain the Rending Special Special.

Peerless Mentor: It is said that the Golden Master is unrivaled in his ability to find and refine the potential in any that come under his notice. His tutelage is prized amongst the Dawn Knights and he rarely takes the field without being joined by his dear disciples. Whatever unit Alten’lo joins at the beginning of the game gains +1 Weapon Skill.

 

Guildmaster Morien Ailbevanshi 185pts

'First Captain of the Dawn Knights', The Pearl-Bright Axe, The King of Doves, Warden of the Midsummer Rani
​

A singularly heroic figure among the mismatched and odd ranks of the Second, Morien is an Astartes who has left a trail of fanfare where many leave nothing but wrack and ruin. In this he is a fine encapsulation of the Pearl Guild as a whole, the white-marked warriors who are known to lay siege to a foes' willingness to resist compliance where many strike at the flesh. Images are seen on various worlds of the Bright Axe offering a hand to a fallen foe, warriors shielding the people of enemy warriors as noncompliant tyrants resort to sacrificing their own people and lines of warriors accompanied by doves of light and steel through ruined battlefields, bringing life and salvation wherever they can. In this he is loved by many worlds where he has warred and disdained as vain and weak by other voices in the Crusade, but all agree that he is a singular oddity among his Legion.

Yet, careful study reveals that this is a misconception of the facet of Logic that the Pearl holds dear. The White Logic is one that idealizes kindness as another weapon in a warrior's arsenal, seemingly born of a deeply-seeded need to create impromptu alliances and to pick apart potential grudges with a surgeon's exactness. It is not weakness that drives the Pearl-Bright then, but the careful amassment and repurposing of resources the proof of which can be seen in the number of former warlords among the Imperial Army that recall fair Morien kindly.

Morien: WS 6 BS 4 S 4 T 4 W 3 I 5 A 4 Ld 10 Sv. 2+/4++

Wargear:

• Boltgun
• Royal Halberd of Midsummer
• Tartaros Terminator Armor
• Fae-Pattern Narthecium
• Frag and krak grenades
• The Pale Dove
• Bane Mask

Special Rules:

• Legiones Astartes (Dawn Knights)
• Master of the Legion
• Independent Character
• Counter-Attack
• King of Doves

Warlord:
 

• The White Shroud: Morien grants any model with the Legiones Astartes (Dawn Knights) Special Rule within 6" +1 Toughness. Any wounds dealt via the Poisoned Special Rule to Morien or his unit gain a +1 penalty to their To Wound Roll (to a maximum of 6+).

Royal Halberd of Midsummer: A weapon of some mystery, this beautiful relic weapon is said to rank among the eldest in the Second Legion. A shining head of Whitesteel curious shaped in a manner, somewhere between an axe blade and a spearhead, and a long shaft embossed in ostentatious compose a weapon well-matched to its wielder. Much more cannot be gleaned from its history beyond a name somewhat at odds with the allegedly apolitical status of a Seeker.

Range: Melee Str: +1 AP: 3 Type: Two-Handed, Keening, Mercy of the Swift Retribution.
 

Mercy of the Swift Retribution: A unique power generator allows for a dramatic magnification of force on the moment of activation, allowing for the Bright Axe to execute those foolish enough to strike at him in a single, painless, blow. The Royal Halberd of Midsummer is treated as being Strength (X2) in any Assault in which Morien's squad is charged.​

The Pale Dove: A lord among the constructs of the Pearl Guild, the Pale Dove is a large Saviour Dove that is ever at Moren's shoulder, named for its grey 'feathers' where most of its kind are pearlescent. This glowering construct is recorded in more than one mural, a winged silhouette trailing a warm and invigorating light that outshines even the miraculous effects of its lesser kind. The Pale Dove functions as a Cyber Familiar which rather confers a 4++ Invulnerable Save to Morien and any unit which he joins in place of the usual 6++ to himself.

King of Doves: The Pearl Guild is known for the humming constructs that often accompany them into battle, it is said that few are as gifted in the acquisition of the Savior Doves as Morien, hence his epitaph. If Morien is the Warlord for the Detachment, Independent Characters with the Legiones Astartes (Dawn Knights) Special Rule in the detachment may purchase Cyber-familiars for 15 Points per model.

 

Guildmaster Percivale Vom Ailbe 240pts

"First Captain of the Dawn Knights", The Daybreak Charger, The Emerald Lord, Seeker-Elector of Afallache
​

Few can make sense of what little is known of the records of Hollow and Percivale is one such quandary, for the first mentions of the Emerald Guildmaster speak of an elderly man striking an alliance with the Retaliator. This runs at odds with the youth recorded as having undergone ascension into the ranks of the Astartes in the early days of the Dawn knights, such questions are unhelped by the particularly enigmatic nature of the Emerald Guildmaster. Few can say to know Percivale outside of his legion as the Guildmaster is a figure of few recorded words and a distant demeanor. Some have noted that he is an Astartes worth listening to however, given his war record.

Armies vanished, fleets lost to the dark and even entire worlds culled to the last soul, such events mark the passing of Percivale Vom Ailbe and the Emerald Guild. The Emerald Logic demands a thorough Diligence in all things, a diligence which seems to be often interpreted as a perfect annihilation of the foe with not a single voice allowed to escape. These cannot be called battles or slaughters, for in place of tales and horrors only ghost stories follow in the Daybreak Charger's wake. Consequently, few records exist of the tactical preferences of the Emerald Lord as he rarely allows for survivors when he deems a foe worthy of destruction. What few fragmented accounts mark him claim an intricate lattice of infantry and mounted warriors lead by a terrible warrior astride a roaring Jetbike. Yet it is in the curious diligence that Emerald are admired by their brothers, for he is most gifted at determining which foes must vanish to quietly break otherwise bloody resistance.

Percivale: WS 6 BS 5 S 4 T 5 W 3 I 5 A 3 Ld 10 Sv. 2+/4++

Wargear:

• Master-Crafted Power Spear
• Artificer Armour
• Frag and krak grenades
• Bane Mask
• Iron Halo
• Legion Scimitar Jetbike with Heavy Bolter*+1 Toughness accounted for in profile.

Special Rules:

• Legiones Astartes (Dawn Knights)
• Master of the Legion
• Independent Character
• Tradition of Wolf and Storm
• Lance Join Shield, Fang Joins Claw
• Jealous Command
• Preferred Enemy (Characters)
• Monster Hunter

Warlord:

• Diligent in Slaughter: Percivale grants Jetbike and Bike type units in the Detachment +1 for the purposes of calculating Sweeping Advance rolls.

Options:

• Percivale may exchange his Power Spear for a Moraltache Pattern Greatsword… 5 Points.

Tradition of Wolf and Storm: Percivale is said to ride into battle beside the last of his students, warriors that have weathered a hundred wars astride the saddle. While time alone brings to question the credibility of this account, the ferocity and skill that his guard bring to battle lends a certain validity to the tale. Percivale grants himself and his Command Squad the Furious Charge and Skilled Rider Special Rules. Legion Jetbike Sky Hunter Squadrons may be taken as Elite Choices in an army in which Percivale is Warlord.

Lance Joins Shield, Fang Joins Claw: It is said the homeland of Percivale venerates wolves, the ferocity to pull down the far greater beasts through numbers and cunning. To these people, the citizen armies were the harriers to the great hunters of the nobility, the claws that cling to the flesh of prey to the killing bite of the noble charge. This method of war was carried to the stars by the Seeker-Elector to murderous effect. When a Bike or Jetbike Type unit in the Primary Detachment performs a charge on an ongoing assault, their Hammer of Wrath attacks are resolved at Strength 6.

 

Guildmaster Trystane Ailbe Vur Chulainn 195pts

'First Captain of the Dawn Knights', The Blood Dancer, Knight of the Rubies, The Red Jester.​

Like many of the command of the Second Legion the records detailing the origins of Trystane Ailbe are muddled at best and contradictory at worst, for the ever youthful Astartes is said to have been by his gene-sire's side since the beginnings of his legend a near half-century before his discovery. Throughout the Great Crusade, Trystane has served as one of the most well-known faces of the Second as both proxy of the Primarch and as a terrifying opponent in his own right. Most distinct is his atypically personable nature for a Legionary, a smiling and handsome giant known for a contagiously bright outlook and a barbed wit that lashes out like a dagger when least expected. A skill mirrored in his fearsome reputation as a duelist who favors a paired sword and dagger in all contests. Yet even to those that regard him best, there is an uneasy undercurrent to the Guildmaster that most reflects itself in open-battle.

The Ruby Knight makes war in a fashion that no less an observer than the Lord Russ have deemed mad. In this he embodies the maniac valour that defines the Red Logic of the Ruby, matching himself against masses of foes that should by rights overwhelm even a warrior of the Astartes. Yet it is often by dancing amidst the enemy that the adherents of the Red have always found victory, pushing themselves so far into enemy masses with grace, speed and ferocity that leaves foes spilling the blood of their own kin long before they touch the warriors of the Ruby Guild. So masterful is the Blood Dancer in his art that it is even said that he has emerged from battle caked in the blood of his foes countless times, yet with blades rarely so stained. An impression made terrifying by his horned and feather-maned Bane Mask, with its ecstatic opal eyes and maw of jagged teeth.

Trystane: WS 6 BS 5 S 4 T 4 W 3 I 7 A 5 Ld 10 Sv. 2+/4++

Wargear:

• Power Sword
• Artificer Armor
• Iron Halo
• Bane Mask
• The White Hilt
• Frag & Krak Grenades

Special Rules:

• Legiones Astartes (Dawn Knights)
• Master of the Legion
• Independent Character
• Rampage
• Fleet
• Dance Amidst Blood

Warlord:

• Knight of the Rubies: All units with the Legiones Astartes (Dawn Knights) Special Rule within 24" of Trystane may reroll their Charge Rolls. Any so affected unit with the Rampage Special Rule gains a further +1 to their Attack characteristic.

The White Hilt: A relic Moraltache of unknown origin, the White Hilt is as strange a weapon as its wielder. Ostensibly a secondary weapon in function, the White Hilt is little more than a dagger in the hand of an Astartes. Yet any who have witnessed the Guildmaster at war have seen the way that this dagger strikes out at the climax of battle to sever spines, impale hearts and slit throats, a screaming streak of light that the eye struggles to follow.

Range: Melee Str: U AP: 2 Type: Psy-Lash, Keening, Murderous Strike

Dance Amidst Blood: In battle the Blood Dancer proves his sobriquet, moving through torrents of blood and weaving through tightly-pressed bodies like something immaterial. Foes find their blows gliding through air, thrusts catching only the notion of him and in the end often find the only blood spilled to be that of their own allies. Enemy units suffer a -1 penalty To Hit him in Assault(to a maximum of 6+). Furthermore, rolls of 1 result in the Hit landing on another friendly model in the Assault so long as there is one present (this also applies in a challenge).