My Word Bearers Warband

[Redboot Giddyman]

Finally painted them all, so here they are.

 

For context, all of my Chaos Warbands operate primarily in the same section of space, called "The Osiris System" after one of the main planets in said system. It's a Chaos-controlled sector of space, but one where Chaos worshippers have managed to build their own functioning societies. Nothing particularly pleasant of course, but not really much worse than life for the average citizen of the Imperium either (if at all). And much as the countless worlds of the Imperium are protected by the Adeptus Astartes, Imperial Guard, and others, so too are the worlds of the Osiris System protected by multiple Chaos Warbands, as well as Chaos Guardsmen and similar. 

 

Basically, think of the Osiris System as a much, much smaller, Chaos-aligned version of the Imperium. 

 

There are two "main" Chaos Warbands, but neither one is ready yet (as I'm saving them for last!) so I'm showing off the "smaller" Warbands first. Beginning with, fittingly, a warband from the very first traitor legion. Enjoy!

 

[Redboot Giddyman]

Will also post pics for each individual CSM (yes, all of them), complete with bios. Let's start with the Chaos Lord of the Warband:

 

Menelek Kallo

“Do understand: we do not seek to fight for the sake of it. We do not seek to slaughter out of bloodlust. Rather, we seek to enlighten. Alas, sometimes a teacher must resort to strict discipline.”

 

Leader of this Word Bearers Warband, Menelek Kallo is a Chaos Lord with Jump Pack, somewhat unusual among the Word Bearers who typically place less emphasis on aerial combat than the Black Legion and Night Lords do. But Menelek is as capable as any from his brother traitor legions in striking from above, and also an excellent shot with his trusty Master Crafted plasma pistol, vicious in melee with his Lightning Claw, and a superb tactician. Above all though, Menelek is dedicated to the Word Bearer’s twisted mission of conversion, a devout worshipper of the Chaos Gods who wishes to bring others over into their service. He loathes the Imperium as a whole, but sees the masses who fight for it as naïve children who must be educated.

 

Design Notes:

I wanted the Word Bearers Chaos Lord to have a jump-pack, as while I am aware that Jump Packs are mostly associated with Night Lords and Black Legion, there is nothing forbidding Word Bearers from having them. I gave him some brass to make him look fancier, which I felt was right for the leader of a Warband. This is also why I did up the plasma pistol in gold, to better indicate that it's a Master-Crafted weapon. 

 

It may be hard to tell, but there are exactly 17 skulls on the base, in reference to how the Word Bearers are the 17th Legion. If you're wondering why the broken Space Marine helmet is yellow and not blue, I decided to make a lot of the dead Space Marine trophies/bits for my Word Bearers characters Imperial Fists ones instead of Ultramarines 1) to do something different and less expected, and 2) because I think the yellow provides a good color-contrast to the Word Bearer's dark red (this is also why most of the eye lenses and plasma weapons for these Word Bearers are light blue: it contrasts better than orange). With that said, I did give Menelek here an Ultramarines Veteran Sergeant helmet on his trophy rack, taken from the Battlefield Trophies box and put on the trophy rack after I clipped away some of the spikes to make room, since the two are arch-enemies after all. I figured if anyone deserved such a prestigious trophy, it would be the Chaos Lord of the Warband. 

 

 

Since it may be hard to tell, there are two gold service studs on the skull with the bionic eye. That's because I intended it to be the skull of a Dark Angel who had 200 years of service under his belt. The better to convey the power of Menelek here that he could slay such a foe. 

Edited 9 hours ago by Redboot Giddyman
Tidying up

[Redboot Giddyman]

Abbas

“None so blind as those who will not see. Fortunately for you, I have much experience in opening other’s eyes to the truth. But can your mind handle it, I wonder? We shall see.”

 

Leader of the Word Bearers Terminator Squad, Abbas goes to some lengths to channel his legion’s Primarch; favoring a mace as his weapon but also a capable sorcerer, Abbas also works to turn others to the cause of Chaos and tear down that which the Emperor has built. Having borne witness via visions of the past to the Emperor’s cruel destruction of Monarchia, Abbas concluded from these that Lorgar and the Word Bearers were wholly justified in turning on a patriarch who had treated them so shabbily. Abbas has thus vowed to carry on Lorgar’s work. He delights in using his powers to make Imperials see that their beloved Emperor loathed the thought of being deified, and thus their fanatical devotion to him is the very opposite of what the man they claim to so love would have wanted. Abbas generally finds the appropriate next step after breaking the offending Imperial’s brain figuratively, is to do so literally with his mace.

 

Design Notes

I had actually done multiple Chaos Terminators before I got around to doing any painting (I have probably bought more copies of Chaos Terminators than I have any other individual Warhammer set except for Legionnaires). Since I'd given a bunch of them maces, when I was deciding which ones would go to what Warband, I decided to make most of the mace wielders Word Bearers in honor of Lorgar and his own signature mace weapon. To give his trophy rack more personality, I added a Tau skull and a Battle Sister trophy helmet to it (the former from the Citadel Skulls box and the latter from the Battlefield Trophies box). 

Edited 8 hours ago by Redboot Giddyman

[Redboot Giddyman]

Chemosh

“Your Emperor will not save you from the green tide coming to sweep you and your loved ones away. Fortunately for you, I will. And all I ask in return is that you listen to what I have to say.”

 

2^nd-in-command of the Word Bearers Terminator Squad, Chemosh is a true disciple of the faith. Wielding his Reaper Autocannon against all “nonbelievers”, he guns down those who reject the worship of the Chaos Gods with fanatical zeal. However, Chemosh would prefer to convert, and to this end he has taken to battling Ork forces besieging human settlements that are largely defenseless against such attacks. His reasoning is that, while the Orks obviously cannot be swayed to the cause of Chaos, those humans he “rescues” from them just might in gratitude. Thus has Chemosh gunned down countless Orks, and in so doing swayed many humans he’s “saved” in this way to embrace the Dark Gods. Chemosh is no stranger to fighting other enemies though, and like all Word Bearers he most relishes getting to slay their arch foes, the Ultramarines.

 

Design Notes

 

I really love the look of Ork skulls. I just do. Between that and the fact that the Orks are, along with the Tyranids one of the two "swarm races" in 40K, I've developed a fondness for decorating some of my CSMs with plethoras of Ork skulls to convey that they're awesome one-man-armies who plow through tons of Orks. This is far from the last time you'll be seeing this with my designs, nor is this the most extreme example. 

 

And no, I don't hate Orks. Far from it. But again, they usually come in huge numbers, so where one Ork has been killed, you have to figure many more have besides. 

 

Anyway, since he's a Word Bearer I figured his trophy helmets should be Ultramarines in origin, so he's got one from a rank-and-file, and one from a Sergeant. 

 

 

Another thing I love about Ork skulls: the ones with an open jaw can be put on empty spikes on a Chaos Terminator's trophy rack as a quick and easy way to spruce up said trophy rack. 

 

Here's another shot, the better to see all the skulls. Convert and Chemosh here will happily take care of all your Ork-related troubles (or your money back!)

Edited 8 hours ago by Redboot Giddyman

[Redboot Giddyman]

Sardis:

“It has been too long since I have outdueled a worthy foe. Try not to disappoint me.”

 

Armed with a glittering Power Sword, Abbas’ third-in-command Sardis is an adept duelist, perhaps the most so of all the Word Bearers allied with the OATS. He certainly keeps himself in practice often enough. Obsessed with facing opponents in one-on-one duels, Sardis relishes getting the chance to fight a worthy foe, whatever their origins. One of his favorites was fittingly an Ultramarine, those bitterest of the Word Bearer’s foes. Impressed by his sword skill and amused by his defiance, Sardis did not just take his helmet and skull as trophies as is typical, he kept the rest of his body and armor too, displaying the now headless skeleton encased in power armor in his quarters as a gruesome decoration. Also to be found within his quarters are weapons taken from those he believed fought well with them…just not well enough to defeat him.

 

Design Notes:

 

Yes, he is indeed carrying the shield and sword of a Deathwing Knight. I love those big shields and Power Swords a lot, and I saw absolutely no reason why Chaos Space Marines can't have them too. So I took a squad of Deathwing Knights and mixed the pieces with one of the many squads of Chaos Terminators I bought. Sardis here was the one I painted in the Word Bearer's colors. 

 

 

Once again I used the open jaw of an Ork skull to add to the trophy rack, as well as adding an Adeptus Arbites helmet too just because (hey, I think they're cool, and I'd argue there are way lamer foes to die to than a Word Bearers Terminator who's a master swordsman). 

 

Once again the trophy helmet is an Ultramarine. I promise they won't be that for ALL my Chaos Space Marines. But I figure for the Word Bearers specifically it made sense given how much the two hate each-other. 

Edited 8 hours ago by Redboot Giddyman

[Redboot Giddyman]

Herod

“As I was enlightened, so too will I enlighten others.”

 

Once, Herod was a normal man, one of many converted by Abbas to the worship of Chaos. Now he fights directly under Abbas as one of the Chaos Terminators in his squad, recently ascending to the position after much distinguished service as a Legionnaire. Like Abbas, he fights primarily with a mace, though he also carries a combi-weapon for ranged attacks, as he lacks Abbas’ prodigious talent in sorcery.

 

Design Notes

Nothing too fancy here. As stated earlier, I made the plasma weapons for my Word Bearers a light blue. I know orange is the color of Heretic plasma weaponry (at least by default), but again, I felt that the light blue provided a better color contrast to the dark red than orange. I saved orange for my Iron Warriors warband. 

 

Another Power-Maul. Again, meant to evoke Lorgar and his mace. 

 

Edited 8 hours ago by Redboot Giddyman

[Redboot Giddyman]

Phlegethon

“Fear not, Sister. You will be seeing your beloved Emperor soon.”

 

A veteran of campaigns against the Sisters of Battle, Phlegethon actually holds some admiration for them, as he shares their common enthusiasm for using “cleansing fire” against those who reject the faith. It just so happens that his faith and theirs are diametrically opposed, and so Phlegethon has had to kill a great many Battle Sisters. Nevertheless, he respects their conviction, though he would also welcome the chance to turn some of them over to Chaos. Having seen what the Sisters of Change who fight beside the OATS are capable of, he is curious to see what other kinds of Chaos-aligned Sororitas would look like.

 

Design Notes

 

In hindsight I should have given this guy way more Sisters of Battle trophy helmets than just the one. Oh well. I prime all my trophy skulls and helmets, so maybe at some point I'll add more. Considering the bio I gave him it would make sense. 

 

Not gonna lie, I really love that horned skull pauldron. Skull logo pauldrons are best pauldrons. :)

 

Edited 8 hours ago by Redboot Giddyman

[Redboot Giddyman]

Well, that's the Chaos Lord and all the Terminators. Possessed and Legionnaire bios and pics coming soon.