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This thread is to document the background and fluff for my planned Space Marine chapter; the Warp Dragons. Just for some game related information they will be a true scale army using the Blood Angels codex. They will also be based on some of Warmill's custom made clear engraved bases. I will post a link here to my PLog once I get the final parts I need to begin work on the chapter.

I will add more fluff as I go along.





Chapter Name: Warp Dragons
Date of Founding: M41
Parent Chapter: Salamanders
Homeworld: A fleet based chapter that recruits widely in order to find the few select individuals that are capable of sustaining routine exposure to the warp.
Colour Scheme:


Affiliations: A rather insular chapter due to their relatively high incidence of instability, the Warp Dragons are not closely affiliated with any organisation and indeed attempt to remain as isolated as possible.
Special Notes: Use compact warp gateway technology to teleport short distances across the battlefield using reverse engineered warp spider generators.

Predominantly space based combat. Limited surgical strike ground operations. Highly selective in their targeting using pin point decapitation strikes.

Predilection for close combat as well as melta and flamer weapons.

Exposure to the warp leads to higher risk of instability. Unstable marines are often given the chance of death through service and are formed into special units (“Lymphare”) and given the hardest battlefield assignments – the yellow portion of their armour is re-painted with the ash of prayer fires, rendering it the same ashen grey as their right sides.

Background:
Descended from the Salamanders, the Warp Dragons chapter was formed from their geneseed in the hope of creating a resolute body of warriors who would be capable of facing the horrors of the warp and not only surviving but being able to fight on, to the last man if necessary, once they attained their target.

During their early formation the Warp Dragons suffered horrific casualty rates as the recruitment and training processes were refined to weed out those too weak to meet the exacting requirements. Further casualties were caused by faulty technology leaving marines trapped in the warp, or shunting them through time as well as space, causing them to emerge years, or even centuries out of phase (which may well explain isolated legends of individual warriors in grey and gold armour suddenly appearing to turn the tide in battle throughout Imperial history).

With the stabilisation of the technology and recruitment processes, the Warp Dragons began to build up their numbers and conduct ever more punishing raids on the enemy of the Imperium.

Even now the Warp Dragons suffer from their unique style of combat, loosing brothers to the warp not only physically but also mentally – some becoming unhinged by their constant exposure to the maddening effects of the warp. The madness comes in many forms, from drooling idiocy to indiscriminate rage. Many are given the Emperor’s peace but some remain lucid enough to be formed into special “Lymphare” detachments which fight furiously to the death.

As the Warp Dragons are both descendants of the Salamanders, and routinely exposed to the warp, they must put their inherent smithing skills to the ultimate challange, to create and maintain weapons and armour that will function and protect the user after frequent exposure to the warp and its corrupting influence. For this reason the chapter contains many uniquely crafted sets of armour and one off weapons.



Custom Base design/chapter symbol:






My Army lists:

1000 points wrote:HQ
Librarian 1
Epistolary 1
Jump Pack 1
Blood Lance 1
Shield of Sanguinius 1

Honour Guard 1
Chapter Banner 0
Jump Packs 1
Meltagun 1

Elites
Sanguinary Priest 3
Jump Pack 3

Troops
Assault Marines 1
Meltagun 2
5x Marines 5
Combat Shield 1

Assault Marines 1
Meltagun 2
5x Marines 5
Combat Shield 0


total = 1000

1500 points wrote:HQ
Librarian 1
Epistolary 1
Jump Pack 1
Blood Lance 1
Shield of Sanguinius 1

Honour Guard 1
Chapter Banner 1
Jump Packs 1
Meltagun 1

Elites
Sanguinary Priest 3
Jump Pack 3
Power weapon 3

Sanguinary Priest 1
Jump Pack 1
Power weapon 1

Troops
Assault Marines 1
Meltagun 2
5x Marines 5
Combat Shield 1

Assault Marines 1
Meltagun 2
5x Marines 5
Combat Shield 1

Death Company 1
2 extra marines 2
Jump Packs 5
Lemarates 1


total = 1495

2000 points wrote:HQ
Librarian 1
Epistolary 1
Jump Pack 1
Blood Lance 1
Shield of Sanguinius 1

Astrorath the Grim 1

Honour Guard 1
Chapter Banner 1
Jump Packs 1
Meltagun 1

Elites
Sanguinary Priest 3
Jump Pack 3
Power weapon 3

Sanguinary Priest 1
Jump Pack 1
Power weapon 1

Troops
Assault Marines 1
Meltagun 2
5x Marines 5
Combat Shield 1

Assault Marines 1
Meltagun 2
5x Marines 5
Combat Shield 1

Assault Marines 1
Meltagun 1

Death Company 1
2 extra marines 2
Jump Packs 5
Lemarates 1

Death Company 1
2 extra marines 2
Jump Packs 5

total = 2000

Shiny...

Indeed. I am given to understand that my custom bases are ready.

Just waiting on a trade for some Terminator bits to go ahead and I can start actually making me some Marines

Awesome...
Put a link to any pictures you post... please...

Will do - I plan on keeping this thread for developing fluff, and creating a PLog for the physical models.

When you make it Link me up...

Will do.

Also, as a quick teaser for what is coming up:



My bank balance killing purchase in Warp Dragons colours

Will probably be painted up after I have done a few of my marines.

Shiny...
Can't wait to see more.

Love those colours, it's a very real yellow rather than ow-my-eyes fist yellow. Can't wait to see some painted guys!

Me neither - as I said I am waiting on a trade for some Terminators so I can get started on the actual guys

However, my basic plan for painting the yellow will be using zenithal highlighting to spray from a black primer through:

Vallejo Model Air Metal Rust Metallic
Vallejo Model Air Ochre
Vallejo Model Air Yellow

Or something like that

The grey will be something like:
Vallejo Model Air Burnt Umber
Vallejo Model Air Light Grey

But I will know better when I have the paints and models in my hand

I'm very interested in seeing pics of those custom bases when you get them!

I have the custom bases

I will go take some pictures now.

I put it on black so that the engraving showed up. When you are viewing it on regular surfaces the lines kind of vanish and you get a cloudy effect - you actually get quite a good effect.



These are obviously extreme close ups, but from normal tabletop range it looks good.

As I said in WarMill's thread, I think these fully engraved bases would only work if you are having a very minimal contact area on the base (my army is all jump pack, so there is going to be very little base/model interface so most of the base will be seen).

I'm also going to paint the squad markings just to make them easier to see.

We're looking forward to seeing some hot minis mate. Got any future plans to include tanks or terminators? How about a couple of dreads?

The only vehicles I am planning is the assault ram above (which I have received, but am waiting on a replacement part for from FW).

I might add in a couple of vehicles at some point in the future just for display - notably a drop pod (as I think they look cool) and a rhino (just to paint). I have an LR hull sitting around that I will probably paint in these colours as well.

No plans on Terminators, though I may make a squad up. Only problem is that as all my marines will be TS, I am actually using Terminator bits to make them, so will need to up scale that for the terminators - I have a couple of ideas, but it is still a long way down the road

Dragon? Sign me Up

This is a very welldone Chapter. At first I read that they fought Daemons in the Warp and the first thing that came to my mind was, "Mary Sue." But you pulled it off well; you made it clear that they're skilled and powerful, but at the same time they aren't invincible and do suffer for all their Warp Exposure and dangerous uphill battles against eldritch abominations. Also I like the color scheme, but that's probably just because yellow is my favorite color.

Thanks

They don't go out of their way to fight in the warp as even a few moments would be long enough to be lost forever - they use it mainly as a conduit to travel through from place to place.