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[b]Here is the beginning of my new Chaos warband "The Verminkind". I say "warband" because I really dont have any intention of planning out and buying any kind of full army list. The band will most likely just come together from what ever I can get my grubby hands on from my bitz box as well as any vehicles that I have assembled but unpainted.

The warband will be Nurgle influenced, with different squads having an over all plague theme but having mutated in different ways.

Short, sweet and straight to the point

Skaven themed CSM army?

Not all of the CSM will be skaven. Some will have maintained their human form, whle others will have mutated in other demonic and diseased directions. The skaven CSM will just be a particular cult within the warband that worships a Nurgle deamon known to them as the Horned Rat and have mutated and/or have been blessed in his image.

Here is the first combat squad:

Any way stand by for the fluff. I have it all worked out. In short it will revolve around the infestation and corruption of my old chapter of SM The Storm Dragons who were repo'd and committed to the bitz box years ago on account that they looked like they were painted by Micheal J. Fox having an orgasm during an earthquake. Someone out there will get that joke.

Here is my finished Nurgle Sorcerer to lead the Vermin Kind. He originally had the possesed bat wings set on him but it just looked too awkward. I think we can assume that his wings are tucked up and can sprout in an explosion of goo when need be. Anyway the bat look of the head was convienient. He kinda looks like a bat right? and bats are vermin right?

Im really digging those Skaven CSM, and are looking forward to this Landraider of drilly proportions you speak of!

The Fluff

The Fall of the Storm Dragons:

The Foul Marches Campaign

In the latter years of 800.M41, Chapter astropaths recieved an assistance request from the planetary governor of an industrial hive world in the Oberon Solar System, a Storm Dragons area of operations. 3rd company, reinforced by 3 squadrons of Land Speeders and 4 full squads of scouts, was sent to investigate. Two weeks later the strike group, dubbed Company Scout Group Dragon Wing, took anchor in high orbit over the hive world and began a full reconnaissance in force.

After a further 2 weeks of planetary scans, zone recons, and infiltration and target aquisition missions, the full scale of the situation below was revealed. The planet was in all out rebellion. Further assesment of enemy capabilities estimated that rebel forces, a mixture of Elite, Regular, and Militia rate Infantry, supported by Artillery, Heavy and SuperHeavy class Armour, numbered more than several divisions, far more than any single Astartes company was capable of engaging. 3rd Company Commander notified the Chapter Master and the Storm Dragons were deployed in full.

Though voice or picter communication with Imperial officials had never been established, reconnaissance confirmed that there were still small pockets of loyalist resistance holding out. This was enough to begin the offensive. Despite the rest of the Chapter being another 3 weeks from re-entering real space, Company Scout Group Dragon Wing was authorized to begin destabalizing ops on the surface below. Hard hit and withdraw raids were conducted on suspected enemy command and control positions. Land Speeders were inserted and extracted in atmosphere by Thunderhawk gunshpis to run anti-armour sorties. Scout squads blew bridges, collapsed tunnels, and engaged High Value targets at range, melting back into the city scape to avoid detection.

After 8 days of nonstop guerilla actions, the capricious nature of the Empryean lent its favor to 3rd Company and released the remaining Storm Dragon companies from warp space 2 weeks ahead of schedule. All company commanding officers convened aboard the flagship Firedrake to recieve briefings from the Chapter Master and his staff. To best exploit the damage done by 3rd company's vanguard actions, and to maintain the initiative, Chapter command ordered planetfall to commence immediately.

Early clashes with enemy forces fared well. 3rd company's small war had proven successfull in destabalizing command structure and causing wide spread confusion. From the beach head, Storm Dragons battle companies locked on to distress beacons and made movement in attempt to make contact with any survivors that may still be holding out. Sadly, every beacon they found told the same story. Those Imperials that had not broken their vows to he Emperor had been slained to the man. To say that they had been simply killed by conventional warfare, however, would not be accurate. The Space Marines soon began to realize that the origins of this war were far darker than the mere politics of mankind. The bodies that were found had been ritualistically mutilated, drawn, quartered, and in some instances even eaten.

All haste was made to get to the bottom of this. An all out, Chapter sized assault was ordered on the main hive node and base of enemy operations, Blightspire, an area that fleet command was strangely unable to penetrate with any reconnaisance imaging scopes. The Storm Dragon Chapter smashed into the enemy defences with rightous fury, tearing through line after line of fortified buildings and defence networks.
It was not until they reached the inner hive nodes that the attack was stalled, and the true evil behind the Oberon system seccession was revealed. The trap was sprung. Guardsmen that were killed rose from the dead to fire their lasguns once more. Enemy tank armour bubbled into grotesque, wet flesh that absorbed even the most well placed krak missle. The skies above grew dark and the walls and towers of Blightspire itself began to come alive, glistening with new growths of putrid flesh and wet fluids. The Storm Dragons Chapter Master knew what had to be done.

Forming a column, the entire chapter surged forward toward the center of Blightspire itself, each unit spearheading the advance hurling themselves desperately at the enemy in order to make a hole for the unit behind them to advanced past.Through the stoic sacrifice of those elements in the fore front of the column, the chapter was able to force its way to the demonic chamber of the enemy high command, cutting the head from the foul beast and casting whatever ruinous powers had been channeled into realspace back from whence them came. The campaign was won, but at a terrible price, a terrible price indeed....


The Rise of the Vermin Kind:

The Storm Dragons returned to orbit and limped their way back across the galaxy to their homeworld. Chapter Staff reeled as casualty reports were collected and posted by Chapter administration. The numbers far exceeded any campaign predictions made. Of the the 1000 plus Astatres that made up the Storm Dragons, 632 were listed as a casualty. Of these 450 had been killed in action, 120 were serioulsy wounded with a minimum 6 to 12 month physical recovery, and 62 were injured to the point of dreadnought internment as the only hope of survival. The Chapter armory only had 12 functioning dreadnought exo skeletons available. The fleet docked above their homeworld and prepared for the long road to recovery that lay ahead.

Despite best efforts to restore numbers to a fraction of their original strength, unstability in geen seed stores was leading to a high attrition rate in applicants. Chapter apothecaries were able to produce just enough replacements to fill the gaps left in the table of organization made by casualites in the few and far between missions the Chapter Master rarely authorized. Not only were the Storm Dragons not meeting their restoration goals, they seemed to be shrinking as well.

Unstable geen seed, however, was the least of their worries. Veterans of the Foul Marches Campaign began to fall ill in small numbers. Chapter Apothecaries were baffled, and all initial attempts at treatment were a complete failure. Medical staff assigned to study this outbreak reported symptoms of the disease as epidermal sores and skin irritation that eventually spread to the central nervous system and infected the brain, resulting in moderate delusion and paranoia.

Sustaining further casualties, whether on the batlefield or at home, was something the Storm Dragons could not afford to do. An order to Quarantine was posted by the Chapter Master in attempt to contain the contagion and hopefully cure and save those battle brothers that had fallen ill. A special medicae laboratory and quarantine zone was created in the rock deep below the fortress monestary. Deep below the surface, Apothecaries restrained the sick with chains and administered heavy doses of sedatives to be better able to study some of the more highly contaminated patients. As the contagion ran its festering course, the quarantine zone began to resemble less of a medical facility and more of a mad house.

It was not long before the Departmento Administratum noticed the ever decreasing number of aid responses and general lack of Storm Dragon participation in their assigned area of the galaxy, and soon, Administratum Officials were knocking on the door like nosey neighbors with questions....

The secret of the contagion ravaging the bodies of their brothers in the dark recesses below the fortress monestary was ordered to firmly remain knowledge of only the highest of chapter officials. Such things are not easily kept from the prying eyes of the Imperium however, and despite the human race's general disposition against all things psychic and warp power related, it does not stop them from employing some of the most powerful psykers in the galaxy to meet their own needs. The presence of the contagion was eventually felt and discovered by the Imperium, and the fact that the Storm Dragons had been so secretive of the taint directly incriminated them to treason. The Chapter was declared renegade.

It was not long before an entire battlefleet was orbiting above the Storm Dragons homeworld. Led by elements of the Ordo Heriticus and reinforced with a full company of Grey Knights, a division of the Imperial war machinei descended on the planet. Every Storm Dragon fought to the death with cries of innocence on their lips. The Imperium did not stop at the fortress monestary and continued their advance into the surrounding hives, cleansing the industrial sectors of every man, woman, and child, ensuring that the sickness was eradicated. But the plague lived on. Deep underground, at the bottom of countless secret stairwells, at the end of winding tunnels, shut away behind set after set of blast doors, the contagion took shelter.

Decades after the battle was over and the Imperial Army had drifted away to other far flung corners of the galaxy , a great reconstruction project was created in the ruins of the fortress monestery by the civillians that had been relocated to repopulate the hives. Rumors that an underground secret laboratory with extensive tunnel systems connecting to the hive's sewer cisterns had been excavated beneth the massive military installations began to surface, which only reinforced the Imperial propganda that had been implanted portraying the Storm Dragons as devient and renegade.

But soon the battle was all together forgotten, and whatever heinous evil the Storm Dragons kept hidden beneath in the depths of the earth will never be known. The only legacy of the once proud Storm Dragon Chapter was now a soft rustling in the shadows and a quiet chittering in the darkness...[/i]also. the Storm Dragons:

I read it! I read it! It sounds good to me. Maybe some fluffy stories about some of these missions?

How do the Storm Dragons fit in with your CSMs? Are they two different projects you have going on, or are they related somehow?

Keep it up!

Cheers,
Rawson

@Rawson- much appreciated my friend. I have updated the story and definetly intend to include some more specific mission stories.

Also just got finished reading dakka user Just Dave's fan codex for CSM in 5th edition. I will no doubt be building this force around this codex to play in casual games. You need to check it out. It is awesome,

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/340878.page

Saw your link on Justdaves thread Got a mighty thing going on here. Love the paintwork of your models cant wait to see more of the awesome that comes out. Good fluff too!

Strombones wrote:@Rawson- much appreciated my friend. I have updated the story and definetly intend to include some more specific mission stories.

I like it! You have some good, logical base fluff here!

Don't forget to paint some things also

Cheers,
Rawson

Fluff has been updated.

Here is the first Chaos Marine belonging to the Cult of the Horned Rat. The "Skaven" Marines will all played as Chosen Chaos Space Marines with the Infiltrate USR. Perfect for a vanguard of sneaky Rat-Men stalking the shadows and ruins to get a drop on their enemy.

The "RPG" will be played as a grenade launcher (This is all from Just Daves fan codex and if you haven't read it whether you are a chaos player or not you are missing out. ) http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/340878.page

Grenade Launcher is:
Frag- 24 inches Str 4 AP 6 assault 1
Krak- 24 inches Str 7 AP 3 assault 1

@ rawson and AL heretic -Thanks for the kind words. Im definitley open to any suggestions in shaping the army.

How are you going to make Skaven Khorne Berzerkers, Noise Marines, ect ect? or are they just for the chosen? I think a Skaven count as daemon price would be kinda cool...

Very cool. Like the paint scheme, and the Skaven heads.

@ALHeritic. the warband will be Nurgle influenced only since they generally tend to operate from sewers and underground. so im not going to use any bezerkers or noise marines. and your right about the demon prince and/or greater deamon. I have two rat ogre heads that seem to fit the bill for that exactly.

If you didn't read the novel that I wrote about the fluff above here it is in a nut shell:

The Storm Dragons fight in a brutal campaign against Nurgle worshipping IG and take huge casualties. As they go back to their home planet to rebuild they discover that some Marines have been infected by the same plague that they had fought against. Since the chapter is already at such low levels, the chapter master tries to save those infected by hiding them away in a lab below the fortress monestary and studying the disease in attempts to find a cure. While the chapter stays out of the fight in order to preserve their numbers, the Imperium get suspisious, sends people to investigate, and figures out that the Storm Dragons are nursing a festering wound.

IG and Grey Knights attack the planet and wipe out the population and all remaining Storm Dragons. Those left in the lab below the monestary are never discovered, chew through their bindings, tunnel their way through the bedrock , and escape to the vast sewer system beneath the hive. Here they exist today feeding off the unsuspecting Imperials above. They have since divided into different cults that worship different lesser demons of nurgle and sometimes these cults get along and sometimes they quarrel over loot, territory, ect.. Their life mostly consists of scavaging for stuff in the sewers and underhives. this generally includes armor, weapons, and humans for food and sacrificial purposes. They understand that they cannot survive a direct Imperial confrontation and so are content in staying anonymously secret in the sewers for the time being.

Recently, as they grew in power and gained enough wargear they have set their sights on the spoils of the other planets in their solar system. They will sometimes stow away in the deepest and darkest recesses of Imperial or commercial ships to tavel to other planets in search of their newest scavaging obsession; gene seed.

This looks promising, it'll be nice to see how this progresses! Also the fluff is great.

Ah ok i was just curious if you were going to have nurgle influenced berzerkers...though i think Khorne might get mad. Cool i like the synopsis you have written. But i'll be patient till you write some mroe fluffy goodness...OH another thought i just had a skaven influenced defiler, obliterators, and sorcerer. I am sure this will come in good time but just some kibbles that i think would be neat.

Thanks to all comments. I always look foward to reading people's reactions and am glad to know that I'm not typing to myself.

Here is my aspiring champion and pack leader to the cult of the horned rat.

I need to put some more work on the shoulder pauldrons they are looking a bit shabby.

Looks good, have you thought about using some gs to make it more warp infused? or add tenticals (spell?) for arms or any of that crazyness

Looks really nice man! The colours are crisp and even, yet also have a dirty tinge that suits Nurgle/Skaven! I love the paint scheme too.
The conversions look really good also; the skaven heads seem to fit in so well and I love the additional parts you've used like the Champion's Sword and of course the RPG!
Freakin' love it man!

Wow, I was sure I had commented on them...

Those Skaven Marines look amazingly well-scaled, and... "realistic" in the 40k sense... Great!

Also love the fluff...

Keep on posting !

Thanks to all for the encouragement, it has certainly given me the motivation to get some stuff done so I can post it and hear what you guys think. By the way this rotting flesh color is a pain in the ass.

@AL heretic- this guy has some gs on his shoulder pad. pretty much a 3D version of the 3 green circles. But as you can tell I'm not exactly the best at greenstuff. Maybe i'm missing something because I struggle to make a cape while other people on dakka are sculpting things from scratch that look better than GW models.

@Yggdrasil- Thanks a bunch. Ive always seen people try to put skaven into 40k but never really make it work. Im really trying to make them as proportionate to the other models as possible. I always see people struggling to make them a loyalist chapter. Making them nurgle/chaos just makes so much more sense and makes inconsistancies with size more flexible. Also I looked through your gallery and was very inspired by your conversion work.

@Just Dave- Thanks again buddy. Im going to put up the organization plan soon. Ie.. what icon they will take ect..


Here is the latest for the cult of the horned rat. Im going to start a guy from another cult tonight. Ive got a cold one coming in the mail too. Should make for a perfect demonic steed. Im really going to try and make it proportionate as possible without it looking like I just stuck some dude on the top.

This is a *really* cool idea. And the perpetually open maws of those skaven heads just adds to the out-of-control creepyness of the models.

Really nice work Stormbones! Consider me subscribed.

Excellent conversions! Keep up the good work.

Also, try not to do it too much, too quickly. We all want to see this get completed and not end up with you burnt out halfway through.

Great theme, I love the rats/plague combination

love the orginal idea, i think the potbellies are a bit too big in my opinion. Otherwise, great work!

Here is a preview of my Chaos Lord on Demonic steed. Its a Skaven CSM riding a cold one. I tried to make it proportionate so I left off the backpack and traded the huge shoulder guards for some smaller "scavenged" ones. mI also tried to bulk out the cold one as much as I could with saddle bags and the like. Ive seen SM on cold ones before and they looked way too big. Im trying to make it fit. It still looks a bt awkward from the front though.keep in mind he is very WIP.

remember that this army is being built on a fan codex for CSM in 5th ed. and if you havent read it yet you are missing out.
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/340878.page

Any way if you have read the fluff you know that these CSM exsist in the sewers of their old chapter homeworld so as for the cold one this is what happens when an imperial child gets tired of his pet lizard and flushes it down the toilet!


Also included is a CSM from the rival cult. He is mainly Chainmail, White, and a little purple. Thinking about adding some rust to him.

@Grakmar and Gitsplitta- Much appreciated. I want to keep up the posts to keep people interested. Im glad Im not typing to myself!

@Depraved- Yeah I think the rat thing goes well with Nurgle. I dont play Fantasy but I assume Skaven are all Nurgle themed already? Anyway im glad someone made the connection. I see people try to make skaven Loyal Chapters and it just doesnt work.

@Norn King- I thnk youre right about the bellies. Im going to lay off them and try to make Nurgle themes in other ways.

I like the dynamic posing of the steed, keep up the good work!

Really nice yet again!

Very nice models, and I simply loved the fluff. I always like it when someone gives their army a backstory that gives them some character, it's nice to see the extra effort.