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Brand new to this site and this is my first post/topic. So first off, hi!

Okay anyway, I was having a conversation with a friend at my local hobby shop about the 30k armies we've been starting. I've begun modeling and painting Deathguard and have a pretty decent size force for 40k at this point, still far from reaching my 3000 point mark for ideal 30k games. Problem is other than the two of us... No one has any interest in playing heresy games and I don't want to have wasted a fortune on models that just look pretty ill never get to use so I'm going to put them on the table in normal 40k games.

Now here is where I need a little help, maybe some criticism on my ideas and help me with the fluff to explain my army. So far I'm planning on using the CSM codex to make use of plague marine stats aswell as mark of nurgle. I'm using 2 vindicators, 2 heldrakes modeled as storm talons with the hades under the nose and two flamers on the sides. Terminators, power armored marines, and my bikes will all use chaos rules ( again most likely mark of nurgle to express their hardiness) and I shouldn't have a problem with just about any HQ I choose to use.

The real issue I'm running into is how the heck I'm going to justify a sizeable force of Deathguard being loyalists in the present day fluff. I have some ideas and for fun started writing a narrative for them but I'd like to hear what others think would be cool yet believable for their background story.


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So far this is the jist of what I have..

Prior to Morty falling in line with Horus to plan out their heresy against the imperium, he was great crusading and bringing plenty of worlds into compliance. During this time the differences between Terran borne astartes and those born on barbarus was beginning to cause a rift within the legion. Towards the end of their crusade they came across a world (name not important ATM) with a strong, technologically advanced military and fleet that gave the Deathguard their hardest fight yet. Because of this, a chapter sized force of pure terran deathguard was left to garrison the world in case of any type of rebellion, as well as claiming another world from which to recruit. The chapter began drawing recruits from the population while waiting for their primarchs to call them back into action. Decades would go by until finally they were called upon to act as reinforcements for the isstvan III campaign. Fate would have it that they arrived late to the action, just in time to witness the ground battle between traitor and loyalist fighting, some if which being from their own legion. Utterly confused and not sure what action to take due to orbital scans of the planetary battle, they chose to jeep their distance from the rest of the fleet until tey could make sense of it all. through all the chaos coming in over the comms channels, they became aware of one of their brother captains, Nathaniel Garro, running the blockade to warn others if Horus', and their own primarchs, betrayal. This lead them to immediately withdraw from the system before they themselves were fired upon. Having only moments before their battle barge would be interdicted by elements from the traitor fleet they made a blind jump towards terra taking them far ofcourse and near a small fleet of Blood Angels warships, where the Deathguard captain warned of their former brothers betrayal.

I'd like to add more to it tying in what role they played during the heresy, and what became of them after.. But I am way too tired and need sleep. Hopefully ill find some ideas by the time I can get back in here tm night.

If you're running them with the Chaos codex and chaos models why are they loyalists in your fluff?

You can use the Great Crusade army list in regular games of 40k. This was clarified in the FAQ (though when doing so you use the normal 40k Force Organisation Chart). Simply ask your opponents permission. If they're a decent sort and you can explain all the special rules, wargear etc they should have no problem.

Alternatively use the normal Space Marine codex.

As for loyalist Deathguard in present day 40k unfortunately that's not possible. Whilst there could conceivably be loyalists from the Legion who escaped in great enough number to form a chapter Post- Heresy they'd be hunted down. The only way they'd survive is if they'd change their colours, their identity, their history, if they became another chapter entirely. Only they would know they're secretly of Deathguard gene-seed.

There are a few chapters who POSSIBLY are descended or created from loyalists/gene-seed of the traitor legion (one for each god so far, in fact. Blood Ravens for Thousand Sons, Sons of Antaeus for Death Guard, Minotaurs for World Eaters, and Red Scorpions for Emperor's Children. Of those four, only the Blood Ravens could potentially be a 2nd Founding chapter, but it does show it's possible), but even If that's the case, all records of that are either destroyed or so classified that the chapter itself probably doesn't realize it, and their chapter name and heraldry are completely different from the traitor legion they're descended from.

In addition, there are other loyalists from traitor legions that are currently making their way towards Terra or whatever else (Warsmith Dantioch and his Iron Warriors band are heading to Terra to help), though since the Horus Heresy series is still ongoing, we've yet to know what their fate will be or how the Imperium decides to deal with them.

For an actual loyalist Space Marine group that calls themselves the Death Guard to exist in 40k by itself would be impossible. Instead they'd be going by an alternative chapter name using new heraldry and all records of them being from the Death Guard would be either destroyed or HIGHLY classified (probably to the point where even they wouldn't realize it, but it's your army so if you want them to know, go ahead).

Unfortunately, by itself that means that your army painted with Death Guard heraldry wouldn't make much sense, fluff-wise (gameplay-wise, you're allowed to use them though). But in the end, it's your army and your story. If you want to come up with a fluff excuse for how a loyalist chapter called the "Death Guard" using Death Guard heraldry could exist in modern 40k, you could always just say something like they got stuck in the warp at one point and time-travelled to modern 40k, whereupon at this point they're going around smacking enemies of the Imperium while still having their Death Guard name and heraldry. Of course, from there, you can write your story how you wish. Do other Imperial factions realize what's going on and accept them? Or do they hunt them down? Misunderstandings? Administration and Inquisition decides they're loyal and trustworthy but need to change their heraldry for various political reasons, but the changeover hasn't occurred yet due to beaurocratic paperwork? You're free to write your story however you'd like, though I can't vouch for whether or not others will find it plausible or not, of course.

I've been thinking along the same lines, trying to find some fluff to make 'loyalist' Deathguard in 40K using the Heresey minis and paint scheme (largely to fit in with a local campaign).

I don't think there's any way of twisting the fluff so that they'd be part of the Imperium of a loyalist Space Marine Chapter, as others have said, given their background and gene seed they'd never be trusted. However, I go with an 'A Team' type back story, where they're a hold over from the Heresey, outlawed by the Imperium for crimes they did not commit So a renegade Chapter, but not one that's fallen to Chaos and they still hold to the ideals of the Imperium, but act idependently of it, although largely still in its interests.

As for why they're not hunted down by the Inquisition, maybe their old pal Garro put something in place when he set up the Grey Knights to ensure that the renegade Death Guard weren't hunted too seriously provided they kept fighting Chaos down through the years...

 rems01 wrote:

You can use the Great Crusade army list in regular games of 40k. This was clarified in the FAQ (though when doing so you use the normal 40k Force Organisation Chart). Simply ask your opponents permission. If they're a decent sort and you can explain all the special rules, wargear etc they should have no problem.

That's not entirely correct, the FAQ says it is broadly doable, but you will likely have to resort to house rules for various things. (They specifically mention squad sizes, but I'd say anyone trying to use Volkites against a 5+ save army without drastically bumping up the points cost likely isn't worth playing against).

I would just play them as Chaos: it's simpler, fluffier, and makes more sense. Why do they need to be loyalists? Just because they're a loyal army in the heresy (sort of, for a while...) doesn't mean they have to be loyal in 40K.

i think that dundas hit the best scenario square on the head.
loyal to the emperor and mankind but still hunted by them...
the whole honorable bad guy sort of feel to them.