Aztec/Mayan Space Marines

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**Jadenim**

Nice work, you've obviously put a bit of effort in to research, which is giving the whole army idea some nice depth to it. Personally I think your Shorn unit would play nicely as Blood Angels death company, given the "not on step back" philosophy.

A highly mobile, assault based force, also seems to fit with my impression of the Aztecs too.

**DkLnBr**

Hey! sorry about disappearing for a week, I just had some midterms that needed to be dealt with. I just wanted to say thanks to Frankenberry and teleute for posting the Shapeways stuff! I ordered the shoulder pads, so im going to be holding off on building the Tactical Marines until I get them (I also ordered the techno macuahuitl, but unfortunately I got an email saying that they couldn't be made)
I also wanted to say that the termies, scouts, commander, and half of the assault marines are ready to be primed

**DkLnBr**

Ok, so i've made more fluff for my Chapter (really im just stalling until I get stuff painted

). Scouts are the hunter caste, everything else is the warrior caste (Eagle, Jaguar, and Sun warriors are sub-groups). The only way for hunters to progress into the warrior caste is to capture 50 enemies and bring them back alive (no point sacrificing a corpse). Because of this scouts tend to favour sniper rifles for precision they give, allowing the scouts to disable enemies without killing them. However occasionally there are scouts who are not very talented at capturing enemies (or those who choose not to), which results in an odd situation where certain scouts have had more combat experience than the marines fighting with them.

Now for the names:
Homeworld= Xibalba (because how better to describe a Mesoamerican-themed death world than naming it after the Mayan underworld?)

I've also named the Captains, Chapter Master, and other important masters of the chapter. I named them all after Aztec and Mayan gods, some names I've altered, but most are unchanged. What I learned when looking them up is that the Aztec/Mayan gods each have a LOT of different aspects, and that there are tons of sun and war gods

Character Names
Chapter Master= Itzamna (Aztec creator deity)
Chaplaincy (High Priest)= Votan (described as the Old Black God of War and Death. Fear my name xenos scum!)
Armoury = Quetzal (half of Quetzalcoatl, Aztec god of crafts, learning and knowledge)
Apothecarion (Master of the Sacrifice)= Buluc Chabtan (Mayan god of sacrifice)
Librarium (Supreme Diviner)= Tezcatli (half of "Tezcatlipoca" Aztec god of a sh*t ton of stuff, including sorcery)
1st Company, ???=Tepeyollotl (Aztec god of Jaguars, best name for the captain of the Jaguar Warriors
2nd Company, Master of the Watch= Tonat' ahau (the combined names of the Aztec and Mayan gods of the sun)
3rd Company, Master of the Arsenal= Ah Puch (Mayan god of death)
4th Company, Master of the Fleet= Ehecatl (Aztec god of the wind)
5th Company, Master of the Marches= Nohock (described here http://www.godchecker.com/pantheon/mayan-mythology.php?deity=NOHOCK-EK)
6th Company, Master of the Rites= Xbalanque (one of the Mayan warrior twins)
7th Company, ???= Hunahpu (the other Mayan warrior twin)
8th Company, Lord Executioner= Ah Chuy Kak (Mayan god of war)
9th Company, Master of Relics= Huitzilopochtli (Aztec god of war)
10th Company, Master of the Recruits= Mixcoatl (Aztec god of hunting)

**MajorWesJanson**

necrondog99 wrote:
Great idea for space marines, I really like the Aztec idea.

(just try to pronounce Quetzalcoatl)
"Tech-lah-total." Whatever.

Don't forget to convert the chainswords to obsidian blades by gluing sharp bits along the cutting axis and doing a nice smokey obsidian paint job. That would be awesome looking.

- J

A local player uses bits from lizardmen to add a sudoamerican flavor to his marines.

As for a symbol that fits and is not super hard to freehand, what about a winged snake?

**SkavenLord**

DkLnBr wrote:
Ok, so i've made more fluff for my Chapter (really im just stalling until I get stuff painted ). Scouts are the hunter caste, everything else is the warrior caste (Eagle, Jaguar, and Sun warriors are sub-groups). The only way for hunters to progress into the warrior caste is to capture 50 enemies and bring them back alive (no point sacrificing a corpse). Because of this scouts tend to favour sniper rifles for precision they give, allowing the scouts to disable enemies without killing them. However occasionally there are scouts who are not very talented at capturing enemies (or those who choose not to), which results in an odd situation where certain scouts have had more combat experience than the marines fighting with them.

Now for the names:
Homeworld= Xibalba (because how better to describe a Mesoamerican-themed death world than naming it after the Mayan underworld?)

I've also named the Captains, Chapter Master, and other important masters of the chapter. I named them all after Aztec and Mayan gods, some names I've altered, but most are unchanged. What I learned when looking them up is that the Aztec/Mayan gods each have a LOT of different aspects, and that there are tons of sun and war gods

Character Names
Chapter Master= Itzamna (Aztec creator deity)
Chaplaincy (High Priest)= Votan (described as the Old Black God of War and Death. Fear my name xenos scum!)
Armoury = Quetzal (half of Quetzalcoatl, Aztec god of crafts, learning and knowledge)
Apothecarion (Master of the Sacrifice)= Buluc Chabtan (Mayan god of sacrifice)
Librarium (Supreme Diviner)= Tezcatli (half of "Tezcatlipoca" Aztec god of a sh*t ton of stuff, including sorcery)
1st Company, ???=Tepeyollotl (Aztec god of Jaguars, best name for the captain of the Jaguar Warriors
2nd Company, Master of the Watch= Tonat' ahau (the combined names of the Aztec and Mayan gods of the sun)
3rd Company, Master of the Arsenal= Ah Puch (Mayan god of death)
4th Company, Master of the Fleet= Ehecatl (Aztec god of the wind)
5th Company, Master of the Marches= Nohock (described here http://www.godchecker.com/pantheon/mayan-mythology.php?deity=NOHOCK-EK)
6th Company, Master of the Rites= Xbalanque (one of the Mayan warrior twins)
7th Company, ???= Hunahpu (the other Mayan warrior twin)
8th Company, Lord Executioner= Ah Chuy Kak (Mayan god of war)
9th Company, Master of Relics= Huitzilopochtli (Aztec god of war)
10th Company, Master of the Recruits= Mixcoatl (Aztec god of hunting)

Well you've certainly been doing your research. Nice!

So, what's next?

**Las**

So when do we get a P&M Blog?

**DkLnBr**

Alright! Just thinking about the P&M blog for this army and I just have one question. Since I'm relatively new to posting in the forums I'm not sure how everything works, but what I'm wondering is, I would probably have to create a new topic in the "Painting and Modelling" thread? or could I just do it in this one even though its "General Discussion"?

**SkavenLord**

DkLnBr wrote:
Alright! Just thinking about the P&M blog for this army and I just have one question. Since I'm relatively new to posting in the forums I'm not sure how everything works, but what I'm wondering is, I would probably have to create a new topic in the "Painting and Modelling" thread? or could I just do it in this one even though its "General Discussion"?

Tell me about it. I'm still trying to find out how to upload pictures!

I'm not quite certain so don't take my word for it but if it's related to this topic, it should be fine to put the pictures here. If you do post it in a painting and modeling thread though, please maybe post a link to the thread.

**Col. Tartleton**

xruslanx wrote:
i don't know if aztecs really fit the elite warrior stylings of the space marines, given that their entire country was subjigated within a year by a handful of europeans. That's from a fluff/gamepoint point of view though, if you want to do it stylistically then all power to you. Would love to see it when it's done and painted. There might be some conversation opertunities from Lizardmen, they seem very aztec in their aesthetic.

Not remotely what happened. The Tlaxcala and Mexica empires virtually annihilated each other at the final and bloodiest phase of the flower wars and then American AND European diseases decimated the heavily populated central Mexico. The Mexica Emperor Moctezuma had 300,000 men against the 200,000 of the Tlaxcala initially. Cortes fought for the Tlaxcala with the Totonacs. After the war the Tlaxcala nobles were rewarded as vassals of the Spanish Crown. The Mexica on the other hand were subjugated. The aristocrats were treated well and the peasants became serfs of the Spanish Empire.

Making the Aztecs seem like a push over makes what Cortes did less impressive. It'd be like conquering the Ming with a few thousand men.

Anyhow this seems like a cool idea. You should have the Chaplains wear cloaks made of their own skins with black and bone armor and be referred to as the Flayed Lords.

**Wyzilla**

DkLnBr wrote:
Hello DakkaDakka! I've had an idea for a warhammer army, an idea about as original as it gets (as in, not very many people have posted the same idea online). My idea, Aztec/Mayan Marines. The Aztecs are one of histories "warrior cultures", but unlike the vikings, romans, mongols, greeks, egyptians, etc. they haven't seen much Space Marine treatment. Which is why I want to make one of my own. They'll most likely be a small force, used more for allies than anything else (unless they really go well, then they might evolve into a full-fledged army)

The ideas I have for the army are as follows:
"Eagle warriors" will be Assault Marines, they will have beakie helmets and sanguinary guard jump packs
"Jaguar warriors" will be the elite fighters, most likely terminators or vanguard/sternguard. really the only thing different will be that they'll have the space wolves "wolf" helmet (possibly modified to have a smaller snout, to make it look more feline rather than canine.
"The Shorn Ones". This concept sounds more like something GWS made up rather than something from real life. The "Shorn Ones" was the most prestigious warrior society - their heads were shaved apart from a long braid over the left ear. Their bald heads and faces were painted one half blue and another half red or yellow. They had sworn not to take a step backwards during a battle on pain of death at the hands of their comrades. That just sounds like a typical imperium attitude doesnt it? Im not so sure what to use for them though... possibly Centurions or Termies?
I would be using CC weapons from Fantasy Lizardmen,probably used as power swords? (or frost blades if I use space wolf rules)
Lots of scouts (fluff reasons, see below)
Focus on Librarians (temple priests) rather than captains for HQ

Non-essential fluff stuff:
Ok now the most important bits, the part that wont have an impact when playing the game! (unless friends let me use special rules to represent it)
My chapter would be rivals with Crimson Fists (spanish marines)
The chapter was decimated by Plague Marines lead by Typhus (many succumbed to horrible disease, history is great for ideas!)
Prestige for warriors who capture enemies alive rather than killing them (to sacrifice to emperor)
Live on jungle planet (like Catachan), but in temple cities with giant, stepped pyramids (basically ripped straight from Lustria fluff, not everything is original)

Now for the stuff that Im having trouble with. Im bad for this kind of thing...
Chapter symbol. I have no idea what to do for my symbol. The only things I can find online that might work would be a b***h to free hand
Chapter scheme. The idea have in my head is black/teal, with yellow and red details (picture to come later)
Chapter name. I am horrible when coming up with names... especially Aztec ones... any suggestions?

Finally, what rule book should I use? My choices are:
Vanilla Marines= always a good choice, could use Raven Guard chapter tactics for "ambush assault" feel. Also grav guns.
Blood Angels= good close combat focus, focus on librarians, death company blood lust could easily work with fluff
Space Wolves= another one with a good close combat focus, savage barbarian feel, could use lizardmen weapons as frost weapons instead (to make them feel special and different), could use fenrisian wolves and thunderwolves as an excuse to add dinosaurs into my army (marines riding caurnosaurs? )

Sounds like an awesome idea. I've seen another guy make Maori Space Marines, and the idea and the fluff written was pretty cool. For coming up with names, I'd suggest picking through Wikipedia articles about the Aztecs and Mayans and shamelessly ripping names and mixing and matching them. It always works well and is better than generating a generic Mayan name. As for their ruleset, I'd go with the ambush idea and run with Raven Guard rules, which focus on stealth, ambushes, and lotsa assault marines which will be friendly for this. I'd also advise you use Turquoise instead of standard teal, considering the Aztecs made high use of the color.

There's lots of stuff to be done here. A couple things I recommend is firstly unique gene seed, maybe give them a mutation such as growing scales or even feathers, and instead of having combat knives, using bladed clubs. I'd also suggest you find a way to feature the Aztec's high use of masks, maybe by uniquely painting chaplains or something. Also, Chaplains and Librarians should have a much higher use, and should be kitbashed with Lizardmen sets from WF.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aztec

Hell, the Aztecs alone will give you a lot to work with, let alone the Mayans.

**H.B.M.C.**

DkLnBr wrote:
Jaguar Warrior Terminator:

Spoiler:

I havent glued the helmet yet because I dont like how it looks. Instead of looking like a jaguar (or at the very least, a wolf) it looks like a rat. Like a Skaven Marine (hmm.... interesting)

The rat-head thing aside, are you going to do anything to "bling up" the Terminator to fit your theme? It seems a bit plain.

xruslanx wrote:
Quick, call me a racist again I love it

He didn't call you a racist. Stop strawmanning.