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Hey everyone!

I was following the "give bolters rending" thread for awhile and started thinking about my beloved Imperial Fists. To me at least: they seem like the perfect candidates to have rending bolters...but just GIVING them the special ability seems far too powerful, as they already have some of the best chapter tactics in the game. So I thought: what about a special character that does it?

Behold Prince Gorgi!

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ARMY LISTING:


Prince Gorgi Voldenhelm: “The Hard Way”
230pts

WS 4, BS 5, S4, T5, W3, I4, A2, LD10, SV 2+

Inf, Character, unique

Wargear:
Terminator Armor
Iron Halo

Chapter Relic:
The Imperial Gift
36” S5 AP4 Heavy 5, Shred, Rending

Special Rules:

Warlord Trait: Storm of Fire

And They Shall Know No Fear

Chapter Tactics (Imperial Fists)

Champions of the Bolter: If Prince Gorgi is your commander and on the field, then all bolters, bolt pistols, storm-bolters, heavy bolters, and combi weapons firing as bolters from units within his own detachment gain the “rending” special ability. This ability replaces the standard Imperial Fists chapter tactics.

Bolter Storm: Prince Gorgi and his unit can use their full BS when firing overwatch.

Never Back Down: Prince Gorgi and his unit are Fearless.

Independent Character


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Imperial Fists Special Character:

Prince Gorgi Volenhelm, heir to the throne of Voria Prime

Background:

Prince Gorgi could have spent his entire life in idle nobility, in fact: he had planned to do exactly that. Born to be the sole heir to the planet of Voria Prime, and achieving a massive size and strength even at an early age, the Prince quickly became known as a savage monster of a man. He attained fame as a hunter early: venturing into the vast hunting preserves of his family alone and armed only with a single ancient bolter and plenty of ammunition for the blessed weapon. He always returned with some new kill, some new trophy, and some new tale to tell.

The Prince's world was a wealthy one: renowned across the sector for both manufacturing and farming alike. The World King, ruling instead of the customary Planetary Governor, kept tight order and iron discipline for many centuries. Under his leadership the Munitorum set up a factory to supply the mighty Imperial Fists chapter of Space Marines with bolters of all sizes and configurations, as well as an endless supply of ammunition. The king was thanked personally for this, and bestowed with a master-crafted Heavy Bolter of ancient make for his tireless administration of the giant factory temple.

It was a proud time for Voria Prime, however: all things must come to an end.

While away on one of his hunting expeditions: Prince Gorgi's entire family held a mighty feast for their trading partners the Count and Countess Dracinoi. Under the guise of friendship the Dracinoi smuggled weapons into the feast, and when the time was right they turned these weapons against their unarmed hosts. The palace guard was quickly overwhelmed by xenos mercenaries hired from out of the system specifically for task. The Imperial palace was burned to the ground, the loyal retainers executed brutally. The King's head was put onto a pike.

The Prince was left nearly alone, his life of luxury stripped from him. Many men would have broken, fled into exile, or worse.

Prince Gorgi did not do these things.

Instead: the Prince and his hunting companions took to the ruins of his estate, finding the remains of the once beautiful heavy-bolter, and the bones of their friends and families. They were attacked there, amid the still smoldering ruins, and most of the Prince's companions killed in the ensuing firefight. The Prince wished to stand, to fight, but his companions ushered him away to safety.

It was a flight he would regret for the remainder of his days.

The Prince in exile then took to living among the workers of the great factory his father had built. Those same nameless plebs that had once provided his family with so much now became his neighbors and companions. He walked among them, worked alongside them, witnessed their petty triumphs and the cruelty heaped upon them by their new Dracinoi masters, and eventually...biding his time over the many years...the Prince urged them all on to open revolt by revealing himself as the lone and true heir to the throne.

The Prince's first act was to cease the munitions factory itself, a veritable fortress filled with an unfathomable number of weapons that he and his companions had helped create. The Prince's second act was to train the workers in the use of these weapons, something he himself had been proficient in since he was a lad. Under his guidance and leadership these poor and hungry men were turned into fine marksmen, and warriors fit to fight alongside a king. The Dracinoi came for him, of course, mustering all their arms, their retainers, and the mercenary xenos as well. They threw themselves upon the last remnant of the Voldenhelm house, desperately trying to eradicate their last rival.

The Prince would not move.

Instead: days turned to weeks as he marched across the battlements, heavy-bolter in hand, ropes of belt fed ammunition wrapped around him, and his entire massive form covered in the scars of countless hours in the factory. He would, at times, hold entire sections of the great factory himself until help arrived. He would never yield, nor retreat, not even once. Time and again the forces arrayed against him were driven back. Time and again he stood proud and watched them flee, remembering the shame of when he himself had fled.

Historians would later claim that this act of stubborn defiance was done in the hopes of attracting the attention of the venerable Imperial Fists, as the Dracinoi house had never officially gained sanction with the Administratum, and their consorting with vile xenos was cause enough for intervention. This was not the case. The Prince held his position because to him there was nothing better than to stand at the front of the approaching wave, his heavy bolter held in hand, and to watch as his withering fire cut down wave after wave of the enemy.

When the Imperial Fists did come, as they must, they came with only thirty of their legendary first company, and they were led by the mighty Captain Lysander himself. Their superior Astartes weapons and tactics put an end to the Dracinoi forces easily enough, and they found the Prince still standing amongst the ruins of his factory keep. His grim face was turned towards them in both respect and challenge. Captain Lysander offered to place the Prince again as the rightful head of his world.

The Prince refused.

The Prince spat at the feet of the mighty Lysander when the offer was made, the bolters of every Astartes present trained upon the man who would offer such disrespect. The Prince did not waver. The Prince did not fear.

Surprisingly: this caused the giant Captain Lysander to laugh. This Prince showed no fear, and Lysander liked that. The Prince asked Lysander for a single boon of his choosing instead of his crown, and Lysander agreed out of respect for the nobility and savagery definance displayed before him. The Prince cautioned that his boon would not be easy, and Lysander declared that before him was a man who made no easy decisions. The Prince liked the sound of that and asked to be made a space marine of the mighty Imperial Fists.

Lysander said it most likely could not be done, that the Prince was too old and his body too torn by war and toil. The Prince laughed at that, claiming that if he died then he died and there was nothing more to it. To stay, he claimed, would be to accept death already. His battle here was done, his duty to this world discharged. His family would live on no longer.

The Prince claimed that if accepted into the Astartes then truly no challenge would defeat him. No world, heretic, rebel, or xenos filth would stand before him if he were clad in Astartes armor, trained to Astartes perfection, and armed with the mighty weapons he had known.

Lysander agreed with that assessment, and the Prince was put through the process of becoming an Astartes despite his age and physical condition.

The Prince not only completed his training: he thrived from it. In time he became as much a legend of the Imperial Fists as Lysander himself, always requesting to be placed in the front lines, always carrying his now restored heavy-bolter, and always driving his brethren on to feats of even greater glory through his refusal to back down.

No matter the cost.


....

What do you folks think? Too much? Not enough?

(I've edited it to give the fluff and added "fearless" because, well, the fluff wouldn't make much sense without it.)

For your info, Forge World Raptors can fire their Bolters as Heavy 1 Rending.

It's a chapter tactic. Link: http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/Downloads/Product/PDF/F/FWchaptertactics.pdf

I think that since you have made rules for him, instead of writing fluff you should build a model for him and play games with him. I mean, if you don't have a model to play him with, then there isn't any point in writing these rules.

The rules ou have written are not ones that I would use, I wouldn't even try to play with them because I hope that I would be playing someone amart enough to know the many ways in which they are crazy, and generally I like my opponents to believe I am competent and a desirable can companion.

I would totally play against you though, if you were using him. It seems fine.

So he is a captain? An honor guard? What about him exactly gives his detachment pinning? Or wait, the rule doesn't say detachment. If I am your opponent and I have bolters, it seems like the rule applies to my bolters too, like Astaroth.

Good catch on the wording for his special ability! Totally didn't see that at first.

Aside from that, what exactly is the problem with him? He is essentially a heavy bolter terminator who buffs bolters to a pretty fun degree. I don't see him as being super competitive, but I would totally run him :-)

For modelling purposes: I would want to try to combine a terminator character with a heavy bolter devastator and probably add some bits to the bolter to make it look extra shooty. Any suggestions for kitbashing?


Automatically Appended Next Post:
(Also fixed the wording error, btw)


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Okay: Added Fluff and "fearless" :-)

I'd drop either T5 or Eternal Warrior, drop his own weapon to Heavy 3, and change Rending to be conferred on only his attached unit to maintain the uniqueness of the character. Then I'd drop his price to 165 so you can better afford an attached command squad with Storm Bolters as a proper retinue.

Basically, you end up making his rules more unique to him and his attached unit. Making the proper employment of his unit more important and personal. Army-wide Champions of the Bolter seems more like a CT than an IC special rule. If you are running your own homegrown chapter though, it fits.

No CC weapon, either? Maybe give him a Storm Shield as a pure shooty character.

Thats just too powerful in my opinion. Free rending bolters because this guy has been spooled by chapter tactics and their cheese. Are you familiar with the Dakka banner? If battle brothers then you combo this guy with dakka banner and you break the game. Dakka banner at least only has 24" radius and the bearer can be snipped.

let me ask you this. If i fielded this guy, How would you like fighting him? oh you vindicare him? so what I paid only 230pts to give 100 bolters rending and they keep it even if he dies.
Hijacking Thread:

Proposal of Chaos Tech Marine / gun dealer
Special rule on top of being a hq techmarine ic: He can curse any bolter ammo to be malefic at 2ppm per bolter and 3ppm per heavy bolter, 4ppm per combi bolter mounted on vehicles, and 5ppm per tl hb.

Unlike you loyalist cheap skates that gets free bonus from chapter tactics. I mean come on you get free what ever army wide ussr at no additional cost! how is csm suppose to compete with that?

Thanks for the feedback folks!

So I changed it so that the Champions of the Bolter special ability makes only units from his own detachment gain rending, and only while he is still alive. So no DA Dakka banner shenanigans here! I also removed Eternal Warrior from him. That way he can get taken out and essentially debuff the army (as a big priority target) and isn't quite so hard to kill.

I don't really want to remove the rending as an army wide power because the whole reason I made the character was in response to the proposed rule for all bolters to have rending :-)

Similarly: giving him a 3++ from the storm shield seems too good (even though I love storm shields!), as he already has a 4++ with the Iron Halo.

Thoughts?

Yes, because Space Marines need rending weapons everywhere like Eldar, as well as yet another Eternal warrior character, that also has T5. Why not, right?

Why cant it be a like a dakka banner? 24" radius?

leerm02 wrote:
Similarly: giving him a 3++ from the storm shield seems too good (even though I love storm shields!), as he already has a 4++ with the Iron Halo.

Thoughts?

He can get ID'd by a force attack, S10, and has no power weapon. So I don't think the 3++ is that bad, his counter is to lock his squad in assault. All that overwatch is a pain, but it presents an interesting tactical problem. Charging with a cheaper unit, then followimg up with a melee beatstick like Lysander, would handle him well.

I still think rending on one unit is the way to go. Look at the Raptors CT -- you are getting all of the benefits, with none of the drawbacks,

Yoyoyo wrote:

leerm02 wrote:
Similarly: giving him a 3++ from the storm shield seems too good (even though I love storm shields!), as he already has a 4++ with the Iron Halo.

Thoughts?

He can get ID'd by a force attack, S10, and has no power weapon. So I don't think the 3++ is that bad, his counter is to lock his squad in assault. All that overwatch is a pain, but it presents an interesting tactical problem. Charging with a cheaper unit, then followimg up with a melee beatstick like Lysander, would handle him well.

I still think rending on one unit is the way to go. Look at the Raptors CT -- you are getting all of the benefits, with none of the drawbacks,

How exactly does he hold a storm shield and heavy bolter? I just feel that he is too good in his fields of being an excellent shooter, and being an immovable object. Focus on one or t'other. Also, full Rending bolters is pretty harsh, whichever way you look at it. His main, if only, weakness is assault that he effectively neuters, either from tanking attacks, or just killing the enemy before they arrive. Also, the Raptors tactic means the bolter can only fire one shot and the bearer cannot move to do so. In this case, it is Rending, regardless of how many shots you fired and if you moved, on top of the IF chapter tactics which allows bolters to re-roll hits. It's a bit too good.

You do bring up good points Sgt. Smudge :-)

As far as the rending bolters go: getting rid of him DOES eliminate them so trying to build an "all bolter" army would fall apart the second he died...Thus I think you would end up with a build that was bolter heavy, but not bolter exclusive (or at least: that seems to be best to me.)

Similarly: even though he is super good at the dakka (GOD did I try hard to resist putting anything like "dakka" in his name or background fluff!) He does still have a few pretty good weaknesses, the first being that- like everything else really- you can totally just shoot him to death.

Even small arms fire in sufficient amounts will destroy his uber squad (most likely termies or devastators I would bet,) and leave him open to CC. Similarly as long as you had two units to charge with he would have to fire at the first and then a) wipe them out and be charged by the second, b) some survive and he gets charged by the second anyway.

CC wise he is left intentionally weak for that reason, and he is so point heavy that I think only large point games and such would really make him overly competitive (although in 2000+ games I could see him being insane!)

He certainly seems to be a powerful and tactically interesting character, and maybe better suited to a "lord of war" status than simple HQ...but do you really think he needs a lot more adjustment?

That's a cool idea! I always liked IF.

I'm assuming his rule replaces the equivalent IF chapter tactic?

I also like the FW one where bolters get heavy 1 or something like that...

Changed it so that his "Champions of the Bolter" now totally replaces the normal Imperial Fists chapter tactics.

Which I think, when combined with his other weaknesses, makes him pretty interesting :-)

What do you folks think?

Play it and find out! Rending can be amazingly strong, it's a WC2 Psychic Power. But it's probably better you find that out for yourself on the tabletop.

no offense but it seems like you put so much time into developing a character with story but i suggest separate him from the rending rule.

Make a banner that must be carried by a command squad and it gives models with bolter ammo within 24 inches rending.

Abaddon Cost 275 (i dont remember) and he gives preferred enemy: space marines to models with only 12 inches.

by comparison, you hq is over powered and under costed compared to Abaddon.