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Goddammit Dakka the site ate AND EDITED my post twice! I think he need to go on a gremlin hunt.

I wonder has anyone had an experience similar to mine here. But I am happy to share.

When it comes to 40k, I go to back into gw projects about three years ago, mainly with specialist games. I *adore* shadespire, had fun with blood bowl, love newcromunda and have my eye on titanicus. But I've also had my eye on 40k proper. Maybe not 'the official tournament game of 40k' but definitely kill team or other skirmish homebrews. And most definitely the lore and the modelling/painting projects. Specifically, and ironically, considering the negative consensus, primaris marines. Don't worry, this isn't a for or against or anything like that. But for me, the first range of primaris models were what I always wanted my marines to be and they convinced me to get back in. And here is where my story starts.

Well, in the before time. I've had space marine projects. My first crush were space wolves (though my first true love were tau) and I've always had a soft spot for the furries. I have also had a dabble at various other chapters - dark angels, blood ravens and fists, mainly as painting projects mind.

So when I decided to get back into a marine army, the first consideration was Primaris only. Tried some dark angels and it wasn't quite right. That's the space wolf influence - da's are heretics. I wont sully myself! Started reading the excellent imperial armours again. And for me, the forgeworld side of the lore is the high water mark of the lore and especially the badab war and the focus on the not-quite-so-nice chapters of marines. I love the depth and the 'dry' descriptive nature of the conflicts they present, along with the politics and the intrigue, and the big picture, rather than just focus on the bolter porn. It feels like the history books that I love reading anyway. And I found what I thought was my chapter - Raptors. Love them. Pragmatic, no nonsense, job focused. And a chapter prone to reinvention, so my desire for primaris initially gelled well with them. And then the vanguard marines came out and it nearly fell into place. But not quite. I ended up painting some of my 'raptors' with token black patches (shoulder, knee pads etc) and some element she of the lore just didn't quite sit right with what I wanted. Specifically almost independent companies travelling throughout the galaxy, the legacy oldstartes, the already written Raptors history (I didn't want to play someone else's army, essentially) and blegh... also other elements from other chapters that I also found appealing that the Raptors just didn't have. Mainly the fleetborne Minotaurs, 40k's greatest &&&&holes that travel together and fight together. And also the monstrous carcharadons who just have that something.

Obvious Solution is obvious. Make my own chapter.

And so my Raptors evolved into 'war talons'. A primaris successor chapter named after the Raptors battle barge and in honour of the double strength Raptors company that made its first veteran and leadership elements... still not quite right.

Tactically speaking, when I envisioned my chapter, I wanted a fleetbased chapter, thst could travel where they wanted. that loved and valued its ships as their primary force projection, and avoided silly full frontal attacks in favour of raids and hit and run strikes with a big emphasis on vanguard elements (due to genetic quirk, and relative youth of chapter). Somewhere between imperial fists and white scars, right? This wasn't Raptors. Or Raptors inspired.

And so I ended up sitting there with my army green and military grey marines waiting for inspiration to strike. I knew what I wanted, I just needed that thing to put I think all together.

And I found it when I wasnt expecting it at all.

A Facebook add popped up for these guys I'd never heard of. And I doubt most people here have either.
https://www.ancient-origins.net/ancient-places-europe/curonians-0014115
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kursenieki

The curonians. Also called kurs, Kurrin, and Baltic Vikings. The Vikings no one likes to talking about. They were a savage, warlike tribe living in part of what is now Latvia and Lithuania, which they referred to a courland. They fought with and against most of the various kings of this area. Most of their culture and language is now sadly gone (Baltic crusades didn't take too kindly to europes last pagans...), and theyre assimilated into other groups with centuries. Maybe some swear words survive but that'll be about it I think. Some interesting memes too. These were dudes even the Vikings were scared of. They were expert sailors, fierce and terrifying warriors and notorious raiders and plunderers. They were, for a time, Rich. Also, they have the tag line of 'europes last pagans'. Which on its own is interesting enough.

And there's something here that's just perfect. All the strands Of what i wanted came together. Also an interesting alternative take on Vikings. Rather than the valour and personal combat favoured by the space wolves, we can have raiding and ship appreciation.

The next step was to 40k-use these guys. Based on a primaris, fleet based chapter. Famous for the love of their ships, for raiding, for plundering. A chapter that's 'wealthy' i.e. Has good kit from various affiliations (or said raids). A chapter thats... pragmatic, like my Raptors. Again, they prefer to fight with their ships and obliterate with the big guns, then pick through the pieces left over and loot the valuables. In terms of boots on the ground, they hold pitched battle in disfavour, and rather raid and destroy. They're the inglorious 'death by a thousand cuts' chapter, not the glorious charge. You could call them cowards. They'd shrug and say they're pragmatic. A chapter with a slightly dark twist.THe curonians were famously superstitious no had lots of soothsayers and oracles. So a librarian council 'casting the runes' for werero sail next makes sense. Another twist was where they recruited from. The recruiting pool and the chapter should ideally reflect each other. and what I wanted was something i don't see too often i.e. A homeworld that isn't a homeworld. As a fleet based chapter it won't have a single planet to call home. A fleet based chapter should be migratory. Why even have a planet to call home?

'Europes last pagans' gives an image of folks beyond the borders or beyond what's normal. To me, this could be a somewhat distrusted void-borne 'nation'/culture of merchant/pirate space clans on the edge of imperial space and authority, mate tenuously affiliated with someone like the mechanicus. And while I don't want to go down the road of craftwords, city sized void capable space stations that were once exploration/mining constructs in the old days makes sense. A culture that mines/extracts what it needs from wilderness space. And raids when they must or when opportunity presents itself. A migratory culture that can up sticks and leave when trouble brews or when resources get scarce, hence void capable stations.and like that, I have void based human society. There can be any number of reasons how or why this new primaris chapter hooked up with these guys and found common cause. It could be since they're beyond the borders, they see off threats before they hit the imperium proper. They could offer the only port in a storm. Maybe it could simply be an appreciation for each other's fierce independence. I have in mind the initial chapter master (a space sharpe) who is somewhat distrusted by others within his chapter because he leans towards pragmatism than hidebound tradition and given the opportunity is honoured (exiled) with his company (of miscreants and never do wells) to act as the new veteran company of a shiny new chapter of primaris. He sails off into the dark and ultimately finds a like minded culture and cause.

I don't see any reason why the spaceborne human clans and the primaris ships couldn't travel together andoffer mutual support. The primaris protect and recruit from the space clans, the space clans raid and mine beyond imperial space and the adeptus mechanicsus get a cut and leave them alone. It also offers something that I value in a chapter. The nominal notion of independence from the imperium. They're not tied to any one geographical place and can, within the bounds of space marines doing what space marines do, travel to where the runes fall and ultimately act as mercenaries and sellswords... for the emperor of course.

Thoughts are welcome

My moment was back in 5th ed, when it was viable to have an all-jump-pack Blood Angels army. ...I miss those days.

Edit mod please delete

Really good stuff. Have you decided on a new colour scheme? Because chapters typically aren't successors of other successors. I personally like picking made up major factions because then I can see artwork or read stories about them aslong as the things I dislike are minor or easy to get around.

The piece of fluff I came up with that made /mydudes/ click was that they’re a punishment/reserve platoon; they’re covered in braid and frogging because they’re trying to make themselves feel better about the fact that they’re incompetent failures. Their regiment has no history because it’s so often completely destroyed in glorious last charges in pursuit of redemption.

Super Ready wrote:My moment was back in 5th ed, when it was viable to have an all-jump-pack Blood Angels army. ...I miss those days.

Then go back to them



the group at our FLGS is still playing 5th ed for normal scale games.

@deadnight

That's why when i have a huge post to write i put it into a text document then copy it to the forums so i don't loose all that work.


I also did an under strength fleet based chapter back in 5th that is all aircav that uses no terminators or ground vehicles except dreadnoughts,

I finally realized it completely in epic scale using index 8th edition rules, because there is no way i would spend the kind of money i would need in normal scale. for those 3 thunderhawks, 2 xiphon fighters, 2 storm eagles, 2 stormhawks, 3 lucius drop pods, and 36 inceptors to go along with my dreads, tech marines, hell blasters and jump characters.

In total it would be somehwere in the range of $5,000 in normal scale. VS the $150 or so i spent on epic minis.

 aphyon wrote:

Super Ready wrote:My moment was back in 5th ed, when it was viable to have an all-jump-pack Blood Angels army. ...I miss those days.

Then go back to them



the group at our FLGS is still playing 5th ed for normal scale games.

I feel for any Nid players!

Why?

we allow any codex from 3rd-7th in 5th ed core rules.

i will gladly take my 4th ed nid codex against any force in the game with 5th ed rules. ....if i still had my nid army lol.

leaping warriors, outflanking gene stealers, good carnifexes....oh my

123ply wrote:
Really good stuff. Have you decided on a new colour scheme? Because chapters typically aren't successors of other successors. I personally like picking made up major factions because then I can see artwork or read stories about them aslong as the things I dislike are minor or easy to get around.

I'm sticking with a slight variation on what was my variation on the traditional raptors scheme (they're a more olive green scheme...) with a P3 traitors green scheme, highlighted with P3 thrall.flesh with P3 greatcoat grey for pouches and underarmour and highlighted with p3 trollblood highlight. I'm also adding black panels to the original scheme - kneepads, small shoulder pads for vanguard doods and maybe for other odds and ends. my vanguard are known as the 'black watch' (named after a famous Scottish regiment) and I wanted to mix some black in for this reason. .looking to 'space-barbarian' them up a bit though. Grenades are typically grey or metallic, earlier models had red grenades (I'm repainting these!).

I

i mentioned it earlier

My fully realized space marine chapter force in epic scale.