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Post by knoffles on Nov 13, 2017 12:28:58 GMT
Having decided that I will finally give 40k another go, I felt that I should try and put some fluff together for my fledgling Chapter. It is very much a WIP and will likely be expanded as and when I get the inclination. Once I've actually finished painting anything I'll add it here too!
+++++ Report to Inquisitor Marleck on the origins of the Shadow Sentinel Chapter+++++
The Sentinels are a chapter of an unknown origin and founding, based around the northern outskirts of the Sementum Pacificus, near the Halo Stars. They appear to be fleet based, though they neither confirm nor deny this and if indeed they do or did have a homeworld base, the location is not recorded on any records we have been able to find.
Due to their secretive nature and proximity to the ruins of Caliban, it has been theorised that they were an unknown offshoot of the Dark Angels chapter. This theory appears to have been given credence due to their similar chapter colours and markings and may have been further perpetuated by the Chapter themselves. The Dark Angels have denied any lineage.
There is one question on their otherwise spotless record. Their first known appearance was in M.27 when they put down the Katar rebellion. Before this date, there was no known record of the Chapter and that date does not correspond to any known founding. Due to their sudden appearance, use of archaic language & prose and close proximity to the eye of terror, they were subject to an extensive inquisitional investigation after allegations were put forward that they may have been linked to the Alpha Legion. The source of the accusations is unconfirmed but Are presumed to have come from a well regarded source considering the speed they were acted upon. Any findings of that investigation were unobtainable by this agent but it appears no further action was taken against them.
What is known about them, is they are selective in their chosen battleground, favouring heavily forested or urban terrain and when they take the field they mainly deploy infantry, shunning vehicles. There is one exception to this rule, the chapter routinely deploy an unusually high number of dreadnoughts. This has led observers to question if they follow the standard codex structure and further speculate if they indeed have enough battle brothers to field a full chapter. They have recently been seen with greater numbers of Primaris Marines deployed, so it appears that they have benefited greatly from the Primaris reinforcements offered to all chapters as part of the Ultima Founding. Who authorised this and from which gene stock remains a mystery.
++Report ends. Sector Agent Lucian Grite+++
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Post by knoffles on Nov 23, 2017 7:36:49 GMT
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Post by strutsagget on Nov 23, 2017 9:54:34 GMT
Nice! Makes me wish I could start 40k.... But already have to many games to paint
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Post by imrillion on Nov 23, 2017 21:02:50 GMT
Mate! LOVE IT! they sound fully sick! neeeeeeed moar fluuuufff!!! characters would be great!
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Post by knoffles on Mar 8, 2018 22:17:58 GMT
The second set of reinforcements for the Shadow Sentinels have arrived. A unit of Primaris Aggressors. I continued with the previous paint job and slightly built on it. I've kept the simple green base and mainly just gone for silver to offset it as I like the contrast. I'll probably now go back and add more touches to the dread. I did start with some middenland tufts of grass for the base but quickly realised they don't suit my style of basing, more as a highlight for plainer bases. Oh well live and learn.
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Post by knoffles on Mar 17, 2018 23:05:10 GMT
Due to a fantasy opponent having to pull out of our game fairly last minute, I've finally decided to bite the bullet and booked in my first game of 40k for Friday. My opponent is one of the club committee members and he's agreed to take me through a 2k points game (whilst not bringing one of his nastier lists - which hopefully means no Imperial Knights!).
As such I've done my normal job of producing a gazillion lists but have settled on this one. As a bonus, I've also settled on a style of naming for characters and units in my fledgling chapter.
The Crusade of the Stalking Tiger
Raven Guard Chapter Tactics
HQ's
The Light that Guides - Captain - 77pts
Master-crafted Boltgun, Chainsword
The Mind Awakes - Librarian - 120pts
Force Sword, Boltgun, Jet Pack, Armour Indominus
Red Runs the Flesh - Techmarine - 57pts
Boltgun, Chainsword
Troops
The Mist Convalesces - Scout Squad - 65pts
5 Scouts, Boltguns, Heavy Bolter
The Wind It Whispers - Scout Squad - 84pts
5 Scouts, Sniper rifles, Missile launcher
Moons Rise Together - Intercessor Squad - 91pts
5 Primaris Marines, Bolt Rifle, Auxillary grenade launcher
Elites
The Storm Gathers - Aggressor Squad - 111pts
3 Aggressors, Auto Boltstorm Gauntlets, Fragstorm Grenade Launchers
The Tranquil Garden - Sternguard Veteran Squad - 180pts
10 Sternguard, Special issue boltguns
The Emperor Draws Breath - Redemptor Dreadnought - 202pts
2 Stormbolters, Heavy Onslaught Gatling Cannon, Onslaught Gatling Cannon, Icarus Rocket Pod
The Enduring Rock - Venerable Dreadnought - 165pts
Missile Launcher, Twin Lascannon
The Ground Trembles - Ironclad Dreadnought - 145pts
Chainfist with Meltagun, CCW with Storm Bolter
The Mountain Comes - Ironclad Dreadnought - 145pts
Chainfist with Meltagun, CCW with Storm Bolter
Fast Attack
Swift Strikes the Thunder- Inceptors - 135pts
3 Inceptors, assault bolters
Heavy Support
The Light Should Burn - Devastator Squad - 170pts
5 Marines, 4 * Lascannons, Armorium Cherub
The Fires they Cleanse - Hellblaster Squad - 165pts
5 Primaris Marines, Plasma Incinerators
Dedicated Transport
The Sky Must Fall - Drop Pod - 85pts
Stormbolter
Total - 1997pts
List Thoughts
The list has 1 Battalion and 1 Vanguard detachment so with it also being battleforged, will have 7 Command points to use. This seems like a reasonable number.
I have no idea how the list will play but I did have a couple of over-arching thoughts.
The main one was that I had to include all my dreadnoughts. The second was that I wanted to try out as many things as possible.
I feel a bit gamey using Raven Guard tactics (-1 to hit them when 12" away) but I feel they are the most complementary of the list. If I weren't using them, I'd probably use Iron Hands (due to the 6+++ save and the specific dreadnought stratagem) or Imperial Fists (due to fire ignoring cover). The advantage of these 3 are the consistent benefits, meaning I'm unlikely to forget them!
I also realised that with my first few (dozen) lists, I realised that I had little or no deep striking units so I revised it so that I had 3 distinct elements to the force.
The Pillar Endures
The first is the fire base. This group should do very little movement and camp any deployment zone objectives.
It will be led by the Venerable dreadnought who can, if necessary, burn a stratagem to act as a captain. He will be supported by the Devastator Marines, Intercessor Squad and sniper scouts.
This will give me 5 Lascannons (with one being a twin and one additional one time shot from the cherub) and 2 missile launchers with which to take out heavy armour. The 4 sniper shots will target characters (probably support characters as they usually have fewer wounds). The Intercessors will be used to help protect the fire base from deep strikers and will be the mobile element of the group.
The Blade is Poised
The Assault group will be led by one of the Chapter Captains. He will start within range of much of the fire base to buff them with his aura and will either stay with them or advance as needed to assist the Hellblaster squad, as their ability to overcharge will benefit most from the reroll to hit of 1's he provides. I also like the idea of a Captain advancing to cleanse the enemy rather than hanging back. I'm contemplating spending an additional command point before I begin, to give the captain an addition relic (the teeth of terra) as I do feel that bar the Dreadnoughts, the list lacks combat punch but it may be a wasted point. The other thing I'm unsure on is what warlord trait to give him. At the moment I'm gravitating towards Storm of Fire to give nearby Chapter units a chance to get an additional -1 save modifier.
The Hellblasters will be the mobile ranged hard hitters. I've taken the standard gun over the assault version due to the extra pip of strength.
In some ways the Captain, Hellblasters and Intercessors are fluid option, able to move between the fire base and assault groups as required.
The boltgun scouts are there to provide the second part of the deep strike area denial and if possible to capture mid-field objectives at the same time.
This group will have their own fire support in the form of the Redemptor Dreadnought who will advance with the Captain and Hellblasters. The Captains buff should again help with its damage output as moving will impede its hit rate.
The final element of the group will be made up of the units that will be barrelling forward at all due speed. The 2 Ironclads will be advancing towards the enemy as fast as possible. Their smoke launchers and Chapter tactics will infer a one turn -2 to enemy shooting, that should mitigate a lot of hits. The Techmarine will run with them to try and heal as much damage as possible (or he will help with the Redemptor if required). They will be supported by the Aggressors who have the ability to both advance and shoot and should be able to help thin out any potential horde style units that try to chaff up the ironclads. I'm hoping the 2 Dreads will present a greater threat and deflect attention from the more vulnerable Aggressors.
It is tempting to leave a deliberate backfield space near the Aggressors to entice a deep strike but I somehow doubt Nick would fall for that tactic but would capitalise on it if I moved later on.
The Crushing Blow
The final group will be the strike force and is made up of those starting from reserve.
The Sternguard will be deployed in the drop pod to allow them the flexibility to go where needed and drop into short range where their special issue guns combined with sternguard stratagem should cause some decent damage. The increased range of their guns also means they can still benefit from the Chapter tactic when in rapid fire range. The drop pod is said to be overpriced this addition but it is an iconic space marine delivery service so I want to try it out.
The strike force will be led by the Librarian who will jump in with the Sternguard using his powers either as an offensive force or to help buff the unit. As a bonus, jumping in might mean he starts in range to get a deny the witch boost. I've given him the armour relic to boost his save and give a one time 3++ ward. It should make him more survivable, especially in combat.
The Inceptors are very much a distraction. They are to drop in to try and thin out any hordes but I'm happy to make them sacrificial and as a fly unit, they are able to fallback and still shoot.
I'm not expecting too much from the game but hopefully I'll come away with an idea of whether I like it and if I want to play it again.
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Post by knoffles on Mar 17, 2018 23:10:43 GMT
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Post by knoffles on Mar 21, 2018 7:46:28 GMT
You can normally tell when I’ve not managed to get any game time in, as there seems to be a direct correlation between no games and my hobby output. This is the case at present, though I do have a game on Friday. Unsurprisingly this is 40k. Why unsurprisingly? Well the second correlation I’ve noted is not only does my hobby output increase but it is normally directly related to the game system I’m about to play, especially if it is a new(ish) system for me. It’s probably the big kid / new shiny toy syndrome. It happened with Blood Bowl when I painted the Norse team in record time and it’s happening again with 40k. It helps that my paint scheme is rather simple and it will be interesting to see if the enthusiasm to paint Marines continues after my first game of 8th ed. It also helps that Azazel keeps throwing out challenges to motivate me, in this case ‘Squad: March!‘ and I’m pleased that I’ve actually managed to complete another one well in advance of the end of the month (well I say complete but already realised I haven't finished the sergeant's gun). The eagle eyed of you will note the missing shoulder pad on one of the models. No idea how I missed that! I’ll have to dig around in my bits box. You’ll also note the differing base sizes. I have two units of Devastators that each came with the different sized bases and I just painted the ones with the load-out (las Cannon’s) I wanted to use on my upcoming game. But ramblings over, this is my first completed unit of original Marines.
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Post by gjnoronh on Apr 16, 2018 20:06:58 GMT
I always felt that painting and playing are symbiotic drives. The more I play the more I want to paint something new up. The more I paint the more I want to play with my new toys.
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Post by knoffles on Sept 17, 2018 19:03:35 GMT
+ + + + + Urgent comms burst Inquisitor Marleck + + + +
Inquisitor, the listening post based in the gedron cluster picked up this scrambled message. Despite running Terran protocols the data serfs were unable to reconstruct the full message. Heavy interference and jamming occurred from the originating location.
Inquis%#+^^ Marleck. It is as we suspected $€}%*+^#] I have seen it with my own eyes. The &^}%*€€* a Contemptor, ancient, Shadow Sentinel @*^^**+$€<. ALPHA LEGI**+}€#€#. Lucius Grit£&@*^%**
+ + + + + Message Terminated + + + + +I recently branched out and purchased a few things from Forge World. A few bits were fantasy related so not for this thread but the final bit was a Contemptor Dreadnought. If you know me, you will be well aware of my love of Dreadnoughts. Even in the previous edition of 40k I used them a lot (probably why I was trounced so much). Thankfully they are much improved this time round. "But why did you buy a forge world model when GW already produce a cheaper plastic version", I don't hear you ask? Good question. Firstly, I buy dreadnoughts for their aesthetic appearance and the standard GW one is a very horrible static rigid pose. Not something that normally bothers me too much but I just don't like the standard model. Secondly, forge world sell a number of chapter specific dread's and some of them look stunning (two of which had really caught my eye, the first of which was the Raven Guard one). Thirdly I had an idea for my Shadow Sentinels Chapter fluff and the other Dreadnought ticked all the boxes. So enough rambling. I present the hidden secret, the only visible link to the chapter's gene sires. The most Ancient and Venerable Contemptor Dreadnought: The Twin is Cleft. Yep it's an Alpha Legion Dread. Having my own space marine chapter was always a no brainer. With that decided, I had to come up with a back story and having an unimaginative, unknown founding (mainly so I could try out different chapter tactics) was nothing new. Reading the Horus Heresy series, some of the stories that really captured my imagination were the those where members of the traitor legions found themselves defending the imperium, sometimes against their own legion brothers. The Alpha Legion in particular originally only defected in order to hasten the eventual defeat of Chaos. Would it not then be plausible that some of them would remain on the Loyalist side fighting incognito (as their legion was known to do)? Who knows, 40k lore is not my strong point but it's my chapter and it's what I'm going with. In terms of the model, in the main it was easy to put together, even lacking any instructions. The one fiddly bit was the assault cannon. That was a total bitch to fit together. Seriously, why would you cast it in 6 parts just for the rotary section and connectors. If I had to do another, I'd seriously consider trying to pick up the plastic GW kit and using the cannon from that (assuming it comes in a single piece that is).
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Post by knoffles on Sept 5, 2020 22:09:25 GMT
It's been a while since I've painted any 40k but having picked up the SM half of the new indomitus box, I felt I should make an attempt! The below is the new Judicator model. It's basically a slightly different chaplain. Not sure i'll ever use it as that model but with the head swop I think it makes a possible primarus Emperors Champion model.
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Post by gangland on Sept 6, 2020 17:40:54 GMT
Your chapter is looking really good. How are you enjoying 9thnsonfar? I have 2 under 1500pt games in so far and I like these rules and missions more than 8th I think. The rules seem tighter but I will say all the faq updates have already caused a bit of rules bloat. I'm not hopeful the new codex will solve the bloat problem but we will see.
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Post by knoffles on Sept 7, 2020 13:07:28 GMT
I’ve yet to play a game of 9th and barely played 8th. Still I quite liked the ruleset for 8th and 9th looks to have just improved on it so will look forward to giving it a go at some point. Quite a few of the club have been playing it and one of the general consensus is that smaller games work really well and are as fun as the larger ones.
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Post by knoffles on Oct 24, 2020 18:40:04 GMT
This was my procrastination piece during the month, a Vindicare Assassin. I have to say I do love these models and have 3 out of the 4 now. A pretty easy piece to paint in the scheme of things but as ever I kept it simple.
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Post by knoffles on Nov 14, 2020 18:16:59 GMT
Reinforcements for the Shadow Sentinels in the form of 10 Assault Intercessors. I have to say I’m a big fan of the newer models just because they have much more dynamic poses.
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