RPC – Yeomen Vigilant
Third place, which will be getting the 10-man Tactical Squad:
Submitted by David:
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Name: |
Yeomen Vigilant |
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Founding chapter: |
Imperial Fists |
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Founding: |
2nd Founding |
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Chapter Master: |
Ezekiel Toredor |
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Homeworld: |
Selentine |
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Fortress-Monastery: |
Selentine |
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Main colours: |
Red, Tan, Black |
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Specialty: |
Counter Attack |
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Battle Cry: |
"To this, the First Death!" |
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Estimated strength: |
6 companies, diminished first company ( dim 1st, 2nd, 4th,7th, 8th, 9th ) |
The Yeoman Vigilant Chapter is a second founding chapter of the Imperial Fists. Their homeworld, Selentine, is on the Eastern fringe. Their Fortress Monastery is in a desert garden, and is called Dark Eden. Those that come out of Dark Eden are outwardly straightforward, but always seem to have a hint of thought just out of reach.
Organization:
Yeoman initiates are chosen almost at random from an outside observer. The recruiters call it "Pruning the garden of humanity." Because of an overactive Catalepsen Node, all of the Chapter have recurring vivid dreams. These dreams shape the Chapter's decisions, and movements on a whole. Whenever a Yeoman suffers déjà vu when looking at a recruit, that recruit is accepted even if he does not pass trial. Each of these recruits, while taking longer to train, will be able to vivid dream almost immediately. Recruits are instructed by full initiates, often those with leadership value that have yet to make squad sergeant.
Chaplains make up the true leadership of the Yeoman Vigilant, as they are the interpreters of dreams and the guides of the Chapter. They, like in other Chapters, guide the spiritual heart, but they also guide the individual spirits of their wards. Chaplains guide scout sergeants, asking them to pay close attention to the dreams of the squad, making them become meticulous in their attention to detail both before and after their impants. Once the scouts become full-fledged Yeomen, they go directly to the chaplains of their company when their sergeant is unable to discern the meaning of the most recent vivid dream anomaly.
Librarians in the Yeoman Vigilant Chapter are kept apart from their battle brothers as soon as they are discovered, as a psyker a librarian can be known to influence the dreams of other battle brothers. The Chaplains of the company will make sure to separate the known psyker as soon as they can, so that the dreams of the company will not be influenced by a single yeoman.
Those that excel in leadership quickly go from Tactical sergeant to Veteran sergeant, and then into the Brotherhood (who have access to Terminator armour). Those in the Brotherhood can continue to lead their previous squad, or work as a brotherhood squad.
Before battle, any Yeoman may lead the litany of battle, if they feel so called. If that is well received, the chaplains will bestow litanies and prayer books on the chosen yeoman, and will fight with him in battle. If they find him lacking, they have him continue his studies. If he's found worthy, they bestow upon him black armour, and he will begin to be tutored directly by a senior chaplain for battle.
Colors:
The Yeoman Vigilant Chapter's colors are red, tan, and black, each significant to a battle-brother's life and training. As the chaplains teach, when a scout is chosen, he knows of the material plane, as the embodiment of reality; signified by tan, or sand coloring. And as the acolyte reaches scout level, he is bestowed blood red armour; for embodiment of self, knowledge of the body. When a scout is confirmed as a full battle-brother, he will receive black shoulderpads, showing that he has begun to learn the embodiment of death. As a brother fights more and more, he will be bestowed black armour plates, until he's accepted into the brotherhood, who wear all black, or the Chaplains, who wear black except for their white skull mask, noting the embodiment of the spirit.
The Marine pictured is a full battle-brother with at least twenty full scale missions completed.
Tactics:
The Yeoman Vigilant Chapter adheres to the codex astartes as a book of guidelines, and will adapt their tactics as they see fit guided by their dreams. More often than not, they will be in the right place at the right time for a counter charge, or show up to foil an enemy spearhead, with direction of the Chaplains, and they would be considered lucky if it did not continue to happen over and over again. Moderation in battle is something the chaplains teach early on, so the Yeoman do not have large numbers of either assault marines or devastators, they rely instead on the tactical marines.
Notable Members:
Chaplain Father Matthias is the oldest Space marine in the Yeoman Vigilant, who fought on Terra as an Imperial Fist before the Second Founding. His upper armour is white, noting his understanding of the embodiment of the spirit. He does not often lead as he is venerable for even a space marine, his skin feeling more like stone than leather. He is not one to be crossed, and the source of wisdom for the entire chapter. When he leads, it is because he's dreamt of the battle, and will override the chapter master's decisions. He is noted as a prophet, and will call a council of chaplains for study and scrutiny of certain details of the Chapter's dreams.
Ezekiel Toredor is the current Chapter Master for the Yeoman Vigilant Chapter, a recent addition after the previous chapter master, Argus Ulsus, led the spearhead assault against the Tyranid hiveship and ordered the battle barge entangled with it to self-destruct, lopping off the head of the Tyranid advance, and giving Imperial forces long enough to send reinforcements from navy shipyards in adjacent systems. Ezekiel is a competent leader who, while young for a Chapter Master, has charisma not seen in a Space Marine captain in quite some time. Whenever he meets an outside force commander, they cannot help but like him. This has helped when showing up seemingly randomly in the galaxy, to fight off a force that they did not even detect. He often wears brotherhood Terminator armour and wields a massive power mace.
Notable Campaigns:
Ork Invasion of Terminus Prima: 1st, 4th, and 8th companies deployed, Terminus Prima Held, Ork Waaagh continues to the galactic south.
Assault on Dark Eden: The Purged launch a lightning assault onto the fortress monastery, Chaplain Father Matthias and those under his command held the gates for twelve hours before reinforcements from nearby battle cruisers lifted the tide, 3rd company, 5th company completely lost.
Defense of Gratis Minor: 2nd company lands in system randomly a full week before tyranid hive ships appear in system. Tyranid fleet repelled, lost Cruisers "Dark Sword" and "Solomon's Redemption." Battle barge "Edenborn" badly damaged.
Crushing of Zarathian resistance: The campaign was only classified as a campaign after investigation. Not so much a series of battles, but a one-sided slaughter, tactical squads waded through ill-equipped, ill-trained resistance fighters, the inquisition later found the ritual site and plans for unleashing a daemon horde that was stopped by the 4th company. The 4th company after questioned was ignorant of any of the plans laid in Zarathia.
And the WIP (already primed and basecoated!):
Salamanders Tactical Squads
I didn't really have any good pictures of my three Tactical squads. I've also re-painted all of the bare heads to be darker African-toned skin instead of the jet black. There's precedent in the fluff for both of them, so I decided to go with a more natural look rather than the bulky space-drow feel.
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Not a lot of variation on the theme. Squads 2 and 3 carry a flamer and multi-melta, and the Sergeants are equipped with combi-melta and power fist. Squad six has a meltagun and missile launcher. I actually do have a few options built but not completely painted - meltaguns for all squads, as well as a plasma cannon and lascannon.
Magnetizing Grey Knights Terminators
Hey there, internets! I know, it's been a while, but I've been busy. Most of my hobby time has been spent putting together Grey Knights in order to deliver a bonus prize army for the Heroes of Armageddon project.
To that end, I've discovered that, for once, Games Workshop has put out a box that will allow you to make a ton of stuff and magnetize it for an additional bonus ton! Grey Knights Terminators are awesome. And if you buy two boxes (which you probably will if you're running Grey Knights), you get even more fun.
I didn't bother magnetizing the hand weapons, but with 1/16th magnets, that's a piece of cake. What I did do was magnetize the heavy weapons.
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I don't have them based because I'm painting the bases separately. A little modeling clay works wonders!
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Here's where the two boxes come in. If you look, the pads for the right shoulders have a shield that (if you build them this way) matches the shape of the shield that goes on the left pad. Each box contains six right pads, six left pads, and six shields. So, if you mix and match properly, you can get two left pads and shields to match one right pad for two models, one from each box. This means you can give your heavy weapon Termie a storm bolter if you don't want to field the heavy weapon, but you don't have to worry about mis-matched shoulder pads.
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For mounting arms, I use a 1/8th inch magnet. However, boring right into plastic with a 1/8th inch drill bit is a recipe for disaster. To mitigate damage, I do two simple things:
1) Pre-drill with a 1/16th inch bit.
2) Go SLOW. I mean, take your time. If you don't, you're going to end up with a wrecked model, and at $10 a pop, you probably don't want to do that.
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Even drilling slowly, the plastic will tear a bit. Remember to clean away any extra flashing that occurs with a hobby knife. You want your magnets to have a smooth fit. I use magnets that are 1/16th inch thick, so I try not to drill any deeper than I need to. Just a little past what will fit, in order to give a slight recess.
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These little bastards are really strong, but they're also really small and thin. I've found that the best way to place them is in a stack. I use Loctite Ultra Gel, which doesn't run and goes right where I need it to. With magnets, this is clutch. Dab a little onto the top edge of the magnet, and insert it. Leave it for a second, and then slide the rest away.
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Once your glue has dried enough to hold it tighter than its magnetic strength, put the stack back, and add your glue to the other end. Pop the first arm on that end and repeat the process. This will ensure that you have your polarities correct. Nothing makes me want to go back to Magic: The Crackening more than having magnetized something backwards.
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Here's the model with the Storm bolter...
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And the Heavy Weapon arm. Yes, my model has no head. It's a lot easier to paint eyes and the back of the head when it's on a wire instead of in place.
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Next comes the weapon mounts. Again, this is a pre-drilled hole, just behind the slot that the weapon fits into on the wrist.
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Now these are tricky little buggers. They've already got holes there, just slightly smaller than we need. Really take your time here, because your drill is likely to slip. You want to get that hole as close to the front of the weapon as possible.
Once you've got them done, pop the magnets in, just like with the arms.
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And viola! One Terminator, four different weapons.
Scout Captain Tel’Yan
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Honored Captain Tel'Yan has had a storied career in the Salamanders chapter. As a raw recruit from Nocturne, his prowess with firearms was instantly noticeable. Promoted to Sergeant prior to his 20th year, he had earned his way into the main battle companies by the time he was 30. Initially assigned as a spotter to a Devastator squad in the 5th Company, his first engagement simply increased his legend. Hefting the lascannon of his fallen battle-brother, Tel'Yan stopped an Eldar Falcon grav-tank with his very first shot in live combat as a fully-promoted Space Marine.
Working his way through the ranks, his rise was meteoric. Promoted to sergeant and repeatedly assigned to Honor Guard duty, Tel'Yan earned a spot in the hallowed ranks of the 1st Company, serving as a member of the Sternguard.
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During a grueling engagement against Ork forces across Elkhorn Septimus, Tel'Yan's squad arrived via drop-pod. Despite the advanced systems, the pod strayed horribly off course and crashed. Of the five Sternguard aboard, only Tel'Yan survived. Trapped behind enemy lines, he found a small contingent of Scout snipers who were similarly cut off and waiting for rescue. Organizing them into a fighting force, he lead them on a three-day drive back toward the main Salamander force. Approaching over a high ridge, the squad found elements of the 3rd company pinned down by enemy fire. Taking position in thick cover, Tel'Yan had his squad pick targets carefully, and within minutes, the Ork lines were in complete disarray. Not waiting to question their luck, the 3rd Company brothers rushed forth an annihilated the greenskins.
Upon reading the full report from the ranking Scout sergeant and the 3rd Company force commander, Chapter Master Tu'Shan himself promoted Tel'Yan to lead the 7th Company recruits. His tenure has seen the 7th produce some of the finest marksmen the chapter has ever seen. Tel'Yan is noted for leading from the front, preferring to teach through demonstration
Blood Angels Tank Column
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(Note, the rear two tanks are still works in progress.)
Baal Predator Fidelus and Razorbacks Eas In Crucem and Saevio Angelus cross the Ingeltos River into Port Barston at the beginning of the Haerid Prime campaign. Fidelus was responsible for breaking the forward command headquarters of the rebel faction, which allowed the Eas In Crucem to deliver the Death Company close to the rear. Assault Squad Quartus Æolus followed them in Saevio Angelus and ensured that their sacrifice was capitalized upon. The three members of the Death Company produced a 48-1 kill ratio, while Sergeant Æolus and his squad provided cover fire. By the time the Death Company had been brought down, the entire Western command structure had been left in disarray.
Assault Squad Quartus Leander arrived via Stormraven with Brother-Priest Lombrec and joined with the rest of Assault Squad Quartus. Together, the squad and three tanks harried the Western flank before eventually joining up with the main strike force.
Salamanders 4th Company, 2nd Tactical Squad Su’Ryn
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Honored Veteran Sergeant Su'Ryn has commanded the 4th Company's 2nd Tactical Squad since the time thatVulkan He'Stan was the company's captain. The 2nd squad distinguished itself on Armageddon during the Third War, earning a number of honors and commendations, the most prominent being the Imperial Aquila for its heroism in defense of Imperial citizens.
Su'Ryn, like most of the company's veteran sergeants, is equipped with a combi-melta and a powerfist. He is joined by two other veterans, Kelan and Paz'Uth, who wield a flamer and a multi-melta, respectively. Honored Brother Kel'an, bears the Imperial Aquila award for the squad. Both Kelan and Paz'Uth serve as squad corporals, with Paz'Uth frequently leading a static support fire team when the squad splits.
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Su'Ryn and Kelan typically ride with the forward squad in the Razorback Drake's Fury, commanded by Tech-Brother Ka'Ros. Drake's Fury bears the rare lascannon-and-plasmagun pattern and has been in the service of the 4th company for over 1,200 years.
Brother Caeden, Death Company Dreadnought
I've had a shiny new camera since Christmas, but I haven't really taken a lot of pictures... until last night. Shamelessly ripping off Aventine at Zen 40,000, I'm going to start posting a few shots of a model or unit every so often with some fluff. This should keep me updating regularly for a bit.
Without further ado:
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Caeden forged a stellar career in the 8th company, atypical of most Blood Angels. He served in the honor guard as company champion under two consecutive captains, and was offered promotion to the 4th, 2nd and eventually 1st companies, all of which he refused in order to remain as an adviser to his captain and company.
During the Tohlren campaign in 915.M41, Caeden was gravely wounded while facing an Ork warboss in single combat. Though he defeated the mighty greenskin, he himself was left crippled and dying. His years of valiant service made the decision to enshrine him in Furioso armour quite easy.
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As a revered Furioso, Caeden took part in a number of campaigns, smashing though the enemies of mankind with renewed vigor. However, during the invasion of Haerid Prime, Caeden fell to the Black Rage. His armor was painted black and decorated to announce him as the deliverer of death that he had become.
During the Haerid Prime campaign, Caeden was mostly responsible for annihilating most of the forces of the rebellious 227th Haerid Conservatory in the city of Prestlake. Rebellious forces scattered before him and left the city to Captain Zedrenael's task force. Caeden stalked the city for three days before the company's techmarines managed to fix a grapple on him and evacuate him from the battlefield.
Salamanders update (with pictures!)
I've been consistently building and painting, and I swear it never seems like I'm making progress. There's a lot more green marines, though.
I haven't played a lot, but when I have, it's been better than the beatings I'd been receiving. With a few exceptions, though, my opponents weren't very good. One of my FLGS (Comics & More) attracts a... younger... crowd. I seriously don't know where 8-15 year-olds get the money for this hobby, but they do. Playing them is one part teaching and one part vengeance for all the time I had my backside handed to me by 12-year-olds at Magic: The Gathering (which I said good riddance to in order to finance my Crimson Fists). If nothing else, it's good practice.
My best match came with my Salamanders against Nids, played by a quite worthy opponent (who usually plays Chaos). We were both surprised when I wiped him out on turn 4 - Apparently, bugs burn and are squished by thunder hammers.
My Blood Angels trounced another Nid player and two Space Marine players (Sicarius/Tigirus and Lysander armies, respectively).
But, you're tired of text from me. This time... I have pictures!
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This is Honoured Sergeant Tel'Yan, 6th Company Detachment. See what I did there with the name? I am soooo original. This model was fun (and is obviously not finished). I wanted the elongated barrel, stock and strap, so I cut one of the spare sniper rifles up and heated some plasticard. The camo pattern is straight out of my camo tutorial, using desert tones (Graveyard Earth, Kommando Khaki and Bleached Bone with an Ogryn Flesh wash and dotting with Chadronite Granite).
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Land Raider 1 of 2 (2 is still in the box), "We Are His Righteous Hammer," is currently built out as a Crusader pattern. After my first Blood Angels Land Raider where I magnetized all of the weapons, I realized that I wasn't very happy with the hurricane bolters. I had an extra set of sponson mounts (without the weapons) laying around, so I used the Godhammer sponsons specifically for the Hurricane bolters. The Flamestorm cannons and lascannons will share a separate set, which I have yet to build (all of my current lists use Crusaders, so I'm not in a rush).
The freehanding on the top uses an non-metallic metal technique. I didn't use it on the rest, because I actually like the multi-angle shine that metallics give you. I went with it on the freehand, because I wanted it to look like it was actually painted on by the chapter.
Lastly, the Rhino chassis I spoke about in my last post:
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I messed up when I was magnetizing the Predator sponsons, and the only fix was to make them permanently Lascannons (which is about all I use anyway). Other than that, this has nearly every option I could think of (except for HK missiles and an extra Storm Bolter, that is). Not show are the Heavy Bolter turret, which needs to be primed, and the Dozer Blade that I forgot to put into the picture. I built it in such a way that I can clip it to any Rhino chassis. I've even got the lascannon/plasmagun combo in there. Next project for this will be a heavy flamer turret.
Here's what it turns into:
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Now, I've got to go make a not-cheezy list for the next tournament. Because against these kids, I can't justify 14 Thunder Hammer terminators, Vulkan, and two Land Raiders. It's just not sporting.
Maybe I'll get those Sternguard primed and ready.
Whoa, I have a blog here!
Apparently I haven't updated in a while, which sucks a bunch because I've been doing a lot of work (mainly on my Salamanders) and haven't bothered to take pictures. I really should rectify that, because here's what I've been up to:
1) A squad of 10 Sternguard complete with combi-weapons (flamers and meltas). I started with a tac squad box and tossed in Terminator Honour shoulder pads, and then converted the weapons. They look pretty awesome! Two of them even have heavy flamers, which are also conversions.
2) A Rhino chassis with a bunch of upgrades. Initially it was intended to be the Sterguard's chariot (which it will still likely be at some point). I used a Vindicator box for the chassis and extra armour (I still need to build the rest of the Vindi), and grabbed a spare Heavy Bolter turret to give it a Razorback option. I'm pretty happy with the paint job, and there's some freehanding on the back.
4) Assault marines! I've got a 5-man squad of them built and primed, and another waiting to come out of the box. The sarge has a Thunder Hammer that I made using the power axe they come with and the head of one of the hammer from the Death Company box.
5) Scouts! One squad built, primed and basecoated, and another squad half built. Did a custom conversion on the sarge to allow him to count as Telion - even used some plasticard and green stuff!
6) Land Raider - completely built and ready to prime. Well, completely built as a Crusader. The Redeemer/Godhammer sponson is still in process. With this one and the Rhino, I decided to just seal them up. I could have spent the time to paint the interior, but (like a Drop Pod) the door actually gets in the way when playing, and I have built two Land Raiders already with the moving door, and I can't get it right. It always winds up off-kilter, and for that money, I wanted a really good looking tank.
7) On the Blood Angels front, I've actually worked on painting an assault squad! I've also got another Land Raider in the box, and the Adeptus Mechanus says it's going to them.
Blood Angels 8-5 Assault
I've actually got Blood Angels to show you! This is the 5th Assault Squad of the 8th Company. They are obviously a work in progress, but there's definitely some progress to show:
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Unless I'm running an all-mech list, the 5th will likely be my dedicated jump squad because they'll be the first with jump packs painted. The 3rd and 8th squads are currently sporting regular backpacks, but all of my assault troops have been magnetized to give me the option of either.
Here's a close-up view of the sergeant:
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He's sporting a power fist and bolt pistol and the blood drop halo cut off a back pack. I'm probably going to paint all of the power fists with the hazard striping, because it gives it a really cool effect.
The power fist from the Death Company box is at a really weird angle. Getting the pauldron to look right under normal circumstances was a pain in the neck, but that fist is magnetized, and the pauldron itself is magnetized. I think I'm going to give up and glue the pauldron in place and deal with it if I need to switch load-outs. While I have a few extra power fists from other sets, I really liked the idea of using an Angelus bolter as a bolt pistol, as suggested in the Codex itself. Since all of the Angelus bolters are left-handed, I'm restricted to right-handed power fists, and all of my spares are left-handed.
The Death Company box also presents a painting problem for a lot of models. Notice the white on the right leg - that's actually the 5th company symbol, a white saltire on black. Of course, that's supposed to be in a small circle on the right greave, but the styling on the greaves doesn't leave a lot of space for that. At least for the sarge, I decided to go with the whole leg to really capture his connection to the squad.
On some of the other models, this is much less of a problem. Some of them already have the saltire molded in due to the Death Company regalia. They've also got it on other parts, particularly pauldrons, so I've been painting them with the squad symbol as well.
I'll be missing AU's October tournament, but I'm hoping to get a few games in before November, and I'm really hoping to have a solidly painted 2000 point list complete by then. We'll see what happens, though.
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