refuse

Thank you, I can't just build an army, there has to be a story to why the Army! :)

Dorn Arrives at Speculum Terrae Dorn and Fulgrim Discuss the Crusade, and Dorn shows a crack? The Emperor's Children 29th Great Company tries to widen the crack. Dorn showed fondness for Speculum Terrae, can the 29th break him?

Beta Dala - Giving reason to the Imperial Fists and the Deathwatch chapter. I wanted a DeathWatch group composed of Imperial Fist successor chapters (for Kill Team). And I am tieing it into the other stories I was writing. So once I finish Space Hulk, Death Watch it is! And I will try to make them AoD kill team compatible, or I just need more minis. To: Chapter Master Gregor Dessian, Lord of the Imperial Fists Location: The Phalanx, Strategium Anabasis From: Reclusiam-Librarius Joint Seal, with attached Watch liaison summaries Subject: Phalanx System activation and alert posture — Beta Dalas / Pharos Node: Seventh Wall Classification: Praetorian-Sealed / Dornic Lineage Eyes Only Strategic Summary My lord, the Black Wall is not a formal invocation of the Last Wall Protocol. It is a containment measure before such a question can be answered. The Phalanx has received a partial, anomalous transmission from beneath Beta Dalas, an Imperial Fists tithe world in the Alisa system. The source identifies itself through archaic command-logic as: Pharos Node: Seventh Wall This designation does not exist in current Administratum, Mechanicus, or Chapter records. However, its authentication fragments have caused dormant systems within the Phalanx to respond. The response was not limited to vox, astropathic relay, or fleet command; it was some older technology that the Phalanx itself received. It reached deeper: into sealed archive logic, oath-indexing systems, and the damaged commentaries of the Scriptum Ascenda. The machine spirits did not speak clearly that we could understand. But it spoke in a language old enough that the Phalanx listened. [See attachment]. Summary of the machine spirit of the Phalanx actions regarding this signal. 1) Stratgium updated the Beta Dalas world designation to Seventh Wall, and identified the Pharos Node there. 2) Scriptum Ascenda began producing Dornic writings; the comments are fragmentary and incomplete, producing different translations each time it is interrogated. 3) The Cloister of Rememberce opened new chambers, old legion identifiers, producing old legion oaths. 4) The Temple of Oaths opened doors that no living Imperial Fist possesses the authority to open. The signal thus seems to be at the command level. 5) Cognigators tied to the Departure bay started running readiness calculations, fleet deployment, and troop numbers. Not a full mobilization, but preparation for Legion mobilization. Known Triggering Events Current operational intelligence suggests the Beta Dallas signal began escalating after several converging threats: Beta Dalas has confirmed or near-confirmed Genestealer cult activity within its civic body, the first company responded to Inqusitor Boeman's request to support purging the Cult of the four armed god. Additionally, the phrase recovered from the Phalanx-linked output was: XENOS WITHIN CIVIC BODY Second, Tyranid bio-signatures have been detected in connection with the ongoing ghost ship and boarding-war crisis. The Imperial Fists Terminator actions aboard The Emperor’s Grace and the associated Tyranid vessel appear to have overlapped with the awakening of the Beta Dalas system. Third, ancient climate and subterranean systems beneath Beta Dalas have begun exhibiting behavior inconsistent with standard Mechanicus terraforming engines. Storm events, atmospheric irregularities, and buried infrastructure activations suggest a system attempting to restore or reconfigure the world according to an unknown baseline. Fourth, the Phalanx has received fragments implying that Beta Dalas is not merely a tithe world, but part of the Dornic defensive geometry. No records of Beta Dalas have been found prior to resettling by the Tech Priests 4,000 standard years ago. Scriptum Ascenda Fragment The following fragment is judged central to the decision: IF THE PHAROS SPEAKS, VERIFY THE HAND THAT WAKES IT. IF THE PHAROS SCREAMS, DO NOT FIRST SUMMON THE SONS. FIRST ASK WHAT IT HAS SEEN. Later in the same corrupted entry: Should Beta Dalas wake, do not mistake awakening for command. Should the Pharos call, do not mistake warning for muster. Should the Seventh Wall open, do not rebuild the Legion until the threat has a name. And the final stable phrase: The Last Wall is not a horn. It is a sentence. Speak it only when silence would doom Terra. This fragment cannot yet be authenticated as a direct statement of Rogal Dorn. It may be a damaged commentary, a reconstructed archive response, or a Phalanx-generated interpretation of sealed Praetorian logic. However, its meaning is clear enough for action: Verify before muster. Why the Black Wall Is Being Recommended The Black Wall is being called because the Chapter faces a threat that touches three sacred concerns at once: A possible lost work of our Primarch has awakened beneath Beta Dalas. The Phalanx’s response implies that the Beta Dalas system may be tied to old Praetorian defense architecture, possibly intended to watch Xenos approaches coreward toward Terra. The threat is xenos in nature, not yet proven to be rebellion, heresy, or daemonic corruption. Tyranid signatures are present; the First Company responded to Inquisitorial requests for the purge. Beta Dalas may be reacting to a true biological contamination of the world. The signal may be misread as a call to gather Dorn’s sons. If the Imperial Fists move openly in strength, successor Chapters may interpret it as the beginning of the Last Wall. If we ignore it, we may fail a warning placed by Dorn himself. The Black Wall, therefore, serves as a shield between ignorance and catastrophe. It allows the sons of Dorn to investigate without prematurely calling the Legion. Why Caution is Recommended At this time, there is no confirmed threat to Terra. There is no fully authenticated Primarch command. There is no named enemy beyond known xenos activity. The recovered fragment specifically warns: Do not rebuild the Legion until the threat has a name. To invoke the Last Wall now would risk acting on incomplete command fragments from a damaged ancient system. It would invite scrutiny from the Inquisition, the Adeptus Mechanicus, the High Lords, the Custodes, and Guilliman’s officers. Worse, it could place the sons of Dorn in violation of the Codex Astartes before we understand whether Dorn’s own intent is being fulfilled or misused. The Black Wall is therefore the disciplined course. It is not hesitation. It is siegecraft. Why the Deathwatch The Deathwatch is the correct instrument for four reasons. First, the known surface threat is xenos. Genestealer cults and Tyranid organisms fall squarely within the Deathwatch mandate. Their presence on Beta Dalas gives legitimate cause for Deathwatch deployment without revealing the full Phalanx concern. Second, the selected warriors are all sons of Dorn by bloodline. They are Imperial Fists or successors serving the Long Watch. This allows the Chapter to send Dornic eyes, Dornic discipline, and Dornic instinct without openly mustering successor forces. Third, the Deathwatch Kill-Team structure is ideal for surgical action. A full Chapter deployment would be visible, political, and provocative. A kill-team can enter hives, strike cult nodes, investigate Mechanicus sites, board xenos-tainted vessels, and descend into sealed infrastructure without declaring a sector-wide crisis. Fourth, the Deathwatch provides insulation. If the threat proves to be only xenos infestation, the deployment remains ordinary. If the call from Beta Dalas proves genuine, the Chapter has witnesses from multiple Dornic bloodlines. If the signal is a trap, the loss is contained. Kill-Team Black Wall Mandate Kill-Team Black Wall is to proceed under layered mission authority: Primary: identify and destroy Genestealer and Tyranid assets threatening Beta Dalas. Secondary: locate the source of the Pharos signal beneath Beta Dalas and determine whether it is loyal, corrupted, damaged, or being exploited. Tertiary: prevent Mechanicus or Inquisitorial seizure of the Pharos until its relation to Rogal Dorn, the Phalanx, and Terra’s defense architecture is understood. Quaternary: determine whether the Phalanx’s response constitutes a true Praetorian warning requiring successor muster. They are not to call the Last Wall. They are to discover whether the Last Wall must be spoken. Recommended Chapter Position My lord, the proposed posture is this: The Imperial Fists are not hiding the truth out of shame or ambition. They are preserving the truth until it can be understood. The Phalanx has heard something ancient beneath Beta Dalas. The Scriptum Ascenda warns us not to answer a scream with a legion. The xenos threat is real, but the command is incomplete. The sons of Dorn must gather in spirit before they gather in arms. Therefore the Black Wall is justified. It is the wall before the Last Wall. It is the oath to verify before mustering. It is the answer to the fragment’s command: First ask what it has seen.

It is funny, I travel for work quite a bit, but I never think to check out game stores. I would be great if I did to look for the odd mini/out of print item. Hope you find something in Orlando. I was just in Orlando in March, and just spent my time at the Epic resort. No gaming! Nice rules about interaction, I find it interesting. The LGS mostly ignores you, unless they are stocking. I like that as I usually know what I am looking for. The GW store says Hi, and is there anything you are looking for. They try hard not to let the regulars overwhelm the conversation. I appreciate that when I go in. The hard part is I am usually not window shopping. I try to keep it tied to what I need. Otherwise, I would have a bigger pile of shame. Now I just have to get out there and play some games!

They look good!

Great idea, but I am to OCD to use different marines (First born and Primaris). So later on I might do a Malleus or Deathwatch group. I have 32mm magnets, that I am planning to use with my Genestealers. So will try that when I get to basing the Genestealers, and show how I plan to do that. Basically model on 25mm base, then that on a 32mm magnet (sheet magnet) and then build up on the magnet with greenstuff. Lets me have a magnet and not have to rebase everything and not have a base on a base. Will see. Just trying to finish my plan first, before going off on another tangent, that usually stops me from finishing my plan with a new plan. Then a new plan for the new plan before the old plan! :) Trying to find all my old minis and get a display case. Most of my old stuff is spread out or gone! So trying to recover.

Another portion of my Older minis I am digging up through out my house. My Imperial Fist captain. The Black Templar Emperor's Champion when it was first released: Imperial Fist Librarian in Terminator armor!

Happening again lately. Got the same cloudflare error as above.

Yes. I sent you a post. Seems the hosting service isn’t responding to all messages. Dropping lots of packets.

First up: Inquistior Stern, part of the Epheral Stern and Inquisitor Hand Forge world set. I like Inquistiors so I traded Stern Away. https://miniatureextravaganza.blogspot.com/2022/08/daemonifuge-ephrael-stern-and.html And following with the Inqusitor theme some other 80s Inquistiors I have: Inquisitor in Terminator Armor: From here: What is funny is I shouldhave all those models, just need to find them! At least the other Inqusitor model! Inquistiors in power armor: And Inquistor not in Power armor but has a little secret he is not hiding very well. The Realms of Chaos: Slaves to Darkness book really defined me for a generation. Grey Knights and the Ordo Malleus, Slaanesh and the Emperor's Children were sunk deeply into my psyche.

Ok, so easy to say, but harder to create some actual stories! Bored this weekend, so I figured I would try to create a story that shows the start of the slide to Chaos. Here is a comic that walks you through the lead-up. Beta Dalas (the world for my Space Hulk game). You might need to zoom in. Depending on your screen. The Vordebrecht triplets. https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vSAL4cnngJDTi5tB7eRhdMzHWn4Av1d8m3WgXdzaRymqQlMeLoofkOA6ir9rKMmwc6JOVvVOWvhJdzK/pub (I am not doing the drawings, using Chat GPT, I am writing the story, and having Chat GPT summarize the story in a comic). To get a little interest, posting one of the comic pages here: So we have a setup, 3 Imperial Guard soldiers, all with different experiences, all on a path to ruin.

Here is my take from the Emperor's Children.net on Slaanesh and the seven deadly sins. I had done this in the past, and figured I would dig up some newer opinions. Kind of like a color wheel, each aspect of the sin is a color. Adding or subtracting depending on how you look at it the color of the sin. There are 3 Axes to the chart, with opposing sins on each side. The three opposing axes Lust ↔ Envy Lust says: I must be desired. Envy says: I must possess what is desired in another. They mirror each other through craving. Lust pulls others inward; envy reaches outward toward what it lacks. Gluttony ↔ Greed Gluttony says: I must consume everything. Greed says: I must own everything. One destroys through devouring; the other destroys through hoarding. Both refuse limits. Wrath ↔ Sloth Wrath says: I must act, strike, break, and release. Sloth says: I must withdraw, recline, refuse, and dissolve. Wrath is an excess of action. Sloth is the excess of inaction. Pride as the center Pride belongs in the middle because each path can be justified by the self: Lust: “I deserve to be desired.” Envy: “I deserve what they have.” Gluttony: “I deserve every sensation.” Greed: “I deserve to possess it all.” Wrath: “I deserve vengeance.” Sloth: “I deserve release from duty.” So the full Slaaneshi structure becomes: Pride is the throne. The other six sins are the roads leading to it. Six gardens to the throne that is pride. Now, about each sin. A devotee of Slaanesh usually does not begin by saying, “I worship Chaos.” They begin by wanting something harmless, even admirable: beauty, excellence, justice, rest, wealth, pleasure, admiration. Slaanesh enters when the desire stops serving life and life begins serving the desire. The pattern is: desire → refinement → obsession → sacrifice → worship This is how people fall to the seven Slaaneshi paths, each shaped by one of the deadly sins. Pride — The Cult of the Perfect Self How it begins Pride begins as self-improvement. The devotee wants to be better: stronger, more beautiful, more disciplined, more admired, more flawless. A noble, artist, duelist, officer, preacher, or Space Marine might begin by believing they are simply pursuing excellence. They polish their armor longer than others. They perfect their stance. They correct the flaws of those around them. They begin to feel that ordinary people are crude, weak, and unworthy. How it progresses Eventually, admiration becomes necessary. They do not merely want to be good; they need to be seen as superior. Criticism becomes intolerable. Rivals become insults merely by existing. They begin altering themselves: ornate armor, ritual scars, cosmetic surgery, exquisite clothing, impossible posture, perfect voice, perfect gestures. Every surface becomes a mirror. Every conversation becomes a performance. Their corruption deepens when they decide that morality is for lesser beings. If they are perfect, then whatever they desire must also be perfect. How they worship Slaanesh A pride-devotee worships through self-glorification. Their shrines are mirrors, portraits, statues, polished blades, and jeweled masks. They recite their own victories as hymns. They surround themselves with admirers, servants, and broken rivals. Their offerings are humiliation and adoration. They may force defeated enemies to praise them, carve their triumphs into marble or flesh, or build entire courts where every act exists to affirm their perfection. To them, Slaanesh is not merely the Prince of Pleasure. Slaanesh is the only god refined enough to appreciate them. How to represent them in your Slaanesh 40k Army: Chaos Lord. His armor is the best, immaculate; he could have slaves cleaning his armor as he walks the battlefield, or their pride keeps their armor clean. A trophy rack showing the kills that they are most Proud of. Make them look like a living idol, weilding a deamon blade (the deaemon they bested), dueling swords (they came up through wrath). Lucius the Eternal stands out as a great example of Pride. Lust — The Cult of Desire How it begins Lust begins with attraction, fascination, intimacy, beauty, or longing. The devotee wants closeness, admiration, romance, control, or the thrill of being desired. This path is not limited to physical desire. It can be the lust for attention, for emotional possession, for forbidden closeness or knowledge, for charisma, for the power to make others want. How it progresses Desire becomes manipulation. The devotee learns how to become irresistible: perfect voice, perfect scent, perfect clothing, perfect posture, perfect timing. They study weakness, loneliness, vanity, and longing. They begin collecting admirers and dependents. They blur love with control, intimacy with ownership, and affection with hunger. They may ruin marriages, cults, military units, noble houses, or entire courts simply by becoming the object everyone wants and no one can possess safely. Eventually, the devotee no longer desires people as people. They desire the act of desire itself: the moment someone gives in, betrays a vow, abandons reason, or chooses obsession over duty. How they worship Slaanesh A lust-cult worships through temptation, seduction, and surrender of restraint. Their rites may involve masks, dances, perfumes, music, whispered vows, and symbolic unions of beauty and danger. Their offerings are broken oaths, corrupted loyalties, surrendered secrets, and the collapse of self-control. A pure-hearted knight, a faithful servant, or a disciplined warrior is more precious than a willing libertine because the fall is sweeter. To them, Slaanesh is the voice that says: You deserve what you desire. How to represent them in your Slaanesh 40k Army: Serpents of desire! Snake-bodied marines. It doesn't have to be crude; lust isn't just physical; it is the manifestation of want, betrayal, and surrender. Tormmentor models are consumed by ego and desire. They are looking for new experiences, corrupting, destroying, and breaking down the opponents. Wrath — The Cult of the Perfect Violation How it begins Wrath begins as righteous anger. The devotee has been wronged. Their family was betrayed. Their commander was incompetent. Their enemies are cruel. The Imperium is unjust. The weak are irritating. The strong are obstacles. At first, violence feels necessary. Then it feels satisfying. Then it feels honest. This isn't about killing; this is about the anger and emotion. How it progresses The devotee begins to refine anger into art. They no longer strike in rage alone; they study the moment of impact, the sound of fear, the expression before defeat. A warrior might seek the perfect killing stroke. A torturer might seek the perfect scream. A commander might arrange battles not for victory, but for spectacle. Wrath under Slaanesh is not mindless berserker fury like Khorne. It is curated, aesthetic, and theatrical. The devotee wants rage to be beautiful. They want destruction to have rhythm, shape, and emotional intensity. Eventually, they provoke conflict merely to feel the rising heat of it. Peace becomes unbearable. How they worship Slaanesh A wrath-devotee worships through exquisite violence. Their temples may be arenas, dueling chambers, execution galleries, or battlefields arranged like stages. They offer Slaanesh the emotional peak of conflict: fury, terror, triumph, panic, vengeance, humiliation. They may compose music from battlefield recordings, paint murals with the aftermath of duels, or turn vendettas into sacred liturgies. To them, Slaanesh is worshipped in the instant when restraint breaks, and every hidden hatred becomes action. How to represent them in your Slaanesh 40k Army: Violence that is still Slaanesh. They kill in a moment of exquisite theatrics. Flawless Blades dancing through the battlefield, striking down enemies, and savoiring the battle. A dreadnought or defiler that is enraged and only feels the anger, but never the release from a kill, would be another great example Sloth — The Cult of Perfect Surrender How it begins Sloth begins as exhaustion. The devotee is tired of duty, war, grief, prayer, work, obedience, vigilance. They want rest. They want silence. They want to be free from expectation. This can begin innocently: one missed obligation, one indulgent evening, one refusal to care. How it progresses Slaanesh does not make sloth merely lazy. It makes passivity luxurious. The devotee learns to savor inaction. They avoid pain, responsibility, consequence, and decision. They become connoisseurs of stillness. Their rooms grow darker and softer. Perfumes, narcotic incense, music, cushions, dream-engines, sensory veils, and psychic illusions surround them. They stop acting in the real world and retreat into curated sensation. Eventually, they may become like a living idol: carried by servants, fed by attendants, lost in dreams while others destroy themselves to preserve their comfort. How they worship Slaanesh A sloth-cult worships through surrender to sensation and refusal of duty. Their rites are slow, dreamlike, and suffocating. They may lie in perfumed chambers for days, listening to music designed to dissolve the will. Their offerings are abandoned responsibilities: guards leaving their posts, priests abandoning their vows, commanders refusing to give orders, parents forgetting their children, warriors laying down their weapons. To them, Slaanesh says: You have suffered enough. Let the world burn softly around you. How to represent them in your Slaanesh 40k Army: Cloth wrapped with incense bearers. They languish on the field listening to the screams of the fallen. Perhaps carried on a palaquin, they enjoy the sensations as much as the smells of their incense. Possibly a Sorcerer or Librarian that is floating on the palaquin, or a Dreadnought that doesn't create pain, but withholds the pleasures while they are on the battlefield. Perhaps they ride upon a Rhino or Land Raider delivering the troops to the battle while enjoying the sensations. Greed — The Cult of Possession How it begins Greed begins with ambition and security. The devotee wants enough: enough wealth, enough weapons, enough influence, enough favors, enough secrets, enough bodies, enough land, enough souls. They tell themselves accumulation is wisdom. They are preparing. They are protecting what is theirs. How it progresses Soon, ownership becomes pleasure. The devotee does not need what they hoard; they need the act of having. A coin is not a coin. It is proof that something in the world has been conquered and made theirs. They collect rare art, forbidden books, exotic poisons, living servants, relics, titles, memories, secrets, genetic samples, and daemonic pacts. Their vaults become shrines. Their contracts become prayers. Eventually, they cannot tolerate anything existing outside their grasp. Even people become possessions: followers, lovers, rivals, enemies, all catalogued and claimed. How they worship Slaanesh A greed-devotee worships through acquisition and hoarding. Their temples are vaults, galleries, treasure chambers, reliquaries, slave markets, and private museums. They make offerings by taking what others value most. A noble might steal a family heirloom. A warlord might conquer a city only to lock its art away unseen. A sorcerer might trade in names, true memories, or stolen emotions. To them, Slaanesh is the divine right to possess every exquisite thing. How to represent them in your Slaanesh 40k Army: A walking vault, maybe trophies on their back. They have multiple options for fighting, like a Lord Kakophonist, with all the possibilities they can have. Maybe a chaos beast that absorbs those it kills, and like Lucius, comes back when it is killed. Possibly a Terminator Squad that is armed with a variety of weapons, collected from their foes, dragging boxes of their prizes behind them. Or a daemon prince that has exquisite armor covered in chains, jewels, and relics, and the ground is covered with coins Gluttony — The Cult of Endless Consumption How it begins Gluttony begins with appetite. Food, drink, sensation, praise, pain, music, color, experience — the devotee wants more of what feels good. At first, they simply indulge. They seek better meals, stronger wines, louder music, richer perfumes, stranger dreams, sharper stimulants, rarer sensations. How it progresses The appetite widens. Gluttony is not only about eating. It is the consumption of experience. The devotee devours novelty, art, gossip, bodies, drugs, battles, memories, and spiritual experiences. They become unable to enjoy anything twice unless it is made stronger, stranger, or more extreme. Soon, excess becomes identity. They are no longer satisfied by pleasure; they are defined by the ability to consume what others cannot endure. At the deepest stage, they become a black hole of sensation. Everything around them is reduced to fuel for the next indulgence. How they worship Slaanesh A gluttony-cult worships through banquets of excess. Their feasts may include impossible foods, hallucinogenic wines, music, perfumes, psychic stimuli, and staged spectacles. Each course is designed to overwhelm a different sense. Their offerings are abundance wasted or consumed beyond reason. Entire harvests, rare beasts, priceless vintages, sacred relics, and living memories might be devoured in a single rite. To them, Slaanesh is the hunger that proves there is always another sensation beyond the last. How to represent them in your Slaanesh 40k Army: It isn't just food; it means consuming every sensation. Noise Marines are the obvious answer here. Sound, pain, color, memory, Praise, fear, and violence. They are overloaded with sensory apparatus. It could be Flawless blades with their drug injectors, or Chaos Terminators that are cut off from the outside perceptions. It could be a Dreadnought that is more organic, or a defiler. Envy — The Cult of the Unpossessed How it begins Envy starts with comparison. Someone else has what the devotee deserves: beauty, rank, talent, love, wealth, psychic power, fame, attention, divine favor. At first, the feeling is private. They smile at a rival’s success while quietly resenting it. They tell themselves they only want fairness. They study those they envy, learning their habits, their weaknesses, their charms. How it progresses The devotee becomes consumed by the lives of others. They no longer know what they want for themselves; they only know what they cannot bear another person possessing. They copy voices, clothing, fighting styles, gestures, even scars. They steal trophies not for value, but because someone else cherished them. They ruin reputations, sabotage alliances, and poison relationships. The final stage of envy is not merely wanting what another has. It is wanting to erase the difference between self and rival. They may impersonate, mutilate, replace, or spiritually consume the object of envy. How they worship Slaanesh An envy-cult worships through coveting and theft of identity. Their altars are covered in stolen objects: locks of hair, medals, love letters, weapons, titles, faces painted on masks. They may hold ceremonies where devotees confess what they desire from others, then compete to take it. A cult of envy might not kill its victims quickly. It might first strip them of reputation, beauty, status, friends, and selfhood. To them, Slaanesh whispers: Everything beautiful should have been yours. How to represent them in your Slaanesh 40k Army: Mixed armor, maybe from Pre-heresy to MK X armor both loyalists and other chaos legions. Stolen pieces from Eldar, Dark Eldar, Orks, and Tau. Mismatched trophies from the various races. Green glowing eyes, heraldry from the fallen enmies covering their armor. A robe covered with purity seals, or things they find special. A defiler that has take parts from dreadnoughts, Wraithguard or integrated parts of Tyranids.

I reformatted the post as a Blog and posted here on the B&C and on Empror's Children.net

Since it is a Space Hulk-themed army, I wanted to keep it close quarters. So Brutalis! Brother Acastian! Brother Acastian with Inquistor scale Genestealer Brother Acastian arriving in the Space Hulk!

Thank you, I will have the document (Work in progress) up in a few. For the rules I am waiting for the new kill team NPO book, so I can make sure I am aligned with official rules.