367 replies to this topic

[Marius Perdo]

I play them, and researched what I could over a year ago and posted it here on this forum http://www.bolterand...p...126946&st=0

As for the symbols I use the GW metal ones cut out of the shoulder to make them jut out less, which I whittered on about in the following thread http://www.bolterand...p;#entry2321606

As for a painted army, no, I have some painted but have had a busy year. My out of date WIPs and few completed models should be under my profile here in my gallery.

Edited by Marius Perdo, 14 April 2010 - 09:40 PM.

[Marius Perdo]

@ImperialVanguard: I like the idea of doing cloth in company colours. Might not work with my 5th, as the colour is black, but certainly will on the 8th. Hmmm, makes me want to swap my battle company to 3rd now, but somehow I will resist

[Marius Perdo]

Well some new "official" stuff from GW in WD(UK) 368, page 25 under the Legions of the Immaterium article, specifically about a Daemonic warband - 'The Soulmaw':

"892.M40 During the Scouring of Ammas, Space Marines of the Silver Skulls Chapter first encounter the Soulmaw. Their champion is apparently destroyed by Librarian Lucius Clave.

954.M41 Having survived the horrors of the Black Night, the citizens of Aragave, a vassal world of the Silver Skulls are further tormented by an unidentified Daemonic warband. When the Silver Skulls Chapter responds to the distress call, the Daemons quickly vanish.

955.M41 With much of the Silver Skulls Chapter absent, the Soulmaw strikes against several worlds close to Varsavia. Chapter Librarians suspect an attack on their homeworld is imminent."

So a long dead named Librarian (oddly enough my Librarian is also named Lucius), a vassal world beyond Varsavia (Aragave), and the possibility of a Daemonic incursion against Varsavia. Interesting stuff

[Marius Perdo]

Some stuff in IA-9, page 68-69. If I find more as I read I'll mention it.

"770.M38-791.M38 The Great Malagantine Purge: As part of the Manus Irae (5 Chapters brought together but only the Silver Skulls, Fire Hawks, and Charnel Guard are named) they help deliver the Emperor's wrath on the heretical Malagant sector in Segmentum Tempestus. This action remains a secret, even from the Inquisition, and is long forbidden from Imperial history."

Edit: and on page 76...

"698.M41-705.M41 The Corinth Crusade: Mentioned as being part of the crusade that fought under Marneus Calgar alongside the Ultramarines, Angels of Absoultion, Lamenters, Silver Skulls, Scythes of the Emperor, and Marines Errant* aginst Waaagh! Skargor."

*Thus the mention but the Silver Skulls involvment in the Corinth Crusade has been mentioned in earlier citations in this thread.

PS I imagine when I get to the Lamenters it'll mention them again

Edited by Marius Perdo, 06 October 2010 - 10:43 PM.

[Walls]

This is a new fluff piece in the Dark Eldar codex about them too. They, along with the Salamanders and Howling Griffons invade Commarragh. It's really great...

...and pretty much made me decide to do Silver Skulls!

[Fodren]

Its been really great reading and commenting on this thread, so a big thanks to all you guys.

So to keep it going- I enjoyed the new bits of fluff for the silver skulls. My question though is about one of the silver skulls recomended squads being terminators. This is great for me as I personaly love terminators. I agree with Marius Perdo that being a 2nd founding primogenitor chapter they would have inherited one hundread or so suits from thier perent Legion. To help confirm this I like to think its these terminators have helped to give the silver skulls thier "well established reputation for victory"

So what I really want to ask is, How do you think theses terminators would be armed? basicly ranged or assault terminators?

I realise there is no clear answer to this question, and its a matter really of personal choice but it would be great to get peoples thoughts and ideas on this matter. I know there are know clear links to the silver skulls being an assult based army so you could argue they would favour ranged weaponry. However as they favour libarians and do nothing with out consulting them first, plus libarians are pretty handy to have right in the thick of the action. This may suggest a terminator squad would gaurd thier physker closely following him into the heart of battle with full assult weapons?

Any ideas or thoughts would be great.

[Heru Talon]

There is an Silver Skulls vs Red Corsairs Black Library novel being released at somepoint.

= LINK =

[MaleOpener]

May help ...

Silver Skulls ~ Lexicanum

[Marius Perdo]

@Fodren: The Dark Eldar codex does have a great story about them helping to invade Commorragh to rescue some Salamanders, pages 13 to 15. Primal Instinct is not a great story IMO, as now Prognosticars are some sort of Librarian/Chaplain hybrid a bit like Wolf Priests merge Apothecaries and Chaplains, as opposed to being Command Squad members specific to the Silver Skull command squads*. And I really liked Chaplain Deiad's testimony on the recruitment report too So, taking FW Badab War books as inpsiration I have gone homebrew DIY Codex so I can't have BL trash my armies background. Well sort of, turns out they mention Astral Fists too...*sighs*

That aside I find that if I take a shooty termie squad I usually puts a counts a Lysander in with it, as I generally play friends and they have horde armies so I need the SB shots to all count, and a horrendous close combat monster for when they inevitably get assaulted. I usually give them a heavy flamer as it is cheap and gets a lot of hits which stops them being swarmed and overrun. If I take an assault squad I usually 50/50 LC and TH/SS and put a chaplain or Lysander, and a termie librarian in it, and generally go looking for my mates ork warboss in a LR crusader, assuming my drop pod dreads haven't found and instant deathed him first, and left his nob retinue a burning mess (I have an unhealthy interest in twin-linked heavy flamers on dreads and the sponson ones from the plastic Baal pred are great for converting).

I guess it comes down to your preferred play style, your collection, and your regular opponents. I have found that my shooty termies don't do too well whilst the assault ones just smear anything they come across (and kind of live up to the Silver Skulls reputation as was).

*for the full depth and effect of my whining check out my Blog

Edited by Marius Perdo, 26 February 2011 - 02:04 PM.

[Kurgan the Lurker]

There is an Silver Skulls vs Red Corsairs Black Library novel being released at somepoint.

= LINK =

The author of this book has 2 short stories in the Hammer & Bolter ezine over on the Black Library website.

[Marius Perdo]

At a guess the BL novel featuring Red Corsairs/Silver Skulls will be about the War in the Gildar Rift as referenced in SM Codex page 30, and cited on this thread many moons ago. *checks link*

Yep, it is. The cover art does look good.

[Pyroriffic]

At a guess the BL novel featuring Red Corsairs/Silver Skulls will be about the War in the Gildar Rift as referenced in SM Codex page 30, and cited on this thread many moons ago. *checks link*

Yep, it is. The cover art does look good.

Hi guys

I can confirm that this section from the C:SM is indeed the bit of fluff that inspired The Gildar Rift. I confirm this as the author of book in question. I've been linked over here and would love to join in with your discussion on the Skulls.

It's nice to see that people are still enjoying taken little, oft-mentioned chapters and having fun with them. There's lots of quirks within the Silver Skulls as a chapter that set them apart from the others (which is probably why they appealed so much).

The obvious one is that of the Librarian-Chaplains, the Prognosticators. Now, before anybody goes into a nose dive of panic and goes 'but... but... Chaplains' or 'but... but... the fluff says Prognosticars, not Prognosticators', let me just start by saying that over the course of a few short stories and the novel, these things will be explained in full. Trust me. I'm a doctor. Well, I work for the NHS, that's almost the same, right?

I'm keen to talk about painting up a Silver Skulls army. I notice further back that someone suggested a base of boltgun metal with Badab Black wash: have you found this works well? I'm inherently lazy so the idea of an army that's THAT easy to paint makes me all fuzzy inside.

Look forward to joining in.

~Sarah~

Edited by Pyroriffic, 09 March 2011 - 07:55 AM.

[corym]

Hey Sarah,
While I don't play the tabletop, I am currently in a game of the Deathwatch pen and paper RPG, and I'm playing a Silver Skulls devastator. I have recently been attempting to flesh out my character in order to have a fuller role playing experience, so I was wanting to learn more about the chapter. I read your short story Primary Instinct, and I was intrigued by some of the details.

I'm very interested in the honour markings described on Sergeant Gileas. The face tattoos represent the rank of Captain, but is rank all that they signify? Could a particularly honorable deed earn an honour marking?

How much would you say the Silver Skulls deviate from the Ultramarines? The headhunting and the Prognosticators seem to be more of an attribute of the Space Wolves than the Ultramarines.

Thanks,
Cory

[Cut Throat Razor]

Would it be ok to use the silver skull on the chaos space marine decal sheet for the Silver Skull chapter symbol? I think it is the Iron Warrior decal. It look almost identical to the Silver Skull symbol. What are your thoughts?

Edited by Cut Throat Razor, 14 May 2011 - 01:28 AM.

[bannus]

Would it be ok to use the silver skull on the chaos space marine decal sheet for the Silver Skull chapter symbol? I think it is the Iron Warrior decal. It look almost identical to the Silver Skull symbol. What are your thoughts?

I had toyed with the exact same idea when I was contemplating building a Silver Skulls army - go for it!

[SickSix]

Hello all. This is my first post on B&C. I have just read this entire thread and wow! What a ride! Firstly I want to thank all the contributors for all their research. This has just been an awesome read.

I have never really been satisfied with the standard Chapters. I have recently started looking into the silver skulls. The more I read the more I like them. They actually have a few of the things I wanted to do with a custom chapter. And any army that let's me shower my troops in skulls and still be loyal to the Emperor is a huge bonus!

I can't wait to read the book! And did I read correctly that the author is indeed Sarah who posted above?

[Pyroriffic]

I'm very interested in the honour markings described on Sergeant Gileas. The face tattoos represent the rank of Captain, but is rank all that they signify? Could a particularly honorable deed earn an honour marking?

Howdy!

First of all, I apologise for the delay in my reply, I've been up to my eyeballs in deadlines and haven't done much of a forum round-up for a while. Very rude of me!

The right to bear honour marks on the face is denied to any Silver Skull below the rank of Captain, which is a traditional thing that harks back more to their tribal roots than anything else. As for what the marks signify... each warrior is different. Many design their own symbols or images, others prefer a less artistic approach. As an example, there is at least one Apothecary who chooses to have his body tattooed with the names of brothers he has lost as a permanent reminder of what he's about.

First Captain Kerelan who shows up in the latest short story, Cause & Effect in Hammer & Bolter 8 has a single face tattoo; that of a full face skull. He's a scary bloke.

So whilst face tattoos are not exactly a mark of rank, they do show that a Silver Skulls warrior has ascended to at least the rank of Captain.

How much would you say the Silver Skulls deviate from the Ultramarines? The headhunting and the Prognosticators seem to be more of an attribute of the Space Wolves than the Ultramarines.

The Silver Skulls are largely drawn from tribal stock and old habits die hard. More of the history comes out in The Gildar Rift, including the chapter's structure. As to how much they deviate... well, that's something that remains to truly be seen and the effects of it may have complicated repercussions...

And Sicksix - yes, this is me.

[chaplain belisarius]

whens the gildar rift due to be released? sounds pretty interesting...

[Pyroriffic]

whens the gildar rift due to be released? sounds pretty interesting...

It's coming out officially in December (see here), but is also on pre-release at Games Day.

[chaplain belisarius]

yay! its going well then?

[Pyroriffic]

It certainly is, thank you!

[chaplain belisarius]

cant wait to read it!

(do they still have chaplains?)

[Pyroriffic]

cant wait to read it!

(do they still have chaplains?)

Yes... as it happens, they do. It's very difficult to elaborate on the full thing in a couple of short stories...

[chaplain belisarius]

yay! i like chaplains...

[SickSix]

Sarah (may we address you as such?) I have a couple questions maybe you can help me with.

1. Can you confirm or deny that the SS still take and display skulls/heads as trophies?

2. I plan on using some custom skull helmets on my SS marines. Would this be viewed as out of line from a fluff perspective as you see it? Think I could validate this conversion reasonably?

I am just starting my Silver Skull force, and don't want them to be totally out of line. But I am willing to go against the grain a tad, just for the sake of having cool and unique models.