6 replies to this topic

[Kurgan the Lurker]

Welcome to the Bolter & Chainsword. Before posting, make sure that you have read the following rules, and make sure to follow them when you post. Note that most forums have additional guidelines, and you should be sure to read them also before posting.


The Mission Statement of the Bolter and Chainsword Space Marine Resource Website:

"The Bolter & Chainsword exists to help people learn about modelling, painting, understanding, and playing with the Armies of Humanity, both Loyalist and Traitor, in the Warhammer 40k game universe."

[Kurgan the Lurker]

B&C Mission Statement

The Bolter & Chainsword promotes constructive discussion about all aspects of the Warhammer 40,000 hobby in relation to Power Armor armies. This is a public forum that is viewed by members from a wide range of age groups and cultural backgrounds. Please be considerate of others when composing your replies. Appropriate topics include, but are not limited to:

• Tactics
• Rules Queries and Proposals
• Battle Reports
• Fluff (Background) Questions
• Homegrown Stories and Artwork
• Army Composition Questions
• et cetera

Some restrictions:

• No trolling
• No flaming
• No chat or "leet" speak
• No obscenity/pornography
• No derogatory terms (particularly those dealing with ethnicity or sexual orientation)
• No trading or selling posts
• No Intellectual Property (IP) Violations
• No excessive points values in army lists or discussions - this means don't post Army Builder print outs or fully tree'd out points/stats for your army lists. Keep it simple. Such as Commander, gear X,Y,Z Pts. 285
• No software cracks (requested or offered). Any form of Warez or illegal downloading of any software but particularly that related to GW Games will result in an immediate ban on your account.
• No posting images inappropriately
• No swearing - the B&C has a series of perfectly good emoticons available to users to show disapproval, anger and so forth and as this is a family friendly board swearing is neither necessary nor wanted. A word filter is in place to catch offensive words/phrases and it should be noted that attempts to avoid the filter by the use of alternate letters/numbers/asterisks/any other means will be deemed a Warning worthy offence as a clear contravention of B&C policy, in addition such posts will be deleted. When a word is filtered you will see the following: <DELETED BY THE INQUISITION> Should a word/phrase not filtered offend you please report the post in question and the Moderators will consider if they word/phrase should be added to the word filter.
• No spamming - Spam isn't simply multiple identical posts across the forums, it also includes pointless, off-topic or smart-alec posts anywhere on the board. Remember the B&C is here to promote constructive discussion of the 40K hobby and anything not contributing to this may be considered spam and deleted. Repeat offenders may also be Warned for such behaviour.
• ABSOLUTELY NO OFF-TOPIC DISCUSSIONS. Particularly in regards to politics, nationalism, religion, sexuality or moral/ethical debates.

Post which break these restrictions may be deleted without notice.If you feel a post is violating the forum rules, please don't put on a tin-moderator-badge from that new box of Cocoa Puffs you just got at the store. Simply use the REPORT button. This will notify all the mods of that particular forum of the issue.In regards to No Chat or Leet speak -- The B&C is an English speaking board, therefore the language you should be posting in is English. While we understand that not everyone speaks English as their first language, posters should make every attempt to post in a legible manner. Posts that are clearly written are usually going to get more replies in the long run.Threadomancy: If a thread has not had a post in over 90 days please DO NOT post to bump that thread back up unless you are the OP and are adding to your original thread. Asking when the next update from the OP is or saying "cool" (or something similar) does nothing for the thread. In all likelihood the OP hasn't been on in all that time and won't see it anyway. If you want to tell them "cool" or ask a question about their post then please PM them and wait for a reply. If they then go and "reactivate" their thread then you are free to start posting again. Otherwise we consider this the foul black heresy of Threadomancy and posts will be deleted in order to let the dead stay where they should.

Posting and You!

The Bolter & Chainsword is dedicated to the Space Marines, Chaos Space Marines, and Inquisition forces of the Warhammer 40,000 universe. This means the website is strictly Power Armor only (with a few exceptions for the =][=, Adeptus Mechanicus, Daemons and the News forum).Questions and posts dealing with NON POWER ARMOR armies can be made at many of the army specific or general 40k sites that one can find in our LINKS area.

Allies

Allies and what to do with them? That has been the question the staff has been pondering over for well over a month at this point.The B&C has an identity and while that identity has changed slightly over the years, we are still largely power armor focused (daemons and admech being the exceptions).Initially when the B&C started we had 7 forums:AmicusBlood AngelsDark AngelsSpace WolvesUltramarinesChaosLiber AstartesIn time we added Black Templar, Sisters of Battle (Inquisition) and Index Astartes because they were all power armor related. Even the inquisition had HQ units that could wear power armor.For a brief time we even had Lost and the Damned but they went the way of the do-do when the V3 Chaos Codex was replaced.Each time we always asked the questions:Does it help or hinder the board to add/remove this?Does it change our identity and mission?If the answers were hinder and yes to changing the identity we left it alone.Admech was our caveat to this initially because they weren’t represented anywhere on the web really (Sisters were in that same boat for a time as well). Eventually the Daemons joined this as we felt even though they are not power armor they are integral to Chaos.So had our identity changed for the worse? Better?People still came to the site in growing numbers and for the most part things kept on smooth as before. Did we lose people because of it? Maybe but we gained as many as we lost (many more gained in fact).In recent years Forge World has muddy the waters with things like the Siege of Vraks and the Tyrant’s Legion. Yes there are some power elements to those armies but they aren’t power armor armies. They are a guard cupcake with power armor sprinkles on top.So again we asked those questions and decided to stand our ground and not allow those lists on the site. A very small number of people complained (less than 10) to us and in the end we don’t think it has hurt the site.Now, though, GW has muddied the waters a great deal with the allies rules. So how do we treat this? In past editions with allies we simply said “no power armor so it isn’t allowed” and left it at that. The small vocal groups were upset at first but it didn’t take long for folks to get back to power armor talk without much fuss.Do we keep that tack here or alter course some? Through the discussions one thing was adamant from all: no xenos, ever on the B&C.Adding Imperial Guard (thereby becoming an “armies of humanity” board), the continuation of the AdMech forum, whether or not to keep Chaos Marines and Daemons (becoming Imperium only)- these were all discussed as well.In the end it was decided to hold fast to our identity and remain a power armor board.HOWEVER this does not mean we won’t let you discuss your allies. You will be restricted to where you can discuss them, though. If your army list is 2 armies currently covered by the B&C as allies then you can discuss them wherever it is appropriate for that. But if your allies list contains armies we do not cover (i.e. xenos and Imperial Guard) then your lists and how best to use your non power armor allies will be restricted to the Tactica and Army List forums. Obviously full xenos and IG armies won’t be allowed at all. Nor will a xenos/IG army with Marines/Sisters/Chaos as allies. Because lets be honest, if you are allying with vile xenos then your Chapter should be hunted down, destroyed and the ashes used to salt the earth.A quick example:If you have an Ultramarine army allied with Blood Angels, you can discuss in the UM forum or even the BA forum, Tactica, Army list or where ever the info needed can be obtained.However your Blood Angel army bro-fisting Necrons can only be discussed in the Tactica or Army list areas. Not in the Blood Angels forum and you certainly cannot post your Necron models on the site.We’ll give this a go for a few months and if things are running smoothly leave it be. If things are not running smoothly then we’ll change them as we deem necessary.

[Brother Tyler]

Advertising:

The Bolter & Chainsword, while dedicated to the Space Marines, Chaos Space Marines, and Inquisition forces of the Warhammer 40,000 universe, supports the gaming community as a whole.

You may have noticed there are no banner ads on the B&C. Nor is there an 'advertise your site here' section to the forums. This isn't becase the B&C doesn't like other sites or stores. In fact we believe those to be an important part of the overall 40k Community.

We even have some Bolter and Chainsword Contest Sponsors that we mention every chance we get:
TheWarStore.com
Griffon/Greenfield Games
Fighting Pirannha Graphics
DragonForge Design

What we don't want however is forum members having to sift through pages of advertisements or flashy banner ads just to get to content on the site. As such advertising is prohibited. However you can still get your site advertised on the board with a few stipulations.

The first way is to PM a mod and request permission to make a post in the Amicus forum. If permission is given it is generally along with the instructions to make 1 post, no bumping and from then on out simply include a link in your signature. This is so we can review the content of the site and make sure it isn't something objectionable being posted.

Making an advertising post without permission will subject your post to Exterminatus and it's removal from the board.

Using the Bolter & Chainsword's Private Message or e-mail functions to advertise your own site is not allowed. Such a practice is essentially using the resources of the Bolter & Chainsword for other web sites and is inappropriate. Violations of this will result in appropriate disciplinary action.

You can also submit your website to our LINKS area. This doesn't require permission from a moderator but the site will be in an approval queue prior to going live on the board.

Finally, you are free to have links to your store/auctions/forums/etc. in your signature so long as they are not large size text or otherwise obtrusive to general posting. It is at moderators discretion to edit or removed links if they find the material to be questionable.

As far as other sites are concerned, we fully support other sites, even those that could be considered "competition". Different sites cater to different players, and no one site can hope to cater to all players. The Internet allows for a lot of freedom and variety, and any site that furthers the WH40K game and gaming community deserves the chance to succeed.

[Brother Tyler]

Membership Rules

Anyone is able to view and read the Bolter and Chainsword forums (except folks who are banned). However, registering as a forum member opens up a host of other options and resource utilities for you.

There are a few rules in regards to user accounts that must be followed though:

ACCOUNTS:
Members are allowed to have only a single account here at the Bolter & Chainsword. If you create multiple accounts and get caught, the most recent account(s) will be deleted. Accounts may not have objectionable names, and account names are subject to change if they throw the formatting of the board off. Also, usernames that impersonate influential members of the hobby (GW employees, well-known artists, or even the staff here at the Bolter & Chainsword) are not allowed and will be deleted. Further disciplinary action may be taken if the staff think it is appropriate.

NAME CHANGES:
When you sign up for an account at the B&C you are asked to create a USERname and a DISPLAYname. These do not have to be the same. However, think carefully on what you want your DISPLAYname (the name people will see attached to your posts) to be. We rarely change DISPLAYnames without good reason.

Typical reasons for changing a DISPLAYname are:

• Name is too long and throwing off thread formating. This is usually fixed by simply adding spaces or removing underscores.
• Name contains offensive material.
• Name is too close to another users name. If confusion is caused by your name being close to an existing members name you may be asked to change it.
• Misspelling. Sometimes in the rush to register an account a user might hit the wrong key and wind up doing something like spelling Rogue as Rouge. In cases like this we can often fix that with a quick reset of the DISPLAYname. This may not be possible if there is already a DISPLAYname like it on the forums. In that case you will be asked to choose a new DISPLAYname.

Reasons that a name change is usually turned down include but are not limited to:

• I'm bored with this name.
• I don't play this army anymore and want to change.
• I named myself after a character who is now dead.

AVATARS: These provide members with a means of personalizing their posts, as well as giving other members an immediate visual identifier. The Bolter & Chainsword has a number of "stock" avatars available through the Control Panel. Avatars can also be linked from members' Galleries (please link only from your own Gallery, not other members' Galleries) and web sites. There are also blank templates available so that members can personalize avatars via our DOWNLOADS area. You can have pretty much any image you wish as your Avatar. Avatars which violate board rules by being inappropriate will be removed and the user notified. Repeated notifcations may result in a warning being issued. Avatars should be no bigger than 96x64 pixels in size.

SIGNATURES: Signatures are an interesting way to add a little personality to your replies, as well as a means of providing links. Signatures will be limited, however, in order to keep them from becoming a distraction.

• You may have up to 10 lines of normal-sized text. Larger text size or the addition of images will reduce the number of lines allowed.
• You may have multiple images.
• The image(s) must fit in a single space no wider than 800 pixels and no taller than 100 pixels high.
• Signatures with image(s) that exceeds the maximum dimensions allowed will be subject to editing.
• You may advertise your own web site or projects in your signatures, but links to sites with objectionable content will be edited and subject to banning (porn, etc.).

PRIVATE MESSAGING and E-MAIL: You can send Private Messages (PMs) and e-mails to other members of the Bolter & Chainsword. While the board has little control over the content of these messages, you are still expected to abide by the forum rules with regard to Content and how you treat your fellow members. Using the PM feature in ways that violate board rules (including flaming, advertising, etc.) is subject to appropriate punishment.

Membership Benefits

Membership has it's advantages as well though.

Becoming a member at the B&C allows you to do the obvious basics of starting threads, replying in posts, using the search functions and making use of the Personal Message system. Other benefits also come from registering at the B&C:

• The ability to subscribe to forums and threads and the ability to be notified via email of replies.
• Access to the Downloads
• The ability to start your own Blog.
• Create your own Gallery.
• Submit sites to and acces the Links.
• Submit and read articles via the Librarium.

The Downloads area is where you can get useful tools to help in the creation of your own Power armored armies, spiced up your army list presentations or get new wallpapers for your computer. The content of the Downloads area is 100% user generated. If you would like to have something in the downloads area for all to use please contact an Administrator or Moderator.

Blogs are an area where you can chronicle your Power Armored related projects. This goes hand in hand with the Gallery and is not meant as a replacement to the PCA forum. BLOGs are there for all aspects of the Power Armored gaming experience -- Tournaments, Campaigns, Army list development, Painting, Modelling, etc. Any member of the board has access to a BLOG. Just go to your user control panel and start one.

The Gallery is available in order to facilitate the documentation of your power-armored army, the B&C offers the ability to host pictures of your power armor figures in a personal gallery.

You may only have one gallery. The size of your gallery is limited so keep that in mid when you are resizing your pictures.

The Librarium is where you the user can submit various items such as Index Astartes type articles for DIY Chapters, PC&A related tutorials, Stories, Alternative rules and Dissertations on board related subjects. You can find more about the Librarium here.

Please note that the Downloads, Gallery and Librarium are all subject to board rules and are considered to be kept on topic at all times. Subject matter in those area that is not power armor related will be removed.

The Links area is where you can submit any 40k related website (even non power armored related sites). Any registered user can submit a site, however it is put into an approval queue that the mods go through daily before releaseing the site to the public area.

Donations

Membership at the Bolter and Chainsword is entirely free. However if you would like to donate in a monetary fashion you have two ways to do so.

First you can make a one time lifetime donation via the Donations area at the top of the main forum page. The full amount you donate throught the various subscription offers goes towards improvements and upkeep of the website.

Alternatively you can also purchase items via the Bolter and Chainsword Store. This puts $2-4 towards the board depending on the item you purchase.

Your donations help the B&C to bring you more of the content and management systems that you want. All with the goal of helping you to improve your Power Armored armies in all ways.

Edited by Brother Tyler, 08 April 2011 - 10:39 AM.
Signature image rules changed

[Brother Tyler]

User Groups

There are several user groups that make up the membership of the Bolter and Chainsword. A users group will remain constant no matter how many posts or how old the account is. The only way your user group will change is if you are asked to be a moderator. Your account still may change based off various permissions masks set up for group functions like world wide campaigns and the Arena of Death, but those will not change your visible user group.

The most important group is the Frater Domus. This group is made up of the every day users of the website and is the group you are assigned to upon completing registration. Without the Frater Domus there would be no Bolter and Chainsword.

Moderati Cedo are forum members who were a moderator at one time in their past. While they hold no "position of authority" you can consider them to be old hands that can assist you with questions and can help get word to the current moderators should the need arise. If they suggest you are acting out of line you would do well to heed their call.

Moderati are active Moderators on the site. They are in charge of making things run smoothly within their assigned forum. Keep in mind that moderators are participants first and policemen second. They would prefer to just discuss their chosen army but if necessary will issue warnings and other disciplinary actions as necessary. Outside of their assigned forum a Moderati is just like any other member of the board.

Custodes are back up for the Moderati. The Custodes are essentially Global Moderators but their primary duty is to pour water on any hot spots that may flare up until a Moderator can arrive. This generally means turning a thread/post invisible to the public until that forums mods can take a better look at it. They do have the ability to issue warnings however should an infraction require it.

Codiciers are just like Moderati. However they have been tasked specifically with managing the Librarium and its discussion forum.


Moderati, Codiciers and Custodes enforce the board policy as determined by the Admins and presented here in this rules post.

Administratum are the board members who take care of the day to day operations of the board. This includes approving new accounts, account edits and corrections, general forum trouble shooting and where necessary disciplinary actions. Admins set board policy and dispense the highest levels of discipline when it arises (banning, removing a ban, deleting an account, etc.)

The Admin Group includes Brother Argos who is the site owner. If you have any issues with mods please contact an admin first but if you'd rather not speak to an admin then Brother Argos is who you need to contact.

[Brother Tyler]

Corrective Action

Remember that posting at the Bolter and Chainsword (or any other forum for that matter) is a privilege not a right. Those who abuse the privilege will find that privilege revoked. You aren't required to like the rules, just follow them.

Corrective action is taken by Moderators, Custodes or Administrators when a person has broken the rules of the Bolter and Chainsword.

Wherever possible, the Staff enforces board policy through guidance and example. If violations are identified, the Staff will take the appropriate action. This action might be a warning in the thread, editing replies in order to remove the violation, or sending a message by PM or e-mail. Deletion of posts will be taken only when necessary.

Moderators may also turn a thread/post invisible for a time to get feedback from other Moderators on if an issue requires a warning or simple redirection.

Getting a PM from a mod doesn't necessarily equate to a warning. Many times a moderator will PM a person who is breaking the rules and let them know not only are they doing so but they should refrain from doing it in the future. Official warnings will ALWAYS be accompanied by a PM stating which rule(s) has been broken and the fact that you've been officially warned for your actions.

These PMs will detail the infraction and the course of action being taken against your account.

• 1st Warning - Warning PM
  We consider this just a 'nudge'. You've broken a rule, don't do it again or more severe penalties will be applied.
• 2nd Warning - 3 day suspension of posting
  The offender can still see the board, but they cannot post during their suspension.
• 3rd Warning - 7 day suspension of posting, followed by 7 days on Moderator Preview
  The offender can still see the board, but they cannot post during their suspension. Whilst on Moderator Preview any post made by the offender must be approved by a Moderator before it becomes visible to other members, this allows us to ensure the rules are being followed properly by the offender.
• 4th Warning - 14 day suspension of account
  The offender can neither see nor post to the board. 30 days moderator preview.
• 5th Warning - Permanent ban
  At this point you have broken the rules enough and been given enough second chances that your presence on the B&C is no longer welcome. Your account will be banned within 48 hours.

The Administrators reserve the right to take any disciplinary action they deem necessary, including actions outside the chain listed above and banning members with fewer than 5 Warnings as and when they deem necessary.

People that are banned may be allowed back at the discretion of the moderators. During a set period of time, these previously banned people will be given the ++PENITENT++ title. This title a) is temporary, B) indicates that the individual is on probation and that any infraction made during the probation period will have serious repercussions, and c) is not meant as an insult to the member.

You can of course contact the warning Moderator and if necessary an Administrator if you feel a warning was issued unfairly. All official warnings are logged and recorded by the software and are reviewed by the Administrators to make sure things are being done properly. This monitoring also ensures proper coaching in the event that a Moderator/Administrator makes a mistake in the course of issuing a warning and to prevent future incidents from happening again.

Warning Reduction

All official warnings at the B&C are logged and any notes issued with the warning are also logged. These warning logs are periodically reviewed by the staff to determine if offenders have taken their warning to heart and followed the rules since they were warned. Members who have displayed improved behaviour since their warning will be considered for a warning reduction by the moderating team.

This reduction isn't a license to go and break the rules again however and recidivists taking advantage of this clemency will be dealt with more severely than first time offenders.

Thread Closure

Sometimes a question is answered, the thread already has an ongoing discussion in another thread or various other reasons that a thread may be closed without disciplinary action. This is generally just to steer the subject to ongoing discussions or close a thread from further discussion if the issue at hand has been dealt with.

Some threads though get out of hand, go off topic, turn into a personal chat or various other reasons it gets off course from what is considered acceptable at the B&C. Threads that break the rules of the B&C are subject to closure. It is at the discretion of the forum moderators as to if/when a thread will be closed as a disciplinary measure. When this situations arises Moderators will close the thread with a reason why and the following image:


It is possible that after a time the thread may be reopened. Either having some posts pruned out or the Moderator feeling folks have cooled their heals enough to get a topic back on track. You can take it up with your Forum Moderator if you have issue with a closing, however please remain civil if you don't agree with what has been done. Flying off the handle will not help bring your point across.

[Brother Tyler]

These rules are basic common sense stuff here folks and we don't think we are asking too much for everyone to follow them. If you have concerns or questions about any of the rules please contact the forum moderator(s), the custodes, or the administrators.

Thanks!
--The Staff of B&C