Nova Hawks

[Brother Tyler]

Ah, my fault for throwing the "Fire Raptors" name out there (it was a throwaway statement, not a serious idea I was having).

 

The whole flames motif dates far after the Chapter's founding, and actually originates in the successful completion of the Chapter's penitent crusade. I'm not going to use any word evoking fire in the Chapter's name, as the Chapter's name is based on when it was originally founded, not what it eventually became. The Imperial Cult, too, is something that will be avoided as that was something that happened over time. At the time of the Chapter's founding, it was a bog-standard Codex-adherent Chapter.

 

I'm leaning towards something with "Praetor(s)" or "Consuls" in the name at present (though it's only a slight lean, nothing serious yet). Or maybe a name with "Sons" in it. Alternately, the name "Millennial Swords" has occurred to me (I have no idea where that sprang from).

 

I'm probably going to avoid a "rule of cool" name. "Nova Hawks" was a really cool name. The new one will be something a little less cool.

[Olis]

Fair enough, Brother T. How about the Imperial Consuls? They might not have a uniqueness to them (Andrew J has a chapter called as such and has even painted models in his own colour scheme) but the name is fairly middle-of-the-road. 

[Captain Juan Juarez]

Obsidian Consuls

 

Obsidian Sons / Sons of Obsidian

 

I really do rather like the word "obsidian".

[Brother Tyler]

Despite the previous discussion wishiwashiness, I've decided to keep the "Nova Hawks" name.

With the revelations in Angron's Monolith (namely the black and orange color scheme of the Fire Claws prior to their penitent crusade), I'm going to shift the color scheme back to the Fire Claws.

I'm going keep the basic background concept, though. The only thing I'll be changing will be the color scheme. The hawk badge is staying. I'll be back with more later.

[Brother Tyler]

I began working on a kill team awhile ago, and it was going to be a Grey Knights Purifier Squad representing a squad of Librarians from the Exorcists Chapter. I had a change of heart about using the Exorcists primarily because of the artistic embellishments that I wanted to incorporate (not the occult geometrical designs shown in Forge World's Badab War books), so I've changed the army to the Nova Hawks. The squad will still use the Grey Knights Purifier Squad rules (sub-optimal as many feel them to be).

So here is the basic scheme for the Nova Hawks Chapter:

Note that the "grey" is actually silver, including on the badges.

Since this kill team uses the Grey Knights Purifier Squad rules, it represents a squad of Librarian acolytes. Under the lore of the kill team, they accompany an Inquisitor. I will use them in larger games as an unbound attachment, accompanied by a Grey Knights Librarian. In a game of Kill Team, however, they will run without the Librarian and Inquisitor. So here's the basic livery for librarians of the Nova Hawks:

The rook/tower symbol on the right shoulder pad and the plain loincloth decoration indicate an acolyte (or Acolytum). The meaning behind the tower design is one of willpower, indicating that those who bear the symbol have demonstrated the mental fortitude to enable them to face the threats of the Warp (which is part of the lore behind the kill team).

So this changes the lore I'd previously developed for this Chapter. Maybe just a little, though. After the return of the survivors from the Abyssal Crusade and the revelations about Saint Basillius, the Nova Hawks distanced themselves from the Ecclessiarchy. They still revere the Emperor as a divine being, but they underwent significant soul-searching during their penitent crusade. The Chapter leadership had an epiphany of sorts and recalled that the Emperor, too, was a psyker and determined that they would allow psykers within their ranks. They have a strict regimen for screening and training psykers, however. This is where the tower symbolism comes into play.

In concert with this, the Chapter uses different Chapter Tactics. I'll decide on those later (I'm torn between Ultramarines and Iron Hands).

Aside from that retcon to explain the inclusion of psykers, however, there are no changes.

One other thing that I've also been pondering for quite some time (prior to changing from the Exorcists, actually) was changing the appearance of the weapons. While the weapons use the standard rules from Codex: Grey Knights, I want them to be visually distinct from the Grey Knights weapons (while being intuitively representative of them). And then last night while trawling the sublime depths of the Internet I found just the weapons to use as models. These actually do a great job of representing what I'd pictured in my mind.

I lucked upon the website for Zombie Tools LLC and decided that they have a few weapons whose visuals work perfectly to represent what I want:

The "Nemesis Force Sword" will resemble Zombie Tools' Reaver Cleaver.

The "Nemesis Force Halberd" will resemble Zombie Tools' Mack Daddy-O.

The "Nemesis Falchions" will resemble Zombie Tools' Rat Bastard.

You can see a rough comparison of the actual sizes of these weapons here (they're the 5th, 6th, and 7th graphics to the left of the Tyrannosaurus Rex foot).

I'll have to make some minor tweaks to them (they're grimdark, but need some 40kification), but they're just the ticket. Also, while the Zombie Tools versions are based on Chinese warblades, there will be no other Chinese influences on the Nova Hawks Chapter. I just like the blades (and want one of each in real life, just in case there is a zombie apocalypse and I run out of ammo).

Now I need to get to work on the Chapter background and such.

[Brother Tyler]

I've made another minor tweak to the color scheme, seen here. Now it is just the shoulders/arms that are orange, with everything else being silver. Lore is in development, but my current focus is getting a Nova Hawks kill team modeled/painted.

[Draakur]

Hoping you end up carrying through Brother T, I like the Nova Hawks and would like to see you expand them :)