=][= E Tenebrae Lux III =][=

[Captain Semper]

I'm totally fine with that, just price him accordingly. Are we looking at 125pts if I'm not mistaken?

[Mike Zulu]

I'm totally fine with that, just price him accordingly. Are we looking at 125pts if I'm not mistaken?

That is correct. Thanks. Just wanted to make that clear so that people don't get confused by the 'almost Chaplain' without a Crozius.

[Kilofix]

Semper - if you're tracking with a spreadsheet, do we get periodic cumulative totals (vows & completions) per Strategium? Or only after its all over. Just wondering.

[Captain Semper]

Ah, that's the best part: You get weekly updates where all the relevant data is presented and a small analysis of mine per faction!

Here's last year's first weekly update so you get an idea: http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/275437-e-tenebrae-lux-ii/?p=3376922

[Gaius Atticus]

Ah, that's the best part: You get weekly updates where all the relevant data is presented and a small analysis of mine per faction!

Here's last year's first weekly update so you get an idea: http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/275437-e-tenebrae-lux-ii/?p=3376922

Even if you are not taking part, the ETL updates are one of the best reads on the forum.

[Captain Semper]

Thanks mate! :blush:

[Acebaur]

I, Acebaur, Marshal Moderati of the Black Templars am here in the name of Brother Andhil to proclaim first blood for the Black Templars! Unless one can prove us otherwise we claim this victory in the name of Sigismund, Dorn and the Emperor!!! 

 

 

Andhil's completed vow posted at 14:45 GMT -5. http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/290382-e-tenebrae-lux-iii-angels-of-death-strategium/?p=3671161

[nightwing1511]

If I've got 2 chaplains that were modeled pre - new codex, and one is armed with a power sword and the other a thunder hammer, can I vow them as captains with a maul and additional weapon?

 

Edit: they both still have crozius

[Bronze Beast in the Dark]

I am finally starting my vow tonight after spending time in the pain-glove meditating on which non-Son of Dorn chapter I will be painting. Is my before picture allowed to be the sprues pre-assembly or do I need to have my marines assembled prior to declaring the vow?

[Grotsmasha]

Anything from on-the-sprue all the way up to assembled and primed is acceptable, you're good to go :tu:

 

Cheers,

Jono

[Grotsmasha]

If I've got 2 chaplains that were modeled pre - new codex, and one is armed with a power sword and the other a thunder hammer, can I vow them as captains with a maul and additional weapon?

 

Edit: they both still have crozius

 

The one with the sword can be vowed as a Chaplain with The Burning Blade Relic, and the second could very well be vowed as a Captain with Power Maul and Thunder Hammer.

 

Cheers,

Jono

[RolandTHTG]

I, Acebaur, Marshal Moderati of the Black Templars am here in the name of Brother Andhil to proclaim first blood for the Black Templars! Unless one can prove us otherwise we claim this victory in the name of Sigismund, Dorn and the Emperor!!!

Andhil's completed vow posted at 14:45 GMT -5. http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/290382-e-tenebrae-lux-iii-angels-of-death-strategium/?p=3671161

First Blood, aye. But we all know that it is Heart's Blood that matters.

[Kilofix]

I, Acebaur, Marshal Moderati of the Black Templars am here in the name of Brother Andhil to proclaim first blood for the Black Templars! Unless one can prove us otherwise we claim this victory in the name of Sigismund, Dorn and the Emperor!!! 

 

 

Andhil's completed vow posted at 14:45 GMT -5. http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/290382-e-tenebrae-lux-iii-angels-of-death-strategium/?p=3671161

 

From Chaos - Congrats!

 

But we've been waiting 10,000 years. Alittle more time to arrive won't hurt.

[Captain Semper]

If I've got 2 chaplains that were modeled pre - new codex, and one is armed with a power sword and the other a thunder hammer, can I vow them as captains with a maul and additional weapon?

 

Edit: they both still have crozius

 

Go for it! No problem on my part!

I am finally starting my vow tonight after spending time in the pain-glove meditating on which non-Son of Dorn chapter I will be painting. Is my before picture allowed to be the sprues pre-assembly or do I need to have my marines assembled prior to declaring the vow?

Sprues are totally fine!

[Kilofix]

Anyone pulling their hair out yet?

[Combat_Vet]

OK, this is probably the dumbest question I have ever asked LoL

 

I am building my vows from my parts bins, should I get a before pic of my squad after I build it and before I paint it OR do you wants pics of everything as soon as I make the vow?

 

Believe me I know how that sounds but the wording has my brain addled (shrapnel doesn't help) and I just want to be clear.

[Dragonlover]

After build, before paint would be the easiest way to do it.

 

Dragonlover

[Combat_Vet]

Ah I see where I went wrong. Way misread the rules. Thanks Dragon, I was assuming your input was correct and I was thinking the same way. I just read the "must start" the wrong way :)

 

Disregard CPT I have it under control now.

[Captain Semper]

Good. :)

[Imren]

I Brother Najanus answer the call of E TENEBRAE LUX and vow to
complete:

- Chapter master, thunder hammer, storm shield, bike
- 5 bikers, 2x gravgun, combigrav
- 5 man tac squad, plasmagun, combiplasma
- 5 man tac squad, plasmagun, combiplasma
- 5 man Sternguard, 4 combimelta, heavy flamer
- 2x stormtalon
- 3x drop pods

from Codex: Space Marines of total value 1095p on or before August 1st. Success will bring eternal glory to the Iron Cobras and failure will doom me to bear the Badge of Shame until the year-end

 

This is the prejob photo:

 

[Captain Semper]

OK Brother Najanus, your vow is in. Just note that the proper area to post vows and subsequent completions is the Angels of Death Strategium.

 

No worries though, your vow is registered - good luck! :)

[Imren]

Ok, noted, thanks!

[Captain Semper]

=][= FIRST WEEKLY UPDATE =][=

http://fortressofunforgiven.homestead.com/ETL_2014_Poster_V6.jpg

What can I say… The involvement so far is breathtaking! In just the first week of ETL III we have almost as many participants as we had in the entire ETL I! I have to say I’m humbled by the enthusiasm displayed by the frater and the fierce loyalty I see across all factions! This is indeed the best ETL to date!

A few numbers to put everything in perspective: total participants stand at 277 and total points pledged at 271k! Last year, in the first week we had 181 participants and total points stood at 157k – an amount that by last year’s standards seemed huge! The ETL is for sure in a different league this year.

But, despite the mass participation and the hefty vowing, there is something that bugs me. Just by looking at the stats it is evident that my decision to group together the Black Templars with the rest of the Angels of Death (as they now share the same Codex) created a Leviathan of a faction resulting in a great imbalance within the ETL. This super-faction has double the amount of participants compared to its closest rivals and twice the points pledged. This, in my view, makes for a less exciting outlook, since the numerical advantage of the AoD faction is just too large.

Further analysis shows that the Black Templars represent virtually half of the AoD strength. That means, that both the Black Templars and the AoD (excluding the Black Templars) can stand on their own and indeed bid for the top position with no handicap whatsoever. This in turn will make for a closely fought battle as the immediate rivals (Chaos, DAs, HH and Imperial Forces) have comparable capacity while the less immediate rivals (BAs and SWs) have adequate time to build up their strength and devise strategies to also allow them to bid for the top position.

AS SUCH, FROM THIS POINT ONWARDS THE BLACK TEMPLARS ARE A FACTION IN THEIR OWN RIGHT. THE REST OF THE ANGELS OF DEATH SUB-FORUMS WILL CONTINUE TO BE CALLED THE ANGELS OF DEATH AND THEY TOO WILL BECOME A FACTION IN THEIR OWN RIGHT.

In a sense, although the Black Templars do not have an exclusive Codex, they do have an exclusive history in the ETL, being Champions of ETL I and coming second in ETL II. This proud tradition is set to continue despite the changes imposed by a single Codex.

Also this gives the opportunity to the Angels of Death to become the true heirs of the “Codex” faction of the previous ETLs and see if they can win the big prize without the support of the Black Templars!

So how will things look now post this, admittedly, monumental change? What is the new balance of power? See the table below:

E TENEBRAE LUX III – Week 1

Black Templars	42	47	31,937	4,113	13%
Angels of Death	40	40	41,603	0	0%
Imperial Fists	12	12	15,404	0	0%
Iron Hands	0	0	0	0	0%
Raven Guard	4	4	12,106	0	0%
Salamanders	3	3	1,420	0	0%
Ultramarines	7	7	2,782	0	0%
White Scars	2	2	428	0	0%
Index Astartes	12	12	9,463	0	0%
Blood Angels	21	21	14,228	425	3%
Dark Angels	40	41	36,104	1,036	2.9%
Space Wolves	23	25	18,329	400	2.2%
Realm of Chaos	39	39	65,286	0	0%
Forces of the Imperium	33	34	26,315	780	3%
Imperial Guard	23	23	14,934	405	2.7%
Grey Knights	3	3	7,338	0	0%
Adeptus Mechanicus	1	1	375	375	100%
Sisters of Battle	7	7	3,668	0	0%
Horus Heresy	39	39	36,979	0	0%
TOTAL	277	286	270,781	6,574	2.5%

So let’s see this one by one:

BLACK TEMPLARS
The Templars display their trademark zeal and are among the leading Factions in this ETL. They have the numbers, they have the momentum – but can they see this through without the support of their less crazed brethren? They have done so in the past so anything is possible! The only advice I would give is to consider raising their average vow of 680pts towards the ETL average 950pts. But this can happen in subsequent vows as the most important thing now is to get as many new recruits in as possible.

ANGELS OF DEATH
The Angels of Death display significant differences between the constituent forums. The Imperial Fists and Index Astartes have the largest participation with 12 participants each while the on the other end of the spectrum we have the Iron Hands that have yet to officially place a single vow! In between we have small participations from the other Chapters with a notable exception of the Raven Guard that due to a single mega-vow of almost 11k points is a serious force within the faction ranking second after the Imperial Fists in terms of points. In order to water down this high reliance in a single vow, the AoD should take the opportunity to build up their participation levels in the coming three weeks. Even so, as it stands now, AoD is one of the favorites for the top position!

BLOOD ANGELS
The most important thing now is not points but number of participants. With 20 participants you’re roughly at half the participation levels of your main rivals – most of them being in the region of 40… This is inevitably reflected in the total amount of points pledged - currently the lowest in the ETL. Furthermore the BA average vow some 270pts below the ETL average – that’s good if you have high participation but not good if you’re in the other side of the spectrum…. So bottom line? Recruit while the recruitment period is open and then work on raising your average vow…
SECRET MISSION: A D-B has joined your ranks. He’s well known to the Inner Circle where he’s referred to as “he who has yet to paint a miniature”. So the secret mission for the BA faction is to use whatever means necessary (no matter how extreme) to make A D-B finish his vow.

DARK ANGELS
With 40 participants (second highest after the Templars) and an average vow of 880 (somewhat lower than average) the DAs are in a very good shape for claiming the top position. The Titanas Bellum – the Inner Circle’s parallel – event also helps especially with vows involving the Deathwing… The only risk here is to lose momentum and stop the recruiting process. A moment of laxity spawns a lifetime of heresy! Fat chance of this happening…

SPACE WOLVES
The Wolves have a similar approach to that of the BAs, i.e. low number of recruits and low average vow, despite some notable exceptions of veterans. Here the same advice applies: recruit while the season is on! The size of vow is not that important at this point. Even a single model is very welcome – more so if it’s in Runic or Terminator armour as it can also join the Titanas Bellum and stand against the might of the Deathwing!

REALM OF CHAOS
The Realm of Chaos has a very impressive start! With a sizeable number of participants (39) and an amazing amount of pledged points for this stage of the event (65k) it looks as if this time Terra will fall. But this is NOT the full picture. In truth, 27k points are made by just two individuals. That means that excluding this contribution we have 37 participants with 37k points – totally at par with their immediate rivals. The Realm of Chaos has one weakness: a high reliance to a couple of participants. The good news is that both participants have excellent track records… We’ll see.

IMPERIAL FORCES
The Imperial Forces is a large and diverse group with Imperial Guard being the most dominant force but with the other factions also contributing substantially. The faction has 33 participants and an average vow standing 170pts lower than the ETL average. I think Imperial Forces should try and fight equally in both fronts: Increase recruitment (with 33 recruits already a small increase could yield meaningful results) and increase average vow (with all the hardware available to the Guard this will be less of a challenge compared to other factions). So keep the momentum going!

HORUS HERESY
The Horus Heresy faction started last year as the connoisseur corner with some amazing painting but really harmless in the big picture. Boy has this changed… In the course of one year and the release of two HH books by Forge World and the myriad of amazing models had the desired effect. Right now the HH faction is one of the favorites to win this year with 39 participants and 37k points pledged! This faction has moved from the margin to the mainstream in a year it is seems it’s here to stay… Just don’t underestimate the traditional powers – there is a long way to go still.

So until next week, keep the new recruits coming!!!

[Dolchiate Remembrancer]

Well that's a little disappointing for the BA pledges, but I am hoping that my to-do list helps that out some this ETL and that I can complete the vows to come! FOR SANGUINIUS!

[deathspectersgt7]

Well that Blows!!!