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The Wrathful Host: The Retreat from Terra


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We were a legion once. Now, we are little more than rabid dogs biting at each other. The decent into madness started long ago, after our fateful reunion with our genefather. Our leaders were the first to go. The Legion Master was gutted in our Primarch’s berserker fury. Khârn himself was almost beaten to death. Perhaps we should have bombarded that planet and reduced it to ashes, with Angron still upon it.

 

We succumbed to the bite of the Buthchers’ Nails more often as the Heresy ground on. Worlds burned and their populations cried out as we slaughtered our way to Terra. Though we appeared to be a mindless, bloodthirsty rabble, we remained a legion. We remained unified in purpose under our captains, our centurions, and our Primarch.

Then we lost at Terra. We charged into the teeth of the loyalist defenses at the Imperial Palace. Hundreds of our brothers perished breaching the gates. Even our feared 8th Captain fell. But we exacted a terrible toll on the defenders.

 

We took many skulls.

 

We had come so close.

 

But then the Sons of Horus retreated, soon to be followed by the other Traitor Legions. We were among the last to leave.

We hacked our way out of the Palace defenses and cut a path back to our landing zones. A few dozen of us who still retained some fraction of our senses fought our way toward Khârn’s body and carried him from the field. We could do little but scream in hatred and frustration as we battled our way back across the blasted killing fields before the Palace.

 

We had come so close.

 

My bolter had run dry and my chainaxe was rendered useless hours earlier. I made do with a captured plasma pistol and gladius ripped from the dying grasp of an Imperial Fists sergeant. I nearly overheated that pistol while driving back our pursuers. Captain Ursus deployed several armored vehicles to cover our retreat and annihilate the Blood Angels pursuing us.

 

As we gathered behind the wall of fire provided by Predators, Sicarrans, and Spartans, flights of Stormbirds, Thunderhawks, and Storm Eagles descended from the smoke and dust clouded sky. What was left of my squad and I boarded a Storm Eagle seconds before it lifted off of Terra’s blasted surface. I looked around the troop compartment. Several of my brothers had removed their helmets. Blood dripped from their noses and mouths. Their eyes were hollow and stared at nothing. Nobody spoke.

 

As the ramp began to close, I gazed down at the burning yet defiant Imperial Palace fading in the distance.

We had come so close.

 

-Sergeant Droath of the warband known as the Wrathful Host, XII Legion Astartes

 

Hello all,

 

I figured that I needed to start a WIP thread for my World Eaters warband here. I've been working on this army for some time now and posting updates on the CSM forum. I am participating in Call of Chaos this year and I am much more motivated to put together models and paint than normal.

 

My warband is known as the Wrathful Host, and I am depicting it as it was directly after the Siege of Terra and during the Scouring. It is led by Lord By-Tor, former captain of the 202nd Company. My army is heavy on berzerkers and armored vehicles because

1. I play World Eaters, so chop chop

2. I like tanks. . . a lot

I'll post some more images of the units I have finished so far and more fluff later, but for now here is Sgt. Droath and his squad of veterans (Chosen) ca. the Battle of Skalathrax.

 

chosen finished

 

chosen finished

 

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Nice background and cool chosen, look forward to seeing more!

Thanks, I haven't done much fluff writing yet so this is new to me.

 

 

Very nice so far and like the choice of bits and parts! Would love to see them on bigger pics though.Blood for the Bloodgod!

Thank you, that old berzerker kit gets a lot of hate, but some of the parts aren't half bad if you mix them with the heresy kits. Unfortunately I haven't quite figured out how to do that yet but I will!

 

I just finished my berzerker squad for CoC. These don't really match the aesthetic I'm going for as they were the first 40k minis I ever purchased way back at the age of 14. They will just be place holders until I'm able to model some better berzerkers using some bits I have.

 

Berzerkers3

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  • 1 month later...

Dark Apostle2

 

Dark Apostle3

Rakkarth was once among the most measured and dedicated of our legion’s chaplains. Though he was implanted with the Butcher’s Nails like the rest of us, he always displayed a remarkable degree of restraint, refusing to succumb totally to their influence during the heat of battle. In fact, he had an almost uncanny ability to keep the warriors around him from teetering over the brink into madness, prompting many captains to seek to have him assigned to their companies during combat operations.

 

Rakkarth did not have a close relationship with the First Chaplain of the Word Bearers, which made it seem all the more curious when Erebus personally gifted him a crozius during our legions’ joint campaign through the Five Hundred Worlds. The weapon was strange when compared to others wielded by hundreds of chaplains throughout the legions. The head was not ornately crafted, nor did it bear a remote resemblance to the Imperial Aquila. Rather, the head was of crudely shaped brass. It was certainly a weapon brutal in appearance. Upon placing the weapon in Rakkarth’s hands, Erebus leaned in and whispered, “This is a weapon better suited for a Chaplain of the World Eaters,” before he turned and swiftly walked away.

 

After that day, he changed. He never went into battle without that strange weapon. He no longer communed with his brothers. He kept to himself, secluded in his arming chamber. The few instances in which the legionnaires saw him outside of his chamber, his face was expressionless and his eyes were lifeless. In battle, he no longer served as a calming influence among the warriors. Instead, he stoked the fires of fury in those around him, bringing them to ever greater heights of wrath and violence. He came alive again, bellowing war cries and scanning the battlefield with blood-crazed eyes. Most disturbingly, he was never without that crozius. It was even rumored that he could be found whispering dark oaths to it when he thought he was alone.

At Terra, he led elements of several companies from the front, delivering charge after devastating charge into the ranks of the loyalist defenders. He still carries the head of a Blood Angel taken in one of those suicidal assaults.

 

Now, Rakkarth remains in service to Lord By-Tor and his Wrathful Host. Although our lord values discipline, often enforcing it through brute strength, he appreciates the fallen chaplain’s ability to make the nails sing during battle. He can always be found where the fighting is thickest, leading our berzerker brethren in the glorious slaughter of the Imperium’s servants. This arrangement has proven effective, although the few instances in which Rakkarth came into contact with our fire support units caused them to lose what little restrain they had left and charge headlong into the fray.

Rakkarth

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Rakkarth looks great, though I notice he lacks a loyalist Chaplain's skull helm. Were skull helms adopted post-Heresy?

 

Thanks Bjorn. I'm pretty certain skull helms were in use by chaplains before the heresy. I remember Yason Annellus, a warden of the Blood Angels (which I think is the same thing as a chaplain in other legions) wore a skull helm when described in Fear to Tread. Perhaps I should have gone with one of my reiver helmets that I have around, but I just really wanted to use the World Eaters helmet in order to keep the gladiator aesthetic.

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  • 1 month later...

I have begun trying to build berzerkers that more closely match the image that the lore conjures in my mind as well as hold up to the newer (and bigger) primaris and upcoming chaos space marines. To do so, I ordered the World Eaters upgrade from forgeworld picked up some Deathwatch legs to give the berzerkers more height. I put together two test models using some spare weapons from the bits box, and I am quite pleased with how they turned out.

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Size comparison with Primaris, Blackstone Fortress Chaos Marine, and Mk III Armor

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Looking good, I knew the Deathwatch legs were bigger, but not by that much.

 

The FW Berserker upgrades are such nice sculpts.

It's less that they're bigger and more that they're in much more upright poses. The Blackstone Fortress Marine would be the same height as that Berzeker if he wasn't doing the standard Marine squat.

 

That being said, I do like your new Berzerkers. Though, the Deathwatch legs look too smooth compared to the torsos. Gonna do some greenstuff work there Lhorke?

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Looking good, I knew the Deathwatch legs were bigger, but not by that much.

 

The FW Berserker upgrades are such nice sculpts.

 

Thanks Pearson! I totally agree, the FW upgrades are fantastic. I wish that I had started buying them a long time ago, but it was hard to get past the price until recently.

 

 

 

It's less that they're bigger and more that they're in much more upright poses. The Blackstone Fortress Marine would be the same height as that Berzeker if he wasn't doing the standard Marine squat.

 

That being said, I do like your new Berzerkers. Though, the Deathwatch legs look too smooth compared to the torsos. Gonna do some greenstuff work there Lhorke?

 

 

Right, they may not actually be bigger but they at least look better in relation to some of the newer stuff, so it works for me, though they are not as terrifyingly massive as your berzerker conversions (nice work btw).

 

I agree that the Deathwatch legs are too smooth compared to the torsos. I've been trying to think of something to fix this. I'm not great with green stuff, but I suppose I can give it another try. Maybe I can try sculpting the mark of Khorne, a skull icon, or possible a XII legion marking?

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The DW legs add a real dynamic pose to the berzerker, I love it.

Maybe adding some obvious damage/tokens would help add character to them?

 

Thanks! Yeah I have some skulls, tattered loincloths, holsters, and some other chaosy bits that might work. I was also considering adding some MK III, IV, and VII helmets painted in other legion colors as trophies. 

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