Conn Eremon

The use of centered text should be used sparingly. An entire article being centered is very hard to read.

Some really good stuff being shown, I really approve. It's enough to make me decide to show off my second ever model painted. Consul-Commander Ardghal of the Emerald Tigers The Primaris reinforcements came to the Emerald Tigers at the most opportune time in their darkest hour. As the Highborn and Eyes of Tivan warbands rampaged across their Chapter's home world, the few remaining battle-brothers had made the fateful decision to hold the fortress-monastery alone. Chapter Master Cormac had fallen by some Chaos malady, and was on some distant outpost with a large contingent of the Chapter's Apothecarion. First Captain Cairbre, acting commander, had been embroiled elsewhere in a terrible battle. No news came from beyond the system since the traitors took orbital control, and the survivors were still reeling from the blow to their morale when the mighty War Ender's dreadnought frame was cast broken from the mountaintops. So it was an unexpected surprise when the night sky began to burn from the incandescent fury of an orbital battle, when drop pods slammed into the twisted, corrupt masses swarming their gates. Though these newcomers bore the Chapter colors and sigil, they were unfamiliar. Their speech did not have the Taran lilt, their war cries did not match the Chapter's own history. But they were a welcome relief nonetheless, and with their aid did a last stand end in a pyrrhic victory. Morale was truly restored however, when Chapter Master Cormac himself stepped down a Thunderhawk ramp. Standing larger, bulkier than he had before, in modified plate, these Primaris apothecaries and the Gene-magos that had accompanied them had came across this Chapter outpost, and used their arcane sciences to bring their dying lord back from the brink to lead them once more. Standing alongside him was Berach Ardghal, consul-commander of the Primaris contingent. With the enemy pushed from the home world, their commander back in the lead and powerful reinforcements filling the ranks, the Emerald Tigers set the task of retaking the sector.

The Liberalia Martiale is in just under one week's time, on March 17th. In celebration of that day I will be returning to this project more fully by introducing the Liber Cluster II thread. As such, it is time to formally close this thread.

To be fair, we don't really have an accurate idea of how spread many of these artifacts are. Rare certainly, but how rare. Chapters having ancient things is one of the most common things linking every one of them. Some certainly have more than others, like the Space Wolf fleet, the fully Terminator-clad Dark Angels 1st Company or the fact that only the 1st Founding Chapters have Legion-sized fortress-monasteries, but even the youngest Chapters have something. Something to remember is that the Legions were broken apart and that didn't just mean manpower and manpower alone. The Ultramarines Legion may have fielded hundreds of these variant pattern Dreadnoughts during the Crusade and Heresy, but even if they got the best slice of the pie it was still just a slice. This division of matériel must surely repeat itself on down the line, further diluting itself in successive Foundings. How likely you are to having Legion equipment then must be linked to how close your Founding was to that time, but there wouldn't be a cut-off where the Founding makes the equipment impossible. Simply less likely. How much of an issue this becomes is entirely up to you. Are these two or three relics the full extent you're going? Are you going to be repeating the same kind of . . . "favor" I suppose, with other aspects of this DIY? Or do you intend to sort of balance things out by adjusting other aspects more negatively? Really, my only advice is that being worried about that kind of end-result shouldn't mean that you refuse to take any steps down that path. It only seems like a slippery slope because of how often we see people leap down it.

Brother Koresh of the Angels Penumbral Brother Koresh has served with the Sixth Host for two decades, and has shown his worth and readiness for advancement in various battles across the Principalities and Orionis Reach. His heroics in the persecution of no less than three of the alien hexenic strains have brought his name to the attention of the Archangel Benaiah, lord of the Second Host looking to fill in the missing pieces of his squads. However, most prominent in the listing of Koresh’s many deeds is his assassination of the false savior-king. The Angels Penumbral, intolerant of variant beliefs, are prone to guide the progress of religion of their home world and often with force. Though this messianic figure was slain, his death was spun as an act of martyrdom by his followers. The cult only grew in size, before its spread was cut short by a larger taskforce of Angels. “These words spake Sanguinius, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son may glorify thy Throne.” – Ged’on Eli of Khasawet Personal note, this is the first ever model I have painted. Entirely in dry brush, at a Warhammer store that recently opened in my town.

Glad to hear the new lore is having that kind of effect on you. There is still a lot about Primaris and the Ultima Founding that we don't really know, which can be good and bad. On one hand, you've got a lot more open space to fill in the blanks, and on the other hand there's less established lore to anchor yours off of.

There are plenty of Warp entities that are not of the Big Four that can be seen as deities to some culture (or warband) caught in its thrall. The timing in which this particular entity came into sentience doesn't particularly matter. Khorne, by many sources, was the first Chaos God. Nothing's ever said he was the first daemonic entity. And indeed, in the older lore he was just one Warp "predator" prior to his ascension.

Gritting his teeth in pain and bitter anger, stained red with blood streaming across his face, Captain Emmenrich surveyed the wreckage beyond the smoldering bridge. Breathing heavily and pulling himself up on a console, his uniform snags and tears on a nearby piece of jagged metal. He wasn't the only one still alive after the intense barrage, but a mere few were only now dragging themselves to their feet. The console paints a grim picture. The escorts such as his own Bladed Soul are either shattered or dead in the void. The Mechanicus vessels are scarred but still operable, but had been overwhelmed by the enemy boarding parties. Emmenrich seethes in frustration at how easily the enemy ships had handled their fleet, lying in wait at one of their scheduled stops, ready to fire as soon as they dropped from the Warp. One vox link remains open, the small amber light blinking, to the Valiant Rule. The biologis vessel contained the gene-stores meant for the Liberite chapters, including the means to rebuild the long lost Sons of Calderon. The ship had gone silent minutes after several assault rams penetrated its hull. Breathing heavily from his wounds, the captain slaps at the link to send one last message to the captors that may not even hear. "The Imperium will not forgive or forget this theft." There's a long pause, background static emitting from the speakers before a deep, male voice comes across. "This is not theft. This is reclamation." And so the first and largest of the supply of the primaris gene-strain to the Liber Cluster was lost to the Imperium.

To be honest, given the history of the Chapter both before and after the reclamation, the Kindred might be the only Chapter of the Cluster who doesn't get any Primaris reinforcements. For one thing in particular, because the Kindred have openly betrayed the Imperium, while the Angels' fall is a closely held secret.

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I admit that I'm headcanoning a bit, trying to cherry-pick what I like and change what I don't, but it's pretty easy from my point of view to advance each of my DIYs' timeline to incorporate the new events and the Primaris. Only two of my Chapters had actual changes from what was already established, and that was because I wanted to do so. I've always been uncomfortable with how I wrote the cavalry saving the day for the Emerald Tigers, and the Indomitus Crusade and Primaris gave a better option. The Crimson Specters were always intended to be a fresh-faced Chapter, as newborn as could be. The Ultima Founding lets me do that better than the 26th Founding did. All other DIYs have their histories proceed as already established, with the additional two centuries' worth of lore adding onto it rather than modifying it.

EXPERIMENTUM XENOS-resh Greenskins Orks, famed for their brutal cunning and their cunning brutality but never for their intelligence, have proven themselves to be among the most resilient of alien life. Their technology should not work and their economy should collapse, such as it is. Yet for as long as the Ork kind has existed, they have been one of the greatest threats to sapient life, up to and including themselves. They have no room for mercy, no attempts at peace can ever be reached. For their wants and needs are simple: to fight. Ork mobs look to the biggest, toughest and meanest of them to lead their warband as their warboss, and a collective of warbands is known as an Ork tribe, their largest social unit. Such mighty tribes might rocket to the heavens upon a bloody Waaagh! or they may be part of the far more terrifying Ork empires, resistant to all efforts of extermination. Threading throughout Ork society is their culture. While tribes and warbands are often temporary and ephemeral, Ork clans are eternal. Your typical tribe will contain Orks of many different clans, often defined by distinct personalities, and though the half dozen well-known Ork clans may stretch across the entire galaxy, there are far more that are less prolific. The Orks are not the only members of their social and cultural constructs. High populations of subservient Gretchins cower at the Orks’ feet or rage at their knees, for they are not known for their size. Squigs fill almost every remaining niche, from beasts of burden to gargantuan warbeasts to stylish hair products. The fourth xenos experiment then, is to create and detail a gathering of Orks in any of their possible iterations: the horrifying Ork empires, an Ork tribe, one of the lesser Ork clans or the most famous of all, an Ork Waaagh! Orks can be the most simple of xenos DIYs to define. They are green and spoiling for a fight, and not much else needs to be said. That’s what makes them one of the most common enemies that we like to pit our other DIYs against. However, there’s a lot of room for greater complexity if one desires to look deeper. Like all other 40k DIYs, there’s plenty of opportunity for something new and fresh when built from the ground up. While not necessary, Orks also provide opportunity to inject a little humor into 40k, such as a NASCAR variation of the Kult of Speed or an ill-fated Gretchin revolution. As always, if you are interested not in creating an Ork DIY, but in fleshing them out as an opponent to a DIY, then we will still be interested to see what you provide. Next experiment will begin December 9th.

So, your Chapter, while working closely with an Ordo Xenos inquisitor, provides some piece of xenotech to a forge world that you have a relationship with. Later on, this forge world upgrades your gear with a network, that they perhaps neglect to inform you is an invention of sorts and more than a little tied to that artifact. This network provides a substantial boon, but hides a terrible intelligence that aims to twist the Chapter to its own ends, beginning with ostracizing it from its peers and allies. Honestly, I like that. A lot may depend on the execution, but I think it's a cool idea. As Phoebus mentioned, normal Marine gear already provides a network that connects each brother on a planet and its orbit. So here's a thought: Maybe that's all your network is, it's not different or more. It's exactly what your Chapter, and all other Chapters, already have and are used to. Perhaps this forge world is the Chapter's supplier, and ever since they've been provided the artifact the gear the Chapter has been receiving has been affected. But as more and more of the Chapter's network is connected to by affected gear, the more this intelligence affects the Chapter. To be clear, when I say gear I'm specifically talking about the network gear, such as the technologies in their helms. Not like they're getting affected krak grenades or anything. Personally, I'd say that keeping the intelligence just a hinted threat would be best. We can see its influence, but not the intelligence itself. It'd make more sense if you just cut it in half. An Immortal Company consisting of ancient, near fully augmented battle-brothers ranging from six to ten centuries of age, supported by the even further venerated dreadnoughts. Keeps the character of it, without making them overly special. Now! You mention that the Immortals might be directly operated upon and augmented by the forge world. If you take my above idea on the network hiding an intelligence, perhaps these Immortals can be the most affected. The core around which this intelligence will dominate the Chapter, or a corruption the awakened Chapter must excise to survive. Personally, I'd set it up so that question isn't answered, build it up to that point and leave it hanging.

Welcome to the Bolter & Chainsword, and to the Liber. Looking over your questions, you’ve got an interesting start to the Chapter but I can already see that there will be multiple points of contention between a Chapter that behaves in this way and the rest of the Imperium. That doesn’t mean you’ll need to change anything to kowtow to the Imperial line, just that for every action comes a reaction and the reactions will be worth exploring. Chapters like the Red Hunters and Exorcists are known, or believed to be known, to have close ties with the Inquisition. These seem more like the rarity that proves the rule rather than invitation for further examples, in my mind. In addition, the Ordo Malleus doesn’t really exist as a stand-alone, monolithic entity. The Ordo Malleus is little more than similarly aligned Inquisitors. Your Chapter could very easily have close ties with Ordo Malleus inquisitors, but it would begin to lack believability if you add too many or make the connection last too long. I’d think half a millennium, two or three generations of Inquisitor, would be the best fit myself. But that begs the question: Why Ordo Malleus? Why not Ordo Xenos, where you can say that your Chapter has a long and storied involvement with the Deathwatch? Why not Ordo Hereticus, where another force, that you’re not even allowed to know exists, wouldn’t more readily provide the assistance? Since the Chapter is messing about with xenotech, I’d say the Ordo Xenos would be the best fit. Puts them in close proximity to xenos and their artifacts, and provides ample room for some conflict between your Chapter and any Ordo Xenos element that suspect them. The Blood Angels gene-line is noted as being the most particularly long-lived of the gene-lines, and the most long-lived example we have of that is Dante, born 447.M40. I could see heavy use of cybernetics approaching this level, but not equaling or exceeding it. There have been exceptions, but adding further exceptions steals the point of them, I feel. That said, I think this idea of yours can easily transition to being a cohort of dreadnoughts. Ancient Marines kept mechanically alive, their own memories eroding over time? That’s a dreadnought. Well, it’d be the Adeptus Mechanicus that would be screaming heresy. The only thing separating a Techpriest working on AI and a Heretek is discovery. But really, you didn’t actually describe what makes it an AI, and what you described is already accomplished without an AI. The Adeptus Mechanicus itself has its own variation, what they call the noosphere I think. It was introduced in the Heresy series, but I believe it still exists as one of the ways in which orbital techmagos coordinate and communicate with planetary skitarii legions. Why not just say that your close connection with the Mechanicus, a given among Iron Hand successors, adding the Chapter’s own technological work into the mix, has given them a Chapter-wide noosphere of their own? Alternatively, the . . . Silver Skulls I think it was, have tried themselves to incorporate an intelligence greater than a machine-spirit, though in their example it was their ship itself. They did so by taking a failed recruit, one that passed all the tests but biologically could not finish the process, cutting him apart and wiring him in. His consciousness became the machine-spirit that ran the ship, the ship becoming an extension of his body and senses. If you need an intelligence inside your Fraternet, that’s an avenue you can explore. A Chapter that becomes increasingly disillusioned with the state of the Imperium, and more desperate to win at all costs, is a fun idea to explore. Due to the Mechanicus’s broad stance on xenotech, it being forbidden and grounds for execution or worse, it might be better not to bond with the ‘Adeptus Mechanicus’ over millennia, but with a particular forge world of your own creation. It’s not unknown for Ordo Xenos inquisitors or certain techpriests to incorporate xenotech, most typically in the form of weapons. Unless you go overboard with the idea, your Chapter should be safe from reprisal. That said, I’d think having the Chapter take that extra step into full radicalization would be the more interesting end to the story. I’d cast my vote for Warborn. It’s one of the pre-primarch nickname for the XIII Legion, and ever since FW wrote that I’ve been in love with it. Ironborn, Warforged and Iron Revenants are also good names.

EXPERIMENTUM XENOS-mem Asuryani of the Craftworlds Great disasters have plagued the galaxy since time immemorial. The First Ones invited their own doom to fight the Yngir. The Mon-keigh Emperor entrusted his vision into the hands of those who would tear it apart. But no sentient error has ever compared to that of the Fall of the Aeldari. Their empire had stretched across the galaxy for untold millennia, their power so great and absolute as to leave them want for nothing. So their end was sealed, for greater acts of debauchery and hedonism were called for to grasp once more that spark of life that has eluded them since the mere act of survival ceased to be a struggle. Ever an emotional race, intrinsically linked to the tumultuous warp that mirrors reality, such debased deeds developed deep within its own spark of life. A twisted divinity fashioned in their own image. All sentient life knows the disaster of this birth, now that its mark stretches across the face of the galaxy. None know more than those vanishing few Aeldari to survive their own mistake. The Great Rift and troubled slumber of Ynnead has galvanized the Aeldari, many forming into the Ynnari at the promise of freedom from She Who Thirsts. Most still follow the Paths, for they have been tried and found true. The Asuryani, those craftworld eldar, are as ever independent and self-sufficient, by design. Though many of their population has been lost to war, to exile, to the god of death or worse still, they remain as powerful nation-states cast into the darkness between stars. Lesser races either quail in fear or learn by harsh lessons what they should have feared, though they are not immune to internal vies for power, whether along the traditional lines of the paths of the seer and the warrior, or along the lines of reuniting with ancient rivals or keeping sovereignty within their own lands. The Asuryani are the very image of contradiction, a highly emotive race that binds itself to a series of disciplines they call the Ai'elethra, and yet they are guided along these paths by those who have become lost upon them. For this Thought Experiment, you are to describe the Craftworld Eldar in this new state of the galaxy, either as a new Craftworld, or perhaps a particular Eldar Path or Warrior Aspect of your own design. There are many avenues to explore with Craftworlds in this new age. Many of the Asuryani remain hopeful in the return of empire, and the combined weakened state of the monolithic Mon-keigh kingdom and the promises of Ynnead may provide the answer. Others see the god of the dead as a terrible omen, a prophecy soon to pass that demands the death of all Aeldari, and so they fight against it. Many still find themselves cast adrift within the scar upon reality, locked within the very torment they had sought to flee all those millennia ago. As stated, this experiment does not need to restrict itself solely to the creation of a DIY craftworld, for the Eldar also divide their many Paths into varied and diverse Aspects. Those we know of can be found in most, if not all, craftworlds, however many more exist that are simply less widespread and may even be exclusive to a particular craftworld, such as the Slicing Orbs of Craftworld Zandros. Once again, this experiment can also assist you in fleshing out the villains of your stories, giving greater depth to the enemies of your DIYs. The next experiment will begin on November 25th.