My marine fluff!

The Heralds of Vengeance

The Heralds of Vengeance were founded some time during M35, to combat a threat that has now long been lost in the records of the Imperium. Created from the gene-seed of Rogal Dorn, much of the chapter’s laurels have come from combating the forces of Chaos. A fleet based chapter, the Heralds are able to mobilize quickly against the incursions of the archenemy. Indeed, the Heralds have won much renown in battles against the Black Legion of Abaddon the Despoiler during each of the Black Crusades since M35. As a result, much of the chapter’s battle doctrine comes from their experience against traitor forces.

The Heralds of Vengeance display many characteristics of the sons of Dorn. They are extremely stubborn; preferring to sell their lives to giving the enemy any ground. As a result, more than a handful of battle brothers have been lost in glorious last stands when it would have proven more prudent to fall back and regroup. This is evidenced by their battle cry: “For Dorn! For the Emperor! Not one step back!”. They are also taciturn, even for space marines. In inter-chapter operations, they prefer to keep to their own council. This has led some of their brother chapters to be wary of the Heralds. One way in which the Heralds of Vengeance differ from their gene-brothers is doctrine in battle. The Heralds tend to be aggressive on the field, to the point of appearing bloodthirsty, preferring to be on the attack rather than idle defenders. This becomes amplified when the Heralds of Vengeance take the battle to the forces of Chaos – especially the Black Legion.

While technically a codex-adherent chapter, the Heralds have taken some liberties with the teachings of Guilliman. Most chapters follow standard codex chapter organization, with the first company being comprised of veterans, the tenth company being comprised of scouts, and the sixth through ninth being reserve companies. The Heralds, however, feel that it is much more effective to have each company be structured as a battle company, with the first company veterans and tenth company scouts being equally distributed throughout each of the companies. This ensures that each company is able to call upon a wide variety of tools to prosecute their campaigns.

In M41, Chapter Master Drenivir leads the Heralds of Vengeance. He is regarded as one of the greatest to ever lead the chapter, and the victories the Heralds have accumulated under his command are the envy of many other chapters. At present, the chapter has it’s strength split in half and at two opposite sides of the galaxy, with five companies opposing Abaddon the Despoiler and his 13^th Black Crusade around the Cadian Gate, and the other five companies bringing the fight to the Tau Empire and Tyranid Hive Fleets on the Eastern Fringe. In this way, Drenivir can be sure that the Heralds of Vengeance are at the forefront of the battle to protect the Imperium from the forces intent on it’s destruction.

That's what I have for now. I feel like the backstory of 40k is one of the things that really pulls people into the game. I always like when people take the time to give a little story behind their army. I'll be attaching this to my list at the tournaments for my opponents. Let me know what you think!

- Max

I'm back, baby.

Hello!

I apologize for the silence over the last couple months. The holidays, in combination with a horrendous time at work, and general lethargy towards wargaming had squashed my muse entirely.

The first two excuses above are self-explanatory, the last part, however, needs to be explained a bit. Those who know my wargaming habits know that I hop around from army to army. I had gotten stuck in a rut. I had two armies: my Deathwing, and my codex marines. I've been playing my Deathwing hardcore for about a year now, and I was feeling like I needed a break from them, but I wanted something to keep me competitive. I had posted a grand article about Space Sharks using the Blood Angels codex before my hiatus, and I did try the list I proposed. I came to a conclusion after playing it - mechanized assaulting marines bore me to death. That left me with two options: my Codex Marines, or a new army. I tried going the new army route.

So, since Christmas, I've been wracking my brain trying to figure out what new army I wanted to play. I wanted a competitive army with relatively new rules. Ultimately, I ended up with a Draigowing Grey Knight army. I played it a few times, but it just didn't do it for me either. As I looked at more and more armies, I became convinced that I was just going to lose interest in 40k, and walk off into the sunset. However, as I was organizing my apartment the other day, I came across my Codex Marines book, and the cover art reminded me one of the two reasons I got into 40k. Firstly, I absolutely love the image of the heroic space marine holding the line with his bolter. Secondly, terminators are the shit, enough said. So, with that in mind, I took inventory of my collection. Terminators? Check. Space Marines with bolters? Check. My muse began to wake up.

All I've been able to tell myself the last few days is that there's no way I could make a reasonably competitive list with Codex Marines without copying every Vulkan-led netlist out there. Determined to prove myself wrong, I took a half day off work today, and spent it trying to come up with a Codex Marines list that would win me games. Here's what I came up with:

HQ:

Chapter Master Pedro Kantor - Pedro is my boy. His +1 attack aura is awesome, and I happen to like stubborn after failing one too many morale checks and fearless armor saves. More importantly, he makes Sternguard scoring.

Elites:

2 10 man Sternguard squads - 3 combi-meltas, sergeant with combi-melta and power fist, rhino. - Tank busting ability, specialty ammo, and they aren't slouches in combat. Now they are scoring.

Terminator Assault squad - 5 thunderhammer/stormshields - This unit is automatically included with any of my lists. Pedro's bodyguard.

Troops:

2 10 man Tactical squads - meltagun, missile launcher, sergeant with combi-weapon and chainsword, razorback with twin-linked assault cannons. - More tank busting ability that scores. The razorbacks will also give me a little more versatile firepower.

Heavy Support:

Land Raider Crusader - extra armor, multi-melta. - Pedro's ride.

2 Predators - autocannon, heavy bolters. - 85 points for some serious anti-infantry and light transport firepower. I'll take two, please.

Ultimately, I think the list is damn solid. I have a ton of firepower, 40 power armored scoring bodies, and some units that rock in combat. General strategy will see the Sternguard ride up with Pedro and his Terminators, taking advantage of the aura. The razorbacks will most likely hang out in midfield to lay down some fire, and to deploy the combat squads to block other units from getting to my base. The other half of the combat squads with most likely hang back with the predators and shoot people up. I'm ordering all the bits I need tonight to get my army up to WYSIWYG. I'll have to figure out how to con Robin into teaching me how to paint my models to the standard he used with the rest of my army. Good to be back, expect more posts coming soon.

- Max

Let me have it, guys. I've been quiet for a while. Poke holes in the list!