Introduction

There comes a time when you forget to turn off auto-renew on the domain license… That time has come. So I guess now I’ve forked out for the domain again, this blog has another years worth of life in it. So what to do? Become one with the salt and whinge? No. I think my point of view of 3rd Edition, how it has been handled from inception to date is fairly clear. I’ve gotten games under my belt and it hasn’t settled well with me. But there comes a time where you just need to focus on what you can do with the hobby. So it’s back to 1st Edition style list writing with lore to get those creative juices and enthusiasm flowing!

If you’re a long term player like myself, or just starting out and thinking “ah shit where do I start”, I can wholeheartedly recommend building a narrative up for your army roughly based on the history and lore of the books and game editions. Weaving a force together in a narrative (even if its off slightly in terms of dates – UNRELIABLE NARRATOR!) to that it fits is a really nice way to give your army some grounding. Chuck in some control measures, things you can and can’t do due to the theme you’re after, maybe some gameplay mechanics or interactions you want to avoid foisting upon your opponent and get titivating!

Army Idea

My idea of a “Judgement Talon” is simple. It’s a force that is used by the higher echelons of the VIII Legion command structure to decapitate force elements leadership and decimate their will to continue to fight. There’s no allegiance to that statement. The force can be used to subjugate worlds, conduct devastating raids or… deal with troublesome Night Lords Commanders and their constructs. But never fight straight, deliberate battles – ever the VIII Legion way, the Talon is designed to fight and force the enemy to fight asymmetrically.

Equally, it could technically go off and do whatever its commanders feel appropriate to do. That might be occasionally fighting against traitors for resources!

I like a bit of duality and asymmetry in my army lists – the ability to engage on two or more fronts, or spearhead one element and react with another. That flexibility offers not only a wider ability to engage for me, but also spreads threat for the enemy. I also don’t want it to not be fun to play against, so there’s been some careful consideration as to unit choices:

• AV14 (all-round) Platforms to be at a one per 1,500pts ratio.
• Preference of Sicaran Venator over Vindicator Laser Destroyer or Rapier Laser Destroyer Platforms.
• Havoc Launchers to be at one per 500pts ratio.
• No book named characters in the list.

Why have I chosen those controls:

• AV14 is prevalent in this edition because its actually quite resilient! That means I find more than two Land Raiders quite oppressive to face, and I wouldn’t wish that on my opponent in a narrative game. It might lead to feels bad moments.
• The Laser Destroyer Vindicator and Rapiers are simply too good for their cost – they definitely lead to feels bad moments. Especially when people spam them because they have no self-control. So I want to revisit my old, unreliable friends the pair of Sicaran Venator that I’ve had miss 50% of shots they’ve taken, then fail to penetrate with the one that hit since I started 1st edition. Seriously, they’ll do work, I’m sure of it – it’s just not known when the curse that’s on them will be lifted.
• Havoc launchers are desperately needed to spread bet statuses to get A Talent For Murder off, but meta-chasing dickheads take them a lot, so I’m limiting myself to not be lumped into that bucket. Despite the fact that VIII Legion players 100% need these sort of weapons to get our trait off, because we don’t have an always on trait #EasyModeHeresy like a lot of the Loyalists.
• Finally, why no named characters? Well, the only reason to really choose Curze or Sev outside of the odd game here and there to amp up the ambience of the game with a named-character-off, is because of their rules. In terms of narrative, they wouldn’t have fought every fight with your force, in fact you might have never even seen them due to force disposition over the galaxy – so why have them in every list? Say it with me now – BECAUSE OF THEIR RULES! Just come up with your own command cohort and tell their story. I’ve had some wonderful moments over the years with custom characters who have caused some serious shenanigans to occur.

With that in mind, it was time to draft up the army list and see what it looked like:

It isn’t overwhelming off brand of a 3rd Edition list. However, it’s constrained, there aren’t any meta choices, it has weaknesses and strengths without being too weak or too strong.

The construct gives me the ability to overwhelmingly target a singular approach lane with a reactionary capability in reserve, or two lanes simultaneously, and still retain that fighting reserve. Equally it allows me to go full ham into an enemy position in a true decapitation strike and see what remains after the fact.

The pair of Rhinos with Despoiler Squads enables me to grab some objectives and have decent protected mobility. Meanwhile, the pair of Sicaran Arcus platforms give a great amount of flexibility, being good at dealing damage to smaller platforms such as Rhinos, whilst also offering some chaos to Marines and Terminators. The pair of Sicaran Venator platforms provides the real Anti-Tank, and enables me to shut down the enemy tanks ability to fire effectively when they hit on a 5+ due to Shock (Suppressed) and their base damage is still respectable enough to worry the opponent. That is a good firebase to control the homebank and mid-ground, whilst the pair of Land Raiders advances with the intent to deposit the Contekar in a useful position. I don’t need to bring in the Night Raptors turn one, but it gives me some solid options all the way out to Turn 3 to ensure I can get them into a combat. They form the quick reaction force in the main, but could spearhead a decapitation strike if my opponent is a ballsy deployer. It also means that I’ve got a relatively well balanced force that can do most things well without overly biasing and becoming oppressive. Everything has a role and a reason to be in the army, without cherry-picking units for their output.

Sure there are problems. The Venators will simply vanish to the vastly cheaper, weirdly better armoured and more capable Vindicator Laser Destroyers, or even the ubiquitous Rapier Laser Destroyers. At least they’ll die with me knowing I wasn’t a meta-chasing player though, and it’s really nice seeing four Sicarans on the table.

With the basic army outlined, it was time to look at the narrative behind the characters, some of which would ultimately shape the conversion work I’d be aiming to carry out for some of them.

Principle Lore

193rd Judgement Talon

The 193rd Judgement Talon is listed in Imperial Record as being established on the VIII Legion Homeworld of Nostramo, 973.M30. Although it was not listed as fully operational until 982.M30, elements are recorded as having taken part in the destruction of Nostramo, notably policing their own elements and hunting down those attempting to abandon the action in 986.M30. The 193rd is also listed as operating in “Sub-formation strength” on the black sands of Isstvan IV in 005.M31, and further appended as operating in the Thramas sector up to 007.M31. It is noted that it is formally stated in Imperial records as “Destroyed on emergence from the sea of souls” in 009.M31. This is likely around the same time that the Gloriana Class Battleship “Nightfall” engaged in a fateful battle against the “Invincible Reason”, resulting the disillusion of a large percentage of the VIII Legion combat force as a cohesive unit, where it fractured under competing leaderships following the disappearance of Konrad Curze and Sevatar.

In the wake of the Iron Warriors fire ships that emerged at the Plutonian gate in 010.M31, orbital defence auspexes identified code signifiers belonging to 193rd Judgement Talon ships, including the Strike Cruisers “Ashes of Destruction” and “Shadow in the Void”. Imperial scholars frantically began the process of confirming the sightings, suggesting that the vessels were likely re-crewed hulks. Between 011.M31 and 013.M31 several further sightings were confirmed of the vessels, along with significant electronic warfare activity occurring, however communications were not stable enough to gain intelligence on the complement, and as such they were re-assigned in the archives as “electronic warfare vessels, devoid of Astartes complement”.

When the Siege of Terra commenced in 014.M31, “Ashes of Destruction” was spotted on a low-anchor run by ground-based auspexes. During the run it was identified that multiple Dreadclaw and Kharybdis class Drop Pods were released, along with several bulk landers and gunships up to Thunderhawk class. It was suggested that the drops were materiel in nature, supporting the known offensive lead by Capt Gendor Skraivok on the walls. It was only when “Shadow in the Void” was identified conducting a similar drop that intelligence re-assessed the threat the ships posed. Attack patterns were very clearly VIII Legion in nature, and whilst they dropped in the same area as VIII Legion Commanders were known to be operating, they did not follow the same operational architecture. Subsequently, Imperial records announced 193rd Judgement Talon as an operational VIII Legion formation, likely miss-recorded as destroyed during the Thramas crusade, and operating with intent to deceive during the opening gambit of the Solar War.

Varis Thule “The Corpse Prophet”

Varis Thule is a Nostraman high-born ganger who was raised to the ranks of the Contekar through nepotism and extreme brutality. Thule’s service record denotes several ship Captain kills during the destruction of Nostramo, though it appears that he brutally killed three who showed no signs of failure. This is Thule’s calling card – to deploy to an operational area and brutally purge the identified targets, as well as any that he stands to benefit from the destruction of. He leads the 33rd Decapitation Claw, a Contekar element.

Thule’s epithet of “The Corpse Prophet” is a richly Nostraman title that draws attention to his history and modus operandi of absolute prosecution in the most brutal manner, leaving only a trail of destruction and corpses on display behind him. He leads the 193rd with an iron grip, and is typically Nostraman in the sense that he places little value on brotherhood in the main, with the exception of his two second in commands – with which he forms a trifecta of command that has similarities to Sevatar’s Kyroptera. He retains control by pitting his other commanders against each other in terms of his favour. This has the added benefit of ensuring that both of their sub-formations are competing against each other to be the most effective, most brutal, most decisive forces in battle, increasing their already elite status in the formation.

Nadreth Kir “The Puppetmaster”

Nadreth Kir is another high-born ganger from Nostramo who endulged in the power vested upon him by his position within the Contekar. Kir is on one hand more direct and less likely to seek to gain benefit for himself in military action, and on the other – utterly insane. His insanity is matched only by those from the XII Legion – but it is wholly different in nature. Kir seeks to sow fear in enemy populace and forces by any means necessary, and prefers to do this by indulging in his artistic side. He has been known to create amorphous sculpts from multiple mutilated bodies and display them for all to witness the result of continuing to resist. He has been known to embed servos into the artworks, like a demented puppeteer.

Kir leads 53rd Decapitation Claw, a Contekar element that is utilised in a similar manner to the 33rd under Thule. They are often referred to as operating in symbiosis on the battlefield. Interestingly, the 53rd has begun to show signs that they too are happy to dabble in the creation of malformed art of terror and fear.

Cor Ishimura “The Mimic of Volantis”

Cor Ishimura is the final commander of the trifecta. He is not a high-born ganger of Nostramo, nor is he a member of the Contekar. Ishimura was originally taken as a red tithe by the 193rd shortly after devastating losses dealt to the VIII Legion at the hands of both the I Legion and V Legion. Ishimura was one of thousands taken, and was one of only a hundred to survive the brutal selection process that followed.

After hypnogogic indoctrination, geneseed splicing and controlled operational testing, Ishimura joined the Night Raptor Horror Cults and lead his own Claw before being elevated to command by Thule after displaying a particularly effective capability alongside his brutal effectiveness.

Ishimura earned his epithet during an opportunistic action against the world of Volantis prime, whilst the 193rd was seeking to re-organise and rejoin the fight at the Siege of Terra. Ishimura deployed planetside to Volantis prime with a small cadre of Night Raptors, with the intent of destabilising the planetary governance, sowing fear and terror from the top down before conducting targeted raids with the intent of “destroying key humans”. To do this, Ishimura would observe his victims before making recordings of their friends, colleagues and loved ones vocal patterns. He would then use these to engage his victims in a rapid and brutally debilitating psychological warfare operation that would result in self-destruction or complete mental break – often with catastrophic results to those around them.

The General of the defence staff of Volantis prime, so broken by hearing the voice of their recently deceased child (a targeted victim of Ishimura several cycles before), detonated Nova warheads in storage in the staging post they commanded – screaming “She’s telling me that we need to be whole again. That I can make us whole by doing this, and everything will be alright” before turning the key that destroyed not only themselves, but also 200,000 of the Planetary Defence Force and their associated war materiel in enormous expanding blue-white globes of instant sunshine that exterminated an entire continental plate.

So effective was Ishimura’s actions across the surface, that Volantis ceased to be an operational world in short order, reduced to being governed by a significantly whittled down crop of fear-overwhelmed humans who experienced such psychological trauma that they could not put up a fight. VIII Legion landers came down from orbit after “Shadow in the Void” unmasked from behind one of Volantis two moons, retrieved Ishimura’s element, and a red tithe from the populace and returned without incident. As “Shadow in the Void” slipped away from high anchor, it indifferently released a single cyclonic torpedo from it’s rearward facing tubes and processed to the translation point in system as the world of Volantis caved in on itself.

Conclusion

Clearly, with another twelve months domain registration on the ticket, I’m going to keep plumbing away with my VIII Legion and Dark Mechanicum armies. I’m going to play with friends more than I’ve been able to do to date, avoid the competitive chuds like the plague and only attend events I know aren’t going to bald faced lie to me about how narrative they are.

I’m going to look to add detail work (extra skin etc) to the VIII Legion – and add some new units and where old resin ones now have plastic kits, get them replaced (looking at you Falchion and Glaive). I’ve still got a tonne of my old 1st edition army elements to repaint, so maybe we will see Javelins make an appearance alongside the fleet of Dreadclaws and Special Ks that have lived in the loft since just before the end of 2nd edition.

I’m going to get some corpse hands, stick them on a models helmet like bunny ears, give him a Headsmans Axe and see what damage he can do! I’m going to try to enjoy playing again. I’m going to try to get a Horror Cult list up and running, no AV14! Just tonnes of infantry.

Most importantly, I’ve unsubscribed from a load of channels that were so very competitive in nature, with their clickbait titles and “Buy and Run this to WIN!”, “How to get the best from your Leviathan in Zone Mortalis” or “Run this weapon and WIN MORE!” statements spattered throughout, or their talks of “efficiency” and “MSU” and “Auto-include”.

Now is the time to stoke the boilers and see what enjoyment can be wrought out of playing in a select group(s) and in a narrative-first manner. Just writing shitty backstories behind this force and it’s characters has gotten me hyped to design more army lists and get them on the table in interesting scenarios and lets see what the future holds.

AVE DOMINUS NOX!