Leonidas, Captain of the First Company of the Azure Flames
NOTE TO ALL READERS: THIS FLUFF WAS CONCEPTUALIZED AND PARTIALLY WRITTEN AT LEAST 7 YEARS BEFORE THE MOVIE 300 CAME OUT.
Modeling
Leonidas is the model with the Heavy Flamer and the Hammer. The ORIGINAL Leonidas model was made by Joe for a guy called King Douche Greg who ran our LARP and played Salamanders. He sold his army to “Big” Matt T. and Matt used most of it to expand his Chaos army. I bought the Leonidas model from Matt T. and did a slight repaint, hitting the rims and knees with white. He originally had a pistol, and I added a shield and used him as a Comapny Champion.
When the latest Space Marine Codex came out, Vulkan He’Stan was a must-have character. Arguments on the internet say that the Space Marine Codex is only competitive with him, and agree or not he is a VERY useful golf club to have in your bag. I decided that Leonidas would be the perfect stand-in. So I stripped the original Leonidas Model. I replaced the shoulder and lower part of the right arm. I added a new left arm, and modified a Dreadnought Heavy Flamer with a shaved meltabomb to be Leonidas’ Heavy Flamer. I replaced the head with the masked head from the Space Marine Captain box. The backpack, torso, and legs are the originals. I added the Cross from the Terminator box set to the left knee.
The company champion with the sword upraised is the Emperor’s Champion model. The Flame was added with putty. I also added a Fantasy shield.
The company champion that is pointing with the sword uses the helmet of the Ultramarine character Chronus, with the Mk 9 sergeant armor. The sword is from the Space Marine Captain box, and the shield is another fantasy shield.
All three backpacks are Xavier Salamander Mantles.
Painting
Leonidas’ original paint job was a Salamanders scheme, but darker as King Douche Greg used Dark Angels green instead of Snot Green. I improved this paint job with the white rims and knees. To fit it into the Azure Flames, I made up the story in the Background section below.
I repainted the new Leonidas in a similar scheme. I added the Ivy detailing and lettering by hand. This is the scheme shown above, the “original” colors of the “Sons of the Salamander.” I wrote the Vision of Atrus story specifically to include the mini made by Joe in my army, and explain why he was painted in different colors.
Backstory
Unlike most youths who voluntarily submit applications to the Azure Flames (then the Sons of the Salamander) as a tithe from a grateful world, Leonidas of house Atraps joined the chapter by crashing the tests.
Literally.
Leonidas’ parents were wealthy aristocrats on a world called Orpheus. When the Sons of the Salamander prevented Orks from entering orbit, the chapter requested that Orpheus allow any boys of age apply to the rigorous physical and mental tests to join. His parents forbade him from applying, so Leonidas stole his father’s private shuttle and crashed it into the testing facilities. The crash was probably due to the fact that Leonidas had never flown before. Luckily there was warning and few were hurt. Sons of the Salamander Apothecaries were the first on the scene, finding the youth concussed and unconscious, surrounded by smashed luxury liquor bottles and ruined imported Aquarian caviar.
Upon regaining consciousness, Leonidas demanded he be allowed to take the test for admittance. Despite recovering from a concussion he excelled at the tasks set before him. Over the protestations of his influential family and the planetary governor, Leonidas was admitted to the Sons of the Salamander.
Leonidas’ career was blood spattered and glorious. He always seemed to be at the forefront of fighting, even as bolter support in the 9th company Devastators. His combat prowess eventually led him to be named Company Champion of the 3rd Company. Later, when the Sons of the Salamander command structure was killed when the Battle Barge His Hammer was destroyed, he was inducted to the 1st company .
Leonidas was the loudest voice of dissent against the transition from Sons of the Salamander to the Azure Flames. While he shared in the vision and was convinced of its authenticity, he felt that changing the chapter would be seen as heresy. During the conference of Nocturne where Atrus and Salamanders Chapter Master Tu’Shan argued the terms of the chapter’s change, Leonidas pushed open the doors and barged in. His musings on compromise led to the composition of the Concord of Leonidas, a binding agreement that limited the independence of the newly named Azure Flames and closely tied them to their parent chapter, the Salamanders. Part of this agreement (under Leonidas’ insistence) would be that the company champions of the Azure Flames wear the colors of the Sons of the Salamander, to remember the Chapter’s beginnings.
Leonidas served in the 1st company wherever fighting was hottest. After Atrus’ interment in the sarcophagus of a Dreadnought, he personally formed Atrus’ Techmarine Bodyguard from the four most dedicated Techmarines in the chapter. He was a constant source of irritation to Perseus (then Captain of the 1st company) due to his willfullness and stubbornness. Leonidas was the first Space Marine on the scene of Atrus’ death, and was the first to find the statue that the Eldar had left, depicting Atrus as he was before his interment.
Atrus’ death made Perseus Chapter Master, and left a power vacuum in the 1st company. To prevent Leonidas from continuing his insubordinate attitude, Perseus made him Captain of the 1st company. Now Leonidas’ willful spirit is overpowered by his dizzying array of responsibilities. After learning from Perseus the secret that Antonius was the gene-son of Atrus, Leonidas made Perseus swear that Antonius, not Leonidas would replace Perseus should he ever fall. Leonidas is currently assembling a corps of elite bodyguards for Perseus, though Perseus finds this unneccesary as he is usually in the company of the 3rd Terminator squad in battle.
Leonidas personally returned to Nocturne following this and re-negotiated his namesake agreement. Several provisions were suspended permanently.
Leonidas wields a custom made hammer that is much lighter and quicker than a Thunder Hammer, yet still contains powerful motion enhancers that make his blows truly powerful. He also wields a huge Heavy Flamer one-handed as an example of what Space Marines should be able to do.
The Concord of Leonidas
Resolved,
-That the Chapter known as The Sons of the Salamander requires restructuring following the loss of their command structure, during the loss of the Battle Barge His Hammer, at the battle of Taranga VII.
-That, although independent from founding chapters, successor chapters should maintain nominal ties with their parent chapter to prevent heresy or mutation.
-That major changes to a chapters’ practices, though rare, are not deviant, so long as they remain loyal to the Emperor.
Hence,
The Chapter known as The Sons of the Salamander shall be known as The Azure Flames, and shall be acknowledged as free of heresy by their founding chapter, The Salamanders, according to the agreement below.
1. The Azure Flames recognize and continue to follow the Promethean Cult as they have done so in the past. All Azure Flames Chaplains must preach according to the Promethean Cult, save that they are allowed to include Atrus’ vision as part of their teachings.
2. The Azure Flames will change their livery to a dark blue scheme, save the Champion of each company, who shall remain in the livery of The Sons of the Salamander, and Chaplains, who shall retain their black armour, and Apothecaries who shall retain their white armour.
3. A representative of The Azure Flames shall be sent to Nocturne in order to participate in the yearly Salamander hunt. All spoils are the property of the contestant.
4. Apothecaries of the Salamanders shall have full access to the Azure Flames Gene Seed repository at any time, should they so choose. Salamander Apothecaries are allowed one complete Azure Flames gene seed sample per 1,000 years to ensure genetic purity. (This Provision suspended 964.82 M41)
5. Librarians of the Salamanders shall have full access to the Azure Flames Librarium at any time, should they so choose. Salamander Librarians are allowed as many mental scans of any Azure Flames Space Marine to satisfy that the chapter is free of heresy. All scans are to have an Azure Flames Librarian and no other guards, for security purposes. (This Provision suspended 964.82 M41)
6. The Salamanders shall maintain a garrison of no less than ten Space Marines on the homeworld of The Azure Flames, once they choose a world to call their own. (This Provision suspended 964.82 M41)
7. Any Azure Flames fleet must report their co-ordinates to an Imperial outpost upon entry of an Imperial star system, with instructions that these co-ordinates are to be sent to Nocturne, and the Battle Barge His Anvil, or the Fortress-Monastery of the Azure Flames once it is founded. (This Provision suspended 964.82 M41)
Agreed this day, 814.76 M41
Tu’Shan, Chapter Master of The Salamanders
Chief Librarian Atrus, Chapter Master of the Azure Flames
Leonidas, Champion of the first company of the Azure Flames
Memorable Games: Joe’s Map Campaign
Most gaming clubs work like this: everyone shows up, people who arrive find others and say “want to play X points?” and then they do. However, there is a more complex way to play that covers the struggle to dominate an entire world.
I speak of the venerated Map Campaign. To some, the pinnacle of the gaming experience. Map campaigns are immersive and engaging. They make casual game nights into fights for the fate of a world.
Some explanation for those unfamiliar with Map Campaigns. The person running the campaign creates a map with territories on it. These are then distributed to the various players/teams. Some territories could give special bonuses, such as an airport giving the owning player the ability to attack far away territories, or a factory letting players replenish their forces more easily. Players can attack other players territories to take control. Often, players’ army lists are limited, so that taking heavy losses can be worse than losing. The object of the campaign is to take over all of the map.
Joe put on a team based map campaign back in the Mary Mayo days. There were four teams, each with three players. My team consisted of myself (Azure Flames Space Marines) Scott (Cadian 401st Imperial Guard) and Lexington (unknown Imperial Guard regiment, which has since been sold). We were the white team, facing the red, blue, and black teams. There were several odd matchups, including Maestro’s Blood Angels with Dan’s Tau and some Chaos and Space Marine pairings.
In Joe’s campaign, the amount of territory you held gave you points to replenish destroyed units, so teams had to ration their points to the players that would make their forces more effective. We ended up spending a lot of points on Lexington, as he was our “holding force.” Lexington’s guard army essentially took the worst beatings other players had to offer, and Scott and I pushed out and gained territory. This ended up working really well.
Joe’s campaign also had cards Joe made himself and each player had one that was shared by the team. Cards had varying effects, among them: “They have a Cave Troll!” which would add a Troll to your forces.
Some highlights:
-I won one of the rare crushing victories against Dan’s Tau. This had a lot to do with some bad deep strike rolls on his part and some good setup on mine. He played the “Play the same battle over again.” card, and so I played the “The battle doesn’t get fought.” card, negating that. I lost the victory, but forced him to use that incredibly valuable card for nothing. As a bonus, his team did not conquer our territory.
-During the whole campaign, Maestro’s Blood Angels used the “Rhino Wedge” tactic, essentially driving empty rhinos around, and parking them in a V shape. Then, his Death Company would hide in the V of this formation and not be a valid shooting target. It was a terrible rules error in 3rd ed that allowed this to be viable, making this a real deadly combination. Maestro was finally stymied by Scott. Maestro attacked us and played a card that let him bring 2500 pts to a 2000 pt game. He set up. Scott set up his invincible Cadian gun line. Maestro ceded the fight and put his models away. Scott won that game with a STARE.
-In another epic battle with Dan, Chaplain Alexsandr, my Terminator Chaplain pulled victory out of defeat. In 3rd ed there was a mission in which the defender (me) splits their forces in half, and DOESN’T GET TO USE THE SECOND HALF. Half of your army is GONE. However, the enemy has to kill EVERY model left or they lose. The last turn had only Chaplain Alexsandr on my side in close combat with Commander Farsight. The battle dragged on (because Dan kept making 4+ invulnerable saves) until the end of the game. After the game, Dan and I rolled out one more round of close combat. Alexsandr made three 4+ invuls and FINALLY killed Farsight. Woo!
-Lexington also faced off with Maestro, taking as many plasma guns as he could. Ideally, enough of these SHOULD pop a Rhino, but I guess no on ever told Maestro that as his invincible boxes of doom approached Lex’s lines. That Rhino Wedge technique was good on average, but without dedicated anti-tank or a lucky roll it was UNSTOPPABLE.
-EDIT: According to game master Joe himself, Dan blew all his points that could normally be used to buy units and spent them on cards. He then used every card against Scott in one night. Scott lost, but we replaced his losses immediately, and Dan was out of cards.
Endgame
In the end, our victories outweighed our losses and we ended up winning the campaign handily, even when the other 3 teams all turned against us. It was a blast, but I don’t reccomend it more than once a year for a group. It’s a lot of work and it’s not the only reason you should play.
Memorable Games: Fighting Catachans in the Jungle, and Brother Jonathan
There was an axiom in 3rd edtion 40K: Never fight the Catachans in the Jungle. They got all sorts of wicked benefits, and their low armor was negated by having cover saves everywhere.
During my first summer at college, we used to play in Joe’s garage. Joe’s army choices at the time were the Angels Sacrosanct, a Blood Angels successor, and some Catachan Jungle Fighters. Once, in Joe’s garage, we set up a jungle fight. We used a green board, some tree bases, and created some white paper templates and strips about 3″ wide. The templates were clearings, and the strips paths. Everywhere else was forest. Who wanted to fight the Catachans in such terrain?
Enter the Azure Flames, newly swelled from almost a full summer of obsessive-compulsive collecting and painting. I took a 1500 point list that contained 11 flamers and 2 heavy flamers, all infantry. I marched across the board, burning as I went. Catachans don’t get cover saves from flamers. Embarrassing Jungle Fighters in the Jungle is impressive.
Joe got his revenge. In a normal later game Joe took a Leman Russ battle tank that sat hull down behind a chest high wall, and shrugged off every weapon fired at it. Worse, he had some decent close combat ability, which killed at least one squad. However there was a silver lining. One tactical squad was whittled down to one bolter marine who stood toe-to-toe with a commander with a power weapon and a commisar with power fist, and a command squad. This lone marine stood for SIX ROUNDS OF COMBAT, killed a few guardsmen and fought so fiercely that the commander would have fled, had the commisar not shot him in the head! This marine was the first of my models that earned a name. Brother Jonathan of the 2nd squad 4th company. I still field him on a regular basis.
Space Marine Battlefleet Gothic Fleet
My Azure Flames Battlefleet Gothic fleet. 2 Battle Barges, 5 Strike Cruisers, 6 Nova Frigates, 6 Gladius Frigates and 10 Hunter Destroyers.
Jelnac, Master of the Forge of the Azure Flames with Conversion Beamer
Modeling
Jelnac’s torso is the Blood Angel Techmarine with Jump Pack torso. Standard bike and legs. Modded left palmtop to be textured like the right one, from Torquemada Coteaz with the Thunder Hammer. Backpack is a standard old Techmarine Servo Arm.
The Conversion Beamer was based on the old Conversion Beamer (see pic above, the blue gun). The Sidecar was a standard pewter attack bike sidecar. I used a Chaos Defiler Battle Cannon mount for the hinge. It is attached to the sidecar with a filed piece of Defiler armor and some putty. The Chaos star was filed off, and a seven-toothed cog sculpted. Into this cog, I pressed the filed down skull from a Servo Skull which looks like the Ad Mech logo.
The central plasma coil is a Gene Seed canister from the Battle For Macragge box set. Sprue and plasticard rod made the rest of the body. The lower cable is guitar wire. The dish is a Tau Battle Suit Shield Generator, filed and puttied to be a smooth dish. Part of a Space Marine Radar Dish antenna (the small one from the new sprue) comes up from the bottom. The antenna is an old antenna from the 2nd ed Space Marine Vehicle sprue.
Painting
The only painting flourish I’m proud of is the screen on Jelnac’s bike. I painted a Matrix-code-like pattern of falling green characters, blending from Scorpion Green to a mix of Snot and Dark Angels green.
Backstory
The Azure Flames are barely 400 years old as of the end of M41. How, then, did they get a Pre-Heresy weapon in their arsenal? This conversion beamer belonged to the Myridian Suns Space Marine Chapter. When they fell to Chaos, the Azure Flames cleansed their homeworld of Myridia and destroyed every last Myridian Sun. Their Geneseed was quarantined and their wargear studiously poured over by the Techmarines and Librarium of the Azure Flames to prevent the taint of Chaos from touching the chapter. Few artifacts were salvaged, most were corrupted beyond hope of salvation by the traitors, but Brother Jelnac brought forth the remains of a Conversion Beamer taken from the Master of the Forge of the Myridian Suns. The Beamer was damaged, as Jelnac had smashed part of it with his Thunder Hammer during the fight.
After being declared free of taint, the Beamer was given to Jelnac. The old power source was damaged beyond repair, and the matter inversion coil was totaled. Jelnac modified a plasma coil to replace the matter inversion coil, and mounted the beamer on a Space Marine Attack Bike to provide power. Now, one of the most ancient weapons of mankind is at the disposal of the Azure Flames.
Force Org Fight! A recount of an epic battle.
In honor of my friend Joe finally joining Facebook so all his friends can GODDAMN TALK to him, I am recounting the most epic battle Joe and I ever had. We put our models on the table.
ALL OF THEM.
Well, almost all. Joe proposed that we screw points values and limit ourselves to one force organization chart. We did. I had the Azure Flames (my only army at the time) and he had his Angels Sacrosanct, a Blood Angels successor. This was back in 3rd ed, so Blood Angels cost the same but got free Death Company, and free Furious Charge, and overcharged engines, and you had to wash the Blood Angels player’s car or something.
Anyway, we covered the deployment zone in miniatures. Mine deep blue, his maroon and black. We fought. Men died. It was epic. Of course I lost. Joe had a much bigger and more developed army, plus a significant rules advantage. Nowadays I think it would be more even, as I have 50 Terminators and 3 Land raiders. I’m not sure if the Angels have really developed as Joe has a bunch more armies, including a counts-as Eldar that are modeled as Exodites which are BAD ASS.
By the way, DON’T do this unless you have a LOT of time. Especially for cleanup.
Battlefleet Gothic Modeling and Painting
So, if you’ve read some of the posts in this blog, you’ll know I got into Battlefleet Gothic because my friend Lexington did. I started a Space Marine Fleet to accompany my 40K Space Marine Army, the Azure Flames. You’ll see some of their ships in the gallery below.
But, since then, I have been on a bit of a Gothic kick. I am a teacher (currently middle school, but I plan to move to a High School eventually) and I want to be able to start a wargaming club at that school. I needed two fleets to teach someone how to play Gothic, and the best way to do that is with Imperial Navy and Chaos fleets. So I have those now.
The Azure Flames fleet has custom flames sculpted on all the capital ships. They are Azure Flames blue with Enchanted blue details and Ice blue highlights. They have their bearing markers painted on the base, and their names in calligraphy with flame details.
The Chaos Fleet is a dark purple with lighter drybrush highlights. The metal is bronze and the lighiting is Mechrite Red with Blood Red over the top of it.
The Imperial Navy fleet is Codex Gray with a wash of black and then highlighted with lighter grays twice. The metal is gold and the front is Blood Red. Lighting is white or Ice blue.
You’ll see some small black squares with stuff on it. These are Low Orbit Table defenses. The Airstrip has a putty-molded copy of an Imperial Fury Interceptor, a piece of blister plastic for a runway, and beads that look like a control tower and a hangar. Once painted, I will scrape the sides of the top bead on the tower to make it clear blue. The one with the 6 green hatches is a missile silo, putty moulded from the Epic scale Rhino. The thing that looks like the power generator and Ion cannon from The Empire Strikes Back is a Lance battery. Note that all of these are mounted with a half of an Epic base, so that when balanced on this they point “up” to the top of the low orbit table.
I also made Gas and Dust Clouds from pictures given to me by John. These are of all possible sizes you can generate, and have been laminated 10 mil so that they will last forever. There are also ring-shaped gas and dust clouds. Not shown are asteroids, also laminated 10 mil. The Gas and Dust Clouds have the dimensions printed on the back.
I made some custom markers for the Sunward Edge, and Solar Flares and Radiation Bursts. These will make keeping track of these easier.
Finally are markers for Warp Rifts similar to the Gas and Dust clouds. These also have the dimensions on the back and are laminated 10 mil.
With these, some unpainted transports and orbital defenses, and a few other props, I have everything I need to play any game of Gothic at anytime. I have a piece of black felt 4’x6′ and a smaller piece of blue felt for a low orbit table.
Liam Perseus, Chapter Master of the Azure Flames
Modeling
I made an old model of Perseus with the Terminator Captain with Storm Bolter model years ago, but he wasn’t that great. The cabling looked bad and his storm shield was tiny. My original idea was that it be a shield that incorporates weaponry, so that a successful block can be a slice as well. The original model did not do it justice.
For the new model, I used Marneus Calgar’s upper torso, modified to get rid of the stupid eagles. I used the Devastator Sergeant head, with an elongated nose. I added a third and fourth service stud, as Perseus is about 400 years old. The legs are the plastic legs from an Assault on Black Reach Terminator sergeant, with the flame added to the right knee pad. On his back to cover up Marneus’ Bolter ammo feeds, I added some purity seals and scrolls. I also added an Iron Halo on top.
For the arms, they are double dry-pinned with a magnet holding them on. the pins come out of the torso, and the pin holes in the arms are deep, but are wide at the top so the pins slide right in. You can pick up Perseus by any of his arms and he won’t fall apart, or change his pose.
Perseus’ Storm Shield was made from the Masters of the Chapter Storm Shield, and two plastic power axes and two pewter Bike sergeant power swords. The Grenade arm is a standard Storm Bolter arm, with an Imperial Guard grenade launcher.
The Thunder Hammer/Storm Shield combo is the normal plastic one from the Termintator kit, with the Hammer modified with putty.
Paint used the standard Azure Flames color scheme, with a few embellishments on the feet and cape.
Backstory
Liam Perseus is a Terran. His parents were pilgrims, and ended up serving the Ecclisiarchy on Terra itself. He was born into servitude on Terra, and luckily for him, was a young teenager when the Tech Priests of Mars, at the behest of Inquisitor Eric Boucher, decided to make a Salamanders successor chapter. Liam was simply scooped up by a Tech Priest, as his parents told him that he was destined for greater things.
Liam was one of the thousand Space Marines delivered to Nocturne as the Sons of the Salamander. No Son had rank yet. Being trained in the arts of war by their parent chapter caused Perseus to stand out. His natural leadership qualities and powerful personality made him one of the first Sons of the Salamander to be promoted to Sergeant.
As the chapter structure took hold, Salamander Apothecaries noticed something strange. The Sons were not affected by the radiation on Nocturne. Perseus and his chapter brothers’ skin was not turning black, nor their eyes red. One battle brother died in training, and the Apothecaries examined his gene seeds. From that point on all Salamander and Sons of the Salamander Apothecaries were forbidden to speak of the possible genetic variance. The official word was that they are a Vulkan chapter and the matter was closed. Rumor persists to this day.
Perseus, being trained by ecclisiarchs as a child, found the Promethean Cult a bit dubious until he found the joy of making weapons. He hand-crafted his first sword. He insisted on using it to join in the yearly Salamander hunts on Nocturne. Sadly, this sword was destroyed in the hunt when Perseus used it to prevent himself from falling into a volcano. Perseus did bring home a Salamander pelt, but not the biggest. Undeterred, Perseus used the pelt to make a shield.
Forty seven years of distinguished service as a sergeant followed. Perseus fought traitors and aliens with equal fervor. He was among the first to re-paint his armor when the Sons of the Salamander became the Azure Flames. He fervently believed in Atrus’ vision.
His shield was severely damaged in a fight with the Iron Warriors. He used it to block the attack of the traitor’s Power Fist. The shield shattered like glass, and so did the bones in Perseus’ arm. Perseus used the shattered remnant strapped to his arm as a weapon, jamming it into the traitor’s neck.
Perseus was soon promoted to the First Company, and chose the wargear of the Thunder Hammer and Storm Shield. He was a part of the third Terminator squad during the invasion of Hive Fleet 2501 in the battle for the North Complex on Landon. Atrus personally accompanied his squad, and Perseus watched as a Hive Tyrant cut him down. Perseus smashed the Tyrant’s head with his Thunder Hammer, but Atrus was too far gone to save. Perseus heard Atrus’ voice begging to be interred in a Sarcophagus. He demanded that it be done. It was. Perseus became Captain of the First Company thereafter, and took on the duties of Chapter Master when appropriate. Atrus was still the de facto Chapter Master.
Perseus took up a new project. He remade his Storm Shield into a weapon, and trained with it to develop a new fighting style. He became known as an invincible relentless combatant, able to turn the tide against the most skilled opponent.
When Atrus died in the Chasma Spica conflict, Perseus took his rightful place as the Chapter Master. He decreed that Iperin, the planet on which Atrus died, was to be the new homeworld for the Azure Flames. Every Space Marine chapter in the Chasma Spica conflict backed up his claim.
Perseus has overseen the Chapter’s combat service. He directs them to war torn zones where the Azure Flames go out of their way to protect refugees. Under this policy, refugees are relocated to Iperin, where they are given a new home in the rebuilt capital of Releeshan. Perseus’ kind but stern leadership style and aged appearance has earned him the nickname “The Old Man.” He struggles with the authority left by Atrus’ death, and works hard to groom Atrus’ gene-son Antonius for the day Perseus falls in battle.
Rules
When Perseus has a Thunder Hammer and Storm Shield, he is the Captain of the First Company and stands in for Darnath Lysander. With his shield and grenade launcher, he has the following profile.
HQ – Chapter Master Liam Perseus: 260 Points
WS: 6
BS: 5
S: 4
T: 4
W: 4
I: 5
A: 4
Ld: 10
Equipment: Terminator Armour, Perseus’ Storm Shield, Auxilliary Grenade Launcher, Teleport Homer.
Special Rules
Eternal Warrior
Perseus’ Storm Shield: Perseus customized this tower sized Storm Shield by adding power weapons all along the perimeter. This makes the shield into a targe, used for both offense and defense. Perseus’ Storm Shield counts as both a Storm Shield and a Relic Blade. In addition, Perseus’ unique skills combined with the dangerous proposition of attacking an object covered with power weapons allows Perseus to re-roll all rolls in close combat to hit and to wound.
Riposte!: Perseus is a master of allowing an enemy to overextend themselves, and taking advantage of even the tiniest opening. In close combat, any successfully made armour or invulnerable save grants Perseus an extra attack at initiative 1. If Perseus is killed before initiative 1, the attacks are lost.
Orbital Bombardment: Perseus can call down an Orbital Bombardment, as detailed in the Chapter Master entry in the Space Marine Codex.
Gehn the Traitor, disciple of Matthius.
Modeling and Painting
Before Big Game 5, Matt Turner came down to help us build terrain. While he was there, we discussed his Chaos Lord, Matthius, Prophet of the Four. Matt said that he wanted Matthius to have a bodyguard of traitors from various armies. I wasn’t sure about other people’s armies, but I instantly came up with an addendum to the main fluff story that involved this man:
I used the new Devastator Sergeant head, with the flat top filed away. I used the Mark 9 sergeant armor torso, the old pewter bolter-melta, and a Chaos power fist, shoulder pad, and backpack. The body was damaged as if it had suffered an explosion on Gehn’s left side, which is the arm that was replaced. He was painted with the Azure Flames scheme, with a scheme similar to some of Matt’s chaos squads on the replaced arm. Gehn was given as a gift to Matt before Big Game 5.
Background
The name of Gehn is cursed by the Azure Flames more than any other. While the twists of Chaos have poisoned, mutated, or brainwashed battle brothers before, these individuals were exterminated. Unlike others, Gehn chose to betray the Chapter. The path between his recruitment and that fateful choice is twisted and convoluted. This account merely scratches the surface of the events that led Gehn to choose madness over loyalty.
Gehn’s recruitment into the Chapter, like most battle brothers, came when his world was in need. Riven was raided by Dark Eldar pirates for slaves year after year. Losses were deemed minimal by Imperial tacticians, due to the fact that Riven had always made its imperial tithe. Calls for aid went unanswered or were spectacularly late. In c783m41, the Dark Eldar met their match. The Battle Barge His Anvil leading approximately half the Azure Flames fleet met these raiders head on. In a pincer action, the Dark Eldar ships were corralled by escorts as capital ships closed in. Sadly, the captives aboard the ships perished in the attack, but the Dark Eldar raiding force was dealt a severe blow. As is customary, the Azure Flames requested that all boys of age be allowed to prove themselves worthy of joining the Chapter. Gehn was tested and proven well above his peers in the rigorous mental and physical challenges that all aspirants to the Azure Flames are put through, and the promising youth was quickly inducted into the Chapter.
Gehn’s career as a scout was not without glory, but was lackluster compared to some of his contemporaries. He was eventually chosen and passed the final trial to become a Space Marine, and served in the reserves for 60 years before joining the 4th Company. It is at this point that Gehn’s career became more illustrious. He participated in the raid on Arkh, and played a vital role in capturing the hidden ruling council. After several decades of service, he was eventually promoted to sergeant. During his tenure he killed a Carnifex in close combat and was at the forefront of the push to take the Traitor’s Gate on Yttran. Gehn’s ambition made him to continue to strive to become a captain, but though his service was admirable, no position of Captain was ever available.
Then Antonius was recruited into the Scouts. Gehn took notice when Antonius was advanced to Space Marine faster than any other Scout on record. He then became enraged when the youth was promoted to Sergeant of the 5th Squad, 4th Company after the infiltration action on Iperin during the Chasma Spica conflict. During Antonius’ induction ritual, Gehn refrained from joining in the toast. Antonius thought nothing of it, but Captain Ganendra did. He notified Atrus, and Atrus consulted his visions of the future. To his horror, the visions spoke that Gehn would betray the Chapter. Atrus sought to send the 4th Company into battle on Julius, and had Ganendra use the 6th squad as bait for the enemy. Gehn and his squad were hit by the blast of a battle cannon. Gehn was knocked unconscious and captured by Chaos forces led by Matthius, Prophet of the Four.
Gehn was interrogated and tortured by Matthius’ subordinates until Matthius himself gave a cryptic order to bring no more harm to the prisoner. Matthius personally interrogated Gehn for several days. Hints and whispers that only Matthius hear from the Gods of Chaos guided him. Then came the secret – Matthius learned that Antonius was the gene-son of Atrus. Matthius used this information to batter holes in Gehn’s tired, damaged faith. As Matthius slowly revealed the truth, Gehn’s hatred for Antonius eclipsed that which he felt for the Dark Gods and their minions. Here was a boy promoted through deliberate favoritism while Gehn was passed up time and time again. That was not just. Gehn wanted more, and Matthius promised it. Gehn fell to Chaos with one word: “Yes.”
Gehn’s knowledge of Azure Flames security protocol proved devastating. While his codes were invalidated, he knew how certain individuals would act. Matthius’ forces penned in the beleaguered 4th Company with the help of mentally-enslaved Orks. Gehn saw fit to taunt his former allies through transmissions while the forces of Chaos closed in around them. His name was spoken as a curse by the entire Chapter as his betrayal was revealed.
The victory of the imperial forces at Daskros changed little about Gehn’s ambitions. Though he fought for his life against the newly freed Orks, he escaped from the Chasma Spica alongside his new master Matthius. He now fights for power and glory, to exult the Gods who recognize his greatness. Above all, he waits for the chance to exact his revenge on the upstart boy that had everything handed to him. Thus through jealousy did Gehn fall.
Just as Tzeentch told Matthius he would.