+++Chapter Cross-Reference - Cosmic Space Knights (of doom)+++
+++Inquisitorial Clearance - Oh...I don't know...let's say...erm...blue?+++
+++Current Chapter Base: Fortress monestry known as "The Frat House"+++
+++This Transmission is available from all good record stores+++


Origins

The exact founding of the Cosmic Space Knights (of doom) is...well to be honest your guess is as good as mine. There is great debate between the Masters of the chapter as to who their Progenitor Chapter is as well, initially they were thought to be successors of the Ultramarines but then someone pointed out that Space Wolves were a bit more flexible when it came to Codex organisation when it came to prayers and schedules and stuff. After a few too many serious drinking session that resulted in the destruction of the Chapter Master's personal Thunderhawk they decided to rethink things and agrred that they were infact Blood Angels successors.
The whole unquenchable rage thing and drinking blood wasn't really working out for them so they became Black Templars but after a few Crusades went rather badly for them they switched back to Ultramarines before finally settling on Dark Angels because they are all dark, brooding and mysterious which is pretty cool.



The Artificer Crisis
During the thirty eighth...or was it the thirty nineth...no wait...I'm pretty sure it was the thirty eighth millenium the Chapter faced it's greatest challenge to date. Due to the constant switching of Progenitor Chapters the Artificers were getting a bit fed up of having to repaint the Chapter's suits of power armour all the time. Together with the Serfs they formed the Union of Servitors and Chapter Serfs and promptly when on strike.
After lengthy negotiations with Supreme Grand Chapter Master Slab Benchpress it was agreed that they would only paint the shoulder pads of the armour in chapter colours, in return the Chapter Master agreed not to abandon them all on the nearest Tyranid infested world.


Homeworld
The Chapter is fleet based after their homeworld was tragically destroyed. Exact details are unknown but it is thought to have had something to do with a couple of bored Scouts playing "shoot the can off the Servitor's head" close to the Fortress Monestry's armoury at the time.

Chapter Colours
The armour of the Chapter has been unpainted since the Great Artificer Crisis with the exception of the shoulderpad insert and chest aquila which are painted red.



Organisation
The exact organisation of the Chapter depends on which Chapter that they have decided they are currently Successors of.

Battlecry
"Everyone, remember where we parked!"


Chapter Traits

Unknown Progenitors
The Chapter uses whatever is the latest Codex to be released and alters it's organistion to suit.

Shoddy Workmanship
Since losing their dental plan the servitors and chapter serfs have become slackers. Where once they took pride in their positon within the chapter they've come to realse that the Battle Brothers are overbearing, arrogant jerks and little attention is paid to the finer points of weapon and armour construction.
Any model may include moldlines on their armour or weapons at no additional cost.

And They Shall Have No Clue
The CSK(od) are notoriously bad at organisation of any kind. Many battles have been won simply because they have overrun enemy positions thinking they were retreating to their own lines (Cross Reference: See Battlecry). Many times their have halted their route to bicker amongst themselves as to who had the Thunderhawk keys last and who's stupid idea was it to come here in the first plase?
The CSK(od) benefit from the And They Shall Know No Fear special rules.



The Curse of the Absurd
Although his career was otherwise unremarkable Senior Adept Henar Machovik had been honoured by his assignment to the creation of a new chapter designated The Carnage Knights.
Although he was a humble man in most respects deep within his soul he harboured a longing, a dark seed of ambition and pride that whispered to him that he should be recognised for his life time of dedication and hard work.

His assignment was to prove more difficult than expected. The Gene-seed had developed unexpected flaws that had lead to radical destabilisation within the zygote structure. No-matter how he tryed he could not rememedy the problem and soon he began to overhear whispered conversations whenever he entered a room, conversations that threatened to become allegations of incompetence that would tarnish his career. He was becoming desperate.

On his homeworld of Felnir Prime there was an ancient legend of a god of whom it was said to know his true name was to know madness.
To the people of Felnir he was known as Loki'lk the Trickster God and the fables told of how he would offer all a man could desire but at a great personal cost to the summoner. The stories never ended well but Malchovik knew he was running out of time so he envoked the god in an ancient and forbidden ritual in a moment of desperation.
Loki'k appeared to Malchovik and agreed that he would help the Adept to reverse the degredation in the gene-seed. As his wish was granted Machovik paniced and destroyed the circle of summoning that bound the trickster god to the material universe. Their bargin broken Loki'lk damned the adept and the gene-seed of the Carnage Knights as he was drawn back into the warp with the Curse of the Absurd.
Loki'lk was a minor god of the warp. His power depended on the laughter of man, the absurd and the ironic to fuel his very existance.
During the dark times of the Age of Strife his power grew weak. The terrible acts and suffering that occured since this time like the Horus Heresy, the numerous Black Crusades for example, had sapped his strength and he now faced oblivion.
Machovik had unwittedly saved him, his brief venture into the material universe had allowed him to tamper with the laws of reality.
The Curse of the Absurd would warp the very nature of the material universe around those that bore it. The real would become the surreal, the absurd would become the norm, life around those that bore the curse would become a parody and with each act of insanity Loki'lk would slowly grow more powerful.
Unknown to the Chapter the Carnage Knights would become his crusading army of the absurd and ridiculus known as The Cosmic Space Knights (of doom).
Machovik realised his folly but before he could warn the others he slipped on a banana skin and was flattened by a grand piano.

Reworking the army...

It's been ages since I first started these guys and to be honest although they never really got off the ground as an army they were great fun.
As it stands I never really had a proper bash at paint or modeling as they were originally only intended to be a command squad but due to popular demand they began to emerge as a proper army.

Supreme Grand Chapter Master Slab Benchpress

This is the original chapter master for the CSK(od) and the place where all the craziness first started. Basically I've touched up a few areas and given him a coat of dull coat to tone the metallics down.
I may go back and redo the model from scratch as I often regret rushing these guys and feel that I could ahve done a much better job had I taken my time.
For thsoe that are not familiar with the Chapter Slab is an over equiped chapter master and having swung his hammer is trying not to fall over backwards.

For now though here he is in all his glory.








Bruvva Grimtoof

Now I definately regret rushing this guy. Here is the original model as he is now. I'm going to have to go back and redo him from scratch I think as my GS skills have improved since then and I can definately make a better model of him.
This guy is a proxy or stand in figure that some gamers use to represent models that they don't own. Rather than just include an Ork I sculpted power armour so that he fits in better with the force.



As far as the codex for th army goes it might be time to bite the bullet and use the chaos renegades codex. This doesn't mean that they are full chaos worshippers or anything like that though, it just means that it's the most recent marine 'dex and technically speaking they are chaos marines after all.

Chapter Organisation
Like many other more orthodox chapters the CSK(od) are organised into ten companies of one hundred battle brothers.
Although this has only come about recently, well within the last couple of weeks actually since Supreme Grand Chapter Master Slab Benchpress took over and they became Dark Angels Successors. Before this time recruitment had been a little lax to say the least. The grueling and highly selective process of recruitment had long since been abandoned in favour of less dangerous initations like beer mat flipping and those who could fit their fist in their mouth.
Having abandoned the ways of the Codex because they thought they were Black Templar Successors the chapter ranks swelled to the point where things were seriously getting out of hand.
Fortunately two events in their history were to return the Chapter to the path of the codex. Firstly the creation of a Successor Chapter, the Screaming Weasels, succeeded in weeding out the more troublesome brothers and gave them their own Chapter.
Secondly not long after the third Armageddon War the destruction of the Chapter's homeworld pretty much wiped ninety percent of the remaining battle brothers. Although the then Supreme Grand Chapter Master Buff Bigsword mysteriously vanished and none of the members of the Servitors and Chapter Serfs Union or the entire first company were there when it was destroyed.
After much finger pointing, name calling and shoving the remaining brothers set about rebuilding the Chapter under the leadership of Supreme Grand Chapter Master Dirk Squarejaw.
Squarejaw, however, was recently replaced by Slab Benchpress who has begun to replenish their numbers using ancient and forbidden technology to create instant clones or "Shake and Bake Troopers" as they are more affectionately known by the original surviving Astartes.
The genestock for the clones comes from non other than legendary First Company Captain Maximus Vaan Damage.
Clone Astartes can be recognised by their physical resemblance to Vaan Damage and are designated with a single name.
For example; Brother Bulk Bicep is an original member fo the Chapter where as Brother Headshot is a clone.

Other examples of clone names:

Brother Soon-to-be-deceased

Brother Meatshield

Brother Bodybag

Brother Expendable

Clone Academy

The vast majority of chapters maintain a strict process for recruitment to ensure the purity of their future battle brothers. Initiates are selected at an early age, screened, augmented, screened again, subjected to hypno-conditioning and then must under go battle field training as Scouts before being able to take their place amongst their brothers as a full Astartes.
The CSK(od) are unfortunately not one of the vast majority.
Since the introduction of the advanced and forbidden cloning device the CSK(od) are rarely under strength, often being able to deploy on the battle field as an entire chapter.
Clones are created using the geneseed of the chapter's greatest living hero Maximus Vaan Damage, Captain of the first company and all round great guy.

The process for cloning new brothers is relatively quick, an entire Tactical squad can be created in a mere matter of hours, an entire company can be completed in a day.
Clones are sent to Clone Academy shortly after being created and after an intense two week induction course are assigned a role within the chapter.
Although theoretically speaking a Clone could live for several centuries most rarely make it past the four week mark due to accidents and battlefield errors.
Anyone that makes it past five weeks is often considered a veteran.

The S.A.P.S

Most clones are assigned to the regular Tactical, Assault or Devastator squads. Those that demonstrate a degree of mechanical aptitude and can break into a Rhino using only a coat-hanger are assigned to the Techmarines, those that look good in black, like scarey skull masks and shouting alot are assigned to the Chaplains, those that look a bit wizardy, can do the freaky starey eye thing and can guess how many fingers the selector is holding up behind his back are sent to the Librarium.
The Scouts however are a different story altogether. Selected just after being created they receive advanced training and are taught the skills of field craft and survival.
Absolute masters of camoflage they are the chapter's silent death, an elite fighting force that occationally can actually complete a mission (or at least get really, really close to completing it without blowing themselves up).
They are the proud and the few, they are the best of the best, they are the Stealth Assault Patrols.

Special Rules

S.A.P.s
SAPs use the Scout stats and rules.

Masters of Disguise
The SAPs are trained to blend into any enviroment..that contains some form of small shrubs, trees or bushes.
Thanks to the Curse of the Absurd very few enemies will question what a small Privet hedge is doing on the bridge of their battle cruiser, figuring that is obviously supposed to be there and is clearly someone else's problem.
SAPs may Infiltrate if the mission allows it.




The Greatest Disaster Since the Last Greatest Disaster!

Seeing as all the STC templates for their vehicles had been destroyed along with ninety percent of the Chapter itself they knew that should the Adeptus Mechanicus find out then they was bound to get in trouble.
It was decided that they would have to start from scratch creating vehicles of their own design that might pass for the originals from a distance...if you sort of squinted at them...through thick fog...well, maybe if you closed one eye completely and it was extremely dark or you were blind drunk.
So while the Supreme Grand Chapter Master set about stalling the Magos of the Adeptus Mechanicus the rest of the Chapter set about creating new vehicles assisted by the Servitors and Chapter Serfs Union (who mysteriously never lost anyone in the destruction of their homeworld).

The Scouring of Vengist IV

Orbital Administratium Station over Vengist IV



With Supreme Grand Chapter Master Benchpress on his way to Mars First Captain Maximus Vaan Damage was left in charge of the day to day running of the chapter. Vaan Damage a seasoned veteran of numerous wars, well a couple at least, had been informed of a xenos incursion on Vengist IV a small Agri-world on the northern rim of the galaxy.
Seeing the chance to bring glory to the Chapter he immediately set course for the source of the distress call. The campaign known as the Scouring of Vengist IV was set in motion and somewhere something in the warp giggled to itself.


The battle barge hung in high stationary orbit over Vengist IV like an ornate silver dagger poised to plunge deep into the heart of the planet.
There would be no time for pleasentries with the Imperial nobility of the ruling caste of the Agri-world below.
There would be no parades, no fanfares annoucing the arrival of the legendary Astartes, such was the urgencey of their mission that even debarking by Thunder Hawks or Drop Pods was out of the question.
They were Angels of Death, the Emperor's rightious fury and they would decend apon the planet below like angry gods of war. This was a surgical strike straight to the heart of the Governor's palace from where they would establish a beach head to eradicate their foe.

The Governor's office was illuminated by a blinding white light that chilled the air, permafrost formed instantly over the ancient bookcases that lined the walls of the stately room that the light had touched.
The Governor stared in frightened disbelief as the light faded to reveal a circle of metal giants, Terminators of the Adeptus Astartes, their stormbolters raised they began scanning the room as they established their surroundings.
The giants strode forwards, the servos of their magnificent armour whined, great foot falls echoed around the chamber as they stomped forth to establis a perimenter at each of the four doors leading from the office.
The Governor, a skilled and passionate orator who had lead the planetary senate in debate countless times and who's very words had stirred millions of Imperial citizens, was for the first time in his life truely lost for words.

At the center of the circle stood a lone Astarte, his armour although similar in hue to those of his comrades was suprisingly spartan. The emblem on his single shoulderpad seemed to depict a round yellow sun but it was hard to tell from a single glance in the poor light of the room.
The Astarte stood before him like a mighty collosus, a legend of old both terrifying and awe inspiring. He was truely humbled by the Captain's presence.

"Forgive me Governor but there is little time for introductions," The Captain said as the Governor desperately tried not to wilt under the intense power of the giant's ice cold gaze "we intercepted your distress call and embarked with all haste!"
The Governor trembled as he attempted to reply. He stopped before the words could utter forth from his lips, his brow furrowed in bemusement.

"Dis...distress call?" He stammered.

"Yes, we received a distress call bound for holy Terra telling of a Xenos incursion. Although we are few in number we came as soon as we could!"

"I'm sorry...a distress call you say?" The governor repeated himself just to make certain what he was hearing was correct.

"Yes, it was bound for Terra via Astromican relay omega beta six three nine"

The rather puzzled Govenor retreated to his desk before perching his reading glasses on the end of his nose and began scanning through historical data backlogs.
"Ah, here we are," he exclaimed "it appears my predecessor dispatched an Administrium Adeptus Bioligicus Request form to the Agri-cultural Magos concerning an influx of a previously unseen xenos life form here on Vengist." he continued rather pleased with himself "The transmission is several centuries old, I'm afraid there has been a bit of a misunderstanding my leige." He smiled as he looked up from the scanner.

"What kind of xenos?" The Captain enquired.

The Governor tapped into key board and a single ray of light rose from the desk surface before blossoming into an image approximately eight inches high of an alien lifeform.

"THRONE!" The Captain exclaimed in horror "How big are these unholy terrors!"
The Governor paused before answering.

"Erm, it's a life sized image...they're called Ptera-Squirrels. They are quite cute actually, they feed mostly on insects that threaten our crops. My children keep one as a pet, they're perfectly harmless unless..."

"Unless?" The Governor's choice of words had peaked the Captain's interest.

"Well, unless they are threatened by natural predators in which case later generations will under go metamorphosis into vicious blood drinking carnivores...but that takes...well, decades."

"And where are these xenos located?"

"Well," The Governor continued "several kilometres to the north of the city beyond the valley known as the Hot Gates, about a million or so but they're mostly harmless." He smiled.

"SERGEANT!" The Captain bellowed "Contact the Battle Barge, I want all Thunder Hawks prepared for combat drop within the hour!"

"C...combat drop?" The Governor laughed nervously "Is that really neccessary?"

The Captain rested his knuckles on the table as he drew himself down to eye level with the Governor.

"Do you know what is written in the Holy Codex Astartes concerning foul Xenos?" He snarled as the table began to creak and strain under his enormous weight. The Governor stared blankly. "It is written...that the man who...no wait...never allow the...no wait a minute..." His eyes glazed over for a moment as he stared blankly ahead mumbling under his breath to himself "Well, it says Xenos are bad and must be destroyed!" he growled as he slammed his fist into the table splintering it's ornate laminate surface.
Standing upright he turned to walk away.

"What is it you are saying, you're going to attack the ptera-squirrels?" The Governor asked, not quite liking where this conversation was leading.

"We will bombard them from orbit, civillian collateral damage shouldn't be more than oh, sixty or seventy percent at most!" the Captain remarked casually.

"SIXTY OR SEVENTY PERCENT!" The Govennor screamed in disbelief.

"Hmm, perhaps you are right these could prove a worthy opponent for the Chapter a land based assault would only amount to a casulaty rate of five to one in our favour!"

"NO!" The Governor's face was turning a bright scarlet "I will NOT sanction this action, I will launch a protest with the Administratium!"

Maximus froze in midstep. The Administratium, feth! That could lead to an Inquisitional enquiry and then the Cosmic Space Knights (of doom) might be made to explain for losing those damn STC templates.

"I strictly forbid you to land an army on Vengist soil!"

"Very well," Maximus retorted "I shall do as you request but just one thing..."

"Yes my leige?" The Govenror replied.

"The journey has been long and ardous, might I ask that my personal guard of three hundred and I be allowed to stretch our legs here on your beautiful planet?"

"Of course, I shall provide you with a personal escort..."

"That will not be neccessary Governor!" Maximus interrupted politely "I thought my men might want to go for a brisk walk, say several kilometeres north of the city, to say...oh I don't know...the Hot Gates?"
With that he turned smiling to himself, his Terminators falling in behind him as he left the Govenor alone in his office and prepared for war.


Send in the Clones

Although the Supreme Grand Chapter Master's mission had succeeded in distracting the suspicions of the Adeptus Mechanicus he returned to find that Captain Vaan Damage had gone off on a campaign taking fully one third of the new clone Astartes with him to battle the Ptera-Squirrel invasion forces.
To make matters worse no news had been received of their progress since they made planet fall two days earlier. Fearing the worst he immediately mobilised the remainder of the chapter and set course for Vengist IV to support the heroic First Captain's men in their hour of need.


Even through the external grill and advanced breathing filters of his MkVII helm Brother-Sergeant Meatshield's augmented senses could pick out the individual scents of his surroundings. He could indentify his power armoured brothers by their individual musks. He could taste the faint metallic taint that hung in the air produced by the distant sprawling factories of Vengist City, carried by the prevailing winds.
He could distinguish the individual sounds of the forest mapping his surroundings in his mind's eye despite the suit's sophisticated augers and auspexes. More importantly he could sense his enemy.
Meatshield silently raised a clenched fist signalling for his squad to halt. Each brother tensed as they immediately scanned the forest for signs of xenos activity, each brother watching the back of the man next to him.
There had been no word from Captain Maximus Vaan Damage and his brave 300 since they had left for the Hot Gates.
Supreme Grand Chapter Master Benchpress had ordered the newly created clone tactical squads to begin sweeping the forests north of the city to locate them at their last known position.
The Techs had a theory that there may well be a type of Ptera-Squirrel they hadn't encountered before, an intelligent leader caste, a Brain-Squirrel that must be eliminated at all costs.
Sure, the Ptera-Squirrels hadn't mounted any form of offensive to suggest such a creature existed or displayed any form of activity other than scampering around the trees chasing each other's tails playfully.
But it was only a matter of time before they got organised and the war would begin in earnest.

The attack was sudden and unexpected. The attacker dropped from the trees above gliding on thin membranes that streched between it's limbs to land squarely on the face plate of Brother Deadmeat.
It clung to his visor briefly, staring him in the face curiously before scampering across his head and over his pack.
Unable to draw a bead on his assailant with his Plasma Cannon Deadmeat let out a squeal of anguish.
As one the squad turned and fired, the forest floor lit up with the blinding flash and roar of mass-reactive bolter shells impacting against Brother Deadmeat's armour. Then there was silence.

As the smoke cleared the squad advanced on the fallen form of their brother.
"Brother Deadmeat?... really sorry about that, are you ok?" Brother Token enquired sheepishly as he knelt next to his prone comrade and gentley prodded the marine with his index finger.
Deadmeat sat bolt up right. "YOU SHOT ME...YOU SHOT ME YOU FETHING JERKS!" He screamed almost hysterically. His armour was pitted, blackened and scarred by the bolt shells, great pits of ceramite had been torn into the suit. "THAT REALLY HURT...YOU...YOU DUMB JERKS!"

"Yeah...erm...well, sorry!" Token cringed "There was this xenos and it was sort of on your face..."

Brother-Sergeant Meatshield's raised his bolter "Anyone else hear that?" He interupted.

"Hear what?" Token said as he stood adopting a combat stance.

"That whirling hissing sound," he cocked his head slightly as if listening intently "I can taste something unnatural in the air, something tainted, something industrial."

"All I can taste is fething blood" Deadmeat muttered as he wrenched his battered helmet free and spat several teeth into the palm of his hand.

Meatshield's mind raced back to his intensive one week training course at Clone Acadamy several weeks previously. Being two weeks old and the eldest most experienced clone member of the squad Meatshield had been assigned as Sergeant.
But what was it he wasn't seeing here, what was it that whirled, hissed and produced chemical odours.

"Oh Throne..." He grimaced as he looked at Brother Deadmeat's Plasma pack, coolant gases venting from a ruptured hose.

"What?" Deadmeat said he rubbed his head smiling a toothless grin.

"Plasma reactor meltdown..."

"Oh...feth..." Deadmeat sighed.

The immediate forest was consumed by a brilliant blue ball of light. Trees and foliage were vapourised as the super heated gases of the Plasma Cannon erupted in critical mass. Then there was only darkness.

Being the furthest from Deadmeat's position when the reactor blew the Brother-Sergeant had been thrown clear of the explosion's epicenter to land deep into the forest.
As he lay on his side he became aware of the faintest sensation of a breeze blowing against his face through the shattered lenses of his visor.
Although he had no idea of how badly he'd been injured, his pounding head was a clear sign that he was still alive.
As his vison began to clear he saw it.
The Ptera-Squirrel approached in small bounding hops to stop right next to his face. Meatshield stared into it's two twinkling evil little eyes, his hearts pounding as it wrinkled it's tiny nose as if to sniff his visor.
Try as he might he couldn't move his arm to reach his bolt pistol sidearm.
It moved it's furry little face closer, then stopped.
Stood on it's two back leg's, it's tiny ears erect, it twiched it's head as it sniffed the air repeatedly.
The deafening crack of two trees spliting apart behind echoed across the forest as the large ceramite and admantium foot of Brother Hulk's dreadnought came crashing down squashing the xeno flat.
"Feth you, alien scum!" Meatshield laughed as he painfully rolled onto his front before using the venerable dreadnought's greave to haul himself to his feet.
There was little time for celebrations however.

"BROTHER-SERGEANT," Brother Hulk's voice boomed out over his external vox speakers "I'M READING MULTIPLE LIFE SIGNS ALL AROUND OUR POSITION, WE ARE SURROUNDED!"

"Throne!" Meatshield snarled unholstering his bolt pistol with fumbling fingers "It's a trap, we are truely undone!"

WIP Captain Maximus Vaan Damage

Vaan Damage is not only the Captain of the first company (which is almost third of the chapter) but also the source of genetic material for the clone army.
Vaan Damage's exploits are legendary amongst the ranks of CSK(od) albeit some what exaggerated. He is in truth completely deluded to the point where he wholeheartedly believes the stories that he sees even the smallest obstacle as a challenge that must be overcome no-matter the cost.
The Astartes of the Chapter revere him as the greatest living hero of their time and often compare his exploits to those of the Primarchs.
The USCS however think that he's a complete jerk who get's them killed on a regular basis.




WIP Command Squad

This is the command squad that will be accompanying Vaan Damage into battle.

Standard Bearer and Veteran Sergeant

Both are fairly WIP at the moment. The standard will depict the defeat of the Pan'Zee Craftworld at the hands of the CSK(od). They will both recieving the "Foe-Fether" pattern bolter upgrades.




Bruvva Grimtoof and Medic

Grimtoof may yet be remodeled but for the medic I'm going for the "Hmm, not sure I can fix this" pose. I'll be adding dismembered parts of a clone to the base later.

Bruvva Grimtoof
Something about Bruvva Grimtoof isn't quite...well...right. Like so much of the Chapter's history little is known of his origins but he turned up claimiing to be a lost member of the Chapter. Coincidently it was just about the same time as the CSK(od) departed from Armageddon.
He had his own set of power armour (which was suspiciously like Brother Redshirt's armour before he went behind a large rock on his own to check for energy readings and was never seen again) so they figured his story checked out.

Bruvva Grimtoof is a proxy marine. These are the models that players use to "represent" a marine when they don't have enough models. Rather than just use an Ork model I decided to give him a crude form of power armour so that he can pass himself off as a marine.




(Former) Emperor's Champion Large McHuge

Quite possibly the most tragic member of the CSK(od), back when the chapter thought they were Black Templar Successors Large McHuge had been selected to be the Emperor's Champion but now they are Dark Angel Successors he has been demoted to Company Champion.
McHuge constantly goes on about the time he slew a Carnifex much to the annoyance of the rest of the chapter. The truth was that it was infact already lay mortally wounded and he accidently stabbed it in the head when he tripped over his own cloak. That's not how he tells the story however...
The idea here is that he has snagged his claok on a bit of scrap and is desperately trying to free it as the battle rages all around him.
I still have to clean up the lower part of the cloak and add the sword stuck in the ground.

"GIVE ME ONE HUNDRED SPACE MARINES, FAILING THAT GIVE ME ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND SCREAMING WEASELS..."
Anon: Siege of Mudball III


+++Chapter Cross-Reference - The Screaming Weasels+++
+++Inquisitorial Clearance - What number am I thinking of?+++
+++Current Chapter Base: Classified...well...maybe not so much classified as sort of misplaced...I'm sure I wrote it down here somewhere...+++
+++This Transmission is based on a true story that my room mate Dave told me+++


Origins

During the time before the time of the complete destruction of their homeworld the Cosmic Space Knights (of doom) had decided that they were in fact Successors of the Black Templars.
Many of the Chapter's historians point out that this was due to trace elements in the sixth zygote that strongly suggested genetic markers that may have originated from the Primarch Rogal Dorn.
Other more liberal thinkers point out that this is just rubbish made up by the then Supreme Grand Chapter Master Stubble Largepecks to justify him getting his hands on a sporty new Land Raider Crusader.
Such liberal thinkers have long since found themselves assigned to be UCSS Rules Lawyers and accidently repeatedly run over by a Land Raider Crusader before being accidently shot in the back of the head whilst sleeping and dumped out an airlock.
Due to the relaxed recruiting standards at this time the CSK(od) Chapter ranks grew to an unimaginable and to be frank unmanageble size.
Such barbaric recruiting practices such as the trial of the thousand dagger cuts had long since been replaced by more entertaining trials such as the holy trial of fitting your fist into your mouth or the blessed trial of beer mat flipping.
After much debate and consultation of the chapter's most sacred artifact, the Emperor's Magic Eightball, it was finally decided that the Chapter should sire a number of Successors. The first of which would be the Screaming Weasels.



The Great Founding of The Screaming Weasels

The Chapter Council debated for many months as to the nature of their first true successors. What form of combat would they specialise in? Who would be worthy of leading them, forging them in battle untill the day when their name rang out across the very stars themselves carried by word of their great exploits? What aspects of war should be concidered when divining their heraldry and chapter icon, would they strike from the heavens above like the eagle or would they tear into their enemy mercilessly like the Lion?
These and many other questions that should have been concidered were thrown out the window after some of the brothers managed to vapourise the west wing of the monestry along with the Supreme Grand Chapter Master's newly constructed Land Raider Crusader during a drunken game of pin the melta bomb on the donkey. The trouble makers had to go!

And so the chapter council announced a great feast to be held on the planet of Spitball Prime in honour of the new founding. Word was spread throughout the chapter that the party would be held in shifts, the first one thousand would decend to the planet via drop pod and begin the celebrations to be later joined by successive waves of their brethren who had to remain behind to do some important stuff that the first wave clearly wouldn't be interested in.
The truth, however, was slightly more sinister. The first wave had been selected by the council from the the more...how shall we say?.."special" battle brothers. Those that had truely excelled at ineptitude, those brothers that found themselves out of their depth in a car park puddle, the ones that had been forced to wear mittens to stop them from hurting themselves.
Once the brothers had disembarked from the battle barges via drop pod heading for planetside the fleet left orbit and headed for the warp.



The Dropsite Masquerade

After making planet fall it was several hours before the betrayal became apparent and several hours more before one of the brothers found a note pinned to a single keg of beer:








And so the Screaming Weasels were formed, however, fate was to yet deal a cruel blow to the CSK(od). The destruction of their homeworld resulted in near total annihilation of the CSK(od) with over ninety percent of their chapter wiped out ensuring that no further successors would be created.

Chapter Icon

The Screaming Weasels traditon states that each brother is reponsible for maintaining his own armour, this includes painting his own squad markings and chapter icon onto the shoulder pads.
This has led to some degree of rivalry between brothers that can paint and those that can't. For example Brother Grissel Bigthumbs was woefully unskilled when it came to painting and resorted to using a crude stamp made from a potato dipped in white paint.
Brother Davinci Vangoff, however, was a master of the paint brush and spent hundreds of hours perfecting what can only be described as a "work of genius that made all those who gazed apon it weep tears of joy".
Brother Vangoff's tragic death was a great loss to the chapter and the circumstances of his demise still remain a mystery to this day. He was found dead in his quarters, stuffed in a locker having forcibly choked to death on several large potatoes dipped in white paint.

Chapter Colours

Brother Hans Slamdunk; Second Company



Veteran Sergeant Chuck Bigchest; Second Company

The Legacy of Brother Davinci Vangoff

Since the creation of their new Fortress-Monastery on Spitball II (formerly the Treehouse-Monastery) Brother Vangoff had been an exceptionally gifted pioneer of technology. After the creation of their chapter the battle brothers realised that they basically had the armour they were wearing and a keg of beer with which to work with. It is written that the heavens parted and a glorious ray of light sent by the Emperor himself guided the brother Vangoff to a hidden temple now know as the "Grand Repository of Knowledge and Stuff."
The truth is somewhat different, after a blazing arguement with Brother Bigthumbs, Vangoff stormed off into the desert only to fall down an abandoned mineshaft. When he came to he discovered that he had discovered a complete and intact STC system.
From here he created everything the chapter needed, always careful to ensure that he and he alone knew the correct codes to imput to create what was needed.
It was a golden era that came to an abrupt end with his untimely and mysterious death. The Techmarines laboured long and hard to try to get the machine that Vangoff claimed to have created to work. But no-matter how hard they tryed they couldn't get it right. It seemed that the secrets of the "Artificiers Creation Machine Engine" would be forever lost.
That was untill one of Vangoff's assistants stumbled across his secret journal that told of clues hidden throughout the Fortress-Monastery that would unlock the code of the great A.C.M.E.
After half and hour the techmarines gave up looking having realised that Vangoff was far too clever for his own good and now produce things by wildly stabbing at the keypad and hoping for the best. Whatever comes out the other end is claimed to be what the Techmarine intended to create in the first place.

The Legendary Plate Armour of Doom

It is said that before his untimely death Vangoff had begun work on upgrading the armour of the chapter and that he had created seven suits of power armour so wonderous that their very beauty would turn blows aside. This is probably a bit of an exaggeration and it's far more likely got something to do with the sophisiticated repulsor fields housed with the armour itself.
To date only one suit has been found and is traditionally worn by the Supreme Grand Chapter Master.


Chapter Organisation

The Screaming Weasels are divided into ten standard companies as laid down in the codex numbering one to ten. The First being the veteran company and the tenth being the Scout company.

Battlecry

"Not in the Face!"

Chapter Traits

Cut and Paste
Being a Successor of the CSK(od) the Chapter follows the example of their Progenitors for guidance in matters of organisation.
However, the Screaming Weasels have long since decided that all the aggrovation caused by organisational changes really aren't worth the effort.
Therefore some of the CSK(od) rules apply to the Screaming Weasels but in true codex style they are simply cut and paste with the term "CSK(od) being replaced by "The Screaming Weasels."
See And They Shall Have no Clue for an example.


And They Shall Have No Clue

The Screaming Weasels are notoriously bad at organisation of any kind. Many battles have been won simply because they have overrun enemy positions thinking they were retreating to their own lines Many times they have halted their retreat (Cross Reference: See Tactical Withdrawal) to bicker amongst themselves as to who had the Thunderhawk keys last and who's stupid idea was it to come here in the first plase?
The Screaming Weasels benefit from the And They Shall Know No Fear special rules.


The Legendary Armour of Vangoff

It is said that who ever wears this armour will be destined for greatness or at the very least look pretty darn cool. The armour is currently worn by Supreme Grand Chapter Master Lars Bigmuscles.

Special Rules

The armour is treated as Artificier Armour and incorporates an Iron Halo. As it is extremely rare only one suit may be taken in an army.

Recruitment Poster

The Greatest Disaster Since the Last Greatest Disaster!

Seeing as all the STC templates for their vehicles had been destroyed along with ninety percent of the Chapter itself they knew that should the Adeptus Mechanicus find out then they was bound to get in trouble.
It was decided that they would have to start from scratch creating vehicles of their own design that might pass for the originals from a distance...if you sort of squinted at them...through thick fog...well, maybe if you closed one eye completely and it was extremely dark or you were blind drunk.
So while the Chapter Master set about stalling the Magos of the Adeptus Mechanicus the rest of the Chapter set about creating new vehicles assisted by the Servitors and Chapter Serfs Union (who mysteriously never lost anyone in the destruction of their homeworld).



The "Fire Magnet" Pattern Predator

This is the first of the vehicles for the chapter. I'm starting off with the "Foe-Fether" pattern twin linked las-cannon for the turret and am scratchbuilding everything except the wheels and the tracks which I'm scrounging from my bits box.





The Fire Magnet pattern Predator is more unconventional looking than most being the brain child of Techmarine Biff Bulkhead.
Since they' lost their STCs they been forced to improvise. With all their Techmarines dead they've had to promote a few marines to the rank of Techmarine in order to continue making weapons and stuff. Unfortunately they're not very imaginative and despite what the others say the Techmarines have been hard at work and did not spend all their time sat around drinking beer before slapping something together at the last minute that was inspired by an empty beer can.
Besides, big guns are cool!

Reworking the Fire Magnet

This has been lurking in the depths of my attic for the last year or so and I finally dug it out today and will be =gin work on it once more.



I originally started to add the tracks but as you can see it's a bit beat up at the moment so will need reworking.
When finished this will be a Predator Annihilator armed with twin lascannons and heavy bolter sponsons around the main hull.
The CSK(od) Techmarines know just how bad the Clones are at actually hitting anything other than their own troops and so figure if the guns are bigger they're that bit closer to the enemy making the target easier to hit.

I've begun work on the Foe-Fether pattern bolters for the command squad but still need to clean up the join and smooth them out a little.



Here's a test model I made ages ago for the clones to give you a rough idea of what the finished effect should be. The idea is that rather than havea squad designation on their shoulder paldron they have a number.

Chapter Specialist 01: The Rules Lawyer


[size=7]The Rules Lawyer

Due to the other zealous and rather destructive nature of the Astartes members of the Chapter it was decided by the Union of Chapter Serfs and Servitors (UCSS) that it was in the best interests of the Chapter as a whole if they were regulated somewhat.
Numerous incidents involving massive destruction of private property and the untimely deaths of UCSS members were slowly bankrupting the chapter as compensation claims soared.
The Rules Lawyer is a Health and Safety Representative of the UCSS and is attached to either command squads or individual squads. By consulting the the holy tomb known as the Big Black Book it is their role to point out to the Astartes dangerous areas that may result in personal injury.
Rules Lawyers are required to wear bright yellow armour so that they may be seen at all times after several members were mysteriously run over by Land Raiders, knocked off cliffs or accidently shot in the back of the head at point blank range whilst sleeping then jettisoned out an airlock.
Needless to say Rules Lawyers aren't very popular with the Clones and their careers are often tragically short.

Special Rules

Risk Assessment (Note: This rule no-longer applies as Auspex no-longer exist but I left it in here as it makes me laugh)
The Rules Lawyer performs risk assessments of all surrounding terrain before the battle indicating areas that may result in a member of the chapter poking his eye out or otherwise injuring himself.
On the plus side they have been known to accidently flush out a squad of enemy infiltrators whilst laying down high visability hazard tape around dangerous ruins or holes.
Rules Lawyers count as an Auspex.

Safety Lecture
In the melee of hand to hand combat it is easy to forget just how dangerous close combat weapons really are.
Sharp edges can needlessly cause injury and unsterilised weapons can cause nasty blood infections.
During hand to hand combat the Rules Lawyer will lecture the enemy on the merits of health and safety pointing out that they really shouldn't be running with those power weapons and that six foot long talon could easily have someone's eye out if they are not careful.
Rules Lawyers count as a Combat Shield.

Wargear
Rules Lawyers can be taken by anyone who has access to the armoury. They cannot be targeted as they are wargear and are removed when the character dies. A Rules Lawyer costs 10/5pts.










I will be making more of these guys as "counts as" wargear for various characters or maybe even as wound markers as I have forty of the Lt Varren models I bought for a Guard army that never was to be.

Chaplain Clench Bigtorso

This an early shot of yet another character for the army that I've just begun work on. I'm going to go for a sinister look for the model and the Dark Angel bits were perfect for this.
I may need to do a flagellant style Reclusium squad to accompany him. I've also started the first tactical squad but it's nothing worth showing just yet.

Maximus Vaan Damage's Personal Assistants

This is an idea that I had when making the Rules Lawyer. So that I can include more Serfs, which are key to the background material of the CSK(od) I'm including some personal assistants. The idea is that these guys will be used as wound markers for Maximus and as he loses a wound I'll simply remove one of his aids.
Being assigned to Maximus as an assistant is to assigned a life of misery and suffering that few could dare to imagine. His endless demands and narcissistic ways are enough to make even the strongest willed individuals want to throw themselves in front of a rabid Carnifex.
As a result the asssistants will willingly throw themselves into the path of any incoming shots just to end the suffering. Maximus however sees this differently believing that the Serfs love him so much that they would gladly sacrifice their own lives to save him.
The Curse of the Absurd however cruelly makes sure that they survive the attacks no-matter what hits them. The other Serfs are so afraid that they will end up as a replacement Assistant that they will ensure the wounded assistants are patched up with bionics in time for them to wake up just in time for his next toe nail trimming session.
There will be two of these guys, each representing a wound with the last wound being Maximus himself. They will be in the same colours as the Rules Lawyer but ahve red armour instead of yellow.

Red Shirt Primus

+++Xenos Cross-Reference - Pan'Zee Craftworld+++
+++Inquisitorial Clearance - Blue...no wait...Yellow!!!+++
+++Current Homeworld: Craftworld Fleet+++
+++This Transmission is bought to you by the Inquisition and the number 3+++


TRANSCRIPT RECIEVED...PLAY BACK INITIATED...

Stardate 982.M41...just after lunch.

CSK (od) Strike Cruiser World Muncher establishes contact with previously unknown Eldar Exodite colony on Mudball III.
The following is a transcript of the first diplomatic mission.

1215Hrs: First Contact

GRAND POOBAH BRETT: We like totally welcome you to our like world space dudes.
CAPTAIN RIP SLAMDUNK: DIE XENOS SCUM!!!

***Transmission interrupted by sound of eratic bolter fire followed by dull thud of a decapitated xenos corpse hitting the ground***

GRAND POOBAH LANCE: DUDE!!! You like totally blew his head off!!! That was totally uncalled for!

1217Hrs: The first interstellar Pan'Zee war begins.



[B]The Pann-Zel Exodites

In the year 981.M29 a navigator called Durlan Ocellati discovered by chance a route through to a previously inaccessible region of space known as the Wheel of Fire.
This region of space had remained isolated and had long since been cut off from the rest of mankind.
Since the fall of their kind the Exodites of the Pann-Zel lived in harmony on the world of Mu-Baal. They had become seperated from horrors of a war-torn universe by the hostile warp storms that had engulfed the region long ago.
Over the millenia they had prospered and although they had reverted to a simpler existance they had preserved and maintained their technological heritage of their pre-Fall civilisation.
Eons of isolation had allowed them to hone their abilities and create new paths to follow of enlightenment free of bloodshed, creating a near perfect state of nirvana where Eldar and nature existed almost as one.[/B]


The Curse of the Absurd
It was claimed by Captain Slamdunk that it had been his intention all along to traverse the Wheel of Fire in order to assist the Space Wolves in their five year crusade to eradicate the xenos threat in the region and restore the worlds of man to the embrace of the Imperium (Cross-Ref: The Wolf Time).
The truth however was that he'd put his coffee mug down on the star charts before passing them to the navigator.
The Navigator interpretated the ring left by the mug as a course alteration that resulted in the CSK(od) inadvertantly traversing the recently charted area of space known as the Wheel of Fire.
As they emerged from warp space dangerously close to the planet of Mu-Baal the Curse of the Absurd stretched out across the expanse of space.
It's mischievous powers amplified a hundred fold by the crystaline world spirit the influence of Lok'il spread across the planet's surface warping the entire Exodite civilisation and damning them to suffer the curse for all time.
The Pann-Zel race was warped by the dark powers in a split second, forever to be known as the Pan'Zee.

Maximus Vaan Damage

Maximus rose quickly through the ranks of the CSK(od) distinguishing himself in battle on countless occations. His exploits are a thing of legend and he could always be found in the fiercest fighting often dragging a wounded comrade to safety or remaining behind to hold off hordes of fearsome xenos single handly.
As the Chapter's greatest hero he was selected to become the genetic template for the newly created Clone army. It was after this time that something about him seemed somewhat...well...different.
In the past he had lead his troops personally into battle, his strategies were bold and daring, his intellect being able to match any of the the great heroes of the Astartes. But now he has adopted a much more cautious approach to warfare, deploying wave after wave of troops, often sacrificing hundreds of his men before even setting foot on a battlefield.
It is widely believed amongst the Serfs and Servitors that Maximus was in fact killed by one of his clones who then took his place, but any who voice such opinions have found themselves assigned to the Rules Lawyers and suffered mysterious deaths not long afterwards.

Since his appointment to Captain of the first company Maximus has since lead the Astartes of the CSK(od) to victory on nearly one occasion. The first company of the CSK(od) is unique amongst the Chapters of the Imperium being that it is made up of his personal guard of three hundred Astartes, a core of loyal battle brothers that he would heroically and selflessly sacrifice in order to get pretty darn close to completing an objective.
During the most recent conflict Vaan Damage fearlessly lead his personal Clone guard to the planet surface of Vengist IV to battle the terrible Petra-Squirrels. After several minutes he was urgently recalled to the battle barge to be fitted with his new golden artificier armour to mark the begining of the campaign. However his personal guard fought on valiantly in the name of the Imperium whilst suffering horrenedous casualites at the hands of the tiny terrors.
Although adored by his men the Chapter Serfs and Servitors think he's a bit of a jerk.





Personal Heraldy incorporating the Crux Terminatus



Captain Vaan Damage and Supreme Grand Chapter Master Slab Benchpress.

The Carnival of the Absurd

For what seemed an eternity the lifeless body of Captain Vaan Damage drifted through the frozen void of space. His features permanently frozen in an expression of shock as in his last moments of life the realisation of the betrayal of one of his sons became evident to him.

Days earlier he had been called to the Supreme Grand Chapter Master's quarters to discuss plans to deceive the Adeptus Mechanicus into thinking that the Chapter's STC templates were intact.
As he entered the door sealed shut behind him, even with his superhuman senses he was slow to react to the danger.
One of the clones had changed the numbering on the corridor plates to trick him into thinking that he was on a different deck. He looked around slightly bemused as it dawned on him he was in fact stood in an airlock.
As he turned to face the inner door a face appeared at the port hole, but not just any face his face.
Even for a clone the likeness was uncanny, it was like staring at his own reflection. Before he could utter a single word of protest a malicious grin spread across the clone's face as he gave a little wave to Maximus.
The deafening roar of the external doors opening was the last thing Maximus heard as he was jettersoned into space. For scant seconds he clawed imputently at open space, the last thing he was aware of was the now distant Battle Barge shimmering before disappearing into the immaterium.
Then there was only darkness.

"AwaKeN mY sOn..." The voice rang out, the horrific sound of hysterical laughter echoing in it's wake "...My cHampIon..."

"Who..Who are you?" Maximus struggled to form the words through dry and frozen lips, his voice painful and rasping.

"I aM youR gOD anD MaSTer...I aM the LudriCrus and ThE INsane...I aM YOUr SAviOUr anD YOUr DAMnaTIon..."

Maximus's head swam drunkenly as he struggled to comprehend what was happening to him.

"Am I dead?" He whispered hoarsely.

The deafening roar of laughter sent him cartwheeling backwards through space.

"No MY soN...FOr yOU thE JoURNey is jUSt BeGINNINg..." And with that the voice was gone.

Maximus hung limply, his body sapped of it's superhuman strength he clung to what little life had been returned to him.
In the distance a pin prick of light flared and was gone. As he drifted in and out of awareness he glimpsed what looked like a vessel approaching, a dark silloutte that engulfed the stars as it passed over his shattered body.
Searchlights beamed out as they drove away the darkness that engulfed him, settling over his form as he finally succumb to unconciousness.

Rather than have two random logs floating about here on the Ammobunker I'm giving you two for the price of one!

The Mantis Warriors

The Mantis Warriors are possibley one of my all time favourite Chapters. For those that are not in the know they were involved in the Badab war and chose the wrong side. For their part in the rebellion they were forced to forfeit their homeworld and embark on a hundred year penitence crusade, a crusade that in the current timeline is drawing to an end.

A while back I developed a thing for Battle of Macragge snap-fix marines and tried to put together an army of Space Sharks but soon lost interest. I recently came across these marines and decided that I'd have a bash at remaking them in the image of the Mantis Warriors. Most of my marines have been predominantly dark colours in the past and I've been itching to try something more colourful for a change of pace so redoing my Mantis Warriors army seemed like an ideal solution.

The impression I've always gotten with Macragge marines is that people don't really like them. Maybe it's the limited pose, the smaller size but generally they seem to be a last resort in players armies which is a shame as they are really nice minis once you play around with them a bit and dirt cheap.
I've heard rumours that the new 40k starter set will include marines that are rescupts of these guys in which case I'll definately be getting some of them to use along with the snap-fix dreadnaught and terminators to accompany the force.

WIP Third Company Captain

This guy is made from the missle launcher marine from the BoM set. I removed the head and missiles replacing the helmet with one of the bare heads from the Dark Angels sprue and removed the hair. The sword is from a terminator sergeant and the storm bolter from commander sprue.



WIP First Squad

I've got around fourty or fifty marines lying about in my bits box, twenty or so of which have had their helmets replaced with the Forge World Mk IV helmets. I'll be painting these with Goblin Green like these test minis below.
If I can get the incentive to get an army done of these guys then I'm aiming for an all snap-fix force, except the vehicles of course (I seriously want a Vindicator!).
The aim is to get together a table top standard army so that I can start gaming again in time for 5th ed.
I'm limiting the pallette to five main colours, green, yellow, black, gold and red. The squad markings will be in yellow.
I'm sticking to a desert base colour to make the green pop out.



Test Standard BoM Marine

This just a basic BoM marine with very little conversion work. It's the flamer guy with a simple weapon swop, simpley because as far the models go this is the best tactical in the set and the one I'm most reluctant to convert.
This guy is just a test to see if they will fit in with the other Mk IV conversions.

Some serious speed painting later and the fourth member of the force is underway. I've got to clean him up a little on the shoulder pad but I'm confident that I can knock these guys out fairly quickly now, still have to do various bits on all of them like add icons, battle damage, finish their bolters, detailing and stuff.

HELL YES.

*with my mod powers I can move this later if you'd like Doghouse, but somebody needed to say it. In fact,

HELL YES, again.

-scrubout

This guy is a bit of an experiment not only at speed painting and converting but also whether or not a squad of BfM marines will work as part of the army.
I've carried the theme of the BfM marines over by having the sergeatn face forward. I prefer the side on approach myself as it makes the models look like they are actually fighting in battle and look less static.
I may convert a few helmets for this second squad but I don't want to get too side tracked.
I've just basecoated the base snakebite leather and will be going over this with brown ink before drybrushing begins. I've still got all the metallics to do on the marine just yet though and some tidying up and detailing.







Here is a shot of the rest of the first squad undercoated to show that I am working hard on this army and not getting distracted.
I'd love to do an army of just these guys but they are a little more time consuming to make.
The third squad will be made the same way though or maybe a mix of both styles.

The Tranquility Campaign Veterans

Other than the image in the Warhammer 40,000 compendium there isn't any information surrounding the campaign itself, it was just used as an alternative colour scheme for the Mantis Warriors.
This gives me a bit of room to play around with the concept a little in regards to making a veteran squad for the army. The idea that I'm working on at the moment is that the Badab Wars are begining to take shape during the final days of the Tranquility campaign. The yet un-named Captain has been withdrawn from the conflict early leaving elements of the third company to mop up remaining resistance on Tranquility. I'm thinking of Orks being the most likely bad guys of the campaign itself.
When the remaining troops return to the homeworld they are informed of a plot by the Adeptus Mechanicus to undermine the independance of the Astartes. This is of course a lie and the chapter has been tricked into siding with the rebels.
As the war is now underway the veterans don't have time to ceremonially repaint their armour and enter battle wearing the campaign colours.

The Original Colour Scheme



This is the original colour scheme of the campaign. The idea back in the rogue trader days was that camoflage was an option for the Astartes and their are examples for both vehicles and Astartes variant colour schemes of several chapters.
Todays take on the Astartes is somewhat different however, back in the day they weren't the pious warriors that we know and love today.
So expanding on this theme I'm going to attempt a reverse colour scheme for the Tranquility veterans, so the green will become yellow and the yellow will become green if you see what I mean.
More recent examples of a chapters doing this can be seen in the Land Raider article in White Dwarf where the Imperial Fists reverse the colours of a Land Raider for fighting on a night world and the Raptors changing their colours to green for jungle fighting.
The key here is going to be to maintain the colours without making them look out of place.

Here is the first finished Mantis Warrior. He's not great but like I say I'm aiming for a table top standard rather than fine art.
I've weathered the armour and added damage to grubby him up using simple wash techniques to allow me to get the job done quickly.
I've also decided that the best way to go with these guys is to have a mix of standard and converted models in the same squad to allow the BfM marines to blend in.
I could have probably done a much better job if I'd taken my time but I need an army so I can get some games in.

Glad to see you back in full form doghouse! i really like the mantis warriors scheme a lot better than the sharks you'd done before

What did you use for the powerfist on the Red Shirt Primus?

Thanks mate, the powerfist is a plastic from the 2nd edition eldar range. This colour scheme is a lot more fun to paint as well, the sharks were pretty dark and required alot of laying but these are pretty easy to do as you can see below. :)

Speed painting Doghouse style...

I'm using a technique that I developed years ago when I actually used to get armies finished. I drybrushed the basecoat over a black undercoat and then moved onto the next one and so on. By the time the last one was done the first model was dry so I went over it with a second dry brush to build the basecoat up further. I did this for two reasons, firstly it picks out all the details so I can see what I'm doing and secondly it acts like a foundation so that I can apply the proper basecoat to the model easily over the black.
Next I applied the proper base coat and then finally cleaned up the black areas with a fresh coat of black paint.



Here's the guys nearest to completion and a shot of the troops in various stages.

The second marine is now done and the rest of the squad is well underway, looks like I may actually finish an army after all. :D





This is an old raider that I've dug out and am reworking for the army. I thought I could get away with just repainting it but as I've been applying the basecoat I've noticed a number of flaws and shoddy work that needs repatching.
I'll be going over the hull cleaning up the damaged areas, straightening others and generally revamping the model befoer continuing the paint work.
It was originally intended to get away from the newer sci-fi look that the marines got when they re-did the range, the sponsons are from an old WW I tank kit.
I'm pretty sure that I can salvage the model with some GS work.

WIP Mk I Dreadnought

This will either be for the Mantis Warriors if it turns out ok or the CSK(od) for Brother Hulk if it looks too big.

The legs I'm going to add won't add that much height but something is nagging at me that it's wrong.
It's still looking extremely rough at the moment but I've started adding the armature for the head. What I'm hoping to do is make a hybrid of the original dread and the Mk II power armoured suit.
I've also added a rough armature for the arm which I will be added armour to so that it resembles the original arm as closely as possible complete with duel bolters on the back of the fist. For the weapon arm I'm going to make a twin lascannon in the style of the original and I also want to incorporate elements of the heresy artwork version into the design.
There is going to be a lot of GS work on this guy, where the arms meet the shoulder will be rounded off like the original as will the hip joints.
The head itself is going to be completed first before I do any more as it is the focal point of the piece and if it doesn't work I wouldn't have wasted too much time.

Oh my - Mantis Warriors! Love 'em!!!!!

You found you mojo all of a sudden? ;)

Doghouse finally finds his way to the AB! I followed the CSK(od) on the other site, but thanks the lord he's here!

More CSK(od)!!

Oh, and the Matis Warriors are cool as well!

I;d like to expan on Scrubout's last post:

F*** YEAH! :D
:P

Great to see the world's best marine army back again; looking forward to seeing the fluff about the panzee war expand! :)

Hail the mighty return of doghouse. Let the CSK(oD) continue their crusade.

" EVERYONE REMEBER WHERE WE PARKED!!! "

Good to have you back doghouse, mantis warriors are looking awesome.

Nice to see you rebounding mate, a nice unique scheme, I think the forum has got a good spread of chapters at the minute, so its great to add to that

Re-reading the csk(od) background still amuses me ...

They're awesome in every way ... if you finished them and took them to a tournament, they'd win best army every time. ;)

Nice mantis warriors, they look awesome ... but we want more CSK(od)! :ph43r:

Thanks for the kind words guys! :)

MutantMaggot: Don't worry mate there's plenty of CSK(od) stuff in the pipeline, I've got to get 2000pts worth together to battle Dave's skellies at some point. :)

I've got some more work done on the head and it's starting to take shape. As you can see I'm going for the general shape of the old version but with the Mk II elements in an attempt to make the design a bit more credible by todays standards. I tried the original style eyes but it looked too comical so decided for a vision slit to tie it in with the modern version.
Still got a whole heap of detailing to be done yet but it's getting there. :)

I remember these from warseer :)

ok, just read the entire thread, and wow mate!

That fluff is awesome, I was laughing all through it, good stuff.

The modelling is fantastic as well, I love how the models fit with the fluff perfectly!

The Mantis Warriors are looking good mate.

I'm holding you to that one mate! That will be an awsome battle and I then expect to see the appropriate fluff written into the CSK(od) codex!!!

Thanks guys! :)

Digits: You're on mate! We'll have to do a battle report and I'll knock together a whole new chapter of fluff for the CSK(od) based on the outcome of the game.

I've still got quite a bit of catching up to do yet though modelwise. ;)

If you want any pics of the old Cat faced RT dread let me know. I have two awaiting an undercoat.

Thanks for the offer mate, greatly appreciated but I've got one sat right here. :)

Update

Reworking Bruvva Grimtoof part deux

After much debate I've decided to try and rescue the original model rather than resculpt him to save time.
I've started apllying washes, cleaned up the reds and started his unique chapter icon. All going well I'll return to the model and redo him but I need to get on with the army.



Next up will be Brother Sergeant Meatshield and after a long search through all my "safe places to put stuff so they don't get lost" Chief Librarian Spandex the Grey!