Fluff!

I've always been a huge fan of character and background develop, I've written a fair few stories and it was this that always made the hobby come alive to me. I've lost all the previous fluff that I'd created, so I've started again.

First up though, I went through the GW website and made a list of my favourite models. I photoshopped them together and thought they'd make a pretty cool Inquisitor warband!

So, if I can't find my Inquisitor models.. Im thinking Inq28 is the way to go!

Ive scribbled some fluff too:

Carter Retinue

Captain / Inquistor Nathan Carter

28mm model: Kal Jerico / 54mm model: Kal Jerico

Wargear: 2 pistols, sabre, frag grenades, carapace armour

Ex-Imperial guard Kasrkin/Strorm Trooper Sergeant, turned smuggler and treasure hunter (he learnt how to fly). Recruited by Veredus into his warband as pilot and mercenary, but trained him as his protégé. Comes from the planet of Sierra VII. Former Sierran Kasrkin.

- pistols? 2 laspistol? Laspistol and stub pistol? Two stub pistols?

Aun’ui Kais

28mm model: Aun’Shi / 54mm model: Fire Warrior

Wargear: Honour blade (his father’s), pulse carbine, pulse grenades

Nate’s first mate. Was a low rank ethereal who trained with fire warriors before setting out alone to explore the galaxy as a nomad. Owes a life debt to Nate, who saved his life. Became first mate, trusted ally and best friend to Nate. Broke Tau creed by not following the Greater Good and not sacrificing his Fire Warriors in exchange for a victory/objective. Disobeyed orders for suicide mission? Either way, was exiled. Extremely agile and nimble – parkour etc.

Inquisitor Aiden Veredus

28mm model: Primaris Psyker / 54mm model: Eisenhorn

Wargear: Pistol (bolt? Auto?), power sword, force staff, carapace armour

Nate’s old mentor and well respected Inquisitor. Old and extremely wise. Inspiration: Obi Wan Kenobi. Retired after giving Nate his rosette, but was brought back by Nate to act as advisor and aide in his team. Powefrul psyker.

1^st Lieutenant Miranda ‘Mira’ Kain (Myra?)

28mm model: Female Ghost / 54mm model: ??

A Lieutenant of the Special Recon Unit (The Ghosts) of the 171^st Sierran Rangers 1^st Vanguard Company. She is an excellent marksman and specialises in covert operations, stealth, reconnaissance, espionage, guierrilla warfare and behind enemy lines insetion. She has light armour, black fatigues and a cameoline cloak. She is armed with a lasgun (with tactical sight), laspistol and frag grenades.

Commissar

28mm model: Commissar / 54mm model: Arbiter Judge

Arrests Nate and Kais before being thrown into an adventure with them and subsequently joining them.

Sniper

28mm model: Cadian sniper / 54mm model :??

Part of a Sierran special forces team that was forced to partner up with Nate against a mutual foe. The entire team was killed, so with no one to report to, no where to go and no exfil transport (hes assumed dead), he joined Nate who offered him a ride and a job.

Assassin

28mm model: Death cult assassin / 54mm model Severina

Extremely fast and agile, parkour and cat like moves.

Beck – Jayne Becker

28mm mode: Harker / 54mm model: ??

Wargear: heavy bolter, sword

Ex-catachan support trooper turned mercenary. Was part of a rival merc team, but Nate noticed his use and out paid him. Inspiration; Jayne Cobb. Deadly loyal as long as he gets paid. Tall beast of a man. Faux hawk. Black??

Jokaero

28mm model: Jokaero / 54mm model: ??

Nate finds it as a baby, and so earnt its trust. How do they communicate? Acts as mechanic and engineer.

The Cutter: Travel in a Valkyrie (Cadian green)

Often recruit a 10man Sierran Rangers Kaskrin squad or 10 man Deathwatch Kill Team

As you can probably see, Carter is based on the Han Solo / Indiana Jones / Malcolm Reynolds type, who's become an Inquisitor. He uses the Kal Jerico model because it was always my favourite GW model (both 28mm and 54mm!). The character himself is based on my (non40K) character, Nathan Carter, who fits into the adventurer genre (inspirations being Indiana Jones and Nathan Drake)... so I've ported him across into the 40K universe, and using my old Veredus character, I've made Nate an Inquisitor.


I've started making ideas for the other members too.


The Psyker model reminded me of the 54mm Eisenhorn (best. mini. ever.), which was the basis of my old Veredus character (I'll try and snap a pic one day!). I had the idea that since Veredus (in his prime) was my character when i was in my early teens, that since I've now grown up, then so has he. He's become an Obi-Wan Kenobi type mentor to his protege. I thought that was kinda cool....


I've always loved the Aun'Shi model (though I ended up butchering him for a conversion), so have decided to get him back. I thought he'd make a cool partner in crime for Nate (kind of the Chewy to Nate's Solo.. if you follow).


The other models I think are just really cool for various reasons, and are either the 28mm version of models I used to have in 54mm (death cult assassin I'm looking at you!) or are just cool new sculpts that I never had the chance to own.

On the train yesterday I fleshed out the backgrounds of Nate and Veredus some more...


Inquisitor Nathan Carter

Carries two stub pistols

Also a sabre. Silencer for stub pistol.

Although good in CQB, he prefers marksmanship. He and his old master clash over this. He claims that hand to hand combat is "an ancient artform that has no place in modern combat". He is an outstanding shot, as he was formerly a gunslinger.

Is very laid back and easy going, unlike his fellow inquisitors - mainly due to his life as a rogue.

Wears a brown coat over khakis and a cream top. Brown boots. Blue trousers??

Ordo ArteFactum?

Born on Sierra VII. Former Sierran Black Team. Left - why? Discharge?

Became smuggler and treasure hunter, was very sought after. 

Met and partnered with Kais. Became good friends and realised that the xenophobia of the imperium was so necessary.

Eventually hired by Inquisitor Aiden Veredus as a pilot and for his skill in combat (Kais came too)

Became Veredus' apprentice, eventually promoted to full Inquisitor when Veredus retired. Though recruited Veredus back as advisor, sage and psyker.

Specialises in hunting ancient artefacts, either useful to imperium or corrupt by chaos (for destruction)

Viewed by many as a radical due to his association with Kais. Nate believes that the best way for peace is to ally with friendly Xenos, not to purge and kill them all. It's unrealistic to wipe the universe of all alien races, it will never happen and so mankind will be in a constant state of war. However to ally with (relatively peaceful or similarly idealised) races such as Tau and Elder, a Republic can be formed. However he has no problem killing... unfriendly Xenos.

Believes that chaos is the greatest threat to humanity, and it is up to all races to unite against it and destroy it once and for all.

When dealing with puritans he hides these views and says Kais is his prisoner (much to Kais' chagrin)

Ordo Malleus (?) though he roams?

Has a very strong set of morals when it comes to human life, though otherwise he argues that (except for chaos) "there is no black or white... Only grey"

Very handsome, witty and charming. Gets by on his wits and charm.

Is very young for an inquisitor - only 34 and was recruited into retinue age 28. Left the guard at 22 (made it to rank of Sergeant)

Travels in a smuggler ship, which contains a (dark green) Valkyrie in the hold.

Inquisitor Aiden Veredus

Old inquisitor of the Ordo Malleus

120 years old? - age rejuvenation 

Very little hair, almost bald 

Like obj wan kenobi - very wise and fair, genuinely trying to do good. 

Is a powerful psyker, which is channelled through his force staff. Also carries a stub pistol, though considers it crude and uncivilised. Prefers to use his power sword on combat, despite being a good marksman.

Wear a long brown greatcoat over beige robes

Believes in destroying chaos, claims that Xenos "aren't his concern"

Ummatched with a sword in combat, despite his age.

I've also started making some fluff for my Imperial Guard and Space Marine armies. I wanted the Guard, Marines and Inquisitor war band to all have ties to one another, so decided that they were all from the same System / group of planets known as 'Sierra'

171^st Sierran Rangers, 1^st Vanguard Company (171 SR: 1 VG)

The 171 hail from the planet Sierra VII, in the Seirran System. Sierra VII lush planet, while not a hive world, it does contain a few Hive cities, which are surrounded my lush fields and forests, as well as rocky mountains. The regiments that are raised from Sierra VII are highly trained soldiers who have a natural ability in the wild, with excellent survival and hunting skills – hence the regimental name ‘The Rangers’.

The 171 are result of generations of knowledge and skill, and represent the crème of the crop of what Sierra VII has to offer. The 171, 1^st Vanguard Company was created as an agile, tactical special operations force focused on covert warfare, guerrilla tactics, deep insertion etc. However they are also capable of leading an assault with supplemental companies. The 1^st Company are intended to be a Vanguard unit, scouting ahead of the major formations of the 171 in order to fully brief the rest of the regiment. They also operate behind enemy lines and act as reconnaissance units.

The 171 1^st Company has two particular specialised units;

-       The Special Operations Units – colloquially known as the Black Team – who are the counterparts of the Cadian Kasrkin, ie, highly trained commandos with tougher armour and more specialised weaponry than they regular Shock Troops of the 171.

-       The Special Recon Units – colloquially known as the Ghosts – who are masters of stealth and reconnaissance. They use cameoline cloaks to help blend in, and are lightly armoured for maximum maneuverability. They are an extremely agile unit, and are also able to blend in to civilian populations in order to carry out espionage duties. They are also excellent marksman, and are usually used as scouts for the 171 1^st Company.

The company commander is Colonel Edward Sheppard, a fierce but loyal warrior who – unlike many of his rank – forms close ties to his men, and as such earns their eternal respect. Sheppard is supported by Captain Malcolm Buck of the Black Team and Captain Scott MacMillan of the Ghosts. 

As you can see I've also incorporated my Gaunt's Ghosts models into the mix, because I think they're really cool.

The Space Marines will be from the same sector, and so far all I have for them is that their chapter name is Spartans... or Sons of Sparta.. or Spartanmarines... or something like that. I want to go for a Halo feel for them, with hints to 300 (Im also a classical history student... I know, photography and classical civilisations is a weird mix).

Since I want the Guard and Marines to be similar, I want to go for similar colour schemes and styles.. and I want them to be realistic (bright blue soliders? Please. Dark green all the way!)

I looked up some model painter things online and came up with these:

Although the greens look different, they're both supposed to be Catachan Green (or whatever it is now) with black under layers and Red Gore details. The eyes of the Marines are yellow as a nod to the visor colour of Master Chief from Halo.

As well as the models at the very top, there are two more than I really want as well. 

The first is the Imperial Guard Valkyrie. As I said in an earlier post, I love it, and i REALLY want it. My student loan comes in tomorrow and its the fist thing I'll be buying! Amazing model!

LOOK AT IT!

I like the new flying bases too... the base of the stand is just asking for a diorama of some kind. Im thinking of using my injured Cadian (the old metal model from the command squad.. i think) and maybe something else. Could be cool!

It also really reminds me of the Pelican from Halo, which is possibly the coolest thing ever. Hmm.. maybe theres an idea there somewhere... I dunno.

I'll use the Valkyrie for my guard army, but also as the personal transport for Inquisitor Veredus and his gang (the idea being that it can fit into the cargo hold of his ship.. which is a smuggler ship - nice and covert!). The fluff will be that he's requisitioned it from the 171st Sierran Rangers.

I love that model, love it.

I also want to get the Commissar Lord, as I think he'll make a cool Colonel for my Guard army (as the current one looks a bit naff)

I think it a really cool model with awesome details and fantastic sculpting. He'll also be my first foray into finecast! (I seem to remember him being metal just before I quit :( sucks...)

Oh, speaking of metal. In my last post I mentioned that I like metal because of the weight.. well looking at my Marines I've realised that I've glued 2 pence coins under their bases, and it gives the plastic models a much nicer weight and feel, so I'm going to try and do that for the rest of my plastic models too!

Ok, enough ranting. Im going to go glue and strip models. I'll post an update soon.

UPDATE: just spent the last hour trying to get a bit of clear plastic out of my eye. Not fun.