Tell me about the background of your army

[He who shall not be named]

Like the name suggests just give some fluff for your army. You could tie in some epic battles in which you snatched victory out of the jaws of defeat. Or talk about how that one squad turned the tide of battle with that one act. The purpose is to mainly give inspiration to those who want to make a story for their army but don't have a lot of ideas (like me).

Don't forget to have fun with it. (yes i used a smiley)

[JxKxR]

Girlys love smiley faces!
Awesome idea! When I get off of work and have some more time I'm going to tell you of my armies!

by the way you forgot a G.

[Whoop!]

I play the Storm Wolves, an army composed mostly of members of Erik Morkai's Great Company. For those of you not familiar this company excels at scouting. There are also four priests that run this great army, but they come from the Great Wolfs Company.

The Mighty Tempest leads as the most elder and powerful psycher. Villam The Black and Irnest the Wise are also Rune priests. Irnest The Wise is the estranged brother of Erik Morkai, and due to his presence his brother refused to take part in this action.

The Gunslinger is a wolf priest, and teaches the blood clause that he leads the way of the gun. These guys are modeled as two-fisted shooters, and the toll unit size with the wolf guard and the wolf priest is 17. CHARGE!

the Army itself is complete infantry, no vehicles. We utilize a brutal staying power and 99 models at 2500 points. Wolf guard is spread out between the 10 other units.

My favorite unit in this Army is a five-man Wolf scout pack led by a wolf guard with thunder Hammer. Behind enemy lines, and I run two units of them. Always quick to get stuck in, ssquishy or crunchy no matter!

need more info? Read the[URL="http://grayhartswarclown.blogspot.com/"] blog[/URL] I recently started

[JxKxR]

My Chaos Space Marine army I call "The Hounds of Infinite Hate" and they are led by Quintus Lentulus Batiatus a sorcerer of Tzeentch and Crixus a disciple of Khorne. They are the recruiters of the Chaos Gods and once a Chaos God picks an Astarte they want turned Batiatus and Crixus do everything they can to turn the warrior to the dark side, Batiatus' specialty. They start full fledged wars to bring the warrior that the Gods have picked to them and once they meet on the battle field then they are taken and then the Hounds vanish from the world often leaving the defenders wondering why they even bothered to start such a fight. They take them to a massive prison on their home world that they simply call The Pit. A giant hole in the world miles wide and deeper than the oceans, and at the bottom the galaxies most tortured souls.
There their bodies are broken and their faith shattered. Batiatus is especially gifted at chipping away an Astarte’s faith in the Emperor until he breaks, but not all will turn and that is when Batiatus turns to Crixus to cut down the warrior who would not turn and offer his skull to the Blood God. Once a warrior finally does break he must prove his loyalty to the dark gods and pass THE TEST. A test to prove that he no longer holds ties to his original Legion and that he is truly lost to the dark gods will. They are brought before Batiatus and Crixus and before them they must kill one of their brothers and consume his flesh. Once this is done they are bound to the Hounds of Infinite Hate for all time.

[gb030104]

Back in the day a squad of Iron Warriors were quietly guarding a conquered, but deeply religious, world when a visiting Word Bearer took it upon himself to spread the word.
This started a version of the Imperial Cult on the planet, where the people took to the Emperor as their new god.
With a peaceable populace the garrisoned, and bored, Iron Warriors started fraternizing with the locals and became involved with the new local religion (using it to strengthen the locals' loyalty to the Empire).
By the time of the Istvaan incident these marines were more loyal to the Emperor than their own primarch, even worshiping him.
Post heresy they could not return to the Empire (they would be executed as traitors) and weren't going to side with their cursed brethren, so departed (along with a proportion of the populace) to a world outside of the Empire to rebuild the legion.
Not having many resources they had to resort to pillaging deserted battlefields to scavenge equipment, and even gene-seeds from the fallen (both loyal and traitor)
Now the Emperor's Forth Legion is returning to the Empire to openly fight for their god again

[Psychosplodge]

It used to exist, then they started changing everything quicker than I could paint, and every change rendered some things illegal, meaning more time I didn't have, so it became relegated to the cabinet, and the background sank into the mists of oblivion....

[BrokenWing]

Oh boy, where do I start?

Let's take a trip down loyalist lane, since they actually have a functional codex (or two).

The Sentinels Space Marines are a fairly new chapter created by enigmatic Lord Inquisitor Broken Wing (the name is *really* long story dating back to third edition). They were created in secrecy to take care of a task the Lord Inquisitor needed done by people he could trust. All of this is of course completely illegal. He initially used Ultramarines geneseed but began funneling increasingly diverse geneseed to the Chapter so that it now has a significant component comprised of Space Wolf and other Geneseeds.

He equipped their first Chapter Master (Caen) with a powerful relic (see: Apocalypse Legion Relic) and guided two former members of the Shadow Dragons Chapter (now a Chaos chapter) to joining the fledgling force. Legionnaire Scipio, a venerable Dreadnought from the Shadow Dragons has now long fought with the Sentinels, imparting his ancient wisdom and gun destroying ways on the emerging Dreadnoughts of the Chapter.

Fellow former Shadow Dragon and self exile Hadrian has now also fought with them for some time. He has extensive close combat training well beyond any of the other marines he fights with. He was once highly placed in the Shadow Dragons, but would not fall with them to Chaos and fled instead into self exile, where he learned new talents from the likes of Dark Eldar and a secret Cursed Founding chapter. He later joined with the Sentinels, where he refuses to accept rank and instead keeps watch over the Chapter's many Librarians for the smallest sign of Chaotic taint. Unlike Scipio who believes the Shadow Dragons will one day cast off the ways of Chaos, Hadrian has taken on the red and black colors of the Sentinels.

The Chapter itself is based out of the horrible ice world of Cocytus and organized into 10 Circles which operate much like Companies in other Chapters. Each circle consists of a powerful group of Librarians with a Master Librarian who leads the Circle much like a Company Commander. The Circles increase in power with their number, so that the 1st Circle is the youngest and consists mostly of scouts and the 10th Circle is the most powerful, lead by the most powerful Librarians of the Chapter and consisting mostly of Terminator armor wearing Tenth Circle Guard. The elite out of these wear ancient pre-heresy Terminator armor, recovered from the halls of a slain Chapter of marines and purified again for service in the Imperium.

The Chapter's Master is now Cocellian Constantinus and its most powerful Librarian and the Lord of the 10th is Carrion Mourn.

The Sentinels fought along side the Mortifactors at the fall of Posul where their first Chapter Master, Caen, gave his life so that the others might escape. Posul was ultimately over run by Tyranids, but not before it was first assaulted by the Chaos forces of the Legion of Shadow, led by the formerly loyalist Shadow Dragons. This turned out to be a ruse which drew both a might horde of Orks and, more importantly, a significant portion of a nearby Forge World's Titan Legion. Once the Titans had arrived and the Orks were thoroughly engaged the Chaos forces packed up and left, only to hit and ravage the Forge World, destroying its considerably weakened defenses and raiding its supply stores and Manufactorums.

The Ork horde attracted Tyranids from Hive Fleet Leviathan and Imperial forces were eventually forced to retreat. The Mortifactors made it onto their space bound Fortress Monestary and the Sentinels, who's heavy weapon toting 5th Circle took considerable loses, returned to Cocytus.

The Sentinels are a secretive bunch and their secrets are guarded by the Purifiers (who serve no particular Circle, but are drawn from all of them. And GW started using the name well after I did, so leave me alone). The Sentinels are willing to fight anyone to keep the secrets of their illegal founding and illegal geneseed diversity, as was made quite apparent when they came to blows with their allies The Mortifactors over a crashed supply ship which contained a Geneseed Databank.

To represent the power of the 10th Circle and its many suits of Terminator armor I use Codex Grey Knights. To represent the Purifiers I also use Codex Grey Knights (it's not my fault their Purifiers and Mine work exactly the same way).

To represent the 7th Circle I use Codex Space Wolves, along with several other Circles or combinations there of.

[Javin]

The New Wessex 307th Mechanized (the Royal Rifles) IG Regiment

The Empire of Wessex was a pre heresy empire in the Ultima Segmentum. The empire controlled four systems and had an alliance with a highly advanced but small empire composed of two Forge worlds, several agri/mining worlds, and a large asteroid belt. The Empire was discovered by the Iron Warriors during the crusades and, after a couple skirmishes, peacefully joined the Imperium. Already highly organized, with a strong military history, the Empire of Wessex sent hundreds of regiments to support the Iron Warriors in further conquests. Later, the Iron Hands assisted in resisting a massive Ork attack and the grateful Empire sent hundreds of regiments to support the Iron Hands crusades. Trying to keep up with the super human Space Marines caused the New Wessex guard units to evolve into a heavily mechanized force. The use of heavy artillery support grew from supporting both the Iron Warriors and Iron Hands and copying their tactics. The two forge worlds produced large amounts of vehicles and plasma weaponry which the guard made use of against its many monstrous foes.

The Horus heresy caused great strife in the Empire. The Empire initially supported the Iron Warriors until a force of Iron Hands proved the Iron Warriors were not loyal to the Imperium. Many civilians supported the Iron Warriors but most of the military believed the Iron Hands. Civil war resulted. The war, called the First War of Redemption, was short but brutal, turning the capital planet into a desert. Military rule was established and, with the help of the Iron hands, all Iron Warrior fortresses were destroyed over the following decades. The two forge worlds of the Empire of Wessex began building massive space fortresses to stop any further xenos or heretical attacks. The Empire sent many regiments to assist and rebuild in the following millennia, building a strong engineer corps.

The Age of Apostasy had a profound affect on the New Wessex systems. The people had been very religious, raising many cathedrals to the Emperors name but the belief had faded away. Opulence and cults began to spread. Military rule had been returned to civilian rule. The military continued to be very religious and were openly mocked by the civilian populace. Once Vandire declared himself, a second civil war was inevitable. While the civilian populace had numbers, the military had the weapons. The war, called the Second War of Redemption, lasted for several decades until the military finally crushed the last resistance to Imperial rule. The militaries ability to quickly respond, due to its mechanized army and the massive space fortresses above, stopped the civilian rebels from truly getting organized. Belief in the Emperor was restored and invigorated. Even with this victory many other systems fell to apostasy and the Empire of Wessex faded into obscurity for 1000 years.

A crusade fleet from the Order of the Argent Shroud supported by elements of the Iron Hands and Mechanicium found the New Wessex Order again. The NWO stayed true to the Emperor and had built a large, stable empire. The NWO was in the process of crushing the remains of a large ork empire, creating what would be the bread basket for many nearby systems. With the assistance of the Argent Shroud battle sisters, victory was assured. The Argent Shroud set up a preceptory on New Wessex due to the extreme devotion to the Emperor. Being recruited into the Argent Shroud is considered a great honor to any family and competition to enter is very intense. Several non combatant orders have also founded missions throughout the NWO and are very popular among the commoners.

The repeated failures by the general populace to make loyal choices resulted in the law that no one could take public office without having to serve in the PDF for 40 years or serve at least 10 years in the Imperial Guard off world. With the Argent Shroud providing the example, serving the Emperor first became a byword in the NWO and hundreds of mechanized regiments have driven to war in the Emperors name. The Royal Military Council of Lords determined to pattern NWO uniforms and basic weaponry on the Cadian style, to further efficiency and make resupply easier when serving far from home. New Wessex guard units are spread throughout in the Ultima Segmentum.

The New Wessex 307th regiment is one of the very few regiments to have never been destroyed. The 307th can trace its lineage back over 4,000 years. The regiment has survived far too many close calls, sometimes surviving with only a few members only to be brought back to strength. The amazing luck this unit has had was recognized early during the 307th history. Many members of the royal house began serving in the unit, and the regiment adopted the color purple to show the ‘blue bloods’ that often served with it. That most survived only continued the tradition of royal and rich families to serve with the unit and gave the 307th the nick name ‘The Royal Rifles’.

The Royal Rifles have survived so long only due a warp accident. Slightly over 4000 years ago a reinforcement fleet from New Wessex was hammered by a warp storm. One of the troops ships found itself alone. Heading to the nearest planet, the ship “the Queen Mary” found New Wessex units being over run by Xenos forces. The 307th Mechanized was the major unit on the ground. A massive troop drop allowed the Imperial Forces to secure victory. This lucky break started the rumor the 307th was blessed by the Emperor and had the Queens own luck. The members of the royal family had served their time and decided to take the Queen Mary home. Ever since then, once a year, members of the royal families (and the very rich) send their children to be blooded with the 307th. Of course the lower ranks must always be replenished so some well to do commoners send their children to be the rank and file.

The 307th was now even more sought after, with many now knowing their children did not have to serve the full Imperial Guard term if the reinforcement ships arrive on time. Families pay exorbitant amounts to get into the 307th and amazingly talented and skilled commoners can earn minor royalty with dedicated service. The newest vehicles and weapons are shipped to the unit and the unit boasts large numbers of highly skilled veteran units. Priests are a common sight among the ranks and well connected new commissars are trained with the unit.

The unit’s battledress is black boots, grey uniform, khaki battle rattle, and purple armor. The unit wears gas masks in memory of the destruction of the surface of New Wessex during the first War of Redemption. The weapons are purple to denote the royal presence. The standard weapon is the lasgun, Cadian pattern. Plasma weaponry is very common in the unit, with hand held melta weapons starting to become popular because they do not overheat. Nothing like losing Royal Henry to a plasma explosion and having to explain his loss to his family! The unit goes to battle in Chimera transports with Sentinels scouting ahead, often backed by its massive artillery batteries in support.

[Colonel Falkenberg]

I have 3 armies that I've tied together fluff wise - IG 13000pts, Space Marine 7000pts, and Grey Knight 2300pts.

4th Btl/192nd Rgt (Falkenberg's legion)

The Cadia 192nd was tasked to defend again'st the 13th crusade. During that time the 4th CAB (Combined Arms Battalion), was tasked to assist Inquistor Lord Londo Mollari. During the operation to clear a stronghold of traitors, the force was counter attacked by a strong unit of CSM.
A request for aid was sent out and answered by Grand Master Xavier's Grey knight strike team and elements of 2nd company of the space marine chapter, the Purifiers, lead by Captain Taltos.
Cought between the anvil and hammer, the traitors where eventually dispatched after heavy fighting and losses.
Inquisitor Mollari was impresssed my the courage and skills of Colonel Falkenberg and the 4th, he decided then and there to perminately assign the unit to him and his mission. "Falkenberg's Legion" as the unit came to be known, also gained the respect of Grand Master Xavier and Captain Taltos.

That's it. Not a huge story and i doubt it will expand further than that. But it provides a nice back ground for my Apoc army and why they are together.
I may have to change it in the near future after buying the new GK codex. I have no plans on getting any more models except crowe... yes, I know... pure cheese, but the fact remains that I have enough metal mini's to run 2 squads of terms/paladins and 3 squads od purifiers and a puragator squad. Plus 2 dreads. I don't plan to get any more.

[Michael_maggs]

My iron warriors army is lead by the asscended Warsmith Vaultech; the fabricator general of Kai
Kai was a manufacturing powerhouse for the armies of cadia before it was pulled into a warp storm. the populace, fesaring for their lives turned their services to chaos in order to portect themselves from the enveloping tides of warp energy the constantly battered at the planets fragile atmosphere. many warbands and legions sought these coveted weapons bathed and fuelled with the power of chaos in a twisted parody of the Psycannons wielded by the elitest of the Imperiums defenders. wars broke out across the Kai system for the privilage of weilding the manufactoriums deady produce; none more so than the obliterator Vaultech.

Seargent Marcus Veail was learning the path of the adept in the iron warriors 4th company at the time the heresy broke out, although a loyal Terran Veail proved his loyalty to his primarch at the Isstvan V massacre where his careful planning and ruthlessly efficient drills clamed the lives of at least two companies of salamamders. Venerated, the seargent was tasked to reinforce the nightlords in their far flung struggle against the dark angels. However, this was to be the last time a son of Olympia wold dare speak praise of the name of Veail. a chance meeting with an eldar dragonship flickered a small flame of lust in the sergeants twin hearts. after a long and drawn out battle Veail boarded the craft and slaid all but a fraction of the crew whom he crippled for his own amusement and to pilot his new flagship. Veail and his few remaining warriors took to the warp now on a quest to find and "liberate" more and more technologyfro themselves now under the name of warsmith Vaultech.

Vaultech became jealous of the Kai smiths and so detonating part of his flagships engines created a wave of warp energy that masked his decent on the planet. Vaultech and his veteran obliterators who had served him since the heresy stormed the great manufasctoriun while the ranks of defected renegades that had flocked to his banner carried out mass extermination of the populace. Vaultech began to consolidate his power by building from wraithbone, a skill he had tortured out of his long dead eldar crew, a holofield arround the planet so it appeared to all that the deamons of the warp had finally claimed the arrogant artisans of Kai.

It would not be until centuries later that Vaultech would finally asscent to deamonhood after a battle with the grey knights during the thirteenth black crusade where the armories of Kai supplied abbadon's champions with their deadly warp tech for genetic samples of a tyranind hive fleet. the battle only ended with the dying warsmithdecapitating the pilot of a deadknight with a disk of mono-moleculat wraithbone. to save their dying leader his most trusted veterans surgecally attatched Vaultech to the dreadknight as one of their lesser brother might be encaged in a dreadnaught. thinking the last breaths were being drawn from his body Vaultech ordered his men to expose the dead knights geeneseed to the raw power of chaos. over a hundred of the purest imperial souls were blackend and stained by the furnaces of Kai tgo which the chaos gods rewarded their dying servant with immortality.

now Vaultech is an abhorrent algamation of machine, deamon and xenos. all trace of humanity obliterated.