Rogan
06-18-2013, 03:48 AM
Hi folks,
this is what I've registered for: showing off my small army :)
Hive Fleet Hastur (named after Lovecraft's deity from the Cthulhu Mythos - connecting HPL stories with 40k is imho justified when taking into account the explanations in The Whisperer in Darkness) is a splinter fleet of Hive Fleet Behemoth, first encountered during the Damocles Gulf campaign. The splinter fleet was dubbed "Hastur" in reference to an ancient deity of the same name that was rumored to be an amorphous, yet polypous-like mass with many tendrils and tentacles. During the fights with the Black Templars chapter, many cults worshipping the tyranids as the "King in Yellow" were discovered (and apparently exterminated). By the price of almost an entire crusade, the aliens were driven back and forgotten for several decades, until fighting began again in Tau territory.
It was there that the splinter fleet first incorporated cobalt into their circulatory systems; it being a danger for humans getting in contact with it and the oxygen-carrying fluid relatively easy to produce.
So far, I've painted 3 warriors, 10 devilgants and the zoanthrope (Hive Tyrant, Genestealers, Carnifex and many more gaunts to follow!) - so here are the pictures. :)
http://imageshack.us/a/img14/5807/gaunts900px.jpg
Here's my brood of devilgaunts. I do love these little buggers and had to incorporate a leader beast; although these officially don't exist any more since the hive-spawning rules of the 3rd ed codex became obsolete...
Okay, I admit it: I'm totally influenced by Astartes organization. DX
http://imageshack.us/a/img841/1661/zoanthropefull600px.jpg
And here's the zoanthrope (still ain't sure how to properly spell this creature's name, as it looks somewhat different in German). Hope you guys like the base victim (and it's not too gory for this board, not entirely sure...)
More is to follow soon. At the moment, I'm working on a Genestealer squad including a Broodlord - after which I'll try my luck with a Hive Tyrant...
I'm incredibly afraid of the wings, as I see no real possibility to incorporate these into my colour scheme.
Also, here's part I of a more elaborate version of my army's fluff - mind that I originally wrote it in my native language (German) and had to translate it; however, English doesn't allow for most of our idioms, so a phrase or two may not be perfectly right.
Hive Fleet Hastur
Hive Fleet Hastur was detected the same time the Imperium detected Hive Fleet Behemoth; it was then considered one of the other’s splinter fleets. During the Imperium’s attempts to halt the Tau expansion in 427.744.M41, strange cults were discovered on several worlds on the Galaxy’s eastern fringes. In contrast to most other known cults and sects, this one’s members did not worship – as assumed in the beginning – the ruinous powers: later (and more acute) investigations revealed that they awaited the arrival of a “King in Yellow”. However, as the Imperium undertook such great efforts to prevent the Tau Empire’s rising, most of the alarming evidence as to a sector-wide spread of the cult was forgotten. Only one man wanted to learn more about the coherent reports that had been heard on several worlds now: Ambrosius Bierce of the Ordo Hereticus, who had dedicated himself to the fight against secret cults.
Bierce, as a well-reputed follower of the Star Child theory, had made the eradication of all cults except the Confederation of Light itself his greater goal; to lay a flawless Imperium to the Emperor’s feet upon his return. On Fucosus II, a civilized world only a few light years from the Damocles Gulf, he had a major breakthrough: A huge mutant, less human than anything else, could be captured in cooperation with a few handpicked veteran squads. The fights in the mutant’s lair were even more intense during purging actions; usually, most cultists convert fast after being hit by the first lasbolt. Here, however, wave after wave threw themselves against the disciplined soldiers with the single purpose to allow the great mutant to escape into a sewage system, where he was finally seized.
Further investigation revealed that the creature was not at all a random and grotesque mutation with exceptional psionic potential (Iota), but that its genetic code resembled no known pattern. After weeks of intensive research, the inquisitor coincidentally received a message from a xenobiologist called Advent, that must have traveled through the warp for a considerable amount of time. This message contained information on a highly adaptable organism able to infiltrate other races and cultures by adjusting their own reproductive cycles. Ymgarl, however, was too far away from the inquisitor’s current position, so he could not travel to that system, but instead had to conduct more research in his ship’s – the Lightbringer - huge inquisitional databases. Soon, a sample of the Ymgarl Csith-parasites was found. Careful genetic analysis of the captured mutant’s and the parasite’s DNA samples proved that the huge mutant had to be a subspecies of corporaptor – a dangerous and parasitic organism
In 991.744.M41, Bierce eventually set foot on the mining world of Gregalis Prime, whose planetary governor set off a distress call shortly before because their connection to the astronomican grew steadily weaker. Here, too, traces of the cult of the “King in Yellow” were found; again, Bierce captured individuals with genetic similarities to corporaptor. Collaborating with the planetary defense forces, the cults were apparently eradicated on this world, too. After only a few months of bloody work, Bierce was convinced to have found an answer: several cadres of T’au sept fire warriors advanced from their worlds towards Gregalis. The aliens’ uniforms and their detestation – or perhaps inability – of psychic disciplines must have been the cause. The tau would not only have developed a system capable of obscuring the light of the astronomican and clouding human minds, but also used biological weapons in the shape of the highly adaptive corporaptor!
/e: duh! Forgot to post the links xD
this is what I've registered for: showing off my small army :)
Hive Fleet Hastur (named after Lovecraft's deity from the Cthulhu Mythos - connecting HPL stories with 40k is imho justified when taking into account the explanations in The Whisperer in Darkness) is a splinter fleet of Hive Fleet Behemoth, first encountered during the Damocles Gulf campaign. The splinter fleet was dubbed "Hastur" in reference to an ancient deity of the same name that was rumored to be an amorphous, yet polypous-like mass with many tendrils and tentacles. During the fights with the Black Templars chapter, many cults worshipping the tyranids as the "King in Yellow" were discovered (and apparently exterminated). By the price of almost an entire crusade, the aliens were driven back and forgotten for several decades, until fighting began again in Tau territory.
It was there that the splinter fleet first incorporated cobalt into their circulatory systems; it being a danger for humans getting in contact with it and the oxygen-carrying fluid relatively easy to produce.
So far, I've painted 3 warriors, 10 devilgants and the zoanthrope (Hive Tyrant, Genestealers, Carnifex and many more gaunts to follow!) - so here are the pictures. :)
http://imageshack.us/a/img14/5807/gaunts900px.jpg
Here's my brood of devilgaunts. I do love these little buggers and had to incorporate a leader beast; although these officially don't exist any more since the hive-spawning rules of the 3rd ed codex became obsolete...
Okay, I admit it: I'm totally influenced by Astartes organization. DX
http://imageshack.us/a/img841/1661/zoanthropefull600px.jpg
And here's the zoanthrope (still ain't sure how to properly spell this creature's name, as it looks somewhat different in German). Hope you guys like the base victim (and it's not too gory for this board, not entirely sure...)
More is to follow soon. At the moment, I'm working on a Genestealer squad including a Broodlord - after which I'll try my luck with a Hive Tyrant...
I'm incredibly afraid of the wings, as I see no real possibility to incorporate these into my colour scheme.
Also, here's part I of a more elaborate version of my army's fluff - mind that I originally wrote it in my native language (German) and had to translate it; however, English doesn't allow for most of our idioms, so a phrase or two may not be perfectly right.
Hive Fleet Hastur
Hive Fleet Hastur was detected the same time the Imperium detected Hive Fleet Behemoth; it was then considered one of the other’s splinter fleets. During the Imperium’s attempts to halt the Tau expansion in 427.744.M41, strange cults were discovered on several worlds on the Galaxy’s eastern fringes. In contrast to most other known cults and sects, this one’s members did not worship – as assumed in the beginning – the ruinous powers: later (and more acute) investigations revealed that they awaited the arrival of a “King in Yellow”. However, as the Imperium undertook such great efforts to prevent the Tau Empire’s rising, most of the alarming evidence as to a sector-wide spread of the cult was forgotten. Only one man wanted to learn more about the coherent reports that had been heard on several worlds now: Ambrosius Bierce of the Ordo Hereticus, who had dedicated himself to the fight against secret cults.
Bierce, as a well-reputed follower of the Star Child theory, had made the eradication of all cults except the Confederation of Light itself his greater goal; to lay a flawless Imperium to the Emperor’s feet upon his return. On Fucosus II, a civilized world only a few light years from the Damocles Gulf, he had a major breakthrough: A huge mutant, less human than anything else, could be captured in cooperation with a few handpicked veteran squads. The fights in the mutant’s lair were even more intense during purging actions; usually, most cultists convert fast after being hit by the first lasbolt. Here, however, wave after wave threw themselves against the disciplined soldiers with the single purpose to allow the great mutant to escape into a sewage system, where he was finally seized.
Further investigation revealed that the creature was not at all a random and grotesque mutation with exceptional psionic potential (Iota), but that its genetic code resembled no known pattern. After weeks of intensive research, the inquisitor coincidentally received a message from a xenobiologist called Advent, that must have traveled through the warp for a considerable amount of time. This message contained information on a highly adaptable organism able to infiltrate other races and cultures by adjusting their own reproductive cycles. Ymgarl, however, was too far away from the inquisitor’s current position, so he could not travel to that system, but instead had to conduct more research in his ship’s – the Lightbringer - huge inquisitional databases. Soon, a sample of the Ymgarl Csith-parasites was found. Careful genetic analysis of the captured mutant’s and the parasite’s DNA samples proved that the huge mutant had to be a subspecies of corporaptor – a dangerous and parasitic organism
In 991.744.M41, Bierce eventually set foot on the mining world of Gregalis Prime, whose planetary governor set off a distress call shortly before because their connection to the astronomican grew steadily weaker. Here, too, traces of the cult of the “King in Yellow” were found; again, Bierce captured individuals with genetic similarities to corporaptor. Collaborating with the planetary defense forces, the cults were apparently eradicated on this world, too. After only a few months of bloody work, Bierce was convinced to have found an answer: several cadres of T’au sept fire warriors advanced from their worlds towards Gregalis. The aliens’ uniforms and their detestation – or perhaps inability – of psychic disciplines must have been the cause. The tau would not only have developed a system capable of obscuring the light of the astronomican and clouding human minds, but also used biological weapons in the shape of the highly adaptive corporaptor!
/e: duh! Forgot to post the links xD