Coraxix Haunters

I bought the Phobos part of the Shadowspear box when it came out, and it's been sitting on a shelf untouched since then. I'm not sure what Chapter I wanted to use them in, but I like the thought of sneaky super soldiers. 

I'm very good at deciding on very restrictive themes for armies in the past, so why let that stop me with these? I toyed with painting them in a Buzz Lightyear theme, but it never really stuck. Perhaps they could start a Dark Angels army? Maybe I should just roll them into my Blood Drinkers? All these questions and more circled for a long time, I touched on Raven Guard every now and then, but never for long, there's already a lot of black painted marine armies in our group (Black Legion, Black Templars, Deathwatch, my Death Company unit).

Finally, I decided on Raven Guard successors, why not pick the stealthiest chapter when deciding what to do with stealthy marines. The Necropolis Knights story (Kill Shot) from Psychic Awakening was the one that really solidified my choice.

From a background point of view, I want a force that looks like it's been behind enemy lines, stuck without support for too long. They've started to go a little insane and believe their abilities to blend into the shadows is as much tech and training as it is a gift from Corax who it's rumoured can turn into a flock of ravens and disappear. They are a little disheveled and have leaned perhaps a tad too far into the Raven theme, adding feather cloaks and mantles, as well as bird skull helms (from the Corvus Cabal warcry box). A little more research found the Emperor's Nightmare chapter and I really like their mutation of stretched sleep cycles. Perhaps I'll tie into this as well. That would help me push the 'little bit unhinged' part too.

With the announcement of 9th edition coming soon. I'm very keen to introduce this chapter through the Crusade system and see how they go. I've got an 8th equivalent of 500pt for the moment and plans to expand this. It's a bit tough to lean into the kind of force that could be super stealthy and stuck behind enemy lines. But we'll see what new releases marines get once 9th drops.

So I've come up with....

CORAXIX HAUNTERS

I thought I was pretty smart coming up with that. Coraxix is an awkward word, and I liked Coraxii instead, but they are the 19th (XIX) chapter.

As part of the Ultima Founding, the Coraxix Haunters were drawn from Raven Guard stock. It seems a growing number of the new marines have an overactive Catalepsean Node, a mutation common amongst other Raven Guard successors. It is unsure why this mutation is manifesting itself so strongly and in such great numbers amongst this chapter, it may be to do with their homeworld and the traditions of lying in wait on the hunt for such large spans of time, that they naturally have a very broken and controllable, almost natural catalepsean node, that the surgeries further build upon.

The Catalepsean Node is the 6th of the 19 gene-seed organs that are implanted into a Space Marine neophyte to produce a new Astartes. This organ is implanted into the back of the cerebrum, just above the brain stem. When deprived of sleep for a long period of time, the Catalepsean Node "cuts in" upon detecting a rise in the Astartes' stress and fatigue hormones.

This allows the Astartes to consciously "switch off" sections of the brain sequentially while remaining awake and alert. This ability comes at a price, as prolonged use of this ability can be hazardous, possibly inducing hallucinations or even psychosis.

Having an overactive Catalepsean Node means that marines are unable to naturally fall asleep. While this helps in combat situations, the marines run a high risk of burn-out as their bodies constantly push them over the edge. Chapter apothecaries constantly maintain the circadian cycles of the marines, but when they are unable to the brothers slide closer and closer to madness.

The Coraxix Haunters Chapter focus on guerilla war tactics and hit and run, rather than the more 'visual' tactics common to Space Marines. They are patient hunters and the lords of psychological warfare, timing and planning their strikes to have maximum impact on enemy morale.

Their methods over time have grown more and more grisly and gruesome, and it is unsure whether this is from madness or contamination with Night Lords gene seed. As the Chapter struggles to deal with the mutations within its brothers, they fall closer and closer to madness. They believe that their Primogenitor, Corvus Corax, is still fighting within the warp, and that he often ventures into realspace in the form of flocks of crows, or even as the shadows themselves to help them in their wars. In honour of their liege, the brothers have taken to adorning their armour with more raven affectations than is normal for Raven Guard.

CRUSADE

Work In Progress Shots

Inspiration for paint schemes

I really like the new(ish) Barak Var paint, and seeing @Harvey.Snape's brilliant Knights of Byzantium pushed me towards a darker burgundy colour. So I'm currently torn between that and the Necropolis Knights scheme, which is a pale blue. I'm very conscious of painting them so they are distinct from my dark red Blood Drinkers, so I'm not sure which way I'll go yet. I also really like purple for marines...

Below is where I got to with some test schemes. I haven't looked at how easy it would be to get matching paints for these at the moment.

I like purple, it feels like a sleep/dream/nightmare colour. Not sure if that is a thing, or I'm just associating it with Haunter etc from Pokemon. The Necropolis Knights are the light teal and white and it was noted that this is to blend in to urban terrain, so i'd like to stick to that feel for them. I like grey, but don't want it to look like bare plastic either, there's enough grey plastic on our tables...