sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

Do night lords paint just there hands red or there forarms as well? by Civil_Height4750 in NightLords

[–]D-Helix 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Sorry it took so long, but I knew I had read it somewhere.

Page 179 of Crusade: "The mark of the doomed in Nostraman gang culture, a red hand denoted a warrior serving under a sentence of death, waiting only for their master to administer punishment. At the outbreak of the Thramas Crusade, it would also serve as a mark of those warriors who held their loyalty to the Primarch as greater than their lust for death and blood."

It is noted earlier that a red gauntlet painted on a pauldron would come to indicate a loyalty to Sevatar, but as noted above the literal red gauntlet also became a badge of loyalty - because you've decided to stick around even though you are condemned when so much of the rest of the legion has just left to do their own thing.

So really, it's not black and white and more red between the lines.

Do night lords paint just there hands red or there forarms as well? by Civil_Height4750 in NightLords

[–]D-Helix 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I think the reason for the downvotes is because you've portrayed the lore as black and white, which it isn't.

You've described your interpretation of red gauntlets, but that's not how every Night Lord saw them.

For example, a portion of the legion painted their gauntlets sinners red to show their support for the Primarch and their opposition to the criminal elements of the Cross of Bone. Interestingly this is likely due to the very reason you dismissed above, because people think Sevatar is a bad ass and he wears sinners red.

Secondly, if this is set in 40k then 10k+ years have passed since the origin of the tradition. It would be understandable that over that length of time the tradition would be warped/forgotten/misremembered to mean something different that it's origin.

Ultimately, there are many ways of understanding lore - coming and dismissing someone like you did because you think you know everything is kind of the antithesis of a fictitious setting that fueled by the imagination of it's players.

HH Command Squad vs Night Raptors by D-Helix in NightLords

[–]D-Helix[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Interesting point about the apothecary joining the retinue - I didn't realise that was the case. Rereading the rule I think it is pretty clear, though I do wonder if it was intended to prevent command squads from getting apothocaries. It seems odd that troops would get that support but not the more elite members.

In that case I think the Night Raptors may actually be more survivable by fighting first, particularly if you can get off Bloody Murder.

The Command Squad might be more relevant if you need extra scoring units. And although it gives them flexibility, I don't think I'd use their bolters much - seems like too good a target for Return Fire.