Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Rogue Trader: Dead Men Space Marines Chaplains and Dreadnought



From a manuscript discovered in the depths of the Scriptorum, the Emperor's Palace, Terra.

To:  His Excellency The High Inquisitor Josephes T'Rasque.
From: Yacobe Scrivenius

Excellency,

I have uncovered a little more information on that chapter of the Astartes known as the Dead Men, which I hope will be of interest to you.  Please find enclosed a selection of photo cells depicting Brother High Chaplain Willym Pil Grimm, another, un-named Chaplain and a Contemptor class dreadnought of that order operating in support of Marines of the Fourth Company against Voldraddi heretics on Geminion Prime.  
My recent researches into the Dead Men Space Marines have uncovered a number of curious, possibly heretical customs practiced in the Chapter.  One is the fact that the High Chaplain is always named Willym Pil Grimm after the first Chaplain to be appointed as spiritual leader of the chapter, and of whom hundreds of legends and tales are told amoung the Dead Men.  Chaplains are also present  in greater numbers than amoung most chapters, are more prominent in battle, and suffer higher csualties than is common elsewhere.
 My analysis of the Chapter's combat strength revealed the presence of an astonishing number of Dreadnoughts, of which the Contemptor Class suit shown here is a good example.  Dead Men often paint their Dreadnoughts in the likenesses of the fallen battle-brothers they house.  The prevalence of Dreadnoughts amoung the Dead Men might be attributed to some of their strange beliefs regarding the nature of time. 

 For even the most devout Marine, the idea of being entombed for centuries in a suit of Dreadnought armor may well give pause.  For the Dead Men, who seem to believe themselves already dead and buried, the claustrophobic prison of the suit holds few terrors.  Indeed, most references in Dead Men literature seem to exult in the idea of revenant Marines returning to rend and crush the enemies of his living brethren from his iron coffin.

I still have a little food and water left, and plenty of battery power.  I hope to be able to send you  a good deal more information on the Dead Men soon, as well as a detailed history of the wailing reach.
A tech Marne shepherds his charge into battle.
Willym Pil Grimm leads a detachment of Marines against traitor regiments on Geminion Prime.  The presence of the legendary Chaplain has been known to drive nearby Marines into a terrific killing frenzies....




6 comments:

  1. That's a brutal looking group, wonderful stuff Sir.

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    1. Thanks, Michael! I do my best to make 'em look grumpy.

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  2. The skull pattern on that dreadnought is about the coolest thing I've seen since I stopped dreaming in the womb.
    I hope you write more about the Dean Men. (They remind me of my favourite chapter, the Legion of the Damned).

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    1. Thanks Matthew! I have a whole sack of beakie marines waiting to join the chapter. It will take a while to get through them, though. There's a whole ton of backstory on the Dead Men and their campaigns sitting around gathering dust inside my head, so there's plenty more to come. And yes, Legion of the damned were clearly an influence on the look of the Dead Men. Always loved the bones and flames on their armor. I'd love to deck out some of my Marines with femurs and rib cages like some of the models you used to see in White Dwarf, but my hand's just not that steady. Maybe someday.

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  3. What a great back story & I wholeheartedly agree with Matthew on the skulls too, fantastic stuff!

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    1. Thanks very much, one! There's quite a bit more on these fellows to come. Glad you like them.

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