Watch Station Rubicon (a Tyranids side narrative)

Its no use, the not having a story to tell is getting to me. Tyranids are a wonderful army to paint, a fascinating army to play but there is nothing to write. No other army in any Warhammer system offers zero opportunities to personalise and characterise your force. They are completely without personality and whilst I feel sure that once I have a tide of chitinous to unleash on my opponents, once I'm contributing at least to their stories, that will have its charm for the moment it feels a little lacking.

So I'm dusting off my Deathwatch. Like the Mechanicus and Genestealer Cults I was really into the idea when the army came out but ended up making a couple of kits' worth before losing interest. I cannot stress how little seventh edition engaged me as a player.

You know what does engage me? Teams of mismatched individuals who eventually cohere into a closely bonded unit. What can I say? I was raised on Joss Whedon shows and Star Wars Expanded Universe novels.

The idea I talked over with my friend Tom, an Imperial Guard player and one of my most regular opponents, was that I'd make a couple of Kill-Teams and he (or anyone else in the group playing an Imperium army) would leave some space in their army list for a Kill-Team of their choice as an allied unit. The idea being that the Kill-Teams are on a wide-ranging mission against Hive Fleet Jormungandr and these battles are where their operations interact with the longterm deployment of the Guard and other forces in the sector.

And thus I have a story to write.

In particular, the story of Watch Station Rubicon and its commanding officer Watch Master Caldon Gerhardt of the Iron Knights. The team of oddballs, incidentally, will be Kill-Team Germanicus led by the rather mismatched but curiously efficient partnership of Sergeant Yehven Germanicus of the Novamarines (a by the book Codex sort) and Brother Mannheim of the Raptors (the ultimate “whatever works” chapter).

There'll be a Black Shield, of course, because they are too cool not to have; the various members of Kill-Team Cassius re-purposed to be my own characters; and a pair of Space Wolves because I love the background detail that Space Wolves always join in pairs. Oh, and Germanicus' rival is a Sergeant of my beloved Flesh Tearers because I was also brought up on crap animes where a rival on the hero's own side was a prerequisite.