[maximus2467]

hello all, am starting a new army based on the red templars (p73 sm codex) and wondered if there was actually any official fluff for them or are they just made up by the producers of the rule book as an example of a colour scheme?

 

[hephesto]

As far as I'm aware there's no fluff on them, I do believe they are in the how to paint sm book. So feel free to go nuts and create some fluff for them. A fast attack preference would seem logical as well as a crusading history.

 

[Red Orc]

Are you basing them on Codex SM (with Traits?), or on Black Templars (or even Blood Angels)? That's pretty fundamental in terms of organisation and therefore the reasons for the army - or would you rather come up with some great fluff, then pick the rules that best represent it?

What do we know about the Red Templars?
1 - their name (which may suggest a connection with the Black Templars);
2 - their heraldry (which may suggest connections with Blood Angels, but also the Ecclesiarchy in the use of the fleur-de-lys - I think this is right anyway!);
3 - they use bike squads;
and that's about it really.

Heph's right that bikes and crusading are logical - maybe the chapter is a mix of White Scar and Black Templar geneseed, with say 'Be swift as the Wind' (White Scars biking heritage) and maybe 'Uphold the honour of the Emperor' to represent their crusading zeal (Black Templar background); but it's not necessarily the only way to go.

I'd say you have to have a minimum of one bike squad to represent the 'known fluff' - which you can actually get with the 'Eye to eye' drawback (it could be that the picture represents the only bike squad that the chapter posses for all we know!)

They have a chapter symbol which links them to the Ecclesiarchy - why is that? Were they established before the time of Sebastian Thor as a particularly 'religious' chapter, later made independent but retaining the badge that they'd borne before?

Are they 'Red' Templars because their armour is red - or is their armour red because they are 'Red Templars'? In other words, are they 'soldiers of the Red Temple', and if so, what and where is the Red Temple? (I have a loyalist chapter in my fluff called the Jade Templars, whose first company are the 'Knights of the Jade Temple', and whose home-world contains, you guessed it, a temple. Made of jade.)

If they aren't the guardians of the red temple (for instance), does 'Templar' just mean 'crusader'? If so, I'd be tempted to base them on Black Templars (if they can take bikes - don't think I've ever seen BT bikers!)

Only a few notes and thoughts, but I hope of some help!

:cyclops:

 

[Initiate]

BT bikers would look so kickass, too bad GW didnt take the time to model them, i tihnk the black bikes with the tabards blowing past them as they rode down the battle field to deliver death unto the enemies of the Imperium of Man would be really cool. I would give the red templars tabards :mrgreen:

 

[hephesto]

In fact due to the rules of the witchhunter you could even have allies from them. Could be a cool option as they seem to have a link somehow.

In that case you could take the following Witch Hunter allies (no inducted guard or allied sm from their list);
0-1 HQ
0-1 ELITES
0-2 TROOPS
0-1 FAST ATTACK

The normal 1 HQ and 2 troops do need to be filled by the parent list, in this case the Space Marines.

There is even a known orders militant that fits in with the Red Templars visually speaking - the Order of the Bloody Rose (red armour, black robes and gold/silver details)/ In addition on page 64 of the witch hunter codex you can find a converted saint in the same scheme. Would fit in great, just a suggestion though :wink:

 

[The Son of Horus]

The Red Templars are always shown as a biker squad in the couple publications they've been seen in. I'd look into Be Swift as the Wind as a Trait at the very least.

I wouldn't go so far as to say that they've got any relation to the Black Templars-- and certainly not to the Blood Angels. While there may be something to a name, more often than not, it's just a name. When there's not any real strong evidence one way or another to determine where a Chapter came from, they're likely descended from the Ultramarines via the Primogenetor (2nd Founding) Chapters, as that gene-seed accounts for something like 75% of the Astartes in the 41st millenium.

I'd look at the White Scars rules, which use the Traits, Trust Your Battle Brothers, Be Swift as the Wind, and Eye to Eye.

 

[maximus2467]

okay thanks guys

 

[hephesto]

My pleasure, please keep us updated. This sounds like a very interesting project...and I really like the colourscheme :wink:

 

[Red Orc]

Yeah definitely, and if you want to bounce any ideas around, you know where to come!

:cyclops:

 

[Hudspethtb]

Try a Dark Angels Bike Squad painted to your scheme, might look kick a$$