#but ravenwing can go fuck himself

[fallowheart]

I think a character I actually hate in the broader WC canon is Ravenwing from Mapleshade's Vengeance. Fucker actually broke his healer vow to protect all cats equally for a situation that didn't involve him, not to mention whomever decided to send an omen to him and ended up getting those kits exiled. Like, everyone in that story sucks except for Reedshine, they can all go to Cat Hell in my AU, but Ravenwing specifically has my ire.

[bonefall]

Sorry, I'm a fucking idiot but what's Shadowsight's relationship with the Dakr Forest Peeps??? Somehow Don't know how to search properly 😭😭😭

OH dw djrhddj it's kind of an inside joke that just sorta happened based on this one scene

Here, I am handing you a bouquet of WIP material.

PREVIOUS CONTEXT:

In BB, Bristlefrost dies VERY early on. She is executed publically by the Impostor. She is a ghost for most of TBC.

Shadowsight has epilepsy, and since his birth in Heartstar's Rise, has had a really bad relationship with death and the idea of needing to "make his life worth it."

He's struck by lightning in early TBC, giving him a glowing blue scar that lights up his ear like radio antennae. This is a "gift" from Ashfur, essentially making Shadowsight a prophet-level interpreter. VERY powerful gift.

All Dark Forest residents manifest a "Land Mar" in the forest. An evil magic place based on the worst moment of their lives. If you live here long enough that it becomes home, you get one.

Anyway, cut ahead to the wip in question where the joke comes from;

Confronting the Impostor in the Dark Forest

Like canon, it is decided that Ashfur needs to be dealt with. He's escaped into the Dark Forest and it's not known what's happened with StarClan.

They just know that Ashfur is FREAKISHLY powerful and it's not known why. StarClan warriors can do many wonderful things, but possession? Calling down a lightning bolt to make a blessing?

The Clans are more concerned about StarClan than the dark forest though, and not super willing to stick their necks out to fight for... Hell. Or the soul of Bramblestar.

But Squirrelflight, in spite of EVERYTHING, argues passionately that they NEED to save her ex-mate. No man left behind means him too.

But I'm not sure if I'm going to have Shadowsight leave and re-enter the DF this time around, to go fetch these reinforcements, because I have a better idea.

So INSTEAD of escaping as Rootspring gets captured, Shadowsight also gets trapped. He's able to avoid capture, but injured, and not knowing how he's going to save everyone without reinforcements.

He manages to drag himself away where he finds a cave. It's the land mar of Ravenwing, the unfairly damned Cleric of ThunderClan... and he intentionally never seeks visitors. He has no idea what's going on out there with Ashfur. Man literally lives under a rock.

But Shadowsight is a young lad and he's injured. He needs help, so, he brings him deep into his cave to patch him up. That's where they have a little chat.

It's about expectations. What people want from you, vs the right thing to do. Ravenwing interpreted a sign from StarClan incorrectly, and three children died because of him. He thought he was doing what they wanted... but even if they did, it was an AWFUL thing to want.

And so he regrets it deeply. Even if it WAS their will, he should have had the spine to stand against it.

And then the subject turns around to Ashfur, Shadowsight sharing how he listened to him because he was a StarClan warrior, even against his instincts, how he feels responsible for this mess.

And yet.. how good it felt. How terrified he is that even if he beats him, he'll go back to living without him. Ashfur makes him special, this GIFT makes him special.

And how will anyone ever forgive him? So many people are dead because of him. Cousin Strikestone is dead because of him. All he ever wanted to do was be useful, but now his life is a net negative.

I plan to trim this down to be shorter and more "focused," but I do want to try and set up Shadowsight's feelings before the Final Battle in some other way.

Anyway, Ravenwing reveals that the Special Power of his Land Mar is that HE can send omens from the comfort of his own cave, very easily. With the power of his Land Mar and the Gift that Shadowsight still has, they're able to send a message to the Mortal Plane.

"STUCK IN DARK FOREST ASHFUR BAD SEND HELP"

I think it'll work better than the several chapters of arguing canon gave us, widely considered to be super frustrating. Just let Shadowsight see the "best hits" from Ravenwing's cave, like Squirrelflight’s Speech.

If I don't use the Land Mar idea, then Rootspring will break out of jail with the help of Hawkfrost's half-ghost and go get help.

Anyway. The joke

Shadowsight keeps getting put in the path of demons who aren't evil and angels who aren't good

So based on the Ravenwing Scene (which I've mentioned before but without much detail iirc) it just became a joke that people like talking to Shadowsight lmao

He'll take 2 steps and a new demon is like "oh i need to protect this boy"

Or suddenly traumadump on him

Or both

[warrior-frogs]

THIS IS NOT A DEFENCE FOR OAKSTAR. I JUST ACCIDENTALLY SPENT TOO MUCH TIME FOCUSING ON THE MAPLESHADE STUFF FROM OAKSTAR’S POV SO IT SEEMS LIKE IM DEFENDING HIM. HE’S BAD I SWEAR.

Everytime someone talks about how shit Oakstar is I lose it because everyone always talks about him exiling Mapleshade’s kits but like thats not even the only thing he did and I blame that less on him and more of just how bad the situation was for everyone. 

Oakstar believed ravenwing had gotten an omen about them and that they would bring thunderclan danger + he was pretty peeved that Maple had lied about them being the kids of his son who he was probably still grieving for when their actual father was the guy who he believed killed his son. 

With what was going on and the omen Ravenwing had recieved, the man only had a few favourable options, most of them being pretty cruel. Of course we know that the omen about the kits bringing danger was probably about Mapleshade going on a killing spree, but Oakstar had no way of knowing that himself. 

There’s also evidence that he learned his lesson later on and stopped punishing half-clan children. Windflight was a half-clan cat who was born during Oakstar’s reign and after Mapleshade’s novella takes place. While yes, his mother could have just kept it a seceret, we know that Thunderclan knows of his herritage and also she literally named him after the clan that his father was from. 

Obviously none of this fixes Oakstar’s actions, he’s still a piece of shit for exiling Maple and the kits, but you can see where he was coming from and that he changed afterwards. 

But do you want to know something Oakstar did that was actually irrational that everyone forgets? Do you? In Pinestar’s choice, Oakstar conducts a raid on the kittypet place to scare and injure kittypets. Why does he do this? Because a few kittypets crossed the border into the forest once. I get not wanting tresspassers but????? Like 3 kittypets crossed the border because they just wanted to take a nice walk and this man goes “Time to traumatize half of twoleg place <3″ AND I SEE NO ONE TALKING ABOUT HOW HE DID THIS???? 

Theres also the fact that I think there are implications that this is something that he just does sometimes (although i’m not too sure as I dont have pinestar’s choice anymore and cannot check) and that not even kits are safe but that might have just been Crystal being scared for her kits’ safety.

The Mapleshade stuff is bad but at least I can see things from his point of view and understand his reasoning, even if i dont agree with it. This??? No fucking clue what was going through this man’s head.

Anyways please include this man’s other crimes when talking about how he sucks not just the mapleshade things. He’s a bitch for more than one reason. 

[andallhisausterenhost]

After Action Report: Abate the Edge of Traitors

After going to all the effort* to write a fluffy intro to this battle, I then have had zero interest in writing a fluffy after action report. I think the problem is taking unpainted miniatures - it’s a bit hard to get worked up or invested in the death of Senor Greyskin and his trusty sidekick, Lady Dull Metallic, when I could instead get really into the clash of arms between, say, Brother-Veteran Hitoshi, warrior of the Mantis Warriors, and Matthias the Vicious, the dread serial killer of Nužudymas, cultist of Qyn Kraugeriškas, pirate-slave of Malachi the Surly, ya know?

It doesn’t help that @littlemangsofwar​ has some of the worst luck in recorded history.

My writer’s block is especially frustrating when Mangs puts a great deal of effort into his lists. Task Force Vengeance is fully named, from Librarian Cassiel down to the Land Raider Redeemer Purity Rolling.** I need to step up my game, both in terms of painting and in terms of, you know, writing. Things.

Anyway, this clash was really fun on paper. Mangs’s Dark Angels list is pretty mechanised, featuring a Nephillim Jetfighter (Caliban’s Wrath), a Predator, Razorback, a Rhino, scouts, a pack of Deathwing as well as officers. It’s not the most optimized list for 8th edition Dark Angels, as they actually really want to stand very still and get free re-rolls, but it is cool as hell to look at.

The Ravenwing were just here to scout the battlefield, then peeled away for another, more important mission elsewhere (he didn’t actually include them in the list! A mistake we’ve all made.).

I had a really bizarre list, swelled with unpainted units to try and match @littlemangsofwar​‘s cool Dark Angels. In the centre of the board, I massed my marines in cover, as well as some slightly forward scouts (including the new snipers and the Crusaders, who took up stances around an old console in the ruins). I had some attack bikes waiting in reserve, hidden behind buildings. On the right flank, the Radical Inquisitor took up position in his commandeered Razorback, behind a Tactical squad and some... uh... ash-camouflaged Assault Marines.

The blocks are actually a Daemonhost containing a warp spirit of Order, which I have some very cool ideas on, but they can wait until I paint more of the Inquisitor’s band of acolytes. The new Blackstone Fortress actually has a bunch of models that I was planning on converting for his gang, so that is going to be very hard to resist.***

I also had two squads of Ratlings, led by a Squat commander and accompanied by an Astropath, part of the Inquisitor’s extended retinue. The Mantis Warriors marching into battle accompanied by xenos, a daemonhost, and semi-humans! Not a great look, but they were here to fight the Dark Angels, who themselves have a less than savoury reputation.

We played a variation of Cleanse and Capture, which I’ll drop below the cut. Essentially it was the same scenario but we each had some bonus Tactical Objectives we wanted to achieve to give the thing a bit of flavour.

The objective markers were intended to represent archaeological sites that may contain information on + + + REDACTED BY INQUISITORIAL EDIT 7532/ω + + + which obviously the Dark Angels also sought.

I know I just wrote a lot of words about the scenario, but I’m afraid that I’m not up for a prolonged blow-by-blow of the game, so here are some highlights:

Despite a tremendous amount of possible mortal wound output from my three squads of snipers (two Ratling and one Mantis), I only killed about three Tactical marines from them all game. Of course, Ratling squads are only 45 points, so it’s still not a bad choice.

Early in the game, my attack bike with a multi-melta swung out and nearly one-shotted the Predator Silencer. In anger at this, @littlemangsofwar fired nearly his whole bloody army at the little bikers, only finally killing them with a plasma rifleman who then died in the explosion. What heroes.

There he is, tucked behind that barricade there.

The advanced (and second-most recently painted) sniper scouts that were holding the objective in the ruins were brutally cut down in a single round by a combination of Redeemer flamers and a Dark Angels Tactical Squad. Said squad would then hole up in that ruin for the rest of the game, sniper fire plinking off their power armour and holding my Assault Marines at bay.

The Inquisitor and his minions did very little. I’ll admit that I strongly dislike their rules in the Index - they get almost no character and kind of encourage the worst kind of spam. Take lots with plasma guns! Each one man unit is an Elite choice! And you can’t have cool models with twin swords or twin pistols actually count as those weapons! Lame.

Purity Rolling gets assaulted by the Mantis Warriors officer cadre.

In a pitched fight that goes to show why tanks don’t like urban battlefields, Purity Rolling got swarmed by my entire HQ and my teleporting Terminator Squad and got chipped to death. I was very lucky, getting off that 9″ charge, and it did come down to the power sword of the Sergeant, but it was still brutal.

Brother-Apothecary Jiyuna wimping out and refusing to charge Purity Rolling which is fair enough, really.

@littlemangsofwar kept the pressure on my Devastator Squad, but his fucking appalling dice rolling in this game meant that they lasted most of it. I don’t believe they did anything useful, but they just kept absorbing his fire.

pew pew

Beneath the Devastators, in the same ruins, were a Tactical Squad, which got assaulted by one of the Dark Angels Tacticals. The battle was fairly even, frustratingly, for several battle rounds, despite the assistance of my Brother-Apothecary Jiyun, Lieutenant Khan Nguyen Thi Kim, and the abhuman company commander in service of the Inquistion. The latter had a powerfist! He didn’t hit once!

His brothers cut down around him, Brother-Sergeant Kiraman fights against overwhelming odds.

An absolute beast who would. not. die. This caption refers to Kiraman, and not anyone wearing green, white, or blue. Jerks.

In the centre, my command squad and both units of Terminators kept wailing on one another for several turns. Between adroit use of psychic powers and @littlemangsofwar‘s gross luck, I came out on top, although my First Company warriors were annihilated to a man.

A glorious melee.

Chief Librarian Ahazra Redth channeling the Warp.

On the right flank, there is nothing much to report. Caliban’s Wrath was pretty wrathful, taking out my Inquisitor’s Razorback. Scouts and fire from various other tanks took down most of the acolytes, including the Slann and the exiled Aeldari ranger, but the Inquisitor himself was able to channel the powers of the warp and take out the scouts. The glowing cubic forms of the daemonhost did something between ‘nothing’ and ‘waste time’.

A rhino burns in the distance as Mantis Warriors Tactical Marines advance.

Overall, this game wasn’t as much fun as I would have liked. Don’t get me wrong, @littlemangsofwar is always cool to hang out with, but his luck was just so awful. It’s no fun watching your opponent roll ten dice and get two hits. 

I was using Raven Guard rules for the Mantis Warriors, as I do feel that it’s the best feel for their hit-and-run tactics in the fluff, but it’s also a very strong Chapter Tactic. Certainly light-years better than the terrible ‘you hit harder if you charge out of cover... for some reason’ rules they are reputed to have had two editions ago.

Hopefully, the next time @littlemangsofwar and I have a full game of 40K, our luck will even out. We did have two Kill Team games on Sun 28 Oct, and those went very differently!

I’ll leave you with at atmospheric**** photo of Squad Nakir of the Dark Angels...

Final score: Victory, Mantis Warriors. (Dark Angels withdraw.)

Men of the Match: Attack Bike with multi-melta. Toughness five, four wounds, baby!

Lesson to Remember: Dark Angels infantry get to re-roll ones if they don’t move that turn.

+ + + Thought for the Day: By the manner of their death we shall know them. + + +

Scenario: Maelstrom of War scenario Cleanse and Capture (see p.230 of the rulebook).

Modifications:

Terrain:

As traditional, whoever gets there first places terrain; second-comer can choose deployment side.

Placing objectives:

As I'm picking the scenario, you can choose whether to place the first or second objective. You may also choose which deployment type (p.216) we want to use.

Tactical Objectives:

As written (that is, we generate Tactical Objectives until we hold three), but we start with some at the beginning of the game in addition. Unlike regular TOs, we can't discard these, but they don't count against the maximum of 3 anyway.

You (Dark Angels) will start with 13 Confess! and 14 Seize and Interrogate in addition to rolling up/drawing three more.

I (Space Marines) will start with 12 Honour Your Chapter and I also have a made-up version of the Dark Angels 14 Seize and Interrogate by the Inquisitor (see below) in addition to rolling up/drawing three more.

(special) 14 Seize and Interrogate by the Inquisitor   Score 1 victory point if any enemy CHARACTERS, DEATHWING UNITS, or RAVENWING BLACK KNIGHT UNITS were slain by an INQUISITION unit in the Fight phase of this turn. If your opponent’s Warlord was slain by an INQUISITION unit during the Fight phase of this turn, score D3 victory points instead.

First Turn:

Rather than whoever finishes deployment automatically getting first turn (which can be brutal in this edition), I suggest we go with the system used in the Chapter Approved scenarios:

The players roll off, and the player who finished setting up their army first adds 1 to their result. The winner can choose to take the first or second turn. If they take the first turn, their opponent can roll a D6; on a 6, they manage to seize the initiative, and they get the first turn instead!

Everything else is the same as a standard Cleanse and Capture: Warlord, First Blood, Linebreaker; highest victory points is the winner; 5 turns and then start rolling for extra turns on a 3+; etc etc.

* Literally like five minutes before going to bed. ** A great blend of the sorts of names US soldiers give to their tanks and the 40K hellverse. *** Ratlings!!!!! **** Bad.