The Lamians Slaanesh Chaos Space Marine Warband (Complete)

The Lamians Warband, complete

My Lamians Slaanesh Chaos Space Marines project was inspired by the #INQ28 setting, and its cousin #AoS28. While Space Marines are the kind of OP megaheroes frowned on in that setting, I really did want to explore niche bits of their lore – the weird grim pathos that #INQ28 looks into. So this Slaaneshi warband was built with the aim of delving into a small-scale character project in an original way.

Here's the story of the Lamians warband and their allies, the Slaan Sala Movement:

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The Lamians are a small fragment of a larger Slaaneshi force either exiled or abandoned 400 years ago on a small wilderness planet Heberides “The Evening Planet”. The exact details of their marooning are probably humiliating as they’re never a subject of discussion.

The terrain of Heberides "the Evening Planet"

The terrain on Heberides – though inhabited – is mostly blasted heath, heather and peat; the weather a constant grey drizzle. Finding an abandoned, ruined stone temple, the Lamians adopted the building as their home, taking one of the six chambers each. Though the temple was a place of worship of local folk-deities, the vainglorious Lamians encourage the lie that the temple was really dedicated to the worship of the Lamians all along.

Instead of the reckless hedonism of other Slaaneshi warbands, the Lamians’ 4 centuries of isolation has led them into idleness, ennui and self-absorption, occasionally punctuated by overwhelmingly easy raids on nearby settlements (the Heberidean locals are massively outgunned by even a small group of space marines).The Lamians comprise 6 members:

• The Captain Lemiscere, the highest ranking by virtue of his incredible sense of self-importance. His suit of power armour is the most decorated of the group, having accrued even more ornamentation over time via the "commission" of local artisans. An ineffectual leader, his arbitrary position of "authority" is permitted by the other members of the group mostly to humour him – they all know the small warband would function just as well without a designated captain.
• The Lieutenant Chaemon, who self-manufactures drugs for their own (constant) use. In combat, they administer themselves a drug that speeds up their perception of time, appearing to make the fighting much slower and easier to navigate. Easily bored, their downtime between fights is sped up through the use of a second, recreational, drug.
• The Lieutenant Radon, a hulking monster even for a Space Marine, they weigh much more even than their huge size should indicate. Radon’s armour is relatively unadorned but for a small heraldic shield bearing a daemon’s face. Though mute, Radon is quietly intelligent.
• The noise marine Ooiphos, who wields the symbiotic sonic daemon-weapon Silverfish. Their fighting technique involves the combined, coordinated “singing” of both Ooiphos and Silverfish together, which produces a blunt audiopsychic pulse that can demolish buildings. It sounds something like this. When not fighting, Ooiphos and Silverfish will sing to each other, with the external audio output unplugged.
• The sniper Arcus★★★, a skilled marksman whose full name includes three “star” glyphs (their current user rating). Arcus★★★’ power armour system includes a built-in neuro-integrated chatroom of basic machine spirits (or possibly minor daemons) whose constant supportive chatter encourages and applauds Arcus★★★’ sharpshooting. Arcus★★★ finds real fulfilment in the network’s support, and spends much of their free time engaged in conversation with it.
• The outrider Cyllix, who is fond of horses and skilled at raising them. Cyllix’s current steed is Buccus, a large white courser bred over several generations of horses raised by Cyllix’s own hand. Such is the bond between Cyllix and Buccus that the horse is stabled in Cyllix's quarters in the temple.

Captain Lemiscere of the Lamians Warband

Chaemon of the Lamians Warband

Ooiphos the noise marine (with Silverfish)

Arcus★★★ of the Lamians Warband 

Radon of the Lamians Warband

Cyllix, riding Buccus

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The Lamians have attracted some hangers-on: the Slaan Sala Movement, a polygamous sect dedicated to Slaanesh and influenced by the Lamians’ presence in their region. The Movement are entirely starstruck by the Lamians warband and regard them as awesome celebrities. The Yan family make up some of the prominent members attending the Lamians: Moloch, Marga and Saturn, all three married to each other.

• Moloch, although a coward is the de facto leader. A former smallholder, he’s among the most evangelical of the Slaan Sala Movement. Marga is very protective of him.
• Marga is incredibly cunning and wily and an expert at acquiring weapons for the trio. Though her husbands love her greatly, Saturn still finds her wide smile disconcerting.
• Saturn is either a deserter from the Astra Militarum, or an impostor full of tall tales who acquired some Imperial Guard armour somewhere. True or not, Moloch fully believes Saturn's stories and is in awe of him.

Marga of the Slaan Sala Movement

Moloch of the Slaan Sala Movement

Saturn of the Slaan Sala Movement

With the aid of Slaan Sala, the Lamians have summoned a single Dæmonette: Qwo Qwok, who is an object of veneration for the cult and squad alike. While the summoning of a single daemon was an impressive achievement for the group (who have no psychic aptitude between them), the Lamians aren’t exactly a magnificent host collecting glory for their deity and it’s likely that Slaanesh just threw Qwo Qwok their way as a minimal token gesture to shut them up. Qwo Qwok is more-or-less happy as long as they can find someone for her to eat once in a while.

The Daemonette Qwo Qwok

The warband has a dedicated transport: an outdated Rhino variant known as an Elephant Seal. The Elephant Seal model fell out of popularity among Astartes forces for its lack of ranged armaments and dangerous reliance on discharging soldiers directly out of its front. In combat, the Lamians use it more-or-less as intended: a huge battering-ram that drives them directly into melee. Moloch usually drives (his cabin is at the back of the vehicle).

The Rhino "Elephant Seal" variant

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The Lamians have been a fun project. I'm not planning to play them, so I've been free to take as long as I like on the project to really just refine the models at a leisurely pace in my free time. It helps that I haven't had to adhere to any army list rules in building the force. I've been documenting the process as I go along on my Instagram account (thanks if you follow me there).

The project was a bit of an experiment; could I make a Chaos warband that wasn't spiky, with no skulls, with no Chaos iconography, using no Chaos models? Could I make a Slaanesh warband that wasn't pink 'n' purple? Can a Space Marine ride a horse? If Space Marines are immortal sexless non-humans, what vices would Slaanesh tempt them with? Does a Chaos cult think of themselves as evil (or "a cult")? What does the #INQ28 setting imply for Space Marines? It's been fun. I have a few ideas for more cultist models that I might work on in the new year, but for now I'm calling the Lamians project complete.

Next up I have a very unusual #AoS28 project planned based on the first Warhammer faction I collected back in the day. More in the new year!

Hek