Everyone talking about Space Marine army lists has been going on about the Chapter Master on a bike. With artificer armor and the Shield Eternal, he's incredibly durable, and his hitting power with a power fist and orbital strike is impressive. Even though the Imperial Fists Chapter Tactics that I'm using don't benefit the Chapter Master as much as Iron Hands or White Scars would, I still wanted to field my own juggernaut with the Executioners.
Fluff-wise, this caused some problems as the Executioners are really anti-bike. While I wasn't looking to field a massive amount of bikes, it still didn't feel right to have a Chapter Master on a bike that the rest of the Chapter refuses to use. I hinted at the answer in my post on Monday; I would make Executioner heavy cavalry. This fits the background, is good on the tabletop, and looks awesome. I took inspiration from Goatboy's Word Bearer Bikers and mounted my Marines on Chaos Knight steeds. In my case, I removed the Chaos iconography and grafted bolt pistols into their heads to represent the bikes twin-linked bolters.
As this model would be my Captain (which I would play with Chapter Master rules. All Executioners Captains are supposed to be Warlords in their own right, and I think that represents their advanced combat prowess compared to Captains from less brutal Chapters), I armed him with a headsman's axe and storm shield. He has magnetized arms so I can switch them out. I'm already planning to give him a more distinctive axe to differentiate him. He's my first completed mounted Executioner, but I'm working on a full Command squad to ride with him. I hope they come out as well.
Let me know what you think. Awesome? Too chaosy? A fluff dodge so I can use bikes even though they don't fit the background?