Fourth Company Librarium and Codicier Ignatius are back with the next Badab Characters 101. This time around it's the turn of The Minotaurs, whom are getting a lot of forgeworld love at the moment. So sit back and enjoy the read.
"As requested, here's my coverage of the Minotaurs. They're getting the most attention from Forgeworld at the moment.
The Minotaurs
The Minotaurs are a Chapter of unknown heritage, and their gene-seed has been classified as chimeric. They are believed to be part of the 21st, or cursed, founding. As such, they have a dark reputation among other Space Marines. They are a particularly brutal Chapter, and prefer to operate in large formations so they can bring overwhelming numbers against their enemies. Individually, Minotaurs are brooding and malign warriors, paranoid and untrusting of even their allies. They venerate only the Emperor and the High Lords of Terra, to whom they appear to have an unusually close connection. In particular, the High Lords use the Minotaurs to hunt down and destroy any renegade Space Marine Chapters. The Minotaurs have inflicted massive losses on the Imperial Paladins, the Doom Warriors, the Inceptors, and the Lamenters; the Ultramarines and all of their successors have denounced the Minotaurs and sworn oaths of vengeance against them. This tendency to hunt down renegade Chapters led to their involvement as Loyalists in the Badab War.
Due to their close ties to the High Lords, the Minotaurs are extremely well supplied, to the point of making heavy use of MK VIII power armor. In general, this means that a Minotaurs army can include any units and fit the background. They should, however, prefer blunt and brutal tactics rather than subtle or drawn out tactics. One point of note is that the Minotaurs use high level of psycho-indoctrination in their recruits, meaning they have very fast recruitment to replace heavy losses. In my mind, this would mean that Minotaurs have very few Scouts, as they quickly progress to full Marines.
Chaplain Ivanus Enkomi
Ivanus Enkomi is a Reclusiarch of the Minotaurs. He was the voice of the Chapter during the Badab War, attending Loyalist councils in place of the Chapter Master. While generally a quiet observer, Enkomi was able to speak with extraordinary intelligence and charisma, rivaling the oratory skills of the greatest Ecclesiarchs.
Enkomi is quite a deal. For 45 more points than the base Chaplain, he has an extra attack, a power fist, a jump pack, and an auxiliary grenade launcher. He maintains the standard Litanies of Battle and Honor of the Chapter, but also has Bane of Hatred, which gives him and any squad he joins +2 attacks on the charge. Enkomi makes a vicious addition to an Assault squad, bringing both excellent hitting power on his own and greatly increasing the damage output of the whole squad.
Lord Asterion Moloc
Asterion Moloc is the Chapter Master of the Minotaurs, and exemplifies their paranoid and malign temperament. He is a master of brutal siegecraft and is often found leading Assault Terminators into the heard to enemy defenses. In addition, he sees other Space Marines as the greatest test of his Chapter’s skill, and seeks any opportunity to clash with other Astartes.
Moloc is a Chapter Master with all the attendant rules. He also has an extra wound and Eternal Warrior, making him very durable. Combined with terminator armor and a storm shield, Moloc is just as survivable as Lysander. He carries a relic blade, which is also a one-use S8 shot. On his own, he’s tough and fairly killy.
He also brings some advantages to the army. Any squad he joins gains Fearless and Assault grenades, both of which are good additions to an assaulting squad. Finally, and probably most importantly, he exchanges his army’s Combat Tactics for Preferred Enemy: Space Marines. This applies to any loyalist Space Marines, not from a Chaos-based Codex. Given how many marine codices there are and how common they are on the table, that’s a big advantage for an assault based army."
So guys any thoughts on these brutes? My personal opinion about this chapter, are all good. I like the paint scheme, the fluff and the general ancient Greek/Minos themes and if I had sold my gene seed to Huron I'm pretty sure I would have started these guys instead. As always let us know what your up too and what you think.
Also if you have any article ideas/suggestions, please get in touch I am always interested in hearing your ideas. You can get in contact via john dot silar@gmail dot com ,on here or on The Badab Veterans forum.
Until next time.