Primarch's - The Night Haunter

So I did my basic reasoning for what the stats of a Primarch would be here and created a 'generic' Primarch here.

So using those posts as our starting points I'll attempt to create rules for The Night Haunter himself, Conrad Curze, Primarch of the Night Lords.

First we need to look at specific events in the background that give us some idea of his abilities relative to the other Primarchs.

Well for a start we have his confrontation with Rogal Dorn, Primarch of the Imperial Fists. Though there's a few accounts of this event the basic details remain the same. Rogal Dorn went to have a go at Curze about his 'methods of warfare' and Curze beat him nearly to death with his bare hands. Our accounts of Dorn himself show him as being an extremely strong and skilled warrior so we have to presume Curze is at the very least faster than normal for a Primarch (so Initiative 7 at least), at least as strong (so 6 or 7 as a minimum) and most likely of greater combat ability (so Weapon Skill 8 or above, possibly even 9). The fact that Curze survives this confrontation completely unharmed makes the argument for high initiative and lots of attacks all the more apparent.

Our other example of Curze in combat comes from 'The First Heretic' where he saves Lorgar from Corax. Accounts of Corax put him in the category of 'above average' even by Primarch combat ability levels and Curze manages to intercept him mid blow while Corax is presumably in a high state of combat awareness and then holds him casually in place while having a conversation with Lorgar. Corax is forced to use his  Jet/Jump Pack on full power in order to escape. This adds to our argument for extremely high Initiative, Weapon Skill and also justifies above average (for a Primarch) Strength.

We also have references to Curze's psychic abilities but other than his use of some kind of psychic shockwave that he uses to smash all the lights and blow the electrical circuits in his cell to pieces (In the audio book 'The Dark King') his abilities seem to be of little use in combat. Rather they seem to be precognitive abilities that usually coincide with a 'fit' of some description so they're not really going to be much use from a 'rules' point of view, but we'll bear them in mind just in case.

As were talking about the embodiment of fear himself that will definately need to be represented in some way. This ability should imo bypass normal 'Fearless' and similar 'special' rules as he even scares other Primarch's. Dorn specifically mentions being afraid of him and Corax runs away from him so we can only presume that he's reaaaalllllllyyyy scary ;-)

So now we have a rough idea of ability level we need to look at equipment. His armour's systems are described in 'The Dark King' as being far more advanced than a normal Marines but then that's to be expected. Corax's armour deflects Lascannon blasts and we've no reason to believe he would be particularly better equipped than the others. I've already given them all 1+/3+ armour so that's fine.

As for weapons, well we have him using various bladed weapons on Nostramo and he's armed with Lightning Claws in 'The First Heretic' so that seems a reasonable weapon for our purposes. We've (Well I've) already given them all the ability to re-roll to wound so we'll probably make his Lightning Claws re-roll to hit. There's also no record that I can find of him using a ranged weapon so I'm not going to give him any.

Some of the special rules I'll be creating for Curze will also be suitable for Night Lords so I may throw in some rules for them at the end.

Editors Note: My local  gaming acquaintances have decided not to give the Primarchs a points value but rather to only use them in Apocalypse games against another Primarch on a 'one to one' basis.

Okay lets get on with it then.....

Conrad Curze - The Night Haunter - Primarch of the Night Lords.

Editors Note : I copied the above picture from here. it's worth having a look at the guys other stuff as he has a very interesting drawing style that I've become quite a fan of.....


WS 9, BS 6, S 7, T 6, W 6, I 9, A 6( 7), Ld. 10, Save 1+/3+ Inv.

Composition : 1 (Unique)
Unit Type : Infantry

Wargear.
Primarch Armour, Talons of Night*, Frag and Krak Grenades.

* Talons of Night - Matched Pair of Lightning Claws (Extra attack already included in profile) that allow re-rolls to hit as well as to wound. They also have the 'Rending' Special Rule on a roll of 5 or 6 rather than the usual 6.

Special Rules.
Acute Senses, And They Shall Know No Fear, Eternal Warrior, Fear Incarnate**, Fleet, Independent Character, 'In Midnight Clad'***, Leaping Assault****, Lord of the Night*****, Might of the Primarch******, Relentless, Will of the Primarch*******.

** Fear Incarnate - Any enemy unit within 18" of Curze loses both the 'Fearless' and 'Stubborn' special rules and suffers a D3 penalty to any test made using their Leadership characteristic. 

Any unit or character wishing to charge Curze (or a unit containing him) must pass a Leadership test to do so. If the attacking unit fails it's Leadership test it counts as failing it's charge. It then must immediately take another Leadership test. If this also fails then the unit must immediately make a 2D6 fall-back move.

*** 'In Midnight Clad' - During any phase in which the Night Fight Rules are in effect the character or unit rolls an extra dice for they're spotting distance and picks the highest two. In addition any character or unit with this rule gains a 4+ Cover save while the Night Fight rules are active. This cover save is lost if the unit has been illuminated by a vehicle with a Searchlight.

**** Leaping Assault - Curze has a 12" charge range. He may use this ability to charge a unit other than the one his unit is charging if he so desires. If he attacks the same enemy as the unit he has joined then he may only charge the same distance as they are allowed.

***** Lord of the Night - At the beginning of the game roll a D3. Curze's controlling player may chooses to play using the Night Fight rules for this number of Game turns. Should 'Night Fight' already be in effect he may choose to extend the Night Fight rules for this number of turns.

Editors Note : The following two rules will be generic for most of the Primarchs. I've restated them here for ease of reading ;-)

****** Might of the Primarch - Though not all Primarchs chose the path of the warrior all have the physical might required to impose their will in combat. - The Primarch may re-roll any failed to wound rolls.

******* Will of the Primarch - Not only were the Primarchs gifted with a portion of the Emperors physical make-up but that of his mind as well. - The Primarch and any unit he has joined can choose to pass or fail any morale test they are called upon to make and in addition his Leadership score can never be reduced below ten by any means.

Night Lord Marines.
All Marines of the Night Lords Legion gain the 'In Midnight Clad' special rule in addition to any rules they would normally have based on the Codex they are using. In games using the normal Force Organisation Charts the Night Lords may sacrifice a Heavy Support slot in exchange for an additional Elite, Troop or Fast Attack slot. This additional slot may only be used to take Infantry or Jump Infantry units though they may have a Dedicated Transport if one is allowed.

Okay, so this is the first draft and may be subject to change if anybody can come up with any better suggestions.....If you could all read the first post detailing my reasons for the 'baseline' stats before complaining I haven't made them powerful enough, that would be a great help ;-)

Over to you guys then ;-)