Frequently
Asked Questions (FAQ)
Intro
<> This site <> Fighting
Tigers <> The Jungle Book
FAQ about the
Fighting Tigers
Here are answers
to some of the questions most people ask about the Fighting Tigers.
Why
aren't all Fighting Tigers orange and black?
Why
do the Fighting Tigers have female Marines?
How
can there be female Marines? Only men can be Marines
Where
did the name "Fighting Tigers of Veda" come from?
Why
are the Fighting Tigers based on Hindu mythology?
Where
do the Hindu names come from? And how are they pronounced?
How
big an army do you have?
How
long did it take to paint all those Fighting Tigers?
I
like the Tigers' background: is there any more "fluff?"
How
did you go about writing the Fighting Tigers' story?
Why
don't Tigers have jungle-fighting rules?
What
Chapter are the Fighting Tigers descended from?
Who
was the Fighting Tigers' Primarch?
Do
the Fighting Tigers have Successor Chapters?
Why
haven't the Fighting Tigers cloned Shiva?
What
figure was used to convert Raja Khandar Madu?
Have
the Fighting Tigers ever been submitted to Games Workshop?
Why
are the Fighting Tigers "Chapter #531?"
Are
there any Fighting Tiger figures for sale?
Why
aren't all Fighting Tigers orange and black?
After all,
you say, there aren't any real tigers that are mustard and brown. The answer
is...well, it's a long story. Basically I didn't think carefully about
what I was doing when I first started my army and by the time I figured
it out, I had too many miniatures (and vehicles) to repaint. I had to invent
a very involved background to explain
why the Fighting Tigers have four color schemes.
I think the
background is interesting and plausible (especially in a game with space
elves and daemons), but if I had to do it all over, I would stick with
one simple paint scheme, like black armor with orange and black striped
shoulder plates. Let that be a lesson to you!
Top
Why
do the Fighting Tigers have female Space Marines?
Partly because
I thought it was cool and unique (I still think it's cool, but it's no
longer unique: I've seen a couple websites that discuss female Marines),
but mostly to get myself out of a bind. I'd painted Fighting Tigers that
were white with black stripes but hadn't come up with a good reason why
they should have a different color scheme than the other Tigers. My answer
was that being female warriors, they wore the colors of female tigers,
which on Veda are white with black stripes or white with brown stripes.
Top
How
can there be female Marines? Only men can be Marines
For various
reasons, almost all other Space Marine Chapters exclusively use men. The
Fighting Tigers, however, are geographically, intellectually, and culturally
isolated from much of the Imperium and have developed their own methods
and traditions for creating Space Marines (read the short stories Dharma
and Tigers Eternal for more).
Top
Where
did the name "Fighting Tigers of Veda" come from?
I did NOT
get the name from a college football team. I've always liked military
aircraft. When I was a kid I once visited Luke Air Force Base in Yuma,
Arizona, to see the Air Force Thunderbirds perform. While I was there,
someone gave me a patch (below left) for The Fighting
69th, which I presume was a unit stationed there. I've kept the patch
and used the Fighting part of the name.
The Tigers
part
comes from the Flying Tigers, a volunteer air unit that took on
the Japanese in the early part of World War II and enjoyed great success
against them. I've always liked their trademark "shark mouth" planes
(below
right) and the idea of a small bunch of warriors defeating a huge,
powerful, and evil enemy force.
 
Flying
Tiger Photo © Copyright 2000 www.danford.net
Veda
comes
from Hinduism. The Vedas are a collection of hymns and verses that
form the basis of Hinduism, an ancient and complex religion practiced by
millions of people. I'm certainly no expert on Hinduism; I've merely borrowed
some motifs from it to personalize my Space Marine Chapter in much the
same way that Dark Angels, for example, borrow motifs from medieval Christianity.
If you want to learn more about Hinduism, I suggest you start with Hindu.org.
Top
Why
are the Fighting Tigers based on Hindu mythology?
When I was
writing up the Chapter's background, I needed to connect it to tigers,
which are exclusively Asian animals. I could have used Far East Asia (like
China or Korea,) but within the last few years I've become interested in
Hindu culture and religion. No one else (that I know of) has used it in
40K.
Top
Where
do the Hindu names come from? And how are they pronounced?
The names
attached to each sabha (such as the Tigers of Rudra) are names of Hindu
deities. Character names are either totally made up ("Shrendi Vashtar"),
are Hindu words for weaponry (as I recall, a "khandar" is a kind of sword)
or armor, or are names of deities (Shiva, Surya, etc.). I made up the names
Mahaduyana
and Ghuyarashtra from elements of place names in India. I've
included a
pronunciation
guide which may not be totally accurate
but works well enough for gaming purposes.
Top
How
big an army do you have?
About 7000
points, I estimate. Currently, it's 6 HQ units, 7 Elite units, 8 Troop
units, 6 Fast Attack units, and 8 Heavy Support units. I plan on adding
3 more Troop units and 1 more Fast Attack unit. You can learn more about
each unit by visiting the Tactics
section.
Top
How
long did it take to paint all those Fighting Tigers?
I started
in 1987, but really didn't get serious about painting until 1995. I "finished"
in February 2000 (I say "finished" because I'm in the process of adding
more units to the army). Even though I've always been a big 40K fan, I
didn't put a lot of thought or effort into my army during the first few
years, and it made more work for me later on. It's much easier to spend
a little time and effort on planning what your army is going to be like
before you start buying and painting than it is to try to figure it out
somewhere in the middle.
Top
I
like the Tigers' background: is there any more "fluff"?
Actually,
there is quite a bit more background story to the Fighting Tigers. Check
out Allies and Enemies and Tales
of the Tigers for more.
Top
How
did you go about writing the Fighting Tigers' story?
Codex:
Ultramarines (2nd
Edition) inspired me to create a complete background for the Fighting Tigers.
Since 1997 I've written three print versions of Codex: Fighting Tigers
of Veda, two for 2nd Edition and one for 3rd. With each revision
I've tried to keep up with the changes in the 40K universe and with what's
been going on in the games I've played.
For instance,
the
Ozone Scorpions, the Tigers' first
enemy, were originally just Eldar pirates, but when 3rd Edition came out
I changed them to Dark Eldar because that seemed more fitting. Also, the
Tigers used to be allies of the Dark
Angels, but after playing against
a particularly obnoxious Dark Angel player, I've decided that the Tigers
hate them.
Top
Why
don't the Tigers have jungle-fighting rules?
Reason
#1: Giving the Tigers jungle-fighting rules is because doing
so would make my army less distinct. I’ve
tried to differentiate my army from others by its paint schemes, its background,
its characters, and the actual models themselves (many of my figures are
converted or out-of-production). Adding jungle-fighting rules would change
them from “Co-ed Tiger Marines” to “Co-ed Tiger Marines-who-think-they’re-Catachans.”
See what I mean?
Reason #2:
Despite the name of this website, the Fighting Tigers’ home planet, Veda,
is only about one-third jungle. The rest of the land is grasslands and
mountains.
Reason #3:
Catachans are specialized for jungle conditions because they’ve spent their
whole lives there. Fighting Tigers live in huge fortresses (called maths)
and train to fight in a variety of environments. Put a Catachan on a glacier
and he’ll struggle; put a Fighting Tiger on a glacier and he’ll survive.
Other Space
Marine Chapters don’t have special rules for their home environments. In
game terms, Blood Angels have no special advantages in wastelands (like
their homeworld, Baal). Space Wolves have no special advantages in ice
and snow (like on Fenris). Why should Tigers have an advantage in the jungle?
Reason #4:
The whole idea behind Codex:
Fighting Tigers of Veda is that,
unlike most “unofficial” codices, it DOESN’T have special rules that you
have to get your opponent’s permission to use.
Every benefit
given to a 40K army has some sort of price: either higher points or a corresponding
drawback. If the Tigers had jungle fighting rules, what would that price
be? How would I know it was fair? The GW designers are professionals with
years of experience, yet they admit that sometimes they blow it when making
up rules: how good a job could I do?
Top
What Chapter
are the Fighting Tigers descended from?
Though no
records survive to confirm or deny it, the Fighting Tigers are--ironically--
most likely descended from the Ultramarines,
one
of the Space Marine Chapters they consider
enemies.
How could that
be? Easily. According to the 2nd Edition Ultramarine Codex, the
Ultramarines survived the Horus Heresy intact and went on to found three-fifths
of all Space Marine Chapters (around 600 of them).
Additionally,
the Fighting Tigers do not share any characteristics of the Blood Angels,
Dark Angels, Salamanders, or any other First Founding Chapters, from which
all subsequent Marine Chapters descended.
Even though
the Fighting Tigers are allies of the Space Wolves, the two Chapters have
little in common:
Space
Wolves come from Fenris, a feral world populated by savages;
Tigers come
from Veda, a feudal world populated by peaceful farmers.
Space Wolves
recruit new Marines from the the best native warriors;
Tigers rely
on a millennia-old system called purusha.
Space Wolves
favor close combat;
Tigers strike
a balance between shooting and close combat.
To a Space
Wolf, personal honor is most important;
To a Tiger,
adherence to dharma
(sacred
duty) is most important.
The last piece
of historical evidence supporting the theory that the Tigers descended
from the Ultramarines is this: after the Tigers were defeated (and almost
destroyed) by the Warband
Bloodcomet, they were placed under
the control of the Ultramarines while the Inquisition investigated the
surviving Tiger officers for negligence.
Top
Who
was the Fighting Tigers' Primarch?
Because they
cannot be certain what Chapter founded them, the Fighting Tigers don't
know who was their Primarch--nor, in all honesty, would they care much.
Rather, the Tigers revere Maharaja
Shiva Nagordarika, Founder and First
Chapter Master, who was--of course--a Space Marine, not a Primarch.
Top
Do
the Fighting Tigers have Successor Chapters?
The Tigers
suffered enormous losses against the Warband Bloodcomet (well over 4000
years before the "present time" of the 40K universe) and though they recovered,
they have not yet created any Successor Chapters...at least, that's what
I say. But if you want to create a Successor Chapter, go right ahead! Do
me one small favor, though: if anyone asks where you go the idea, please
give credit where credit is due and point them to this site.
Top
Why
haven't the Fighting Tigers cloned Shiva?
The Fighting
Tigers' beloved Founder and First Chapter Master, Maharaja Shiva Nagordarika,
was crippled long ago by a Bloodthirster and has lived on since then as
the Dreadnought Shiva
the Destroyer (below). Though
Shiva still officially rules the Fighting Tigers, the Chapter has,
since that time, actually been run by successions of Rajas who share power.
Currently, the Tigers are ruled by Raja
Khandar Madu and Raja
Shamshir Talatra.
Above: Tiger
Eternal Shiva the Destroyer
Seeing as how
the Fighting Tigers use cloning to replace their numbers, you would think
that they would clone Shiva and terminate the life support systems of Shiva
the Destroyer so the "old" Shiva could die peacefully and the "new" Shiva
could resume his duties as Chapter Master. Surely the Chapter would be
better off with a revived Shiva in command.
The reason
why the Tigers haven't cloned Shiva (or any other Dreadnoughts) is
explained at the end of the story Tigers
Eternal and is based on real-life
Hindu belief.
Briefly (and
in grossly simplistic terms), Hindus believe that life and reincarnation
is a trap. The way out of the otherwise endless cycle of living, dying,
living again, dying again, is to follow one's dharma (sacred
duty) and achieve nirvana (an enlightened state of non-being).
That is, unlike us Westerners, Hindus don't want an afterlife, they want
a kind of blissful non-existence.
"Nirvana" for
the Fighting Tigers is being a Dreadnought. Instead of being cloned, fighting
again, dying again, being cloned again, a Tiger can (if they're worthy)
"get off the wheel" and can (if they like) spend the rest of time dreaming
and pondering deep thoughts (in proper Hindu fashion) as a Dreadnought.
So unlike other Marine Chapters, the Tigers don't purposefully rouse their
Dreadnoughts and entreat them join battle.
 
Left: Tiger
Eternal Surya Ashoka. Right: Tiger Eternal Shrendi Vashtar
Every once
in a while, however, a Tiger Dread will wish to briefly return "to life"
and rouse their self (otherwise, I'd never be able to use Dreads on the
gaming table, now would I?). Then the Dread, now known as a Boddhisatva,
returns
to duty, fights alongside their brethren, and helps the other Marines to
achieve enlightenment.
If the Marine
within the Dreadnought is killed, they are never cloned again. If they
survive, they may continue aiding the living Tigers until they tire of
"life" again and return to "nirvana."
Thanks to Jennifer
Burdoo for
help with this question. I know that the answer is not entirely consistent
with Hindu belief, but I had to make some adjustments for the game.
Top
What
figure was used to convert Raja Khandar Madu?
The Raja Khandar
Madu conversion (below left) is based off Samantha
of the Blade (below right), sculpted
by Sandra Garrity and sold by Reaper
Miniatures as part of their "Dark Heaven" line.
 
Left: Raja
Khandar Madu. Right: Samantha of the Blade
Notice the resemblance?
Samantha
photo © Copyright Reaper Miniatures, December 2000
Would you
like to read more about the conversion?
Top
Have
the Fighting Tigers ever been submitted to Games Workshop?
Back in 1997,
I submitted Codex: Fighting Tigers of
Veda to Games Workshop. Though the response was positive, they
indicated that they had other projects (such as 3rd Edition 40K) that they
wanted to develop.
Will the Tigers
ever appear in Citadel Journal, White Dwarf, or even as a published codex?
Who knows? For now, I'm happy right where they are, here in the Jungle.
Top
Why
are the Fighting Tigers "Chapter #531?"
It's part
of an elaborate number game I play throughout this site. If you look closely,
you'll notice that the number 9 is often associated with the Tigers. 5+3+1
= 9.
Top
Are
there any Fighting Tiger figures for sale?
Sorry, no.
But if you'd like to make your own, check out this painting
guide.
Have a question?
E-mail
me
Intro
<> This site <> Fighting
Tigers <> The Jungle Book
Last updated January
2008
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