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?
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!

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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.

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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). 

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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. 

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. 

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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.

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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.

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How big an army do you have?
About 10,000 points. Currently, it's 8 HQ units, 14 Elite units, 12 Troop units, 11 Transports, 12 Fast Attack units, and 8 Heavy Support units.You can learn more about each unit by visiting the Tactics section. 

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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. 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.

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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. 

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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 several versions of Codex: Fighting Tigers of Veda. 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. 

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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?

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What Chapter are the Fighting Tigers descended from?
It used to be believed that the Fighting Tigers were descended from the Ultramarines, but recent genetic tests have confirmed that they are a successor to the White Scars. An initial force of Fighting Tigers was sent to Veda to defeat the Ozone Scorpions. After they did, the Tigers took over rule of the planet and "went native," adopting local customs and names. 

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Do the Fighting Tigers have Successor Chapters?
The Tigers founded at least one successor, the Emerald Tigers. 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.

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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 Acting Raja Chandramatie Bahl.

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.

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.

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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.

Would you like to read more about the conversion?

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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 White Dwarf, or even as a published codex? Who knows? For now, I'm happy right where they are, here in the Jungle.

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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.

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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
 

Last updated December 2008
 

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