Fearful Symmetry (updated 01/2010)  by Kenton Kilgore
In the From Idea To Reality series, we chronicled the process of creating an army from scratch. In this series, we will showcase the finished results of our labors – the completed armies (as much as any 40K army can ever be considered “completed”). By detailing how the army was collected, how the background and color schemes were developed, and how the army is used on the battlefield, we hope that this series will provide inspiration for those interested in collecting similar armies.

Introduction
This army grew out of the story Traveller of Both Time and Space, which chronicles how Shamshir Talatra, commander of half the Fighting Tigers of Veda, lost his position (and nearly lost his life) after leading his detachment into disaster. Aided by the Inquisitor Varman Kumar, Shamshir begins to develop leadership skills and assembles a rag-tag collection of renegades into a fighting force.

As I moved closer to finishing the story, I became inspired to build a new army based around Shamshir. I eschewed the obvious choice (a Fighting Tigers successor chapter) and considered a Daemonhunter force. But my friend (and primary opponent) Pat already has DHs, and certain models I wanted to use wouldn’t fit in a DH army. So instead, I decided that Shamshir’s new army would use the rules from Codex: Chaos Space Marines. 

And thus, with its name inspired by one my favorite poems (William Blake’s The Tyger), was born the Fearful Symmetry.*

*When Blake wrote his poem, “fearful” was a synonym for “fearsome.” The meaning has since changed, but don’t think just because they’re called “fearful” that my guys are cowards! 

Army List
Currently, the army totals 2,999 points and consists of the following:

• Raja Shamshir Talatra (counts as Chaos Lord) w/ Terminator armor, twin-linked bolter, Scepter of Shiva (counts as daemon weapon + personal icon). Accompanied by Panja the tiger (counts as Mark of Khorne). (160 points)
• Inquisitor Varman Kumar (counts as Chaos Sorcerer) w/ familiar, Doombolt, Warptime, Pelt of the Great Man-Eater (counts as personal icon for summoning Ghost Tygers). (145 points)
• Tigers of Indra  (count as Chaos Terminators). Terminator Champion w/ Inspired Fighting (counts as Icon of Khorne), power weapon and twin-linked bolter; three w/ power fists and twin-linked bolters; two w/ chain fists and twin-linked bolters; one w/ power fist and heavy flamer (325 points)
• Greater Rakshasas. Count as 14 Possessed Chaos Space Marines w/ Mark of Tzeentch (404 points)
• Rudra Squad 1 (counts as Chaos Space Marines). Sergeant (counts as Aspiring Champion) w/ power weapon and bolter-flamer combi-weapon; eight w/ bolters (including one w/ Icon of Chaos Glory); one w/ flamer (205 points). Mounted in Rhino w/ extra armor and dozer blade (55 points)
• Rudra Squad 2 (counts as Chaos Space Marines). Sergeant (counts as Aspiring Champion) w/ bolter-flamer combi-weapon and power fist; eight w/ bolters (including one w/ Icon of Chaos Glory); one w/ meltagun (220 points). Mounted in Rhino w/ extra armor (50 points)
• Rudra Squad 3 (counts as Chaos Space Marines). Sergeant (counts as Aspiring Champion) w/ power fist and bolter-flamer combi-weapon; eight w/ bolters (including one w/ Icon of Chaos Glory); one w/ melta gun (220 points). Mounted in Rhino w/ extra armor (50 points)
• Lesser Rakshasa Pack 1. Counts as 20 Lesser Daemons (260 points)
• Lesser Rakshasa Pack 2. Counts as 20 Lesser Daemons (260 points)
• Ghost Tygers. Counts as 10 Lesser Daemons (130 points)
• Agni Squad 1 (counts as Chaos Havocs). Two w/ bolters; two w/ lascannons; one w/ autocannon (165 points)
• Bronze Tyger 1 (counts as Chaos Defiler) w/ Havoc launcher and twin-linked lascannon (175 points)
• Bronze Tyger 2 (counts as Chaos Defiler) w/ Havoc launcher and twin-linked lascannon (175 points)

Modeling and Painting
In building this army, I wanted to 1) save money and 2) avoid having the stereotypical Chaos army with scary-looking dudes in spiked armor. So instead of buying Chaos Marine figures, I used minis from my overly-large collection of Fighting Tiger Space Marines; these figures represent Terminators, Chosen, Havocs, and regular CSMs. 

To unify the appearance of the army, I chose only Tigers painted in Shamshir Talatra’s mustard-yellow and brown paint scheme. I use Black Orc cheetah figures, painted as tigers, as Icons of Chaos Glory. During games, I put each icon figure in base-to-base with a specific model and move it with that miniature so that my opponent and I know where each icon is for summoning purposes. 

Back when Shamshir was a Fighting Tiger, he rode a bike and accompanied my bike squads, giving them a lot of hand-to-hand punch. The Fearful Symmetry doesn’t have any bikes, however, so Shamshir and his motorcycle were frequently ineffective. Attempting to rectify this appalling situation, I made a new Shamshir figure, using the Space Marine Terminator Captain. 

To make him distinctive, I repositioned his right arm and sword hand, added a red shroud to his right shoulder, and painted his eyes red (Shamshir has always been described as having this minor mutation). I used a pair of clippers to bend the Captain’s sword into a scimitar and make notches in the blade: the Scepter of Shiva is a very old weapon, after all. Finally, I attached the tiger model for Panja (a saber-toothed tiger figure made by Reaper Miniatures) onto Shamshir’s base.

Shamshir is aided by Inquisitor Varman Kumar. To represent him, I special-ordered a Rogue Trader-era figure and painted him in yellow and brown to make him fit in with the army (he doesn’t, however, wear stripes, as he’s not actually a Space Marine). He’s assisted by a Lesser Rakshasa familiar (the little tiger-headed guy) and holds the Pelt of the Man-Eater, a magical tiger skin that he can use to summon Ghost Tygers.

In addition to not wanting this army to look like a typical Chaos army, I wanted to continue the Hindu theme that the Fighting Tigers have. Accordingly, when I purchased figures for daemons, I used tiger-headed models from Reaper Miniatures and Black Orc Games. I painted all the models in white, then washed them in green ink, then drybrushed white over them again, to give them a “ghostly” look. 

The Ghost Tygers are Games Workshop Sabretusk figures (from the Ogre Kingdoms division of the Warhammer Fantasy game). These were the first "ghost" models I ever painted, and I went a bit overboard, with several coats of white, Codex Grey, and green ink. To me, they look like they're carved out of marble, but so be it. 

The Bronze Tygers are my army’s version of Chaos Defilers: the models were radio-controlled “tiger robots” (a mere $10 each) and already came assembled. The models were originally white; spray-painting them black required several coats to get the paint among the numerous ridges on each model. I then drybrushed each in Dwarf Bronze, and added some highlights in Brazen Brass. I then mounted each on a base made from an unneeded compact disc flocked with static grass. 

Background (Warning: Spoilers)
As recounted in the story Traveller of Both Time and Space, Shamshir Talatra, at the suggestion of Inquisitor Varman Kumar, led a detachment of Fighting Tigers against Red Corsairs Chaos Space Marines. Shamshir’s mission did not go well: he was almost mortally wounded, and all but one of his Marines were killed. For his recklessness and negligence, Shamshir was stripped of command and marooned.

Shamshir wandered the planet where he had been left, site of the Red Corsair base he had attacked. Eventually, he discovered a series of tunnels—built and formerly used by Dark Eldar—that allowed one to cross from world to world and even through time. Using them to travel to Veda’s past, Shamshir Talatra reached an ancient shrine where he found the Scepter of Shiva—a powerful sword that could summon daemonic rakshasas and compel them to serve him—and the Pelt of the Great Man-eater—a magical tiger skin with the ability to summon tiger-spirit allies. 

With these items and the ability to move at will through time and space, Shamshir returned to the planet where he had been marooned and set out to redeem himself. He assembled a new army, pressing into service the surviving Corsairs and pulling Fighting Tigers out of past battles before they could be killed. He re-met Kumar, and learned that Veda was threatened by Hive Fleet Ravana. Travelling through time and space to the battle where Ravana first invaded Veda’s system, Shamshir and his Marines—aided by thousands of rakshasas—assisted the Fighting Tigers, inflicting enough casualties on the Tyranids to prevent them from continuing on towards Veda. Shamshir and most of his army survived the battle, but, ironically, have been declared renegades and outlaws by the Tigers, who have sworn to destroy them. 

Though Shamshir uses daemonic allies and has quite a few turncoat Marines in his army, he does not serve Chaos, and he curbs the evil tendencies of some of his followers (how long he can continue to do this is another matter). Though outlaws, the Fearful Symmetry fights against the enemies of mankind, striking against aliens and the followers of Chaos, while defending themselves against vengeful Imperial forces sent to destroy them.

Using the Army
Learning to use the Fearful Symmetry has been challenging. I first built the army using the very lenient 4th Edition Chaos Codex, and, as seen in its first outing, it was the typical all-Infiltrating “daemonbomb” army, with the Greater Rakshasas counting as Bloodletters, the Lesser Rakshasas counting as Daemonettes (with rending claws), and the Ghost Tygers as Flesh Hounds. My “Chaos Marines” consisted solely of Chosen, Raptors, and three squads of Havocs, and the army had some success.

With the latest revision (2007) of the Chaos Codex, I was forced to adjust my concept. For openers, I actually had to field regular Chaos Space Marines as Troops (imagine!) and rely less on Daemons, as they had been considerably toned-down. However, I eagerly accepted the changes to Defilers and added two to the army. 

No surprise here: this army tries to get up-close-and-personal as soon as possible, the better to summon Daemons off its six icons. The Fearful Symmetry has limited mobility (only three Rhinos), but I hope that the Terminators' Deep Striking and the Defilers' Fleet of Foot ability will alleviate that. I tend to worry more about infantry, so as is typical of my armies, it doesn't have a great deal of tank-killing capability.

My trial run with the “new” Fearful Symmetry was not successful (see the Fear vs. Faith battle report), but I made some adjustments, and I’m hoping that the army will perform better next time. Keep visiting the Jungle to find out how the Fearful Symmetry fares. Once left for dead on a barren planet, Shamshir Talatra has just begun to fight.

Originally posted May 2007. Updated January 2010.
 

Top