The Thra'ken a new Allie for the Shadows

S

Sting52jb

Mongoose
Ok so i never got a chance to purchase any of the Drak ships and while I'm waiting for Iron Wind Metals to come out i have decide to start on a new Allie for the Shadows till the Drak are available again.

Going through my miniature collection and after much deliberation i have decided to use my current stock of Tyranid models from Battlefleet Gothic.

Here are a few picts of the fleet as is not including the actualy models for GW.









As it stands now i still don't have the actual ACTA books just a few supplement books so i don't know exactly all the rules yet. But despite this I was going to start on the background history of these allies.

I'm considering using elements of the background and history from the Vong form star wars as the Tyranid background will not fit at all.

My biggest problem currently is a name for these guys, as i don't want to have theme named either the Tyranid or the Vong.

Thanks for any help.

Sting.
 
They look cool (and much better than the Drakh IMHO)

Can always stick a fe ' in a word - often works for Alien races

like this - the Kri'sha'ran

not sure who the Vong are but looking forward to seeing more abut this...........
 
here is a little about the Yuuzhan Vong.

The Yuuzhan Vong were a race of sentients which posed a significant threat to the New Republic.

The Yuuzhan Vong resembled Humans in form, though they were taller and heavier than the average Human and had less hair on their heads. The Yuuzhan Vong were religious zealots who viewed mechanical technology as blasphemy. Their technological innovations were genetically engineered and purely organic. Additionally, the Yuuzhan Vong deeply respected pain to the point of masochism, and strove to improve their physical capabilities through organ grafting. Such grafting was a status symbol within Yuuzhan Vong society.



I will keep most of this and expand on it while change a few details.
 
And they nearly conquered the whole Galaxy, lead to the downfall of the New Republic and the rise of the Galactic Alliance (which would indeed prove again that a democratic government is incapable to reign the Galaxy)
 
Your homemade Tyranid ships are really cool. They look meaner than the GW versions. Are they made mostly with 40K weapons and talons?
 
The unpainted ones are made from left over tyranid bits from the 90 dollar deal and an extra Carnifax while the smaller painted ones are old metal epic tyranids, cant remember the exact one's but they may have been ravengers.
 
Ok I've decided to call my Allies the Thar'ken. I've completed the racial overview including Culture, History, Government, Military and Technology.

I'm still trying to figure out how to post a Work document to the internet. If i cant figure it out by Tuesday ill just post it here in parts due to its size. Thanks again for the encouragement.
 
Ok so here is what i have so far still need to work on the ships.

THAR’KEN

Physiology
The Thar’ken are a humanoid species but much taller and with a heavier build than an average Human, though this could be a result of selective breeding. Thar’ken heads have a sloping, almost ridge-like forehead, many have pointed ears while other do not. It is not know if this is part of their ritual mutilations, or a genetic variation; there is no conclusive evidence as to what the species norm is. The Thar’ken also have short, stub like noses that they ritual mutilate, making their faces appear skull-like.

Thar’ken usually have black hair that grows on the back of their skull but is usually worn quiet long. Small blue sacks can be found under the eyes of a Thar’ken, and they are often considered a mark of beauty. These eyesacks expand and contract to reflect a Thar’ken's mood, as the species does not use facial expressions as most other races. Thra’ken skin tone ranges from gray to an ugly yellow color. The Thar’ken’s nervous system is vey conductive, almost as if they have been made for feeling pain. Another major physical characteristic is their jet black blood.

Overview
The Thar’ken are one of the youngest of the middle age race that became an alley of the shadows shortly before the last Great War. The Thar’ken are religious zealots who view mechanical technology as blasphemy. Their technological innovations are genetically engineered and purely organic. Additionally, the Thar’ken deeply respect pain to the point of masochism, and strive to improve their physical capabilities through organ grafting. This grafting is a status symbol within Thar’ken society.

Culture
The Thar’ken culture is centered on sacrifice and their gods the Shadows, although warriors in particular are centered on the philosophy of pain. Devotional practices to the gods call for bloodletting at prayer times. Thar’ken children are raised in caste specific crèches by designated caretakers, and do not know their biological parents. Their crèche parents named them. Deformed children are killed at birth, but if the deformity is mild enough, the child may be spared to become a shamed one.

Thar’ken Society function in a caste system. They ranged from the powerful one-person Supreme Overlord caste to the lowly oppressed Worker caste. Not much is known of their economic system, but it appeared to be a command economy. There are five cast that make up Thar’ken society the highest is the Priest cast followed by the Warrior, and Shaper cast, then the Intendant cast and finally the Worker cast. By far the majority of the Thar’ken fall in the Worker cast or Intendant cast. The Intendant cast keeps Thar’ken socity functioning and is responsible for the economy, while the workers act mainly as servants, slaves and laborers. The Worker cast includes Shamed Ones, whos bodies have rejected the organic implants and modifications.
 
Government
The exact makeup of the Thar’ken’s political system is obviously some type of theocracy or autocracy, or a combination of the two. At the top of their government is the Supreme Overlord, who has control over all other castes. Politically, the Overlord held authority and power as Head of State/Government, Commander-in-Chief, and supreme religious leader. Despite this the priest caste has considerable power in this rigidly theocratic society. The members of the priest caste serve their Shadow master more directly then the rest of the race.

The Supreme Overlord is essentially a god-king, and believed during their exile their only remaining link to their Gods. Succession is not hereditary, and future Overlords are chosen from a pool of candidates whose births are signified by omens, prophecy, and noble lineage. All of the candidates are trained in all aspects of Thar’ken society, and each treated as if he was the heir apparent. On their ascension, the Supreme Overlord is ritually scarred and modified, sacrificing several external organs and limbs to make him resemble a Shadow.

Technology
All of the Thar’ken's technology, whether it be starships, weapons, or simple everyday objects, are entirely biological. The Thar’ken’s hate machines, electronics, and anything manufactured. Thar’ken ships have been developed over millions of years using very little resources. Armor-wise, they employ adaptive armor. While not as advanced as Shadow biotech it is more advanced then Drakh tech. The Thar’ken’s weapons are based on Shadow tech. While not as powerful as weapons employed by the Shadows normally, they have proven to be very effective. The Shapers cast are the scientists who supervised the biotechnology of the Thar’ken. They concentrated on the creation and development of organic technology.

Military
The warrior caste serves as the military of the Thar’ken and is one of the largest castes. They are trained from an early age to excel in combat and tactics. Due to their conditions from birth to be brave, fierce, and merciless in battle they are known to not show fear, mercy and to follow their superior’s orders without question. The Thar’ken are promoted due to both experience, prestige and ruthlessness. The highest ranking military commaned is known as a Warmaster and unlike many other races militaries they do not fear direct combat but would rather be on the front lines then in some safe undisclosed location. The Supreme Overlord of the Thar’ken is guarded by a special group of Warriors called the Slayers.

Surrender is not an option for the Warrior caste, and to retreat is a sign of cowardice. If a Warrior is captured, they would immediately commit suicide, rather than shame themselves or their cast. For warriors, there is only victory or death. Due to this mentality many believe that the Warriors are more aggressive than the other Thar’ken casts.
 
History
Little is known about early Thar’ken history. What is know is that the planet that they originated from is an ocean world with very little land mass. Due to this the Thar’ken were cursed with a planet devoid and many raw metals needed to advance technologically. Metal deposits were extremely rare in quantity.

Without being able to depend on technology to assist them, the Thar’ken soon began to focused on biological sciences. Genetic engineering and control lead to the enslavement and control several sea creatures. One species, the Kempla, served as transportation and refinements in genetic engineering and modification even allowed for Kemplas to be used for flight. Within a few generations, the Kemplas-cru was designed to break the atmosphere of their planet and for the first time, the Thar’ken were space worthy.

The Kemplas-cru initially had troubles weathering prolonged exposure to the vacuum of space. The Thra’ken had to resort to staying close to the planet and seemed doomed to be confined to their homeworld. Shortly after the Thar’kens initial forays into space the Shadows became aware of them and their unique bio-organic technology when a Shadow cruiser came to unearth one of their ships for the coming Great War.
The Shadows were amazed at the amount of bio-organic technology for such a young race while the Thar’ken were curious with the organic technology of the Shadows as they believed it could be used to harden their ships to be more durable. The Shadows believed that the Thar’ken could possibly be a powerful alley in the coming war and sent their servants to initiate a revolt while providing aid to the faction they were supporting. This civil war soon engulfed the entire planet, soon Kempla were being engineered for combat then when the Thar’ken were on the verge of extinction the Shadows believing that the Thar’ken were ready descended onto the planet ending the war by presenting themselves as the Gods of Thar’ken myth. The Thar’ken began to worship the Shadows as gods and the saviors of their species.

The Shadow Agents realized it would be foolish to let the Thar’ken have access to better technology and resources since it could backfire against them, but they realized these new aliens were very patient when focused so they sent small shipments from time to time that allowed the Thar’ken to be hooked.

With these new technological advancement the Thar’ken were able to finally adapt the Kemplas-cru to be able to leave the relative safety of orbit around their homeworld. The Thar’ken were quickly becoming a major alley of the Shadows. With their religious devotion to the Shadows and warlike culture they would make for the perfect soldiers in the coming Great War. The Drakh once the Shadows principle alley and servitor race saw the Thar’ken as a threat to their place with the Shadows and began to form a plan of their own to insure their position among their masters.

The Thar’ken for their part fully embraced their gods philosophy of advancement though war and chaos, and began a series of skirmishes with the races immediately surrounding their area of space. The Shadows encouraged this as a predecessor to the coming Great War. For their part the Shadows provided little support to the Thra’ken during these skirmishes besides the opening of hyperspace for them as this was one technological advancement they would not provide to their allies to keep them dependent on their masters.

By the beginning of the last Great War the Thra’ken were a powerful alley for the Shadows. The Shadows utilized them in many strikes against their strongest enemies and for their part the Thra’ken were able to hold their own. They helped in the elimination of many enemies including the destruction of the Minbari space station. Unknown to most though the Drakh were manipulating the Thra’ken and soon planted information that would lead a massive combined Vorlon, Minbari, and allies fleet to the Thra'ken home world.

This fleet utilized a experimental weapon designed to destroy the Thra’ken’s homeworld. Unknown to the combined fleet and the Thra’ken themselves the Shadows had discovered the treachery of Drakh and set a trap for this combined fleet. The full Shadow and Thra’ken fleet ambushed the combined Vorlon, and Minbari, fleet before the planet killer could fully finish its power up. The Shadows and Thra’ken fleets concentrated their fire on the planet killer and due to some unknown circumstance the planet killer discharged its main weapons just as the Drakh fleet began to emerge from hyperspace. The massive power of the planet killers weapon and the power output of the jump point caused a feedback loop that engulfed the planet. Instead of the planet being destroyed it mysteresly disappeared.

The remaining ships that weren’t trapped in the backwash of the energy wave regrouped and exetied into hyperspace. The remaining Thra’ken were mostly whipped out by the end of the Great War, but unknown to either the forces of light or dark the Thra’ken’s planet was not destroyed but was transported to Otherspace a pocket dimension beyond both normal space and hyperspace.

The remaining Thra’ken now stranded in Otherspace found their home planet uninhabitable and began a search for a new home. Believing their gods had forsaken them the Thra’ken soon began to see pain and chaos as the only way to get back in to their good graces and practiced body modifications on themselves.

Searching for their way of redemption the Thra’ken spread out through Otherspace extermination any lifeform they came across. Many of the races they discovered could little match the Thra’ken technologically or even in sheer ferocity. The Thra’ken quickly took control of a large section of Otherspace but without access to hyperspace they could not fully explore Otherspace.

At some point after reaching Otherspace the Thra’ken encountered a powerful technologically advanced race they came to know as the Sardakk. The Sardakk were immensely powerful, ancient beings with the power to rival the power of their former masters. The Sardakk did not take kindly to the presence of outsiders into their realm and soon the Thra’ken and the Sardakk were engaged in a full blown war. The Sardakk offered the Thra’ken a challenge that they had not faced since coming into this strange realm. Many of the Thra’ken’s priest cast saw that a victory over the Sardakk could win back the favor of the gods. This war between the two powers raged for many years neither side able to take full advantage of any victory. Then the Thra’ken discover a derelict ship of unknown origins. They were able to reverse engineer the ships hyperdrive engine and for the first time in over 900 years a Thra’ken ship was able to enter normal space. This ability allowed the Thra’ken to gain an advantage over the Sardakk and soon they had an advantage in their war. Then the Shadows rediscovered their former allies and knowing that a second Great War was looming on the horizon reestablished their dominance. The Thra’ken fully reentered normal space but since time have remained hidden only acting at the behest of their gods.
 
well that is all i have for now. Ill be leaving on Sunday and be gone for a week but hopefully i will be able to get the ships done by then. If any one has any suggestions let me know. Thanks again.

Sting.
 
For an unofficial player race it's gonna be fun to use a race who are little mre than Yuuzahn Vong and Charon blended into Shadow Thralls. (Meaning I really like how he wove the necessary elements in to fit the love of chaos/pain into his culture.) Hopefully, though their weapons and tactics are better than being simple watered down Shadows.
 
Some thoughts - use and/ or adapt as you please :)

General fleet Initiative - perhaps like the Drazi - better attacking than defending - perhaps +3 / 0

The Thar'Ken will not surrender and are immune to any effects that would cause them to do so, such as the Stand Down and Prepare to be Boarded! Special Action.

Given their organic heritage - self repair and the adpative armour you have already said they have, I though perhaps something different but related to whats already in the game?

Thar'ken Bio-ships
The self-sealing, highly adpatable, organic nature of Thar'ken ships (inlcuding fighters) makes penetrating their hulls extremely difficult for anything other than energy beams. However powerful weapon strikes or severe damage can "stun" the ship for vital moments.
Weapons with the AP trait do not add one to the attack dice rolls when fired at a Thar'ken ship. Weapons with the Super AP trait act as AP weapons - only adding one to the attack dice.
If a Thar'ken suffers 25% of its original damage from any source in a single attack, it will be stunned - it can take no action in remiander of this turn. Automatic functions such as self repair still take place.

Bio Missiles - Shards of steel hard chitin that serve as deadily missiles allowing the deadily cargo to infest the target with vicious toxins.
Super AP, Precise, all crew loss resulting from the attacks are doubled.

Zuras'Da Command Cruiser (War)
At the forefront of every Thar'ken fleet are the leaders of the warrior caste - leading by example from formidible bastions of firepower.
Speed: 6, Damage 60 / 6, Crew: 75 / 10, Craft: 2 Shrisaa "Blade" fighters, 2 Raarg "Needle" Breeching Pods
Turn: 1x45, Hull : 6, Troops: 8, In service: ?
Special: Advanced Jump Engine, Carrier 2, Command +2, Lumbering, Self Repair 1, Shuttles 4,
Weapons.........................Arc ......Range....AD.......Special
Molcular Slicer beam........B(f)........18".........4......Beam, Tripple Damage, Precise
Bio Missiles......................F............24".........12......SAP, Precise,
Spine Projectors...............F............10...........6.........AP, Double Damage
Spine Projectors...............P............10...........6.........AP, Double Damage
Spine Projectors...............S............10...........8.........AP, Double Damage
Spine Projectors...............A............10...........4.........AP, Double Damage
Shard Cloud Projector.......T.............6............8.........Accurate, Weak

Shrisaa "Blade" fighters Patrol (Wing of 4 flights),
Shaped like a nightmare vision of vicious edges the Shard fighter is fast and deadily. They are crewed by pilots ready to sacrifce themselves at any time to gain a moments advantage for their leaders.
Speed: 14, Dogfight +1, Turn; SM, Hull 4,
Dodge 3+, Fighter,
Light Spine Projector...........T........2 ..............1...............AP, Double Damage

Special: At the beginning of any dogfight, any number of Shrisaa figters in a dogfight may be removed to destroy an equal number of enemy fighters in the same dogfight, chosen by the Thar'Ken player. Shrisaa fighters removed this way may not be recovered by the Fleet Carrier trait.
 
Ok after a move from Oregon to Wisconsin, and then being sick for the last three weeks last night I finaly sat down and got to read though the suggestions posted by Da Boss. I really liked his example ship and am using it for the base for my other ships. some changes are as the Thar'ken have only just discovered remove the advance jump engine for regular jump engins, and i may do away with the Mocular Slicer beam in favor of a new weapons.

Here are some ideas for weapons. I'm hopping for feedback and help fluhing them out.

The first will be the heavy hitting weapons meant to replace the Moculr Slicer Beam.

Pyro-acidic Batteries
Pyro-acidic batteries work by launching compact organic shells containing a virulent pyro-acids. These shells cause considerable damage on impact. Any ship which is hit by pyro-acid weapons has a chance that they will continue to be eaten away by the deadly bio-agents.

Ships which suffer a critical hit from a pyro-acid weapon automatically receive an additional critical result the following turn (due to the long-term effect is comparable).

I'm thinking
Range 10", Not sure on AD possibly 4 like the Molcular Sliger beam or possibly 6-8 due to reload time. Special; Slow-Loading, SuperAP, and Triple Damage.

Suggestions are defently wealcom as this is all new to me.

Bio-plasma Cannons ( A rework of Da Bosses suggested Spine Prjectors unless he works up some thing else).

Bio-plasma cannons are the standard Tkar’ken weapon system. These Cannons spew forth gouts of reddish-gold plasma that boil into the enemy target. Even after the initial impact, the plasma continues to burn through the surface area, creating additonal damage. Due to this beneficial characteristic, these plasmatic bursts can burn through even the thickest armor plating. Cannons that are a smaller grade can only heat the material to the melting point, while more powerful cannons can cause it to become plasma. The plasma deals much more damage, but the lava will sometimes stick to the ship and continue to eat through the hull, long after the original impact.

I'm thinking
Range 16", AD 6, Special; AP, and Double Damage.

Again suggestion are wealcom

I'm keeping the Bio-missiles and am still working on a shield/Gravitic Shifter weapon still but not sure on how to work it out suggestions are welcom im bassing it on the Dovin basal from Star Wars Hope to complete this here shortly later tonight i will post my suggested priroty levels for consideration. Thanks for all those intersted.

Sting.
 
cool - look forward to seeing more :)

one thing I would suggest is not have too many effects that last into the next turn as it all has to be tracked - one main weapon system doing this is prob ok but many will just mean it get forgotten etc in the heat of battle.
 
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