Fandom Factions: The Oathbound Vultures

Alert! Alert! We have our very first Reclamation of Orberus faction today, and a suitably Tzeentchy one as promised in yesterday's article. Technically I could have kept this with the Echoes of Nihilus tag since the army in question was also part of that campaign - not only that but they won a whopping six campaign awards including third place for Campaign MvP, first place for their Alliance MvP and first place for Best Running Narrative. The Vultures were also pivotal in the climax of the campaign, having soundly beaten my own Khertet Dynasty in a bloody clash of bodiless souls and soulless bodies. However Si, the hobbyist who collects this wonderful army, submitted this entry under their Reclamation of Orberus faction name of the "Oathbound Vultures" as opposed to their Echoes of Nihilus faction name, "The Hedarai Vultures", so I figured that labelling this article with the former campaign's tag seemed more appropriate. Anyway, enough babbling, it is my pleasure to be doing an article on this beautifully painted, yet highly deadly army and so, without further ado, I hand the reigns over to Si...

How many points of tabletop ready miniatures does your army currently stand at?

Somewhere around 2,400 - if we’re including the Terminator Sorcerer and Magnus proxies used in my Crusade army (a Terminator Librarian and Lord of Change respectively). I’ve got a lot of Tzeentch daemons on the side, but recent dataslate changes have made allying them in much less worthwhile.

The Oathbound Vultures have a wonderful array of Rubrics, Sorcerers and Daemons

What inspired you to collect this faction?

I’m a late convert to the hobby, not getting into it until 2019 - and specifically, playing Necrons in Kill Team (Second Edition). They were… very boring (a side effect of the KT2e rules being… very boring), so I quickly went looking for other factions to pick up. Chaos was the obvious choice as one of my early board game loves was Chaos in the Old World - and specifically, playing Tzeentch. So, Thousand Sons were the obvious choice, but just to be sure I read up on some of the fluff and that just sealed the deal - a really fun mix of arrogance, hubris, and tragedy which makes writing fluff for any battle outcome a joy. Even when they fail, well, it’s just as planned isn’t it?

Now, should I have maybe considered how much psychic damage all that gold  trim would inflict before I started on this project? Maybe, but then, what kind of Son of Magnus would I be if I was actually aware of my own failings and shortcomings?

Who doesn't love a good ol' servant of Tzeentch?

Can you give us some insight into your colour scheme?

My original Kill Team (and follow up squads of Rubrics and Sorcerers) use a darker blue in the style of the Sectai Prosperine Thrallband - using Kantor Blue rather than Thousand Sons Blue as the primary colour. This was because I initially wanted to err a bit closer to the darker colour of the classic chaos poster boys, the Black Legion. Sadly over time I’ve decided I much prefer the brighter blues and turquoises of classic Thousand Sons - they pop a lot more on the table (whereas darker models get lost in the noise).

I doubt I’ll ever go back and re-paint my original Sectai Prosperine models - at my rate, that would take me another 3 years!

Si opted to go a bit brighter with his blues later on

Does your faction have a backstory?

My Thousand Sons warband is on to their third moniker as they embark on a new campaign in the Oberus Sector - The Oathbound Vultures.

The army was originally formed as the SECT OF LIMITLESS FORMS and led by the Exalted Sorcerer HEDARA KH'VASH. During their early campaigns the Terminator Sorcerer NYARATH KH'NEM achieved Daemonhood, and a rift formed between the two sorcerers. An internecine civil war quickly followed, with the majority of the survivors siding with Nyarath. Hedara was left stranded in the NIHILUS SECTOR with a handful of allies, and the army reformed as the HEDARAI VULTURES.

During the Tyranid invasion of the sector, the Vultures were approached by the renegade Terminator Librarian AESCHIAS SICANDAR. He struck a bargain with Hedara - the Vultures would track down THE LIBER INFERNUS, and in exchange Aeschias would help them escape the sector.

Backstabbing, sorcery, and daemonic bargaining ensue (you can read the full write-up here) but by the end of the campaign the army had once again reformed as THE OATHBOUND VULTURES.

They now embark on a new campaign in the ORBERUS SECTOR, tasked by their mysterious benefactor with acquiring the mysteriously named “artefact” before the SEEKERS OF THE TOME (some pesky Blood Ravens) do.

In the grim darkness of the far future, there are only McGuffins…

The infamous Sicandor and the Liber Infernus, which became a big plot point in Echoes of Nihilus

What are your favourite models in your faction?

The Infernal Master OTHAR RUINSPAKE - he’s kitbashed from a mix of the regular Chaos Space Marines Sorcerer and some Exalted Sorcerer bits, and his arrogant pose matches his arrogance on the tabletop. He always runs his Screamer Invocation hot (and has rolled a surprising amount of 1s on that Hazardous check, especially in the last game of the Echoes of Nihilus crusade). In his defense, his arrogance is somewhat warranted - he has 28 kills under his belt! (DJ: He was a bloody nightmare in my experience!)

Whilst they don’t see much use these days, I really enjoyed building and painting my babble of Chaos Spawn. The sprue may be ancient, but they were still a lot of fun to kitbash and paint. Can absolutely just make it up as you go along, the crazier the better.

And, I couldn’t not mention INFINITUS, GRASPING. It was originally Hedara’s pet Mutalith Vortex Beast, but its power is now unchained - who knows what havoc it will unleash in the next campaign. It’s also the only model I’ve really successfully done some airbrush blending on - most of the faction requires far too much accuracy for me to dare to use the airbrush on them!

A smattering of Si's favourite models from his army

So what's next for your faction?

🧛💀- it’s a #NewAoS year, and I’ve got a hefty amount of bloodsuckers on the backlog. (DJ: Wait, these aren't Thousand Sons! What kind of Chaos Sorcery is this??)

Thanks Si! If you have enjoyed this article, please be sure to comment down below and let the owner of this army know! And if you would like to be featured in future Fandom Faction articles please email us at dj.driver.theprojectside@gmail.com with up to 6 pictures of your army (including a full army shot if possible) and answers to the 7 6 headlined questions outlined above in this post along with the extra question of "any interesting facts about your army?" We will endeavor to feature as many submissions as possible, however if there are any issues we will let you know as soon as we can.