I have been thinking about what another faction would look like and how it could be distinct from what we currently have. Expanding the enemies we have in a interesting way while also being more dangerous and unique. Currently there are the Mobian 6th and Admonition, but the only real difference between them is one is visual. Also the difference of flak armor and unarmored/maniac.
This is mostly just theory crafting and rough ideas for the distant future.
The general idea here is to make a faction that is a damnation+ modifier, maybe also present in very limited quantities in lower difficulties. Not meant to be in every mission but would significantly change gameplay in missions they are in.
Lore
The recent successes of the inquisitorial warband have put the traitor forces on the back foot. Along with continuous reinforcements and the failing schemes of Admonition give a rather bleak future for the traitorous forces.
But thankfully for them, and not so much for tertium. The plight of the heretics hasn’t gone unnoticed by other forces. A traitorous warband has heeded the call of Admonition and is eager to unleash new horrors onto tertium.
The Plagued Warband
A far more deeply corrupted force then the slight mutations and occasional chaos beasts we currently see on tertium. Lead by Plague marines and populated by a array of chaos twisted souls, they will be a far tougher challenge then what we currently face. But thankfully their numbers are limited, only a single ship has arrived in system and this is reflected in the amount of forces that are deployed.
Troops
Nurglings
A writhing mass of sickeningly joyous faces. Nurglings move more like fluid through the tight corridors of tertium. Requiring use of AoE damage and large melee weapons to effectively clear, though occasionally groups will clump together into a walking mass that will require more concentrated firepower to break up.
Nurgling Hoard:
HP = Half of a poxwalker (infested)
Damage = ~half poxwalker but more corruption
Speed = Slightly faster then poxwlakers
Generally low hit mass, low damage, but spawned in large groups that will flow between groups of other enemies.
Nurgling Conglomerate:
HP = Double Bulwark (infested)
Damage = Bulwark
Speed = Slightly faster than a Bulwark
Basically a ogryn equivalent that will slow down, shrink, and deal less damage as bits are blown off. Basically a HD2 fleshmob but less annoying.
Plague Bearers
A slow and unyielding hoard of corrupted flesh. They hit hard and are difficult to take down but are slow and clumsy, killing by overwhelming and suffocating players rather than being actually dangerous by themselves.
HP = 4x Bruiser + very high hit mass (infested)
Damage = Bulwark (but very slow and clumsy attacks, causing them to stagger and fall over after attacking)
Speed = Half poxwalker
Special = “Resistant” take half damage from DOT effects and take half stagger.
Basically slow and very hard to stop but clumsy. Experienced players could easily bait their slow attacks to get them to fall over and basically stop their advance as they pile up. But they will ultimately take a while to cut through
Elites
Rotflies
Disgusting flying beasts able to shoot maggots and slash up close. Rotflies are just as dangerous far away as they are up close, thankfully for our melee heros they aren’t afraid to swoop in close when approached.
HP: Reaper (infested)
Damage: Ranged attack would be about 1/2 of a plasma gunners shot but done in the form of a small initial damage followed by a ~3 second lingering damage effect that also slows your movement by ~30%
Melee attack would be about the same as a Bulwark. A higher damaging swoop in attack that could do double damage (about the same as a mauler overhead attack, could even have this attack pickup a character that is hit by it, requiring other players to shoot the rotfly to free the player), but following grounded slashing attacks would be weak.
Speed: Very fast but not evasive, should fly to a position quickly and stay there, swooping at players who get close.
Basically a high damage ranged enemy with a powerful dive attack when you get close. Would be easy to pick off with ranged attacks since they don’t take cover and their ranged attack would both have a long wind-up and fly slowly through the air.
Plague Toads
Grotesque rotting balls of flesh that hop across the battlefield. A medium ranged lick attack would be their main form of attack, that and simply landing on any unfortunate enough to be in their path.
HP: 2x Bulwark (infested)
Damage: Basically same ranged attack damage as a rotfly, except with less damage and when hit by this you are pulled towards the toad a bit.
Melee attack would essentially be them landing on you, same damage as a crusher overhead. But they wouldn’t have any way to attack in melee range and would just hop away.
Basically big and tanky mostly meant to soak up damage and have an annoying mid range attack able to pull players out of position. The risk of them jumping onto you would always be there and mean you always need to pay attention to them even if their ranged attack is otherwise slow and easy to dodge.
Mini Bosses/Elite+
Basically not quite a full boss but pretty much the same as spawning 4 crushers or something. Also yes I know some people think plague marines are not the right power scale or something but we already kill beasts of nurgle and those are worth 3x a plague marines.
Herald of Nurgle
An exalted plague bearer eager to spread the word of the pox. Shrouded in stinking mist equally harmful to foes and invigorating to allies.
HP: 2x bulwark (infested)
Effect: lack any form of direct attack but create a cloud of tox gas around them, it would be more clear then normal tox gas so you can still shoot through it, but would also give enemies in its radius nurgles blessings and +25% move speed.
Basically a AOE buffer enemy that needs to be taken out immediately. If not taken care of it will make dealing with everything else much harder or eventually just kill you with tox gas. Would need to be noticeably taller than normal plague bearers to make them possible to shoot through a hoard, making them play some disgusting bagpipes as a good audio que would also be a good idea.
Plague Marine
A bloated juggernaut of rotting armor and rancid flesh. Plague marines though slow are still amongst the most deadly enemies on the battlefield. Able to appear with multiple loadouts that fill different roles on the battlefield and lead respective units.
Essentially the idea here is to have one or two with matching loadouts mixed into matching hoards. (Shooter Marine with shooters, melee Marine with melee)
They would have about 2x the HP of crushers and also be carapace. At most two should be around at any time and should function as mini bosses (I’ll go into boss variants later)
Plague Marine Bulwark
Equipped with large rusting sword and bolt pistol. Wide sweeping melee attacks roughly equal to a mauler overhead, and slow pistol shots as they close in about equal to a plasma gunner. With a obvious raising of their hand and ominous chuckle sound que before they fire. Maybe a puff of green smoke from their gun immediately before they shoot.
Plague Marine Tox Gunner
Equipped with a heavy tox sprayer. They will shoot large sprays of toxic sludge similar to a flamer but longer range and leaving puddles of blight on the ground.
Plague Marines Heavy Gunner
Equipped with a plasma cannon they will have a very long and very loud/bright charge up before firing a slow moving plasma bolt that blows through enemies and explodes on the ground near a target player dealing the damage and knockback of a poxburster but in a much smaller radius.
Bosses
Plague Terminator Toll Bell
A plague Terminator, slow and cumbersome but near impervious to damage. Essentially a plague ogryn but with carapace armor, slightly less HP and a unarmored head for balance. They would be equipped with a plasma pistol and force sword (basically same as our current captain but higher damage and slower move speed). Most notably would be the bell, a special attack where it rings 3 times, on the 3rd ring it unleashes a large AOE wave of green energy, giving enemies it hits the same buff as tox gas and hitting players for plasma gun damage. Can be avoided by dodging through it (SM2 psychic wave basically).
Grand Plague Toad
Essentially the same as a plague ogryn, more HP but mostly it would have more of a medium range attack focus, with the main thing being that if you are hit by its tongue it will swallow the player same as a beast of nurgle. Hopping away a few times before spitting them out (much shorter period of time then a beast of nurgle). If it lands a hop on you, that should be a instant kill.
Conclusion
That is essentially all the ideas I had. I think these would mostly be interesting and different than what we currently have. Almost all of them being infested enemies will also give an actual reason to run that weapon perk. I’m sure some of these would need to be massively changed and I probably missed some things that could be added but I’d rather not make this post into a complete novela.
Also I know some people are against having chaos marines around. But we’re already killing things higher on the power scale then a plague marine so I don’t see the issue. Yes they would have very dangerous ranged attacks but I think the way I described them here would be fair to fight against while still living up to the hype.
Yeah 4 random prisoners killing like 10 marines in one mission is ridiculous. But so is 4 random prisoners killing a bunch of beasts of nurgle and chaos spawn, and a small armies worth of energy shielded “captains” or hell multiple daemon hosts in one mission. So is it really that much of a stretch? I really don’t think it’s any more silly then what we are already doing.