# Naming Your Models



## liforrevenge (Oct 6, 2009)

Hey all,

I have always been a firm believer in naming (non-special) models, just because I think it's rather fun. I plan on naming my entire army of Blood Angels as soon as they are all painted presentably.

How do you all feel about naming your models?
Any of you go so far as to name everyone in your army? (if so, why? some examples would be neat too)
Do you only give out names as merit ?(for instance, if a dude survives the whole game while the rest of his squad dies, or some other such heroic deed)
Do you think naming your models is retarded? Why?
Any funny stories concerning your named models?

Also, I hate my laptop's touch mousepad thing


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## Lucien7 (Jun 29, 2009)

im also a firm believer in naming and when i get round to it, i will name the whole of my army
the only names ive given out are: Lucien for my marshal, Demitri Dorn for my chaplain and Ivan for a guy with a chainsword and bolt pistol who has been very heroic and has survived most of my games (he is covered in purity seals)
i also hate laptop touch thingys


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## Kale Hellas (Aug 26, 2009)

liforrevenge said:


> Hey all,
> 
> I have always been a firm believer in naming (non-special) models, just because I think it's rather fun. I plan on naming my entire army of Blood Angels as soon as they are all painted presentably.
> 
> ...


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## Baron Spikey (Mar 26, 2008)

Named absolutely everyone- even the vehicle crews (and their vehicles) had names. Usually I'd take a name and use the latinised version of it, in the case of special models (sgts, apothecary, champion etc) I'd name them after a friend...which was a bit of bugger when it came to naming one of after my housemate Jason being as that is already the latin spelling and it doesnt sound very Space Marine :biggrin:


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## bakoren (Nov 16, 2009)

Being a tyranid player, I just give them nicknames. 

My Carnifex is tardy, because he rolls high when he templates and rolls low when he assaults. And my buddies and me all have that one unit that is a gigantic, slow, children. My CSM friend has his Defiler, for instance

My Blord is the Shredder, give you one guess why. That's right! I DO love TMNT.

And finally, my tyrant and two guard have the names, "Larry, Moe and Curly"


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## primeministersinsiter (May 31, 2009)

I name my sargs, HQ's, dread's, and tanks.
The rest I can't be bothered.


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## Winterous (Mar 30, 2009)

It's always escaped me how to name imperial guys.
For example, in my DOW2 campaign at the moment, my commander is called Kieran (kuy-ran).
While there's nothing wrong with the name, it just doesn't sound right.


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## Champion Auzias (Apr 30, 2009)

I''ve a few named models. 

Emperor's Champion Auzias Del'auz the foremost. Chaplain Mahlthas in his Teminator Armour, Chaplain Domdrid in a normal get-up. Honoured Brother Elzsicks was blessed with Dreadnought Armour, Brother Initiate Vaande has a master-crafted bolt pistol (Represented by having one of the niftier scout pistols w/ scope and silencer, also it being painted an ornate gold) for steadfast determination and extraordinary valor. Brother Archibald has a bionic arm, as the original was taken clean off by on ork nob his first game. 

There are more, too. I like having some fluff in my battles, and me and my girl, when our Templar and Tyra-bugs collide we like to roleplay out the action scenes, like a game of D&D.


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## Inquisitor Einar (Mar 6, 2009)

I've named a few of my sergeants and my cannoness, and my inquisitress.
And one standard Inquisitorial stormtrooper, aka Sister novicae. Her name is Sasha. The reason being that she kept doing heroic stuff, so I gave her a name and some purity seals.


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## bakoren (Nov 16, 2009)

Inquisitor Einar said:


> I've named a few of my sergeants and my cannoness, and my inquisitress.
> And one standard Inquisitorial stormtrooper, aka Sister novicae. Her name is Sasha. The reason being that she kept doing heroic stuff, so I gave her a name and some purity seals.




Sasha! WHO TOUCHED SASHA! WHO TOUCHED MY GUN!


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## Iron Angel (Aug 2, 2009)

How do you all feel about naming your models?
It adds a lot of character to your army, and it makes you become that much more connected to your models. Battles can become very personal and very emotional if you become attached to your units.

Any of you go so far as to name everyone in your army? (if so, why? some examples would be neat too)
Thats an awkward task with Necrons, but I do name particular units and my Lords.
WISHMASTER- My primary lord. I've published a bit of my own fluff on him on here.
REVENANT- My secondary lord.
THE UNDYING- My Immortals.
CHOSEN- My Pariahs.
GATEKEEPER- My Tomb Spyder.
THE SHADOW BRIGADE- My Warriors (All of them)
THE UNDYIELDING (Unyielding Despair, Unyielding Terror, Unyielding Anguish)- Monoliths
Still coming up with names for my Wraiths and Flayed Ones.

Do you only give out names as merit ?(for instance, if a dude survives the whole game while the rest of his squad dies, or some other such heroic deed)
Originally only my primary Lord had a name, but as my mind built up my army's fluff, more and more got names to go with the fluff.

Do you think naming your models is retarded? Why?
Of course not. It helps flesh out your army and helps you connect with the game on a more than dice-deep level.

Any funny stories concerning your named models?
Everyone has a story or two, so I'll spill one. Once, I DSed The Unyielding Despair into my friend's Tau Army and warped in Wishmaster. He blew up the broadside, and the two proceeded to wipe out almost the entire army, until a group of Firewarriors somehow beat him in CC. Then he blew up Despair, and though I beat him, theres no denying how messed up it was.




Champion Auzias said:


> me and my girl, when our Templar and Tyra-bugs collide we like to roleplay out the action scenes, like a game of D&D.


Kinky. I like it. 

Roleplaying is also much more prone to happen with lots of named, fluffy models. Added bonus, if you ask me.


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## Stella Cadente (Dec 25, 2006)

liforrevenge said:


> How do you all feel about naming your models?


depends
Characters for 40k, fantasy yes, also 54mm Inquisitor characters, mordheim bands and necromunda gangs members yes, and BFG ships yes

anything else no, not even SGT's or unit leaders, too many to remember and too pointless (naming 100 guardsmen would be hard and a waste since they'll be on board for only seconds)


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## Rye (Sep 22, 2009)

I name my tanks and other heavier vehicles. Stuff like "Dominatus Imperator" for tank 211, "Proditor Nex" for tank 212, "Venator Hostilis" for tank 213, etc.

I tried naming my CCS officer, but he either died too often or did nothing noteworthy all game, so I eventually forgot it. I note which of my models do what on the battlefield. I keep track of my tanks' vehicle or MC kills and paint lines on their turret chassis'. Infantry models that perform exceptionally well (though this is pure chance) such as a lowly Guardsman melting a Rhino and killing three Marines in a Death or Glory! get "pimped". Extra details, stuff on the base that reminds me of what they did to deserve it, etc. 

I don't like naming infantry models, though. Even my "count-as" Marbo is just called "Marbo".


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## The144thCadianPlatoon (Jul 31, 2009)

Personally, i don't name my models just because there are too many in my army (IG). i completely agree with what stella said. but my friend, who has tyranids, loves it! one time he charged up the board straight at me with like 40 sumthing guants, and i just sat back and mowed them down, seriously just shredding them up. but anyways, when all his friends died, one little guant survived, and charged into my squad, killing 4 and surviving for the whole battle while the other guants came back with their special rule. the squad cudnt shoot or get outa there, since they cudnt finish the last guant, and wen the others came back, they got swarmed and ripped apart. ya so my friend named the hero guant "Larry". and i think there was another that had a similiar story, named "Bob" or sumthing. so yes, i do agree it's fun/cool to name models wen they do heroic things, but i wudent just name everything.


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## jesse (Sep 29, 2008)

i enjoy naming my models yes.....
for instance.....
i bought a chaos battle force, and my friend wa helping me build the possessed.
so we started talking about how close combat weapons can be anything including rocks
so he models one of my possessed with a rock(with a scope) in his hand, needless to say his name is rocky.
um....my lady named my chaos lord with a blissgiver lalavitala
i have a deamon prince made from a fantasy minotaur and a lictor. his name is freak the mighty.
my greater deamon of khorne's nam is big red

and finally, i have a night lord with lightning claws riding a tyranid warrior(juggernaut)
the models name's are maggie and the ferocious beast


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## Winterous (Mar 30, 2009)

Iron Angel said:


> Everyone has a story or two, so I'll spill one. Once, I DSed The Unyielding Despair into my friend's Tau Army and warped in Wishmaster. He blew up the broadside, and the two proceeded to wipe out almost the entire army, until a group of Firewarriors somehow beat him in CC. Then he blew up Despair, and though I beat him, theres no denying how messed up it was.


Wait wait, someone gave EMP grenades to FIRE WARRIORS??


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## Geomancer56 (Oct 21, 2009)

I name the heroic models, and models I have converted. My Dreads, but now I might name my vehicles too. My favorite model is Brother Kael, I converted him from a skull champ helm, so he has a skull for a head, (looks really good) And he carries the IoK. He also has a mutated arm for a PF. He's always done well, and at the end of most of my games, even if I lose, he still holds his Icon high in defiance of the enemy. as far as rank and file, no point. As far as a funny story my defiler is named the laughing skull, and it dropped a battle cannon template dead on a squad of broadside battle suits, the guy rolled all ones for his saves, they all insta-died. It was GREAT.


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## buckythefly (Mar 16, 2009)

I love to name my models, I haven't named them all, but I have "Brudda Badmek" my custom Big Mek" I also name all my vehicles, because if I'm spending 3 weeks working on them, I'm damned if they aren't going to have names.

Thus "Da Mulcha" and "Da Tanksmasha" were born. I also have a few nobs and guys named, Like "Dreadnob Nobby" (a nob built with chaos lord pieces, looks a right badass he does)

If you don't wanna name your guys I see no problem with it, but I am going to name mine and you can live with me saying "Dreadnob Nobby makes his armor save"


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## Winterous (Mar 30, 2009)

buckythefly said:


> I love to name my models, I haven't named them all, but I have "Brudda Badmek" my custom Big Mek" I also name all my vehicles, because if I'm spending 3 weeks working on them, I'm damned if they aren't going to have names.
> 
> Thus "Da Mulcha" and "Da Tanksmasha" were born. I also have a few nobs and guys named, Like "Dreadnob Nobby" (a nob built with chaos lord pieces, looks a right badass he does)
> 
> If you don't wanna name your guys I see no problem with it, but I am going to name mine and you can live with me saying "Dreadnob Nobby makes his armor save"


DREADNOB NOBBY ROLLS HIS ARMOUR SAVE.
DREADNOB NOBBY PASSES HIS ARMOUR SAVE ON A SIX!!
DREADNOB NOBBY THROWS HIS POWER KLAW INTO THE ENEMY'S FACE.
DREADNOB NOBBY ROLLS TO HIT, HITTING WITH ALL HIS ATTACKS!
LIVERPOOL SCORES!!!!!


....
Wait whut?


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## chromedog (Oct 31, 2007)

Only my necromunda gangers.

I can't be arsed naming all 500 or so other army models.

Besides, when it comes to the eldar ones, most people would mispronounce them anyway.

Besides, my SM are 13th founding clones, and there's more where they came from. They do get numbers though.


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## HOBO (Dec 7, 2007)

I name my Dreads, Baneblades, GKT's, Justicars, Inquisitors and a few random IG Vehicles like the Commissar's Vanquisher.....anything else would be a pain in the arse.

I do follow the proper markings/numbering designations for all my IG Vehicles though....32 of them so far.


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## Asmodeun (Apr 26, 2009)

I myself have given only one name, to my Chaos Lord, Asmodeus. However, two particularly cool looking Skull Champions in my army have theme songs - Die MF Die by Dope and Feeling Good by Muse.


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## Blammer (Nov 17, 2009)

I have named my Chapter master Maskus and one captain I named Pistonius.

otherwise I just designate squads as a whole. (such as 'squad Emperors Thunder fire their lascannon at your Nobby).


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## Winterous (Mar 30, 2009)

chromedog said:


> Besides, when it comes to the eldar ones, most people would mispronounce them anyway.


Including the owner.


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## Sigmatus (Nov 22, 2009)

I'll go a step further. I'm a writer, and the guys I play with are like me in that we like to have narrative campaigns around our armies. As soon as one campaign ends, we agree on an ending and a story is written to reflect the aftermath. Naming characters is thus essential to a good story.

Currently, my Nurgle faction (The Carrion Lords) is led by a Chaos Lord entombed in a dreadnought. His name is Morbaine. Then we have his personal sorceror Yuman, Nurgle's champion Feranoth, and a host of names for generals past. Some are fondly remembered for kicking gratuitous xeno tail, such as Imperial Guard Colonel Andrick Caspian, others are notorious for losing repeatedly, i.e. Farseer Issuru.

Without the names, they'd just be old models.


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## Iron Angel (Aug 2, 2009)

I like your style, Sigmatus, and we often do something similar. As I said my army is very fluffy and there has been published text on it. We draw up stories for battle reports (I'll direct you to here).

My Lord, Wishmaster, is a Gold Level Lord, who is the entombed spirit of Warrior-Poet Gahat-Siil. He's a personal tool of the Deceiver, and his job is to look for and collect Pariahs hidden amongst mankind. His name is derived from the fact that the Pariahs he has brought in consider themselves "saved". They wished their entire lives for a place to call home, with others like them. The Culexus Temple was too foreboding in that regard, but amidst the Necron, of all places, they have found their kin; He is the master of their wishes.


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## Sigmatus (Nov 22, 2009)

Iron Angel said:


> I like your style, Sigmatus, and we often do something similar. As I said my army is very fluffy and there has been published text on it. We draw up stories for battle reports (I'll direct you to here).
> 
> My Lord, Wishmaster, is a Gold Level Lord, who is the entombed spirit of Warrior-Poet Gahat-Siil. He's a personal tool of the Deceiver, and his job is to look for and collect Pariahs hidden amongst mankind. His name is derived from the fact that the Pariahs he has brought in consider themselves "saved". They wished their entire lives for a place to call home, with others like them. The Culexus Temple was too foreboding in that regard, but amidst the Necron, of all places, they have found their kin; He is the master of their wishes.


I have to say, that's actually the most involved Necron Lord fluff I've seen. My buddy plays 'crons as his off-army, and while we build a story around our battles, he plays his necrons as having no personality. Most do that I've found. It's interesting that you play yours off as a sort of prophet. Very cool.


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## liforrevenge (Oct 6, 2009)

Nice fluff guys, I've always wanted to do a sort of story driven campaign. Never had anyone to do it with though.

I'm basing the names of my blood angels on old Romanian names because of the vampire-type influence (Vlad the Impaler anyone?)


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## Winterous (Mar 30, 2009)

Sigmatus said:


> I have to say, that's actually the most involved Necron Lord fluff I've seen. My buddy plays 'crons as his off-army, and while we build a story around our battles, he plays his necrons as having no personality. Most do that I've found. It's interesting that you play yours off as a sort of prophet. Very cool.


Most Necrons have no personality, they're just mindless drones.
Lords are different, because of their rank, the C'tan gifted them with consciousness, they have an imagination, and can think of their own accord, they have a personality, even if it is masked by their physical form.
Lords are the ONLY Necrons that can personalise their body, which is because of their conscious mind.

Pariahs are similar, they aren't truly Necrons, they've just been given the gift of
a living metal body, they are still people to an extent.


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## Varakir (Sep 2, 2009)

I'm naming my squads & vehicles- and i've also been working on some titles for the squads, with a little backstory explaining said title. Similar to what they've done for the UM 2nd company in the codex.

I chose 3rd company for my sallies, but annoyingly the recent book is based on 3rd company...and i don't want to repaint all my '3's, so instead i've stolen the captain name and i'm ignoring anything else in the book 

So far i Have:

Captain N'keln - Salamanders 3rd company, Captain of the Ashbringers.

Ashbringer Command Squad:
Company champion Va'kir
Brother Ra'kaa (standard bearer - he refuses to take a gun as he needs both hands free to protect the standard)
Brother Defari
Vet. Sergeant Phife
Apothecary Ru'tarn

Chaplain A'kava - Trained alongside Xavier, and often employed to lead reconnaisance missions for the promethean cult. Attached to the third company since 861.M41.

Tactical Squad A'kil - "Kesare's heralds"
"Assigned to aid the forgefather for a continued period of 90 years, Sergeant A'kil's Squad was present at the discovery of Kesare's Mantle, the fourth missing relic of Vulcan"

Tactical Squad Zaakir - "Eye of prometheus"
"Regularly sanctioned by the promethean cult to aid in aggressive scouting missions, usually lead by one of the Salamander's many chaplains. Due to this the squad is highly zealous, decorating their armor with intricate flame patterns"

Assault Squad C'hali - "The flamewalkers"
"To overcome the naturally slow reactions of his new recruits, Sergeant C'hali utilises the lava fields of nocturne during jump pack excercises. Those caught out by the spewing lava eruptions are quick to learn the necessity of speed. The children of nocturne will often come to watch these training excercises, and observe the marines 'walking on fire'."

Devastator Squad Ta'lib - "The hellbenders"
"Sergeant Ta'lib's relentless rain of fire has been known to drive an enemy to surrender before a single man has fallen. Some say that when Ta'lib orders his men to fire, the following sound is more terrifying than the warp itself"

Brother Incus - "The ironsoul"
"A highly skilled blacksmith in life, many feared Brother Incus would become unstable in the dreadnought armor, lacking the dexterity to craft and repair his own weapons. Contrary to this, the techmarines have experienced a peculiarly strong connection whilst working on Incus' wargear, and often find themselves overcome by flashes of inspiration and enlightenment"

That's all i have so far, if you managed to read it all hope you enjoyed it.
_
"5000 orks stand between us and our wounded. By daybreak the xenos will fall, and we shall bring their ashes to our brothers on the soles of our boots" _- Sergeant A'kil, Salamanders 3rd company


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## lord_scar (Nov 18, 2009)

As a Tyranid collector, I only like to name my HQ units. But I like developing a full background story for my army.


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## Corporal Chaos (Nov 27, 2007)

At the moment I only have names for my leaders. All the grunts will eventually get named but I just do not see the fellas that get smoked every game being the same guy in the next. Ah well. But it is fun to find random names. I still have my Necromunda and Gorka-Morka gangs around and all of them have their own names. Larger armies that would require a phone book to get original names for masses of troops.
Signing off.
Corporal :scare:


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## projectda (May 12, 2008)

i sometimes name hqs. im going to work on a tau shas'o for apoc that i will call ragna, while his sward is called blood edge (blazblue). im working on a name for my admech hqs. with my daemons. i call what ever model that is doing good, Blut vergießer (if its vergießener or something else please tell me).


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## primeministersinsiter (May 31, 2009)

I've got a Venerable Dreadnought named Fallstaff and a regular one called Hotspur.
Point of Rep to the first person to tell me where the names come from without using google.


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## cbrazeau1115 (Nov 24, 2009)

As a black templar player I have named all of my Commanders, my Cenobytes, nicknamed (with more knightly names) my tanks along with all my small things like Dreads. I dont name all my smaller units but I do keep insignias like text and other markings to keep track of their progress.


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## zas240 (Apr 3, 2009)

Varakir said:


> I'm naming my squads & vehicles- and i've also been working on some titles for the squads, with a little backstory explaining said title. Similar to what they've done for the UM 2nd company in the codex.
> 
> I chose 3rd company for my sallies, but annoyingly the recent book is based on 3rd company...and i don't want to repaint all my '3's, so instead i've stolen the captain name and i'm ignoring anything else in the book
> 
> So far i Have:


Oi! I'm doing third as well, but I dont like whats happening in the book, so mines set about 300 years before the book, I have Sgt Kotan Kodai. :victory:. I just name squads, but I went a bit over the top. EVERYTHING has reference to fire/lava/magma.


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## unxpekted22 (Apr 7, 2009)

funny, I thought about making almost an identical thread not too long ago lol.

I have been thinking about finally writing up a bunch of fluff and such for my templars. give them their own fleet and crusades and the like. I figured if I actually do that I should name all of them too. But yeah, coming up with that many good names would get tough. I think I would only end up giving names to the more significant ones. Models I have from things like assault on black reach for example that I did not actually get to shape much would not be given names.

if ever have a LOT of time on my hands, then maybe...

So far I have tended to call them names based on what they look like. i have a guy with two swords for example, who i call "two sword"....or even better my "two pistol guy".


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## Varakir (Sep 2, 2009)

zas240 said:


> Oi! I'm doing third as well, but I dont like whats happening in the book, so mines set about 300 years before the book, I have Sgt Kotan Kodai. :victory:. I just name squads, but I went a bit over the top. EVERYTHING has reference to fire/lava/magma.


If i had the inclination to change the 3's i really would. I like making up fluff for my guys, and you know there will be people who bitch that "that's not what his name was in the book!" - maybe i'll just rename n'keln to something else 

How many fire themed names can you come up with? I thought about doing this but i ran out pretty sharpish.


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## piemaster (Oct 9, 2009)

I've named all of my Cadian IG. I went and painted the names on their bases as well. maybe I'll post some photos some time. I named characters (NCOs and COs) with names from James Cameron's Terminator films and a smattering from Aliens. Then it was just generic grunt-y names for the rest. I have to finish painting them on though.

Oh and I named my Chimera 'Trogdor' and my Baneblade 'Heavy Metal' Leman Russ has Rammstein lyrics too.

I always name HQs. I plan on painting names on my Ork Boss' bases ta boot.


















It says 'honk if you're horny' if you can't make it out


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