# 40k Chess



## Madshaw (Oct 8, 2009)

The question is simple, if I were to make a themed chessboard, theming it around warhammer 40000, which models should I use as what? Im trying to bear in mind that smaller sized bases would be required, so that the board isnt too huge, but for some armies like orks and tyranids there couldnt be any warbosses etc, so Im going to say that the board would have squares the size of larger bases.

My only ideas so far are for a space mairine army,

King-Captain/Force commander, they are in charge after all

Queen- company champion, because of the bodyguard role they take on, or should a terminator hq slot go here because they are huge and more powerfull

Bishops- a librarians or chaplains (one of each?), religious elements in there

knights- possibally terminators, or veterans, they can jump over other models so maybe assault marines?

Rooks- assault terminators, or devastator marines, they are supposed to be defensive fortresses, so maybe techmarines or masters of the forge? 

Pawns- good ole tactical marines, or maybe scouts, or a mix of the two

Any ideas for other armies at all? or changes to the marine list?


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## Imperious (May 20, 2009)

Amazing. Such a common idea that no ones ever thought to do it before. Kudos to you. 

As far the queen goes, I'd use St. Celestine in keeping with the female theme.


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## locustgate (Dec 6, 2009)

Great Idea!
As for the opponents

Tau chess
All these fit on my board
Tau
King-Battlesuit commander (They are the fire caste leaders)
Queen- Bodyguard/ Communication drone
Bishops- Etheral (They represent the Greater Good)
knights- Battlesuits
Rooks- Broadsides
Pawns- Fire Warriors


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## Angel of Blood (Aug 18, 2010)

Imperial Guard

King: Company Commander/General/Colonel - High ranking Imperial officer of some sort
Queen: Commisar
Knights - Sentinels
Bishops - Ministorum Priest
Castle/Rook - Ogryn
Pawns - Guardsman


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## Mob (Nov 14, 2010)

Generic Imperial

King - Inquisitor Lord
Queen - Sister of Battle (most blingiest one around) 
Bishops - fancy-lookin' Priest 
Knights - a Battlefleet Gothic miniature hohoho
Rooks - an Astartes (Imperial Fist?)
Pawns - Cadian IG


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## Imperious (May 20, 2009)

locustgate said:


> Great Idea!
> As for the opponents
> 
> Tau chess
> ...


I don't know brother. I'm thinking the Ethereal as your king, crisis commander as your queen and vespids as your bishops.


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## OrkByTheGraceOfGork (Jun 9, 2010)

King: Emperor of Mankind

Queen: Malcador

Bishop: Guilliman

Bishop: Sanguinius

Knight: Leman Russ

Knight: Corax

Rook: Rogal Dorn

Rook: Ferrus Manus

Pawns: Space Marines matching their primarch's colors.

Gonna need some converting and a "custom" chessboard. :grin:

Edit: I'm just a puny human! I knew I forgot something. Dorn's a better choice than Vulkan.:victory:


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## locustgate (Dec 6, 2009)

Imperious said:


> I don't know brother. I'm thinking the Ethereal as your king, crisis commander as your queen and vespids as your bishops.


Well the ethereals are as close to priests as the tau get the vespids.......they would be more knights that bishops.


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## Madshaw (Oct 8, 2009)

The ork army could work quite well, 
King-warboss
queen- big mek
bishops- weirdboys, pain boyz
knights- nobz or storm boyz
rooks- meganobz, lootaz
pawns-boys/grots




Imperious said:


> I don't know brother. I'm thinking the Ethereal as your king, crisis commander as your queen and vespids as your bishops.


one vespid commander and one kroot shaper?


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## Imperious (May 20, 2009)

For the IG -

King - Senior Officer (Creed, Straken, etc)
Queen - Commissar Yarrick (since he's the baddest motherfucker around)
Knights - Storm Troopers (Rough Riders if they can fit)
Bishops - Priests
Rooks - Techpriest Enginseer (Ogryn if they can fit)
Pawns - Guardsman


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## Imperious (May 20, 2009)

I like where this thread is going. 5 stars for the vote on the thread +rep for Madshaw.


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## Angel of Blood (Aug 18, 2010)

OrkByTheGraceOfGork said:


> King: Emperor of Mankind
> 
> Queen: Malcador
> 
> ...


You kidding?? Dorn not one of the rooks?


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## squeek (Jun 8, 2008)

A guy called taLLis did one a couple of years ago, unfortunately the pictures in the thread no longer work, but you may get something from it/messaging taLLis.

I would suggest an archetypal good versus bad match up. Angels vs Daemons sort of thing. You could use Blood Angels with Sanguinius to represent good and CD as evil; though you'd need to work out colours, etc, as red BA vs red bloodletters wouldn't work.

Post a project log if you start it.


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## OrkByTheGraceOfGork (Jun 9, 2010)

Angel of Blood said:


> You kidding?? Dorn not one of the rooks?


My bad. I knew I forgot something. k:


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## Madshaw (Oct 8, 2009)

I wasn't going to orry too much about the colours because each army will be easy to tell apart anyway (im hoping, especially if i use marines and orks, which is likly as I don't have many other models) , apart from on bishops, I'd have one with a whiter paint job, and one with a blacker paint job. 

would marines vs chaos marines be a good idea?

Could use crimson fists vs word bearers, then I can have a chaplain for both sides, and the blue against red thing would probably work quite well


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## Phoebus (Apr 17, 2010)

* The Chapter Master as the King; denoting their central authority.
* The Chief Librarian as the Queen; denoting their flexibility and wide array of power.
* The Chaplains as the Bishops; denoting their religious identity/authority.
* The Veterans (whether as Terminators, Sternguard, or Vanguard) as the Knights; denoting their status as picked warriors.
* The Dreadnaughts as the Rooks; denoting their enduring nature and power.
* The Tactical Marines as the Pawns; because they are.


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## Words_of_Truth (Sep 20, 2007)

OrkByTheGraceOfGork said:


> King: Emperor of Mankind
> 
> Queen: Malcador
> 
> ...


Khan has to be a Knight, he's the closest one to actually being one


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## Angel of Blood (Aug 18, 2010)

Also the Lion, hell he was raised by knights!


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## Madshaw (Oct 8, 2009)

Phoebus said:


> * The Chapter Master as the King; denoting their central authority.
> * The Chief Librarian as the Queen; denoting their flexibility and wide array of power.
> * The Chaplains as the Bishops; denoting their religious identity/authority.
> * The Veterans (whether as Terminators, Sternguard, or Vanguard) as the Knights; denoting their status as picked warriors.
> ...


dreads are probably too big to fit on the squares, I'll probablly use bikers for knights and terminators for the rooks


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## Phoebus (Apr 17, 2010)

True, but won't bikes also be too big (length-wise)?


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## Imperious (May 20, 2009)

True. Same reason why rough riders won't for IG. Unless you somehow magically managed to fit them on small bases.


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## Madshaw (Oct 8, 2009)

Phoebus said:


> True, but won't bikes also be too big (length-wise)?


hmmm, vanguard veterans or assault marines then, either that or i will fit the bikes to a terminator base


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## Phoebus (Apr 17, 2010)

I'd say the best compromise are Vanguards for Knights, with Terminator's for Rooks. Just my two cents' worth, though. 

Or perhaps a Techmarine for either position?


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## normtheunsavoury (Mar 20, 2008)

I'd still go with Bikers for knights, just mod them a bit so they are pulling blinding wheelies!
That way they should fit on a smaller base and still look dynamic.


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## Phoebus (Apr 17, 2010)

Nice idea! That would look pretty cool.


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## Angel of Blood (Aug 18, 2010)

Bigger chess board! ^^


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## Davidicus 40k (Jun 4, 2010)

Uh, it's already been done. Sort of.


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## Imperious (May 20, 2009)

I just found new proxies for my army. Fuck wysiwyg!!!


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## Krymson86 (Nov 9, 2010)

Space Marines would be like this: 
Pawn: Scout 
Bishop: Tactical Marine w/storm bolter 
Knight: Assault Marine 
Rook: Dreadnought 
"Queen": Chapter Champion or Emperor's Champion 
King: Any of the Inquisitors.


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## coke123 (Sep 4, 2010)

I've always liked the juxtaposition of marines versus tyranids.

King-Zoanthrope? (too big maybe?)
Queen-Broolord
Bishop-Warriors
Knight-gargoyles
Rook-biovore
pawn- well, duh, gaunts.

If the zoanthropes are too big, Lictors are rather impressive models-they could be a substitute.


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## Alsojames (Oct 25, 2010)

Eldarz:

King: Autarch
Queen: (ooh this is tough) uhhhh......Farseer?
Knights: Banshees (they dance around their opponent kinda, don't they?)
Bishops: Swooping hawks
Rooks: Wraithguard or Reapers
Pawns: Guardians, obviously


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## GhostDog (Apr 16, 2010)

Actually for the Eldar I would switch the King & Queen positions.


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## Fluff Master (Nov 11, 2008)

Here's my take on a Space Marine chess set:

King = Chapter Master 
Queen = Captain
Bishop = Chaplain
Knight = Veteran
Rook = Devastator
Pawn = Tactical Marines


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## Serpion5 (Mar 19, 2010)

Only one nids list and no necs? SERPY WILL FIX! :biggrin:

Nids... (you`ll need a big board...)

King: Prime

Queen: Broodlord

Bishop: Zoanthrope

Knight: Warrior

Rook: Ravener

Pawn: Hormagaunt/Genestealer


Necs: 

King: Lord

Queen: Deceiver :laugh:

Bishop: Pariah

Knight: Immortal

Rook: Wraith

Pawn: Nec Warrior


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## Fluff Master (Nov 11, 2008)

_To Serpion5:_ 
If your queen is a C'tan, why would the King be of lower rank? Wouldn't you have the Nightbringer as King, Deceiver as Queen etc? Or reverse? Just my opinion...


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## Serpion5 (Mar 19, 2010)

Fluff Master said:


> _To Serpion5:_
> If your queen is a C'tan, why would the King be of lower rank? Wouldn't you have the Nightbringer as King, Deceiver as Queen etc? Or reverse? Just my opinion...


Because the Deceiver is far more powerful than a Nec Lord (as the queen is to the king) and at the same time is much girlier. :sarcastichand:

It`s perfect. :crazy:


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## teamnecron (Aug 4, 2010)

Imperious said:


> Amazing. Such a common idea that no ones ever thought to do it before. Kudos to you.
> 
> As far the queen goes, I'd use St. Celestine in keeping with the female theme.


Dan Abnett went one better, and actually includes the game of chess in his fiction, under the name of "regicide" - it'd be interesting to see what pieces he'd use. He's even mentioned playing on multiple boards at once - pretty intense strategy involved _there[/], I'd imagine._


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## locustgate (Dec 6, 2009)

Serpion5 said:


> Because the Deceiver is far more powerful than a Nec Lord (as the queen is to the king) and at the same time is much girlier. :sarcastichand:
> 
> It`s perfect. :crazy:


u should switch the wraith and the immortal.


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## DestroyerHive (Dec 22, 2009)

SUPERHEAVY CHESS!!!


Imperium:

King: Imperator Class Titan

Queen: Warlord Titan

Bishops: Reaver Titans

Rooks: Warhound Titans

Knights: Thunderhawks

Pawns: Baneblades (duh)


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## Serpion5 (Mar 19, 2010)

locustgate said:


> u should switch the wraith and the immortal.


I don`t follow you. Wrait and Rook both move fast.

Knight and Immortal are more ponderous. 

What`s your line of thinking?


@teamnecron: I think several authors have used this idea. I remember reading it in the Cain novels as well as Eisenhorn...

I know the King piece is represented by the Emperor, one of them is Malcador, and I forget the rest. If they`re even mentioned.

They also play poker. With the Emperor`s Tarot cards. :laugh:


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## p14tinum (Nov 23, 2010)

This sounds interesting.

Eldar

King: Avatar
Queen: Farseer
Bishop: Warlock
Knights: Jetbikes
Rooks: Wraithguard
Pawns: Guardians

Could be cool, if I had enough money (And didn't suck at chess) I'd SO make that


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## heliosmj12 (Mar 30, 2008)

Blood Angels:

King: Dante
"Queen": Sanguinor
Bishop: Chaplain or Sanguinary Guard
Knight:Sanguinary Guard
Rook:Terminator
Pawn: Death Company


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## LemonGurih (Dec 25, 2010)

I see no Tau yet..

King = Crisis Commander
"Queen" = Ethereal
Bishop = Stealthsuit
Knight = Vespid
Rook = Broadside
Pawn = Fire Warrior / Kroot Carnivore


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## Angel of Blood (Aug 18, 2010)

I would say the Etheral should be the King. As much like Etherals in a Tau army, if you take out the King it's game over. Whilst the Queen is ready to layout alot of punishment, much like the commander


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## Androxine Vortex (Jan 20, 2010)

King=Baneblade
Queen=Land Raider
Bishop=Defiler

...Oh? You dont own a giant chess board?


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## CaptainLoken (May 13, 2009)

You could do forces of order vs forces of disorder. 


Then you could choose characters from each races and via there base size ect..


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## Smokes (Nov 27, 2009)

I haven't checked all the pages but I don't think the Holy Ordos have been used.

Holy Orders of the Emperor's Inquisition

King: Inquisitor Lord
Queen: Inquisitor-Master
Bishop: Inquisitor
Knights: Interrogator
Rooks: Acolyte Prime
Pawns: Acolyte


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