Order of the Fallen Star

So I've got most of my Warhammer army put together. I'm waiting on another set of 20 knights to be able to field a fully mounted army. I should start painting soon but before I do I will post before and after pics of the army and the individual units.

Rather than go along with the standard color schemes for the various factions and city states available in the game, I created a new Knightly Order for my army based on the history of the game. While this is not required, doing so allows me to pick a color scheme for the army that would make it look distinct from others that follow the standard schemes.

My army is part of the Order of the Fallen Star that was created after the events that transpired around the destruction of the city of Mordheim. The creators of Warhammer based a game module around it and a description of which can be found in Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mordheim

Here's the fluff for it. I took a lot of the intro language from a couple of sites I found, but I think it works:

"In the last year of the second Millennium, five hundred years before the rule of the most benevolent Emperor Karl Franz, there fell a time unlike any other. Just as they had before the birth of Divine Sigmar, the wings of fire in the sky again heralded the coming of great things; the coming of Plague, the coming of War, the coming of Pestilence and Hunger. Though its unholy name is now stricken from the records of the Great Library at Altdorf, and its ruins razed by Magnus the Savior of the Empire, I would tell you the tale of the cursed city, brought low by the wrath of gods.

I would tell you the tale of Mordheim City of the Damned."

Mordheim, was once a great city capital of the Empire's most northern realm, Ostermark, and often referred to as the 'brightest star of the North' in its heyday.

The Empire was a place torn: it had been in civil war for years - there was no Emperor sitting on the throne, and various powers were vying for control. In the Imperial year 1999, a great comet was sighted in the sky - a twin tailed comet, the sign of Sigmar. Astronomers predicted that it would fall in the city of Mordheim, where his convent of Sisters stood. It was believed that it would herald the return of Sigmar, which he would restore the land to its former glory and usher in a new golden age. Everybody traveled to Mordheim, filling the city well beyond its capacity.

Such were the times that lawlessness soon grew out of hand. The citizens of Mordheim quickly degenerated to moral debauchery, giving themselves over to their own worldly temptations, living in an increasing state of anarchy. As time drew closer to the comet’s arrival, more and more people made the journey to Mordheim, and the situation became worse. As people gave in to acts of depravity, demons walked the streets like men, the seeds of Chaos and corruption long since having claimed the souls of the pitiful thousands who now called Mordheim their own.

The comet fell on New Years Eve, but it was not to be the coming of Sigmar as predicted. As the new year arrived and city was crammed and the prancing throng was at its zenith, the comet impacted upon the city instantly killing those who had gathered around it. Sigmar had judged Mordheim lacking and all over the Empire the land shook! Only the Temple of Sigmar's Rock, home to the Sisterhood of Sigmar, who had locked themselves away weeks before the comets arrival, remained unblemished.

Word got out that Sigmar had passed his judgment, that he had smote those who he deemed unworthy. The place of Mordheim became a place of fear and paranoia. Soon after, word spread of a mysterious stone that lay scattered about the city, known as Wyrdstone, which had all manner of reputed qualities. It was discovered that factions would pay incredible amounts for this precious stone, whatever their motivation. So warbands began traveling to Mordheim, now dubbed The City of the Damned, hoping to find this precious stone and make their quick fortunes…

Scholars from the Great Library travelled to Mordheim to learn all they could of the Wyrdstones and the fallen star. As a precaution and for their protection a small band of mounted and foot soldiers from Altdorf were dispatched to accompany them. Their journey was perilous and the group encountered many an enemy warband on similar errands but those encounters were mere skirmishes in comparison to what awaited them at Mordheim. The group learned to rely on each other and quickly learned the value of each man to the whole.

After the Great War against Chaos, Magnus the Pious razed the remaining ruins, and had the name of Mordheim deleted in every history record available. But not all records were made available. The knights, scholars, and soldiers of Altdorf that returned from Mordheim did not forget their journey. As a reminder of the comet that destroyed the brightest star of the north, they established the Order of the Fallen Star. The Order stands to defend against a return to the chaos that they witnessed at the City of the Damned. Rumor has it that the scholars returned with a fragment of a Wyrdstone and that it is housed somewhere within the Order's Chapter House but this has not been confirmed.

Since their founding, the Order has stood to protect Altdorf and the Empire wherever Chaos threatens. The Order is unusual in that, in deference to its roots, scholars and wizards have always been attached to the Order (some speculate that this is so that they can study the aforementioned Wyrdstone). Also in deference to its roots when the founders of the Order quickly saw the value of every soldier in every role supporting the whole, the Order's footsoldiers are also held held in high esteem within the ranks of the Order and regularly drill and train alongside mounted soldiers making them an essential element of the Order. This allows the Order of the Fallen Star to be able to field an effective varied fighting force out of its own ranks without help from other Orders. The benefits of having such a force have not gone unnoticed within the Empire and the Order is well equipped and outfitted.

The colors of the Order incorporates the red and blue of Altdorf with the yellow and orange of the comet.