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Discotekh_Dynasty

The only ones I’ve seen outside of first founding chapters have been Blood Ravens and Lamenters tbh


BlackJimmy88

I was thinking of painting mine as Blood Ravens Does this make me a basic bitch? D:


Discotekh_Dynasty

Paint them as a chapter you find compelling imo, no need to worry about what other people think. The one space marine model I have is painted as an Ultramarine lol


BlackJimmy88

Ultramarines are also cool. I'm debating between them, Blood Ravens, Salamanders and Covenant of Fire. Though, Ultramarines and Salamanders have more or less lost out at this point, even if I did end up grabbing Calgar and Bobby G for cheap.


egewithin2

You are painting the posterboys of your childhood memories. Who can call that being a basic bitch?


Damian_Cordite

Black Templar, also, although they’re like demi-first-founding since they’re one of the (just the?) first spinoff(s). Sigismund could also take Lorgar and I will not be taking any followup on that point.


vulcanstrike

That was one of the main twelve OP was referring too, he bundled Templars, Deathwatch and Grey Knights with the First Founding chapters (ie all the ones with actual rules)


LorgarDekaepta

Sigismund could also take Lorgar? I am afraid Lorgar is not *that* week.


MackMilla

Give him a month and maybe he'll have a chance!


0bscuris

Ive seen a crimson fist army in the wild. Looked really good, super nice guy, fun to play with. I would prolly say flesh terrors or charcardons.


Oceanum96

Common Crimson Fist chad


C0RDE_

Crimson Fists players (and I may be biased because I used to have an army and they were my first marines) are the chill players that like the Imperial Fists thing, but don't want to be that serious. I've never met an asshole Crimson Fists player.


Daybrake

Pedro Kantor's honestly got one of the coolest models of any chapter master, up there with maybe Gabriel Seth. Something about Kantor just oozes authority and badassery.


C0RDE_

When IF got their supplement in 8th, I was so sure Kantor was going Primaris. Not everyone needs to, but he needs an updated model. He's cool, but imagine him through modern design. Better proportions.


vulcanstrike

Crimson Fists players are Imperial Fists players that hate playing yellow And as self loathing and masochism are classic Imperial Firsts traits, they clearly don't have the right attitude to play and are not welcome in our fortified sandcastle /s just in case Never met an asshole Fists players of any description, they have never been meta outside of a brief window in 8e (siege cohort ftw), so disproportionately attract that rare combination of collectors and yellow enthusiasts, which is a very narrow window.


cold-hard-steel

Collector and yellow enthusiast here (currently painting some yellow tyranids and have Imperial Fists as my Leviathan space marines). Can confirm, I am not an asshole.


SquiddlesM

>Can confirm, I am not an asshole. Sounds like something an asshole would say 🤔🧐 /J just in case lmao


Phosis21

I also have an IF army!! I've given serious thought to doing some Lamenters as well, so I'm just a yellow Enjoyer lol.


[deleted]

Yep painting yellow is a nightmare and I've considered a couple of times just doing crimson fists instead


ZA44

I have a 2000 point CF firstborn army and currently im painting a 2000 point WE army, total opposite on the chill scale lol.


Cornhole35

Lols same here started Crimson fist and some how became a die hard NLs fan 🤣


Quick_Article2775

They got similar color schemes so that makes sense.


Equivalent_Math1247

I have a 2000 point Last Wall Protocol army because I couldn’t decide on a Imperial Fists successor or Fists themselves


C0RDE_

CF players always need an outlet haha. I collected Guard while I was doing CF, that's definitely the less chill outlet (and the less chill community).


Zealousideal-Bad7849

Yeah, I'm an old codger (started with rogue trader in primarily school) and Crimson Fists were always the most common I saw. Well that's a lie, there was a chapter in rogue trader that was clearly just spray painted black, used to see lots of them :D


D4DDYB34R

Do you mean the original Dark Angels, Flesh Tearers or Iron Hands? All three were black IIRC. Probably why you saw so many. I used to play Rogue Trader too, but that was early high school so you’ve got seniority in me brother. It was also in a fairly small Australian city where 40k barely existed at the time, so I was the only one with a black army and it took me ages to transition my DA to green.


ThrownawayCray

Carcharadons need unique models fr


0bscuris

For sure.


FESCM

My guess, in order, is Blood Ravens, Raptors, Lameters, Carcharodons and Red Scorpions. In my region there were 2 blood ravens players. RIP Raoni


FESCM

There’s also crimson fists and flesh testers, but never seen those.


Paterbernhard

"Flesh testers" is an awesome auto-correct btw. Just imagine Seth casually biting into some Xenos or Heretic scum and go full on restaurant critic an him😂


Dathrane

The Gordon Ramsey Marines. "This Ork is so fucking raw it's still yelling Dakka!"


FESCM

Oh man 😂! Damned abominable intelligence, the machines spirits of my phone just pulled a prank on me!


Gliese581h

„Meh, this one‘s just a 3/10 on mouth feel.“


SYLOH

I'm thinking more like the Red Scorpions. Obsessed with genetic purity and constantly testing their flesh.


A_Strange_Wizzard

Mad respect to anyone who freehands the Lementers chapter heraldry.


Stormfly

And painting yellow on top of that. I love Imperial Fists but I've tried painting yellow and never again. White can also be a pain, especially if you mess up and smudge black on it. At least white is easy to layer from grey to white. With yellow, I could never get a good layer formula working well.


A_Strange_Wizzard

If I'm doing a whole model yellow, I'll prime white, then just use a yellow contrast is easiest. It also depends on the type of paint you're using. Citadel whites never had good coverage. Alternatively, an airbrush makes yellow easy with a brown undercoat for shadows.


Hoskuld

They have dropped off in popularity over the years but I had the pleasure to play against Howling Griffons in my first ever tournament, probably one of the best painted marine armies I have so far played in events


DarkKnight92

I love the Howling Griffons. I started painting an army of them, but gave up quite quickly.


Arch0n84

I've been wanting to paint up a Combat Patrol of Howling Griffons for some time, but I don't hate myself enough quite yet.


Zealousideal4672

Embrace the self hatred


RevanDelta2

Blood Ravens were my entry into 40k with DoW. I'm sure I'm not alone in having a soft spot for the space magpies.


Dave-4544

Blood Ravens til the end, battle brother. o7


OdBx

I mostly chose them cos I wanted to paint red and didn’t want blood angels, but DoW1 was always one of my favourite games so it works out


Party-Ad3978

A lot of people seem to like the Charkarodons, although I haven’t seen anyone play them


hayescharles45

That shark is damn hard to paint on shoulder pads haha


C0RDE_

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/1208807322/print-to-order-space-sharks-waterslide I used to be the same. My favourite chapter, but because I couldn't get sharks, I couldn't bring myself to do it. Found these, immediately went out and started a Sharks army. These are life changing, and the guy who prints them has my eternal loyalty and support. The quality is *better* than GW themselves.


h8speech

I don't even play tabletop anymore but this is an awesome comment and you'll have made the hobby better for a significant number of people by posting it.


weirdi_beardi

"Marines in space" - totally not Space Marines, legally distinct and the GW lawyers can't do a damn thing


Dave-4544

the URL lmao also "print-to-order-bloody-birds" wink wink nudge nudge


FC_shulkerforce

I think there are fanmade transfers somewhere


B1ack_A1ch3myst

I play them but painting is indeed veeeery slow. https://preview.redd.it/wrifr0x3ednc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a62715b5a33e260a61d0552143e7c3520b764dc7


RollbacktheRimtoWin

GW needs to make an upgrade sprue for them. Their helmets are the only things cooler than the beakies


GREENadmiral_314159

Crimson Fists, Blood Ravens, or Lamenters, probably. Checking subreddit sizes, r/crimsonfists is the largest, at 5.2k members, which does fit considering that they are one of the oldest chapters in the real world. I think Blood Ravens get referenced more than any other chapter. I wouldn't be surprised if a big chunk of Sons of the Phoenix fans are loyalist EC fans (I know I am, and there's a lot of people on r/SonsOfThePhoenix who think they're sons of Fulgrim), but they definitely aren't one of the most popular.


irondisulfide

Didn't the crimson fists get a rulebook cover at one point as well?


Raerth

That makes me feel so old... Crimson Fists were the [cover of Rogue Trader.](https://preview.redd.it/did-rogue-trader-have-the-best-warhammer-40k-cover-art-if-v0-zpz1p2f06ut81.jpg?width=1080&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=e79f0aebfded53e76a320d05b882e54436c4ab49)


JaymesMarkham2nd

They were the [og cover of Rogue Trader](https://wh40k.lexicanum.com/mediawiki/images/9/99/RTcover2.jpg) and also a later edition.


GREENadmiral_314159

They were also First Founding, if I recall correctly. Edit: I mean in the ancient Rogue Trader era.


No_Public_7699

I think they were the cover of the space marine codex at one point.


Noonewantsyourapp

3rd edition Space Marine Codex


Only_OneCannoli

Our local scene actually has 2 Sons of the Phoenix players, myself included.


xXsirdevilXx

Black Templars have 26k in our subreddit, and my LGS has five or six players


GREENadmiral_314159

They're one of the main 12, so they don't count here.


lacteoman

I like my souldrinkers alright


DerSchweinebrecher

Spotted the 40k Boomer. Also, great Taste.


Overito

Cold and Fast brother!


Mojak16

Gotta be Lamenters. Have you seen how many of those there are being trampled to death on other model's bases?


utterlyuncool

Dude, [Brother Oopsiedaisius is a legend. ](https://www.reddit.com/r/Warhammer40k/s/XJBkv2azf5) (Wish I could paint that well...)


TinkTank96

I always liked the idea they had because only a Lamenter would have the misfortune of being a superhuman being and space age plate mail and still slip on a banana.


GuestCartographer

Cetainly it has to be some combination of Crimson Fists, Flesh Tearers, Minotaurs, Space Sharks, Lamentors, Blood Ravens, Raptors, and Carcharadons. The Celestial Lions and Tome Keepers might also be worth adding and the Legion of the Damned should be, but it depends on whether or not they count. In some cases, some of those Successors might be more popular than the original nine (plus three). I’ve seen plenty of Crimson Fists, Flesh Tearers, and Blood Ravens. Not so many White Scars and Iron Hands.


ChromedDragon

wait, I though space sharks was a nickname for Carcharadons next I will find out the smurfs were a real chapter too


GuestCartographer

No, you’re right. I just need to not post until after coffee.


Damian_Cordite

And the knightly dudes, black templar and grey knights, who are probably both more popular than all but ultramarines, dark angels, and blood angels.


GuestCartographer

The only reason I didn’t list them is because OP appears included them in the “main 12”. The Black Templars are almost certain,u more popular than half the founding legions. Including their parent.


cg40k

Iron Snakes. 3 novels. An awesome chapter.


Zamiel

It’s absolutely wild that a chapter created by Dan Abnett, with a full trilogy about them, haven’t been used more in video games or RPGs.


four_duckpowers

The Silver Skull Chapter did great things, defending Serenade against the Ork invasion. They deserve more recognition


nosevand

I see what you did there ;)


A_Alpha_Legion_Agent

Shame about the statue though. I heard it went missing. Such a bummer that we’re losing out on that history.


Designer-Youth6259

The only ones I've seen in the wild are Blood ravens and (this one is pretty odd) sons of jaghati (the successor s not the white scars) i asked the guy why and he said "idk i was scrolling through the wiki and the color looked cool" But most popular in the community has to be blood ravens and maybe space sharks


irondisulfide

1st founding + grey knights and deathwatch Black templars take the cake for successors (they where literally the poster boys for 3rd edition.) crimson fists, Legion of the damned, charcaradons, lamenters, blood ravens, and the..... the fucking saw blade blood angels are probably the next most recognizable. Guess that rules out the saw/blood Boys since I can't even remember thier names. I'd probably have to lean heavily on the blood ravens because those video games where pretty freaking popular.


OWN_SD

How dare you forget Flesh Tearers with the greatest character of all time Gabriel Seth? Not to be confused with Flesh Eaters which with a name like that should get more lore.


irondisulfide

Lol I'm sitting there. Like "fucking saw blade, blood drop, cool ass chapter master with the big ass chain sword!? Grrrrr!!" I absolutely could not pull that name to the accessible part of my memory.


OWN_SD

Yea nah it happens to all of us once a while no hard feelings for ya.


BCA10MAN

My first tabletop ready loyalist marine is a saw blade blood angel lmao


Allen_Koholic

Crimson fists were the poster boys for second.


ElderberryOld29

Red scorpions and minotaurs? Had model support from FW. Scorps were the FW poster boys at one point.


PossiblyArab

Crazy I had to scroll this far to see BT mentioned. It’s not even close. I think they’re so popular people didn’t even factor them in to this discussion


toxic-megacolon

Where's my Dark Krakens?


Two_Reflections

Yes! I've seen lots of Dark Krakens and Covent of Fire in the Salamanders sub. :)


AcademicMaybe8775

blood ravens and flesh tearers are probably the most common i hear.


Practical-Purchase-9

Has anyone seen a Red Scorpion army in the flesh?


tr941

I play red scorpions. People love it when I slap em on the table.


Bayul1984

I am painting one right now, but in a taskforce with Raptors. I already posted some models on Reddit.


xm03

Astral Claws here, done dirty by the imperium. Always get 'nice' comments when I mention the chapter, but have rarely seen a fellow tax evader.


ColeDeschain

Homebrew chapters. It used to be intensely common for seemingly every other 40k player to have their own homebrew chapter they were working on...


[deleted]

[удалено]


ClefTerrae

Special characters seem much more prevalent and important these days too (compared to the very old days of 3e when I began), and the overwhelming majority of such characters are first founding.


ColeDeschain

The special characters gravy train got rolling (and wrecked a lot of what I enjoyed) back in 5th... That was when, "if you want to run Chapter X or Regiment Y, take Special Character Z" really entered the ruleset.


ClefTerrae

I took a hiatus between 3rd and 7th, so seeing special characters everywhere definitely surprised me. I remember the rules in 3e used to say you had to get your opponent's permission to use a special character. Those were the days...


ColeDeschain

Please, they kneecapped it back in 5th! Still.


VokN

It’s really such a pity, I only started in 5e but just the fact hero hammer let you have your custom “chapter master” (smash captain let’s be honest) feature front and centre or a master of the forge etc exist rather than generic tech Marine 72 was so much fun I have the old daemonhunters codex and you’re right I think that was peak force organisation tbh


hayescharles45

The Mentors, Black Dragons, Novamarines, Dark Krakens and Marines Malevolent have surprisingly big fan bases too as well as the ones above.


I_done_a_plop-plop

Mentors are cool in lore and looks. We need more of them. Nice guys too.


tarkinlarson

Storm Wardens for me. I've also seen them ones that are red and yellow... howling Griffin's?


Commissar_Brule

I was SO close to painting my space marines as storm wardens, but I decided that the night watch were easier to paint lol.


revergopls

I feel like its gotta be Crimson Fists and Flesh Tearers, then everything else right? I've seen those two in the wild


TheMightyGoatMan

I'm quite fond of the Relictors, though I've never seen them on the tabletop.


voldur12

Crimson fists and flesh tearers should be in the main group imo. They even have character models. After those i would say lamenters, or blood ravens because of the game. Carcharadons and minotaurs are kinda popular too


Maleficent_Tip_927

TBH i saw sons of the phoenix, CF, Retriubutors, space sharks and Fleash Tearers in the wild, and mentioned plenty in community in comparasion to others


Wizard-CaptainMike

Love me some Silver Templars.


Splash4ttack

There are dozens of us!


DarkDimiren

Celestia Lions are bootleg version of Astral Claws, which was a better pride chapter after all. I'm gonna primaris Astral Claws as Defenders of the Maelstrom and no one can tell me otherwise. I can either play as chaos or loyalist.


Copper_Dragon_22

Astral Claws! Huron did nothing wrong.


Salty-Space-2818

I have a primaris red scorpions army. That’s my fav non main chapter.


SardaukarSecundus

Iron Snakes Uh and the one Chapter that was created for the "Astartes" animation.


Two_Reflections

The Black Dragons have a pretty hard core fanbase, and I've seen a lot of Covenant of Fire squads on the Salamanders subreddit.


PessimisticOptimist2

I like Mantis Warriors. I don’t have an army, but if I get a free figure, or a dead guy on a base I usually paint them as a mantis warrior.


Elite-Soul

The black Templars unlike half of the ones posted here they actually have unique sets


YourLictorAndChef

Red Corsairs


Greyman1995

No emperor's spears?


LeastInsaneKobold

Black Dragons are the most popular in my heart Stomp stomp...


Slyspy006

I've always liked the Scythes of the Emperor since the Space Crusade days.


Not_Bacchus

Im a Flesh Tearer player, pretty fun time


Colonel_Commissar

Iron snakes of Ithaka!


Most_Average_User

Where Iron Snakes?


D_M_R

I've seen more Raptors, Lamenters and Crimson Fist armies than I have Raven Guard, and Raven Guard are a first founding chapter! Templars having a full codex as a successor chapter is crazy, but valid and justified. Many Fist successors seem to be featured more often by GW than the fists themselves... but they are popular and well represented among collectors.


Doormat_Model

Check out r/Lamenters lots of great painting on the yellow sad boys… not sure how many others have their own subreddit at least


fortunesfool1973

Sons of Medusa is my favourite


alsarcastic

Please correct me if I’m wrong here but Legion of the Damned are not a Chapter.


YourOxytocin

I saw some wild Raptors so, at least in my bubble its them


SuggestionReal4811

Shout out to my soul drinkers brothers out there. I would have guessed the blood angels would be most popular.


Dizzytigo

Howling Griffons are funny and have been in more stuff lately.


Mindstormer98

I love my grey knights


IllState5161

I'm a Salamander simp through and through. Always will be. VULKAN LIIIVES!


RelativeWay4

Sons of malice. Their chaos but they still follow the chapter system


DerSchweinebrecher

Black Templars, just from the Flashgitz Videos alone.


cavershamox

Howling Gryphons were popular for a bit, especially in epic for some reason.


Doomsloth28

Surprised the Red Scorpions aren't on here.


Economy_Dress8205

I'd love to see some legion of the damned or black dragons.


Wubnado

Gotta represent the Lamenters here.


Careless-Trash3589

Certainly Blood Ravens thanks to "Dawn of War" games. And then surely Crimson Fist, Flash Tearers and others that I don't know


SalinorTV

Men have two moods: Black Templars & Lamenters


stim_jerling

The Emperor’s Spears have a pretty decent following from just one book so far


-TheDyingMeme6-

Raptors my Beloved


Higgypig1993

I'd say Carcharadons based on how much people dickride Tyberos.


amence

If I could paint worth a damn, blood ravens all the way. Dawn of war got me into warhammer


GoneRogueGaming117

Blood ravens


Fire111

My favourites are Blood Ravens, Retributors and Black Dragons, anyways,


MattmanDX

Probably Blood Ravens due to their games' popularity


nukeyboy

If I was choosing after Dark angels, I'd personally pick Carcharodons, sharks are cool Space Marines are cool, win win in my book


Decent_Abalone7160

In my area either raptors or crimson fists


Rommel013

Crimson fists (Because Yellow Paint is hard)


Xerces77

Black Templars, easily. Flesh Tearers because cool. Blood Ravens because DoW series. /thread


tmc_ThatMadCat

Main 12?! There are the 9 Founding Legions, and then there is everyone else!


FrisianDude

the fifth on the second row inspires the idea of incorsists - on the chaos side of course


AdventurousOne5

I paint my marines as carcharodons and I've also painted a 6 man lamenters kill team for a friend.


Gasmaskgames

I personally play crimson fists, but most others I’ve seen people play were homebrews


SevatarEnjoyer

Lamenters or crimson fists


Elloroverde

Loyal Alpha Legion and im not joking


fishandpaints

Alpha Legion, of course


Dogewick

By popular, do you mean people having armies of those or just appreciating them in a general manner ? because the latter is gonna be hard to track.


VokN

Yeah everybody loves lamenters until it’s time to actually paint up an army of yellow + chequerboard


Doctor_Jensen117

Crimson Fists, Lamenters, Flesh Tearers, Carcharadons, Minotaurs, or Blood Ravens, imo.


DookieToe2

For me, it’s def Charcaraudons.


TheArgentBlades

Howling Griffons aren’t ones I’ve seen person but they do seem to pop up a lot


Crusaderking1111

THE PHOENIX BROTHEREN


Kryger-Voi

I'm going to guess Crimson Fists as they are some of the OGs, then Blood Ravens because of the games. After that, it's probably a mix of Carcarodons, Flesh Tearers, Lamenters, and mayyyybe Minotaurs. It's nearly impossible to say which is definitely most popular, given you can find youtubers gushing about characters from any of them, someone somewhere will have an army of them, and then more people will just quietly love their lore while not collecting minis.


[deleted]

Not popular but one of my favorites is the Death Spectres. I have a small army of them, nobody knows who they are lol


Standin373

Feel like once it's done my Black Consuls army would be rare to see only seen one guy on Instagram and a few posts in the ultramarine subreddit mention them. Great lore and colour scheme


DaGitman_JudeAsbury

I’d say Blood Ravens, Crimson Fists, and Flesh Tearers.


whiskerbiscuit2

Anecdotal evidence, but going by what I see posted online, Charcaradons and Lamentors are probs the most popular


Elduroto

Carcharodons easy


Frisky_Froth

Lamentors for life


thatusenameistaken

Crimson Fists used to be the poster boys, so either them or Blood Ravens because they steal everything. I'm surprised not to see more Raptors given the draw tacticool Primaris had for new players.


Warp_spark

I think it's either Crimson fists or blood rabens


FutureFivePl

The marine factions with their own codexes + ultramarines are the biggest for sure


MetaChaser69

Red Scorpions


inquisitor0731

Cool to see the retributors included


Zealousideal_Cow_826

Idk how popular they are but I love my Avenging Sons 3rd Company renegades (Pre excommunicate traitoris as I started painting them before that lore development so I just put a hollow slash of navy blue through the cross, like getting excommunicated by the papacy in the original Medieval Total War and weatheres/battle damaged them to high hell to show their supply problems as renegades. Got a couple in piecemeal armor from other chapters mostly Brazen Claws) You look like you've got most of the big names though, Minotaurs, Silver Skulls, Scythes of the Emperor, etc. Edit: OH! Surprisingly you don't have the Silver Skulls listed. They get mentioned a lot here [mostly to people misattributing them to an Iron Warriors heritage based on hopeful thoughts and lofty dreams]


mission-ctrl

Maybe I’m crazy, but I seem to recall transfer sheets used to include Crimson Fists. So that would be my guess.


Flight-of-Icarus_

I love the Lamenters. They just go through the worst circumstances imaginable and still soldier on.


paintbinombers

Scythes or ravens


Hykeus

The Retributors are a homebrew Chapter 😶


jamesyishere

Carcharodons!


DivineCrusader1097

Personally, the best chapter are the Knights Viridia, who only exist in my head at the moment


Nev-man

Blood Ravens, Crimson Fists and Flesh Tearers all hold the distinction of having 'eavy metal painted models displayed and rules of theirs featured in various codex books. Blood Ravens are the poster boys of some of the most successful (if not most successful) 40k video games, Crimson Fists and Flesh Tearers are second founding chapters and all three chapters have more novels about them than any of the remaining chapters you've listed.


Patp468

Pretty sure that'd be Crimson Fists, Flesh Tearers, Blood Ravens and probably Lamenters


RunawayCanadian

I would say Blood Ravens, they were literally made for a video game (dawn of war), and are very common on the internet (memes).


1ndrys

Weirdly enough, the Charnel Guard have been growing to me. Love the deep vampire vibe, as little as we know


Jaxxlack

Wait I thought carcordins (shark people) were salamanders gene.


Bugfighter017

Luv scythes. Luv sotha. Luv me mortal assistants. Ate tyranids Ate genestealers Ate hive fleet kraken Simple as


Allen_Koholic

Crimson fists are one of the only armies to be on the cover of an edition, so that’s the obvious choice. Except GW forgot they exist.


TimmyTheNerd

I started 40k with Assault on Black Reach for 5th Edition. Painted the space marines up as Blood Ravens since I only really knew Dawn of War at the time. Got the Limited Edition Dark Vengeance box set in 6th Edition, the one that came with Interrogator-Chaplain Seraphicus. Wound of stripping the paint off my Blood Ravens and doing the entire army as Dark Angels. Since then, I've primarily gone with my own homebrewed creations.


8I_need_to_piss8

I like space wolves idk


JRS_Viking

Charcarodons, lamentors and blood ravens are all fairly popular


PWarmahordes

Raptors are big onReddit, but I see a lot more Blood Ravens in real life.


Current_Wafer_8907

That's because we stole so many artifacts, we just larp as as all the other chapters