The first DIY chapter I ever created here at the B&C, and still my favorite, is the Avenging Lions. This chapter was inspired by several things:

1. There aren't enough chapters that use brown as their main color.
2. No one has any right to tell anyone else that they can't create a successor chapter of the Black Templars.
3. No one has any right to tell anyone else that they must use the Index Astartes article format.

I suppose I was being a bit contrarian in creating this chapter.

I created the Avenging Lions in 2010. You can see the original discussion here. The climate in the Liber Astartes forum at that time was highly toxic. A gang of overbearing members had got it into their heads that they were the experts on DIY chapter creation and that their views on the lore were the correct views - anyone that dared go against them was bullied mercilessly. They may have been well-meaning, but they were presumptuous and arrogant. In their defense, they were somewhat knowledgeable in the lore (even when I disagree with some of their conclusions) and they understood quality writing, presentation, and DIY development. The problem, however, was that they mistook their opinions for facts, pushing their views on other members as if they were holy writ. I saw a lot of enthusiastic new members get crushed under the mean-spirited feedback given by these so-called "experts." Too many of those new members were victimized by the bullies and either gave up in their creative efforts or left the community, which was a real shame.

You can see the newly-updated article here, and the linked discussion topic here.

Why brown? Many chapters use bright colors or black. Very few use neutral colors. The Raptors and [Emperor's] Warbringers come to mind, as well as a few others, but those are chapters that are rarely seen on the tabletop. While the Adeptus Astartes in many ways evoke the Spartans and the military orders of Christendom, and their colors are often reminiscent of the uniforms of the Napoleonic era, I wanted a chapter whose color scheme might be appropriate in modern day warfare. Camouflage was out of the question, not because I follow Rogal Dorn's dictates, but because it is such a PITA to paint (and it doesn't really look that good on Adeptus Astartes models - just my opinion). The Raptors already had a good military green scheme, and numerous chapters use good grays (the Relictors and Revilers being standouts). So I settled on brown. Also, since brown is used so rarely in Space Marine armies, my army would stand out in its own way if I ever get it painted up and on the table.

The notion that the Black Templars have no successors is very popular, and the arguments supporting the (subjective) conclusion are not without their merits. To this day, many hobbyists still insist that the Black Templars have no successors. However, nothing in the official lore even implies that the Black Templars have no successors. True, the known lore allows for the Black Templars to be without successors, but it equally allows the opposite. Realistically speaking, we simply don't know. They might, or they might not. Lacking explicit information one way or the other from Games Workshop, it's within the realm of the possible (and even the plausible) for the Black Templars to have one or more successors rampaging around the galaxy (or perhaps destroyed at some point in time). Given this, it's perfectly acceptable for hobbyists to try their hands at creating their own Black Templars successors. For my part, the premise I set up was that the High Lords of Terra selected the Black Templars gene-seed in honor of the service they had performed for the Imperium in helping to bring down Goge Vandire. It could be speculated that the other chapters involved in that action, the Imperial Fists, Soul Drinkers, and Fire Hawks, were similarly honored, but I didn't touch on whether that happened as I was focusing solely on the Black Templars successor. Drawing upon the arguments that many hobbyists use to defend their conclusion that the Black Templars have no successors, that they are too focused on their unending crusade, I decided that the Black Templars wanted nothing to do with their descendant. As a result, the nascent chapter was trained by Adeptus Astartes from some other chapter (I chose the Imperial Fists, but I could have selected another Chapter - and I may choose to do so later). Though their gene-seed is from the Black Templars, the chapter's initial set of traditions were those learned from the chapter that trained them, so they bear little resemblance to their predecessor. I wanted to create some sort of reconciliation between the Avenging Lions and their sire, but I didn't want that reconciliation to lead to the Avenging Lions becoming like the Black Templars.

The format of the article was another issue that some hobbyists just couldn't get over. I chose the format that was used in the Badab War books from Forge World because it presented the type and amount of information that I wanted. It's my chapter and my article, so I get to choose the format. Period. End of story. It was mildly annoying that some members felt that it was appropriate to try to pressure me into using a format that didn't achieve the end-state that I wanted, as well as for them to criticize the format that I chose. I don't have any problem with the Index Astartes format (which you'll see in some of my other DIYs ), but it wasn't the format that I wanted to use for the Avenging Lions.

Don't get me wrong - the bullies weren't just bullies. They meant well, and they often provided good advice (sometimes they provided very good advice). Sometimes, however, their advice was misguided. Worse, it was often overbearing, as can be seen in the linked discussion. Conversely, I don't claim to have any more expertise than the bullies. I don't have any less, either. Just as they often provided other members with good feedback, they provided me with good feedback that I incorporated into revisions. I definitely appreciated that they took the time to read my work, and though some of the feedback was toxic, some of it was very good.

In a way, I was picking a fight. I saw how the self-appointed experts treated other members that dared to defy the experts' opinions and I felt it necessary to stand up to them. Conversely, I really do like this chapter and how it came out. Of all the Space Marine chapters I've developed, this remains my favorite and will be the one that I focus on first as an army. Any progress I make in collecting an Avenging Lions army, as well as any other development on the chapter, will take place in this blog. I've been considering how to bring them up to date for the Era Indomitus...