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Greetings, brothers. I’m in the early-to-mid stages of developing a custom Raven Guard successor Chapter called The Duskwatch, and I’d like to present a working draft of their command structure and core identity for feedback, critique, and refinement. This is part of a much larger Codex-style homebrew project I’ve been building, which includes unique traditions, specialized units, stealth-adapted Dreadnoughts, and more. I’m aiming to remain lore-consistent, grounded in the universe, and fully within the spirit of the Adeptus Astartes. The Duskwatch – Summary Firstborn-only Chapter Operates in deep secrecy, rarely fighting alongside others, but still loyal to the Imperium Specializes in targeted eliminations of synapse creatures, chaos warlords, psykers, and strategic targets (e.g., supply convoys, void-nodes) Inspired thematically by the Raven Guard, Carcharodons, and Salamanders (though they rarely show themselves) They leave behind aid — food, gear, data — for Imperial citizens and forces, but never reveal their presence if avoidable Ritual & Identity Recruits take the Umbral Vow — a vow of silence until their first sanctioned kill They then undergo The Unconcealment, a rite where their old name is erased and they are given a codename tied to their first true act of service Names like “Veilcarve,” “Ash-Walker,” or “Stillblood” are examples — not titles, but identities earned Dreadnoughts – The Stillwatch The Chapter has a small, sacred cadre of stealth-adapted Dreadnoughts known as The Stillwatch Deployed only when no other option remains Custom-modified for silent war — ghost-melta, suppressive claw-blades, null-infusion, etc. Each Dreadnought is a known legend within the Chapter, bound by rituals and memory codes The Key Point I Need Feedback On: Leadership Structure Rather than a traditional Chapter Master, I’m exploring a Triadic Command System: Role Title Function Supreme Commande Ghostmark Oversees all field ops and kill-orders Lorekeeper Voice of Ash Maintains legacy, spiritual rituals, morale Relicmaster Forge-Cryptic Oversees relics, Apothecarion, and Dreadnought communion Would this system be considered too divergent from the Codex Astartes to be tolerated by the wider Imperium? Are there examples of shared leadership (like the Mortifactors or Exorcists) I could reference? Notes Everything here is temporary canon, part of an in-progress Codex project All feedback welcome: lore concerns, structure suggestions, precedent examples, etc. Will post full heraldry, squad structure, and codified ranks in future updates Thanks in advance, and may your bolters speak true. — Noble1992

Death Lords NOTE: This is a very early rough draft (ei WIP), so many things like the chapter heraldry and much of the lore will be added onto and changed. In fact, the primary reason I'm posting this is to get constructive criticism and ideas on how I can make this chapter more solid since I'm still learning a lot about the backstory and lore behind Warhammer 40k. Motto: "We are the fear that haunts your mind." (Alternatively: "I am the fear that haunts your mind," when being stated by a lone Death Lord.) Battle Cry: Commander- "We are fear, we are despair!" Battle Brothers- "We are agony, we are death!" Founding: 2nd Successors of: Raven Guard Successor Chapter(s): Unknown Number: Unkown Primarch: Corvus Corax Chapter Master: Lord Commander Augustus Valarius Chaplain: Nishesh Chapter Librarian: Maxentius Quintillus Homeworld: Adiran Fortress Monestary: Stygian Fortress Allegiance: Imperium of Man (Renegade) Colors: Black, White, Gold Trim Rival(s): Emperor's Children ​SUMMARY The Death Lords is a renegade chapter that specializes in terror tactics. Despite being declared Excommunicate Traitoris by the Inquisition due to their use of noise marine weapons and hostile actions towards agents of the Inquisition (the Death Lords hate the Inquisition to the point of threatening any agents that get in the way of their goals), the Death Lords still consider themselves, and claim to be loyal to the Emperor of Mankind. However, due to being branded as renegades, it is rare that another chapter will fight alongside the Death Lords. BELIEFS HEAVY METAL: The Death Lords have a passion for heavy metal and war ballads/battle anthems. This Chapter is known for its additional three companies, known as Metal Warriors, who charge into battle jamming out on guitar bolters and sonic weapons looted from defeated Noise Marines. Additionally, members compose war ballads/battle anthems to remember their great victories, as well as their loses and tend to rock out in much of their spare time (especially the Metal Warriors). The Death Lords even have different battle anthems for different occasions, like suicide missions, invasions, etc, to get pumped before and during a fight. FLAWED EMPEROR: The Death Lords believe that the Emperor is the one truly to blame for the Horus Heresy. Believing that his punishment of the Word Bearers was completely overkill and served as the catalyst for the civil war that would very nearly shatter the Imperium. Despite this, the Death Lords still believe that the Emperor is mankind's best hope and worship him as a god, albeit a flawed god. HATES HUMANITY: Due to humanity just being stupid in general (ei. not using a blinker when changing lanes, getting stuck behind someone who walks really slowly), the astartes of the Death Lords tend to be very annoyed, condescending and sarcastic when dealing with normal humans. This actually basically goes for anyone and any race with the exception of Sisters of Battle and most other Astartes. HISTORY The history of the Death Lords is steeped in mystery, much of it lost to time or closely guarded against outsiders. This fairly secretive chapter claims to be a 2nd Founding successor chapter of the Raven Guard, it is only the Chapter Master, Chapter Librarian, and several others that know that the Death Lords truly originate from the Night Lords. TIMELINE OF EVENTS 024.M31 Second Founding: The Death Lords, a loyalist successor chapter from the Night Lords traitor legion, claim to be a successor of the Raven Guard to avoid suspicion. 109.M31 Homeworld Established: The Death Lords establish Adiran as their homeworld and build their fortress monastery, the Stygian Fortress. 109.M31 The Dagon Confilict: The Death Lords engage in a conflict on Adiran's moon, Elegia, against a group of Dark Mechanicus lead by Kasimir Dagon. This results in the near destruction of the entire chapter to the point where it was believed to be destroyed. M32 /REDACTED/: Restricted or lost data. M33 /REDACTED/: Restricted or lost data. 041.M34 Reemergance of the Death Lords: The Death Lords reestablish communications with the Imperium. 053.M34 Investigation and Excommunication of the Death Lords: Due to their reemergence, the Death Lords were investigated by the Inquisition to make sure that they were still loyal to the Emperor. The inquisitor in charge of the investigation found that the Death Lords were using sonic weapons looted from defeated Noise Marines. When the inquisitor demanded that the chapter hand over the corrupted weapons, the Death Lords ran him off of their homeworld, resulting in them being excommunicated and branded as renegades. M35 /REDACTED/: Restricted or lost data. M36 M37 M38 M39 /REDACTED/: Restricted or lost data. M40 M41 M42 HOMEWORLD Adiran, the Death Lords' homeworld, located in the Calixis sector, is a dark and cold planet, with its moon perpetually eclipsing its sun. Adiran itself is a temperate marine planet, with vast oceans and sprawling forests (much like Washington state). The Death Lords' massive fortress monastery, the Stygian Fortress, sits atop the Casicus Mountain, coated in black and gilded in gold trim. Adiran is where the Death Lords recruit new forces, its people already hardened by the many dangers that lie in wait in the shadows of its dark forests. TACTICS The Death Lords specialize in terror tactics, taking time to learn the fears of their enemies and exploiting those fears. This is only the first stage of their attack, and is more so just preparation. After their enemies are paranoid and on edge, the Death Lords attack quickly with strike craft, under the veil of night. This is the second stage. Once the enemy is dazed and confused from the ensuing chaos, the Death Lords crush their enemies with a final heavy assault, blaring heavy metal (often from sonic weapons looted from Noise Marines) to further disorient their enemy, while at the same time motivating their own forces. METAL WARRIORS The best way to describe the Metal Warriors is to describe a bunch of punk rockers and heavy metal fanatics wearing power armor and wielding sonic weapons and various musical instruments (usually guitars and drums) that have been modified with various weapons (like bolters and flamers). While the entire chapter has a passion for heavy metal, the Metal Warriors, who actually consist of an additional three companies (the 11th, 12th, and 13th Companies) are generally the only ones who actually charge into battle while blaring heavy metal. In fact, the Metal Warriors are one of the reasons the Death Lords were excommunicated, because of their use of Noise Marine sonic weapons. In addition to having built a tolerance to sonic weapons, the Metal Warriors also have a special implant to make sure they don't explode from the power of the corrupted weapons they like to use. These same implants also help fight the taint of chaos, although there are still several incidents where a Metal Warrior has been corrupted. (NOTE: This obviously is not meant to be taken as seriously, and is simply a nod to the goofiness of the first two editions of Warhammer 40k, as well as being a reflection of my own personal preference for rock and metal.) FLEET 1x Oberon-class Battleship: Maw of Terror 1x Ironclad (outfitted with a ship-killer cannon): Obsidian Blade 1x Dictator-class Attack Craft Carrier: Might of the Imperium 3x Lunar-class Cruiser: Black Night, Night Terror, Fulgrim's Bane 1x Squadron (6) Firestorm-class Frigate 4x Squadron (2) Gladius-class Frigate 3x Squadron (5) Cobra-class Destroyer The Repulsive-class Grand Cruiser Metal Storm was last seen transporting the 12th company of Metal Warriors while chasing Noise Marines into the Warp and are believed to be lost. The Endeavor-class Light Cruisers Eclipse and Hound were destroyed during the acquisition of an Oberon-class Battleship space hulk, which is now the chapter flagship known as the Maw of Terror.

I've really been inspired to try some more off the wall builds with my other armies and see how they do after the success of my all Kroot list. So here's a 1000 points Space Marine list I've been mulling around for a while. Any ideas so long as they keep to the army's theme would be greatly appreciated. 1000 Points Incursion List: 2 Patrol Detachments (2CP) Detachment 1 Custom Chapter Void Rangers 8th Company: Fearsome Aspect (All units have a -1 Ld Aura within 3"), Hungry for Battle (+1 Advance & Charge). HQ Master of Sanctity with Jump Pack: 125 Points WT: Wise Orator (+1 to Litany Success & Commanding Oratory Stratagem costs 1CP), Relic: Emperor's Judgement. (Cannot re-reroll attacks against this unit. 6" Aura: Enemy units roll 2D6 for Ld and discard the highest.) Litanies: Mantra of Strength, Canticle of Hate. Troop 5 Man Tactical Squad with Mult-Melta & Combi Melta: 120 Points Elite 5 Vanguard Veterans with Jump Packs, 1 Thunder Hammer, 1 Plasma Pistols: 127 Points 5 Man Riever Squad with Special-Issue Bolt Pistols/Combat Knives and Grav-Chutes: 100 Points Detachment 2 Custom Chapter Void Rangers 8th Company: Fearsome Aspect (All units have a -1 Ld Aura within 3"), Hungry for Battle (+1 Advance & Charge). HQ Captain with Jump Pack, Relic Blade: 120 Points WT (1CP): Fear Made Manifest (6" Aura: Enemy units are -1Ld and -1 to Combat Attrition Tests), Relic (1CP): Armour Indomitus (+1 W, 2+ Sv, Once per game, gain a 3+ invul for the phase.) Troop 5 Man Tactical Squad with Mult-Melta: 110 Points Elite 5 Vanguard Veterans with Jump Packs, 1 Power Fist, 2 Plasma Pistols: 128 Points 5 Man Riever Squad with Special-Issue Bolt Pistols/Combat Knives and Grav-Chutes: 100 Points Fast Attack Attack Bike with Multi-Melta: 60 Points. Total: 1000 Points. So yeah, that's the list. I went with 2 Patrols as it was 1CP cheaper than running a Vangaurd Detachment. The idea is to hide out at the start then Deep strike on top of the enemy with Hungry for Battle making the required charge 8". I can make the Chaplain's unit only 7" required with Canticle of Hate (does not stack with Hungry for Battle.) Even getting a single kill on most units should force a Ld check as all these debuffs are cumulative. -2 from Reivers, up to -3 for nearby units, an extra -1 from Captain, a big debuff in 2D6 pick the lowest from the Chaplain, plus whatever casualties are taken. I'm worried about not being that strong against vehicles and Characters, so I tried to make my two pretty fighty and spread a few Mult-Meltas around with my infantry (hence Tacticals over Intercessors). What do you all think?

The White Marauders For the past several years, I have been bouncing the idea of a custom chapter around in my head. I knew where my influence would come from, what the primary color would be, and what I wanted to base some of the culture off of. I tried learning a second language, learned of different subsects within Catholicism, developed the history of the chapter, tried to do a wiki on the fandom site, and finally, came up with a rough idea of how I wanted to present my custom chapter and where I get the influence. Black Templars were my first army, and I knew I wanted a contrast army to "ally" with them, But I didn't want to paint them white and settle there, not that there's anything wrong with that, it just isn't for me. So, I decided to come up with an army that would be a total contrast with Black Templars, my take on what I think they could be like if their geneseed came from another Primarch. I used a little influence from the Dornian Heresy to come up with this idea. Here's what I have for lore so far. The White Marauders are decedents of the Iron Warriors. Being one of my favorite legions, I chose them as my chapter's heritage because, well, I wanted a second loyalist army and wanted to go that route. I decided to use influence from another legion as well, but I'll get into that later. Obviously, this isn't known to the Marauders, as far as they know, they have no idea who they descend from. Once I came up with this idea, I wanted to use rules that I felt encompassed what I wanted the chapter to feel like. A lot of people who make a loyalist Iron Warriors army will use Imperial Fists or Iron Hands rules. But, I didn't want to do silver Imperial Fists, so once White Dwarf 462 was announced to have rules for the Exorcists, I knew these were the rules I would use for my chapter. When I think of Iron Warriors, I think of a legion who is accepting of Chaos, but, as a majority, disdain chaos in one way or another (there are acceptations, yes). I felt the Exorcists rules fit this theme, a chapter that is so disdainful of Chaos, they specialize in fighting it. So then came the chapters history. I planned on making them some 30k lore in case I ever wanted to get into 30k, so I decided they were decedents of a Black Sheild force of Loyalist Iron Warriors who fought off Night Lords warbands during the Thramas Crusade. They stripped their heraldry from their armor down to the bare, white, ceramite and then began fighting the traitors through guerrilla warfare, using the tactics they learned fighting the Night Lords to survive. Not exactly how the Iron Warriors would fight, but definitely how Black Shields needing to survive would. However, this lore is a little shaky, and is probably going to change at some point. The current lore was a little easier to come up with. I twisted Gothic culture and Catharism to come up with how the Marauders would view the current Imperial religion and the theme of them being survivalist demon hunters. There's more to type and this is only a rough draft, but this is where things are going right now. I will try to get a mini painted up in the chapters colors and iconography to post here, until then, this is where I need to take a typing break .