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  1. The following is a Work in Progress. INDEX ASTARTES - SIN EATERS Battle Brothers of the 3rd Company ID & HIGH GOTHIC: 0293 - COMEDENTIS PECCATI, "SIN EATERS" GENELINE: IX LEGION - GENE-DRIFT MINORIS FOUNDING: 2nd (CLAIMED), 3rd (SUSPECTED) DESIGNATION: PARTIAL CODEX COMPLIANT HERALDRY: SLATE & CRIMSON, GOUTE De SANG ON SILVER PALE CHAPTER FIEF: DUMAH, UPON THE STAR-FORT VINDICE STELLA MOTTO: AD VITAM AETERNAM, "TO ETERNAL LIFE" INTRODUCTION & PRE-HISTORY No man, bar the Emperor Himself, is beloved by all, not even a Primarch. All of the Astartes Legions, at least all for whom records remain contained those who chaffed at the changes made when they were reunited with their gene-fathers. Terran born, or traditionalist warriors who found the learned practices of their Primarch's adopted homes and cultures. Sub-legions and recon elements who missed the initial, ecstatic reunion, and never saw these larger-than-life figures in the flesh. Holdouts from an older, fouler war than the Crusade itself. The IX Legion were known, for a time, as The Revenant Legion. Eaters of the dead. Beautiful killers. Inheritors of names. These men who would in time become the Blood Angels left much behind when they were transformed by the Angel Sanguinius, when their hungers were tempered by a godling's grace. It was, for most, a revelation. Redemption. A chance to cast of a monstrous identity for something more noble. Or, to others, a false mask to hide their shame. A casting-aside of effective, sound battlefield practice that had marked them out amongst their cousins in the other Legions. A denial of their Emperor-given, transhuman edge. In other Legions such warriors often found themselves among the Traitors - or dead amongst the ashes of Isstvan III - or fighting all comers as Blackshields, but those of the IX who would eventually form the core of the Sin Eaters were loyal, to the Imperium if not their Primarch. Forced to deny their hunger, and a growing sense that they had been denied something more, they nevertheless fought throughout the Heresy, to the very walls of the Imperial Palace on Terra, and beyond. Only with the butchering of the Angel were they freed, and in the fires of the Scouring did they reformed themselves, reclaiming practices long-since forbidden. Like many quasi-independent Legion elements they were chosen to form new Chapters during the Second - Some records suggest Third, though the Chapter itself claims Second - Founding, Revenants beneath a new flag, Eaters of the Dead once more. Eaters of Sin. Brother Sergeant of the 3rd Company, a Lesser Immortal CHAPTER HOMEWORLD & FORTRESS MONASTERY Dumah is a cool, and shadowed world, thickly forested and mountainous, where it is not swallowed by vast and crushing glaciers. The human population, techno-feudal throwbacks abandoned in the distant past live in stone keeps that rise above the forested valleys and frosted peaks, kept warm by ancient generators deep within their bowels, sacred and ill-understood. War, of a sort, is constant. Warbands and raiders hunt each other between the trees, or engage in ritual battles in the few open clearings, killing each other of generational grudges, and stores to survive the long, harsh winter years. It is from this hardy stock that the Sin Eaters draw the largest single source of their recruits. Their Monastery, The Vindice Stella, sits in low orbit, a red star that passes above the peaks of Dumah, and has done for some 9,000 years. The ancient Star-Fort, left adrift in depths of space was captured by the Chapter in their earliest days, and placed above their chosen fief. Some 30% of their aspirants are drawn from Dumah, the rest from suitable human stock encountered on campaign. The Induction Sarcophagi utilized by most of the Blood Angels gene-line are capable of turning the twisted mutants of Baal into beautiful, strong astartes, and such technologies are put to good use by the Sin Eaters to allow for rapid recruitment while on the move, the various Company Fleets and Strikeforces more-or-less self sufficient, returning to Dumah to take part in Chapter-wide rituals and the sharing of heroic remains. Reclusiarch Hanuman, Chaplain of the Immortals CHAPTER ORGANISATION & CODEX COMPLIANCE Like many of their fellow Blood Angel successors, the Sin Eaters act largely within the tenants of the Codex Astartes, at least as it applies to battlefield strategies. Squad-level organisation and equipment, accepted skirmish-to-campaign strategic practices, all to be found somewhere within The Avenging Son's updated Codex, at least for the most part. Outside of the battlefield, however, divergence is found. The Sin Eaters do not keep a 10th Company. Instead, each battle-line Company is expected to raise and maintain their own initiates, and field scouts as required. This means that each Company often exceeds the usual size as dictated by the Codex, and the Chapter as a whole often doing the same. This is not without precedent amongst more mobile chapters, the needs of a specific long-term campaign leading Companies to swell their numbers when support from elsewhere is unavailable. If the Chapter, during a rare meeting of the Companies finds that it has grown too far beyond the 1,000 Marines stipulated in the Codex Astartes, a period of lessened recruitment is begun, and attrition allowed to return them to something closer to the limits placed on an Astartes Chapter. It has been some time since the last such meeting of the Companies. Ordo Astartes estimates place the Sector-wide count of Sin Eaters marines between 1,200 and 1,400 warriors, though their involvement in the ongoing 4th Tyranic war is expected to reduce those numbers dramatically. Leadership of the Chapter falls to the Immortals of the First Company, those Marines who have moved beyond death, becoming repeating patterns within the genetic memory of the Chapter, reborn in new flesh after the eating of the old. The Immortals, the True Immortals, form the First Company, and from there are assigned leadership and guidance of the Battle Line Companies, alongside fellow elites to act as bodyguards or force multipliers, forming a core of Crusade Fleets and Strikeforces. 'Lesser' Immortals, those not elevated to the First Company due to having not proven their stability to the Chapter Reclusium often lead squads within the Battle Line Companies, marked out by golden helms and personal heraldry not worn by those on their first, and likely only, lives. Immortals of the Blade IMMORTALITY & THE LAST REVENANTS The Omophagea - an organ common to all Astartes - is hyper-active among the sons of Sanguinius. The extent of this mutation has varied, over the millennia, though all from that line feel it to some extent. The urge for flesh. For blood. To the Blood Angels themselves this is a mark of shame, and curse to be warded against, but to their earliest ancestors among the IX Legion it was a gift embraced. To be able to gain intel from defeated foes through the eating of their flesh is an ill-understood practice to most Marine Chapters, one made use of sparingly. Not so the Revenants, who ate freely from the bodies of the fallen on both sides through the conquest of Terra. To them, it became a way of maintaining skills and memories of the Legion, dead warriors shared amongst their fellows, their memories imbibed. In some cases this allowed younger marines to quickly advance in rank, taking on the names and practices of those they had eaten. Ghastly, bad for the morale of allied human forces, but undoubtedly effective. The Sin Eaters have maintained this practice for 10,000 years, and in that time have learned how to coax those devoured memories to life. Their Omophagea has mutated further through repeated use, and the careful selection of desired traits by the Apothecarion. To be eaten by a Sin Eater is to be Known. Understood. Human foes are open to them completely, once their bodies are retrieved, and their own dead reclaimed for the genetic memory of the Chapter. All Initiates finish their elevation to full Astartes with a meal of the fallen, a final induction and training all in one. Stranger still are the Immortals. The genetic memory of the Chapter is strong, and certain individual consciousnesses, constructed from the devoured minds of dozens of fallen warriors stringer than most. These are the Immortals, those who have been reborn in fresh bodies when eaten, able to entirely replace the freshly hypno-indoctrinated minds of recruits, and return to the First Company clad in new flesh. These beings - or agreed upon delusions, as some within the Ordo Astartes claim - are by some measure the oldest 'living' Space Marines, with memory fragments dating back into the distant past, some for thousands of years. The re-embodiment of one of these Immortals is a grave and delicate task, overseen by both the Apothecaries and Chaplains of the Chapter. The body is retrieved, preserved in stasis, and made ready for devouring in total by a recruit selected for the task, one who has yet to taste their final meal, but is nevertheless complete and proven. They are watched and cared for during the potentially lengthy period of conversions, presented with items of their many lives, weapons and equipment, and finally allowed to return to service amongst their brothers, old eyes in a new face. The truth of the matter is difficult to discern, and harder still to ever truly confirm. Are they, as the Chapter claims, truly immortal beings within the genetic memory of the Chapter, born into new bodies through ritual and science? Or is this simply a more elaborate, and effective form of the 'spiritual' rebirth of officers in the days of the Revenant Legion, with fresh Astartes simply bolstered and aided by memories left for them by the lost? Who can say.
  2. Hey all, I've spent time this weekend writing my thoughts into a more coherent form. Still heavily WIP, but with nearly 4000 words I think there's enough meat here to get feedback from those whom are both better writers and more in-tune with the lore than I. Please let me know your thoughts! INDEX ASTARTES: TIMBERWOLVES The Timberwolves are a Loyalist Space Marine Chapter created during the Ultima Founding in response to a direct request by Inquisitor Ra’lesh for a protective Astartes force at the western edge of the T’au Fifth Sphere of Expansion. Initially made in haste from Primaris of various lineages to serve the immediate needs of the Canidae system, much of the original “Greyshields” force was decimated in the first T’au invasion of the tribal world Canilus before they could establish a foothold in the region. Only a miraculous, mysterious, assistance prevented the nascent force from being erased almost before it could be recorded in the halls of Terra as an official chapter. Through the subsequent rebuilding, the chapter’s genetic makeup has been established to be of Raven Guard lineage. The Timberwolves are one of the rare chapters who integrate with the local human population, its brothers sitting in council positions and heads of families in the local tribes from which they recruit. While maintaining an incredible stronghold on their home world, the Timberwolves also act partially as a crusading fleet, cycling battle companies between defense of their homeworld and crusading throughout the local region. CHAPTER HISTORY CHAPTER ORGANIZATION CHAPTER COMBAT DOCTRINE CHAPTER BELIEFS CHAPTER HOMEWORLD CHAPTER GENE-SEED NOTABLE TIMBERWOLVES CHAPTER FLEET CHAPTER APPEARANCE
  3. Chapter Symbol of the Flaming Swords Origins The Flaming Swords trace their origins back to the Eighth Founding of M34. Chapter legend tells of a vision granted to the first Master of the Chapter by the Emperor himself. Taking heed of this vision, the Chapter Master pledged his fledling Chapter to an ambitious thousand-year Crusade, the High Lords of Terra eagerly granting the Chapters request. The Chapters objectives were to liberate crucial systems across the galaxy. Piracy would be eradicated from key imperial shipping lanes. The flow of sorely-needed men and armaments would be restored to the Imperiums beleaguered front lines. The Orstaat Campaign In the final years of the crusade even such desperate measures reached the limit of their usefulness. Located on the Ultima Segmentums border with the Segmentum Obscurus, the Orstaat sector is counted amongst the Flaming Swords greatest and most ancient of battle honours. Far from the Imperiums centres of power, for centuries Orstaat had been a lawless and anarchic place, infested with human and xenos pirates. Several systems had long ago forsaken the Emperor and now warred amongst themselves for supremacy. A powerful warband of Chaos Space Marines, the Unborn Knights, had established itself in the sector, launching raids deep into Imperial territory. By the end of M33 the High Lords of Terra had declared the entire sector lost to the Imperium, with several abortive campaigns to retake the lost sector only serving to embolden the secessionist planetary lords. In the westernmost reaches of the Ultima Segmentum the Chapters final trial was on hand. The Flaming Swords committed their Chapters entire strength to bringing the lost sector back under the aegis of the Imperium. The Chapters leadership saw the Orstaat campaign as a fitting conclusion to their thousand year quest. And so the Chapter launched itself into the campaign with an intensity and fervour unmatched, and on countless planets the sigil of the flaming sword became a portent of impending judgement and doom. The violence of the Orstaat campaign was such that the Chapters already depleted strength fell by over a third in less than three years, the loss of so many battle-brothers especially difficult to replenish in such a hostile sector. The ferocious pace of the battles would however vindicate the Chapters leadership. The final traitor stronghold in the sector fell within the sixth year, the dark lord of the Unborn Knights falling in combat with the Chapters champion. Despite the greatness of their achievement, the Flaming Swords found themselves on the brink of extinction. Rebuilding the Chapter The Chapters manpower was so depleted that the most pressing need was to rebuild its strength as soon as possible. To fail would mean joining the ranks of the lost Chapters of the Imperium. Many of Orstaat's star systems had been completely purged, as they had been populated by traitors and heretics. In such a depopulated sector suitable recruits were extremely scarce. As hopelessness set in, it was the Chapters Librarium that would prove invaluable in finding a solution. Routine archiving of records from the Orstaat Campaign yielded a data-cache sequestered from an infamous Rogue Traders flagship. Alkam Arend, known as the Prince of Merchants, had supplied both the loyalists and traitors of Orstaat with weapons and mercenaries for years, until the Flaming Swords ambushed Arends fleet at Coriskar and enforced the Emperors judgement. Such perfidiousness could not be tolerated, and Arend's fall cut off the flow of vital supplies to the traitors, eventually leading to their demise. It was the Rogue Traders annotations on the obscure Namshub system that caught the Chief Librarian's eye. Referencing primitive warriors and archaeotech, even such a vague lead was worth pursuing, given the Chapter's predicament. The Flaming Swords' fastest ships were immediately despatched to scout the system. The Purifier Blade One of the Flaming Swords oldest relics, this ancient power sword is unnaturally sharp and deadly, and icorporates many technological advancements no longer completely understood by the Imperiums techno-savants. Over time the Chapters artificers have further upgraded the blade, integrating a powerful flamer into the hilt and crossguard, fueled by a unique blend of promethium that enhances the sword's power field. The blades current bearer is Captain Tenoch Yel-Zar of the Chapters 4th Company. On the second moon of Quistorol Yel-Zar wielded the Purifier Blade to great effect, beheading the Greater Daemon Vuurthang Slugheart and banishing its unclean form back to the Immaterium. The Great Unclean One has since sworn revenge on the Chapter. Home World When the Strike Cruisers of the Flaming Swords arrived in-system, not even the most optimistic of the expeditionary force's members could have imagined that the Chapter's future home-world had been discovered. Sidon had originally been occupied by an advanced civilization of unknown origin, wiped out thousands of years ago by a terrible cataclysm. Despite this, ruined fortresses still soared through the sky, held aloft by technology beyond the Imperiums understanding. Great vaults delved deep into forbidding mountain ranges, their chambers filled with impenetrable secrets. Whether the forgotten civilization had been human or alien in origin was impossible to tell. No Imperial records existed referencing the identity of these builders. Whatever had befallen the original inhabitants of the planet predated even the Great Crusade, and Imperial scholars have since speculated that the terrible events must have unfolded during the tumultuous Age of Strife. Further reconnaisance revealed that the planet did indeed support human life. A forbidding and inhospitable place, the planet was also home to a variety of dangerous fauna. Such conditions bred tough and hardy people tempered by war and the struggle to stay alive. The disparate human cultures of the planet had progressed to a pre-fedual level of technology and fought with sword, lance and bow. Raids and battles were fought for the right to survive one more season, and the mightiest warriors occupied positions of great influence amongst their people. Operating as a fleet-based chapter meant that the Flaming Swords were dangerously under-strength for long periods of time, a regular intake of suitable aspirants not easily guaranteed by the constant redeployment of the Chapters forces into new regions. In Sidon the Chapter had finaly found a steady source of strong and ferocious recruits that would allow them to pursue their campaigns. Fortress Monastery The largest and most intact of the ruined sky fortresses that float across the skies of Sidon, the redoutable Castellum Nubifraxis was extensively repaired and strengthened by the Chapters Techmarines and now serves as the Flaming Swords Fortress Monastery. The systems that keep this mighty structure aloft are barely understoot, however over the years the most gifted of the Chapters Techmarines have discovered how to change the great fortresss elevation, speed, and direction. Assaulting such a fortress would be a daunting prospect for any foe, with defense laser emplacements and missile batteries studding the walls. The Castellum Nubifraxis is connected to a network of orbital defenses that keep watch over the star system. The orbital defenses serve another, more sinister purpose; any sign of technological progress on the planet is vigorously eradicated by the Space Marines. To Sidons populace the wrath of the Sky Warriors raining down on any transgressors is deterrent enough to steer them away from to pursuit of progress. Such ruthlessness, combined with the planets scarcity of ores and minerals, ensures that civilization on Sidon will never progress to a level where the inhabitants grow soft, decadent, and weak. The Chapter thus plays its own vital part in maintaining the endless cycle of war and suffering that sweeps the planet. Organisation The Chapter is Codex-compliant and is divided into ten Companies of Space Marines. Slight variations to Company strucure have emerged over the years. During space operations the most common force size deployed is the demi-company, and early in its history this prompted the Chapter to reinstate the ancient Legiones Astartes rank of Lieutenant, a rarity in M41. The Chapter has also made changes to the way it displays insignia. Company markings are displayed on the left knee pad, this method having completely replaced the previous practice of each company bearing distinct company colours on their shoulder pads. The Chapter places great importance on ship boarding actions, and veterans of these operations display a non-Codex-compliant lightning bolt insignia on the armour of both legs. It is credit to the Chapters skill at void warfare that almost every battle brother bears such an insignia on their armour. Personal heraldry is also proudly displayed and embellished as the battle-brothers feats of arms and legend grows. Rumours exist of an additional company bearing markings with strong resemblance to the Flaming Swords, but such tales have yet to be corroborated. What is certain is that above all else the Inquisition wishes to prevent the outbreak of another conflict to rival the Badab War. Its instigator, the traitor Chapter Master Lugft Huron, began his descent into heresy precisely through an expansion of his Chapters forces. This has led some branches of the Inquisition to investigate rumours of covert force-building more thoroughly than would previously have been deemed necessary. Any attempts to uncover the truth regarding this additional unit have so far been inconclusive, although strangely such investigations have been marked by the suspicious disappearances of many of the Inquisitors involved. Combat Doctrine Brother Ostrogg?, Squad Leader,Fifth Battle Company, KIA during the Ykanne Insurgency Since establishing its base of operations on Sidon, the Chapter developed into a flexible fighting force capable of conducting complex operations. Many of the capabilities were refined during the Orstaat Campaign, as the Chapter engaged in simultaneous combat across a wide range of warzones. When planetary assault is required, the Chapter is known to employ mass drop pod launches supported by planetary bombardment, to break up and overwhelm enemy formations. The Chapter often employs its superior mobility to apply swift and devastating pressure to the most vulnerable points of the enemy battleline. Each of the Chapters Battle Companies maintains small squads of company veterans to act as breacher squads during ship-to-ship combat, sieges and city-fighting. For the Space Marines assigned to these squads, the honour of being selected for such duties far outweighs the increased lethality of the assignment. Many tactical squads are equipped with Umbra-pattern bolters fitted with chainaxe attachments, increasing their effectiveness in the closing phases of an engagement. The demand for such weapons is great enough for the Chapter's Forge to continue manufacturing them in significant numbers, despite the relatively archaic nature of their design. These boltguns are much prized by their owners for their combination of firepower and vicious close combat capabilities. The Chapter is well-equipped with a wide range of equipment and variants of armour and weapons, as befits one of the older Chapters of the Imperium. Many Forge Worlds of the Mechanicum contributed to the Chapter's armaments over the years and this has resulted in a wide range of weapon and armour designs being available to the Chapter. Over its storied existence the Chapters warriors have honed their skills with the full arsenal of weapons at their disposal, however many Space Marines have developed a preference for brutal and effective weaponry such as melta weapons and flamers, which are lethal in the close confines of ship boarding actions. Chapter Fleet For the first thousand years of its existence the Chapter operated as a fleet-based force. In conjunction with their unique strategic focus this brought them in continuous conflict with the numerous pirate fleets that plague the Imperium. Eldar Corsairs, Orks Freeboterz and renegade Imperial Admirals; each require specialized tactics if the Adeptus Astartes are to overcome them. As a consequence the Chapters fleet is lighter and more mobile than that of more conventional Chapters. Several of the Flaming Swords Strike Cruisers were modified to carry only a demi-company of Space marines. As major objectives have changed in recent millennia, this intermediate class of Strike Cruiser has become less popular, despite composing a large part of the Chapters fleet. Many of the Chapters Caestus assault rams and Thunderhawk gunships have been modified to enhance space operations and facilitate the Chapters ambush tactics against pirates. Beliefs As is typical amongst the Adeptus Astartes, the Flaming Swords revere the Emperor as the most exceptional of mortal men, but not as a god. The Chapters cult is fierce in its worship and mythologization of its greatest heroes. The Chapter values self-reliance and determination, and ensuring the survival of the Chapter's warrior cadre and its martial codes is paramount above anything else. The Chapter's Chaplains work tirelessly and fervently to expound this creed and foster its importance amongst the battle-brothers. Although the bonds of brotherhood are continually reaffirmed in battle, in less turbulent times such bonds are further deepened through ritualized combat between battle-brothers. Senior figures such as Captains are followed with unfaltering loyalty, which is not borne of a rigid deference to hierarchy. The Captains and Chapter Masters of the Flaming Swords are considered equals to their battle-brothers, and must prove that the faith placed in them is justified. Many foolhardy Imperial commanders have learned this the hard way, through spectacularly unsuccessful attempts to establish their precarious authority over the Chapters commanders, and not all have survived their harsh lesson. The punishing nature of void warfare, combined with the relentless crusade that the Flaming Swords pursued during their formative years, implanted a fatalistic and embittered streak in the Chapters culture that persists to this day. In certain individuals this translates into a death-impulse that drives warriors to commit acts of suicidal bravery. This is known in the Chapters parlance as seeking the Emperors favour, and such warriors often volunteer to lead forlorn hopes or last stands, where their chances of survival are almost non-existent. Nowhere is this trait more pronounced than in the warriors of the First Company, who upon induction ritually repaint their armour black, in penance for a secret shame known only to the Chapter, and never discussed with outsiders. Veteran Brother Pardix?,First Company, Hero of the Ilyssos Crusade Gene-Seed The Flaming Swords have never discussed the origins of their gene-seed with outsiders, and reliable records of their Founding have proven notoriously difficult to secure. Some scholars believe the Flaming Swords to be successors to the White Scars Chapter, while others are certain the Ultramarines Chapter is the most likely Progenitor. The true lineage of the Flaming Swords gene-seed is part of the mysteries of the Chapter, and its battle-brothers must be judged worthy of induction into the Chapter's secret orders before learning the full truth of their origins. The Apothecaries of the Flaming Swords performed countless vivisections, autopsies and many other atrocious experiments on the population of Sidon before satisfying themselves that the inhabitants would be suitable hosts for the Chapter's gene-seed. The final assessment of the unwitting inhabitants classified them, as "extremely viable" implantation subjects, the first time in the Chapter's history. Gene-seed implantation, though inherently dangerous to the subject, has seen its highest success rate since the occupation of Sidon, and this has doubtlessly contributed to the preservation of the Chapters purity. Although the Chapters geneseed is considered pure and free from mutation, some scholars have speculated that the death drive that takes root in some of the Chapters veterans might be caused by an almost imperceptible imbalance in the subjects Catalepsean Node. In recent years the Chapter has trialed additional psycho-indoctrination in the most afflicted subjects, with mixed success. While some of the subjects thus treated have apparently been cured, many others have immolated themselves in renewed acts of spectacular recklessness and suicidal bravery. Though the loss of such warriors is a terrible price to pay, such sacrifices invariably inflict punishing losses on the enemy, in many cases turning the tide of battle at crucial moments. Battle-Cry Flame and Ruin!
  4. This is a Early look at what I am trying to develop as a Chapter. Chapter Datafile: Heralds of Ash The Heralds of Ash Date:...............57.M42 Ref:................LBC//TEC7710101 By:.................TechCaptain Re:.................Adeptus Astartes - Heralds of Ash Thought:............"." CHAPTER NAME: .............. THE Heralds of Ash FOUNDING: ..................6TH CHAPTER WORLD: .............Accusation FORTRESS MONASTERY: ........Sanctuary GENE-SEED (PREDECESSOR): ...Unknown (Blood Angels Suspected) KNOWN DESCENDANTS: ........."NONE" Primary Data Allegiance: Imperium of Man (Fedelitas Constantus) Chapter Master: Magister Size Estimate: Unknown Specialty: Psychic attack, Predictive Understanding, Religious Purges, Policing Actions, Suppression of Ideological Revolt, Targeted Decimation Battle Cry: " " Colours: The Heralds of Ash are a Loyalist Space Marine Chapter of the Adeptus Astartes created during the 6th Founding, which occurred sometime during the latter years of M33. Suspected of being created from the lineage of the heroic Blood Angels, the Heralds of Ash were one of several Chapter founded in the wake of the notable event known as 'The Year of Ghosts', when the Imperium was beset by extreme Warp activity and daemonic incursions. Only when the honoured dead rose up from their graves to drive back the terrors of the warp that the heart of the Imperium just barely managed to survive. Following this event the High Lords of Terra authorised the raising of a new Founding to help bring about stability and law back to those imperilled worlds that still suffered in the iron-grip of those who followed the Dark Gods. Chapter History In M33, the newfound Heralds of Ash Chapter was ordered to claim their own Chapter planet, after being initially fleet-based. During their search for an unclaimed planet within the Imperium, a charismatic Rogue Trader convinced the Chapter Master to aid in his search for a long-lost relic on behalf of the Ecclesiarchy in exchange for exclusive rights to trade on a lucrative pilgrimage passage, which the Trader believes is on Accusation. A deal was made; the Rogue Trader received the relic to return to the Ecclesiarchial Cardinal of the sector, the Astartes would the planet. Upon landing, a large contingent of Drukhari and Chaos cultists were discovered, and the subsequent combat between the Imperial forces, Dark Eldar, and Chaos heretics was ferocious. In the course of the brutal campaign, the Rogue Trader fell in battle alongside his forces and the Heralds of Ash. To honor him, the Space Marines chose to build their fortress-monastery around the relic's burial site, preserving it for his descendants of his Rogue Trader House to return. The Inquisition, however, suspected the "relic" to be tainted, and outright warned them to stay away, leaving the artifact in the Chapter's care. They stand vigil over its corrupting influence to this day. Around the year 831.M33 (know as the Year of Ghosts) the fairly young Chapter was assigned to a Campaign against a Word Bearer invasion of a Holy world that was created during the War of the Confessor not many years before along side a contingent of Space Wolves, and many others. For a Hundred years the war raged on as not even the dead stayed truly that way. Ghosts and Demons were common sights, but in the end the Heralds of Ash and their allies were victorious but not without great cause. Their Chapter was critically low of personnel and even the Space Wolves were eliminated. When the Inquisition came forth to investigate the war it was decided the best policy was to kill those who were direct witnesses but more so to use the superstitions as a guard against further invasions. The First Chapter Master should have the First Captain undertake a pilgrimage to Fenris, to return the fallen Wolves' gene-seed and relics, and tell of their valor. The Heralds of Ash during the Plague of Unbelief (Unknown.M36) sent out several companies tracking down and eliminating the many false prophets that appeared throughout the anarchic Age of Apostasy, some little more than madmen leading rebel armies, others spiritual demagogues who commanded worlds and armies. Homeworld Accusation's surface is Ashen Wastes full of the graves of the dead and the structures to house them. With nearly every square metre of dirt on Accusation devoted to the dead, even the capital city was considered an extravagance. This world is full of feral Tribes who live outside the processing center cities. Mountains full of Cairns and Tombs fill the world while very large cities act as the points of contact with the greater Imperium. The narrow alleys and passages were steep and cobbled, leading up to the crowning monument -- the heart of the main hive city in both a physical and spiritual sense -- the Memorial Mausoleum. Nestled at the heart of the devotional architecture and adorning the metropolis like a crown was the enormous roof-dome of the sacred vault that dominated the city skyline. A colossal archway-barbican decorated the entrance to the memorial mausoleum. The pillars of the stately sepulchre were thick and tall, and the darkness of the threshold beckoned Imperial pilgrim and cleric alike. The funereal beauty of the Mausoleum was astounding: the intricate scrolling on the wall internments; the silver lettering adorning the floor slabs, recording the names of past pontiffs and cardinals of the Ecclesiarchy; loggia supports and fat sculpted pillars reaching up to the exquisite detail of the Mausoleums domed ceiling. Candles and incense burned from a thousand suspended sconces, and stern statues of Ecclesiarchs already elevated to sainthood by the Imperial Cult adorned the sepulchre space in a ring around a simple block-crypt of obsidian brick. A silver-plated elevator was used to transport clerics and Adepta Sororitas guardians deep below the sepulchre to a small complex of condition-controlled crypt chambers residing behind a thick vault door. A circular gallery spiralled about the sepulchres exterior, made up of marble steps and landings, providing access to the wall-combs, vaultia and the upper stories of the Mausoleum. Imperial mortuary lighters brought an unending supply of the Imperium's noble dead from necrofreighters down to the Accusation surface. The prestige of spending just a century in the precious earth drew cadavers from light years around. Senior officers of the Imperial Guard, the Imperial Navy, members of of Hive World noble houses, powerful merchant lords, Navigators, other planetary nobility and devoted members of the Ecclesiarchy itself were all buried in Accusations sacred topsoil. Coffins and sarcophagi are dug up for shipment back to the families following the expiration of their leases in an unending cycle of inhumation and exhumation on a planetary scale. Grave niches in the catacombs are reused. A body may lay there for a set amount of time and any more time the buried or relatives are willing to pay for, thereafter are the bones removed and placed in an ossuary or charnel house. A Servo-skull Manuifactorum make up one of the great industries of the world along with a trade in pilgrimages. The tourist and pilgrim industry for people wanting to visit the mausoleums of famous people and saints is booming. Pilgrims have to pay to get to the areas where their mausoleums are, then have to pay to get close to the mausoleum, and then pay extra to go in in the mausoleum. Many pilgrims dont think about how to get back home after having visited the holy sites and stranded pilgrims make up a notable underclass on Accusation. Mausoleums have to be paid for. Those that dont have any tourists or pilgrims paying for them, nor any founds or relatives paying upkeep are abandoned or reused. Cremation happens often and the kind of wood used important. The poorest dead are just thrown into gas crematories while those that have paid a bit more get burned with wood, while the richest get buried for a time unless they were significant enough to get one of the Imperial Organizations to pay. Notable parts of Accusation are plantation forests that are grown only to create good funeral wood. Bones that are still there after cremation is considered blessed and are used to create lesser relics. Fortress-Monastery The Sanctuary is a structure in the center of the ruined city of The Unredeemed that is under the "protection" of the Heralds of Ash. The tower has since become a symbol of judgment by the Heralds of Ash as the city of The Unredeemed was built around it. For over the millennia, the tower cast a great shadow down on the inhabitants of the city which became a site of daily persecutions with the lower class living in tents outside the city and either dying of torture or from starvation and plague. Only the Strongest survive going through the ruined city of the downtrodden to make their way to the Sanctuary and finding none. Their they have to pledge sacrifice and loyalty to even undertake trials to become one of the Angels of Death who were above the prosecuted. The only Sanctuary to be had is being strong enough to grant it to one's self. Chapter Beliefs They deviate significantly from the Codex Astartes. Ash is considered sacred by the Chapter, and when Heralds of Ash Battle-Brothers are called to go to a distant war they perform one last act before leave-taking, a ceremony known as the Shouldering the Burden. This ash is carried in a flask by every member of the Chapter, to anoint every planet that they step foot on in a ritual ceremony called the Sharing the Burden. Knowledge was power but needs to be seen through the lens of the Emperor. They believed there was no discipline their intellect could not master, no secret he could not unlock and make serve their purpose. For the Ashen Heralds, knowledge is salvation, the means to controlling the psychic legacy of their Primarch's gene. Every book was sacred, every writing worthy of study, every document a resource to be drained. The Ashen Heralds are publicly dogmatic, swearing oaths of loyalty and singing the Imperial hymns. They fight for the expansion of the Emperor's realm with diligence. To further this Vision Journeys to understand the future and their connections to it as blessed by the God Emperor. Heralds make use of fire in many of their rituals and ceremonies and believe that they must be cleansed by the pain of fire before every major undertaking or initiative. The Chapter Cult that governs the beliefs of the Heralds, placing great emphasis on self-reliance, loyalty, and self-sacrifice. They hold a firm belief in isolationism, the tenet that only through spiritual meditation and exploration performed alone and in isolation from others can a person gain a true understanding of both themselves and how they can best serve the will of the Emperor. Heralds are an extremely devout group whose faith ventured into fanaticism. They are completely dedicated to the Ecclesiarchy and an ardent followers of the God-Emperor. They greatly emphasized religion in everything they do and act with great zeal in their quest to purge the worlds of "heretics". They are portrayed as a considerably dangerous zealots and are known and feared around the Imperium. They possess an intense proclivity towards the use of torture to "purify" those they saw as heretical and are infamous for using painful and varied forms of execution. They have tried and questioned hundreds using brutal and intense methods of religious interrogation, but only a traumatized few had lived through the treatment. After battle the Chapter keep a great memorial service for the fallen, they expect any allied Forces to participate, and react hostile to any who dont. Most Battle-brothers write death poems before important battles. The Heralds, when possible, treat all the dead on the battle field with proper burials/cremation and death rituals. Be they allies or enemies. The Heralds are usually a quiet, sombre, and melancholic Chapter but have great reveling feasts for the death after battle. They try to keep their hunger and rage in check by doing some form of artistic endeavours mainly calligraphy, death poem writing, gravestone carving, death mask making, scrimshawing, coffin making, sculpting of grave statues or mausoleum planning and making. The Chapters generally battle-brothers rest in specially prepared grave niches. Battle-brothers always carry around candles they light at any graveyard or lone grave they pass, including the ones they dig themselves. Dead battle-brother's remains are used to enhance the arms and armor the fallen use to have. By using the reclaimed carbon from his ashes to make auspex-absorbent material with which to coat repaired armor, or press the ashes into a diamond coating for the fallen's sword, in addition of using the bones of the fallen as pieces for the fallen's weapons like Femurs for buttstocks. Techmarines and Chaplains tell a Marine his predecessors' names, when/where/how they died, how their remains were used to improve the relic arms and armor he is about to inherit, and how his own remains will be used to improve his successors' arms and armor, in a grim ceremony as the wargear is issued. Combat Doctrine The Heralds of Ash have a preference for close-ranged fire fights and use many Melta and Flamer weapons to burn whole swathes of infantry troops and to smash armoured foes. Their coming was nothing less than apocalyptic judgement delivered upon the guilty from on high, as descending from the skies on wings of fire. Against the xenos, no such quarter was given, and the wrath of the Chapter was made manifest as a tide of unrelenting carnage that only gave way once complete extermination had been achieved. The Chapter's tactical doctrines are heavily focused on the use of powerful shock assaults to shatter an enemy's resistance in a single, devastating blow. However, they cannot be counted upon to hold a position in the same disciplined way as the Ultramarines or Dark Angels, as any Marine in the midst of battle could suddenly him to charge forward in an attempt to tear the enemy limb from limb. This often has the benefit of creating victories in the unlikeliest of situations through sheer aggression. Before battle, the Heralds of Ash gather in ritual prayer, chanting hymns and doctrines to affirm their faith in the power of the Emperor burning great effigies of the enemy and invoking blood rights to engage their primal instincts. Once done groups of Heralds charge forth in Berserk fury as remainder pick up the standards and chant holy prayers for guidance and victory to a steady drumming of war. The relentless advance of the Heralds is a terrifying sight, as the monotonous chant and beat of drums can break even the strongest will. The night before battle, the enemy can hear mutterings emanating from all around, echoed in the pounding drums, stretching the nerve and instilling every man with fear. The unshakable belief of the Heralds of Ash, that they alone can save the galaxy. Any victory won over the Heralds of Ash is only won at a terrible cost, as their fanatical attacks will only ever end when all are dead. Groups of Heralds are charged beyond the battlefield with hunting down works of false doctrine and those who purveyed it, consigning both to destruction and eradicating flame. On the battlefield, they are tasked with seeking out those things which gave the foe the heart and courage to fight: charismatic leaders, priests, battle flags and champions. Once singled out, they are destroyed with brutal fervour, often far in advance of their own lines in order to do so, with no thought as to their own survival. Carrion eaters are somehow drawn to the Chapters presence and follow them, partially due to the Chaplains and Judiciars bearing censers burning incense whose scent attracts the beasts. Though none say why this is for it has not been proven the correlation. Chapter Gene-Seed A high percentage of Heralds of Ash manifesting some level of psychic ability. A small, but significant percentage are prone to physical mutation. The rate of fatalities among aspirants is frighteningly high. There are also those who argued that the mental scars suffered by those who survived the change were just as deep, instilling a sense of cause and purpose that manifested as unflinching, unreasoning fanaticism bordering on madness, a certainty which could in mere moments turn to insane fury when that purpose was challenged. A tendency for skin pigmentation to permanently darken and appear Ashen often adopting an unnatural granite-like or ash quality. The Heralds of Ash have a grim determination to do their duty. This is not so much a desire to die as it is an acceptance that death is the only end to the path a Space Marine treads, and everything he does is another step along that path and one closer to his eventual demise. As this condition increases, the Battle-Brother can become more and more fatalistic about his chances. These black moods will not affect his willingness to do his duty nor makes him turn from his brothers, but it can press in upon his squadmates all the same. Primarch's Curse: Holy Path of Destruction The Craving for Battle Deep within the psyche of every Herald of Ash is a destructive yearning, a battle fury and hunger that must be held in abeyance in every waking moment. Few Battle-Brothers can hold this in check unceasingly -- it is far from unknown for Heralds of Ash to temporarily succumb to its lure at the height of battle. This craving is the Heralds of Ash darkest secret and greatest curse, but it is also their greatest salvation, for it brings with it a humility and understanding of their own failings which make them understand their connection to the Emperor as humanity's warriors. Holy Rage The Heralds of Ash suffer from a psychic imprint left upon them they don't understand. This can cause them to go insane prior to or during battle and feel a terrible rage that is almost all consuming. Rather than let them face a slow, insane death, Heralds of Ash will form those who have newly succumbed to the Rage into a special unit known as Breakers. Breakers who has fallen to the Holy Rage are kept awake and not sedated but bound when not in combat. Their ravings and screams are faithfully recorded, since it is believed that there are prophesies and holy insights hidden in them. Wounds appear on the raving and restrained Marines despite there being no sign of the hand that inflicted the wounds, due to the sheer psychic trauma inflicted upon them. Sometimes meditative rituals during which the battle-brother is buried alive and has to claw themselves out when finished are used to try to bring a brother back from the brink of becoming a Breaker. Chapter Recruitment Accusation's society is full of death cults who each practice their own way of sending the enemies of the Emperor's to his judgment and there is a constant shadow war between the cults about whose practice is the true path. Every 10 years all the cults send their best young aspirants to the gates of city of The Unredeemed where they have to first get to the Sanctuary tower. The prospects are told they must enter the catacombs, and fight the undead haunting the tunnels, clearing the way so a Chaplain may conduct an exorcism and banish the traitors' spirits; in truth, they're fighting predators imported from death worlds, as well as aesthetically modified combat servitors, with which the observing Chaplain may see how the prospects fare under stress. Many cult-aspirants die during this time, those that return either do it broken or in honour, those that don't return are either dead or have been found fit to become initiates in the Chapter. The chapter have hidden keeps beneath the deepest/most dangerous catacombs protected by traps, and many passages are too small for full-grown men, those making it so that only the young can get all the way. Once they have come far enough they are captured and given a full mental and physical check, those boys that are show to be physically and mentally fit become initiates, the others are healed, memory scrambled so they dont remember anything. Chapter took over some disused catacombs for use as training sites. To avoid ruffling feathers with the organizations maintaining graves on Accusation, these organizations and the planet's populace are told the catacombs belong to traitors whose crimes and sins weren't revealed until after death, forcing the Administratum to declare them damnatio memoriae. Investigations: Heralds of Ash Date:...............Multiple Ref:................LBC//TEC37ORD56 Re:.................Adeptus Astartes - Heralds of Ash Inquisitional Archive: Noted Artifact discovered by Heralds of Ash on world now designated Accusation has markings of Xenos and possibly other origins. The artifact seems to be indestructible, pursuant of artifact now deceased. Family of the pursuant warned never to claim artifact under Inquisitional authority. Archivists will be dispatched to study artifact under the care of the Heralds of Ash. Cardinal who dispatched pursuant, eliminated. Sizable compensation that was to be awarded upon retrieval has been forwarded to the family but now they are marked as worthy of observation evermore.Investigation Status: Logged
  5. THE ACCIPITRES ASTRA Space Hawks CHAPTER NAME: High Gothic - Accipitres Astra Low Gothic - Space Hawks Colloquial - Grey Hawks, Grey Giants, Grey Guard FOUNDING: 26th - 738.M41 CHAPTER NUMBER: 986 GENE-SEED: Jaghatai Khan PROGENITORS: Unknown KNOWN DESCENDANTS: None CHAPTER MASTER: The High Table – council of senior officers HOMEWORLD: Ys Minoris [Hive World; ϑ CLASS; Wasteland; Sybaris Sector - Segmentum Solar; (In)Direct Rule] FORTRESS MONASTERY: The Retreat FORWARD BASE: Fleet Based – Tacitus Venator COLOURS: Storm Cloud Grey1 – high propensity for camouflage usage COMBAT DOCTRINE: Codex CHAPTER ORGANISATION: Divergent STRENGTH: 700+ CHAPTER MOTTO: “Semper Fidelis, Semper Paratus, Semper Letalis” BATTLECRY: - TBD - 1 ORIGINS/HISTORY 1b The Founding 1c Initial engagements 1d early defining moment 1e recent major event 2 HOMEWORLD 2b Recruitment 3 ORGANISATION 4 COMBAT DOCTRINE 5 BELIEFS 6 GENE-SEED 7 BATTLECRY / MOTTO Side box A - current deployments Side box B - notable individual Side box C - notable enemy 1 - this was part of the inspiration > https://wh40k.lexicanum.com/mediawiki/images/thumb/b/b0/Alekh_Daumas.jpg/220px-Alekh_Daumas.jpg
  6. This is my main Chapter as it is on 40k Homebrew Wiki. All my art was developed by Algrim and Achilles of 40k homebrew wiki administration. That is the source site, and as a disclaimer all the 40k stuff belongs to GW, etc. (Just to be safe, I make no claims besides being the mind behind my brews.) Nevermind, the image extension is now allowed here. Please look there for the art. Chapter Datafile: Bloodmoon Hunters The Bloodmoon Hunters Bloodmoon Hunter Brother Bloodmoon Hunter Brother Bloodmoon Hunter Journeyman (Raptor School Hunters) of the 3rd Hunt Company ("Blades of Folsom"), 7th Battleline Squad. Date:...............57.M42 Ref:................LBC//TEC7710101 By:.................TechCaptain Re:.................Adeptus Astartes - Bloodmoon Hunters Thought:............"The Blood of the moon looms as shadows deepen in it's red glare." CHAPTER NAME: .............. THE Bloodmoon Hunters FOUNDING: ..................13TH [M.35] Dark Founding CHAPTER WORLD: .............Aigéad Fuil FORTRESS MONASTERY: ........Folsom's Keep and Lebenmali Star Fort GENE-SEED (PREDECESSOR): ...Unknown (Claims to be Iron Hands, Inquisitorial Investigation Ongoing) KNOWN DESCENDANTS: ........."NONE" Primary Data Allegiance: Imperium of Man (Fedelitas Constantus) Chapter Master: Hunt Grandmaster Shasmu Khonsu Size Estimate: 500 to 600 Specialty: Small Unit Tactics, Assassination, Ambushes, Covert Actions, Asset Retrieval, Tracking and Pursuit Actions, and High Technology Battle Cry: "Hunters of the lost." ; "Harvesters of knowledge." Colours: Dusty Dark Red and Dark Grey The Bloodmoon Hunters are a stalwart and dedicated non-codex compliant Loyalist Space Marine Chapter created during the 13th Founding, the so-called 'Dark Founding'. Little is known of this mysterious founding as there are no reliable records that indicate how many Chapters were conceived during this Founding or what became of them. Extant records indicate that the Bloodmoon Hunters were supposedly created during this Founding around the time a recorded prophecy foretold their inception. It is generally believed that the Adeptus Mechanicus might have played a role in the creation of this Chapter, as their inception occurred sometime in early M35, during the divisive and widespread doctrinal conflict known as the Moirae Schism. The Bloodmoon Hunters were known to maintain close ties with the Archmagos of the Cult Mechanicus as well, receiving a wide diversity of arms and weaponry, including power blades and relic weaponry of the finest quality and rare, advanced patterns of armored vehicles and gunships. Chapter History Bloodmoon Hunter Sergeant Bloodmoon Hunter Sergeant Bloodmoon Hunters Sergeant (Lupine School Hunters), 2nd Hunt Company ("Blood Seekers"), 3rd Battleline Squad, wearing relic Mk III Power Armour and armed with a Combi-Bolter/Melta Suspected to be Founded in the 35th millennium as part of the mysterious 13th Founding, the Bloodmoon Hunters were created around a time a prophecy was recorded. "Under the Blood Moon of Harvests, Hunters of the immaterial will find not what they seek but the answer to the question unasked." During the Moirae Schism, the Bloodmoon Hunters were formed with close association to the Cult Mechanicus. The Chapter was given three missions for it's priorities. The first was to guard the warp corridor known as the Sanguis Portus. This was the only stable set of warp routes out to the Fringes of the Ishtar Subsector. This mandate would be the binding chain that kept them beyond the edge of most known centers of power. The second was to support the Fleets being sent into the far reaches of the Fringes. And Lastly the Bloodmoon Hunters were to guard the Ishtar Subsector as a whole. Bloodmoon Hunters have stayed in the shadows for most of it's time. However, the Bloodmoon Hunters and their ways has made impacts on the Eastern Fringe as they combat various Xenos threats and worse threats of heretics that haunt the fringes. During the years leading to the Great Rift, Bloodmoon Hunters performed various hunts earning honor for their Chapter. Even with this they are little known to the majority of the Imperium, records being what they are few hear of their accomplishments. The Great Rift Opens and the Noctis Aeterna cuts off the systems of the Ishtar Sub-sector from each other and the wide galaxy. As darkness descends across the Sub-sector a variety of threats threaten to see it burn in the fires of war. Corruption and Heresy surges within the ranks of the local Ecclesiarchy and Mechanicus. Necrons emerge on Incendius Lux, Delta Lux, and Crucia. The Frontier Worlds erupt into chaos as House Fásacha, the Lunar Venatorii Cavalry Regiments, and Ishtar Rangers struggle to repel a tide of Drukhari, Ork Freebooter, Chaos, and Harlequin raiders. Orks from the nearby Charadon Empire emerge near the Contrador system sparking continuous naval battles. The Penal World of Contrition erupts in revolt, and Khornate cults emerge wherever Penal Regiments are stationed. Finally, the Bloodmoon Hunters chapter sees the Great Rift as the herald of the fulfillment of the Prophecy of Blood, and fervently seek to identify and defeat signs of the prophecy. The Primaris Marines of Cawl have yet to make it as far as the Ishtar Fringe Corridor known as Sanguis Portus but rumor has it a squad of Hellbasters in Bloodmoon Hunters colors have made themselves known among the Unnumbered Sons and are on their way to join their brethren on the Eastern Fringe. As it stands The Comhairle of Fiach has yet to make judgement on the rumors nor on Primaris Marines in general. Like all on the front, they wait for proof of the abilities to survive the ends of the Imperium. Homeworld On the former Icy Hive World, now turned Volcanic Death World of Aigéad Fuil in the Damuterr System, a single settlement, protected by void shields exists on this world, has a burgeoning society of techno-barbaric gangs. They are allowed to commit their gang warfare in the trade city as long as they don't attack off-worlders and give a tithe to the Astartes overlords. The Techno-Barbarians use armored vehicles, and scavenge from failed recon teams and aircraft from the wastelands due to the acidic atmosphere. But the risks of these expeditions and the rapidly degrading hulls of the vehicles cause inter-gang warfare, as gangs fight for loot and intact hulls for their own craft.The hardened youth, with an experience of armored warfare and technological expertise are perfect candidates for the Astartes. The ancient hives that eked out a harsh living on the acid-rain soaked planet of Aigéad Fuil was brought into the Imperial Fold, and would be gifted to the Bloodmoon Hunters Chapter for overseeing the warp routes further into the Ishtar Fringes that would become known as the Sanguis Portus, or the Blood Gate. Few others make life out of heavily processed ancient lower hives of hives whose void shields has failed over time. Fortress-Monastery Notable Campaigns Organization Chapter Recruitment The gangs of Aigéad Fuil are monitored for their potential. When a likely candidates, for the Astartes of the Bloodmoon Hunters, are observed they are told that the representatives of the God-Emperor would like an audience and to bring an offering of a hide from one of the great beasts of the wastelands. Once the potential hunter has found a suitable offering and was able to defeat it, the aspirant must traverse to the great citadel of the Hunters of the Bloody Dark in the ravine and cave system that is the entrance of Folsom Keep. To accomplish this they must pass the trials of the Hunters and face the various beasts that hunt the hunters. Once the aspirant has proven capable and clever enough to make it to the entrance their final task is to hunt a group of cyborgs that are under the control of a Master while under the influence of a special cocktail of drugs meant to test the mind of the aspirants. Those able to defeat their enemies or better yet find the mastermind under these conditions are then inducted into the Chapter having proved they are cunning enough in the hunt. Chapter Beliefs Combat Doctrine Inquisitorial Note Some Inquisitors who fight beside the Bloodmoon Hunters notice the Bloodmoon Hunters use similar tactics to ones Traitor Marines have been observed using, and have a similar obsession with hunting. Geneseed Inquisitorial Notation Deathwatch Apothecaries noted unusual divergence in the Bloodmoon Hunters' gene-seed when they in service to the Deathwatch. Notable Members Chapter Fleet Chapter Relics Adeptus Mechanicus Observations Adeptus Mechanicus Rune Priests compared images of Bloodmoon Hunters Chapter relics to those of pre-Heresy Raven Guard, and noted striking similarities. Deathwatch Service The Bloodmoon Hunters are known to be a great source of knowledgeable Masters of the Forge for Deathwatch Outposts. Most Artificers of the Bloodmoon Hunters will spend several years in service with the Deathwatch as a matter of pride. All the Bloodmoon Hunters are trained in the ways of the priests of mars to a larger degree then most chapters by the Techmarines of the chapter. Due to this the Bloodmoon Hunters will offer their kill-team a great amount of knowledge on both imperial and xeno technological works. The relentless dedication with which a Hunter will pursue their objectives makes them ideal for the harder tasks the more humanitarian chapters would struggle to carry out. Artificers trained as both the Spiritual keepers of the Bloodmoon Hunters as well as the Technology masters for their Chapter also provide inspiration and guidance to their Brother Astartes in the Deathwatch when they serve the long vigil. Even Bloodmoon Hunters who are not artificers find it a great honor to be chosen as the representatives to the Inquisition from the Chapter on how to hunt the Alien. Being chosen by the masters for such an honor is an aspiration for many a Journeymen. Chapter Appearance Notable Quotes
  7. INDEX ASTARTES: THE AURIC BLADES Progenitors: Raven Guard (12th Founding; Approx. late M35) Homeworld: Athule (Feral World; Segmentum Ultima) Fortress-Monastery: The Pinnacle (Lunar Fortress) Combat Doctrine: Primaris Chapter / Mechanised Firefights Successors: None Known or Acknowledged “Breathe deep the vapours, my Brothers, and know the blessings of Valour. Feel the chemical gifts of Corax’ sons in your lungs and know the burden of Chivalry. See past these mundane and tainted stars and see your Quest, and know your Inspiration. Breathe deep the vapours, and be suffused.” -Thirteenth Beseechment of the Codex Valourous The Golden Knights of Athule. The Dreaming Questors. The Emblazoned. The Mad. To their allies and to history the Auric Blades have been known by many great names and lofty titles, but always they have been counted amongst the foremost of Humanity’s champions. The coming of the Auric Blades is heralded by the roar of engines and the whine of grav-plates as the great armoured vehicles of the Chapter roll inevitably forwards. The roar and impact of the guns come next; heavy guns mounted on vehicles or wielded by long-range support squads, and lighter guns fired by Blades on the wing. As the Auric Blades close on their prey, their own voices join the cacophony as squads march up behind the battle tanks and dismount the transports and give voice to the glorious hymns of Athule. The stench of their alchemical vapours waft on the breeze from vials and censers as the Blades themselves finally open fire. Few enemies survive much longer, and none save the most worthy or most terrible ever see the silver shine of their blades. To almost all, the Auric Blades are a sudden and lethal riot of golden armour, explosive munitions and blessed smoke. Bound by their own strange ideals of chivalry and valour, the Auric Blades were a zealous and driven fraternity long before they were brought unto the cusp of extinction by the darkness and conflict of the Great Rift. With the gift of the Ultima Founding, the Auric Blades have been reborn as phoenixes, and now their hallowed hatred rages in a greater inferno than they have ever known before. Guided now by both their own mysterious Inspiration and by a desire to see their honour and legacy restored, the knights of the Auric Blades march once again to war against the enemies of the Imperium. THE CULT OF VALOUR Like all the Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes, the Auric Blades are defined and shaped by their unique Chapter Cult - the rituals and practises that shape the daily life and psyche of their fraternity. Whilst many Chapters can trace a number of their Cult traditions back to the practises of their progenitors, the Auric Blades seem far more shaped by the unusual chivalry of the Athulians than by the beliefs of Corax’ Raven Guard. There are a few elements which appear to be developments of the original cult - for example the Blades’ habit of coming-of-age hunts and totems may be a development of the Corvia of the Raven Guard - and yet for the most part the Auric Blades stand alone. INSPIRATION More than anything else, it is the Inspiration that defines the Brothers of the Auric Blades and sets them apart from their distant kin in other Chapters. Believed by many to be a flaw or quirk of the Chapter’s geneseed, the Inspiration manifests as strange, ritualised dreams that will guide the actions of the afflicted for the rest of his life. The Inspiration is considered by many of the Chapter’s Apothecary to be in part a chemical shift throughout the entirety of a Marine’s body - a subtle reworking of a large number of processes, though why and to what end remains a mystery to even the most learned. However the Inspiration is most readily seen not through the chemical shifts, but through the great dreams it imparts to the Battle Brothers that are inspired. The Inspiration creates great dreams in those gripped by it. The details of the dream will vary, but it will always take the form of a great hunt. Sometimes the hunt will be conducted alone, and other times they will hunt in great processions. The terrain might vary, as might the exact nature of their monstrous quarry, but it will always be a challenge - the age-old matching of might between Hunter and Beast. The dreams, when they start to come, are vivid - as real to the Inspired as any battle or sermon or training exercise from their waking days. The dreams are analysed in great detail by the Chaplains, for the Auric Blades believe that these dreams reveal the fate and calling of the dreamers. There are a great many archetypes that recur in multiple individuals - the Dream of the Rising Leviathan, the Dream of the Hydra, the Dream of a Hungering Drake, to name a few - but these serve only to provide a starting point for the meaning of the dreams. Chaplains must study for a great many years before they are trusted to interpret a Brother’s Inspiration alone. This fate - this new certainty of purpose - is known as the Quest. It is a call to embody some facet of the Chapter’s duty and version of blazing knighthood. The Quest is the most sombre duty that an Auric Blade can be given, and the dreams are ever a reminder of all that a Brother must be in service to the Emperor and the Primarch Corax. Whilst not all of the Battle Brothers of the Auric Blades will be blessed by the Inspiration, once a Marine begins to dream the dreams will never stop coming to them - each time they close their eyes they will find themselves back on that surreal quest. The dreams will rarely change within an individual, and when they do it is a matter of interest not only for their own journey, but for the Chaplains that guide the Chapter Cult. Whilst in theory there is no formal rank attached to the Inspiration, or any requirement for officers to have been Inspired before they are awarded commands, in practise the Inspiration is everything. In the entire history of the Chapter there have barely been a few dozen Captains, Sergeants and other officers who have not borne the heraldry of the dreamers, and Companies that have few or no Inspired beneath their Captain are considered ill-omened in the extreme. In the most extreme of cases, Captains have petitioned their fellow commanders to second them some of their Inspired Brothers until Inspiration blossoms within their own ranks. Though rare, there are cases of neophytes and recently-inducted Battle Brothers becoming Inspired even there in their comparative youth. These blessed few are considered to be chosen by the Emperor, and generally enjoy a meteoric ascent through the Chapter’s ranks. It is unclear why, but these blessed warriors appear to bring out the Inspiration in those around them in usually unheard of numbers. They become something of a lucky charm for many squads, with veterans who have never been Inspired fighting all the harder to stay beside them in battle, hoping for the Dreams to come. The Inspiration is the responsibility of the Auric Blades’ Chaplains in every sense. It is the Chalains who administer the enlightening drug-fumes before battle or meditation that allow their Battle Brothers the best chance of attaining or mastering the Inspiration; it is the Chaplains that sit and interpret the dreams of the Inspired to find their fate, and; it is the Chaplains that stand as watchers over their Brothers, ever making sure that their strange dreams never stop being Inspiration and start to become the mad whisperings of Chaos. THE GREAT DREAMS Whilst each Inspiration is utterly unique, there are a handful of archetypes and common images that appear with some frequency, allowing the Chaplains to create broad collectives that define the outline of the Inspired’s fate. These are known as the Great Dreams. Some are defined by their prey-adversary, such as the Hungering Drake, in which the great wyrm represents the external crusaders of the Archenemy, or the Mists of the Selkun, where the Inspired must prove victorious through cunning rather than through simple strength of arms. Others, such as the Rising Leviathan, denote the arena in which the Inspired will earn their renown, whilst Inspirations such as the First Quest are more esoteric still, denoting a lonely fate or painful death. To have one of the Great Dreams, however altered, is to know one’s place in the Chapter - to know exactly what one must become to be a hero and to honour the Immortal Emperor. The stranger, rarer dreams offer no such comfort - the bearers of the more unique Inspirations must trust to the skills of their Chaplains and the whims of fate as they attempt to live their Inspiration across the fickle battlegrounds of the Imperium. ORACLES In a rare few cases (barely more than one every century or two) a Brother receives more than his usual share of Inspiration. Rather than a single, unchanging dream, these Blades instead have versions of the Great Dreams that switch and change seemingly every night. Known as “Oracles” these Astartes are believed to be even more in tune with the Inspiration than others, and their dreams are analysed almost constantly in the hope of unearthing some call to action from the Emperor to the Chapter as a whole. There have not been any Oracles for centuries, and some believe that something about the Great Rift or the nature of the Primaris Astartes has ended the very possibility of the Oracles. However, others believe that it is simply that there is no need for Oracles at present, and that they will reemerge amongst the Auric Blades when the Emperor and Lord Corax deem them necessary. HERALDRY Like a number of Chapters, the Auric Blades make a tradition and an art of heraldry, and in theory every single member of the Chapter is eligible to earn the right to wear a personal coat of arms, often opposite the Chapter’s own icon, or else on a tilt shield fitted to their armour. However the Auric Blades are perhaps unique in how they deem a Battle Brother worthy of bearing heraldry. Heraldry is awarded to any who are struck by their Inspiration and find their Quest - upon explaining their first true Dream to a Chaplain they are taken to a Chapter shrine, giving them time to meditate whilst the Chaplains and a dedicated body of Chapter serfs - the Tireless Kamon - work out exactly what combinations of motifs, emblems and colours to gift the Inspired. The process can be an arduous one. Not only must the heraldry not resemble too closely any design currently active within the Chapter or its recent history, but it must also reflect what the Auric Blades consider to be the underlying and eternal significance of the various aspects of the Battle Brother’s dream, and must (at least nominally) must match to the wider ‘age’ of Inspiration through which the Chaplains have decided the Chapter to currently be moving through. As a result the heraldry of the Auric Blades is often massively varied. Whilst many bear the same heraldic motifs that appear on a number of worlds throughout the Imperium - skulls, hourglasses, candles, dragons, swords, slain monsters and daemons, and the like - they also incorporate a whole range of wider and stranger symbols. It is not unheard of to see an Auric Blade whose heraldry incorporates mundane beasts, bolter icons, Terran bolts of unity, falling stars and on occasion even rarer charges. As it is linked so closely to Inspiration, heraldry is a key part of the mentality and soul of the Auric Blades Chapter. All of the Chapter’s officers bear the heraldry of their Inspiration, and those marked by heraldry often unofficially outrank their Brothers, marked by the favour of their Primarch and the Emperor. WIDER CHAPTER CULT Whilst the Inspiration serves as the focal point for the beliefs of the Auric Blades, it is far from their only point of veneration. Even when not heightened to the status of fated calling by the Inspiration, knighthood forms the beating heart of daily life within the Chapter. Like the knights of Athule from which they are drawn, the Auric Blades hold the twin arts of swordsmanship and marksmanship above all others. Even the lowest of the Chapter practise ceaselessly to master all manner of blades and lethal edges with which they might deal death to their enemies. However for a knight of the calibre of a Space Marine, it would be unbecoming to frequently sully his blade in the blood of an enemy unless pressed. As such the Auric Blades work to heighten their skill with Bolter and Plasma Gun and all manner of firearms. Only the worthy shall lose their blood testing the skill of an Auric Blade in melee - chosen either for a duel, or by their skill in surviving the firestorm of their gunlines. To the Auric Blades the latter is as chivalric as any honour duel, for their knighthood shall shine forever brighter by having being tested by the greatest of Humanity’s enemies. Their wider code of chivalry is full of small touches that betray their origins on Athule, and almost all bear some mark of being transformed into ritual by the all-encompassing Inspiration. This covers everything from their archaic treating-phrases for dealing with other Imperial forces, through to their attitudes to the study of warfare and combat etiquette. Beyond the dreams of the Inspiration, however, there is perhaps no clearer sign of its influence than in the Chapter’s attitudes towards its historic heroes. Even more so than most Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes, the Auric Blades venerate their historic heroes, even going as far as to adopt titles based upon their famous victories and to pray to them as exemplars of knighthood on the eve of battle, calling upon them in the same manner as the Primarch and the Emperor. The battle cant of the Chapter is full of allusions to these heroes, and a few Brothers even take the name of one of these lost legends, believing that through emulation they might achieve some fragment of that hero’s greatness and glory.
  8. Version 0.9

    132 downloads

    The Bloodmoon Hunters are a stalwart and dedicated non-codex compliant Loyalist Space Marine Chapter created during the 13th Founding, the so-called 'Dark Founding'. This Downloadable Index is a Work in Progress to create a Supplemental Codex to use Bloodmoon Hunters unique tactics and formations in unofficial Warhammer 40k battles. In addition to capture their unique flavor and rules as they are developed.
  9. Version v.1.2

    130 downloads

    An Index Astartes article detailing the homegrown Chapter of the Adeptus Astartes, the Heralds of Light.
  10. Version 1.02

    894 downloads

    Index Astartes style PDF of the Depthwatch using the super cool templates provided by Brother Tyler.
  11. 408 downloads

    By request of Jape. The Marines Scimitar aka "Space Turks". Includes logo and background layers* in Black, 'Bone', Blue, Green, Red, Yellow, and White. (*Turn on the Layers palette in your PDF viewer to activate different colors. Only the topmost active logo and background layer will print, so be sure to turn off the color layers above the one you want printed.)
  12. 501 downloads

    By request of Master Commander Ajax, the Black Castellans - 3rd Founding Space Marine Chapter. Three layers in the PDF file: solid white logo, white logo with black border, and a black background layer (mostly for display purposes).
  13. 473 downloads

    Continuing my of-and-on project of making sure the B&C has decal sheets for all the Space Marine Chapters that appear in the 2004 How To Paint Space Marines. Imperial Harbingers chapter. Logo and background layers are separate to allow a choice of clear or white decal paper.
  14. 517 downloads

    Index Astartes Tool Kits These two kits provide you with the basic tools to create an 'Index Astartes' article including backgrounds, Chapter organisation templates and more. Grimteef's IA Kit IA Kit
  15. Howdy all, and welcome to the resurrection of the Lions Eternal, formerly known as the Arctic Lions Chapter. I have been working on these guys on and off for around 15 years now, and have never been quite happy with them. Unfortunately, a few years ago, I lost all the files I had on them and a significant amount of notes and scraps I had written in an attemp to flesh them out beyond the constraints of an Index Astartes article. Never the less, with the return of the LASC, this seems as good a time as any time to look to redevelop them. The below is very much a WIP, being a mixture of information I have found trawling through the B&C and my memories of the ideas I had for them. As always, I appreciate and comments and input people may have! +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Origins At the turn of the 38th Millennium the armies of the Imperium were stretched thin, having been sorely tested over the recent centuries. Not only were armies of Xenos rampaging across the galaxy like a plague, the Imperium had been forced to counter two of the Warmaster’s Black Crusades in as many centuries. It was against this backdrop of war and desperation that the High Lords of Terra declared the 23rd Founding of Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes, the Emperor’s Angels of Death. In years to come, it would become known as the ‘Sentinel Founding,’ intended to bring swift relief to the beleaguered defenders of the Imperium. From this period, many records have been lost, destroyed, or encrypted beyond the eyes of humble scholars. However, should one of sufficient mental fortitude listen to the whispered half-truths and sift through the mountains of corrupted data files, one can begin to piece together the histories of the Chapters born of this Founding. One such Chapter, and the subject of this record, is the Lions Eternal Chapter; like many of their kind, born of the blood of Roboute Guilliman himself. Upon the High Lord’s declaration of a new founding, there was much celebration and fanfare across Holy Terra. On Mars, the great genevaults were opened to being cultivating the required geneseed for such a mighty undertaking. Of the children of Guilliman, the genestocks of the Eagle Warriors were chosen to birth the fledging Chapter. Each of these new brotherhoods, birthed as part of this Founding, were intended to be a light, a beacon of hope, to the beleaguered forces of the Imperium. They were to be unyielding in their duty, their faith unbreakable, and honour without question. As such, only the most devout of warriors were chosen to command these new Chapters. In this instance, this weighty of honours fell to Brother-Captain Helikaon, the Lion of Guilliman, and veteran of many centuries of service. Helikaon wasted no time instructing the new Chapter in the discharge of their duties, and it was not long before they were reaping a tally of blood from the Imperium’s enemies. [...] Homeworld The homeworld of the Lions Eternal is a frozen death world located close to the area of space known as the Gates of Varl, in the Segmentum Ultima, known as Ursrik. Due to its proximity to several Ork held worlds, the Chapter is often involved in the quick extermination of up-and-coming Waaagh! There have been several black moments in history when the Xenos have desecrated the blessed surface of the planet. Ursrik is the last remaining planet in the system, a single satellite of a dying star. Ursrik was once the youngest of three planets, each of them was teeming with indigenous life forms, until the arrival of the Imperium. During the Great Crusade, the mighty legion of Russ came across the system; the first and second planets were bombed from existence due to the large presence of Orks. Their debris still haunts the system, a real reminder of the zealous nature of the Imperium; perhaps it is fitting then that a chapter such as the Lions inhabits the surviving world. Over time as the system’s nameless sun began to die, and Ursrik died with it. In a short time Ursrik became the world it is today. The planet itself is covered in thick sheets of ice, beneath which freezing oceans rage. Great mountains break the ever-present stormy cloud line, below which deadly snowstorms rage – to the point that the planet’s surface rarely sees large amounts of light. However, during a time known as the Tempering, in which high-intensity solar flares emitted from the dying sun cause areas of the planet to thaw out allowing the wrathful seas to break through, flooding vast areas of land. Alongside which hurricanes and typhoons and tsunamis of freezing water ravage the landscape, before finally freezing back over and allowing the land to recover. In which times it could be believed that the planet is trying to exterminate the last vestiges of life, allowing it to die in the solitude of space. The fact that life even exists under such conditions is a miracle and more, each life form either adapts or dies. The human population is both resilient and unrelentingly stubborn, refusing to be defeated by their death dealing home. The Ursrikean people are grouped in large clans of warrior peoples, each member of their society is taught to fight from birth. It is a skill that often comes in handy, not only are the Ursrikeans force to combat the vicious nature of the planet; they often instigate wars and battles with other clans over food and safe shelter. Due to the unstable nature of the land, there are few safe areas where permanent structures can be built; those that can are sites of some of the planet’s bloodiest battles – places where whole clans have been obliterated. However, the numbers of war dead pales in comparison to the umbers slain by the planet’s indigenous predators: Giant ice-burrowing worms armed with barbed tails and jaw upon jaw of razor sharp teeth; a man-eating plant-form, visually akin to a large mass of kelp, that is known to break through sheets of ice and drag its prey down into the frozen deeps of the ocean; and most deadly of all the Moros, in the tongue of the people, death in Imperial Gothic. It is a beast rivalling a tank in size, clawed hands and daggers for teeth – or at least the legends say. To see one of the Moros is to die, only the gene enhanced Space Marines can consider themselves a threat to the creature and even they have been known to die at the beast’s claws. And yet, despite this, the Ursrikeans have managed to build a way of a life, a culture, one which has existed for millennia. Despite their barbaric environment, the planet’s people are anything but. The leaders of the clans, or the ataman, are voted into power by their peers, such a system results in leaders that are respected and obeyed without hesitation. These Ataman are the ones who declare and command wars, leading from the front as is their way; their power over their clansmen is absolute, thus only the greatest and wisest are gifted with the rank. As might be expected, the Lions Eternal are reluctant to change the fortunes of their people, believing that such conditions rear excellent recruits for the chapter. Once every year, mere weeks after the Tempering the chapter calls on the clans to send their best youths to the Charon Peak, a great mound of ice and stone atop which the recruits fight to earn their place in the Chapter. Those that make it to this place have already passed an almighty test – they have defeated Ursrik itself. To get to the Peak, they must make their way across the across the frozen landscape, evading or neutralising each and every threat that comes their way. Beliefs Over the millenia since the Lions Eternal occupied Ursrik for their own, they have adapted the shamanistic nature of the Ursrikean belief system for their own. Whether this was a conscious decision or not is surely only speculative at this point. But it is likely that the beliefs of their homeworld quietly crept in over the centuries, until they formed a core part of the Chapter’s cult. In summary, the doctrine of the Lions Eternal Chapter can be defined as three core concepts: Name, Body & Spirit; each shaping the Chapter’s outlook in a unique way. The most critical of these concepts is Spirit. In essence, like many cultures across the Imperium, the Lions Eternal believe that each being – Human, Xenos or non-sentient creatures – have a spirit which can interact with those around it and the nature of which is defined by the actions of said being. When a warrior dies, it is only their spirit and name that remain. The former, goes on to join the Emperor, should their service be worthy, whilst their name is honoured by their brethren. This is why the Chapter places such importance to a warrior’s name, as this name gives power to their deeds and in doing so, helps define the character of their spirit. The more pious of the Chapter’s brotherhood have been known to make offerings or placations to the Spirits of the Ancestors, to gain insight or some future wisdom. It is this concept which gives the Lions’ Librarians greater status than might be found in a more typical Chapter, as it is believed their psychic natures grant them access to the Spirit world. It is from here, that the Ancestors guide the Chapter in its actions. In an effort to harness the strength and wisdom of the Ancestor’s spirits, the Chapter has developed the process of a naming ritual. Upon their induction to the Chapter, as a fully fledged Battle Brother, a warrior is granted a new ancestral name – usually one of a warrior of great renown in the Chapter’s annuls. To be clear, this name does not replace the warrior’s birth name. To do so, would disregard the actions of their spirits so far. It becomes a part of that warrior’s name, and in doing connects them to the Chapter’s history and animus. This ritual has been forced to develop in recent years, since the coming of the Primaris Marines. For those Firstborn Astartes who successfully cross the Rubicon, an additional name is granted - to mark this new era in the warriors' life. ++++++++++ Notes: Homeworld Needs a re-write, but the principles will not change. More emphasis on the nomadic (hunter-gather) nature of the clans Organisation Codex, have updated to include more Primaris as per Guilliman’s command. 1st Company known as the Lion Guard, rite of passage is to hunt and kill a single Moros. Many brothers attempt but are killed by their prey. Due to the Shamanic nature of their beliefs, Librarians have a more advisory role to the Company commanders. Unlike other chapters, Librarians are assigned permanently to a Company. An ‘Council of Elders’ type of group advises the Chapter Master. Senior Librarians & Chaplains. Rarely do Reserve Companies fight as one. They are often on long secondments to Battle Companies. They themselves on long Patrol arcs – parallels with Nomadic Ursrikean Clans. Combat Doctrine Codex, adaptability is prized above all.Beliefs Idea of Trinity: Body, Spirit and Name Shamanistic – Spirit of all things Emperor’s Eternal spirt manifest in physical nature, E.g Beacon of the Astronomican However he is not a god. How do Primaris view these beliefs? Conflict with Guilliman’s more secular ideas. Geneseed Eagle Warriors descent. No known issues.
  16. File Name: Index Astartes - Supplementum Exorcists File Submitter: MECHFACE File Submitted: 28 Feb 2021 File Category: Warhammer 40,000 Many thanks to the many helpful feedback and comments on the version 1 files I posted earlier this month. Linked below are the the Version 2 files of my fan-made Exorcists Chapter Index Astartes Supplement. I'd particularly like to thank al those who've shown their great support, especially those who play-tested the rules and of course to Brother Tyler, the true Chapter Master of the Exorcists. I guess we wait with baited breath for the upcoming White Dwarf Index: Exorcists release to see what Games-Workshop come up with as being official content for this awesome chapter. Click here to download this file Please share any feedback or comments you have, each edit really helps with brining the Chapter alive - and I realise that the small caps edits I've done haven't displayed on the PDFs so sorry about that! I'm going to start working on my 9e Inquisition Fandex and Supplementum Red Hunters next so thoughts on those would be appreciated as well.
  17. Outline/skeleton (note that most of the content below has been randomly generated using the Deathwatch RPG Chapter Creation tool): Battle-Brother Kolos Novosad, 6th Company (Reserve) History: 26th Founding (M41); Created to join the Adeptus Praeses around the Eye of Terror; Sent to stand in for the destroyed Black Consuls; Figure of Legend: Chapter Master (stalwart enemy of the servants of Chaos, slew a Daemon Prince); Home World: Home world: Feral ice planet; Maintain distant rule, preferring to keep their stock as "pure" as possible; Gene-seed: Ultramarines gene-stock, but inexplicably altered; Scions of Mars (close to the AdMech, affinity with tech) -> perhaps the AdMech are keeping a close eye on their genetic test-subjects, in case something goes wrong? Lost zygote: Oolitic kidney -> all Marines are less resistant to toxins, but lack of the oolitic kidney can also lead to implant malfunction/rejection and organ failure; Organisation: Followers of the Codex Astartes; Favour close combat, relentless; Quick reaction is the hallmark of this Chapter; Nominal Chapter strength; Combat Doctrine: Favour strength and cunning; Chapter Friends: Imperial Guard raised from a specific world; Chapter Enemies: Eldar Corsairs (specific group); Beliefs: Revere the Emperor above all;Battle-cry: "Forward, for the glory of the Emperor!"Name, Heraldry, & Livery: Chapter name adjectives: Sable, Fiery, Omega, Brothers, Millennial, Mailed, White, Bloody, War, Imperial; Chapter name nouns: Marauders, Brothers, Sons, name of its Chapter's home world, Hunters; Heraldry: raven, chalice, talon, clenched fist, sword; Livery: orange & dark pink.
  18. Chapter Datafile: Graven Souls Graven Soul Date:...............57.M42 Ref:................LBC//TEC7710101 By:.................TechCaptain Re:.................Adeptus Astartes - Graven Soul Thought:............"." CHAPTER NAME: .............. Graven Soul FOUNDING: ..................13TH CHAPTER WORLD: .............Odokuro FORTRESS MONASTERY: ........Iron Palace GENE-SEED (PREDECESSOR): ...Unknown (White Scars Suspected) KNOWN DESCENDANTS: ........."NONE" Primary Data Allegiance: Imperium of Man (Fedelitas Constantus) Chapter Master: Lord Gravemind Size Estimate: Estimated at 1,000 Specialty: Shock Assault, High-Mobility Warfare, Extensive Use of Bikes, Guerrilla Warfare, Hit-and Run, Terror Tactics Battle Cry: "Gespenst Jäger" Colours:Dark Spectral Green The Graven Soul are bellicose Space Marine Chapter whose terror tactics has earned these notorious [Astartes a fell reputation across the width and breadth of the Imperium. They were created during the mysterious 13th Founding, the so-called 'Dark Founding', due to the scarcity of any information on this particular Founding or how many Chapters were created at that time. To add to this Chapter's mystery, it is unknown from which genetic lineage they are descended from though they claim to be from the White Scars. Of all the Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes, none exemplifies the virtues of strict self-control more than the Graven Soul. The Graven Soul Chapter culture is one that is very wary of the idea of martial glory or honour, and prefers instead to emphasise pragmatism, adaptability and completion of the mission over all other concerns. They understand that war is suffering and death. It is a brutal business that they specialize in, but they have no desire to wallow in its misery beyond what is required to carry out the Emperor's will. Its success is dependent upon its ability to think and execute in a distributed and independent fashion. The Graven Soul willingly employ whatever tactics they believe most appropriate no matter how it looks to others, relying upon success to establish their Chapter's glory rather than misguided notions of honour and dogmatic thought. Chapter History The history of the Graven Soul is a tainted and dark one. Created some time during the 35th or 36th Millennium, the Graven Soul has acted as a shadow force to many an Imperial vengeance campaign. The Imperium moves to act with decisive force as the foul taint of the xenos is found to be at the root cause of corrupted planets either by addiction to the aliens' foul psychotropics and depraved practices, or sometimes when the corruption is found in other means or cause. The Graven Soul follows Imperial strike forces and Crusades to wage wars of retribution and terror until the corrupted planets are brought back into line. Often, these campaigns required a show of force to subjugate planetary rulers and dynasties that had been used to governing their worlds for Terran centuries and even millennia. Even more often, Imperial Compliance had to be obtained by force of arms. In these great wars, tyrants were cast down and witches burned, planets purged of the foul taint of mutants, xenos and Warp-beasts such that eventually these campaigns of planetary conquest became known as Imperial Compliance campaigns or, more simply, rendering a world "Compliant." Chapter Homeworld Odokuro is completely urbanized and stacked with hundreds of layers of arcologies, covering the entirety of the planet, effectively becoming an ecumenopolis. Nearly everything within Odokuro is recycled and reused, and few things are ever wasted. The air a hive worlder breathes, the water he drinks, and the food he eats likely all has once passed through the bodies of countless others, endlessly restored to be consumed once again. When a hive worlder dies his duty to the hive and house are not done, and most hives reconstitute their dead for the resources they can provide. Corrupt and murderous gangs, whether or not they were named as such, ruled every part of Odokuro. From the heights of nobility to the lowest alley, every inch of Odokuro was someone's domain, someone's territory or hunting ground. In the slum habitation stacks, the gangs ruled by raw fear, killing and torturing as they pleased, fighting wars with the feral packs of outcasts who were closer to animals than men. It was said that many of these gangs ate the dead, treating their territories as a predator might a hunting ground. In the mines and factories which still turned the planet's wheels of industry, the gangs went by names that echoes with a false authority. Slab muscled and furnace-scarred, they walked the streets clanking with weaponry and reeking of murder, enforcing order that was little more than slavery. In the wealthier areas, the sons and daughters of the corrupt nobility gathered in packs, clad in costumes like strutting peacocks, as quick to kill with blade or gun as they were to cast an insult. No matter what their station, almost all gangs owed fealty to one of the numberless barons, counts and lords, who in turn served still more powerful men and women, many of whom styled themselves with courtly titles that echoes a long forgotten nobility. There was no law in these lightless lands, and survival existed only by a blade's edge. Only the strongest and the most ruthless survived in the subterranean warrens, and those who did grew in cruelty and cunning. The dark owned Odokuro, body and soul, and its existence was a horror to equal any xenos enslavement or nightmare of the Dark Age of Technology. If there ever had been true laws, they had vanished long ago, eaten by the greed of a few and the desperation of many. Murder was the currency of life, and strength came from violence. Every sin great and small had its home in Odokuro's endless terror filled streets. Fortress-Monastery Known as the Iron Palace, one can only get to it through the Demon's Cavern which is guarded by four "Ogres". Every entrance is sealed with heavy adamantium gates, barred by ancient and complex locks, keyed to the unique genetic code of the Graven Soul's battle-brothers. The monastery also incorporates shimmering void shields, domes of power enveloping the entire structure to ward off orbital bombardments or assaults from Titans. Covering every entrance and approach, macro-cannon turrets, heavy bolter bunkers and missile batteries scan the horizon for foes, ready to unleash their deadly ordnance at a second's notice. Notable Campaigns Wars of Apostasy (Unknown.M36) - The Graven Soul added their bother chapters by committing to a sequence of battles and wars to draw the insane High Lord Goge Vandire's forces focus to more targets thinning the amount of resources he had available. Plague of Unbelief (Unknown.M36) - Graven Soul sent out several families tracking down and eliminating the many false prophets that appeared throughout the anarchic Age of Apostasy, some little more than madmen leading rebel armies, others spiritual demagogues who commanded worlds and armies. Lost Crusade (Unknown.M37) - Graven Soul parties sent out to numerous worlds to track down and eliminate hostile elements of the menial uprisings. Many parties deploy and mostly come back with reports that uprisings were widespread. 9th Black Crusade Splinter (574.M38) - Graven Soul engage in a decades long war against various elements of far reaching fleets from the Eye of Terror. Terror of Heretical Thoughts (Unknown.M42) - The detachment of Agents who’d just survived their civil war barely had time to rest and process what had just happened, when they were called to battle yet again. In order to atone for their role in the Avalon Sector’s rebellion, the Agents were once again tasked by the Inquisition with bringing a secessionist world to heel. At this point, this force of Agents had snapped. To them, their secessionist comrades were right the entire time. Upon landing onto the planet of Amersh, the Agents who were deployed went rogue, supporting the rebellious governor in the process. The Inquisitorial forces who deployed with the Agents were quickly slaughtered. The Agents on the ground tried and failed to contact the Emperor’s Liberators chapter, for they were busy elsewhere. The only other force in the galaxy supposedly sympathetic to the values of freedom and independence were the Blood Gorgons, a renegade chapter. They were happy to reinforce Amersh, but for an agenda they never informed the Agents of. Luckily for the Agents, the Blood Gorgons arrived just in time, as Inquisitorial forces arrived alongside the brutal Graven Souls chapter. The Graven Souls led cunning assassinations against the rebel leadership, and ambushed any Blood Gorgons they encountered. The rogue Agents fought hard to protect the rebel strongholds, but they were overmatched. Most evacuation attempts were shut down by the Imperial blockade. Only a few dozen Blood Gorgons and a thousand rogue Agents of Liberty escaped. The rest were wiped out. Chapter Organisation The Graven Soul are semi-Codex compliant Chapter that utilises their own unique form of organisation, ranks and formations. The Chapter often refer to their companies as "families", each of which is slightly smaller than what the [[:w:c:warhammer40k:Codex Astartes|''Codex Astartes'']] dictates. Each family maintains a large stock of vehicles, in particular transports and bikes, and every Battle-Brother is cross-trained in the operation of them all. The Chapter Master is the overall leader of the Graven Soul, and directly beneath him are his Chief Adviser and Headquarters Chief. The chain of command is followed by the Captains of the Families, who governs their Family with the help of a Lieutenant who is himself responsible for the equivalent of a demi-company. The Squads themselves are governed by their Sergeant. Each member's connection is ranked by the hierarchy of Sake sharing. Captains are at the top, and control various Senior Advisers. The Senior Advisers control their own campaigns. They have their own underlings, including other brothers, advisers, and support personnel. Like their fellow Astartes Chapters, the Graven Soul also maintain a Librarius of potent psykers who are highly talented and trained to master the power of the Warp at the highest levels, though they refer to these warriors as "Doomseers". Doomseers act as advisers to the Chapter's leaders as well as being powerful psykers. Doomseers are able to command the very elements; their foes are battered to ruin by mighty winds or beset by forked lightning from the storm-wracked skies. Graven Soul Captains are fiercely independent, and it is incredibly rare for the Chapter to fight as a whole. Individual families are completely autonomous and are quick to lend their aid to Imperial commanders across the galaxy, with or without the sanction of their Chapter Master. Such behaviour has led some in the other Space Marine Chapters to question the Graven Soul's soundness as a military force, but most recognize that such fluidity of command only proves the presence of the Chapter's formidable discipline, not its absence. ===Officer Ranks=== Chapter Master Lord - Captain equivalent. Lieutenant ===Specialist Ranks=== Chief Adviser - Chief Librarian equivalent. Doomseers - Librarians, These psyker-warriors have deeply-ingrained mystical traditions identical to those of the gangs shamans and holy men. The Graven Flame Seers are believed to see the darkest path of all possible futures leading their brothers down dark paths and to find ways around the dark ends. Headquarters Chief ===Line Ranks=== Veteran Sergeant Sergeant Battle-Brother Scout Marine Neophytes ===Squad Formations=== Fu (風) - "Move as swift as the Wind" (Close Support Squads) Rin (林) - "Stay as silent as a Forest" (Scout Squads) Ka (火) - "Attack as fierce as Fire" (Battleline Squads) Zan (山) - "Be immovable like a mountain" (Fire Support Squads) Kaze (風) - "Wind" (Pilots) Chapter Recruitment The Graven Soul draw their recruits from best warriors amongst the Notorious Clan-gangs of Odokuro, many of whom are engaged in fierce internecine blood feuds that date back countless generations. While psycho-conditioning during the gene-seed implantation process could be used to wipe such feuds from the Neophyte's mind, to do so would risk diluting much of what makes him a desirable candidate in the first place. In order to overcome the feuding, the Graven Soul ensure that Battle-Brothers from the same gang serve in different squads, making each unit a product of many different gangs. Intermingled in such a manner, old feuds become largely irrelevant, and without squad mates from the same gangs to reinforce an ancient grudge, such matters are quickly forgotten. Chapter Beliefs Callous and brutal though they are, the Graven Soul are not without pride, and the trappings and titles of aristocracy and dominion formed a key part of their identity, and rivalry, often violent. The gang traditions of Odokuro were carried over to every aspect of their Chapter. There were few amongst their ranks who did not bear some form of title, and the craftsmanship with which they embellished their weapons and armour was remarkable. Every Member of the Graven Soul traditionally take a blood oath of allegiance, and a member who breaks the code must show penance—historically through a ritual in which they cut off his own little finger with a sword and presents it to his leader. The cutting off of one's finger, is a form of penance or apology. Upon a first offense, the transgressor must cut off the tip of his left little finger and give the severed portion to his sergeant. Sometimes an sergeant may do this in penance to the leader if he wants to spare a member of his own squad from further retaliation. So strong is their discipline and loyalty to their leader that his word of judgement is invariably final. The nature of that judgement depends on circumstances, and may result in one or both brethren being punished in some way or, in the most extreme of cases, ordered to fight one another in ritual combat to settle the matter once and for all. Despite the teachings of the leaders and Doomseers regarding the unity of all Graven Soul, it is not unheard of for existing gang feuds to flare up between fellow squad members. The Astartes of the Graven Soul get tattoos are "hand-poked", that is, the ink is inserted beneath the skin using non-electrical, hand-made and handheld tools with needles of sharpened bamboo or steel to show their allegiance with their various squads and companies. Through these tattoos one can trace the lineage of a particular marine and how they were train and more importantly who their loyalties are too. Permanent resin-based dyes have been added to prominent figures, producing hybrid scars and tattoo forms. Vivid results have been noted, yet their chemical composition is not yet fully understood by Imperial savants. The leader-subordinate relationship is formalized by ceremonial sharing of sake from a single cup. This ritual is not exclusive to the Graven Flame but is a part of sworn brotherhood relationships the Graven Soul Astartes form. The Chapter believes that as long as the spiritual powers of ancestors and spirits of the elements heed the call of the Doomseers, the Graven Soul will never falter on the field of battle. All Graven Soul bear the long, ritual scar that is called an Honour Scar and is the mark they receive when they are fully accepted into the Chapter as Neophytes. Graven Soul members are also very superstitious, every Astartes has the ability to see omens and portents but only the Doomseers are able to correctly guide their brothers down the paths the omens foretell. According to Graven Soul Doomseers, spirit-like entities reside in all things. Such spirits possessed emotions and personalities. If the spirit were peaceful it will bring good fortune—such as bountiful harvests. Violent spirits bring ill fortune—including illness and natural disasters. One's ancestors and particularly-respected departed elders accrue status as protective gods and receiving worship. Animals, objects and natural features or phenomena were also venerated as peaceful or violent spirits depending on the area. The Doomseers either convert the spirits into peaceful spirits for their brothers or command the violent ones against their enemies. The ritual for converting violent spirit into a peaceful spirit is called the Calming. Calming rituals are performed to quell maleficent spirits, prevent misfortune and alleviate fear from events and circumstances that could not otherwise be explained. Peaceful Spirits that failed to achieve deification due to lack of sufficient veneration, or who lost their divinity following attrition of worshipers, became Demons in the service of Chaos. Combat Doctrine The Graven Soul are masters of stealth, able to infiltrate a position quickly and silently. These arts appear to be innate to the Chapter, and are used most often during the games the Graven Soul use to drive their prey into paroxysms of terror. Once they have prepared themselves and found places to launch an assault that meets their standards, the Graven Soul are capable of sudden, shockingly brutal ambushes or unconventional attacks intended to thin the enemy's ranks or simply sow chaos among the foe. Despite their Astartes-enhanced physiology and their cumbersome armour, they are taught to move with silence and invisibility. Each Graven Soul warrior moves silently in his own way, and it is each warrior's understanding of the empty spaces between sounds that allows them to occupy them. One such tactic designed to enhance fear that has been observed to be used by the Graven Soul is when they unleash a fifteen second-long vox-augmented scream that ruptures any unprotected eardrums in the vicinity. Once their victims are hunched over in agony, stunned and deaf, the Graven Soul unleash their wrath. Speed and strategic maneuverability are the cardinal virtues of their campaigns, and flexibility and the ability to adapt to circumstances swiftly are the hallmarks of their finest strategists. They meet brute force with emptiness, flowing around the foe to strike at his weakest points before falling back to strike again. Some see them as unreliable, for they are wont to avoid battle save on ground of their own choosing, but time and time again they have been disregarded and ignored only for their foes and allies alike to find them suddenly present at the heart of the battle, ready to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, always laughing as they kill. The Families strive for the honour of being declared "First" in the attack, competing in every manner to lead the assault. The families keep tally of each battle in which they have been declared "First," for the Battle-Brothers know that their deeds will be recounted for all time and their names never forgotten. To be "First" is such an honour that all gang feuds are forgotten, the bonds of Astartes brotherhood far stronger than those of mortal gangs. Because each of the Chapter's families tended to operate independently, most of the Graven Soul's vehicles are held at the company level, squadrons operating in direct support of the family's squads. The Graven Soul are veterans of countless campaigns of terror and conquest. Each member of the Chapter is highly trained and proficient in the use of terror tactics, psychological warfare, and lightning raids and ambushes intended to leave their opponents completely demoralized and easy targets for the Chapter. The combat doctrines of the Graven Soul Chapter have been honed throughout the millennia of battle and bloodshed, but they still reflect those of the original warrior-gangs of their planet. Though wild and savage, the warrior-gangers of the Odokuro hives are highly intelligent tacticians and masters of field craft. Each Battle-Brother draws on the savagery of the underhives not as a mindless berserker, but as a finely-crafted hunting spear delivered with the focused precision of a master predator. They specialize in hitting their enemy with a peerless impact and frightening speed, but they are never reckless. Time spent on preparations is vital to their strategy, as they reconnoiter each target in depth and formulate detailed plans and contingencies, coordinating their strike to ensure that maximum damage is done. Their modus operandi consists of lightning-fast hit-and-run attacks conducted by highly mobile forces, destroying the enemy piece by piece and never allowing the enemy to force a decisive or static engagement. Striking when possible from the darkness of dusk or dawn, the Graven Soul assault the enemy where they were weakest, rampaging through rear zones in order to sever lines of communication, and resupply and isolate individual concentrations of enemy troops. Often times jump assault troops are kept in reserve and then sent into action against the weakest points of the enemy line. This concept of preying on the vulnerable has led the Graven Soul assault troops to become vicious hunters who can strike anywhere, at any time. The Graven Soul Assault Troops have a tendency to modify their armour to give themselves a more terrifying appearance, mimicking the appearance of a vicious bird of prey or a swooping daemon. Graven Soul decorate their Power Armour with images designed to inspire fear in the enemy, a tactic that proves incredibly effective. Rumours of the impending presence of the Graven Soul would cause a rebel star system to pay all outstanding Imperial tithes, cease all illegal activities and put to death any mutants and suspected Traitors. One and all wear decorated masks of horrid monsters like the Ogre, the wraith, and more. The Graven Soul also uses a high number of Doomseers who actually lead when and where they strike for the greatest psychological effect. They are now known for ruthless execution of high speed targeted attacks for greatest psychological effect. Chapter Gene-Seed It is unknown which Primarch's gene-seed was utilised in the creation of the Graven Soul. Their gene-seed seems relatively untainted, if subject to some long-term degradation. The Graven's gene-seed has obviously suffered some mutations from the original source that was given to them millennia earlier. Though the source of the Graven Soul's own gene-seed remains suppressed, nobody knows exactly which Primarch's gene-seed was utilised in the creation of the Graven Soul, as their gene-seed doesn't contain any specific genetic markers. However, the real legacy of their gene seed might be psychological, as there was a tendency for paranoia and self-destructive behavior displayed by many within the Graven Soul. They thrive in the use of psychological warfare and fear tactics. The Graven Soul Seers are believed to see the darkest path of all possible futures, a terrible curse. Graven Soul Astartes are as intensely loyal as any of the Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes and do not take their duty lightly nor the oaths they take to the Emperor. Regardless, however, they retain a fatalism which can cling to them even in their most triumphant moments. Unlike the stubborn adherence to duty that other Chapters might possess, which would see a Battle-Brother fight on until claimed by death, the Graven Soul have instead a grim determination to do their duty. This is not so much a desire to die as it is an acceptance that death is the only end to the path a Space Marine treads, and everything he does is another step along that path and one closer to his eventual demise. The Graven Soul all can see in absolute darkness, with a clarity that is above and beyond even the ability of normal Space Marine ocular implants and have haunting black-within-black eyes. They also possess an innate "preysight"; the ability to see in the infrared spectrum to detect heat signatures. Finally, a Graven Soul Astartes can all have a gravelly voice that is barely a whisper on the shadows to be heard. Their voice sends chills onto those that hear it that are not of their blood, raising primal fears. It is unknown where the controlled savagery of the Graven Soul came originally from but whatever the cause, there is a ferocity within their hearts and their blood that grants them great power, but which also threatens to consume all that they are and damn them. All Graven Soul are watchful for this necessary yet insidious savagery, and it is only with great discipline, humble introspection and often the watchfulness of their Battle-Brothers that they can hope to master themselves. Primarch's Curse: Nightmare Determination When the Chapter's genetic curse manifests itself in an affected Battle-Brother, it comes on in three stages: Stage 1 - The Shadow of Death: The Battle-Brother starts to see death in everything. He becomes distant and makes little effort to forge alliances with new squad members, knowing they will soon be in the grave. He becomes more dismissive of death and the praising of the dead, seeing little glory in their sacrifice, only the inevitable end to their duty and another corpse to feed the gods of war. This attitude can grate on those around the Battle-Brother and he suffers with his fellowship when dealing with other soldiers or members of the Adeptus Astartes. Sullen and withdrawn, the urge to inflict terror of death upon their victims grows with each passing hour. Stage 2 - The Bad Beneath the Good: The Battle-Brother cannot help but reflect on the worst side of a new development and will endeavour to find the worst aspect of even the most favourable of circumstances. Quite apart from causing friction within his squad, the drawing of focus onto potential problems and unforeseen dangers (regardless of the actual likelihood they will impact on the squad's mission) can cause compromises in command and less than direct tactical judgments. They are cruel, ruthless, and opportunistic, frequently striking at vulnerable targets and toying with their unfortunate victims. Stage 3 - Game Over: Death is inevitable and the Battle-Brother is already a walking corpse just waiting for the moment when an enemy's blade or bullet ends him. Filled with visions of his own demise, the Battle-Brother begins to act recklessly, accepting that it is his time and there is nothing he can do to prevent it coming. This will not only place him in danger but can endanger his entire squad. The Battle-Brother does not contribute to the squad's cohesion as he fails to adequately aid them in battle. In addition, he tends not to gain the benefit of hiding behind cover, as even when behind barricades and walls he exposes himself to fire with little mind to remaining concealed. These Astartes live only for the thrill of inflicting terror upon their unfortunate victims, the overwhelming desire for the infliction of pain and suffering, trying to share their vision of the end. Chapter Fleet The Chapter fleet of the Graven Souls is not particularly large or notable except that it features in general Improved Stealth Systems and Electronic Countermeasures (ECM) that either mask your presence in auspices or alter your coordinates. Further they make extensive use of Boarding pods and Electronic disabling weaponry. Chapter Relics Alt Schmied Jäger: A long Double-bladed Cavalry Power Sword, comprised of two large waved blades joined by a common hilt with an extending holder. Parrying with such a sword may transmit unpleasant vibrations into the attacker's blade. These vibrations caused the blades to slow contact with each other because each wave provided additional friction. The unusual cross section of the blade would inflict wider wounds with a thrust while still keeping the blade light. Nōryoku Ken: Despite attempts at nondestructive analysis of the sword’s composition, including variations of X-ray fluorescence, Magos of the Cult Mechanicus has yet to make any significant progress toward identifying the material in question. As its stands, it is known only that the sword is forged of a non-terrestrial metallic element held in tight suspension by Psionic energy that it itself contained by forces unknown. All accounts, this weapon is a prize for both the warrior and the scholar alike. Deathwatch Service To be chosen by Graven Soul Doomseers to serve in the Deathwatch is a great honour for any Brother, as only the most elite and experienced members of a Graven Soul are ever chosen for this extremely hazardous tour of duty, the specifics of which must be kept secret by Inquisitorial order. Chapter Appearance The 'family' crests are adopted from the Clan-gangs of their homeworld. Every brother of the Graven Souls knows it is important to trace back one's heritage, and does so by honoring them by displaying their crest on their armor. When a Brother Marine becomes a Sergeant, he is allowed to display his "family's" crest on his back banner when in charge of a squad. If a Brother Sergeant becomes a Brother Captain, his crest becomes the company crest and is displayed on the company standard.
  19. I've been toying with a couple of different custom chapter ideas for a while, maybe to collect, maybe to just have in my head. This is the most detailed one I have. I have a couple ideas for color scheme, but unfortunately paints are slow to arrive these days, so I don't have a test model to show off yet. If you want a rough notion, look up the Knight Atropos on FW's site - the slightly dirty, white-and-dark-gunmetal Xana scheme. It would look extremely boring in a color painter, but could look cool in person. So, anyway: "What is known, is conquered." - Cipher Legion Chapter Motto The Cipher Legion Chapter Name … … … … … Cipher Legion Founding … … … … … … … … 19th Chapter Homeworld … … … Agartha Fortress-Monastery … … … The Hidden City Gene-Seed … … … … … … … Iron Hands Specialty … … … … … … … … Information Warfare, Precision Strikes Battle Cry … … … … … … … … "His eyes are upon us!" History of Agartha The planet known as Agartha is only recorded as the Homeworld of the Cipher Legion in classified records, accessible to Inquisitors or particularly nosy generals. Throughout most of the Imperium's bureaucracy, Agartha is listed as a quarantined world - one of many deemed unsuitable for settlement due to some corruption or contamination that need not be explained. Its appearance from orbit is no less foreboding - wracked with near-constant electrical storms, attempting to land on the planet is suicidal. During the ancient days of the Great Crusade, a handful of attempts were made to land on the planet's surface, but all were met with failure. Mechanicum and Astartes transports were struck from the sky, and those few that may have landed safely were cut off and unable to return. The Crusade, unable to waste any more time or resources on such a place, moved on. Over the Millennia, various attempts to penetrate the world were made, but none saw any real success until M35 when a convocation of Electro-priests came to investigate the planet. Many came to regard the place as holy, and after making extensive modifications to their landing craft they were able to enter the atmosphere - though the transit killed the servitor pilots. They landed on an expanse of grey cliffs, locked into perpetual dusk by the dull blue illumination of the highly-charged clouds above. They found Agartha to be inhabited by dozens of clans of techno-tribesmen, each tattooed with what seemed to be artistic interpretations of blueprints or circuit diagrams. Though they had limited infrastructure or manufacturing capacity, each clan had a remarkable mastery of what little technology was left to them. Vast siphon-towers pulled energy from the atmosphere, feeding each clan's devices. Enormous solar lamps replaced the planet's nearly-absent sun for agriculture. Skirmishes were fought with storm-spears and simple arc weaponry. Stranger still were the clans' shamans, who claimed that by communing with the storm, they could cast their spirits across the planet, communicating the shamans of distant tribes. This they claimed, despite showing no signs of psychic ability. Most notable of all, when the Priests arrived, the clansmen bowed. Millennia ago, the Mechanicum and Astartes forces stranded on the planet's surface had not abandoned their mission. Even without any apparent possibility of rescue or contact, they had brought the planet into compliance. The clans had been primitive then, barely surviving on fungi scraped from caverns beneath the surface - the Mechanicum had uplifted them, and the Astartes had taught them strength, all in anticipation that they may one day have the opportunity to serve the Imperium. Though those original forces had long since passed, the clans still remembered. Though their languages were largely incomprehensible to the priests, the words "Emperor" and "Omnissiah" always carried weight. Over the subsequent century, the electro-priests formed a temple on the planet's surface. Integrating their practices with those of the local shamans, they believed the storm itself was alive, a sentient manifestation of the Motive Force. They identified smaller entities - storm spirits, voltageists, mag-sprites - which had spun off of the larger one. They developed techniques for creating corridors through the storms. Safe travel to and from the surface became possible, at least for anyone in the priests' good graces. Some years later, the idea of founding an Astartes Chapter on the world was put forth. Its location placed it in striking distance of several threats, and its inhabitants had been noted as both strong and exceedingly clever. History of the Chapter The Cipher Legion's first Chapter Master was the Iron Hands veteran Marr Golan, a highly respected member of Clan Kaargul and heir-apparent to that clan's captaincy. It was at the insistence of the Chapter Master that the illusion of quarantine was maintained - he had grand plans for his new chapter, and wished to ensure that none would meddle in them. Even as the Chapter's fortress-monastery was still under construction, Golan founded a city around its base. He siphoned ten percent of each clan's population - their best and brightest - to populate the new city, where every clan's disparate technological knowledge was synthesized and combined with that of the various tech-priests invited the world. Remarkably, they were even able to recover some ancient equipment from the original landings, though an enormous amount of work was needed to restore any of it to working order. Finally, Golan approached the Electro-priests. They yielded the secret of the corridors, so that the chapter would be able to control transit to and from Agartha's surface. Beyond that, however, they convinced him to stand before the Motive Force to seek its approval and validation. This, more than anything, would earn the reverence and acceptance of Agartha's people. With some reluctance, he allowed a network of electoos to be implanted beneath his skin, that he might better channel the storm's power. And then he climbed the tallest siphon-tower on Agartha, immersing himself in the storm. On that tower, Marr Golan experienced what he later described as a single moment of "total understanding." His senses became unbound from his body and enveloped the entire planet - he could see every Agarthan, hear their heartbeats, and understood how each was connected to the others. He saw the chapter's future - not by peering through time, but simply by having enough information and intellect to project the likely course. The whole world was his for these few seconds before his body and mind could no longer bear the stress and he fell unconscious. This single experience changed him, and would define the chapter forever after. In the aftermath, the Chapter Master became more intense, more analytical. Desperate to recapture the expanded cognition granted by the storm, he requested and received numerous neural augments from his Mechanicus allies. The chapter's early engagements were characterized by extremely complex plans formed after long periods of scouting and analysis. While these often led to success, they frustrated many of the new chapter's appointed observers, who consistently pushed for bolder action. When asked to explain himself after a battle, Marr Golan would begin by outlining a vast mathematical matrix reflecting the forces involved as well as any number of other relevant factors. While some in the Adeptus Mechanicus regarded him as a genius, most other observers simply found him incomprehensible and irritating. He adopted the practice of having translators explain his plans to these outsiders, which only widened the rift. Marr Golan's techniques for tactical analysis, while extremely complex, were not impossible to teach to others. The chapter's first captains were selected largely on the basis of their ability to grasp, employ and expand upon them. They spread downwards throughout the chapter, to the point where initiates were expected to spend at least as much time on mental exercises as physical training. Warfare The chapter's way of war is based on the acquisition and exploitation of information - every target is exhaustively scouted, analyzed and tested. Extensive simulations are run to calculate every conceivable outcome, and the history of similar engagements is reviewed and applied. No battle is fought in reality without having first been fought a dozen times in theory, and only then if those theories suggested victory. This deliberate approach has, at times, attracted the ire of the chapter's peers: those Astartes born to more boisterous chapters will often come to regard the Cipher Legion as slow, overly cautious, or even cowardly. Indeed, while their approach has produced some shocking victories from scenarios that appeared unwinnable to less careful observers, it is undeniably true that it has occasionally cost them battles that might have been won had they acted more immediately. They have worked to adapt over time, to cover this weakness with new methods and tactics, but at the core they remain staunch defenders of their process. Organization To outsiders, the Cipher Legion may not appear to have any organization at all. Their internal structure is largely obscured to outsiders due to their apparent contempt for consistent, serialized iconography. Though they do indeed have ten companies with relatively consistent roles, individual marines are not at all clearly marked, and members of the same squad may not appear to have much heraldry in common at all. The one consistent piece of Heraldry is the chapter's symbol, the veiled skull. It represents several things: the consequences of blindness, the transcendent sight of martyrs, and the sacrifice of the electro-priests who are the chapter's spiritual guides. The first company is the chapter's most keenly honed blade, its veterans and elites. Their performance on the battlefield is proven and reliable, resulting in a kind of mathematical certainty that the chapter regards as almost holy. The subsequent chapters are arranged in much the usual fashion, concluding in the tenth, composed of recruits and vanguard forces. Like many chapters in the wake the Indomitus Crusade, the Cipher Legion has adopted a permanent standing force of Vanguard marines, which it rapidly deploys to new battlefields to gather information and account for scenarios where inaction may cost the chapter dearly. Somewhat unique is the role of the Company Champion. While in most chapters a Captain is expected to be a perfect balance of tactical acumen, leadership ability and combat prowess, the Cipher Legion heavily favors the first of these. The Company Champion therefore acts as a sort of counterweight, compensating for the captain's shortfalls wherever they may be. The chain of command recognizes this relationship, and champions occupy an official position equivalent to a senior lieutenant. Beliefs and Culture The Chapter Cult of the Cipher Legion recognizes the Emperor-as-Omnissiah, and frames him as a kind of panopticon: his power comes from his universal sight, seeing and knowing everything throughout the galaxy. This is reflected in their most common battle cry, "His eyes are upon you!" The first chapter master, Marr Golan, is revered as a kind of demi-primarch for his role in establishing the chapter's ethos. The chapter's actual primarch, Ferrus Manus, is a subject of study and respect, but little reverence. Agartha's living storm is also a subject of intense reverence, as a source of power and revelation. Many of the chapter's chaplains hold a dual role as a kind of storm-priest, communing with Agartha's patron spirit alongside the world's resident Electro-priests and experiencing lesser versions of Marr Golan's transcendent vision. While the Ciphers rarely leave the Hidden City, they do mingle freely with its human inhabitants, always interested in whatever projects they might be working towards. Marr Golan's vision of the Hidden City was that it would become a place from which all of humanity could potentially start to rebuild if all else were lost, and to that end the accumulation of knowledge and technology is an ongoing mission. The chapter's analytical approach to war is reflected into their general culture on every level - puzzles, riddles and mysteries are celebrated art forms, as are competitive games of strategy.
  20. INDEX ASTARTES: DESERT EAGLES SONS OF GUILLIMAN Renowned for their adaptive warfare and righteous fury, few can resist the overwhelming onslaught of the Desert Eagles in their stride. Serving the Imperium since the earliest conflicts of the Great Crusade has earned the chapter numerous honours, as well as bitter enemies from the ranks of those who fled their advance. The Desert Eagles are proud descendants of Guilliman and honour his name with a storied list of campaigns won over his enemies. In contrast to the measured tactics of their progenitor the Desert Eagles utilise highly responsive advances, shifting entire frontiers of battle to exploit opportunities. This characteristic descends from the forging of the Chapter during the vicious battles against the Word Bearers of Lorgar in the Horus Heresy, when a Chapter of their Ultramarine forebearers were left isolated and betrayed on the deserts of Calth. The resourcefulness of the Astartes in reclaiming critical supplies and positions and their unrelenting nature during those crucial hours earned them the nickname ‘Carrion Eagles’ during the siege by local forces. The brown-and-crimson armour of the Desert Eagles now reflects the desert that defined them over mere hours, as well as the commemorating the lives lost in those cursed sands. Desert Eagles patrol unleashes death upon a Chaos Warband Desert Eagles Astartes with Bolter When the Desert Eagles Chapter was brought into being during the Second Founding, Captain Catius Thassor, a renowned commander of the Ultramarines Legion, was chosen to be its first Chapter Master. Thassor's reputation was steeped in legend from the Battle of Calth, where he led what would become the Desert Eagles chapter against Word Bearers forces in desperate survival on the planet's surface. The savagery of the Word Bearers' assault upon the planet's surface was secondary only the conflicts within orbit. Even as Ultramarines forces were shattered at Komesh the fighting in the deserts of Cuneth grew fierce, where the planned betrayal faltered under sandstorms. Thrice Thassor led the united Imperial forces into the sands to reclaim vital communication facilities to allow their evacuation, splintering the ammassed followers of Lorgar under blinding walls of dust and fire. Such conditions proved fatal for many of the allied Imperial Guardsmen within the deserts, however the loyalist forces made frequent use of their littered supplies as the hours of desperate fighting bore continued. Battletanks and artillery positions were scavenged for shells and explosives, and the Ultramarine defence bore on. Communications reached the loyalist positions of the dire state of Calth, and with it news of impending destruction. The Word Bearers' obliteration of the system had destabilised its integrity, and soon the surface would prove fatal for any who remained on its surface. Thassor's forces turned their scavenged ammunition earthbound, and were able to detonate their way into the nearby subterranean networks where they would continue waging the Underworld War against Chaos forces until Ultramarines fleets returned several years later. By the time Thassor was able to return his Chapter to the Ultramarines Legion less than half of those he had led beneath the desert of Cuneth remained, and himself a hero of the Legion. With the completion of the Codex Astartes by Roboute Guilliman at the conclusion of the Horus Heresy, he commanded his sons to divide into 1,000-member Space Marine Chapters so that no single commander could ever control the power of an entire Astartes Legion again. As the Howling Griffons and Genesis Chapter ventured into the galaxy at the dawning of the Second Founding so to did the Desert Eagles, now united in their brown-and-crimson and once again being led into the unknown by Catius Thassor, Chapter Master of the storied survivors of Calth. The Desert Eagles' homeworld is located on the planet Audax, an Imperial Feral World in Segmentum Ultima. The planet consists of a pair of hive cities, both heavily damaged due to solar radiation, as well as the Desert Eagles' Fortress-Monastery Basilica Solitudinem. Audax's population still resides within the ruins of the two cities, as the remaining landscape of sun-scarred rocks and salt flats proves fatal to those who pass through. Life is fierce within the crumbling towers with scarce resources and even scarcer allies, and attempts to unite the cities by those residing fall quickly due to mistrust and infighting. The present-day Chapter utilises a variety of trials to select neophytes from those that remain clinging to the cities of eons past, their skills honed by the trials of living upon Audax. Representatives of the Desert Eagles descend upon each city twice within a normal human's lifetime and take the most skilled aspirants from the population, forcibly if required. Many that fail the trials are returned as servitors, and are tasked with rebuilding for the remnants of their short life-span. Some have noted that the cities may have yet been recovered if not for the recruitment and removal of their most hopeful youth who now litter the alleyways as glistening mechanised corpses. The method of fighting forced upon those of Audax for survival has served the Desert Eagles suitably over the millennia. Their modus operandi consists of fluid and interchanging attacks conducted by highly trained forces, destroying the enemy before any attack can be properly responded to and never allowing the enemy to force a static engagement. The Chapter emphasises the usage of shifting terrain and resources to their advantage, and each unit has a vital role within the overarching structure deployed. As a result, on some occasions that the tide of battle turned against the Desert Eagles the losses were significant, such as in M36 when they were ambushed by Drukhari forces who were able to interrupt communications systems between the Chapter. Although preferring to keep the foe at arms-length, the Desert Eagles are still capable of engaging in bloody close-combat just as readily as at range, and are readily feared by the enemies of the Imperium. Despite their seemingly indecisive nature when employing tactics, the Desert Eagles disdains the notion of recklessly charging against an enemy without sufficient intelligence of the situation or the surrounding landscape which could be used to their advantage. The Desert Eagles are classified as a Codex Astartes-compliant Chapter, and they follow the sacred tome with few variations in terms of organisation. They follow the tactics presented in the Codex, efficiently making use of different standard units, but frequently intermix and alter tactical decisions so that the Chapter cannot be readily countered. The addition of Primaris reinforcements has been received poorly due to their slow uptake of these decisions, a reflection of their Terran upbringing and previous engagements rather than ability. Desert Eagles Shoulder Pad (6th - 10th Company) The Desert Eagles are currently operating at near full-strength and organise their Chapter into 10 companies. In a reflection of the two cities of Audax the Chapter is often divided as two 5 Company forces known as Strikes, with the 1st - 5th Companies' shoulder pads being crimson to denote this whilst the 6th - 10th Companies have brown shoulder pads with a crimson trim. The appointment to Strike Captain is an incredible honour within the Chapter and often precludes appointment to Chapter Master, as a Chapter Master cannot himself lead a Strike as he must focus on the operation of the Chapter as a whole. The Desert Eagles were established in the Second Founding (M31) from a Chapter of Ultramarines that survived the Battle of Calth, and are therefore descended from Roboute Guilliman. They have not experienced any significant issues from their gene-stock and answered Guilliman's call for aid upon his return, though the deviation of their combat doctrine has brought issues when fighting alongside other Astartes forces. PRE-HERESYChapter Master Catius Thassor - Catius Thassor was a former Captain of the Ultramarines Legion during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy, achieving esteem for his service during the Battle of Calth. He became the Desert Eagles' first Chapter Master during the Second Founding and led them to their Homeworld of Audax, establishing the fortress-monastery Basilica Solitudinem upon the planet's weathered surface. POST-HERESY Chapter Master Martellis Riol - Martellis Riol is the current Chapter Master of the Desert Eagles following the death of his predecessor during the early Indomitus Crusade. Riol was formerly the Captain of the 5th Company and inherited Talonstrike, a Master-Crafted spear with attached bolt-pistol that is the pride of the Chapter. He was notoriously besieged by Desert Eagles forces for three days at the peak of one of the few remaining towers on Audax where he had made his lair prior to joining the Chapter, a feat thrice that of any previous aspirant. Utilising the crumbling nature of the ferrocrete building against them he was able to combat the incapacitating weaponry deployed against him in a cruel reflection of the Chapter's tactics. Only the intervention of an apothecary saved him at the conclusion of the siege from dying due to exhaustion, and the legend of his stand spread quickly throughout the Chapter. Strike Captain Adonis Rake - Adonis Rake was a former Captain of the 1st company and Strike Captain in M36, when he led the 1st, 3rd and 4th Companies as a Strike against a significant Drukhari pirate threat. The two forces tactics were each a reflection of the other, however the lightning speed of the forces of Commorragh caught Rake both unaware and unprepared. The ensuing destruction led to the complete obliteration of the Strike, and the loss of experience and resources was a severe hit against the Desert Eagles, who sorely swear vengeance upon those who inflicted their destruction. Ever since the Chapter has favoured younger leaders and highly commemorates exceptional service of an individual, rather than solely years in service. "Fluid/interchanging/responsive tactics" is justification for my terrible choices during actual games of 40k, thought it might reflect nicely in the lore as well. I understand that Calth was an Agri-World prior to the Horus Heresy, and though I haven't read the books covering the Battle of Calth I'm banking on an image of Calth pre-heresy containing what appears to be deserts. If there's any issues I could switch the planet that the desert fighting takes place on, I just imagined that the Battle of Calth would be such a significant and defining moment in the Ultramarines' history that it'd send shockwaves even 10,000 years later in how some chapters function. Full credit for the images goes to two very talented artists on DeviantArt, Kai Lim for the first which was for a series of Soul Drinkers novels, and Algrim-Whitefang for the Astartes image which I combined from a few of their images. I believe the shoulder pad is from the 5th ed. Space Marine Codex? Very easy to find on the various wikis. All were recoloured in Photoshop using Hue/Saturation layers. I chose to use the Raven Guard insignia as transfers are made for them and I didn't want to use a third-party printing service when I already have a significant number of them. The insignia would usually be on a brown or crimson background anyway which should be different enough from the black. If you wish to replicate the banners I've used here I'm more than happy to send the Photoshop file through.
  21. This forum topic and download links below contain all of the rules and additional datasheets that you will need in order to fight battles as the space marines of the RED HUNTERS Chapter. This is intended to serve as an UNOFFICIAL FAN-MADE CODEX SUPPLEMENTUM to compliment those rules and datasheets contained within the 9th Edition WH40K Codex: Space Marines. Where such overlap occurs those parent rules & datasheets will be found in that parent volume instead of being republished here, except in those circumstances where such reproduction is of benefit to the completeness of the Supplementum. In such instances the rules common to those described below are referenced in Codex: Space Marines as well as in any of the unique datasheets presented here. Please see the below forum posts for the Red Hunters Codex Astartes Supplementum text, directly download, or you can access the full codex from the following external platform links provided. Direct Download - Red Hunters Codex Astartes Supplementum PDF Alternate Site - The Campaign Repo Alternate Site - Reddit Homebrew Codices LET THE RED HUNT BEGIN
  22. Chapter Datafile: Steel Harbingers The Steel Harbingers Date:...............57.M42 Ref:................LBC//TEC7710101 By:.................TechCaptain Re:.................Adeptus Astartes - Steel Harbingers Thought:............"." CHAPTER NAME: .............. THE Steel Harbingers FOUNDING: ..................3RD CHAPTER WORLD: .............Xisimali FORTRESS MONASTERY: ........Xisimali GENE-SEED (PREDECESSOR): ...Unknown KNOWN DESCENDANTS: ........."NONE" Primary Data Allegiance: Imperium of Man (Fedelitas Constantus) Chapter Master: Harbinger Deradon Size Estimate: Estimated at 1,000 (Actual number unknown) Specialty: Siege and Armored Warfare Battle Cry: " " Colours: Dark Steel and Dark Cobalt The Steel Harbingers are an ancient and venerable Space Marine Chapter created during the 3rd Founding at the dawning of the 32nd Millennium. This Founding took place following the tragic era of the Age of Darkness during the Horus Heresy, the subsequent Great Scouring and the sundering of the Legiones Astartes into separate Chapters. It is unknown with any certainty from whom this Chapter is descended from, but many of their cultural beliefs and propensity for utilising bionics mirrors that of the the stoic and unforgiving Iron Hands, though these Sons of the Gorgon refuse to acknowledge the Steel Harbingers as one of their own. History The Steel Harbingers protected their small corner of the Galaxy from the ravages of Imperium coming apart at the seams. And their they stayed until a new age had dawned in which they would be accepted as a chapter of Imperium. Fortress Xisimali was garrisoned by Steel Harbingers, the sons of the great Primarch --███████-- and whose expertise in --███████-- was unparalleled. In what is now a largely forgotten episode of the Imperium's history, while many worlds of these far-flung territories were deemed not valuable enough to offer any kind of coordinated resistance or threat -- which at least in the case of the Xisimali would prove to be a gross miscalculation. A fleet of Night Lords and several other bands of traitors who had gathered together fleeing the Scouring of the Loyalists retreated to the far corners of the Galaxy. When they came upon the world of Xisimali which was inhabited by Steel Harbingers they thought they had came to a refuge to rebuild. But instead they found that the Steel Harbingers did not believe the wild and dark Night Lords nor any of the others for they had no --███████-- among them. In response the Night Lords began a campaign of terror and attack on the home of the Steel Harbingers. This began a protracted siege as the garrison defended themselves from the fleet of traitors. It was the Ultramarines, supported by the Cruisers of their Battlefleet, that broke the siege of Xisimali; their arrival came just as the last of the Steel Harbingers were gathering for a final stand. Many Ultramarines and Steel Harbingers died in breaking the siege. The survivors were given opportunity to rebuild and were called upon later after much deliberation they would be watched even though they had proven loyal to the Emperor. Hidden in a Founding The 3rd Founding of the Space Marines occurred during the first year of the 32nd Millennium, 001.M32. The 3rd Founding was brought forth by Rogal Dorn, Primarch of the Imperial Fists Space Marine Chapter, to the High Lords of Terra. This Founding included two Successor Chapters created from the gene-seed of the Imperial Fists and the Ultramarines, respectively -- both highly aggressive Chapters. During this time the Steel Harbingers were slipped in as allegedly Sons of Gorgon though the Chapter themselves never claimed a genetic fore-bearer. Inquisitional Deal Date Unknown Some time after founding the Steel Harbingers were approached by the Ordo Originatus. This Ordo is dedicated to unraveling ten millennia of myths, exaggerations and lies. This is a difficult task, raised to impossibility due to the opposing work of the Ordo Redactus. As a third founding Chapter of repute of having great intelligence and a vast bank of knowledge stored in their Fortress, a deal was struck. For Secrets of the Past the Chapter would have help of the Inquisition against Scrutiny as well as resources the relationship with the Inquisition would provide. Fortress-Monastery The planet of Xisimali is already a frozen fortress but the strongest fortifications are that of the Steel Harbingers. Built during the Great Crusade, the fortress-citadel of the mighty Steel Harbingers, which is known by the same name is vast beyond imagining, a single peak rears up on the horizon, as if the core of the world of Xisimali had been shoved through its mantle into a terrifying, unmatched pinnacle, a conical mountain-mass soaring up into the darkening sky. Its flanks are sheer and snow-clad on jagged shelves of rock, glossy with ancient, undisturbed ice. In every direction, lesser summits crowd the view, and is ringed with high walls as it was built into the heart of a mountain that has steel like ice over reinforced areas, the monastery comprises dozens of ramparts, watchtowers and bastions. Every entrance is sealed with heavy adamantium, barred by ancient and complex locks, often keyed to Steel Harbinger Brethren. The monastery also incorporates shimmering void shields, domes of power enveloping the entire structure to ward off orbital bombardments or assaults from Titans. Covering every entrance and approach, macro-cannon turrets, heavy bolter bunkers and missile batteries scan the horizon for foes, ready to unleash their deadly ordnance at a second's notice. In addition to thick walls and gates, the Steel Harbingers created other kinds of defenses to further discourage assault. These consist of grav-mine nets, vortex-pits, and electro-pylons, each one capable of killing a multitude of enemy squads. Dark shafts cut miles into the mountainside conceal potent defense lasers that are capable of blasting apart even the most heavily armored spacecraft. These huge weapons are as ancient as the Chapter itself, the geothermal reactors that power them testament to the precious technology from the distant past. The colossal gates of Adamantium, granite and Ceramite bristles with linked Bolter turrets, rocket-launchers and static Plasma Cannons. The Twin Plasma Obliterators that sit on either side of the main gates are the ultimate expression of plasma weaponry, an apocalyptically powerful weapon capable of unleashing the wrath of a sun's heart onto the battlefield. This cannon is so large that it requires a bastion-sized weapons platform just to hold it. The firepower collected there is vast, the kind of arsenal more suited to an Imperial Navy Battle Group than a land-bound citadel including a single neutron energy beam emitted by a Neutron Laser Projector's ray collimator is capable of rupturing enemy armour on a molecular level, often resulting in the target vehicle being vaporized in a massive explosion. Only the most heavily armoured super-heavy tanks and Titan-scale vehicles can hope to survive the forces unleashed by this weapon. Even if the target is not destroyed outright by the initial beam, the neutron energy of the attack will overwhelm and disable the target vehicle's electronics and systems temporarily with a storm of electromagnetic radiation. Across the entire structure stretches the citadel's Void Shields, glistening faintly as the oblique sunlight slants through clouds of burning engine oil. Far up near the very peak of Xisimali are located the Docking Platforms where the Chapter's many aircraft can take off and land. Reaching just beyond Xisimali's atmosphere, Xisimali's docking platforms can even service the Chapter's warships. Xisimali is vast beyond comprehension and a huge network of tunnels, shafts and chambers riddled the highest levels of the peak. Entire levels of the fortress-monastery is given over to the forging of weapons and the maintenance of the Chapter’s war machines. This is the domain of the Sculptors. As secretive as their Adeptus Mechanicus brothers, they work their rituals and prayers behind sealed doors, coaxing machine spirits to life or constructing new ordnance for their battle-brothers. This is especially true of weapons unique to the Steel Harbingers, such as relic blades, specialized bolter rounds and ancient suits of armor. These weapons are created and maintained in the forges of the fortress-monastery, the Sculptors and servitor workers casting gun casings, chain blades and ceramite plates. To house the war materiel of the Chapter huge shielded silos are built into its central recesses. Protected from attack by metres of adamantium, ferrocrete, null shields to dampen energy weapons and reactive blast doors, they are always piled high with crates of shells, rounds and missiles. Racks of boltguns, meltaguns, and heavier weapons line the walls, each one wrapped in the purity seals of the Master of the Forge, attesting to its blessed craftsmanship. Connecting these silos to the rest of the fortress, a network of shell-hoists and ammo-conveyors ring the central chambers. Legless, sightless servitors hang suspended over the moving platforms and belts, their wizened fingers sorting rounds and shells by size and shape. Thus, from ammo-shrines throughout the monastery, a battle-brother can reload his boltgun or summon a weapon with which to fight any would-be invader. Hundreds of metres down, in the huge cavern spanned by the bridge, is a vision of Hel. Gigantic, hulking furnaces, each the height of a Warlord-class Titan and twice as wide, throw off clouds of blood-red light. Channels of heat-blackened stone carry rivers of fire from one inferno to the next, passing through wheels of iron and plunging pistons. The silhouettes of Servitor-Thralls, their wire-studded spines curled over from hunching, creep between the colossal machinery, checking flickering pict-readouts and tending brass-lined banks of Cogitators. The vast space hums with a low, rumbling activity. Along clattering conveyor belts amid the forges are the embryonic shells of vehicle plating, artillery barrels, even body armour parts. And then there are the hammers. They are borne by rows of muscle-enhanced, metal-ribbed, faceless Servitors chained to their Adamantium anvils by segmented nerve-conduits, endlessly working. There are ranks upon ranks of them, more machine than human, molded into mindless golems by the uncaring arts of the flesh-makers. They are the perfect workers: tireless, uncomplaining, hugely strong, content to hammer away in the pits of fire until death from the aging or breakdown of their organic components give them a final release. Next to the forges and armouries, the Apothecarion is amongst the most well defended parts of a fortress-monastery. This is where the Apothecaries safeguard the Chapter's genetic heritage and tend to its injured Space Marines. The Librarius is the central core of all the Chapter's history and lore. Filled with ancient tombs and sacred scrolls, every piece of text ever laid down by the Steel Harbingers or relevant to its existence is housed within. Overseen by the Librarians, it is a silent and holy place of whispered secrets and hidden truths. Few brethren are permitted access to the Librarius, its reserve of knowledge restricted to the Chapter Master and his advisers. At the deepest levels of Xisimali, lay the massive geothermal generators which provide the great citadel with all of the power required for its operations. This includes the blazing capillaries of magma which bring superheated rock up from the mantle of Xisimali to heat the water that provides the fortress' gigantic steam turbines with their motive force. This area of the fortress-monastery is maintained by a legion of Chapter thralls who are sometimes guided in their endeavors by the arcane technomancy of the Sculptors. of Xisimali represented the very bowels of the mountain fortress. It is a universe of stone marked by the increasing heat radiated by the geothermal reactors that provide Xisimali with its power and by the ancient Armouries and hidden vaults of the Chapter where the Steel Harbingers kept their greatest secrets -- and their honored dead. Notable Campaigns Laconia Rebellion (942.M41) - The Laconia System is on what becomes the Sector's boarder with the Sautekh Dynasty. For the 1,200 years leading up to 942.M41, the Hive World of Laconia Tertius underwent a Civil War against Secessionist forces, with the inhabitants of Laconia Secundus intervening on the Loyalist side. In 942.M41, it was revealed that Laconia Secundus had once been home to a small outpost of the ancient Necron Empire. At that time, the Sautekh Dynasty dispatched a force to reclaim the world, as part of their broader onslaught against the Imperium. Two Companies of the Steel Harbingers Space Marines Chapter were deployed to repel the assualt, but feared they would arrive to late. What the Steel Harbingers found when they arrived was that the Secundai, who had become heavily militarized during the Laconian Civil War, had managed to resist the Sautekh assault, all but crushing the small Necron force while suffering only reasonable casualties. The Astartes' Breathren Lord, thinking to the future, launched his full force against the secessionists on Laconia Tertius. In weeks, his forces managed to break a stalemate which had held for over a millennia. With the World now back under Imperial control, the Steel Harbingers ordered the people of Laconia Tertius to aid the Secondai in turning Laconia Secundus into an impenetrable Fortress World. In the decades which would follow, the Secundai would fight off several more Necron assaults, leaving the system as one of the few bastions between the Sautekh Dynasty and the vulnerable interior of the Heimdall Sector. The Imperial Purgation of the Tengu’s Watchman (963.M41) - The Purgation of the Tengu’s Watchman was one of several Imperial Campaigns along the Tau boarder systems in the centuries between the Second and Third Sphere Expansion. Tengu’s Watchman was one of those worlds on the western edge of the Damocles Gulf whose Imperial Governors had cut selfish deals with the Xenos, turning their citizens and their worlds over to the Tau Empire without a fight. Loyalist forces arrived to reclaim the system in 963.M41, spearheaded by the Astartes of the Steel Harbingers Chapter, but including both a Battlegroup of the Imperial Navy, an Imperial Guard Armygroup, and of course, representatives of the Holy Inquisition. While Brethren Lord Slavicus Ven led his 3rd Company, known as the Precursors, and the Navy in assaulting the Air Caste Orbital Platforms, Lord General Horatio Couture led the 35th Armygroup to assault the planet. While outlying settlements were quickly reclaimed, the substantial defenses of the Fire Caste in and around the Capital City of Takane set the Imperial Guard on the back-foot. In addition to an seemingly un-breachable perimeter, and a strong mobile reserve, the Tau had achieved effective local air superiority through the use of mobile Sky Ray missile platforms and a seemingly limitless supply of aerial drones. While the Steel Harbingers could still, in theory, breach the Tau parameter using orbital drop pods, there was no guarantee that they could overcome the Tau defenders without their heavy equipment. As Lord Ven and Lord General Couture prepared to commit to a massed frontal assault, using the Guard Regiments to soak up damage while the Astartes brought their mighty siege engines into position, one of Couture’s Colonel’s spoke up. Colonel Hung Tran of the 11th Laconian Riverine Raiders pointed out that there was a swamp on the eastern side of Takane which led right into the enemy’s soft underbelly. The Yokai Swamp, had been an all but impassible wetland to begin with, but it was now also inhabited by the Tau’s Kroot allies, and in great numbers. None of the other Officers present felt that any force could pass such an obstacle, but Tran swore that if the Astartes could keep the Kroot off of them, the Riverine Raiders would transport their vehicles through the swamp. That night, as heavy artillery from Lord General Couture’s lines seemingly presaged a ground assault, the Harbinger's blades began to reap a silent harvest from the Kroot. Meanwhile, using converted Chimera APCs, what local rivercraft they could find, and even buoyant ration crates, the 11th River Raiders managed to move almost 200 tons of equipment through an all but un-traversable swamp in under five hours. As dawn broke in blood red upon the City, the Emperor’s angels of death strode forth into Takane, leading Predator Tanks and Hellfire Dreadnaughts. While the Fire Caste reacted quickly and fought ferociously, it was already too late. While Lord Ven led the bulk of his force against the City Center, two squads, accompanied by the exhausted Laconians, assaulted the defensive perimeter from behind. With the Tau distracted, Lord General Couture brought the rest of the Army group against the City, overwhelming the defenders and following in the Astartes’s wake. While the Fire Caste fought on, trying to buy time for their Ethereal overlord to escape, Slavicus Ven personally managed to overtake and slay the Xeno Leader. While fighting would continue for several days, the death of the Ethereal seemed to break the spirit of the Tau. The world was soon declared compliant, and its people handed over to the Inquisition to be put to the question. Chapter Organisation With the adoption of the Codex, the High Lords of Terra required a Chapter to meet the arch-foes of the Imperium in combat - the vast armies of the False Gods of Chaos. The Steel Harbingers were not among the Chapters founded during the second founding, chosen for their stalwart and dedicated service during both the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy, no their history was much darker and so are their origins. Unlike their genetic forebears, the newly formed Chapter opted to take a more defensive approach, by building garrisons and fortifications that rival the Imperial Fists. Ranks The Harbinger - Chapter Master Equivalent Brethren Lord - Captains Equivalent Soothsayer - Apothecaries Herald - Chaplains Sculptors - Tech Marines for it is they who communicate with the machine spirits. Augury-Sergeant - Brethren - Scout Brother - Aspirant - Specialist Formations Apola - The Apola, known as the Brethren of Sculptors, the Apola's particular focus was on machine-craft; both in their construction and maintenance, and their employment in war. It exists in an uneasy alliance with the Mechanicum of the nearby Forge World, save those Tech-priests who had long-served the Steel Harbingers directly. Khele - The Khele, known as the Brethren of Frozen, although led and commanded by Astartes, also encompassed the senior officers and Mechanicum magi, engineers and shipwrights who maintained and crewed the Chapter's warships. Its base of operations a heavily fortified orbital shipyard, void warfare and the construction and design of warships and assault craft were its obsession. Chapter Recruitment On Xisimali, A small planet almost entirely covered in snow and ice. Only at the height of summer do temperatures rise above freezing. Both the northern and southern hemispheres experience harsh winters, with cold nights that can last for weeks or months at a time depending on latitude. The atmosphere is composed mostly of nitrogen and oxygen, but high levels of methane and carbon dioxide make it lethal to humans. Classified as a Death World now, it was a bustling Fortress world before it was brought into compliance by use of newly discovered and untested weapons used by the Cult Mechanicum. The survivors descendants and those of the occupying forces that now lived in the tunnels and ruins of the frozen fortresses fight for limited resources. Those that survive the constant wars are sometimes chosen to travel to the Fortress of the Steel Harbingers. Their Aspirants are put through a series of trials until they become a true inheritor of the heritage of Iron and Steel. Chapter Beliefs The Steel Harbingers are resolute in their beliefs that the Emperor thoroughly used their Legion to fight the bloodiest and most brutal battles of the "Great Crusade". They care little for trophies and embellishments, instead preferring to prove their strength and prowess through acts of Occupation. The Great Shame they learned of their Genetic Fore-bearers weighs heavily on their beliefs. The Steel Harbingers do not accept mutation among their ranks as willingly, instead choosing to remove the corrupted limbs and replace them with powerful, infallible cybernetics. The Steel Harbinger Chapter has become increasingly reclusive and hostile towards outside interference. Though the Inquisition continually investigates the Steel Harbingers, the Chapter bears such scrutiny with unconcealed disdain. Strangely, the Inquisition does not appear very concerned with the Steel Harbingers Chapter's many deviations from standard Adeptus Astartes and Imperial practice. The Chapter boasts a great number of armored vehicles and Dreadnoughts -- so many, in fact, that each company maintains its own revered armoury of battle tanks and Centurion Warsuits. Each one of the Steel Harbinger Brethren consider it a great honour to crew one of their Chapter's venerated war machines and interface directly with their vehicles through bionic implants, their heart beat becoming the thrum of powerful engines and their war cries the roar of heavy gunfire. At every level the Steel Harbingers Chapter was formidably provisioned in arms and wargear, from operational suits of Tactical Dreadnought Armour of every pattern to munitions reserves estimated to exceed that of several other Chapters combined. The technical aptitude of each Steel Harbinger was also formidable, furthering the functionality and customization of their personal panoply of war. Librarians are considered just above outsiders and are not fully trusted in the Steel Harbingers. This is due to an innate mistrust of mutation and mutants. Times in their history the deadly planet and the tunnels underneath has produced many a mutant. Being a mutant means to cut off the mutation and replace it with cybernetics if possible. Librarians can not do so and have proven too useful as a weapon but have never fully integrated with the rest of the Chapter. Combat Doctrine The Steel Harbingers are known for an affinity with technology and the clinical application of logic to military problems. This affinity was channeled into the mastery of that form of warfare. These abilities were increased by cross-training with the Mechanicum. The Steel Harbingers' Sculptors could match skills with Magi. Their methodical attitude made them merciless men in battle and siege. After the siege works were built there was a choice given to the besiegers; either to throw down their arms then and there or the Steel Harbinger would show no mercy. Just like many other Chapters they soon gained the reputation of brutality during siege, not to mention their merciless manner after the siege had taken place. The Steel Harbingers are unparalleled masters of siege warfare as well as of building defensive fortifications and fortresses. Their attacks are typically slow, but relentless and scientific. Most Steel Harbingers assaults begin with an intense orbital bombardment, followed by a rapid aerial landing. As the Steel Harbingers secure their landing zone, they will begin to erect fortifications around their drop site and use this as their base of operations for a siege as well as prevent counter-attacks by the enemy. Instead of using classic building materials for these fortified positions, the Steel Harbingers will connect their Rhinos together into a ring of pillboxes. With their position established, the Steel Harbingers will then deploy great siege engines to reduce the enemy positions before a final charge. Right after they set up their fortifications and before the initial bombardment, the Steel Harbingers will commonly send infiltration units ahead of the main force to disable the enemy's defenses and set up ambushes and conduct flank attacks while the main force charges the fortifications. Where possible, field fortifications will be used. Steel Harbinger doctrine includes extensive use of fortifications to occupy the maximum number of opponents while using the absolute minimum number of troops. This in turn keeps the bulk of the Steel Harbingers Marines fresh and available for assaults, and allows them to achieve superiority elsewhere. In combat, Steel Harbingers are terrifyingly adept at both ballistic warfare and close-range melee bloodshed, and use a mixture of the two to slaughter opponents in vast numbers. The typical Steel Harbinger is armed with a powerful Bolter, Plasma Gun or other such ranged weapon, as well as a close-combat Power Sword or Chainsword. The Steel Harbingers place a great deal of importance on heavy weaponry of all kinds, for they value the tools of destruction far more than flesh and blood. Their Devastators are famously clinical killers, blasting apart keystones and buttresses to bring down fortifications, or sniping enemy officers from afar as they try to restore order. The Steel Harbingers have a special association with the Mechanicus cult. They have extensive access to the hulking combination of armor, weapons, and Marines. The Steel Harbingers are expert sappers, engineers and miners and have acquired a formidable siege train of specialist equipment over the centuries. This includes Termite tunnelers, a Leviathan transport, Dreadclaw assault boats adapted for planetary landings and a large assortment of Imperial-built artillery. These are used very sparingly and are maintained and guarded by the Steel Harbingers' 1st Company. Additionally they have a number of Corvus assault pods which allow them to make use of any supporting Titans as siege towers. Thanks to long-standing ties to elements of the Mechanicum and the technological aptitude displayed by many in their number, the Steel Harbingers possessed access to numerous cybernetic implant systems seldom seen outside the Machine Cult, and they were also able to widely reproduce and maintain large stockpiles of Grav-weapons, Conversion Beamer and Laser Destroyer systems, and other arcane and esoteric machineries of death. Of singular note within the Steel Harbingers was the range, number and diversity of the armoured vehicle and artillery support assets fielded by them. These were known to include the full breadth of general patterns and designs operated across the Imperium by the Legiones Astartes, with tactical emphasis placed on heavy units such as the Land Raider and super-heavy war machines such as the Typhon, Stormblade and Mastodon. Once a planet has been secured few Brethren are detached to fortify the world against further assault. This would become the core of a security force that is no longer considered apart of active roles with the Chapter and their numbers are no longer counted. These Brethren become apart of an inactive reserve network for the planets that fall under the protection of Steel Harbingers. Chapter Gene-Seed The Steel Harbingers' gene-seed produced a marked tendency towards suspicion and paranoia within the Astartes but also was known to create Space Marines who were extremely intelligent and possessed naturally well-developed problem-solving abilities. The Steel Harbingers retain cold intelligence, paranoia, dark skin and dark eyes, and are noted for a preference for technological methods of warfare. The Steel Harbingers possess the Mucranoid organ which allows a Space Marine to survive extremes of heat by secreting a waxy protein substance, similar to mucus, through their pores to seal their skin but for some reason theirs does not work like it is suppose to. Space Marines are cocooned in this way before they enter suspended animation, and the process can even protect them from the harshness of the vacuum and other extremes of temperature, particularly deeply frigid environments. The Steel Harbingers Mucranoid doesn't protect them from extreme heat and they must rely on their armor to provide enough of an barrier. Documentary evidence attests that the Steel Harbinger gene-seed showed an above-average adaptability and rates of implant rejection were notably low, particularly in comparison with difficulties in large-scale implantation encountered with other Progenoid types, which would not be eliminated until the acquisition of the gene-labs of Luna. This advantage meant that the Steel Harbingers' fighting strength was built rapidly, and could be maintained even while facing continual attrition. The 10th Company Neophytes contained large numbers to be ready to fill in the ranks as brethren were assigned to garrison duty or long term detachments as well to the usual losses in battle.
  23. The Mazer Rackham Studio Press Presents: ++ Index Astartes: Scions of Gehenna ++ (V 2.0) Introduction: "Rogal Dorn, The Imperial Fist, my Son...you have failed. You did not save me from Horus...now you cannot save your Legion...and more - you cannot save the Imperium..." The Primarch was awake in a moment. Dark dreams clouded his mind, even as black warplate adorned his flesh. His vision was shattered – his own sons lying broken and scattered across the wasteland of the Iron Cage. The Iron Warriors would suffer for it. His kin would avenge. They would scourge the traitors from the galaxy, as would all his sons, until the end of humanity itself. Whether they were a Legion or not. +++ The old Scions of Gehenna can be found here: http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/261719-ia-scions-of-gehenna/?p=3185510 in the dim and distant past of these hallowed halls. I thought it was time to try and dust them off and update them a bit. I'm going to try and keep the new version true to their roots, but with an updated focus on the squad level, since really this IA is in support of a DW RPG character or two. Concepts/ideas: Founded as the Legiones Ducemus Ferrum (High Hothic) by the 116th Writ of Succession by the High Lords, form Imperial Fist Genestock. Cognomen: The Iron Dukes Legion Founding date: 052.M32 (3rd Founding) Did not attend the summons in 544.M32 to attend the “Last Wall Protocol” Reason for Founding: Standing Force, Chaos Incursion Countermeasure. Geneseed Purity: New Generation (an attempt to correct Sus-An Membrane deficiency – failed, both Betchers’ Gland and Sus-An Membrane do not function). Chapter Demeanour: Cleanse and Purify Chapter Flaw: Faith in Suspicion – The Scions of Gehenna (The Gehinnom) do not trust the Ecclesiarchy, since the Incident of Glass and Darkness in 209.M36. Chapter RPG Characteristic Modifiers: +5 BS, +5 Willpower Figure of Legend: Chapter Master Renthus Draekor, lost in the warp 092.M33 Homeworld: Aridenus Secundus (Civilised, Urban but now Post apocalyptic, Feudal) Homeworld Relationship: Stewardship Organisation: Divergent (Inception) Unique (Current) Specific Chapter Wargear: Modified Throne Pattern Shotgun The Throne: A reinforced Astartes Shotgun, or a fully automatic Astartes Assault variant, the Throne and its ammunition is simpler to manufacture than Boltguns and Bolt shells. As supplies dwindled during the final years of the Great Siege, desperate times called for equally desperate measures, and the Throne was issued to Brethren in place of the holy Bolter as stocks dwindled through attrition. Combat Doctrine: Siege and Urban Warfare Operation Specialists Chapter Belief System: Revere the Primarch (Rogal Dorn) Chapter Friends: Adeptus Mechanicus (Ordo Centurio Ordinatus Gehenna) Chapter Enemies: Iron Warriors, The Order of the Martyred Vision of St Jaeda Heraldry: Non camouflage uniform of grey with single left pauldron in yellow, upon which is a black portcullis with speartips upright. In theatre, the Gehinnom wear and use camouflage appropriate to the environment, albeit mainly solid colours, so tan in the desert, green for jungle worlds or environments. In Urban environments they prefer to use either standard warplate colour or a scheme of their own devising called Berlinertarn, a three/four colour assortment of blocky lozenges (green/grey/white/brick red). Chapter Status: Endangered, possibly extinct. Battlecry: Chaplain/Captain/Sergeants: “Serve the Emperor!” All: “We do so ‘ere Gehenna comes!” +++ There are a lot of additions to come to this, thanks mainly to the Deathwatch: Rites of Battle book, the Chapter started life as a siege breaker arm of the Imperial Fist line, but diverged as things went on. The Chapter’s homeworld is currently swamped by the Cicatrix, so no Primaris Marines as reinforcements, no Indomitus Crusade, no Ultima Founding. This is strictly Old SchoolTM - especially as the hideously conceived and mangled German (for which I apologise to our native speakers) of "Berlinertarn" above is basically this: I plan to have the Chapter with a standing roster of something like a reinforced company, since the Chapter would have operatives on the fleet, in transit, taking up arms elsewhere on a crusade etc. They’ll essentially be arranged into ad-hoc squads along Deathwatch lines. The original IA is now nearly ten years old, so plenty of things could have happened to them in universe for them to end up like this, but I plan on having the Chapter in decline from about M.36 (maybe) onward when the Ecclesiarchy blew up most of their homeworld... Anyway, that’s it for now, thanks for looking!
  24. +[incoming data upload]+ +[scanning for malicious content]+ +[scan complete_195843775 items removed]+ +[allocating space on hard disk]+ +[download sequence initiated]+ +[downloading at 61952 kB/s...]+ +[...]+ +[...]+ +[...]+ Update #3 (10/06/19, 17:48) Name ideas (in no particular order): Repudiators Abolishers Obviators Retaliators Irruptors Evictors Extrudors Concept ideas: Bold colour scheme; Ultramarine gene-seed, Red Consuls successors; Chapter stationed on galaxy edge in current-day Imperium Nihilus, within reasonable distance of the T'au Empire; "Where His lantern flickers and wanes, His luminous angels patrol the darkness and purge the shadows"; Has Astartes garrisons on important planets within their jurisdiction; Large part of the Chapter is deployed on garrison-duty while the rest mans the fleet; Chapter gradually put in place garrisons due to wide area to patrol, response times too high in case of aggression; Each garrison includes a Chaplain to ensure continued and strong adherence to Imperium/Chapter cult; Powerful and large fleet, though as a result limited ground-based armour (Rhino-chassis vehicles, Land Raider variants, etc) which is a handicap when faced with land-based operations such as siege warfare, armoured assaults, etc; Have managed to maintain a good relationship with the local AdMech over the Chapter's history though various incidents have seen the Chapter upgrade their forges and use their Chapter Keeps to store wargear and ammunition for when situations deteriorate; Remain distant from most Imperial agencies, with a particular dislike of the Administratum and Ecclesiarchy due to the bloody events of the Nova Terra Interregnum and Age of Apostasy which the Chapter got caught up in, with dire consequences. Hidden Content Update #2 (10/06/19, 15:46) Name ideas (in no particular order): Repudiators Abolishers Obviators Retaliators Irruptors Evictors Extrudors Concept ideas: Bold colour scheme; Chapter stationed on galaxy edge (which one?); "Where His psychic might is weaker, His luminous angels patrol the darkness and purge the shadows." Has Astartes garrisons on important planets within their jurisdiction; Large part of the Chapter is deployed on garrison-duty while the rest mans the fleet; Chapter gradually put in place garrisons due to wide area to patrol, response times too high in case of aggression; Each garrison includes a Chaplain to ensure continued and strong adherence to Imperium/Chapter cult; Powerful and large fleet, though as a result limited ground-based armour (Rhino-chassis vehicles, Land Raider variants, etc) which is a handicap when faced with land-based operations such as siege warfare, armoured assaults, etc; Have managed to maintain a good relationship with the local AdMech over the Chapter's history though various incidents have seen the Chapter upgrade their forges and use their Chapter Keeps to store wargear and ammunition for when situations deteriorate; Remain distant from most Imperial agencies, with a particular dislike of the Administratum and Ecclesiarchy due to the bloody events of the Nova Terra Interregnum and Age of Apostasy which the Chapter got caught up in, with dire consequences. Update #1 (10/06/19, 13:15) Name ideas (in no particular order): Repudiators Abolishers Obviators Retaliators Concept ideas: Chapter stationed on galaxy edge (which one?); Has Astartes garrisons on important planets within their jurisdiction; Chapter gradually put in place garrisons due to wide area to patrol, response times too high in case of aggression; Each garrison includes a Chaplain to ensure continued and strong adherence to Imperium/Chapter cult; Powerful and large fleet, though as a result limited ground-based heavy armour; Fleet-based or has a/mulitple home world(s)?; Bold colour scheme; Was around and active during the Nova Terra Interregnum of M35.
  25. Index Astartes <<Coyote Head superimposed over lightning bolt>> The Thunder Coyotes Space Marines Chapter <<Space>> Founded in the tumult of the Ultima Founding and the initial forays into Imperium Nihilus with the Indomitus crusade, the chapter was established to anchor the fringe of a sector in the southwestern Ultima Segmentum. A nearby chapter that controls and patrols the sector is rumored to believe that these new marines are Inquisitorial watchdogs and slaves to the High Lords of Terra, and thusly unreliable. Time will tell how these two chapters interact. As part of the Indomitus crusade before being established on Qoslomoya, the marines who would become the veterans of the Thunder Coyotes participated heavily in anti-Chaos operations, as well as skirmishes against various forces swept up in the warp and deposited in the path of the crusade. Including in this count were some very lost Tau that made excellent target practice for the guns of the battlebarge Howl of Jaghatai, which would become the flagship of the Thunder Coyote's fleet. Qoslomoya is a forested world, curiously untouched by most modern technology. The people there are lost in the early stages of world exploration and colonization, and are by all accounts Feral and uncivilized. It was left alone and deemed not worth the effort to colonize, and any orders otherwise were lost in the endless mountains of Imperial paperwork. However, following the start of the Indomitus Crusade, the Primarch Guilliman ordered it colonized and given to an Ultima Founding chapter, as it was situated in a prime defensive location to reinforce the newly-reclaimed sector and its beleaguered Imperial Guard and Firstborn Astartes chapter, the Dawn Blades. It was done as the Primarch ordered, and Terminus Station, the Thunder Coyotes fortress monastery, was constructed at the peaks of the giant mountain range known as the Spine of the Diyiai running down the middle of the planet. The Thunder Coyotes are quickly mastering the art of drive-by annihilation and shadowwork operations, and have quickly begun to modify their equipment accordingly. Of note are their modified Repulsors and Impulsors, which have had their transport bays and turrets replaced with heavy guns and long-range missile launchers, thusly turning them into self-propelled artillery. Their 1st Company has quickly become known for a disproportionately large number of skilled marksmen, especially ones that are capable of assassinations and eliminations that go unnoticed until the target falls dead. As the Thunder Coyotes are adept at stealth insertions and operations, they employ a disproportionate number of Vanguard in their ranks, so much so that on occasion perhaps a third of their chapter is deployed as Vanguard Companies. The chapter also tends to not favor more heavily-armored and slow units, but when pressed they can and do deploy Aggressor and other Gravis units--exceptions are Inceptors and Suppressors, as they are both highly mobile and highly destructive. These units are, due to chapter practices, often the veterans of warfare who know just how to apply such powerful forces. The Thunder Coyotes are primarily secular, as all Ultima Founding chapters are. However, as recruitment of the Qoslomoyan native humans picked up, the planet's belief system slowly entered the chapter. The native name for spirits and gods, Diyiai, was quickly subsumed by the Imperial cult, with preachers and missionaries telling tales of how the Diyiai were aspects of the Emperor and his sons, especially glorifying Jenkshi, spirit of the woods and hunt, as the Primarch Jaghatai Khan, primogenitor of the Thunder Coyotes and a patron of the planet. The Winter Count: The Winter Count is another tradition of the Thunder Coyotes brought forth by the Qoslomoyan recruits of the chapter. As described by one recruit, “It’s how the tribes mark important events. Everyone tells the elder the most important thing that happened that year, in their opinion, and then the elders choose a few that are of great importance and hold a vote on it. The one the tribe chose is inscribed on hide and then placed with the others.” Seeking to bring in elements of Qoslomoyan culture, to bond with both the planet’s people and with each other, the nascent Chaplaincy chose to implement the ‘winter counts’ as a method of recording chapter history. At the end of each solar year—approximately halfway through the year of the Imperial standard calendar—each squad creates a winter count, and entered into its history. These are then submitted to the company, where a company-wide vote is taken on which winter count will be the company’s official one of record (of note is that oftentimes many squads in a company will choose to record the same event, or otherwise be synonymous with each other. In this case often the vote is a matter or artistic taste and imagery). Thusly chosen, each company’s work is put to a chapter-wide vote, where a replica of the chosen count is created and hung in the Hibernation Hall, the forge-chapel where history, both living and dead, is kept. It is a great honor for a squad’s winter count to be chosen as the chapter’s reckoning of history, and they are honored with the Frosted Moon award for that year, which they may wear on their armor until their deaths. The Hibernation Hall: Here slumber the Dreadnoughts of the Thunder Coyotes, watched over by vigilant Techmarines and the Chaplain’s order. New initiates, as part of their training cycles, come to the Hibernation Hall to learn from the Winter Counts hung from the rafters, as well as hear stories of war from any Dreadnoughts who may be awake at the time, rare it may be. Those recruits who are fortunate enough to learn from the wounded come away with a harder temperament, forewarned of the dangers of battle, and the horror that awaits them on the inside of a vita-fluid coffin. Here also in the Hall are held feasts, commemorating important events of the chapter’s history, including the Feast of the Born Coyote--which celebrates the chapter’s founding in the Qoslomoyan winter--the Feast of the Emperor Ascendant, Sanguinalia, and other holidays deemed important. The Feast of the Born Coyote is a massive celebration of the year's deeds, and is also the time of voting for that year's Winter Count, though due to the demands of war this is oft by proxy. Every tenth year, the entire chapter gathers, and the Grand Count is selected, reflecting the greatest campaign waged over the past decade. The victory is celebrated by the whole chapter with much song and brotherhood, and a massive fire is lit for the hearth that dominates the head of the hall. The Festival of Tears The haemolacria that the Thunder Coyotes possess is a curious condition, but one that is celebrated as a gift of the Emperor. The Festival of Tears is the last rite of ascension into the chapter for new battle-brothers, though every marine will partake at one moment or another beyond their own induction. After being awarded their power armor, each new Primaris will join their newly assigned squad of new Primaris. Each marine will bring forth their tears, and deposit them into an earthen mug unique to each squad. Once it has been filled, the squad partakes as a seal of brotherhood, a blood oath to aid each other until death. For this reason, veteran squads of Thunder Coyotes are smaller than their newer counterparts, and often take up assignments and squad designations that require fewer and fewer marines, such as Aggressor squads, vehicle crews, and Eliminator squads, among others. Those who are the last remains of their squads are those considered for officership, seen as lucky enough and strong enough to survive whatever war sought to throw at them. When a new officer is elevated, he fills the cup with his own bloody tears for his successor, then drinks of his predecessor. This ritual is accompanied by a reaffirming of the oaths that each squad swore upon creation. As sons of the great Khan, the Thunder Coyotes have adopted his lust for the hunt, though they tend more toward the stalking aspect of its bent. The gene-seed itself is remarkably pure, and its organs free of mutation, as all Primaris seed is, though there is one oddity. A curious twist of genetics between the Khan's gene-seed and the Qoslomoyan DNA has led to haemolacria in the Thunder Coyotes, causing them to cry tears of blood, and can almost do so on command. This, however, is mostly harmless and has become ingrained in the chapter's warrior cult (indeed so much so that it has been incorporated into their armor) so it is not a problem that the chapter's leadership is particularly inclined to solve, when the Apothecaries are focused on integrating the Qoslomoyan people into the chapter as a whole. "Strike from the Night!" *Unintelligible Howling* USING A Thunder Coyotes ARMY IN WARHAMMER 40,000 The Thunder Coyotes use the Expert Marksmen and Stealthy Successor Chapter Tactics on the battlefields of the 41st Millennium /end Notes and admin: Here's what I've got so far. I will be looking to expand this later, but autosave's gone wonky and at least this way it's saved (plus I need to work out a color scheme in the next day or two). EDIT: I'd also like to report broken formatting. Either that or I've no idea how to do it correctly. 9/8/19: addressed some concerns about Qoslomoya, and added a little to the chapter cult section. 9/16/19: added information on the Winter Count, the Hibernation Hall, and created color schemes (to be added later). 9/18/19: expanded information on the Hibernation Hall, and described the chapter badge (to be added later). 9/23/19 added information on the Festival of Tears, and the importance of the haemolacria to the Thunder Coyotes 10/6/19: added color scheme, and technically have a chapter symbol (though it may be updated at a later point, because I can't draw). 10/7/19 updated format
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