IA: To be named later.

[Wolf Priest Haelaeif]

Complete Redo is in the works, including a new chapter name, but keeping colours and symbol.

[War Angel]

59 years isnt spit in the ocean for a space marine. i would bet that means about 80% of youre chapter knows of this... do you want it to be that many?

[Wolf Priest Haelaeif]

No, not really. It should be maybe one or two guys per squad, another one or two being in the Guardian Order.

 

However, I was under the impression that marines did not actually grow very old. I know that they could, in theory, become around 500 years old, some chapters, like Space Wolves and Blood Angels, even around 1000 years. But from the old "one bolt in the forehead per ten years of service"-fluff, I probably go the idea that a marine who served 64 years is quite rare. I mean, forty bolts in the forehead for being in your 400th year might be slightly annoying....

 

But I guess you are probably right, as that fluff is rather old. Maybe it should be one bolt per hundred years instead, and thus, something around 100 years for the first term of service (Which would then obviously have to last longer, too) and 200 years for the second term of service in 11th Company.

[Telveryon]

However, I was under the impression that marines did not actually grow very old. I know that they could, in theory, become around 500 years old, some chapters, like Space Wolves and Blood Angels, even around 1000 years. But from the old "one bolt in the forehead per ten years of service"-fluff, I probably go the idea that a marine who served 64 years is quite rare. I mean, forty bolts in the forehead for being in your 400th year might be slightly annoying....

From what I understand, you have to have a bout a century a service to qualify for the veteran company sometimes even more, ergo having marines older then 59 years of age isn't very rare.

[Ecritter]

From my understanding, as posted elsewhere in B&C ... normal Space Marines live about 500 years.

[The 13th Goat]

From my understanding, as posted elsewhere in B&C ... normal Space Marines live about 500 years.

 

No, thats wrong. Veterans, possably, but not all. Saphadon, the Librarian of the Soul Drinkers remembers his training taking place 40 to 50 years ago, making him roughly 50-60, and he is considered an experianced veteran. Dante, chapter master of the Blood Angels, is 1,100 years old, but it is mentioned that this is due to the longetivity of the Blood Angels.

 

All in all, its my opinion that a marine will usually live long enough to see their 100 year mark, but deaths and losses mean that few are older than the 350 mark. It is, however, terrably vague.

[Marshal Rohr]

There are no set guidelines to the age a Space Marine can be when he becomes a 'veteran', Space Marines are all about personal merit, so if your guys deserve veterancy, go for it.

[Wolf Priest Haelaeif]

I think I will have to up the time a bit, but maybe not as much.

 

The idea is that every brother will be inducted into these two circles within the chapter regardless of rank, position and combat performance. Total underperformers would probably be rejected, but I doubt there are marines who really underperform, so that does not really need to be considered.

 

 

So if most marines live to see their 150th year, but not their 200th, for example, then 150 years should be the threshold, because that would mean that the larger part of the chapter consists of marines who are not yet members of the Covenant, but most of them will live to become one.

 

I will put that on my list of things to edit, thank you guys.

 

Any comments, criticism, advice about the rest?

[Ecritter]

When I said "average 500 years" it was due to combat attrition, so most would end up dying by then ... but some go longer and some much shorter.

[Wolf Priest Haelaeif]

Okay, edited it - now they do their first term in 11th Co. after 200 years, the second after 400 years. I made it 50-year-terms, as I think otherwise the 11th Co. would probably be way understrength.

That way, most veterans will at least be members of the order, as will captains, but not necessarily sergeants.

 

Thanks for your help with this.

 

 

Now, I will probably try to work a bit on the homeworld part, specifically I want to flesh out the two groups of inhabitants a little more.

 

But most importantly, this chapter does need a name.

[Wolf Priest Haelaeif]

Okay, I have come up with a few name ideas; I did not factor in their homeworld or their first campaign, but only their heraldic pattern, as the first chapter master would have chosen name and heraldry before the campaign.

 

I am not really convinced about any of these, but maybe they can be a starting point to find a really good name.

 

 

Oh, and by the way, I just noticed I completely forgot mentioning I am using the maltese cross, albeit in red, as their chapter badge, since I want to use all those nice Black Templar bits without having to file all those crosses off, which would be annoying.

 

 

Crimson Crusaders - A rather plain name, but would fit the red cross and their Imperial Fist genestock and Crimson Fist cadre.

 

Templars of Terror - A kinda sily name, but I like it for the OTT-factor. :rolleyes: Plus if you speak it, it sounds like "Templars of Terra", which is nice as well.

 

Brotherhood Eternal - I think I borrowed that somewhere subconsciously, dunno.

 

Raiders Relentless - I like alliterations. I like putting the adjective second. But I am not entirely convinced about this one. Mostly because "Raiders" does not really fit them.

 

Paladins of Pucchina - Okay, this one does incorporate their homeworld, but if it must be this one, I shall come up with some way to explain that.

 

Bearers of the Bloody Cross - Meh... it would be fitting, but does not yet have that special ring to it. Also, a little long-ish.

 

 

So what do you people think? Does any of them sound really good?

[Ecritter]

Crimson Crusaders .... sounds okay

 

Templars of Terror .... kinda chaosy (is that a word)

 

Brotherhood Eternal .... sounds okay

 

Raiders Relentless .... kinda renegady (another of those maybe words)

 

Paladins of Pucchina .... nice one

 

Bearers of the Bloody Cross .... another chaosy one

[Kikunosuke]

I finally get to read your fluff. Nicely done. Professional; did feel like I was reading a real Index Astartes article.

 

Now, if I may even dare to offer my mediocre & paltry opinions:

 

Of the seven that made it back to Pucchina, only two survived that day. One of them, Brother Chota, was interred in a sarcophargus and serves the chapter as a Dreadnought to this day, telling new generations the story of Master Torello and his brethren, how they went into the dark abyss of the warp, how they fought through wave after wave of orks in the confines of the webway, to finally find the perfidious Eldar of Biel-Tan pulling the strings from beyond the warp, scheming to reclaim the maiden world Pah-Chai back from the Emperor's finest, and how they punished them, cleansing the ork planet methodically and without respite, and eventually confronting the Eldar witch and his lackeys and driving them off the planet. He tells the young scouts how with his last breath, the Eldar witch called upon his powers and conjured a rain of fire upon the battle-brothers, killing Master Torello and half of the remaining marines. He tells of their journey back through the horrors of the warp, hunted by alien shadows, fighting their way through several more groups of orks who had become lost in the webway, until they arrived at Pucchina, finally back in the material universe.

 

This part was a bit too rambly for the origins section; but very suitable for those side story boxes that accompany an IA article.

 

Looks like there's a potential schism between the techmarines & the Covenant within your chapter...lots of grist for the mill.

 

As for a suitable battlecry, hows about "An eye for an eye" or (pardon my really bad latin) "Lex talionis" I think. Rather fitting in that they are using xenos tech against the xenos themselves.

 

Paladins of Pucchina sounds good.

 

Possible chapter name suggestions: Paladins of Vigilance, Templars of the Watch, Guardians of the Quest, Quest Seekers?

[Wolf Priest Haelaeif]

The Paladins seems to be the name you folks like best - myself, I do like it as well, although maybe I should change the homeworld's name to something sounding more fierce.

 

@Kikonosuke: thank you for your praise; that part you mention was indeed written with a completely different mindset. When I wrote it, I tried to leave out as much as possible so the "origins" section would not become too long. The idea to put it in a little box is in fact quite good, that way I could get on with the actual IA but still have that little storybit included without stopping the "flow" of the main text.

 

While I think that "Eye for an eye" is quite fitting, your mention of this laws name, lex talionis, made me think of another: "Exitus acta probat" (the end justifies the means/the result justifies the act) I am not entirely convinced about that one either, but I think a latin phrase for a battlecry is definitely a good idea.

[Kikunosuke]

"Paladins" really does fit your theme very well. :D If I may, a few suggestions for planet names: Tiamat, Marduk, Kingu?

 

Also, with your capabilities, I would really like to read a side-story about how your chapter actually made use of xenos tech to defeat eldar/orks in battle. That would make for tasty reading.

[Grey Hunter Ydalir]

Be very careful where you tread in regards to the use of any other tech than sanctified Imperial tech produced by the forges of the Omnissiah. The Imperium is a very backward environment compared to today and any use, by anyone bar some inquisitors (and even then) of xenos tech is a keel-haulable offence. A chapters recruits are trained from inception to venerate the tech of the Omnissiah and care for it as such.

 

Use of xenos tech, in my opinion, could be done if it was something like using an abandoned advanced piece of artillery or somesuch, or weapon system that was used just the once by the chapter. It would be interesting to be sure but it would also ensure that the chapter was't crushed by the Adeptus Mechanicus in both their rush to grab the tech from you, and their hatred of your use of it given how much other 'holy' tech your chapter is sure to have recieved.

[Wolf Priest Haelaeif]

You are correct, and I am aware of that. The chapter do not ever use xenos technology of any kind casually, but only if it has a specific purpose they could not achieve without the xenos tech. So, for example, the use of a xenos weapon would, to the minds of the chapter's officers, only be justified when there is no other method to win that specific battle, and that should be a rare occurence.

 

 

In fact, I should probably put that directly into the IA, to clarify. Thank you.

[Wolf Priest Haelaeif]

Okay, so I have decided to in fact call them the Paladins of Pucchina. Now I must do some work on the story, as the name must only have been chosen by Arnaud Gaudin, the second chapter master, after Diego Torello's death. Or he would have renamed them, but I doubt this would have made sense.

 

Then again, Torello could have chosen the name when he decided to cleanse Pucchina of orks.

 

I will have to consider that. Comments are welcome, too.

 

Also, new pictures of models in my blog (link is in my signature), and I added a bit in the Organisation section.

[Kikunosuke]

Given that the vast world of 40K is rife with a lot of longstanding as well as open secrets, I think that it would actually be easy to hide the fact that the Paladins possessed xenos tech & the like from the Inquisition & the Adeptus Mechanicus.

Dark Angels & the Unforgiven - they have maintained the secret of the Fallen for how long? Close to 10, 000 years? Even with their overtly erratic & downright unco-operative behaviour.

Relictors - Their use of deamon weapons & belief in turning Chaos against Chaos? They were only excommunicated after they attacked & pillaged an Inquisition vault.

Astral Claws - managed to keep their heresy a secret for more than 150 years (even with the back-debt of planetary tithes & gene seed for purity testing) until Huron openly declared his secession.

Flesh Tearers - open secret regarding their actions in the third armageddon war where they killed imperium militia & civilians. Yet to receive censure.

Black Dragons - Genetic mutation leading some of their marines to grow bony claws & crests which is actually deliberately encouraged by the Apothecaries. Yet to receive censure.

Sons of Malice - Only excommunicated only after their Anarch slaughtered an Inquisitor along with a band of sororitas celestians during their bloody victory celebrations.

Exorcists - Created with the help of the inquisition, their marines are strengthened through ritualistic daemonic possession & exorcism.

As long as the Paladins are careful & that they don't go around messing with the Inquisition or raiding an Adeptus Mechanicus vault/archive/etc, I don't really see a problem with a space marine chapter using xenos tech in the 40k world.

 

@Haelaeif: Rather than Gaudin renaming the Chapter, it is possible that after so many years of steadfastly defending Pucchina, the natives influenced by their folklore (or such), began to address the space marines as "Pah-lad Dayin" which in their native tongue meant "Jungle Guardians". Gaudin thought that the term sounded like "Paladin", enquired about the meaning behind the term & found it befitting the image of his chapter & thus the "Paladins of Pucchina" was born. It's a scrappy suggestion, but I hope it can help get your creative juices flowing.

[Wolf Priest Haelaeif]

Thanks for your suggestions, I am still tossing ideas about that around in my head. However, I did not do any writing during the last days, due to 1) work and 2) painting and converting.

 

But the latter just spawned an idea - maybe a kitchen sink plot, but I want to give it a try.

 

I have converted a librarian with a robe for my first 500-points-batch as a cheap HQ to go with two 200-points tac squads. Now I was considering colour schemes for him, and I think I shall paint the robe in my chapter's base colour of camo-ish green, which, imo, will combine nicely with the traditional librarian-blue.

 

And seeing how I really, really like that combination of colours, I was thinking of making a kind of librarian guard, which would paint their armour blue, but wear camo-ish green robes like the librarian. Ruleswise they would be a sternguard squad, with two heavy flamers, most likely, although that is not tactically sound, methinks.

 

Now, fluffwise they would be members of the covenant who were asked to stay in 11th Co. instead of returning to their original companies after their 50-year-term. Remember they only get the full covenant membership after the second 50-year-term, so they could only become this librarian guard after that.

 

Their job would be to 1) guard the librarium (obviously) and to 2) take on the more subtle missions for the covenant, where a small number of marines will work better than the "smash them to bitz and ask questions later" approach. In addition, they would obviously accompany librarians, in case such a mission should present itself during the course of a campaign.

 

Somehow this idea is, again, a kind of DA rip-off - instead of ravenwing to hunt the fallen, the Paladins have the librarium guard, which engages in covert ops and similar actions to find tomes of alien knowledge and xenos technology for study.

 

 

What do you think: would this add character to the chapter, or does it seem like a cheap prop?

[Kikunosuke]

I have converted a librarian with a robe for my first 500-points-batch as a cheap HQ to go with two 200-points tac squads. Now I was considering colour schemes for him, and I think I shall paint the robe in my chapter's base colour of camo-ish green, which, imo, will combine nicely with the traditional librarian-blue.

I'm not too sure about painting the robes camo green; I would like to see a test model though.

 

And seeing how I really, really like that combination of colours, I was thinking of making a kind of librarian guard, which would paint their armour blue, but wear camo-ish green robes like the librarian. Ruleswise they would be a sternguard squad, with two heavy flamers, most likely, although that is not tactically sound, methinks.

Hmm, if the Librarium Guard paint their armour the same scheme as the librarian, it would make the libbie look less distinguished (I'm not sure if that was the initial intention). Instead of all their armour in blue, why not just have one armour pad in blue to signify their elite status? And rules-wise, instead of sternguard, I think they give me the impression of being more like Ultramarine Nid hunters or Deathwatch, seeing as how they specifically hunt for xenos tech.

 

Now, fluffwise they would be members of the covenant who were asked to stay in 11th Co. instead of returning to their original companies after their 50-year-term. Remember they only get the full covenant membership after the second 50-year-term, so they could only become this librarian guard after that.

I think this idea is workable but one thing may need fleshing out: why didn't these particular members of the Guardian order return to their original companies? What did they do or what criteria were they judged to be worthy of staying on in the 11th Co?

 

Their job would be to 1) guard the librarium (obviously) and to 2) take on the more subtle missions for the covenant, where a small number of marines will work better than the "smash them to bitz and ask questions later" approach. In addition, they would obviously accompany librarians, in case such a mission should present itself during the course of a campaign.

 

Somehow this idea is, again, a kind of DA rip-off - instead of ravenwing to hunt the fallen, the Paladins have the librarium guard, which engages in covert ops and similar actions to find tomes of alien knowledge and xenos technology for study.

Rather than engaging in out & out covert ops, it would be better to say that The Librarium Guard does "specialised missions". Covert ops brings to mind more of the sneaky Raven Guard stuff; specialised missions you can adapt to a variety of hugely different combat scenarios.

 

What do you think: would this add character to the chapter, or does it seem like a cheap prop?

I say it adds character. I like the idea.

 

Some other pointers: The Librarium Guard should also be permanently attached with a Chaplain to guard against any xenos taint during & after any mission. Also, being in the Librarium Guard, it would be interesting if they get access to special weapons.

 

Apologies for my wind-baggery; hope you find the suggestions helpful. :o

[Wolf Priest Haelaeif]

Alright, I completely rewrote the homeworld section, putting a little more work into the description of the two ethnicities of Pucchina, most importantly.

 

I also cleaned a few things up and tinkered with the pictures. Does anyone, by the way, know what code I must use to get those nifty skull-banner-headings and the side boxes? I want to to a short bit about the second chapter master and put that part about the battle in the webway in a side box, too.

 

Aaaand there is a new blog entry, too.

 

@Haelaeif: Rather than Gaudin renaming the Chapter, it is possible that after so many years of steadfastly defending Pucchina, the natives influenced by their folklore (or such), began to address the space marines as "Pah-lad Dayin" which in their native tongue meant "Jungle Guardians". Gaudin thought that the term sounded like "Paladin", enquired about the meaning behind the term & found it befitting the image of his chapter & thus the "Paladins of Pucchina" was born. It's a scrappy suggestion, but I hope it can help get your creative juices flowing.

The idea is not bad, but I simply think renaming a chapter needs a really, really, good reason, and thus I made the chapter not have a name until after the webgate disaster. Maybe I will later retcon that if I find a good explanation, but I doubt I will.

 

I have converted a librarian with a robe for my first 500-points-batch as a cheap HQ to go with two 200-points tac squads. Now I was considering colour schemes for him, and I think I shall paint the robe in my chapter's base colour of camo-ish green, which, imo, will combine nicely with the traditional librarian-blue.

I'm not too sure about painting the robes camo green; I would like to see a test model though.

 

Yeah, I see where you are coming from. At first I thought it might look really, really good, but I am not so sure now. I will not use the librarian as a test model though, I somehow need another way to figure out wether that would look any good without wasting too much time and too many test models. If I do not find a way, I will just paint his robe bonewhite and add a few things in camo-green and red on it.

 

And seeing how I really, really like that combination of colours, I was thinking of making a kind of librarian guard, which would paint their armour blue, but wear camo-ish green robes like the librarian. Ruleswise they would be a sternguard squad, with two heavy flamers, most likely, although that is not tactically sound, methinks.

Hmm, if the Librarium Guard paint their armour the same scheme as the librarian, it would make the libbie look less distinguished (I'm not sure if that was the initial intention). Instead of all their armour in blue, why not just have one armour pad in blue to signify their elite status? And rules-wise, instead of sternguard, I think they give me the impression of being more like Ultramarine Nid hunters or Deathwatch, seeing as how they specifically hunt for xenos tech.

 

The colour idea is great, I think I will do that. I think considering they will all be wearing robes, I will paint their right arms and shoulder guard blue. I will have to think of a squad symbol, although I could simply use the veteran's cross. Not sure about that yet.

Maybe I will have to build and paint one guy straight-away to find a good method...

 

Ruleswise, yes, they would be more similar to tyranid hunters or deathwatch than to sternguard, but since there are no currently working rules for either of those (the existing deathwatch rules were from 3rd edition, and I simply do not like them), making them sternguard counts-as will have to suffice for the time being. If deathwatch rules are published someday, it will be no problem at all to switch to those.

 

Now, fluffwise they would be members of the covenant who were asked to stay in 11th Co. instead of returning to their original companies after their 50-year-term. Remember they only get the full covenant membership after the second 50-year-term, so they could only become this librarian guard after that.

I think this idea is workable but one thing may need fleshing out: why didn't these particular members of the Guardian order return to their original companies? What did they do or what criteria were they judged to be worthy of staying on in the 11th Co?

 

True, I forgot some criteria. Basically, I think, they would have to be both veteran marines (ie, not only old, but also good fighters), but most importantly they must be good at understanding the alien. That will be the most important characteristic.

Candidates who do have these characteristics would be approached by the chief librarian and asked to remain in 11th Co. None would refuse, since that is an honour.

 

Their job would be to 1) guard the librarium (obviously) and to 2) take on the more subtle missions for the covenant, where a small number of marines will work better than the "smash them to bitz and ask questions later" approach. In addition, they would obviously accompany librarians, in case such a mission should present itself during the course of a campaign.

 

Somehow this idea is, again, a kind of DA rip-off - instead of ravenwing to hunt the fallen, the Paladins have the librarium guard, which engages in covert ops and similar actions to find tomes of alien knowledge and xenos technology for study.

 

Rather than engaging in out & out covert ops, it would be better to say that The Librarium Guard does "specialised missions". Covert ops brings to mind more of the sneaky Raven Guard stuff; specialised missions you can adapt to a variety of hugely different combat scenarios.

 

Good idea. Special missions including covert operations is actually what I had in mind, but special missions will work better in conveying my idea to the reader.

 

What do you think: would this add character to the chapter, or does it seem like a cheap prop?

I say it adds character. I like the idea.

 

Some other pointers: The Librarium Guard should also be permanently attached with a Chaplain to guard against any xenos taint during & after any mission. Also, being in the Librarium Guard, it would be interesting if they get access to special weapons.

 

Apologies for my wind-baggery; hope you find the suggestions helpful. ;)

 

The chaplains would probably not be with them on missions all the time, but the chaplains do have an eye on 11th Co. as a whole, because its members have to face distractions to their faith more often than the marines in other companies in general.

 

Since I will be using sternguard rules, I am considering giving them two heavy flamers or one heavy flamer and a meltagun, plus a lot of combiweapons. But I do like the styling of the sternguard bolters, so maybe I will leave the combiweapons.

 

Thank you for your many helpful comments. You have a knack for finding the weak spots, and that is useful in making my work better.

[Wolf Priest Haelaeif]

Okay, minor Update # 6:

 

- Redid the layout - if anyone has any idea why it deletes half the text now if I try to edit it again, please tell me.

 

- Added a bit in the beliefs section.

 

- Redid the colour scheme via B&C Space Marine Painter. Looks a lot more like the paint on the actual models now. Yay!

 

- Pictures of the 1st Tactical Squad, which is actually the 2nd Tactical Squad of 3rd Company, will be in by sunday at the latest.

[Kikunosuke]

Haelaeif my friend, I hope this helps. I finally had some time where I could sit down & really read through your IA. Again, do pardon my bags of windiness.

 

The Paladins of Pucchina were created in the 11th Founding from Imperial Fist gene-seed. Having reached roughly half strength, they were sent on a mission to the Ponferratus sector, which was under attack by a large ork waaagh and in urgent need of support. Together with several Imperial Guard regiments, the new chapter had soon destroyed the waaagh's spearheads and killed its warlord and proceeded to reconquer the systems that had been overrun, suffering only minimal losses in the process.

This part needs fleshing out.

1) Why would a half-strength chapter be hastily mustered to go head-on with an ork Waaagh?

2) Why were there no other chapters called in?

3) Needs a little more detail on the decisive battle where they killed the warlord.

4) Short description on how the Paladins worked with the IG regiments to fight the orks? Did the IG do most of the dying which lead to minimal losses for the Paladins?

 

Alas, not seven years had passed when another, even larger ork attack overwhelmed the defenders of Pucchina, one of the less important hive worlds in the Ponferratus sector. Unwilling to let their battles have been in vain, chapter master Diego Torello ordered an immediate attack.

An immediate counter-attack would be more appropriate seeing as how the orks attacked first.

 

nearly battle-ready chapter

Hmmm, needs further clarification.

 

Upon seeing the destruction the orks had wreaked before the chapter could intervene, all five hive cities lying in ruins, the population slaughtered, Master Torello vowed not to leave until every last alien on the planet had been hunted down and killed.

This part is good. A little tweaking "After seeing first-hand, the orgy of destruction the orks had inflicted before the chapter could intervene; with all five hive cities lying in ruins and its combined population slaughtered to almost a man, Master Torello vowed that no Paladin would leave Pucchina until every last alien on the planet had been hunted down and killed."

 

Over the following weeks, Torello's marines attempted to fulfil that vow.

"In the weeks that followed, the Paladins dedicated themselves whole-heartedly to fulfilling Master Torello's solemn vow."

 

a group of Blood Axe orks

It would be good to mention an approximate number of orks to allow the reader to visualise the scene better.

 

his most faithful and hardened brothers

"his most trusted and battle-hardened brothers from the 1st Company"

 

The warp portal was destroyed, and the chapter began the process of rebuilding.

 

The warp portal was destroyed – or so it seemed.

Direct repetition of the same sentence.

 

And this time, it did not open for orks, but for a massive Eldar assault.

"And this time, instead of disoriented greenskins, it was the Eldar themselves who sallied forth from the portal."

 

I'll stop here for a bit. Need to be catching up on my sleep. ;)

[Wolf Priest Haelaeif]

Thank you for your comments, Kikinosuke. At the moment, however, I am suffering from lack of inspiration, combined with a lack of time for the hobby. What little time I do have goes into painting (and browsing online forums....). I do plan on reworking quite a lot of the article in the (hopefully) near future, and will then consider your critique.