Index Astartes: Voidwatch

[Gree]

The VOIDWATCH

 

ORGINS

 

The Voidwatch was founded in M34, as part of the 8th founding. They where created from the geneseed of Rogal Dorn. Captain Alvardo Rialgo of the Imperial Fists, was selected to lead the new chapter. Rialgo was one of the most experienced and skilled Captains of chapter, having previously served as Captain of the 10th. The new chapter was named the Voidwatch, from the Emperor’s tarot and given its color scheme. Rialgo and a small group of Imperial Fist veterans formed the command and training cadre.

 

The Voidwatch was suppliedtwo battle barges and a number of ships from Mechanicus’s stocks and sent off on their own to forge a destiny among the stars. Rialgo was determined that the chapter would be a legacy worthy of his primarch.

 

To that end Rialgo went to the Sartos sector, one of the most distant and strife-ridden sectors in the galactic south. There Rialgo reported straight to the local Sector command and asked for the nearest warzone. He found it in the world of Daerlo Primaris, a great hive world. The Inquisitor of the Ordo Malleus informed him of a dangerous Nurgleite cult they had tracked there.

 

Rialgo landed with the five companies just as the leaders of the cult directed their followers into assaulting the Governor’s palace and central communications area. The Voidwatch immediately set up a defensive perimeter. At first the Astartes held fast against the waves of cultists. In desperation the sorcerer-leaders of the cult summoned forth daemons of Nurgle. Foul, stinking plaguebearers soon spearheaded the assaults. Even the presence of Traitor Astartes from the Death Guard were confirmed.

 

In the face of these odds the brothers of the chapter were hard-pressed indeed. However if the cult could gain control of the Governor’s palace Daerlo Prime would surely fall in short order. Rialgo swore it would never happen. He then gave his famous motto, taking off his gauntlet and cutting it with his blade. Then he drew a crimson line in the ground before it clotted.

 

‘’We are the last line of defense, he will hold the red line, we will sanctify it with the blood of our brothers, where we stand we kill, we are the last and only line, nothing is sacred’’.

 

Emboldened by his words the brothers of the Voidwatch endured, defending their barricades and the palace defenses with newfound zeal. They held out against a sea of mutants, daemons and other foul things. At the end of the day, Rialgo slew the Sorcerer-leader of the cult personally. Despite taking massive wounds he stayed awake during the entire battle, directing his battle brothers to annihilate the enemy.

 

Eventually the main leadership of the cult was slain in the battle and the chapter’s Librarians managed to banish the daemonic hordes from whence they came. With the loss of their dark patrons the cult faltered in its offensive. The Voidwatch rallied the planet’s PDF and went back on the offensive, eradicating the cult. After the battle the governor offered a grand parade and statues in the marines honor. Rialgo refused, stating that the only thing he desired from Daerlo was permission to recruit from the planet. Rialgo believed in Dorn’s motto of ‘’recruits, not vassals’’.

 

From then the Voidwatch claimed the nearby world of Kasteren III, a desolate, moon where the marines could live in solitude. There they built there Fortress Monastery. From then on Rialgo led the chapter across the entire sector, defending worlds, purging infestations, and aiding the local population whenever they could. The battle on Daerlo taught Rialgo and his marines that the horrors of such a cult could no longer ever be allowed to flourish. Nothing would be considered sacred in the purging of mankind’s hidden enemies.

 

Rialgo himself eventually died holding back a chaos warhost on Pastred’s World. His body was collected after the battle when the Voidwatch emerged victorious and his brothers ritually drew a red line where he stood and fought. From then on the Voidwatch has protected the Sartos sector against xenos or heretic attack, and if need be, administering Exterminatus to those that where lost forever to the Emperor.

 

The Chapter themselves in recent years has been troubled by the comings of the Tyranids. Imperial Segmentum command has intedifed a spilter fleet of Hive Fleet Kraken making their way to the Daerlo system. The chapter itself will hold true to it’s ancient debts and defend the system. In addition there old enemies in the Nurgleite cult of Rebirth have been in the rise.

 

HOMEWORLD

The Voidwatch’s homeworld is the desolate moon of Kasteren III, a lonely, unpopulated world located close to Daerlo Prime. It circles a dying sun and it covered in almost perpetual twilight. The Voidwatch’s Fortress Monastery is located on one of the two moons of Kasteren III and it little more than a naval and training base.The chapter spends most of its time aboard its extensive fleet, patrolling the Sartos sector.

 

Since Kasteren has no human population the Voidwatch do not recruit from it. Instead they recruit from worlds across the Sartos sector, most notably the hive-gangs of Daerlo Prime, the jungle deathworld of Tallamera, and the desert feral world of Yusos. The chapter maintains a number of Fortress Chapels on these worlds. They are small affairs whose sole purpose is to monitor the population for both recruits and signs of xenos or heretical taint.

 

Combat Doctrine

 

Although the Voidwatch are proficient in all forms of warfare described in the codex, they unsurprisingly excel at defensive actions and combat in siege and urban environments. The Voidwatch is also specialize in fighting infestations and rebellions. However they do not engage any common riot, but the most threatening and sector-spanning cults and plagues.

 

When containing the rebellion the chapter typically closes off the area and sets up what is commonly called the ‘’red line’’ which is a place that the chapter will defend until death, regardless at any cost. While the chapter excels at defense they are also quite unshakable in their assault, often purging the final remnants of their enemies after a hard-fought defense. While the chapter’s strategy is fairly unimaginative, they make up for it in iron discipline and excellent overall planning and morale.

 

The chapter has also perfected the air of air-dropping turrets and field fortifications for rapid construction of a defense line. Among the enemies of the Voidwatch, two have stood out. One is the Genestealer cults that taint Imperial space.

 

The other is the Conclave of Rebirth, a cult of Nurgle sorcerers who reside deep in the Maelstorm, they have targeted the Startos sector for unknown reasons. They were the ones who masterminded the uprising on Daerlo when Rialgo first came. However regardless of the cause they proved to be a thorn in the side of the Imperium, raising entire worlds as mindless plague zombies.

 

 

Organization

 

The Voidwatch is organized into the standard ten companies of the codex. The chapter has very little variation on the codex other than the fact that the Chapter Master also holds the tile of First Captain and commands the First Company.

 

This eventually rose from a combination of factors. Originally Rialgo did not have enough veterans to command all of the companies and he simply took on the role of First Company captain himself.

 

Later on, as a result of the companies of the Voidwatch being spread across the sector and normally becoming quite independent of each other, the 1st Company eventually became the Chapter Masters personal strike force.

 

While veteran squads are still detached and sent to other companies to bolster their fighting prowess, most of the company is grouped together and fights like a veteran-heavy battle company

 

Beliefs

 

As usual with Astartes chapters, the Emperor is revered as the father of humanity and Rogal Dorn as his greatest servant. It must be noted that the Voidwatch focuses more on these aspects of Dorn as the Emperor’s Praetorian. Alvardo Rialgo is hailed as a chapter hero and revered as the greatest leader and warrior the chapter had. Before his death he produced the ‘’Epistles of Kasteren’’ a series of tomes part autobiography’ part military treatise, and part philosophy.

 

In these books Rialgo outlines his philosophy and ideals. The Voidwatch have followed these method almost religiously, it being second only to the Codex Astartes in overall military and doctrinal importance. In it Rialgo stresses that the chapter must serve the greater part of humanity and that this is what the Emperor fought so hard to create. This meant that all of the cancers of rebellion and mutant cults had to be eradicated.

 

Although the Voidwatch must purge such things, when they form a cordon where no mutant, heretic or xenos may pass. It is inevitable that some innocents will die in the resulting purge. Rialgo is adamant that these nameless, innocent dead, are to be remembered as heroes and martyrs, for by their deaths countless more lives are saved by their sacrifice, whether they are willing or not.

 

Rialgo is also determined that such actions should never bee taken lightly. As a matter of doctrine Rialgo impressed upon his chapter the need to review and contemplate the actions of each battle, and to review their own mistakes. Rialgo claims that the Primarchs during the Horus Heresy fell precisely because they did not respect their own power, or the power of others, and grew arrogant and unchecked, believing that they could do anything, even defy the Emperor. He says a marine must respect his own limitations and duties.

 

To this end he recommends the Pain Glove. While it was at first popular with the chapter, later on more moderate elements took hold. Today the Pain glove is used only among the command elements of the Voidwatch, and only after a red line purge. As such it is seen as a mark of leadership and maturity to go through the Pain glove.

 

Another tradition is the ‘’red line’’. It is unknown exactly what Rialgo meant. One can only summarize it came from his dramatic gesture of painting the ground red with his own blood. The chapter has followed this tradition when they need to defend an especially important position or fortress. A Chaplain usually takes out a vial of synth-grown blood (As cutting oneself for the Astartes later proved to be to annoying and time-consuming with their Larraman cells) and using that draw a ceremonial red line in the ground.

 

Although the actual red line may be a few feet long; it symbolizes the will of the Voidwatch to not move in the face of the xenos and the tainted.

 

Geneseed

 

The Chapter is of the geneseed of Rogal Dorn, as such they have lost the Sus-an and Belcher’’s gland. However in all other aspects their geneseed is completely pure.

 

BATTLE-CRY

This is uttered by the Chaplains before battle and echoed by the Brothers, it is less of a battlecry and more of a motto.

 

"WHEN WE HUNT WE KILL. NOONE IS SAFE, NOTHING IS SACRED. WE ARE VOIDWATCH, WE ARE THE LAST LINE OF DEFENSE. WE WILL BURN OUR OWN TO HOLD THE RED LINE, IT IS THE LAST LINE TO EVER HOLD."

 

The actual rallying cry in battles is ‘’Hold the Red Line!’’ or some other variation.

[Brother_Kaelgrim]

Interesting concept. The only major complaint I have so far is you really need to clean up your sentence structure and spelling. There are several instances where I cannot tell if "he" is supposed to be "we" or vice versa.

 

You also have a good deal of run on sentences, makes things difficult to read.

 

Clean up formatting a bit, correct spelling and grammar and I'll take another go and let you know! (hehe...rhyming.)

[Grand Master Tyrak]

Rialgo was something of a black sheep within the ranks of the Fists, he was concerned heavily with the Fists duty to the Imperium and the defense or worlds, and that the chapter owned a greater responsibility to the Imperium as a greater whole. He opposed the constant crusading nature of most of his colleagues.

 

In a time of total war, the two 'opposing' concepts you've outlined are one and the same.

 

If it's a case of overzealousness you want to use, then you might be better off doing one of these: 1) using Black Templars, where it's more plausible, or 2) name-drop a made-up Chapter so that you can't be accused of changing an existing Chapter's fluff.

 

The Voidwatch was given two battle barges and a number of ships from the Fist’s large, mothballed fleet collection

 

I don't like this, if I'm honest. Firstly, the Astartes are stretched already - there wouldn't really be any mothballed ships. Secondly, what wrong with getting them from the Mechanicus like every new Chapter is assumed to do?

 

Eventually, with the coming of the Tyranids, a splinter fleet of Hive Fleet Kraken invaded the Daerlo system. The Voidwatch came in their entirety on the main hive world, alongside the ships of Battlefleet Tempestus, a Imperial Guard crusade, and a demi-legio of Titans.

 

I'm not so sure about having a second battle in here, but I'll see where you take this first.

 

What is wrong though is "Battlefleet Tempestus". I doubt you meant it, but the Battlefleet <insert Segmentum name> is one-fifth of the entire Imperial Navy - that's way too awesome for a DIY Chapter. Frankly, it's probably too awesome even for a GW-sanctioned campaign. Battlefleet <insert Sector name> is better, as in Battlefleet Gothic, Battlefleet Cadia or Battlefleet Bakka - there are many, many Sectors in the Imperium so you can make up a Battlefleet for the Startos Sector freely.

 

I'd like to see where you want to take this. At the moment you've got some battles, some organisation and military practices, but as a whole there's not much character yet. It's resembling a stew of ideas rather than a finished meal right now. Keep adding stuff in (particularly things like Homeworld, Chapter culture and beliefs).

[Gree]

Rialgo was something of a black sheep within the ranks of the Fists, he was concerned heavily with the Fists duty to the Imperium and the defense or worlds, and that the chapter owned a greater responsibility to the Imperium as a greater whole. He opposed the constant crusading nature of most of his colleagues.

 

In a time of total war, the two 'opposing' concepts you've outlined are one and the same.

 

Explain.

 

I don't like this, if I'm honest. Firstly, the Astartes are stretched already - there wouldn't really be any mothballed ships. Secondly, what wrong with getting them from the Mechanicus like every new Chapter is assumed to do?

 

I always assumed they got them from their parent chapter to be honest.

 

What is wrong though is "Battlefleet Tempestus". I doubt you meant it, but the Battlefleet <insert Segmentum name> is one-fifth of the entire Imperial Navy - that's way too awesome for a DIY Chapter. Frankly, it's probably too awesome even for a GW-sanctioned campaign. Battlefleet <insert Sector name> is better, as in Battlefleet Gothic, Battlefleet Cadia or Battlefleet Bakka - there are many, many Sectors in the Imperium so you can make up a Battlefleet for the Startos Sector freely.

 

I'd like to see where you want to take this. At the moment you've got some battles, some organisation and military practices, but as a whole there's not much character yet. It's resembling a stew of ideas rather than a finished meal right now. Keep adding stuff in (particularly things like Homeworld, Chapter culture and beliefs).

 

No, no, no, not the entire battlefleet, I meant more of a detachment from the local sector. I should probably rewrite that to be clearer.

 

Interesting concept. The only major complaint I have so far is you really need to clean up your sentence structure and spelling. There are several instances where I cannot tell if "he" is supposed to be "we" or vice versa.

 

You also have a good deal of run on sentences, makes things difficult to read.

 

I'm sorry, I don't know how to do that.

 

EDIT: Alright, I've edited it as best as I can.

[Dark Apostle Thirst]

Rialgo was something of a black sheep within the ranks of the Fists, he was concerned heavily with the Fists duty to the Imperium and the defense or worlds, and that the chapter owned a greater responsibility to the Imperium as a greater whole. He opposed the constant crusading nature of most of his colleagues.

 

In a time of total war, the two 'opposing' concepts you've outlined are one and the same.

 

Explain.

 

 

Well, the concepts you outlined are the same as those of the IF anyways. It's not really any different than what most IF try to graviate towards. Heck, they don't even try, they just do.

[Grand Master Tyrak]

Rialgo was something of a black sheep within the ranks of the Fists, he was concerned heavily with the Fists duty to the Imperium and the defense or worlds, and that the chapter owned a greater responsibility to the Imperium as a greater whole. He opposed the constant crusading nature of most of his colleagues.

In a time of total war, the two 'opposing' concepts you've outlined are one and the same.

Explain.

 

Prevention is protection, take the fight to the enemy's territory instead of fighting in your own, the best form of defence is attack etc.

[Gree]

Well, I've cut out that part an replaced it with something a bit different.

[The Normish]

It's quite good, I like the concept of the Red Line.

You might want to format the text itself a little more clearly, with defined headings, etc.

[Ace Debonair]

In the face of these odds the brothers of the chapter were hard-pressed indeed. However if the cult could gain control of the Governor’s palace Daerlo Prime would surely fall in short order. Rialgo swore it would never happen. He then gave his famous motto, taking off his gauntlet and cutting it with his blade. Then he drew a crimson line in the ground before it clotted.

His gauntlet can bleed? :lol:

 

‘’We are the last line of defense, he will hold the red line, we will sanctify it with the blood of our brothers, where we stand we kill, we are the last and only line, nothing is sacred’’.

 

Oof, all that is one sentence... Glad I don't have to give that speech.

Might I suggest an edited version with some full stops and general overhaul?

 

"We are the last line of defence. We will hold our ground, defending the line sanctified by the red blood of our brothers. Where we stand, death stands alongside us! We defend the red line - and until victory, nothing is sacred!"

 

Other than that, not bad. I think this chapter is slowly taking shape.

[Gree]

His gauntlet can bleed? :nuke:

 

Yes, he is a follwer of chaos, his gauntlet bleeds. :(

 

Seriously, I'll change that.

 

‘’We are the last line of defense, he will hold the red line, we will sanctify it with the blood of our brothers, where we stand we kill, we are the last and only line, nothing is sacred’’.

 

Oof, all that is one sentence... Glad I don't have to give that speech.

Might I suggest an edited version with some full stops and general overhaul?

 

"We are the last line of defence. We will hold our ground, defending the line sanctified by the red blood of our brothers. Where we stand, death stands alongside us! We defend the red line - and until victory, nothing is sacred!"

 

Other than that, not bad. I think this chapter is slowly taking shape.

 

Sure, but I'm not very good at grammar.

[Captain Juan Juarez]

DO you absolutely require the huge blocks of text for Origins and Beliefs? Less is sometimes more...

[Gree]

Any tips on what to cut out?

[Captain Juan Juarez]

Any tips on what to cut out?

 

Thats for you to decide, but basically anything that doesnt add anything substantial or the reader doesnt need to know!