The Caedmon Brigade

[maligncomedy]

I'll start out by giving you the theme idea then I'll start the IA:

 

-Small elite force

-Low resources/force strength due to recent events

-Specialized in Urban Warfare/Guerilla Tactics

-Defensive/Long-range army playstyle (think "Earth/Water" in terms of element)

 

without further ado:

 

 

 

The Caedmon Brigade

 

"It's all about FISH and CHIPS here."

 

 

 

-There will be a pic here eventually

 

 

 

Origins

 

D

uring the 26th Founding, the Adeptus Mechanicus selected the gene-seed of Rogal Dorn and that began the Chapter now known as the Caedmon Brigade. Originally, it was known as the Junius Brigade, with the crown of leadership falling onto a Chapter Master Caedmon. He lead the chapter fairly, and fostered a form of camaraderie seldom seen outside the Space Wolves. It seemed unneeded and foolishly sentimental, but Caedmon swore that in the times of war, the Imperium needed some degree of emotion. This did positively affect their relationship with the Guard and as such it was seen as an acceptable move. All was well. Until the Reclamation Incident.

 

The Reclamation Incident

 

Shortly after the failure of the Damocles Crusade, a significantly sized army of Tau was seen moving into Imperial territory. In particular, they were invading a Hive World. The Junius Brigade was sent to deal with the issue that had arisen. And all would have been fine. If, only the Tau had been there. Unfortunately for the Junius Brigade, the Tau were not the only problem. Unknown to the Imperium, a formidable Chaos army was heading on the warpath to said Hive World. And during late-campaign, when supplies were dwindling and the Tau were finally retreating, they struck. With a swift and precise attack that suggests they were Alpha Legion or atleast successors of such, they dealt a horrific blow to the Junius Brigade.

 

At the time, a Veteran named Völund Wagner was seen as a close friend of Chapter Master Caedmon. They had been on many crusades together, and had by all means, a strong if not near familial bond. It was him who this attack affected the most. During one of the many skirmishes with this new Chaos foe, a Sorceror cast his dark magic on Caedmon. Due to the nature of the battlefield and the ringing of combat, Caedmon was struck without time to evade or get into cover. His fellow battle brothers were then subject to a grisly scene. Caedmon was surrounded by a brief flash of Chaos Energy before succumbing to the attack. He began to twist and thrash about. His bone structuring writhing and his flesh distorting before their very eyes. And then it stood, or well, stood as best it could. The newly formed Chaos Spawn that was their beloved Chapter Master unleashed its fury upon the Veteran Squad, tearing them apart.

 

It was Wagner who metaphorically saved the day. Or at least that is how we shall phrase it. After some hesitation, he took the chaos spawn down in close-quarters combat. An action that completely changed the chapter to what it is now. The Psyker? He was later finished off by a Veteran marksman known as Kurt. Although the sorceror was defeated, the Chaos pressed on.

 

With no Chapter Master, it was Wagner who stepped up to command the rattled forces of the Junius Brigade. He ordered a strategic retreat. But worked it in waves. He entrusted the chapter's veterans in tactical dreadnought armor/dreadnoughts and armor company to slow the Chaos down. And slow them down it did. Not without casualties on both sides. A necessary sacrifice. It was the gangs of the hive world that finally finished the Chaos off. This event lead Wagner to restructure the Chapter, and so, the Caedmon Brigade was born.

 

 

Homeworld

 

T

he Caedmon Brigade has no real "homeworld". They drift from planet to planet carrying out missions that are often seen as troublesome or high-fatality rate. If anything, you can count their singular battle barge as a rather mobile fortress-monastery.

 

As for Recruitment? They have a rather intricate process. With custom testing developed by Wagner. The majority of their recruits have generally been offspring of Imperial Guard Storm Troopers or Veterans who have chosen to raise their children with teachings from their respective fields at an early age.

 

 

Belief System

 

A

fter the death of Junius, Wagner introduced a rather new belief system along with the reorganization. To call it nihilistic, would be partially accurate. The members of the chapter have to accept a few things as Wagner would call it:

 

1. You will die. You are not immortal. If you don't die in this battle, you might in the next.

2. If you must die, take as many enemies as you can with you.

3. No man is an army. Don't get split up.

*4. Don't show emotion. It only leads to weakness.

*5. There is to be no attachment. You don't get to make friends.

6. Never give up, never surrender.

 

*To explain numbers 4 and 5, Wagner felt that the camaraderie from the previous Chapter Master's work only led to heartbreak and grieving. To avoid this, all marines are given new identities (explained in Chapter Organization) and are to remain impartial to each other. That way, the death of a fellow battle brother has no negative impact.

 

Furthermore, with regards to religion and the Emperor. The Caedmon Brigade has a rather differential view. They view the emperor as a "geek" would view a real-life superhero. Amazing, and requiring proper respect/regard. Outside of that there is no "worship" in the sense as you would a religion.

 

 

Battlefield Doctrine

 

W

agner's battle doctrine for the Caedmon Brigade is simple and short. They follow the Codex Astartes laid down by Guilliman but generally forgo a number of options. Their style is to be extremely careful, preferring adaptability to power, with emphasis on precision, range and control. Quite a deal of their combat has been on urban warfare hence the FISH and CHIPS remark at the top (Fighting In Someone's House and Causing Havoc In People's Streets). In this situation, mid-range weapons like the bolter are extremely effective. So they generally trust it.

 

 

Chapter Organization

 

T

he Reclamation Incident dented the forces of the Caedmon Brigade. From an estimated 1500 strong chapter, they dropped to around 305 currently. They lost a great deal of armor (in the form of Predators, Whirlwinds, Vindicators, Landraiders and Dreadnoughts), quite a deal of fast attack (being jump packs, bikes and landspeeders) and overall a great deal of veterans. As of their current state, they have very few Apothecaries and even less in the way of techmarines/master of the forges. They place emphasis on the Sternguard veteran's for their adaptability and often field scouts alongside their tactical squads.

 

That being said, Wagner reorganized the army quite a bit. Here's a diagram:

 

 

New Recruit Training -> Tactical Squad -> Veteran/Sergeant/Scout -> Sternguard -> Command Squad/Honor Guard

*Scouts are treated similar to the way Wolf Scouts are and are therefore viewed as a higher rank.

*Some serve a length of time in the Deathwatch

 

 

As you can see, Wagner emphasized scouts as a more valuable rank. In order to do so he placed their value as equivalent to a veteran and requires them to train separately as well to maintain and perfect their set of skills.

 

That being said to promote his new rule of lack of emotion every marine gets a new identity as follows:

 

All marines regardless of squad are denoted as A-XXXX followed by a "name". The XXXX is a number that is above 500 but below 1500.

Marines carrying special weapons are denoted with B-XXXX followed by a "name". Once again, the number is above 500 but below 1500.

Marines carrying heavy weapons are denoted with D-XXXX followed by a "name". This is once again, the same as above.

Scouts however follow a different rule. Their identity is denoted by G-XXX followed by a "name". This time the number is above 150 but below 500.

Veterans/Sergeants/Honor Guard follow another variation. This time it is E-XXXX or E-XXX followed by a "name". The number is from their previous position.

Eg. a marine who becomes a sergeant would be E-XXXX where as a scout who becomes a sergeant would be E-XXX.

Captains/Chapter Masters/Librarians will use U-XXXX or U-XXX. Number is carried from previous position.

 

 

 

Now this means squads looks like this (using a tactical squad base):

 

7x A-XXXX "name"

1x B-XXXX "name"

1x D-XXXX "name"

1x E-XXXX or E-XXX "name"

 

For all regards the squad is then referred to as Tactical Squad E-XXXX. However, Veteran squads, Command squads and the Honor Guard have NO collective name but are simply referred to as a squad, or if need be, by members in the squad.

 

The Chapter Master Wagner is also following this format to a degree. He changed his name to Chapter Master R-035 "Wayland".

 

 

Notable Personalities

 

Chapter Master R-035 "Wayland" aka Völund Wagner: Current Chapter Master and former veteran under Caedmon. Killed the old chapter master under extreme circumstances and adopted the new policies. Rather strict, but wise in his ability to recognize value. Played as a Chapter Master with Hellfire Rounds, Combi-Plasma, Artificer Armor, and a Lightning Claw.

 

Veteran U-026 "Kurt" : Kurt is a dedicated marksman and former veteran under Caedmon. By far he is the oldest of the marines and rumour has it he was one of the original members of the Junius Brigade. After Wayland's change in organization, Kurt stepped up to train and work with the scouts. Lending his expertise to them when they need it. He also can sort of be seen as an observer in a sense that he generally keeps things under control. Played as a count-as Telion.

 

Captain E-1337 "Travers" aka Edgar Seress : Travers is widely considered to be the next chapter master. He's well loved within the chapter, and his tactical expertise is a formidable force. Although, Wayland considers him a pain. Travers refuses to accept Wayland's "functional" idealism (or change his identity to anything other then E-1337, because the E reminds him off his older name). In fact, some would say he would redeem the Junius Brigade to its former glory if he could. Until then, he dons extravagant armor, and does what he feels is necessary to keep the morale up (although not visibly), much to Wayland's displeasure. This insubordination doesn't float well, but Travers is an asset that Wayland can't afford to lose and as such tolerates the "childish" undermining for the good of the chapter. Played as a counts-as Sicarius. Possibly gonna drop the concept of this character. Or atleast tweek it a slight bit.

 

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

For this short little part here, I thought I'd explain how I intend to play them. I've played a ton of armies but the ones I have enjoyed most have been Water/Earth elements. To be honest, I am a horrible general when it comes to Fire or highly aggressive/melee based armies and I thought that doing one in my area of expertise would be nice.

 

Generally here's what I will use:

 

2 Tactical squads (Flamer, Missile Launcher or Heavy Bolter, Sergeant has Powerfist and Combi-Plasma or Combi-Melta)

1 Scout squad (6 man, with Snipers, possibly Camo Cloaks and Telion)

1 Sternguard squad (5 man, with 1 of each combi-weapon, and the sergeant with a powerfist)

1 Captain (Combi-Plasma, Hellfire Rounds, Auxilary Grenade Launcher, Artificer Armor and a Lightning Claw "counts-as")

Transports for Tacticals will be Rhinos and Razorbacks for the Sternguard

 

as points get higher, I'll be switching the Captain to a Chapter Master and possibly his Lightning claw to a Relic blade "counts-as" but for the most part, I'll just add more squads of the above, give them more gear (in terms of anti-armor or whatever they are lacking) and probably add a Librarian with Force Dome/Null Zone or Force Dome/Gate of Infinity. Even then its a tough choice as Sicarius would allow some decent rules himself.

 

I'm honestly not concerned with winning matches, I'd just like to use an army list that would reflect the chapter's current status and new ideals.

 

 

 

In terms of Modelling, I intend to repose the marines to show them aiming and add bolt pistols in holsters/grenades wherever possible. Tactical squads will ideally be upgraded with the bolters from the Deathwatch Conversion kit if it is still available. But thats iffy, considering the shoulders would go to other ranks. As for the HQ. I'm kinda working on him at the moment and its going to be a long while till I get him done. Doing a completely custom bolter for him.

 

 

 

Now that my babbling is done, If you would be so kind, some constructive criticism might be nice as it would help me feel it out and really get to working on this. I've got a lot of time now and I want to actually go full tilt into a DIY chapter and really make it one of those amazingly well written ones at that. If I have any glaring obvious mistakes just point them out and suggest alternatives please. Thanks guys.

[The Normish]

Well, I'm exhausted from the day, so I won't comment on the whole thing (though I will say it is interesting, and that I'll come back tomorrow to comment fully), but one thing stood out in my mind particularly after reading your IA draft:

 

New Recruit Training -> Tactical Squad -> Serves an amount of time in Death Watch -> Veteran/Sergeant/Scout -> Sternguard -> Command Squad/Honor Guard

 

I understand the Space Wolf scout idea, and I'm assuming that Assault and Devastator Squads fall under the heading "Tactical Squad", but my concern is with the Deathwatch. You don't send Marines to the Deathwatch. They're chosen. The best alien hunters from all of the Space Marines are recruited, where they serve a tour. Then they are sent back (I'm not sure after how long, or if they're called back, or what). But you can't just expect every one of them to go to the Deathwatch after only have been a Tactical Marine (of course, it would depend on individual skill).

 

Also, I like the Nihilistic approach after the Positivism approach.

 

See you tomorrow then, when I'll get the real work done.

[maligncomedy]

Forgot to ask, I'm having issues with the color scheme, I was figuring some form of camo or a scheme more similar to the Iron Warriors in a sense. Unfortunately my knowledge of camouflage is rather lacking, is there a universal standard for urban or does it range? One last question, what program do people use to make their SM painter a little more Unique? eg. Add designs/swirls or various other things.

[maligncomedy]

Well, I'm back with some news. The Chapter Master R-035 "Wayland" character got some love. I made a request in a random drawing thread on another board. Specifics were stated as the following:

 

Captain level space marine

Skull stylized helmet (with the left eye missing and a slight cut making a scar-like mark going downwards)

His left shoulder is slightly bigger (like a company/chapter champion's)

right shoulder is a plain normal shoulder with a sheath and a dagger in it. (dagger facing diagonally downards towards the belt buckle)

Rest of his armor is mark IV (like the forgeworld set)

in his right hand he has a customize bolter with a stock, scope, lengthened barrel (like a sniper's) and box magazine.

 

And luckily enough, someone fulfilled my request with the following:

 

http://i494.photobucket.com/albums/rr301/maligncomedy/chaptermasterwayland.jpg

 

Turns out the artist is Ragathol. He's given me permission to use the image as well.

 

I've also recently decided to strip Wayland down in points. I'll play him as Lias Issodon from Imperial Armor Volume Nine: The Badab War Part One, if forgeworld is allowed that is (Lias' rules totally reflect what I wanted Wayland to play as right down to the tiny details and the abilities conferred from having him in the army are rules that would be extremely effective and suited for city-fighting). If not, he'll be played a Chapter Master with Artificer Armor, Hellfire Rounds and a Power Weapon.

 

I'll do a major overhaul on the entire chapter fluff and flush out the characters probably tomorrow. Got some great ideas in my head and on paper and I intend to start work in Wayland's model soon. Still stuck on a colorscheme though.

[maligncomedy]

Another update:

 

Here's some quick WIP pics of work on the chapter master. There's another arm and head pic missing but those will come soon enough.

 

http://i494.photobucket.com/albums/rr301/maligncomedy/Snapshot_20101021_2.jpg

http://i494.photobucket.com/albums/rr301/maligncomedy/Snapshot_20101021_1.jpg

http://i494.photobucket.com/albums/rr301/maligncomedy/Snapshot_20101021.jpg

 

I'll toss up some better pics when I get the time. Just don't know where to proceed.