Need some help! Need Critiquing...

[Ishida]

L5R, at least in its roleplaying game form, is one of my all-time favorite settings. My screen name on most forums, Ide Ishida, is based off my real name and my favorite house. I think its an incredibly rich source of ideas for 40K, provided you file off the serial numbers.

 

It's Roc, btw, singular and plural in English. Sometimes you'll see it as rukh (from the Arabic and Persian رخ )

[Captain Zamiel]

Do Imperials believe the Emperor creates them?

No I don't think so but their particular pre-imperial faith would have their god create them and when the Imperial Faith is brought to them they adapt their own faith around it.

 

Okay I have a little bit of the ecology of Helysian has been thought out. Helysian has one super continent that is mostly rolling grassland covered in vast swathes of meter high grasses. In these grasses live multiple insects, grubs, and small mammals (all of which are poisonous to humans, its supposed to not be easy to live here). The next highest level of the food chain are the multiple types of man-sized and larger avian predators. These include the snapclaw, an ostrich like bird with large talons that have the ability to close in a split second (severing limbs and necks in the process) and an extremely high land speed, and the blood hawk, which can smell any wounded prey from over ten miles away. But the being to be feared is the Giant Roc. An alpha predator beyond compare, it is massive, can fly for days without end and on numerous occasions have destroyed whole villages in a single night. It can strike down from the heavens in a great arc so fast that there are many accounts of men getting cut in two at the waist with their legs standing upright.

 

There will of course be men that hunt these great beasts and it is from these types of men that the chapter recruits.

 

As for gene-seed I am torn. I like the Raven Guard but I know very little about their gene-seed problem. The white scars could work but seem a little ferocious for my taste (I like smart, cool headed warriors). And then I could always fall back on Ultramarine gene-seed but was raised from a quirky progenitor. Which do you think would work well? Or perhaps I should get a more concrete IA started before i pick this? <_<

[Ishida]

In a nutshell, Raven Guard successors are rare and tend to have a smaller-than-average chapter size due to both limited numbers of recruits and higher 'failure rate' among their pre-scout trainees. The Battle-Brothers have the no Mucranoid or Betcher's Gland, and their skin grows pale and hair and eyes turn black.

 

The White Scars' successors, on the other hand, have a noted ferocity in close-combat, a tendancy towards intra-chapter feuding that is rare among the Astrates, and sometimes get carried away when given a mission. There is no proof that that this is a genetic trait, and may simply be a cultural thing. But, remember, the Space Marines of every chapter are known as the Angels of Death. They are not nice people: the kick down mountains, spit acid, drink blood, and kill everyone and anyone in their way.

 

Gene-seed

The gene-seed of the Raven Guard is far from stable and a great deal of their gene-stock has become irreparably damaged, perhaps as a side effect of the accelerate gene-harvesting techniques employed many millennia ago. As a result, much of their genetic material has to come from Terra and therefore the cycle of recruitment for the Raven Guard is much slower than other Chapters. Few candidates for the Chapter prove able to sustain the transformation from a normal human being to a Space Marine and many die early in training, further limiting the Chapter in numbers.

 

Further deterioration has meant that several of the unique organs of the Space Marines no longer function as they should among the Sons of Corax, while others are not as effective as they once were. For example, the zygote cultures required to grow the Mucranoid and Betcher's Gland do not exist within the Raven Guard and the Melanchromic Organ has a unique mutation that, over the years of service, causes the skin of the Space Marine to grow paler. Eventually they will be as white as their Primarch and their hair and eyes will darken, becoming black as coal.

 

Gene-seed

The gene-seed of the White Scars appears to be stable and initially displayed no aberrations or mutation. However, with the introduction of genetic material from the steppes tribesmen, the genome seems to have inherited their wild savagery and thirst for war. Despite the teachings of the Khans and Stormseers, it is not unheard of for tribal feuds to flare up between fellow squad members. In addition to this, there have been several recorded instances where White Scars Brotherhoods have bloodily exceeded their mission objectives, such as the infamous `Red Highway Massacre`.

 

Whether such incidents are as a result of some inherent flaw in the White Scars` genetic material or came about after the integration of the tribesmen is unknown, but the Adeptus Mechanicus is eager to know which. The White Scars successor Chapters, the Rampagers, Marauders, Destroyers and the Storm Lords are all equally ferocious and fine examples of the combat teachings of Jaghatai Khan.

[Captain Juan Juarez]

But it also isn't like their blades or swords are hidden. They are out there, they got bling, and they want people to see them and be afraid of them. But they just got a thing about showing their faces. they like masks.

 

Depends how you look at it.. If they are the weapon, the Blade, then you have something to run with..

[Blacklight]

Hmm, Shrouded Blades, Masked Blades... Masked Rocs? I know rocs isn't the proper plural but it just sounds off without the S. Maybe Crimson Blades, Crimson Masks (make their hoods and masks red to fit), Roc Knights... that's all I got at the moment, I might have more when I can hit up a thesaurus :D

[Captain Zamiel]

Okay so I have settled between the name being either Roc Blades or Roc Swords.

I have also figured out the color scheme. It will be mostly white with red trim, and all weapons being painted black.

But as each marine gains more and more experience and are promoted to higher positions they replace more and more of their armor with black pieces.

Like my assault squad Sergeant below.

Note the lack of a jump pack on the Sergeant. The Chapter does not allow any marine the ability to imitate flight in that way except for the veterans of the first company.

So Blades or Swords? and any thoughts on the colors?

[Plague Angel]

No jump packs for Assault Marines or Vanguard? Interesting. Definitely will require a note in both the Combat Doctrines (an explanation for why) and Organization (to explain how the Companies deal with this change). It's definitely a Codex divergence, after all.

 

Your colors are a bit too White Scars, so far.

[Captain Zamiel]

Plague Angel Posted Today, 07:11 PM

No jump packs for Assault Marines or Vanguard? Interesting. Definitely will require a note in both the Combat Doctrines (an explanation for why) and Organization (to explain how the Companies deal with this change). It's definitely a Codex divergence, after all.

Yea I will delve into it much more in depth with the IA. I like the idea of an avian named chapter not using a large contingent of jump packs. It's a nice juxtaposition. And I want the use of Jump packs to be a real honor for those that use them. So basically only command units/ honor guard get them with maybe a really senior Vanguard unit that hasn't had any casualties in like a decade.

As for the color scheme seeming too white scars, I am having that problem too... Also their chapter symbol which I am working on right now will most likely be black. I may just let all battle brothers start with the lower portion of their mask painted black. Like so...

Shows the mask idea pretty well.

So how does black face armor look?

[Captain Zamiel]

Alright well I will just go with the name Roc Blades, use the second color scheme with the black faces, and begin on my IA. Thanks for all the help everyone. Once I have a concrete beginning to the IA I will post a link.