IA: Stone Crows

[Justiciar]

Finally getting around to finalizing the background for my chapter since I felt compelled to rename them after finding out that GW had used that name in an offhand reference in some of their fluff. Any critiques are welcome.

 

INDEX ASTARTES – STONE CROWS

 

Founding:

 

The Stone Crows chapter histories hold them themselves to be part of the 7th founding and while there are references to their existence in tithing records from 340.M33, the earliest primary documentation in the annals of the Imperium dates from just prior to the Gothic War. The source of the gene-seed used is that of the Raven Guard but is strongly suspected to have either been modified by the Adeptus Mechanicus in some fashion. The records of the Adeptus Mechanicus reference a modification of the geneseed but further inquiry yields no more specific explanation than the bare reference to manipulation by the adepts. Adalius Clade and Albus Shaw of the Raven Guard were the chapter’s first Chapter Master and Reclusiarch respectively and Corax is venerated as the chapter's primarch.

 

 

History:

 

The earliest definitive record of the Stone Crows is their emergency deployment to counter the outlying rebellions and raids in the wake of Abaddon's 4th Black Crusade. There they were involved in a series of actions in raiding the supply lines of the Chaos fleet and conducting spoiling raids on the Crusade's vanguard. Prior to that, mention of the Stone Crows appears limited to references in Battlefleet Solar's patrol records and exclusions from the Imperial tithe.

 

The Stone Crows were later seconded to Inquistor Abram Koln during his purge of chaos cultists in the Castlereagh system in late M37. This marked the first direct influence of the Inquisition on the Stone Crows. The chapter has had great fortune in its collaboration with the Ordos and it was shortly thereafter that the chapter was selected as one of the five chapters used in the Inquisition’s Aegis Directive. Whether this was done due to the chapter’s success in battle or to supervise their activities is uncertain.

 

This initiative utilized a number of chapters who possessed mobile fortress monasteries to be dispatched to troubled regions for prolonged periods to either address Xenos threats or to promote doctrinal conformity amongst areas perceived to be lacking in loyalty to the Imperium. Along with the Scarlet Guard and Manticores, the Stone Crows were sent to fringes of the Maelstrom in approximately 279.M40, taking Kaifa as their tithe world.

 

There the Stone Crows engaged in shipping interdiction and Inquisitorial raids into the Maelstrom itself to try to blunt the raids mounted by the Wordbearers and other renegades. This proved of limited success as the temporal distortions and navigational issues prevented the Stone Crows from successfully coordinating their assaults.

 

The most notable battlefield honors for the Stone Crows came in the Gothic War as a raiding unit used to destabilize worlds Chaos conquered during the earliest phases of that conflict. The Crows reprised their harrying role from the 4th Black Crusade by engaging in hit and fade missions on worlds newly conquered by Abaddon’s forces to give hope to any resistance remaining and prevent the Chaos forces from entrenching themselves. This diverted Chaos mainforce units and eased the eventual reconquest.

 

The most notable engagement from this period was the relief of the siege of Heraclea which saw the Stone Crows making teleport strikes on the newly captured orbital stations simultaneously with raids on the rear support areas of Chaos units bombarding Heraclea Primus. The resultant distraction allowed the ruling family and 3 IG regiments to successfully withdraw offworld before the planet’s fall. The chapter was then able to systematically destroy the majority of the world’s infrastructure before being forced to withdraw, leaving nothing for the enemy to exploit. Unfortunately it proved necessary for the Crows to annhilate several friendly PDF units for attempting to resist this scorched earth measure.

 

Phaleron came as the next tithe world and this period was one of declining success as the Crows proved unable to halt the tide of increasingly frequent raids by unknown attackers in the subsector. The survivors descriptions of the raiders varied between relentless metallic gunmen and swift agile opponents who preferred close-in bladework. Despite the notable success of the chapter in destroying the Kabal of the Vacant Soul at Thafir Thracia the overall number of raids actually increased. The chapter was able to prevent several raids but could never locate the metallic raiders’ stronghold or force them into a decisive confrontation.

 

The chapter has recently been given Ashkelon on the Eastern Fringe (Segmentum Ultima) as its newest tithe world in an effort to diminish Tau expansion and provide support to the efforts to slow the advance of the hivefleets. Ashkelon had been the site of anti-Imperium riots and diminished tithes from the planetary governor for almost a generation…

 

Homeworld:

 

The Stone Crows’ fortress monastery In Medias Res, is a heavily modified Ramilies class starfort seized early in the chapter’s history during the relief of a besieged forgeworld. At the end of each 337 year cycle, a new tithe world is mutually selected by the High Lords and Chapter Master and the chapter’s fleet falls into orbit around that world shortly thereafter to bring the region back into proper compliance.

 

The worlds selected are invariably worlds located in sectors experiencing turmoil or a lapse of Imperium control. After the chapter reestablishes compliance, the Stone Crows will expand their control throughout the system and begin settling a contingent of citizen serfs drawn from stock taken from their original homeworld Carpathia Septimus, a feudal world in the Segmentum Solar and more recent recruiting worlds. These warriors will ensure that a nucleus of loyal followers from which to recruit and to serve as an example to the new tithe world by their conduct.

 

Organization:

 

The Stone Crows are set up along basic codex lines with some notable deviations. The first company has almost 200 members with approximately half of those brothers on detached duty as veteran sergeants in the other battle company squads, as trainers for the 10th company, as commanders of ships for fleet actions and supplemental squads to complete specialized tasks for the other battle companies. Their normal effective fighting strength is usually kept around 120.

 

The battle companies (companies 2 – 7) are composed almost identically to that of the Codex Astartes with the frequent substitution of an additional assault squad for a devastator squad. The 8th and 9th companies are journeyman companies in which recent initiates train extensively in power armor, the handling of vehicles, and completing cadre or relatively simple missions such as patrols or garrisoning strongpoints.

 

Their focus is primarily on building unity with their brethren and in learning to work within the battle company formation. Once the journeyman period is complete the squad will be transferred under the leadership of a veteran to one of the battle companies to replace losses. Casualties with the various battle company squads are addressed by collapsing decimated squads into the larger squads within the company.

 

The 10th company is comprised of approximately 500 recruits in various stages of gene-seed implantation. This level is maintained as much as possible to balance the extremely high attrition accrued from vigorous and frequent use of Stone Crow initiates in battlezones. Squads from this company are attached to each battle company to provide battlefield intelligence and support and developing the extensive infiltration skills that the chapter is noted for. Combat encounters will frequently see a squad or two being present in a supporting role but most often the scouts will be far from the battlefield developing intelligence for drop pod assaults or armored raids.

 

The Stone Crows shun the use of bikes as too noisy for effective reconnaissance and restrict their use to attack bikes in a battlefield role. For long range scouting of large enemy formations and harassing actions a limited number of land speeder variants are employed but the vast majority of reconnaissance is performed by the 10th company scout squads as the Stone Crows feel there is no substitute for careful direct visual observation by chapter members on the ground.

 

Recruitment:

 

The chapter generally recruits from technologically limited mountainous worlds within patrol distance of their former tours. These worlds have historically been arid and well above the Imperium norm in temperature. The chapter also retains rights to recruit from its former tithe worlds and will return approximately every generation to select its initiates.

 

The Stone Crows’ system of selection is notable in that the marines are generally not directly involved in the testing itself. Instead traditional games of physical and mental prowess lasting a lunar month are established during the chapter’s service, taking place every twenty years. Local leaders administer the rites and conduct the games themselves.

 

When the time of testing returns the chapter will send representatives back to infiltrate into the area to observe the games and the conduct of the participants outside the games themselves. An emphasis is placed on selecting candidates who can cooperate as necessary and who have treated the other participants fairly. While the games are frequently lethal by nature, dishonorable conduct will result in that participant meeting “an accident” at the hands of the observing Crows prior to the end of the proceedings.

 

Those deemed worthy are abducted during the last night of the games to “become one of the chosen of God”. In their place items of beneficial technology such as a lasgun or solar generator are left in their place to ease the loss of a potential hero to the family and clan.

 

New recruits are scrutinized to exceptional levels for genetic purity. This is part of a program conducted by the Stone Crows’ apothecaries to prevent any further damage to the geneseed and limit the introduction of any new variables into the potentially already damaged geneseed.

 

Combat Doctrine:

The early deployment of the Stone Crows has profoundly affected their doctrinal mindset. Being pressed into battle significantly below strength taught them to make every shot count, infiltrating into position to get the best angle on their target. A key feature of any Stone Crows assault is a simultaneous assault from multiple directions by both assault units and long range fire support. Infantry squads will either engage in long range firefights featuring frequent redeployment or will infiltrate closer to engage the enemy at close range and overwhelm them.

 

While the Stone Crows specialize in infiltration and sudden assaults, in situations that limit such actions the Stone Crows will engage in hit and run tactics utilizing long range units to pick off isolated enemy formations to thin their ranks and weaken their morale. As the enemy masses to address the threat the Stone Crows will fade away and a new assault will begin on an isolated or exposed enemy unit.

 

Beliefs:

The Stone Crows believe in the divinity of the God-Emperor as evidenced by the perfection of his teachings. While to the uninitiated many of the Imperial precepts appear harsh or cruel, they are the most efficient way of preserving humanity and thus show the divine inspiration.

 

The Stone Crows are essentially Amalathian in philosophy but ruthless in their execution of that belief. In accord with traditional Amalathian canon they see their role as that of preserving the Imperium as envisioned by the Emperor but also strive toward restoring the unity the Imperium evidenced during the Great Crusade. The Stone Crows take a dim view of any infighting amongst the Adeptus and will act unilaterally to set an example for the dissenters but any direct hindrance to their efforts will be met without mercy or respite.

 

Battlecry:

Rarely stated due to the chapter’s emphasis on misdirection and stealth but the one most commonly heard uttered by Stone Crows has been “His Wrath Has Found You!”.

 

Geneseed:

The Stone Crows use the geneseed of the Raven Guard but the Stone Crows do not seem to show the same level of severe damage done to the geneseed by Corax’s experiments. The apothecaries subject the geneseed used in new recruits to the utmost scrutiny and utilize only the purest geneseed under all but the direst situations but it would be pure conjecture to conclude that any improvement is a direct correlation of this practice or whether the source of the improvement lies with the experiments of the Adeptus Mechanicus.

 

The Bletcher’s Gland is missing but the Mucranoid gland functions at minimal levels. In a Stone Crow the Mucranoid will provide protection from minor exposures to intense sunlight or mild doses of radiation but the Chapter’s apothecaries see the improvement in the gland’s functioning as fragile and the Stone Crows’ doctrine calls for all combat operations to be conducted in sealed armor. The trademark paleness rendered by the Ravenguard geneseed is lessened among the Stone Crows but this may well be attributable to the pool of Stone Crows recruits being from worlds with olive-skinned or darker complexioned populations.

 

The apothecaries of the Stone Crows spend the vast majority of their time working with the geneseed and the induction process of the large recruit pool. It is very rare to see the chapter’s apothecaries on the battlefield in any great number.

 

Notable Personalities:

 

Kedron Haik:

 

Haik has recently ascended to Chapter Master after the death of prior Master Iskander Demades fighting Tau raiding cadres. Prior to his elevation Haik served as the Captain of the Fifth Company and is best known for his destruction of the Kabal of the Vacant Soul in the Thafir Thracia system.

 

Decades of punishing slave raids by the Kabal saw no end in sight despite a vast increase in patrols by the subsector battlefleet. Haik disembarked the non-marine crew of his strike cruiser, The Narrow Path, and shut down all power to the ship which rested in the shadow of the system’s third moon, relying solely on careful replacement of the batteries to the power armor of his marines to sustain them for weeks.

 

Haik’s patience was rewarded when The Narrow Path’s passive sensors showed an anomaly near the solar edge of the small unsettled second moon quickly followed another raid. Haik responded by harrying the Dark Eldar ships on the return leg. Haik’s boarding of the Dark Eldar archon’s crippled flagship provoked the archon into a frenzy and the balance of the Kabal was summoned to deal with the temerity of monkeigh.

 

As the Dark Eldar reinforcements emerged from the Webway they were answered by other waiting Stone Crows ships summoned to the area by astropathic signal. The Stone Crows' primary battle barge Father of Omens then bombarded the second moon into fragments choking the exit of the revealed webway portal. The Kabal’s reinforcements emerged into the newly created asteroid field shredding their thinly armored hulls. As Haik finished the archon in personal combat at the cost of most of his command squad, the remaining Dark Eldar were then either destroyed ship to ship or exterminated when they fled into the debris field by further destruction of the larger asteroids.

[Lysimachus]

My apologies for not having time to read properly/offer a more detailed crit, but seeing the thread title I had to say that you might possibly want to rethink the name again... ;) :P

 

linky

 

 

To be fair, it's maybe more of a UK/Aussie(?) thing so ignore me if it means nothing to you! ;)

[NightrawenII]

Welcome in the Liber! I don't know how hardened you are, but be warned, we Liberites are tough and harsh people.

 

First, oh noes! Another Chapter shrouded in mystery. It seems like we never get rid of this foul kin.

 

The Stone Crows chapter histories hold them themselves to be part of the 7th founding and while there are references to their existence in tithing records from 340.M33, the earliest primary documentation in the annals of the Imperium dates from just prior to the Gothic War.

- Errm, the following section contradicts this.

 

The source of the gene-seed used is that of the Raven Guard but is strongly suspected to have either been modified by the Adeptus Mechanicus in some fashion.

- The rule of thumb, when it comes to Admech modifying the gene-seed: The result is always more messier than the original. You could avoid this with suggesting the mixed gene-seed, but oh well...

 

The most notable battlefield honors for the Stone Crows came in the Gothic War as a raiding unit used to destabilize worlds Chaos conquered during the earliest phases of that conflict.

- After 7,000 years of service? A bunch of gawks, these guys... :P

- Btw, the Gothic War is well-documented conflict. Not a single Chapter was involved until the end.

 

Homeworld

The worlds selected are invariably worlds experiencing turmoil or a lapse of Imperium control.

- This is duty of Adeptus Arbites. You don't need Chapter of Adeptus Astartes for such 'lowly' task.

 

Organization:

The first company has almost 200 members with approximately half of those brothers on detached duty as veteran sergeants in the other battle company squads, as trainers for the 10th company, as commanders of ships for fleet actions and supplemental squads to complete specialized tasks for the other battle companies.

- Explain this, please, because it doesn't make sense.

 

The 8th and 9th companies are journeyman companies in which recent initiates train extensively in power armor, the handling of vehicles, and completing cadre or relatively simple missions such as patrols or garrisoning strongpoints.

- The primary purpose of the reserve companies is to act as reinforcements and support of battle companies.

- SM don't garrison strong-points, it's against their combat doctrines.

 

The 10th company is comprised of approximately 500 recruits in various stages of gene-seed implantation. This level is maintained as much as possible to balance the extremely high attrition accrued from vigorous and frequent use of Stone Crow initiates in battlezones. Squads from this company are attached to each battle company to provide battlefield intelligence and support and developing the extensive infiltration skills that the chapter is noted for. Combat encounters will frequently see a squad or two being present in a supporting role but most often the scouts will be far from the battlefield developing intelligence for drop pod assaults or armored raids.

- I do understand where you are coming from, but you are doing it wrong. I can't see anything radically different in Crow's deployment of Scouts from 'normal' Codex Chapter to justify such divergence.

 

Beliefs:

The Stone Crows believe in the divinity of the God-Emperor as evidenced by the perfection of his teachings.

- The Adeptus Astartes usually don't believe in divinity of Emperor.

 

Recruitment:

Technically speaking, nothing new under sun, just repackaged.

[Justiciar]

I understand the concern about the name viz a viz the phrase but it should not be an issue in my neck of the woods so to speak. I appreciate the heads up Strike Captain, but I am ok with the possible grief I will take as a result of sticking with the name. Thanks.

 

Nightrawen, you make a number of good points but overall seem to dislike me deviating at all from a bog standard codex chapter. Any chapter that largely adheres to the codex is necessarily going to have significant similarities to the chapters that have gone before. It is the little differences that will make it different from its brother chapters. I will post the revised version below but wanted to address a few things before posting that. I do very much appreciate the input.

 

As far as the mysterious chapter thing, I did revise a few things to add clarity but anything 7,000 years old is going to have vague portions. ;)

 

The worlds selected are invariably worlds experiencing turmoil or a lapse of Imperium control.

- This is duty of Adeptus Arbites. You don't need Chapter of Adeptus Astartes for such 'lowly' task.

 

There is a fair amount of truth to that but my original concept was not that the Chapter would come in and address issues on a single world but that they would come in, take a single world in tithe and then pacify the surrounding systems. That is a much larger task and one that would almost certainly be more than the Arbites could manage. I revised that section a bit to make it more clear.

 

The first company has almost 200 members with approximately half of those brothers on detached duty as veteran sergeants in the other battle company squads, as trainers for the 10th company, as commanders of ships for fleet actions and supplemental squads to complete specialized tasks for the other battle companies.

- Explain this, please, because it doesn't make sense.

 

Looking at this, the language in the IA is a bit vague so I clarified it. Basically the concept is that when a battle brother reaches a certain level of renown or expertise he is invited to and joins the first company, the Yatagarasu. Any squad leaders or officers for the battle companies (2-7) are drawn from the veterans of the first company and thus while they are serving with a particular battle company as veteran sergeants, they still retain their identity as members of the first company despite their current assignment.

 

The 8th and 9th companies are journeyman companies in which recent initiates train extensively in power armor, the handling of vehicles, and completing cadre or relatively simple missions such as patrols or garrisoning strongpoints.

- The primary purpose of the reserve companies is to act as reinforcements and support of battle companies.

- SM don't garrison strong-points, it's against their combat doctrines.

 

Both of these points assume that the Chapter would follow the Codex Astartes strictly. ;) The setup of which companies are battle companies and which act as replacement companies can vary from Chapter to Chapter. The Salamanders are one example. The Stone Crows also handle it differently.

 

While it is rare for marines to defend fortifications, it does happen. There are a fair number of examples of that happening. "Garrison" is a misnomer to what I intended so I changed the word to "defend" instead.

 

- I do understand where you are coming from, but you are doing it wrong. I can't see anything radically different in Crow's deployment of Scouts from 'normal' Codex Chapter to justify such divergence.

 

It might be wrong for the Ultramarines but the Crows simply do it differently. "Wrong" would be saying the Crows recruit from the Eldar or something insane like that. This is just a choice of doctrine. The Crows have teams of scouts all over their area of responsibility and not just assigned to a particular company. The attrition among the scouts also has to be much higher than among the battle brothers due to differences in equipment and training. The Crows setup makes it harder for prolonged campaigning to render the Crows less effective.

 

 

 

REVISED

 

 

INDEX ASTARTES – STONE CROWS

 

Founding:

 

The Stone Crows chapter histories hold themselves to be part of the 7th founding and while there are references to their existence in tithing records from 340.M33, the earliest primary documentation in the annals of the Imperium dates from the time of Abaddon's 4th Black Crusade. The source of the gene-seed used is that of the Raven Guard but is strongly suspected to have either been modified by the Adeptus Mechanicus in some fashion. The records of the Adeptus Mechanicus reference a modification of the geneseed but further inquiry yields no more specific explanation than the bare reference to manipulation by the adepts. The relative stability of the geneseed would seem to indicate that either the source was from geneseed drawn from the survivors of the Dropsite massacres or through tempering the instabilities of Corax's experiments with geneseed from another chapter. It is known that Adalius Clade and Albus Shaw of the Raven Guard were the chapter’s first Chapter Master and Reclusiarch respectively and Corax is venerated as the chapter's primarch.

 

 

History:

 

The earliest definitive record of the Stone Crows is their emergency deployment to counter the outlying rebellions and raids in the wake of Abaddon's 4th Black Crusade. One of the earliest notable battlefield honors for the Stone Crows came in the wake of this conflict as a raiding unit used to destabilize worlds conquered during the earliest phases of the Chaos incursion. The Crows were involved in a series of actions in raiding the supply lines of the Chaos fleet and conducting spoiling raids on the Black Crusade's vanguard. Prior to that, mention of the Stone Crows appears limited to references in Battlefleet Solar's patrol records and exclusions from the Imperial tithe.

 

The most notable engagement from this period was the relief of the siege of Heraclea which saw the Stone Crows making teleport strikes on the newly captured orbital stations simultaneously with raids on the rear support areas of Chaos units bombarding Heraclea Primus. The resultant distraction allowed the family of the Imperial governor and 3 IG regiments to successfully withdraw offworld before the planet’s fall. The chapter was then able to systematically destroy the majority of the world’s infrastructure before being forced to withdraw, leaving nothing for the enemy to exploit. Unfortunately it proved necessary for the Crows to annhilate several friendly PDF units for attempting to resist this scorched earth measure.

 

The Crows gained a reputation for zeal and ruthlessness among the forces of the Imperium tasked with the reconquest and cleansing of the world tainted by this incursion. The thorough pragmatism of the Crows made them a favorite implement of the inquisitors at the leading edge of the Imperium's advance. The Burning of Oram, Eteria, and the Purging of Kanaris all date from this period. Stone Crows companies led the spinward vanguard of this effort for the better part of a century before returning to their home sector.

 

The systems bounding Carpathia Septimus are among the most blessed in terms of the ores needed for the creation of the more advanced augmetics constructed by the Adeptus Mechanicum. Unfortunately these same materials are prized by the meks of the Ork clans plaguing most of those systems. It was during the Relief of the Siege of Thyia that the Stone Crows claimed their current fortress monastery.

 

Thyia was the seat of the Adeptus Mechanicus presence in the region and as such was well protected by a series of orbital defenses rivaling that of a sector battlefleet home port. This fortified might was to prove to be of no avail before the relentless advance of Waaagh Ghazgrim. The orbital battle lasted a week until an ork hulk rammed both of the primary orbital forts out of position and cleared the way for the green tide to begin making planetfall.

 

The first strike cruiser bearing the second company dropped out of the warp just under a month later in response to the calls for aid from the Adeptus Mechanicus forgemaster. At that point, the orks had already made significant inroads into the hives of Thyia and were gaining momentum for a final push. The Crows began the counterstroke by systematically eliminating the ork picket ships as they advanced into the heart of the system.

 

When joined a day later by the battlebarge Call to Glory bearing the fifth and seventh companies, the Stone Crows were able to mount a decisive assault on the largest of the three remaining ork hulks in an effort to break the ork cordon. The assault was relentless and swift but the sheer size of the hulk forced the Crows to expend a full day clearing the craft while the battlebarge engaged the other hulks.

 

Once the largest hulk was eliminated as a threat and the other hulks driven out of orbit, victory over the orks was simply a matter of time. The Stone Crows spent the next weeks engaging in teleport raids and drop pod to stall the ork advance and begin the annihilation of the greenskins which was later completed by regiments of the 23rd Carthan battlegroup.

 

During the Stone Crows orbital assault, it became clear that the orks had been hard at work on the wreckage of the Ramilies starfort and had begun “improvements”. The most significant modification had been the addition of warp drives and other means of propulsion to the starfort from the wreckage of the hulk destroyed in the earlier ramming manuever. These particular drives had been scrapped from the wreckage of the Walpurgis, a Emperor class battleship lost to the warp in early M32 and later amalgamated into the hulk sometime after. After repair, cleansing and rededication by the Mechanicum, the grateful forgemaster gifted the now mobile starfort to the Stone Crows.

 

The Stone Crows were later seconded to Inquistor Abram Koln during his purge of chaos cultists in the Castlereagh system in late M36. This marked the first direct influence of the Inquisition on the Stone Crows. The chapter has had great fortune in its collaboration with the Ordos and it was shortly thereafter that the chapter was selected as one of the five chapters used in the Inquisition’s Aegis Directive. This initiative utilized a number of chapters who possessed mobile fortress monasteries to be dispatched to troubled regions for prolonged periods to either address Xenos threats or to promote doctrinal conformity amongst sectors perceived to be lacking in loyalty to the Imperium.

 

Along with the Scarlet Guard and Manticores, the Stone Crows were sent to fringes of the Maelstrom in approximately 279.M40, taking Kaifa as their tithe world. There the Stone Crows engaged in shipping interdiction and Inquisitorial raids into the Maelstrom itself to try to blunt the raids mounted by the Wordbearers and other renegades. This proved of limited success as the temporal distortions and navigational issues prevented the Stone Crows from successfully coordinating their assaults.

 

Phaleron came as the next tithe world and this period was one of declining success as the Crows proved unable to halt the tide of increasingly frequent raids by unknown attackers in the subsector. The survivors descriptions of the raiders varied between relentless metallic gunmen and swift agile opponents who preferred close-in bladework. Despite the notable success of the chapter in destroying the Kabal of the Vacant Soul at Thafir Thracia the overall number of raids actually increased. The chapter was able to prevent several raids but could never locate the metallic raiders’ stronghold or force them into a decisive confrontation.

 

The chapter has recently been given Ashkelon on the Eastern Fringe (Segmentum Ultima) as its newest tithe world in an effort to diminish Tau expansion and provide support to the efforts to slow the advance of the hivefleets. Ashkelon had been the site of anti-Imperium riots and diminished tithes from the planetary governor for almost a generation…

 

Homeworld:

 

The Stone Crows’ fortress monastery In Medias Res, is a heavily modified Ramilies class starfort seized early in the chapter’s history during the relief of a besieged forgeworld. At the end of each 337 year cycle, a new tithe world is mutually selected by the High Lords and Chapter Master and the chapter’s fleet falls into orbit around that world shortly thereafter to bring the region back into proper compliance.

 

The worlds selected are invariably worlds located in sectors experiencing turmoil or a lapse of Imperium control. After the chapter reestablishes compliance, the Stone Crows will expand their control throughout the system and begin settling a contingent of citizen serfs drawn from stock taken from their original homeworld Carpathia Septimus, a feudal world in the Segmentum Solar and more recent recruiting worlds. These warriors will ensure that a nucleus of loyal followers from which to recruit and to serve as an example to the new tithe world by their conduct.

 

Organization:

 

The Stone Crows are set up along basic codex lines with some notable deviations. The first company, the Yatagarasu, has almost 200 members with approximately half of those brothers on detached duty as veteran sergeants in the other battle company squads, as trainers for the 10th company, as commanders of ships for fleet actions and supplemental squads to complete specialized tasks for the other battle companies.

 

Any squad leaders or officers for the battle companies (2-7) are drawn from the veterans of the first company and thus while they are serving with a particular battle company as veteran sergeants, they still retain their identity as members of the first company despite their current assignment. The normal effective fighting strength of the Yatagarasu is usually kept around 100 to 120 battle brothers.

 

The battle companies (companies 2 – 7) are composed almost identically to that of the Codex Astartes with the frequent substitution of an additional assault squad for a devastator squad. The 8th and 9th companies are journeyman companies in which recent initiates train extensively in power armor, the handling of vehicles, and completing cadre or relatively simple missions such as patrols or defending strongpoints.

 

Their focus is primarily on building unity with their brethren and in learning to work within the battle company formation. Once the journeyman period is complete the squad will be transferred under the leadership of a veteran to one of the battle companies to replace losses. Casualties among the various battle company squads are addressed by collapsing decimated squads into the larger squads within the company.

 

The 10th company is comprised of approximately 200 recruits in various stages of gene-seed implantation. This level is maintained as much as possible to balance the extremely high attrition accrued from vigorous and frequent use of Stone Crow initiates in battlezones, often on long term deployments separated from their parent company assignment.

 

Squads from the 10th are attached to each battle company to provide battlefield intelligence and support and developing the extensive infiltration skills that the chapter is noted for. Combat encounters will frequently see a squad or two being present in a supporting role but most often the scouts will be far from the battlefield, sometimes on separate worlds, developing intelligence for potential drop pod assaults or armored raids, or determining whether the Chapter will intervene at all.

 

The Stone Crows shun the use of bikes as too noisy for effective reconnaissance and restrict their use to attack bikes in a battlefield role. For long range scouting of large enemy formations and harassing actions a limited number of land speeder variants are employed but the vast majority of reconnaissance is performed by the 10th company scout squads as the Stone Crows feel there is no substitute for careful direct visual observation by chapter members on the ground.

 

Recruitment:

 

The chapter generally recruits from technologically limited mountainous worlds within patrol distance of their former tours. These worlds have historically been arid and well above the Imperium norm in temperature. The chapter also retains rights to recruit from its former tithe worlds and will return approximately every generation to select its initiates.

 

The Stone Crows’ system of selection is notable in that the marines are generally not directly involved in the testing itself. Instead traditional games of physical and mental prowess lasting a lunar month are established during the chapter’s service, taking place every twenty years. Local leaders administer the rites and conduct the games themselves.

 

When the time of testing returns the chapter will send representatives back to infiltrate into the area to observe the games and the conduct of the participants outside the games themselves. An emphasis is placed on selecting candidates who can cooperate as necessary and who have treated the other participants fairly. While the games are frequently lethal by nature, dishonorable conduct will result in that participant meeting “an accident” at the hands of the observing Crows prior to the end of the proceedings.

 

Those deemed worthy are abducted during the last night of the games to “become one of the chosen of God”. In their place items of beneficial technology such as a lasgun or solar generator are left behind to ease the loss of a potential hero to the family and clan.

 

New recruits are scrutinized to exceptional levels for genetic purity. This is part of a program conducted by the Stone Crows’ apothecaries to prevent any further damage to the geneseed and limit the introduction of any new variables into the potentially already damaged geneseed.

 

Combat Doctrine:

The early deployment of the Stone Crows has profoundly affected their doctrinal mindset. Being pressed into battle significantly below strength taught them to make every shot count, infiltrating into position to get the best angle on their target. A key feature of any Stone Crows assault is a simultaneous assault from multiple directions by both assault units and long range fire support. Infantry squads will either engage in long range firefights featuring frequent redeployment or will infiltrate closer to engage the enemy at close range and overwhelm them.

 

While the Stone Crows specialize in infiltration and sudden assaults, in situations that limit such actions the Stone Crows will engage in hit and run tactics utilizing long range units to pick off isolated enemy formations to thin their ranks and weaken their morale. As the enemy masses to address the threat the Stone Crows will fade away and a new assault will begin on an isolated or exposed enemy unit.

 

Beliefs:

The Stone Crows revere the God-Emperor through veneration of the perfection of his teachings. While to the uninitiated many of the Imperial precepts appear harsh or cruel, they are the most efficient way of preserving humanity and thus show the divine inspiration.

 

The Stone Crows are essentially Amalathian in philosophy but ruthless in their execution of that belief. In accord with traditional Amalathian canon they see their role as that of preserving the Imperium as envisioned by the Emperor but also strive toward restoring the unity the Imperium evidenced during the Great Crusade. The Stone Crows take a dim view of any infighting amongst the Adeptus and will act unilaterally to set an example for the dissenters but any direct hindrance to their efforts will be met without mercy or respite.

 

Battlecry:

Rarely stated due to the chapter’s emphasis on misdirection and stealth but the one most commonly heard uttered by Stone Crows has been “His Wrath Has Found You!”.

 

Geneseed:

The Stone Crows use the geneseed of the Raven Guard but the Stone Crows do not seem to show the same level of severe damage done to the geneseed by Corax’s experiments. The apothecaries subject the geneseed used in new recruits to the utmost scrutiny and utilize only the purest geneseed under all but the direst situations but it would be pure conjecture to conclude that any improvement is a direct correlation of this practice or whether the source of the improvement lies with the experiments of the Adeptus Mechanicus.

 

The Bletcher’s Gland is missing but the Mucranoid gland functions at minimal levels. In a Stone Crow the Mucranoid will provide protection from minor exposures to intense sunlight or mild doses of radiation but the Chapter’s apothecaries see the improvement in the gland’s functioning as fragile and the Stone Crows’ doctrine calls for all combat operations to be conducted in sealed armor. The trademark paleness rendered by the Ravenguard geneseed is lessened among the Stone Crows but this may well be attributable to the pool of Stone Crows recruits being from worlds with olive-skinned or darker complexioned populations.

 

The apothecaries of the Stone Crows spend the vast majority of their time working with the geneseed and the induction process of the large recruit pool. It is very rare to see the chapter’s apothecaries on the battlefield in any great number.

 

Notable Personalities:

 

Kedron Haik:

 

Haik has recently ascended to Chapter Master after the death of prior Master Iskander Demades fighting Tau raiding cadres. Prior to his elevation Haik served as the Captain of the Fifth Company and is best known for his destruction of the Kabal of the Vacant Soul in the Thafir Thracia system.

 

Decades of punishing slave raids by the Kabal saw no end in sight despite a vast increase in patrols by the subsector battlefleet. Haik disembarked the non-marine crew of his strike cruiser, The Narrow Path, and shut down all power to the ship which rested in the shadow of the system’s third moon, relying solely on careful replacement of the batteries to the power armor of his marines to sustain them for weeks.

 

Haik’s patience was rewarded when The Narrow Path’s passive sensors showed an anomaly near the solar edge of the small unsettled second moon quickly followed another raid. Haik responded by harrying the Dark Eldar ships on the return leg. Haik’s boarding of the Dark Eldar archon’s crippled flagship provoked the archon into a frenzy and the balance of the Kabal was summoned to deal with the temerity of monkeigh.

 

As the Dark Eldar reinforcements emerged from the Webway they were answered by other waiting Stone Crows ships summoned to the area by astropathic signal. The Stone Crows' primary battle barge Father of Omens then bombarded the second moon into fragments choking the exit of the revealed webway portal. The Kabal’s reinforcements emerged into the newly created asteroid field shredding their thinly armored hulls. As Haik finished the archon in personal combat at the cost of most of his command squad, the remaining Dark Eldar were then either destroyed ship to ship or exterminated when they fled into the debris field by further destruction of the larger asteroids.

[NightrawenII]

Nightrawen, you make a number of good points but overall seem to dislike me deviating at all from a bog standard codex chapter. Any chapter that largely adheres to the codex is necessarily going to have significant similarities to the chapters that have gone before. It is the little differences that will make it different from its brother chapters. I will post the revised version below but wanted to address a few things before posting that. I do very much appreciate the input.

Nope, I dislike when people boil the water to justify these deviations. Different things. ;)

 

The worlds selected are invariably worlds experiencing turmoil or a lapse of Imperium control.

- This is duty of Adeptus Arbites. You don't need Chapter of Adeptus Astartes for such 'lowly' task.

 

There is a fair amount of truth to that but my original concept was not that the Chapter would come in and address issues on a single world but that they would come in, take a single world in tithe and then pacify the surrounding systems. That is a much larger task and one that would almost certainly be more than the Arbites could manage. I revised that section a bit to make it more clear.

Fair enough.

 

The first company has almost 200 members with approximately half of those brothers on detached duty as veteran sergeants in the other battle company squads, as trainers for the 10th company, as commanders of ships for fleet actions and supplemental squads to complete specialized tasks for the other battle companies.

- Explain this, please, because it doesn't make sense.

 

Looking at this, the language in the IA is a bit vague so I clarified it. Basically the concept is that when a battle brother reaches a certain level of renown or expertise he is invited to and joins the first company, the Yatagarasu. Any squad leaders or officers for the battle companies (2-7) are drawn from the veterans of the first company and thus while they are serving with a particular battle company as veteran sergeants, they still retain their identity as members of the first company despite their current assignment.

As I thought. Apples and oranges. You are confusing 'status' with 'assignment'.

Just because they are former members of 1st doesn't meant they will be listed under the 1st Company roster. Right now, the marine is Veteran Sergeant of XY Company and therefore he will be listed as one. The veteran status or in your case status of Yatagarasu is irelevant for organisational matters. You are just making things confusing for little to no gain.

The Company Masters of DA are members of Deathwing. Do you think they are still listed as veterans under 1st Company roster?

 

Both of these points assume that the Chapter would follow the Codex Astartes strictly. :P The setup of which companies are battle companies and which act as replacement companies can vary from Chapter to Chapter. The Salamanders are one example. The Stone Crows also handle it differently.

Why?

Also, using any 1st or 2nd Founding Chapter as the example of doing things in different way is moot.

 

While it is rare for marines to defend fortifications, it does happen. There are a fair number of examples of that happening. "Garrison" is a misnomer to what I intended so I changed the word to "defend" instead.

*sigh*

Marines don't defend anything, it's against their modus operandi. Yes, there are fair number of examples when the Chapter was forced to change their tactic to match the circumstances of the deployment. However, the tactic of "Find the hill, defend the hill." is recipe for disaster in 98% of engagements.

When the Imperium wants to defend something, it sends Imperial Guard (note the guard in the name). When the Imperium wants to beat the bad guys anywhere they have shown up their ugly faces, it sends Space Marines.

Really, Marines sitting on objective, because something 'might' appear 'here' is serious waste of Emperor's Finest and warrants severe punishment.

 

- I do understand where you are coming from, but you are doing it wrong. I can't see anything radically different in Crow's deployment of Scouts from 'normal' Codex Chapter to justify such divergence.

 

It might be wrong for the Ultramarines but the Crows simply do it differently. "Wrong" would be saying the Crows recruit from the Eldar or something insane like that. This is just a choice of doctrine. The Crows have teams of scouts all over their area of responsibility and not just assigned to a particular company. The attrition among the scouts also has to be much higher than among the battle brothers due to differences in equipment and training. The Crows setup makes it harder for prolonged campaigning to render the Crows less effective.

No, you misunderstood my comment. I'm not talking about Stone Crows, I'm talking about the Author. There is nothing different in deployment of Scouts to justify their larger number in the Chapter, it is simple like that.

Why? Because that's how the scouts are deployed in 'normal' Chapter and as you can see no chapter has such ridiculous amount of scouts.

 

Second, be careful about attrition rate of scouts. The uncomplete transformation of scout means no progenoids are recovered - no new gene-seed - no new marines. You are practically killing off your Chapter - No sane Chapter Master is going to do such thing.

[Justiciar]

Right now, the marine is Veteran Sergeant of XY Company and therefore he will be listed as one. The veteran status or in your case status of Yatagarasu is irelevant for organisational matters. You are just making things confusing for little to no gain.

The Company Masters of DA are members of Deathwing. Do you think they are still listed as veterans under 1st Company roster?

 

Organizations vary. Whether the captain of the Dark Angels 2nd company is still on the rolls of membership of the Dark Angels first company a.k.a. the Deathwing is a matter of pure conjecture. Unless GW printed material that addresses this it is mere assumption that they are or are not still listed. I certainly don't know for sure. In my particular Chapter those persons are listed in the rolls of the first company with the annotation of service in a different company.

 

Why?

 

Because it works for the Crows. :( In all seriousness if it would help the article I could include some verbiage indicating that this is done due to the usual deployments being in single company sized formations rather than multiples and thus having more battle companies is a more efficient use of the marines and allows them to be more active in their area of operations.

 

On the defending positions, we will simply have to disagree. I am not saying that the marines in question sit in a static fortification with no enemy in front of them just waiting for something to happen. What I was stating is that, on those occasions where a foe is present in a situation that merits it, the marines chosen by the chapter master to defend a particular point would be the less experienced ones as drawn from the 8th and 9th companies. I agree that the vast, vast majority of the time marines are used offensively, but there occasions that arise that merit using the Astartes defensively. This addresses which of the formations the Crows choose to undertake that role.

 

With regard to the scouts, the point about the waste of glands is well taken. I reduced the number of scouts somewhat to account for this. It is still an elevated number based on how this chapter uses the scouts and the role they play in the overall organizational scheme. Beyond that we will simply have to disagree.

 

Thanks.

[NightrawenII]

Right now, the marine is Veteran Sergeant of XY Company and therefore he will be listed as one. The veteran status or in your case status of Yatagarasu is irelevant for organisational matters. You are just making things confusing for little to no gain.

The Company Masters of DA are members of Deathwing. Do you think they are still listed as veterans under 1st Company roster?

 

Organizations vary. Whether the captain of the Dark Angels 2nd company is still on the rolls of membership of the Dark Angels first company a.k.a. the Deathwing is a matter of pure conjecture. Unless GW printed material that addresses this it is mere assumption that they are or are not still listed. I certainly don't know for sure.

Page 14 and 15 in Codex: Dark Angels 4th ed. :(

 

In my particular Chapter those persons are listed in the rolls of the first company with the annotation of service in a different company.

Well, what you want. I just think it's unnecessary and silly to have veterans listed under 1st Company roster, while they serve as officers in other unit(s).

 

Because it works for the Crows. ;) In all seriousness if it would help the article I could include some verbiage indicating that this is done due to the usual deployments being in single company sized formations rather than multiples and thus having more battle companies is a more efficient use of the marines and allows them to be more active in their area of operations.

Nope, what you should do is explain and justify all the changes in your Chapter. Explanation is foundation of Index Astartes.

 

Btw, omission of Reserve Companies hamper the ability of Chapter to operate for extended period of time, because you cannot replace the casualties as easily and somewhat dampers the operations, since you cannot administer the number of marines, required for some tasks.

There is no gain without loss. ;)

 

What I was stating is that, on those occasions where a foe is present in a situation that merits it, the marines chosen by the chapter master to defend a particular point would be the less experienced ones as drawn from the 8th and 9th companies. I agree that the vast, vast majority of the time marines are used offensively, but there occasions that arise that merit using the Astartes defensively. This addresses which of the formations the Crows choose to undertake that role.

So they send n00bs. Alone. ;) Should not be the opposite? ie. Send the veterans, since they have more experience and are prepared for any situation?

 

The Reserves' fight as support and reinforcements of Battle Companies, because it's easier to keep them out of harm way (well...) and increase their overall 'punch', thanks to fighting alongside more experienced troops.

[Banelord]

What I was stating is that, on those occasions where a foe is present in a situation that merits it, the marines chosen by the chapter master to defend a particular point would be the less experienced ones as drawn from the 8th and 9th companies. I agree that the vast, vast majority of the time marines are used offensively, but there occasions that arise that merit using the Astartes defensively. This addresses which of the formations the Crows choose to undertake that role.

 

So they send n00bs. Alone. Should not be the opposite? ie. Send the veterans, since they have more experience and are prepared for any situation?

 

The Reserves' fight as support and reinforcements of Battle Companies, because it's easier to keep them out of harm way (well...) and increase their overall 'punch', thanks to fighting alongside more experienced troops.

 

 

It all really depends on the tactical situation. If you just need a unit to sit on an objective until Imperial Guard reinforcements arrive, while the rest of your force continues the attack, then you’re more likely use a less experienced unit. But if its an important objective (I.e. the Ultramarine Home world) then you’re going to send in your most battle hardened troops to defend it. But to be honest , I assume, it’s going to be in the included in the Codex Astartes. ;)

 

 

The apothecaries of the Stone Crows spend the vast majority of their time working with the geneseed and the induction process of the large recruit pool. It is very rare to see the chapter’s apothecaries on the battlefield in any great number.

 

As far as I’m aware there is only 1 Apothecarie in every battle-company and he severs as the medic. Who’s going to look after the wounded? Just remember that one of the most important jobs of the Apothcarie is to recover the important progenoid gland of fallen battle brothers. With out this the chapter can’t grow fresh implants.

[Shinzaren]

The relative stability of the geneseed would seem to indicate that either the source was from geneseed drawn from the survivors of the Dropsite massacres or through tempering the instabilities of Corax's experiments with geneseed from another chapter.

7th Founding was ~1000 years after the dropsite massacre of Istvaan. Where did they get a survivor that old?

 

The systems bounding Carpathia Septimus are among the most blessed in terms of the ores needed for the creation of the more advanced augmetics constructed by the Adeptus Mechanicum. Unfortunately these same materials are prized by the meks of the Ork clans plaguing most of those systems. It was during the Relief of the Siege of Thyia that the Stone Crows claimed their current fortress monastery.

Bit jumpy here. You are talking about being a favored instrument of the Inquisition, and then immediately jumping to a new world for the AM. And then they have a Monastery.

 

When joined a day later by the battlebarge Call to Glory bearing the fifth and seventh companies, the Stone Crows were able to mount a decisive assault on the largest of the three remaining ork hulks in an effort to break the ork cordon. The assault was relentless and swift but the sheer size of the hulk forced the Crows to expend a full day clearing the craft while the battlebarge engaged the other hulks.

 

Once the largest hulk was eliminated as a threat and the other hulks driven out of orbit, victory over the orks was simply a matter of time. The Stone Crows spent the next weeks engaging in teleport raids and drop pod to stall the ork advance and begin the annihilation of the greenskins which was later completed by regiments of the 23rd Carthan battlegroup.

If the orbital defenses are as powerful as you say, why were they unable to take down these hulks? They would certainly mount more firepower than an Astartes Battle Barge, which is designed mainly as a linebreaker, to bust up orbital cordons and land marines. Which is not to say a Battle Barge is not a fearsome ship, I just think the defenses would be better.

 

During the Stone Crows orbital assault, it became clear that the orks had been hard at work on the wreckage of the Ramilies starfort and had begun “improvements”. The most significant modification had been the addition of warp drives and other means of propulsion to the starfort from the wreckage of the hulk destroyed in the earlier ramming manuever. These particular drives had been scrapped from the wreckage of the Walpurgis, a Emperor class battleship lost to the warp in early M32 and later amalgamated into the hulk sometime after. After repair, cleansing and rededication by the Mechanicum, the grateful forgemaster gifted the now mobile starfort to the Stone Crows.

Ork Tech only works for Orks, and most times, not even then. It has to do with a belief system, and that through believing, they make it work. No one understands how Ork stuff works at all, and they certainly wouldn't use Ork approved tech to power a star fort. Not to mention the engines would have to be truly massive to move a Ramilies Class Star Fort. Those things are massive.

 

The Stone Crows were later seconded to Inquistor Abram Koln during his purge of chaos cultists in the Castlereagh system in late M36. This marked the first direct influence of the Inquisition on the Stone Crows. The chapter has had great fortune in its collaboration with the Ordos and it was shortly thereafter that the chapter was selected as one of the five chapters used in the Inquisition’s Aegis Directive. This initiative utilized a number of chapters who possessed mobile fortress monasteries to be dispatched to troubled regions for prolonged periods to either address Xenos threats or to promote doctrinal conformity amongst sectors perceived to be lacking in loyalty to the Imperium.

Seems like the Inquisition is awfully involved in your Chapter.

 

Phaleron came as the next tithe world and this period was one of declining success as the Crows proved unable to halt the tide of increasingly frequent raids by unknown attackers in the subsector. The survivors descriptions of the raiders varied between relentless metallic gunmen and swift agile opponents who preferred close-in bladework. Despite the notable success of the chapter in destroying the Kabal of the Vacant Soul at Thafir Thracia the overall number of raids actually increased. The chapter was able to prevent several raids but could never locate the metallic raiders’ stronghold or force them into a decisive confrontation.

So they left, job undone? That doesn't seem like the Space Marine way.

 

The Stone Crows are set up along basic codex lines with some notable deviations. The first company, the Yatagarasu, has almost 200 members with approximately half of those brothers on detached duty as veteran sergeants in the other battle company squads, as trainers for the 10th company, as commanders of ships for fleet actions and supplemental squads to complete specialized tasks for the other battle companies.

Why have the 1st company be so large when it seems like many of these men aren't even serving with the First? Why list them on the roster of the 1st when they are serving with distinction in other companies? It seems like all you are doing is diminishing the other companies to bolster an already bloated 1st company. Why not have the members serving in other companies be listed with those companies?

 

Any squad leaders or officers for the battle companies (2-7) are drawn from the veterans of the first company and thus while they are serving with a particular battle company as veteran sergeants, they still retain their identity as members of the first company despite their current assignment. The normal effective fighting strength of the Yatagarasu is usually kept around 100 to 120 battle brothers.

That seems a bit silly. Why aren't squad leaders promoted in-house so to speak? Why make them 1st company?

 

The 10th company is comprised of approximately 200 recruits in various stages of gene-seed implantation. This level is maintained as much as possible to balance the extremely high attrition accrued from vigorous and frequent use of Stone Crow initiates in battlezones, often on long term deployments separated from their parent company assignment.

All Space Marines have the vigorous and frequent use of their initiates. It's the only way to train them to be true Astartes. Bled in battle as it were.

 

Squads from the 10th are attached to each battle company to provide battlefield intelligence and support and developing the extensive infiltration skills that the chapter is noted for. Combat encounters will frequently see a squad or two being present in a supporting role but most often the scouts will be far from the battlefield, sometimes on separate worlds, developing intelligence for potential drop pod assaults or armored raids, or determining whether the Chapter will intervene at all.

So they see vigorous and frequent use, but not in combat?

 

The Stone Crows shun the use of bikes as too noisy for effective reconnaissance and restrict their use to attack bikes in a battlefield role. For long range scouting of large enemy formations and harassing actions a limited number of land speeder variants are employed but the vast majority of reconnaissance is performed by the 10th company scout squads as the Stone Crows feel there is no substitute for careful direct visual observation by chapter members on the ground.

Planets and battlefields are BIG. How do your men move around a large area quickly, as gathering recon so often demands? It would make more sense to have them use bikes as a form of transport and just park a ways away. Shunning them altogether just dooms your marines to a lot of wasted time walking.

 

The chapter generally recruits from technologically limited mountainous worlds within patrol distance of their former tours. These worlds have historically been arid and well above the Imperium norm in temperature. The chapter also retains rights to recruit from its former tithe worlds and will return approximately every generation to select its initiates.

Aren't they all over the galaxy? Why are they always finding arid, hot worlds?

 

When the time of testing returns the chapter will send representatives back to infiltrate into the area to observe the games and the conduct of the participants outside the games themselves. An emphasis is placed on selecting candidates who can cooperate as necessary and who have treated the other participants fairly. While the games are frequently lethal by nature, dishonorable conduct will result in that participant meeting “an accident” at the hands of the observing Crows prior to the end of the proceedings.

Marines don't fight fair. They fight to win. It seems silly to kill of your recruiting stock because they are unfair.

 

Those deemed worthy are abducted during the last night of the games to “become one of the chosen of God”. In their place items of beneficial technology such as a lasgun or solar generator are left behind to ease the loss of a potential hero to the family and clan.

So you are introducing new and volatile tech to worlds that are technologically limited or stagnate? Seems like a good way to start a murder chain. Either that, or set up someone as a mini-dictator. After all, if he has the only Lasgun, what is to stop him from lording it over his spear wielding brethren? Also, Chosen of God wouldn't apply to worlds that are polytheistic, or worship no god. Perhaps they are just, "One of the Chosen?"

 

New recruits are scrutinized to exceptional levels for genetic purity. This is part of a program conducted by the Stone Crows’ apothecaries to prevent any further damage to the geneseed and limit the introduction of any new variables into the potentially already damaged geneseed.

Eh, all chapters do this, so it's not really new information.

 

The early deployment of the Stone Crows has profoundly affected their doctrinal mindset. Being pressed into battle significantly below strength taught them to make every shot count, infiltrating into position to get the best angle on their target. A key feature of any Stone Crows assault is a simultaneous assault from multiple directions by both assault units and long range fire support. Infantry squads will either engage in long range firefights featuring frequent redeployment or will infiltrate closer to engage the enemy at close range and overwhelm them.

When were they deployed significantly below strength? I guess I missed that earlier?

 

The apothecaries of the Stone Crows spend the vast majority of their time working with the geneseed and the induction process of the large recruit pool. It is very rare to see the chapter’s apothecaries on the battlefield in any great number.

I would think you always take at least one apothercary to every battlefield. After all, they salvage the precious gene-seed.

 

 

All in all, I don't get a clear sense of who the Stone Crows are. They seem to be Raven Guard who work for the Inquisition. Other than that, I don't really have a clear understanding on what makes them tick. That said, it is very well written, and most the IA is pretty solid stuff. I found myself skipping over a lot of parts that I had no complaints about at all :P I would like to know more about them, what motivates them, and what differentiates them from the Raven Guard, with whom they share gene-seed, tactics, battlefield doctrine, and generally sense of identity. Perhaps focus more on their belief system, preserving the Imperium, and about why they work so well with the Inquisition?