IA: Marines Invictus

[Crusader of Dorn]

Index Astartes: Marines Invictus

"For Dorn and the Emperor, onward to our promised Victory!"

Origins

Created during the 6th founding in apparent response to a review of Imperial defenses within segmentum solar as opposed to any specific threat, The chapters establisment was a lenghty undertaking. Information is scarce regarding this period as most records have recently been sealed by order of Lord Inquisitor Hess - Ordo Malleus and allegedly at the request of the Chapter itself.

There are some censored minor archives which indicate that another chapter assisted in the founding of the Marines Invictus, their exact role is unknown however.

The chapter was gifted the planet of Inothia as a homeworld, they chose instead to become a fleet based force citing they would have more opertional potential.

The fact that they had no immediate duties allowed the chapter to build its armoury and fleet, takng over a century to do so while maintaining the security of local systems until called upon by the Inquisition to commit to a full invasion of an ork empire lead by the warlord Graz Ironskull. This punitive campaign was hard fought and declared a success with the death of Ironskull at the hands of chaper master Rius Novus. This campaign showed the Marines Invictus as a force to be reckoned with, and their wilingness to work readily with the Inquisition has been noted.

The founding The 6th founding has very little in the way of accurate records as it may have been seen as a minor event, or perhaps the ravages of time and politics have taken their toll. Whatever the reason for such scant information The origins of the Marines Invictus Astartes chapter is locked within.

It is thought that this period in imperial history was relatively quiet, giving the High Lords and supporting organisations the chance to objectively review impeial defenses within the segmentum solar and plan accordingly to counter precieved threats of the future. It was agreed that a new founding of astartes chapters would take place to strengthen the Imperium as a whole, one potential site was situated on the eastern border of segmentum solar, within the system of Tyral. The planet of Inothia was selected a an ideal location for an astartes homeworld.

With a sizeable population of tribesmen that could easily be molded into space marines, the geneseed of Rogal Dorn was selected for its purity. One chapter agreed to supply a portion of its geneseed to the establishment of this new chapter, and provide experienced personnel to train the new recruits and school them in the traditions of the Adeptus Astartes. The chapter chosen for this purpose were the Soul Drinkers.

Some outside of the chapter believe that sealing of their founding records is evidence of taint, this is quite true however the taint is upon honour not their souls.

Homeworld

Inothia, a small temperate to cold planet orbited by a single moon. The world was gifted to the Marines Invictus at their founding as a homeworld with a sizeable population of tribal nations providing strong candidates for reruitment into the chapter. They chose to operate as a fleet based chapter for the puropse of operational freedom, as constant crusading has become the chapters forte. Inothia is used for recruitment only and the chapters presence on the world is minimal as is their interaction with he population.

The main land mass, the largest continent situated in the nothern hemisphere and surrounded by vast turbulant oceans is where most of the planets population resides. Covered centrally with enormous forests that stretch form coastline to coastline broken only by a multitude of mountian ranges. Life can be harsh for the tribal nations, with the threat of warfare and large numbers of predators which inhabit the great forests. For much the planets yearly cycle it is victim to savage storms, many natural disasters occur something its people can only accept and endure. The chapter do not interfere with the affairs of the Inohians and choose to be seen as gods for whom the various tribes offer their childern. Only the purist are taken.

There is no fortress monastary on the planet, instead they have constructed extensive underground facilities upon the planets moon Luna Aris with the purpose of holding and training recruits. The chapter take potential recruits at the age of five, assuming they pass purity testing they enter a life of military training up until their mid to late teens after which they become neophytes and enter the scout company. It is believed that this facility holds a sizeable quantity of the the chaptes geneseed stocks. An ancient ageis battlestation Revenant hangs in orbit over Inothia, standing forever vigilant.

The Chapter fleet is its true home, its entire armoury is space borne and the chaptersmost sacred relics are held aboard their flagship Blade of Light

Place of birth and death : The ancient and honoured site of Luna Aris is a marines first and last interaction with the chapter, under the surface of this savaged moon are the vast complexes devoted to assembling recruits and training them in the arts of war until they are eligible to recieve the gifts of dorn and take their place within the chapter. a multitude of simulated eviroments exsist to test the young ones, foreign and domestic predators often unleashed to hunt them. Such actions being nessecery to prepare them for a hostile universe.

These facilites are extensive and well protected, containing most of the chapters geneseed within its vaults. A fortress monastery in all but name.

Luna Aris serves another great purpose of the Marines Invictus, it contains the crypts of the chapters fallen. For those rare few who have achieved glory beyond that of even a space marine champion, their wargear and remains are enshrined as testement. For the lucky few recruits who lay eyes on such majesty it is said they to shall recieve equal glory.

Beliefs

Veneration of the Emperor is at the foundation of chapter beliefs, as a man of vision and the unifier of mankind. They dont consider him a god. Aside from this the Marines Invictus appear to praise two primarchs, Roboute Guilliman of the Ultramarines as the authour of the codex astartes and Rogal Dorn of the Imperial Fists. Being rigidly codex adherent the veneration of Guilliman and his holy text is understandable, there is no decernable reason for their worship Dorn however, something the chapter refuses to questioned about. A stern, unrelenting and proud chapter, the Marines Invictus have an obession with purity. The origin of their geneseed is unknown, the chapter have claimed ignorance on the matter though Imperial scholars have speculated that the geneseed was that of Guilliman or Dorn. This obsession with purity has lead to a sub cult built around the chapters Apothecaries.

Upon induction into the chapter, neophytes take on new names, throwing off their tribal indentity and assuming names of chapter and Imperial legend.

The change from man to marine is an transformation to be given true reverence, fellow chapters who retain barbaric tribal practices are looked on as inferior for their failure to be reborn.

The Marines Invictus treat brother astartes with clear and unbiased protocol, despite their inner feelings. The forming of bonds with brother chapters is a rare thing, even with fellow sons of dorn, there are though situations in which the chapter has bonded with others in dire situations with blood oaths being sworn.

The pursuit of individual and collective glory and in turn honour is the primary drive behind much of the chapters actions, some see them as bound by their pride as others are bound through piety. Honour duels are regulary fought with varying results including death in some cases.

To be enshrined in the crypts Luna Aris or placed into a dreadnaught is sought after fate, though most will not achieve this. Their pride can lead to unfortunate incidents upon the battlefield such as the last stand of brother-captain Hypax on the Deathworld of Verdan.

An element of criticism has been laid on the Marines Invictus by brother chapters for such behaviour in joint operations, however most agree that they are worthy allies.

Night World operational heraldry - Jaegan Campaign

The Shame To bare the geneseed of Rogal Dorn is an honour beyond comparison, this is the view of the Marines Invictus. From the days of their inception it as been ingrained into their psyche, the chapter forged strong bonds with their parent chapter the Soul Drinkers being taught the traditons of Dorn and the astartes as a whole. It is said that the original command structure of the chapter contained honoured memebers of the Soul Drinkers who participated in the founding of the Marines Invictus, leading the early campaigns of the chapter to glory. Its is therefore unsurprising that news of the Soul Drinkers excommunication stunned the upper echelons of the chapter. Refusal to believe that such treachery had occurred was understandable, however with irrefutable proof presented to them the Marines Invictus swore great oaths to destroy their former brethern. The reports of mass mutation, chaos inspired or otherwise within The Soul Drinkers has lead to an all out obsession within the chapter.

Combat Doctrine

Th chapter is fleet based and excell in the rapid response role, fleet warfare and boarding actions are considered favourable. A proud chapter, they prefer Infantry based warfare whilst operating planetside, utilizing codex tactics the Marines Invictus are rigid in the application.

The heavy use of devastator squads in close range firefights and pre-prepared killzones is a tactic used to full effect, once deployed the chapter create secure zones often independent of other imperial forces. These zones maintain fully intergrated anti air and armour defenses and act as staging areas for the chapter to advance into enemy territory. Rather tha fielding the entire chapter or full companies, it is more likely to see the Marines Invictus operate in small but compact strike forces assembled for specific tasks.

Scouts - the chapters future are somewhat protected in conflicts, being assigned strictly to reconnaissance and sabotage missions rather than thrown into frontline combat. This is to ensure a higher rate of survival while not diminishing the quality of recruits.

When larger deployments are required such as during the Despoiler's 13th black crusade in which they sent eight companies, the chapter have no hesitation in commiting whatever assets are needed. They have been known to refuse strategic orders given by Imperial commanders including fellow astartes if such requests are unfavourable. Use of terminator squads are reserved for the hardest fighting, holding critical objectives or smashing an enemies centre. When heavy firepower is needed the Marines Invictus turn to their well maintained armoured formations and mobile artillery support.

The snake an the lion -

The story of the snake and the lion in one of the chapters recent history, It originated at the climax of the Jaegan campaign a brutal war even by astartes standards in which a foul xenos race was all but annihilated. As the pyres of the slain xenos burned the Marines Invictus gathered their dead and wounded to depart the blasted rock of Abyss, a planet well named for the near core deep caverns that pitted it. Boarding his thunderhawk transport chapter master Loden and his bodyguard were the last to leave for orbit.

The venerable warlord was never to be seen again, the transport he boarded suffered catastrophic engine failure that saw the thunderhawk and all onboard plummet miles into one of the core caverns. News arrived to the fleet of this terrible loss and after weeks of searching the strike force conceded and set off on their long journey back to Luna Aris.

Months later a grand council was called aboard the chapters flagship, all captains bar one were able to attend and the election of a new chapter master was put in motion. Most believed it to be only a formality, with the 1st captain set to take leadership. However in the months prior to the election captain Fraval Plaulus of the 6th company had manoeuvred to bring most of his brothers in line with his ambitions.

As the vote was cast paulus declared his intention to stand much to 1st captain Orius' surprise. The results were laid before the council and Orius flew into a rage as the the vote was unanimous in favour of paulus.

Incensed and claiming treachery the 1st captain challenged his rival to an honour dual, citing it would be foolish to risk more of the chapters command Paulus refused. Orius is said to have turned his back on the chapter and conducted a personal crusade with a few loyal men into the ghoul stars.

For four and a half decades Fraval Paulus Commanded the Marines Invictus, while he wasnt the greatest warrior his strategic capability was excellent. The new master's dealings with outsiders was commendable if not manipulating. There was a real thirst for power within paulus' soul, His election to chapter master had given him confidence to put his plans to action. His belief that astartes chapters should not be constrained by the codex and free to expand as required or even desired were dangerous at best, though he convinced many to his cause including once again brothers captains.

The extent of paulus' sins are not fully known but he did raise atleast 8 battle companies above the 10 stated in the codex, this break with chapter tradition and Imperial law would be his downfall.

While there was significant support for the chapters new direction, especially amongst the younger marines subverted by paulus's charisma. There were grumblings of discontent and whispers of heresy from the veteran ranks. The chaplaincy came close to open conflict amongst themselves as the chapter master sought to galvanise his position, his greatest challenge being an uncooperative 1st company.

Matters came to a head when acting captain Fletchia of the 1st company was assassinated during the battle of Fell Star by an unknown assailant, rumours abounded within the company of foul play of course there was no evidence. Concerns were raised further when paulus himself attempted to insert one of his own followers into the position of 1st captain. The move was rejected as the veterans declared their own captain as was their right, the candidate they chose was the relativly young and outspoken veteran Lucion Greich. Powerless to object Paulus moved to halt this disent, he claimed elements of the 1st company were corrupted and called for them to be purged.

Hesitant at the magnitude of such an act, paulus' supporters waited. A tense stand off between the terminator clad veterans and the chapter masters guards took place in the great hall of the chapters flagship.

Lucion Greich stepped forward motioning to his brothers to sta their hands, the young veteran recited passages relating to the chapters founding. He dared his brothers standing with paulus to strike him down and one by one the relented until only paulus remained.

With a sneer the chapter master acknowledged his adversary and prepared for combat, the chance of paulus winning was nil a fact he knew well. His confession of murdering Fletchia was unsurprising, however the revalation of his actions in sabotaging Chapter Master Loden's thunderhawk all those years ago was met with roar of anger throughout the hall.

With cold comtempt Lucion Greich attacked plunging his power sword through the chest of the corrupt master, meeting little resistance. Falling to his knees life blood pumping from his destroyed chest paulus died without a word.

All those present knelt before Greich, swearing loyalty to a new chapter master.

Organisation

A codex chapter from the beginning, the chapter maintain this organisatonal structure almost religiously. Their veneration of Roboute Guilliman would suggest nothing less. The Marines Invictus are known amongst other chapters as rigid upholders of the codex and are said to look on the non adherent as barbaric in nature, This view point includes their brothers of the Black Templars.

The chapter has full compliment of Tactical dreadnaught armour allowing the entire first company to be equiped with it, aswell as command groups of other companies.

While they keep to the codex, events in recent millennia have seen a rise and fall in the status of certain offices. The chapters librarians have come to be viewed with some suspicion, the chief librarian himself placing restrictions upon his own kind. While in contrast the office of apothecary has been elevated in the hunt for impurity.

Full strength of the chapter is strictly maintained, casualty reports from their various campaigns across the galaxy are often first communications sent. The induction process was designed to work flawlessly in order that the chapter would never be under strength. There have been incidents in their history where the Marines Invictus have had much more than the proscribed 1,000 battle brothers, during the reign of chapter master Paulus who declared that it was wrong for Astartes to curb their potential if resources permitted the expansion of a chapter. Such views could be seen as heresy and so Paulus' first captain challenged his master to an honour duel and killed him. To this day there are rumours of support for the late chapter masters ideals.

[Crusader of Dorn]

Small update, you guys can tell me if i'm headng in the right direction. :P

[Ferrata]

On certain points I am going to withhold comments until later, as I feel they are points that are currently hanging and should be answered later (such as the mystery surrounding their founding). A point on this though, mystery for mystery sake is pointless and bad. A mystery should form a cornerstone of the chapter (like the Blood Ravens) and not be some off-hand comment.

 

For a chapter with close ties to the Inquisition, I would suggest a read of the Scions of Dorn (which can be found in the Librarium) as a good example of such a chapter.

[Crusader of Dorn]

I understand there is alot of work to be done, i figured out how to get the marine painter to link here yay! Now how do i get all the cool headings etc??

 

I've added my chapter colour scheme, and a little extra to the origins section - Mystery solved! I do intend to expand further on each section but im currently writing this of the top of my head.

 

Thanks

[Brother-Sergeant Bohemond]

Its interesting at the moment, I like the idea that they are Soul Drinkers descendents. Does the average Marine know this though?? how has the , relatively speeking, recent declartation of the SD Excommunicate affected the members of the chapter?? Do they feel a need to prove themselves above and beyond the call of duty?? do they use the pain glove extensively? just my initial thoughts so far

[Crusader of Dorn]

Thanks, yeah was slightly appauled at how the SD story panned out but it has provided me with the background for these guys.

 

Most of what is writen about the point to the fact that they are ashamed of the SD's fall, i.e they are obsessed with purity, refused to comfirm the geneseed the bare, the fact that they asked the inquisition to seal the records of their founding.

 

As a dark angel you guys know about keeping secrets :lol:

[CantonWC]

Based on what I've heard about the Soul Drinkers novels, I think most people would prefer to pretend they didn't exist.

 

The SD's were around since the 2nd Founding, right? and these guys were around since the 6th. That means anyone with a need to know will know where these guys came from. Which means sealing the records is kind of pointless.

[NightrawenII]

The gene-seed of Dorn is missing Belcher's gland and Sus-an membrane, so anyone with decent knowledge of gene-seed (read Adeptus Mechanicus Genetors) will know the source of their gene-seed right off the bat.

 

And considering the IF successors hold the Feast of Blades every century or so, you will be hard pressed to hide your heritage.

 

Minor comment:

Rather tha fielding the entire chapter or full companies, it is more likely to see the Marines Invictus operate in small but compact strike forces assembled for specific tasks.

- That's how all Chapters operate.

[Crusader of Dorn]

CantonWC - There does seem to be alot of hate toward the SD, and i understand why. They are 3rd founding i think The sealing of the chapters records is more symbolic - i still need to flesh it out abit.

 

NightrawenII - The chapter know that they are decendants of Dorn, The SD had another defect in their geneseed aswell. They choose not to interact with the IF.

[Leonaides]

Doesnt the Feast of Blades only have something like 14 chapters attending? In any case, there is no guarantee, or indeed reason, that every IF decendant chapter participates. Nor are most of the ones who do attend named (so either way its not a problem).

[Crusader of Dorn]

I've beefed up each section abit, not sure if its looking better or not...

[Leonaides]

The gene-seed of Dorn is missing Belcher's gland and Sus-an membrane, so anyone with decent knowledge of gene-seed (read Adeptus Mechanicus Genetors) will know the source of their gene-seed right off the bat.

Though there is nothing to say an Ultras descendant might also have lost those two organs. Or indeed that an IF descendant might have lost others too. It only means that an IF descendant can never have them.

[Crusader of Dorn]

hey guys, added all the core sections, i plan to add more on the following -

 

Rituals performed when taking recruits and the final induction.

 

More detail of the homeworld and Inothian culture.

 

Relations with the Inquisition.

 

Hunt for the traitors (Soul Drinkers)

 

Notable Campaigns.

 

Notable Members.

 

In the meantime, anyone mind reading through and telling if it makes sense/ntrigues anybody so far ??

[Epistolary Exander]

Most codex chapters at full strength will average about 1150 marines, 1200 tops if your chapter filled out its support organisations with extra marines. So being over 1000 marines is not an issue to a codex chapter, its when other bodies start to see yur chapter operating significantly above this number that the Imperium may step in. If you would like your chapter to be the most out of its marines, I advice you to stop letting them crew the chapter's vehicles & have them in the field instead. What you have crewing the vehicles instead could be interesting.

[Crusader of Dorn]

Yeah, in terms of the numbers i was thinking about 2,000 marines in fully equiped battle companies. This being an incident in the history and not the norm.

 

Not quite sure what you mean about the veichle crews though? :/

[Epistolary Exander]

Not quite sure what you mean about the veichle crews though? :/

 

Normally when the battle companies fight, they use a selection of vehicles from their armour pool. The used vehicles are normally crewed by marines from 1 of the reserve companies. You could actually increase the number marines your chapter could operate in the field without going over the codex limit, if you can take those marines out the vehicles & form up in their squads. As I said you would have to find something else to crew the vehicles, because most of them dont drive themselves. Also these extra squads would cause some logistic problems with an increase in rate of ammo consumption & the squads themselves would probably need their own transports like the squads from a battle company do. This is not to mention that it could affect the size of your battle company squads as their intended replacements are fighting alongside them or may have even been killed aswel. But if the legions have taught us anything, is that most enemies do not like having their positions swamped with Astartes :)

 

I will admit the idea may have some problems, but they could be overcome with some thought.

[NightrawenII]

The used vehicles are normally crewed by marines from 1 of the reserve companies.

Questionable, vehicles crew is ongoing topic with no clear answer.

[Epistolary Exander]

The used vehicles are normally crewed by marines from 1 of the reserve companies.

Questionable, vehicles crew is ongoing topic with no clear answer.

 

This is the situation that I am aware of, but if this is not how a codex chapter crews it tanks & speeders would you know from where the marines would come fromt to do this? At a quick check at least the 7th company is used to crew Land Speeders. It is certain that the chapter's armoury is not composed of enough marines to crew more than a battle company's transports & armour support. I will check through more resources later :).

[Crusader of Dorn]

I see what you mean, i was leaning towards the numbers being a push for more power. Think astral claws but not as intense. Plus the situation was resolved 'in house' so to speak.

[Epistolary Exander]

I see what you mean, i was leaning towards the numbers being a push for more power. Think astral claws but not as intense. Plus the situation was resolved 'in house' so to speak.

 

That would work. The Marines Invictus could probably get away with having a larger number of marines than normal for a while. The only way the Imperium regularly monitors chapters is with its geneseed tithe. So if the Marines Invictus hand over thier 5% or the 1000 marines tithe as normal the Imperium wouldnt be any more the wiser for a while. The other thing the chapter would have to do is to would be to ensure no more than a normal chapter's strengh is observed across the galaxy by the Imperium, so the Imperium wouldnt get easily suspicious of an increase in your chapter's marines sitings & your chapter should be fine for a while.

 

What are you hoping to achieve for your IA by having this increase in numbers & having it resolved in house?

[NightrawenII]

The used vehicles are normally crewed by marines from 1 of the reserve companies.

Questionable, vehicles crew is ongoing topic with no clear answer.

This is the situation that I am aware of, but if this is not how a codex chapter crews it tanks & speeders would you know from where the marines would come fromt to do this? At a quick check at least the 7th company is used to crew Land Speeders. It is certain that the chapter's armoury is not composed of enough marines to crew more than a battle company's transports & armour support. I will check through more resources later :D.

The Imperial Armour II says that Reserves marines are used to crew transports, however the Insignium Astartes says that "every Company is also expected to maintain and crew a number of vehicles".

The sgt. Chronus in the new codex is assigned, + several others, to Armoury.

[Epistolary Exander]

The used vehicles are normally crewed by marines from 1 of the reserve companies.

Questionable, vehicles crew is ongoing topic with no clear answer.

This is the situation that I am aware of, but if this is not how a codex chapter crews it tanks & speeders would you know from where the marines would come fromt to do this? At a quick check at least the 7th company is used to crew Land Speeders. It is certain that the chapter's armoury is not composed of enough marines to crew more than a battle company's transports & armour support. I will check through more resources later :D.

The Imperial Armour II says that Reserves marines are used to crew transports, however the Insignium Astartes says that "every Company is also expected to maintain and crew a number of vehicles".

The sgt. Chronus in the new codex is assigned, + several others, to Armoury.

 

I dont have Imperial Armour 2, but I checked my information on Space Marine tanks & there was either no reference to how the vehicles are crewed or conflicting information like you have mentions above. It would appear it is upto each chapter to how they crew their vehicles. This leaves the situation is open to debate then, but it doesnt matter most chapters would still use a significant number of marines to crew their fighting vehicles other than their dreadnights. If a marine is too important to crew a starship gun, then he is too important to man a gun on a tank or other vehicle.

 

Thats my 2 cents on the situation, what is yours?

[Crusader of Dorn]

What are you hoping to achieve for your IA by having this increase in numbers & having it resolved in house?

 

The idea of chapter politics and there being possible factions arising with the belief that chapters shouldnt be restrained. The potential for tenisons to boil over into conflict. The thought of creating a character (chapter master perhaps) who binds the chapter along with some other concepts.

It leaves the door open for me to expand at my leisure i guess.

[Epistolary Exander]

The idea of chapter politics and there being possible factions arising with the belief that chapters shouldnt be restrained. The potential for tenisons to boil over into conflict. The thought of creating a character (chapter master perhaps) who binds the chapter along with some other concepts.

It leaves the door open for me to expand at my leisure i guess.

 

Thats cool, having options to make things more fun with a project is always a good thing :)

[CKO]

Excellent start continue to work on it but do not let minor details slow down the meat of the project. Do not put to much effort in explaining their large number of marines or their unique history it is what it is, every unique characteristic does not require an encylopedia like answer.