IA: Desert Lions

[Andrew J]

So I was messing around on Lexicanum a few months ago trying to think of a name for a chapter I was working on and came across the Desert Lions. There was nothing on them but a small article in WD 104 from waaaayyy before my time in the hobby. The name did conjure up an old image in my head of a space marines army from another white dwarf from the late nineties I am guessing. Well either way it was the bug that started all this. I remember the army being khaki with hints of red. And so spawned this IA. Here is the link for Lexicanum...

 

Desert Lions Lexicanum

 

So on to the IA...

 

Desert Lions Chapter of the Adeptus Astartes

Origins – 5th Founding

 

The Desert Lions were created by the High Lords of Terra with the core mission of helping to drive the remaining elements of the Death Guard out of the eastern region of the Imperium, after the subsequent destruction of their home planet of Barbarus in the far eastern reaches of the Ultima Segmentum. The Desert Lions were given the recently rediscovered desert planet of Tobruk, which was relatively close to Barbarus to start their chapter with the honourable and pure geneseed of the Ultramarines. The Ultramarines were tasked with the development and training of the chapter and sent a small training cadre to Tobruk to begin the process.

 

Training and recruitment went on unabated for the next few decades as the chapter grew and gained strength, and finally the first companies of Desert Lions were sent out to support their primogenitor chapter, the Ultramarines, among the many chapters involved in the long push to drive the Death Guard to the Eye of Terror where they could be contained by the growing cordon of Imperial forces with the sole task of guarding the origin of the Chaos forces.

 

The Desert Lions fought with courage and zeal in the first few years of the campaign, earning loads of battle honours and their spot in history. Meanwhile in the eastern region of the Ultima Segmentum a vacuum of power had formed in the regions that had been occupied by the Death Guard. Led by the newly self crowned Great Boss Slarnik, the Orks swept in from the fringes to fill the void, devastating world after world in their path and growing in strength. Looking for a fight worthy of his now growing Waaagh, Slarnik’s growing aspirations of a grand empire of his own led him to the recently developed Desert Lion homeworld. The experienced companies of Desert Lions in support of elements of the Ultramarines and Eagle Warriors received the worst news any warrior can hear; their homeworld was under attack. They immediately disengaged their current battles and moved to return to their homeworld.

 

The Ork Waaagh stormed into the system, destroying everything in their path. The Desert Lions fleet damaged as much of the Ork fleet as they could before having to retreat. The fleet disengaged at the last possible moment to save what they could, but they continued with a campaign of harassment until reinforcements could arrive. The Ork horde came from the skies like a mass of locusts, filling it with flame and pollution as they made their initial landing in and around the Addis Mountains, location of Fortress-Monastery Strongclaw. Many warriors including some of the Ultramarines training cadre were lost in the initial assault of the planet by the Ork forces. Chapter Master Attius led the early fighting that was concentrated along the spine of mountains which covered half the planet on Tobruk’s only continent. Luckily, the vast majority of the native people were located in the cities along the coasts of the Great Blue Ocean that dominated the rest of the planet.

 

Unfortunately for the Desert Lions, Fortress-Monastery Strongclaw was still being dug out of solid rock when the Ork horde descended from the sky. The limited defenses they had available were quickly overwhelmed by the incredible number of Orks that washed over their outer walls. Chapter Master Attius had to make the difficult call to abandon the Fortress-Monastery and fight their way through the encircling mass of greenskins and retreat towards the coast where they could make their final stand. By the Emperor’s grace alone were they lucky enough to have just received their last shipment of armor only months before the Ork horde had stormed into their system.

 

The remaining forces busted out of the barricade of Orks surrounding the smoking ruins of Fortress-Monastery Strongclaw in an armored spearhead. Land Raiders and Razorbacks full of marines crushed Orks underneath their treads while heavy bolters and lascannons spewed out death, bursting open a hole just large enough to get the last of the Desert Lions out.

 

Thus began the unforgiving slow retreat through the deserts and mountains of Tobruk, fighting as they fell back to concentrate their forces at the capital city of Taqaddum on the coast of the Great Blue Ocean. The only thing that kept them ahead of the Orks was their mobility through the wide open desert in their tanks and Land Speeders allowing them to hit hard and run.

 

Chapter Master Attius knew that Taqaddum was the oldest city on Tobruk and boasted the thickest and highest walls of all the cities making it the most defensible against the Ork Waaagh. The fighting was long and intense, devolving into a guerilla war of hit and run tactics that only served to slow the inexorable advance of the Ork horde. The Desert Lions lost many of their new brother marines over the long grueling months of nonstop defensive warfare from the walls and outer reaches of the city until their detachments finally returned to Tobruk.

 

The Eagle Warriors and White Consuls had heard the last desperate call of the Desert Lions psykers, the distress signal was sent out before their destruction at Strongclaw. Each Chapter only had enough forces available to send a company to aid in the relief of the siege. With the Desert Lions small fleet devastated in the initial orbital engagement with the Orks, the Eagle Warriors and White Consuls Strike Cruisers linked up the remnants of the fleet at the edge of the system and led the way breaking through the orbital siege of Ork ships. Together with the newly veteran Desert Lions, they led an all out assault on the main Ork forces around Taqaddum. Their combined force, preceded by an orbital bombardment, annihilated the Ork forces as the remaining besieged Desert Lions led a coordinated assault from the city catching the slow responding greenskins in a two-sided battle and the Orks were crushed like grapes in a vise.

 

After the Siege of Tobruk the Desert Lions vowed to strike first and strike hard, preferring to lead the charge with mechanized infantry and heavy support along with quick strike vehicles like land speeders and homegrown scout vehicles known as desert buggies that can quickly take out less defended objectives. This preference for such tactics has been refined over the millennia and has won the chapter many decisive battles against incredible odds.

 

Geneseed – Ultramarines

 

Homeworld -

The Desert Lions homeworld, Tobruk, is located in the far eastern fringe of the Ultima Segmentum. It is a desert world with a small hardy population of animal herders and hunters who have learned how to survive in the harsh desert and arid grassland environment. The harsh deserts and arid grasslands are home to many dangerous animals and plants, the top predator being the Tobruk Lion. The Desert Lions get their name from this large native predator that is larger than a normal man and looks similar to the African lions of old terran lore. Tobruk lions are revered among the native Tobruks as fierce and deadly creatures and that extends to the Space Marines who take their name and image. The Desert Lions view themselves as protectors of the Emperor’s followers and have been known to defend important Imperial civilian objectives but never at the expense of the mission at hand. They interact with the native people on occasion but mostly stay to themselves in their rebuilt Fortress-Monastery Gibraltar in the spine of the continent far away from any population centers. In turn the people of Tobruk are devout followers of the Emperor and feel that they have been blessed to be shined upon by the light of the Emperor and protected by his angels of death.

 

 

Combat Doctrine-

They are masters of the quick powerful strike, meant to destroy quickly and efficiently through the use of mobilized troops in razorbacks, land speeders, desert buggies with an initial bombardment by vindicators. They fight this way for two reasons, one being that after the Siege of Tobruk they have vowed to strike hard and strike fast to destroy the enemy as quickly as possible. The other reason is that they are named after the Tobruk Lion which is a violent predator that brutally attacks prey with quick strikes.

 

 

Organization-

The Desert Lions have diverged from the Codex Astartes through the millennia since their founding while still holding true to some of the basic tenets of the original tome. They have developed a preference for mechanized infantry and heavy weapons, with usually one squad of assault marines in each company. They have stuck to the same chapter organization with 10 companies of 100 battle brothers, and the veteran 1st company and the 10th company being the scout company. The Desert Lions also do not denote companies by shoulder pad rim but by company number on the left kneepad. Sergeants gain the honor of a helmet crest, while veterans get a red helmet and solid red shoulder pads.

 

 

Beliefs-

While being in relatively close proximity their primogenitor Ultramarines in both geographic terms, overall organization, and philosophy there are many similarities and rituals that are done by the Desert Lions to feel like their founding chapter. Once a recruit makes it through the selection process and is on the path to become a battle brother of the chapter, he is granted a suitable high gothic name. This is part of their psycho-conditioning that breaks them of their old life and allows the chapter to mold them into the image of the chapter. The chapter also follows in many other traditions of the Ultramarines.

 

 

Battlecry–

“Certa Cito!” (Swift and Sure)

Sworn as a vow beforehand, and screamed as they engage enemy forces

 

C&C Welcome and let me know your thoughts to improve it

Thanks,

Andrew J

[Sobansa]

I like it, you have a good history. I would personally like to hear more about the combat doctrine.

[Andrew J]

Thanks Sobansa I feel like it came together pretty well.

Also here are some photos to give people an idea of my color scheme and chapter symbol. They can also be found on my WIP page on my signature.

Chapter Symbol

Color Scheme

Actual Sergeant