Bloodfinger Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 Hi, I'm just starting out with 40K and Space Marines and I have a few questions that will help me work out the background for my chapter. I'm planning to make them an infantry, shooting based chapter who were created to counter-attack against an Ork invasion (because my nephew has started playing Orks). 1) Is there an obvious chapter whose geneseed they should be descended from? If not I can go with the Ultramarines, but I wondered if there were any more interesting options that would make sense. 2) The only main deviation I see from the pure SM genetics is the lack of the Omophagea, as the idea of my marines chowing down on the remains of the enemy after a battle doesn't really appeal to me (particularly if it's Orks!) Would this be feasible and if so how could it come about - could the Chapter Master simply decide he didn't want his marines to have it it or would it have to be the result of an accidental/unwanted mutation? 3) As a recently founded chapter I had an idea that more established chapters would sometimes 'loan' a squad or two to fight alongside and mentor them. This would allow me to paint a few squads in different colours and could look quite good as long as I didn't overdo it (ie no more than one 'loaned' chapter in the army at a time). Is this feasible or do marines always remain with their own chapters? Would this be seen as dishonorable or demeaning for the newer chapter? 4) How long would it take to establish a chapter to reasonable fighting strength, ie how recently would they have been formed, based on question 3? 5) Is there any special honour or significance to a chapter being called "the Emperor's ...."? I was thinking of calling mine the Emperor's Sting, with a Scorpion as the chapter symbol. 6) Why do so many sargeants take their helmets off on the battlefield - aren't they asking to have their heads shot/chopped/bitten off! B) (OK I'm joking on that one, but it does seem odd, I'm thinking of making it a court marshall offence in my chapter :lol: ) I hope that's not too many questions and thanks to anyone who can help me with some answers. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/234822-some-questions-to-help-me-design-my-chapter/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yogi Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 I suggest you check out the Liber Astartes forum and check out the stickies.. all your question will be answered. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/234822-some-questions-to-help-me-design-my-chapter/#findComment-2827422 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bannus Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 I suggest you check out the Liber Astartes forum and check out the stickies.. all your question will be answered. Agreed. <energizes teleporter> Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/234822-some-questions-to-help-me-design-my-chapter/#findComment-2827428 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chapter Master Ignis Domus Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 Heh heh heh. Welcome, new torture subject, to a land of pain and suffering. I'm CMID, your friendly haemonculus. Don't worry, we're not that bad. 1) Is there an obvious chapter whose geneseed they should be descended from? If not I can go with the Ultramarines, but I wondered if there were any more interesting options that would make sense. Ultramarines are really close to the Orks, and have 2/3 of the geneseed, so they're a good one. 2) The only main deviation I see from the pure SM genetics is the lack of the Omophagea, as the idea of my marines chowing down on the remains of the enemy after a battle doesn't really appeal to me (particularly if it's Orks!) Would this be feasible and if so how could it come about - could the Chapter Master simply decide he didn't want his marines to have it it or would it have to be the result of an accidental/unwanted mutation? They wouldn't decide, as this is the Emperor's vision, and they don't want to mess with it, for fear of doing something wrong. See the 21st Founding. Normally, it's just lost or mutated out through generations. 3) As a recently founded chapter I had an idea that more established chapters would sometimes 'loan' a squad or two to fight alongside and mentor them. This would allow me to paint a few squads in different colours and could look quite good as long as I didn't overdo it (ie no more than one 'loaned' chapter in the army at a time). Is this feasible or do marines always remain with their own chapters? Would this be seen as dishonorable or demeaning for the newer chapter? They normally send a training cadre from the parent chapter, which for you could be any Ultramarine's successor. 4) How long would it take to establish a chapter to reasonable fighting strength, ie how recently would they have been formed, based on question 3? That's a oft-debated topic. I personally say a century or two, but mileage may vary. 5) Is there any special honour or significance to a chapter being called "the Emperor's ...."? I was thinking of calling mine the Emperor's Sting, with a Scorpion as the chapter symbol. No, not really. There's a traitor legion called the Emperor's Children. 6) Why do so many sargeants take their helmets off on the battlefield - aren't they asking to have their heads shot/chopped/bitten off! ;) (OK I'm joking on that one, but it does seem odd, I'm thinking of making it a court marshall offence in my chapter :) ) Because they're really, really stupid. There's a theory that they have a miniature force field, but that hasn't been confirmed. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/234822-some-questions-to-help-me-design-my-chapter/#findComment-2827436 Share on other sites More sharing options...
soddinnutter Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 1) The Ultramarines are the default gene-line. They make up most of the Astartes stock. Not that it makes much difference to the development of a chapter unless it has something extreme like the Black Rage. 2) They would not willingly throw away an implant. Plus it can be used to chemically analyze the food, a useful tool on a occasion. 3) What most people see as happening is that a training cadre come from the parent chapter and raise the chapter in their image. They then either opt to stay and rule or return once the job is done. After that the chapter should be able to stand on its own. asking for help is seen as weakness and no chapter would shame their primarch by begging for help unless they were Crimson Fists style up the styx with out a paddle. If you want to paint squads in different colours then you could have a different reason for it. Maybe they all originate from the same world/city/nation and kept their native heraldry. Maybe Veterans are allowed to adopt personal/squad heraldry. Maybe it is to signify religious differences within the chapter. 4) ~55 Terran Standard Years it mentioned in the fluff once although i cant remember exactly where so i may have just made it up. This is assuming that every thing is going correctly and there are no spontaneous gene-seed mutations to weed out, the fresh meat is bountiful and there are no big green things with teeth in the immediate area. 5) No. They fight for the Emperor and belong to him Body, Mind and Soul. They are the Emperors property and to claim otherwise is blasphemy. 6) Because they're stupid. It's acceptable with the Space Wolves because they have much better senses than the suits auto-sense but that's it. It's about as stupid as carrying a banner into battle, you may as well just paint a giant bulls-eye on it and have done. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/234822-some-questions-to-help-me-design-my-chapter/#findComment-2827473 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quixus Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 6) Why do so many sargeants take their helmets off on the battlefield - aren't they asking to have their heads shot/chopped/bitten off! ;) (OK I'm joking on that one, but it does seem odd, I'm thinking of making it a court marshall offence in my chapter :) )I think there is no fluff reason and IIRC in most novels the characters keep their helmets on. I think it is simply a gift/curse for the painter since faces are more interesting/difficult to paint than helmets. I agree that it is pretty stupid as well. If you have models with attached bare heads, just put a broken helmet on the base, and possibly a wound on the head. Now it looks like the helm was ditched because it was broken. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/234822-some-questions-to-help-me-design-my-chapter/#findComment-2827475 Share on other sites More sharing options...
rusty1109 Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 Individual marines serving on secondment with other chapters is mentioned in various places in the fluff but whole squads doing it doesn't really happen. Best way to get other chapters on the tabletop is to paint up your sternguard (which an infantry heavy gunline army (like yours sounds like it will be) will probably have) as deathwatch marines which can be from any chapter. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/234822-some-questions-to-help-me-design-my-chapter/#findComment-2827477 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloodfinger Posted July 23, 2011 Author Share Posted July 23, 2011 Thanks for all the replies and I'm sorry I missed the stickies, you are right there's a lot of good info in there. I'll do a bit more reading and have a think, and hopefully I'll post something about my chapter soon. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/234822-some-questions-to-help-me-design-my-chapter/#findComment-2827554 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arkangilos Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 If you don't want that implant, use the excuse it mutated out, or use the Imperial Fist Gene-seed, because iirc they don't have that. You could also just say that you have it, but never use it. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/234822-some-questions-to-help-me-design-my-chapter/#findComment-2827625 Share on other sites More sharing options...
CKO Posted July 24, 2011 Share Posted July 24, 2011 Also Bloodfinger a thing that aids me in the early stages of creating a chapter is figuring out what codex I want to use to represent my chapter? By doing that you eliminate alot of choices and it allows you to focus only on the material of your founding chapter. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/234822-some-questions-to-help-me-design-my-chapter/#findComment-2827694 Share on other sites More sharing options...
soddinnutter Posted July 24, 2011 Share Posted July 24, 2011 If you don't want that implant, use the excuse it mutated out, or use the Imperial Fist Gene-seed, because iirc they don't have that. You could also just say that you have it, but never use it. Imperial Fists have that one. You're thinking of the Raven Guard. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/234822-some-questions-to-help-me-design-my-chapter/#findComment-2827869 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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