Rangers lead the way...

[Tybrus]

So this is a crazy thought that a friend helped me flush out a bit, and we will be working on together. Here is the write up we created and feedback and thoughts are always welcome. I have a number of mock ups done for this, but no way to get pictures right now. I will add some to the boards when I can. To the Mods, I am not really sure where to post this, so if this is not correct please move it, and you have my apologies.

 

 

 

From the shores of Normandy to the most current theaters of war, Rangers lead the way!

 

 

Chapter: Dorn’s Rangers

Home World: None, Fleet Based

Gene Seed: Imperial Fists, Rogal Dorn

Founding: 13th

 

 

Dorn’s Rangers

 

Created during the confusion of the 13th founding, Dorn’s Rangers are a Chapter in name only, and were created in manner unheard of then or since. Dorn’s Rangers, or simply known as “Rangers” was composed at creation, and recruits still from only Veteran Battle brothers descended from the Gene Seed of Rogal Dorn. A closely guarded secret passed down with each founding born of Dorn’s gene seed, the “Rangers” chapter is an elite Brotherhood of Dorn’s sons trained far beyond even the standards of their home chapters. Recruits can come from any chapter descended from the Blood of Dorn, but recruits must earn their place among the Rangers.

 

During each Feast of Blades any present Veteran Battle Brother of their chapters 1st company; can petition to be selected for a rotation within the Rangers chapter. For it is only once a battle brother joins the 1st company will they be entrusted with the secret of the Ranger’s Chapters existence. Being selected is no guarantee of being accepted and each candidates past glories earns them only the chance to earn a place among the Elite of Dorn’s sons.. Those selected must complete a full decade of training before they will win the right to join the Chapter as a full battle brother. However, such is the ingrained tradition of the Son’s of Dorn that a rotation within the Rangers is seen much like a rotation with the Death Watch. Once a brother has earned his place within the Rangers he will serve only within Ranger units, until such time as they elect or are selected to return to their home chapters and pass on what they have learned.

 

The Rangers chapter is the premier Light Infantry force within the Imperium. Where most chapters are the tip of the spear with quick lighting strikes, Rangers can perform with far more utility. Specializing in long term operations, unsupported by traditional chapter resources, small task forces of Rangers act in support of, and as a dedicated reconnaissance element for any Chapter of Dorn’s Gene Seed committed to a theater of war anywhere in the Imperium.

 

It is this unique aspect of unsupported operations to which the Rangers dedicated themselves. Unhampered by more stringent Codex organizational and traditional restrictions, The Rangers focus on small unit tactics, guerrilla warfare and extended survival operations at which they excel. The combined chapter resources of Dorn’s descendants allowed for unique and highly specialized equipment to be created and issued to Ranger units, that rivals even the resources issued to Death Watch teams. It is these unconventional tactics and equipment that allows the Rangers Chapter to disregard standard Codex practice and use such things as camouflage, custom ammunition, silenced weapons, and additional standard equipment unheard of outside their ranks.

 

Unlike service within the Deathwatch Rangers that return to their own Chapters are expected to pass on their knowledge to the other battle brothers of the First Company. Many Sternguard, and Vanguard units are lead by Ranger veterans. It is this stalwart dedication to duty, so inherit to Dorn’s sons that has lead to the creation of such a chapter, and that has allowed the combat knowledge of every chapter born of Dorn’s geneseed to exchange experience and knowledge, and truly Lead the Way…

 

 

In Game Effects…

 

Ranger Units are a 0-1 Elite option open to any Chapter of Imperial Fist Geneseed.

 

Personal Restrictions: Each model must be equipped to carry as much gear as possible. I have designed a custom power pack for the armor that allows a Molly pack to be attached. Scout ammo packs are used all over the model. Each model will use the Studded Heresy Shoulder pads on the Left, and the Pads with the scroll on the bottom for the Right. Rangers that have returned to Chapters will wear the “tab” on the left shoulder with Chapter symbol above, and pad to taste on the right. As a concession to current fluff “Tabs” can be on either side to allow for Terminator honors on the left shoulder; as the Crux is a far older and higher honor. I will be posting pictures if I can ever get a camera that can take a close up.

 

As for stats I will work up a squad with points later when I have my Codex near at hand. But basic ideas are Tactical Squads with the following changes.

• Each Model carries a Bolter, Bolt Pistol, and Close Combat Weapon.

• Squad has the same special ammo rules as Sternguard.

• Squad has Infiltrate, Scout and Stubborn USR.

• Units will have expanded weapons options. Such as two special weapons in the squad, and sniper rifles.

 

I think each “Ranger” is going to have a base cost around 40 points making a full squad come in around 500-550 points. On par with fully decked out Van and Sternguard squads.

 

I will flush this out more as I go, but I thought I would share the idea. The feast of Blades is such cool fluff, and I am tired of the Dark Angles being the only ones that can keep secrets and have elite forces.

 

Note Legion of the Damned can not be used in any army that includes Rangers (over kill on elites )

[Sigismund Himself]

With DIY chapters, you have to try to avoid breaking the readers' suspension of disbelief. This means unobtrusively inserting your chapter into the 40k universe and not messing too much with established events, characters or chapters. When you use official canon notes in your chapter, the reader is always left wondering, "Why haven't I heard of this then?" and if you ca't provide a good enough answer to this question, they'll probably won't fully accept your chapter into their own personal view of 40k. And that can be fine, if you don't particularly care but that's the real challenge to most here in the Liber :lol: These guys also seem more than a little too powerful.

 

Also, why would the chapters do this? Out of the foremost of Dorn's chapters, you have the Imperial Fists, Crimson Fists and Black Templars (the mere mention of the Soul Drinkers here in the Liber may cause rabid foaming at the mouth ;) ). The Imperial Fists refuse to use camoflage and the Black Templars are hardly renowned for their scouting, more their charging straight at enemy lines. How does this fit the Rangers' missions? And why would they accept such help when it goes against their very nature and denigrates their gene-father who said something along the lines of "The colour of camoflage is the colour of cowardice".

[Mazer Rackham]

With DIY chapters, you have to try to avoid breaking the readers' suspension of disbelief.

 

I have to second this.

 

Also, why would the chapters do this? Out of the foremost of Dorn's chapters, you have the Imperial Fists, Crimson Fists and Black Templars (the mere mention of the Soul Drinkers here in the Liber may cause rabid foaming at the mouth :) ).

 

Soul Drinkers...>?!?! :) *Spasms* *Foam foam foam* ;)

 

If I may, if you want Rangers, you want Deathwatch. It's virtually what they do...against aliens anyway, but there's all kinds of reasons why they would get involved elsewhere. I admire the concept though.

 

MR.

[CantonWC]

Ditto the others. This is a Mary Sue Chapter, not going to fly.

[Possessed Marine]

I think it's kinda cool, but then again I already thought CF's were pretty cool to begin with, and with their reduced numbers it would make sense for them to use guerilla tactics to limit casualties.

[Brother Rathul]

*Facepalm*

A Space Marine is already an elite unit, the way you describe this unit makes it sound like a slap in the face for the Imperial Fists/succesor chapters. If I was you, I'd just use Sternguard becasue the rules you outlined them with are basically the same or Legion of the Damnned. The way you describe this unit makes them seem Matt Wardish.

[Ioldanach]

As a concept, it seems interesting. As has been said, though, it strains credulity (really violating what we know about most Successors of Rogal Dorn and their feelings on camouflage and stealth) and really undermines the elite nature of the Space Marines in general. The progression within Chapters should really be sufficient to represent the "best of the best", with the Grey Knights and Deathwatch retaining their elite nature. And maybe the Adeptus Custodes, too, though they're not Space Marines.

 

To me, the main issue is the confusion between what Space Marines are in the game and the cross-"genre" of the U.S. Army Rangers (or the British Commandos or the U.S. Marine Raiders - all three were very similar in nature). The Space Marines are a heavy infantry force. Actually, they're a light combined arms force, but the infantry aspects are "heavy" in nature. The only "light infantry" portions of the Space Marines are the Scouts. Tactically, the role of light infantry in the Space Marines has shifted to the Raven Guard and their Successors (e.g., the Raptors), as well as the Mantis Warriors. Those Chapters, though, aren't "better" than the Imperial Fists and their Successors, so it seems counterintuitive to suggest that this is likely.

 

If we look at the special missions of the Deathwatch, we find a much more likely place for the application of this "Ranger" concept.

 

What I like is the use of the Feast of Blades as a springboard for a cross-Chapter organization. I think that is a good basis for starting, but the proposed result of the "Rangers" needs to be chucked. I think that the Ultramarines Honor Company provides an example of a unit that might be emulated (to a degree), though I don't think they should be copied outright. Since we don't know the full nature of the Feast of Blades, you might use that venue. Perhaps the Feast of Blades is more than a competition. Perhaps participation in the Feast is the basis for a cross-Chapter organization and training, with all of those that participate being inducted as members, and they are then perpetually "on call" for action. We might then look to the purpose of the Ultramarines Honor Company and the example of the most recent Blood Angels books, where a crisis of substantial proportion justifies calling up the organization. All available members then "report for duty", whatever that duty is. This would justify representing an Honor Guard in any Space Marine army (of Rogal Dorn Successors), simply using them as an Honor Guard, Sternguard, or Vanguard (or even Terminators), depending upon how they're kitted out and how you want to use them.

 

This keeps things in line with the established material while working off of the concept of the "best of the best" battle-brothers of the Imperial Fists Successors.

 

If you really want to go with the light infantry special operations force, though, I think you really need to look elsewhere. Perhaps you should shift it to Corax' Successors (who are generally known for this kind of stuff) or the Deathwatch (who already draw upon multiple Chapters as a "recruiting" base).

 

Or maybe you should just combine Scouts (carapace armor, stealth) with Sternguard (veteran status, special equipment) for a homegrown Veteran Scout unit.

 

Another alternative is to apply the concept to the Imperial Guard, combining the Catachans with Stormtroopers for an elite light infantry force, but this is not the place for that. :)

 

Oops! I forgot a "not" in there (as you will see if you read Rathul's quote of my post below, which is where I noticed my error).

[Brother Rathul]

As a concept, it seems interesting. As has been said, though, it strains credulity (really violating what we know about most Successors of Rogal Dorn and their feelings on camouflage and stealth) and really undermines the elite nature of the Space Marines in general. The progression within Chapters should really be sufficient to represent the "best of the best", with the Grey Knights and Deathwatch retaining their elite nature. And maybe the Adeptus Custodes, too, though they're not Space Marines.

 

To me, the main issue is the confusion between what Space Marines are in the game and the cross-"genre" of the U.S. Army Rangers (or the British Commandos or the U.S. Marine Raiders - all three were very similar in nature). The Space Marines are a heavy infantry force. Actually, they're a light combined arms force, but the infantry aspects are "heavy" in nature. The only "light infantry" portions of the Space Marines are the Scouts. Tactically, the role of light infantry in the Space Marines has shifted to the Raven Guard and their Successors (e.g., the Raptors), as well as the Mantis Warriors. Those Chapters, though, aren't "better" than the Imperial Fists and their Successors, so it seems counterintuitive to suggest that this is likely.

 

If we look at the special missions of the Deathwatch, we find a much more likely place for the application of this "Ranger" concept.

 

What I like is the use of the Feast of Blades as a springboard for a cross-Chapter organization. I think that is a good basis for starting, but the proposed result of the "Rangers" needs to be chucked. I think that the Ultramarines Honor Company provides an example of a unit that might be emulated (to a degree), though I don't think they should be copied outright. Since we don't know the full nature of the Feast of Blades, you might use that venue. Perhaps the Feast of Blades is more than a competition. Perhaps participation in the Feast is the basis for a cross-Chapter organization and training, with all of those that participate being inducted as members, and they are then perpetually "on call" for action. We might then look to the purpose of the Ultramarines Honor Company and the example of the most recent Blood Angels books, where a crisis of substantial proportion justifies calling up the organization. All available members then "report for duty", whatever that duty is. This would justify representing an Honor Guard in any Space Marine army (of Rogal Dorn Successors), simply using them as an Honor Guard, Sternguard, or Vanguard (or even Terminators), depending upon how they're kitted out and how you want to use them.

 

This keeps things in line with the established material while working off of the concept of the "best of the best" battle-brothers of the Imperial Fists Successors.

 

If you really want to go with the light infantry special operations force, though, I think you really need to look elsewhere. Perhaps you should shift it to Corax' Successors (who are generally known for this kind of stuff) or the Deathwatch (who already draw upon multiple Chapters as a "recruiting" base).

 

Or maybe you should just combine Scouts (carapace armor, stealth) with Sternguard (veteran status, special equipment) for a homegrown Veteran Scout unit.

 

Another alternative is to apply the concept to the Imperial Guard, combining the Catachans with Stormtroopers for an elite light infantry force, but this is the place for that. :)

 

Essentialy this

[fivepointedstar]

If I may, if you want Rangers, you want Deathwatch. It's virtually what they do...against aliens anyway, but there's all kinds of reasons why they would get involved elsewhere. I admire the concept though.

I also agree. If you wanting your DIY chapter to be like the "Rangers of today" and have arsenal like Sterguards do why not use a Pedro Kantor list and do all Sternguards? Your trying to make a "Homebrewed" unit to fit into your DIY but that unit exists now. Its a good consept and a true homage to the pride of the U.S. ARMY but it has no place in Dorn's style of warfare.

[Tybrus]

Thanks for the responses and a few short answers for my part.

 

1) Though this was reposted in the DIY chapter section, my friend and I, were looking for the feel that 4th ed Vet squads had (i.e. Infiltrate but not just that, a greater field craft then standard units of the army).

2) I understand that that raven guard and their decedents are the most thought of chapter for this type of warfare but that does not mean that no one can. I also stuck with the Son's of Dorn not only for personal taste, but also practical reasons (I have a Fists, BT and CF army)

3) As far as “heavy infantry” goes that would be the point I was making. Though Space Marine chapters function primarily as an overwhelming force with lightning quick strikes to key targets and then withdraw and allow guard units to take over; that is not always the case, nor is it always the most practical. Marine biology as well as Power Armor allows the concept of Light Infantry to be used in a far more creative and effective way. Units of Space Marines would be able to function almost indefinitely, with ammunition the only factor. However, as stated this would fall outside of normal combat doctrine so specialized training would serve to make such units far more effective. Again though scouts can function in this manner it seems strange to have your least experienced troops functioning as such. However, scouts in conjunction with specialized Marine units would be an effective force multiplier in a prolonged campaign; where marines would be able to engage targets that scouts simply could not. Though we tend to think of marine units coming in and taking Space Superiority, this is simply not the case. Often units must be deployed quickly and for an extended period of time, and normal marine chapters simply do not have what it takes for such deployments. Their very nature puts them at a disadvantage in such situations, and the formation of an internal unit to address the problem makes far more sense then use of inferior troops like the guard, or even scouts.

4) Lastly I see where the point of making space marines less elite comes from, I respectively disagree. The intent of this write up is to view a marines training and experience as just that, and to allow for additional aspects to be used to expand the roles to which Space Marines would be called on to fight.

5) Lastly the title of this makes little difference, as you could call them the Emperor’s Panda Bears. Ranger’s was chosen for the direct comparison of roles between 40k and the world. Not to mention after a long night of drinking and modeling with my friend, we were adding shoulder pads to the models and noted that the pad with the scroll work only reminded us of the Ranger Tab, and thus a long night of talking and writing was born (with more drinking as well)

 

Like I said thanks to everyone that left feedback. I hope this makes some of my points more clear, but either way I look forward to anymore talk on the subject.

[Leonaides]

However, as stated this would fall outside of normal combat doctrine so specialized training would serve to make such units far more effective. Again though scouts can function in this manner it seems strange to have your least experienced troops functioning as such.

 

It almost looks like you're viewing marine training backwards... Marine traiing starts with the most difficult and advanced special operations training humanity is able to do, and then gets harder... A full marine is already more trained than any non-marine special forces, but is also trained in things that a mere special forces trained human is incapable of doing. Scouts doing this sort of thing is because they are learning to do harder things, not that they are the weakest/least experienced being asked to do the most specialised things, or would you say that scouts ought to start out as terminator-armoured troops since they need the most protection?

[tiny sam]

1) I realy like the concept but I feel this "space" is already occupied by the deathwath. Altough a specialy affected Imperial Fist Deathwatch Captain might not trust the other geneseeds (past bad experiences) and choose only sons of Dorn for his missions :P

 

2)

3) As far as “heavy infantry” goes that would be the point I was making. Though Space Marine chapters function primarily as an overwhelming force with lightning quick strikes to key targets and then withdraw and allow guard units to take over; that is not always the case, nor is it always the most practical. Marine biology as well as Power Armor allows the concept of Light Infantry to be used in a far more creative and effective way. Units of Space Marines would be able to function almost indefinitely, with ammunition the only factor. However, as stated this would fall outside of normal combat doctrine so specialized training would serve to make such units far more effective. Again though scouts can function in this manner it seems strange to have your least experienced troops functioning as such. However, scouts in conjunction with specialized Marine units would be an effective force multiplier in a prolonged campaign; where marines would be able to engage targets that scouts simply could not. Though we tend to think of marine units coming in and taking Space Superiority, this is simply not the case. Often units must be deployed quickly and for an extended period of time, and normal marine chapters simply do not have what it takes for such deployments. Their very nature puts them at a disadvantage in such situations, and the formation of an internal unit to address the problem makes far more sense then use of inferior troops like the guard, or even scouts.

 

in fact that kind of elite warrior already exist in this univers, space wolf scouts

 

 

 

on the plausible fact, it surely could have happen that a wolf scout was assing to a deathwatch squad with a particularly clever Imperial Fist. Sensing the possibility of this type of warrior, he keep a note on that. A hundred year lather he is promoted captain and find start training some veterants in the "Space Wolfs ways" ultimatly using contact with the deathwatch to include staffs from other sons of dorn chapters.

[Tybrus]

in fact that kind of elite warrior already exist in this univers, space wolf scouts

 

 

 

on the plausible fact, it surely could have happen that a wolf scout was assing to a deathwatch squad with a particularly clever Imperial Fist. Sensing the possibility of this type of warrior, he keep a note on that. A hundred year lather he is promoted captain and find start training some veterants in the "Space Wolfs ways" ultimatly using contact with the deathwatch to include staffs from other sons of dorn chapters.

 

Very good idea that, and you are of course correct in that Wolf Scouts in power armor was along the lines I was thinking, almost a hybrid of wolf scouts and stern guard. The idea of the prior Deathwatch capt. is a good one. I have one mini painted up and will try and get a picture up soon. Again this is for my own amusement in friendly games (Which is all I play), but I have enjoyed the feedback so far, though it was not as supportive as I would have hoped I have gotten some great ideas.

 

Edit: Fixed coding on qoute

[Darkchild130]

I like this idea (I like any Space Marines that act like soldiers :) ), though I dont think it suit Dorn's geneseed at all.

Plus as other have said, Deathwatch already fill the role you have laid out for your chapter (in the RPG books it describes how they fight all enemies this way, not just aliens).

 

If you changed the to Raven Guard successors or even Ultramarines I think it would fit better.

 

Darkchild