My shot at the Doom Warriors

[Julgolax]

Please enjoy and tell me what you think. I MIGHT just have something here. I did some research and made these guys come to life. A little more than the established fluff of course but, that doesn't mean it isnt true yet. I didnt go into super extensive detail here because I dont want to try and spell it out entirely. I think the chapter should be allowed some mystery and of course some fear in reputation.

 

Index Astartes

 

Chapter Name: Doom Warriors

Founding: Unknown

Primogenitor: Unknown

Homeworld: Fleet-based, spacebound chapter

Fortress-Monastery: augmented battle barge, The Grim

Chapter Master: Tharen Korthus

Heraldry: yellow armor, black raven emblem with human skull spitting lightning, company color represented by helmet stripe

Chapter Composition: 10 companies

Specialty: cleansing campaigns, Inquisitorial connections

Battle Cry: Doom ye! Defilers of the Imperium! Doom ye!

 

Chapter Culture: The Doom Warriors chapter are unlike any other chapter in the Emperor's service because they secretly have ties to the Inquisition. So classified and well hidden is this connection that upon becoming a battle-brother, each warrior is mentally encoded with a desire to keep this detail a secret by the most senior Apothicary. When the Doom Warriors are not called by the Inquisition, they conduct themselves as any other chapter would. They are spacebound so their chapter fleet houses every branch of the Chapter's infrastructure. Crusading across the thousands of systems and sectors of the Imperium they have been the end of many conflicts, and the salvation of many peoples. The chapter does not revere wanton destruction and in truth, it is instilled in each warrior that extermination is the very last resort, if all other options are agreed upon to be ineffective. When the time comes however that an Exterminatus is issued by an intervening Inquisitor, the Doom Warrior's innate mission is activated and all compassion is thrown aside. By the grace of the Emperor, extremely few worlds have been corrupted so completely as to warrent Exterminatus, but the Doom Warriors have more counts of successful administrations than any other chapter under the Emperor's Sun. An exact count is better left to the sealed vaults of the Inquisition but such a totalitarian act should not be made known. When the Doom Warriors administer an Exterminatus, the chapter fleet is gathered in full and upon Inquisitorial order, they follow every terrible procedure to the letter, for so dire is the event that warrents Exterminatus, any mistakes could prove fatal to the next world, or Emperor forbid, the next system, or sector... The chapter is noteworthy on a genetic level however in that their Catalepsean Node implant has a defect when triggered by the geneseed which for some reason disallows the chapter to sleep regularly, if at all. This defect causes the chapter's warriors to become increasingly morose, even emotional to the point where they must spend exceedingly lengthy times in prayer to calm their minds. Those other chapters of Astartes that have met the Doom Warriors come to call them the "Restless Ones" and even the "Warriors of Guilt".

 

The Reaper Incarnate: The Doom Warrior's do not possess a single world for recruiting, and it is a mystery to even the Chapter Master where recruits are gathered from for these recruits arrive always by third party passenger transports, and most recruits are gathered at random, likely from black market dealings with Rogue Traders and even less savory contacts. Those who prove worthy to even begin Astartes training and indoctrination are treated with extreme hostility by their 10th Company masters because they are not even close to being trustworthy. The Chapter recruits extremely slowly from these captured stocks because there is no backround information of any kind reguarding their compatibility, spiritual purity, or even their source. Each man is subject to ten fold that of regular neophytes screening for to miss any defect is to place the entire Chapter in jeparody. Upon passing the screening process, in which 89.5% of incoming candidates do not, they must then begin the arduous training regimens that are required of them to be farther tested. In general, a successful induction into the Scouts of 10th Company happen at a ratio of 1 per 400,000 candidates that influx annualy. In truth, the Doom Warriors Chapter can hold another record of fewest recruits per any other challenge in the thousand or so chapters that exist at any one time. It is truely maddening to think the depths to which this particular chapter goes to maintain it's other 9 companies in addition to their soul-killing purpose. Their battle barge that serves as their chapter's Fortress-Monastery is known simply as The Grim, an ominous title deserved of their reputation. The chapter conducts most, if not all of it's core functions within the colossal, black battle barge. It serves as training center, Apothicarion, Librarium, Reclusiam, Chapter Headquarters, and partially the Armory. The Master of the Forge does not operate on this particular vessal for he resides with the chapter's armory aboard the strike cruiser Deathfell where he serves not only as the Master of the Forge but also shares the position of Master of the Fleet with Captain Horgul of 4th Company. The Chapter's main armory may reside on Deathfell but aboard The Grim the entire chapter's fleet of Talon fighter craft reside there along with 1/3 of the chapter's entire array of Thunderhawk gunships. The Grim features one of the rarest pieces of equipment a chapter can possess, a stock of 3 sets of 3 world-killing Exterminatus weaponry. Missles of ancient and terrible design are kept within a vault protected by void shields that the Chapter Master himself is not authorized to open. It takes a 13 step interface with a certified Inquisitor to open the 13 locks to open the Black Vault and allow the chapter to use the missiles. Indeed, such a terrible day it is when the unspeakable must be done, and those locks be opened and the doors to the Black Vault grind open...

 

Famous Battles: Events of Exterminatus withstanding, the Chapter has faced many foes in it's unbeknownst centuries of service. Oddly enough, all the chapter's existing banners and records do not reveal a single victory or remembered event for the chapter's moody demeanor causes them not to celebrate their victories, but simply move on to the next battle without thought of remembrance. Records of their victories are only found in detail amongst Inquisitorial histories and they are still few to say the least. This not implying their true successes being so limited, they do remember one victory above the few others and that was their victory against the Orks of Truan City, the only reason they had not wiped out this world was that the entire chapter was committed to the defense of this hive world and at Truan City where the Orks made their last point of resistance, they were cut down to the last and none survived. The planet was reclaimed and later restabilized as an entirely Human planet, a great success by any chapter's judgement.

 

Chapter Tactics: The Doom Warriors operate as any other chapter might, using the Codex Astartes as their baseline against all threats. They do however take to the battlefield every time with every intention on total war results. The Doom Warriors see it as a failure if any enemy is allowed to survive and such totalitarian attitudes is sometimes viewed as deviant from the edicts of the Codex Astartes. This is swiftly put to rest upon the results of their campaigns for no enemy is ever left alive save those that escape and woe be the foe if they do for they would be hunted down by the yellow reapers till death finds them. The chapter has several hinderances in combat though due to their extremely low replenishment rates should the chapter's warriors be slain. The Doom Warriors though terrifying and fierce, often force their Scouts to operate for extreme periods of time before the chapter moves in for a surprise attack, this said, the Scouts are equipped more readily than even battle brothers at times and have access to most of the assets within the chapter's armory of weapons and transports. It is extremely rare however that the Scouts are allowed the use of unconventional weaponry unless the situation demands it for they have to learn the ways of subtlety and subterfuge before they are able to don the power armor and embrace the tactics of the chapter as a whole.

[Julgolax]

Guess it wasn't stirring or appealing huh?

[Sgt. Tiberus Satio]

They seem like a neat idea coming. I picture them a mix of Mortifactors and perhaps Deathwatch. When they show no victories or anything reguarding battles on their banners strikes me weird. I don't think any chapter to my knowledge doesn't boast or record their battles in some fashion. The way they recruit makes me think borderline of the codex astartes and grey area because if they recruit from rogue traders, the trainee could be fallen? or something to that nature. I would say they could recruit from the planet(s) they are closest to at the time given their fleet position. You describe them as almost a bloodlust for total annihilation of the enemy, could be seen as borderline to other chapters.

 

I am not bashing the idea, I like it. I would perhaps add some events with other chapters? Give them some interaction and see how other chapters would see them and reflect on their methods?

 

Of course I am just giving my opinion based on reading.

[SnakeoilSage]

Hmm, I think this is a good start but it could use some mixing up.

 

Exterminatus isn't implemented by an army; such a thing would be too costly. Exterminatus usually involves some kind of orbital bombardment: virus bombs, massed nuclear strikes, lascannons, what have you. They level everything, kill every living thing down to the last blade of grass, level every inch of infrastructure. The planet is completely dead; even the atmosphere is blasted away or becomes so toxic as to be unbreathable even by Space Marines.

 

So maybe the Doom Warriors are dedicated to a different goal? Such as seeking out the culprits that led to an Exterminatus order? Tracking down the corrupting influences that led to this grim end and carving the name of the destroyed world on their butchered corpse, as a warning to the whole galaxy that none who taint the Emperor's domain can ever escape, even if Exterminatus fails to destroy them.

 

Your recruits could be made up of survivors of the planet who escaped prior to the Exterminatus. To weed out the pure, the Chapter tortures them with methods similar to the Inquisition. Those who prove themselves are "killed:" brought to that point of death then resuscitated and given their gene-implants. Their memories are wiped and they become faceless members of the Chapter dedicated only to bringing justice to those who tried to corrupt the Imperium. Each Doom Warrior forges a new identity for himself, so that it could be said he was "born" into the Chapter, and also represents the faceless masses of those slain to prevent the spread of evil.

 

I can see the Chapter using a lot of Legion of the Damned units; maybe the Doom Warriors are known to enter a deathless state the way Bloog Angels succumb to the Black Rage: certain Doom Warriors become emotionless killers that seem to possess near-supernatural powers, but completely lose their sense of self, they're like zombies in power armour, obedient to the Chapter and Emperor but utterly without ego or self-awareness.