Night Scorpions

[Scorpion#]

Hi, I have been away from Warhammer for a few years now. Some of my friends still play though and have been thinking about starting a new army.

 

I have not played Space Marines before so am thinking about creating an army for them. Although i like many of the existing chapters, I quite fancy creating my own.

 

I have come up with this background for my potential chapter: The Night Scorpions

 

************************

Edit: I have now updated the text below and it referes to a Chapter called the Iron Guard - I have not found anybody else using that name. Hopefully it is a bit better than before.

 

************************

 

Origins

 

The Iron Guard were created during the 14th founding at the request of the High Lords of Terra to deal with the 4th Black Crusade of Abbadon.

 

They were created using the Mortifactors gene-seed and the very first Chapter Master had formerly been the captain of the Mortifactors 3rd Company.

 

Homeworld

 

The Iron Guard are based on the world of Cascadia V, located towards the western edge of Segmentum Ultima close to the Maelstrom.

 

Cascadia V is a medium sized planet in a binary star system called the Cascadian system; a there are 10 planets of which Cascadia V is the only planet inhabited by both native inhabitants and the Adeptus Mechanicus.

 

About 60% of the world is covered in oceans; the rest is covered by several large landmasses which have numerous mountain ranges and were once covered by verdant plains and forests. Prior to the Great Crusade most scholars believe that there was a catastrophic war in which virus weapons were used that killed most of the life on the planet. Over time much of the land was eroded by the wind and is now covered by sandy dunes or salt flats. The oceans were seemingly unaffected by the virus weapons and continue to be filled by a vast array of creatures.

In due course the virus appears to have disappeared and trees and plants have begun re-growing along the coastal plains, in the mountains and also along the banks of the remaining rivers; however the sand dunes still cover the majority of the landscape. The war did not kill all the human inhabitants of the planet and they have now spread to all but one of the landmasses. The final one, one of the smallest and the most remote has an Adeptus Mechanicus mining facility on it where precious metals are mined by criminals shipped from a penal world located in a nearby system.

 

Precious metals can be found under all of Cascadia V’s landmasses and the Iron Guard has established several mines that provide raw materials for the Chapters weapons and vehicles.

 

The Adeptus Mechanicus were allowed a location on the planet and sole use of the landmass as a sign of thanks due to one of their exploratory fleets fortunately passing through the edge of the Cascadian system at the same time as an Eldar pirate raid was made on the planet only two years after the Chapters founding.

 

The Eldar pirates had attached in large numbers and without the aid of the Skitarii and Mechanicus ships the Iron Guard may have been wiped out. Over the next century there were several more Eldar pirate raids, but as the Chapter grew these raids diminished.

 

When the planet was rediscovered in M32 by the Imperium the native inhabitants of Cascadia V were found to have formed feudal kingdoms based in cities on the coastal plains, fertile river banks and next to the largest of oases. Due to the harshness of the planet the kingdoms often have small populations and not all men can become warriors.

 

A culture has developed when all boys at the age of 6 are taken to the nearest city and are put into a warrior school. There they are given training & education in warfare. The schools are brutal and many of the boys are not able to cope. At the age of 10 any boy that has not stood up to the training is sent back to his home village. Those that remain stay within the schools to continue the training required to join one of the kingdoms warrior cadres.

Ever since the Iron Guards fortress monastery was founded the chapter’s chaplains have travelled the world, visiting the warrior schools and choosing those who have the most potential for further training to see whether they have it within them to be marines.

 

There is a single warrior school based close to the Iron Guards fortress monastery - the Iron Citadel - and it is to this location the selected boys are brought to carry on their training for at least another 3 years.

 

The training is much tougher and violent and only a few will have the skills and determination the master Chaplains are looking for to be a Space Marine. The boys are also taught further about metal work and crafting as the Chapter has the belief that every brother should be able to maintain his own weapons during a campaign

Those boys who survive the training but not deemed worthy of being a marine are sent back to the warrior schools they came from originally. These often become the leaders of the warrior cadres. The extra skills they learnt under the Iron Guard enabling them to be excellent warriors among normal humans.

 

The boys who do survive are implanted with the Iron Guard gene seed and undertake the process of becoming a Space Marine. Young Neophytes are only allowed to enter the main fortress monastery when the Apothecaries are sure there is no mutation within the Neophyte, due to the strength of the Ultramarine Gene-Seed this is a very rare occurrence.

 

Combat Doctrine

 

The Iron Guard are followers of the Codex Astartes as are most of the Ultramarine successor chapters, however over time they have developed a preference for mechanized warfare; deploying more Razorbacks, Predators and Land Raiders then most other Chapters and then when deployed the Iron Guard brothers prefer close range warfare with many close combat weapons being used.

The standard tactic of the Iron Guard is an artillery strike from their strike cruisers, Whirlwhinds and Thunderhawk gunships. This is followed by the rapid advancement of the Chapters mechanized and assault units supported by the Thunderhawks and when the troops are deployed they prefer using close combat weapons.

The high amount of merchandised vehicles is believed to stem from the fact most warrior cadres travel across the deserts on horseback or chariot and this has transformed in the Iron Guards into a passion for mechanized warfare.

 

One change to the standard Codex Astartes doctrine is that Iron Guard squads are normally broken down further into two fireteams. This is due to the widespread deployment of the Razorback and as this has a reduced carrying capacity compared to the Rhino meaning that a full squad cannot be carried and so it has to be split across two vehicles. The Iron Guard ensure that the split is already established and understood in a squad.

 

Organisation

 

Standard Codex Astartes – To be expanded.

 

Beliefs

 

The Iron Guard venerate the Emperor as the gene-father of the Adeptus Astartes, and Roboute Guilliman as their Primarch.

 

They maintain a calendar of holy days, one of the most sacred being the Day of Creation, during which the entire Chapter gathers to celebrate its creation. The Chapter's greatest victories are remembered, and its boldest sacrifices commemorated. In this way, the lessons of the Chapter's history are passed down through the ages, ensuring the brethren learn from the actions of their ancestors.

 

Tattoos are an important part of Cascadian warrior culture and the Iron Guard carry this on by receiving a Tattoo after every battle to demonstrate their achievements and enemies killed. Veteran marines will often have the majority of their body covered.

 

The Iron Guard are a relatively ‘humanitarian’ chapter and are tolerant of fighting alongside Ogryns, Ratlings & Psykers. They hold a certain amount of disdain for chapters such as the Dark Angels who won’t fight alongside these units, believing that the defence of the Imperium is more important than anything else, however they will willingly kill civilians if it means it would defeat the enemy.

 

This disdain for the Dark Angels and their successor chapters is believed to have begun during a notable campaign against an Ork WAAGHH when a Dark Angels captain refused to to have his force fight alongside a joint Space Marine - Imperial Guard army that contained many Ogryns.

 

The Iron Guard Chapter Master leading the army called the captain a traitor to the Imperium for his actions as they were already outnumbered by the enemy.

 

The Dark Angels captain took this as a slight against his Chapter and called the Iron Guards commander into a duel between them. The duel was won, barely, by the Iron Guard Chapter Master although he did spare the life of the Dark Angel Captain. With the duel won, the Iron Guards Commander ordered the Dark Angel marines to fight alongside his force which they did, victoriously, but with great reluctance.

The Iron Guard Chapter master died shortly after this incident, fighting against another Chaos warband incursion and nothing more has been heard directly from the Dark Angels about it. Since that date though the Iron Guard have found that any request for assistance they make is routinely ignored by the Dark Angels and their successor’s even three millennia after the instance happened.

 

One of the cultures that has been passed down to the Iron Guard from the warrior cadres of Cascadia V is self-reliance and craftsmanship. It is normal for all the boys at the warrior schools to be taught how to craft and maintain their own weapons. This is continued in all Iron Guard neophyte training and they develop an intimate knowledge of the ways of metal and fire during their training and has resulted in there being more Techmarines than is normal for an Astartes Chapter.

 

As each Battle-Brother can completely repair, service and modify their own war gear, the Techmarines are free to craft intricate and powerful items of incredible workmanship and advanced technology such as armour for the Terminators, master-crafted weaponry and a higher number of tanks compared to a normal Chapter..

 

Gene seed

 

The Iron Guard descend from the Ultramarines Chapter through the Mortificator chapter. This gene seed was chosen by the High Lords of Terra due to its strength and purity.

 

One mutation that has been noticed in the Iron Guard is that the front canine teeth grow slightly longer than is normal.

 

Battle Cry

 

”Strike for the Emperor” - This still needs improving

 

Armour

Edited November 2, 2011 by Scorpion#

[NightrawenII]

Hello and welcome in the Liber Astartes. I hope you will enjoy your stay. :P

I'm not sure if you noticed, but we have here two guides, The Guide to DIYing and Octaguide 2.0. Now...

 

*cough* Night Scorpions *cough*

 

Nevertheless, what you have here is good with one glaring problem; Your guys are practically carbon copy of Salamanders except for some minor divergences. While it's not wrong per se, it sort of defeats the point of DIY (= Do It Yours).

 

If you really want your own Chapter, then you should think for yourself, not copy-paste elements from other Chapter.

 

 

Cheers, NightrawenII.

Edited November 2, 2011 by NightrawenII

[Yaj]

First of don't worry to much if theres a chapter already called 'Night Scorpions' and you can always change it later if you wish.

 

The chapter is very similar to the Salamanders but you do have some areas that with expansion would start to make them more independent. I would suggest expanding on the 'Tatoos' and perhaps explaining further the distrust of chapters such as the Dark Angels. Also remember that successor chapters do not always follow there parents in how they fight.

 

I suggest reading through some of the IA's on this site and the 40K lexicanum to get further ideas. Remember though that this is your chapter and if you decide that the fluff is fine as it is then that's ok as well.

 

looking forward to seeing, if anything, what you come up with.

[Scorpion#]

Thanks for the feedback.

 

Happy to have a look at another name, I checked on the Warhammer 40k Wikia to see if that was an existing name but didn't think to look here.

 

Night Scorpions isn't my favorite just been struggling for something. Am thinking of maybe Iron Wolves, Iron Guard...

 

I can see your point about it being too similar to the Salamnders still. I tried to differentiate it by making it more assault orientated than the salamanders appear to be but not enough - think I will need to change the organisation and beliefs much more for that to happen.

 

Does the description of the homeworld make sense? I tried to make it seem like the sort of planet SM would want to be based on through the warrior culture?

 

Many Thanks

[Yaj]

Seems fine to me though I would replace the Eldar with renagade marines since the malestrom has quite a few including the Red Corsairs.

 

That's all that springs to mind at the moment.

[NightrawenII]

The Red Corsairs are recent trend, since Badab War was in 901-912.M41.

 

Btw, added links to my older post.

 

 

Cheers, NightrawenII.

[Scorpion#]

Hi, I have updated the text above so its a bit more different now, though I dont think I have captured enough uniqueness yet. Please let me know what you think.

[NightrawenII]

Hell-o, again.

 

************************

Edit: I have now updated the text below and it referes to a Chapter called the Iron Guard - I have not found anybody else using that name. Hopefully it is a bit better than before.

************************

*cough* Iron Guard *cough* - I swear, I'm not doing this on purpose... Honest. ^_^

 

Origins

They were created using the Mortifactors gene-seed and the very first Chapter Master had formerly been the captain of the Mortifactors 3rd Company.

- What I read get from further reading, the Mortifactors weren't fortunate choice.

 

Homeworld

Cascadia V is a medium sized planet in a binary star system called the Cascadian system; a there are 10 planets of which Cascadia V is the only planet inhabited by both native inhabitants and the Adeptus Mechanicus.

- This is a little pointless information. If the Cascadia V is the only inhabited planet, then there is no need for 10 planets.

 

Prior to the Great Crusade most scholars believe that there was a catastrophic war in which virus weapons were used that killed most of the life on the planet. Over time much of the land was eroded by the wind and is now covered by sandy dunes or salt flats. The oceans were seemingly unaffected by the virus weapons and continue to be filled by a vast array of creatures.

In due course the virus appears to have disappeared and trees and plants have begun re-growing along the coastal plains, in the mountains and also along the banks of the remaining rivers; however the sand dunes still cover the majority of the landscape. The war did not kill all the human inhabitants of the planet and they have now spread to all but one of the landmasses.

- Too complicated for little to no gain. Just tell us how the planet looks like.

 

The Adeptus Mechanicus were allowed a location on the planet and sole use of the landmass as a sign of thanks due to one of their exploratory fleets fortunately passing through the edge of the Cascadian system at the same time as an Eldar pirate raid was made on the planet only two years after the Chapters founding.

 

The Eldar pirates had attacked in large numbers and without the aid of the Skitarii and Mechanicus ships the Iron Guard may have been wiped out. Over the next century there were several more Eldar pirate raids, but as the Chapter grew these raids diminished.

- Eh, Why do you want Admech enclave on your homeworld? This will be better in the sidebar.

 

When the planet was rediscovered in M32 by the Imperium...

- This date, in the middle of section, is rather pointless.

 

Combat Doctrine

The high amount of merchandised vehicles is believed to stem from the fact most warrior cadres travel across the deserts on horseback or chariot and this has transformed in the Iron Guards into a passion for mechanized warfare.

- "merchandised vehicles", what's dat?

- And it contradicts with introduction of homeworld section, observe: About 60% of the world is covered in oceans; the rest is covered by several large landmasses which have numerous mountain ranges...

 

One change to the standard Codex Astartes doctrine is that Iron Guard squads are normally broken down further into two fireteams.

- That's quite normal in the current edition of rules...

 

Belief

- Eh, man. You need to estabilish the culture first, before talking about its effects on the Chapter. For example the tradition of tattoos looks like it was invented solely for this section.

 

 

Cheers, NightrawenII.