Immolation Angels - Burn.

[Sun Grilled Bacon]

A short summary:

 

Name: Immolation Angels

Chapter Symbol: Burning skull with wings on both sides of it, all in white, overlaid on grey flames expanding outwards from the center.

Colours: Scab Red/Codex Grey/Shadow Grey/Black Camo Pattern [left shoulder pad trim indicates role] (Some models have been painted, just need to photograph and post them here, the scab red colour was added to the initial codex/shadow grey camo to better associate them with the Blood Angels and other descendants of the IX Legion)

Red = Tactical

Yellow = Assault

Blue = Devastator

Gold = Veteran/Commanding Officer

Gene-seed: Blood Angels (3rd Founding)

Homeworld: Fleet-based Chapter

Speciality: Rapid response/Aerial assault/cleansing

Battlecry: "Burn!"

 

ORIGINS:

• Created in the 3rd Founding as a mobile response force to prevent any invasion from the Eye of Terror in Segmentum Obscurus spilling into Ultima Segmentum.
  
• Their first Lord Commander (Chapter Master) was a former Blood Angels 1st Company Captain, Ambrosius, he has since been interred into a dreadnought after he fell defeating a greater daemon of Khorne.
  
• Ambrosius' power weapon, Angel's Wrath, and combi-plasma, Dragon's Breath, were recovered, and each successive Chapter Master has wielded them since.
  
• Ambrosius brought his personal Honour Guard from the Blood Angels with him, who became the Immolation Angels' first Sanguinary Guard, then their first Captains, as the strength of the Chapter was built up. The Sanguinary Guard has since continued to serve as the Lord Commander's personal Honour Guard, just as the original Sanguinary Guard served as Sanguinius' body guards.
  
• Primarily formed to respond to Chaos incursions on Imperial Worlds.
  
• No homeworld due to their role as mobile response
  

 

GENE-SEED:

• Gene-seed is from Blood Angels' stock
  
• As such, the Immolation Angels suffer from the same defects as their parent Legion, along with the increased life-span
  
• One slight mutation unique to the Immolation Angels is the effects of the Black Rage. The effects on a marine of the Immolation Angels will cause the marine's body to heat up, along with the increased ferocity and strength, and it is said that the heat is enough to burn through carapace armour. However, this increased energy consumption and increased body temperature will kill the marine within 3 days, and thus far, no marine has survived.
  
• Even when not under the effects of the Black Rage, the body temperature of an Immolation Angel is higher than the average Space Marine. This is attributed to a small mutation in the Biscopea.
  

 

COMBAT DOCTRINE:

• Direct strikes into the heart of the enemy
  
• A precision orbital barrage is used to soften up enemy positions before main assault.
  
• Marines are trained extensively in both close-quarters and long range warfare. They are trained to be as versatile as possible.
  
• Prefer weapons that burn, melt or incinerate e.g. flamer, melta, plasma due to their beliefs.
  
• Less use of ground vehicles, but more air support
  
• Specialists in hive and death world operations (flamers are very useful in these places)
  
• In short, blitzkrieg/direct tactics
  
• Helmets are never to be taken off in the battlefield.
  
• The Immolation Angels have had to board and clear many enemy ships and several space hulks over the years, and have become quite proficient at ship to ship combat.
  

 

BELIEFS:

• Don't treat the Emperor as a God, but as a great military and organisational leader whom all marines should emulate.
  
• They respect all the loyalist Primarchs as the ultimate creations of the Emperor, particularly Sanguinius due to their lineage
  
• Believe that fire is an agent of purification, which leads to their flame-based rituals.
  
• Recruits do a fire-walking ritual to purify themselves of previous sins. This also represents their casting off of their old selves, and putting on the mantle of a Space Marine.
  
• Marines may choose to have purity seals on their armour, or burnt into their skin.
  
• Have no tolerance for traitors, even potentially repentant ones, and will completely incinerate traitorous corpses
  
• Dislike working with non-Astartes, but will do so if necessary.
  
• Despises most xenos species, but have a tinge of respect for the Eldar of Craftworld Lugganath, who also have been fighting Chaos in Segmentum Obscurus (enemy of my enemy sort of thing).
  
• Plasma, Melta and Flame are the "holy trinity" of the Immolation Angels' weaponry, and so each squad has at least one of these weapons. The privilege of wielding such a weapon is rotated between different members of a squad, with each weapon belonging to a specific squad.
  
• They realise and accept that they have the Flaw, but attempt to suppress it as much as possible. They see the effects of the Flaw as punishment for sins they may have committed, and will ritually burn litanies into their bodies as agents of purification. Some veterans will be covered from head to toe in these litanies due to the length of their service.
  
• Upon death, if not interred within a dreadnought, the marine will be cremated after their progenoids are removed, and their ashes placed into an alcove in the Hall of the Fallen, located on the Pride of Sanguinius
  
• Even compared to their parent Legion, the Immolation Angels take extreme measures to attempt preventing the Black Rage from occurring. Each marine regularly recites Rites of Suppression in order to prevent any potential triggers that would cause the Black Rage, and are regularly checked by Chaplain, Librarian and Apothecary for signs of the Black Rage.
  

 

ORGANISATION:

CHAPTER ORGANISATION:

• On first look, the Immolation Angels seem to have strict codex adherence, but on closer inspection, there are some variations on codex structure.
  
• 1000~ marines divided into 10 main companies (100~ marines each)
  
• The 1st Company is the official Veteran Company, where the veterans have both performed exceptionally well as well have centuries of experience.
  
• The 2nd Company is the other, unofficial Veteran Company. Although they are not officially veterans, the marines of the 2nd Company are usually marines that have performed exceptionally well, while not necessarily having as many years of experience as 1st Company veterans.
  
• The 3rd-8th Companies are the standard Battle Companies similar to other chapters.
  
• The 9th Company is a Battle Company of sorts, but is only made up of Tactical Squads.
  
• The 10th Company is the Scout Company.
  
• The 1st and 2nd Company marines have shown exceptional control over their rage.
  
• Each squad is named after their very first sergeant, unless the squad has been completely destroyed, then a new squad will replace them and be named after their first sergeant.
  
• Death Companies are formed whenever they are needed. To contrast with the chapter's colours, the members of the Death Company paint their armour white (NOTE: This is actually the same with the Angels Encarmine, the armour colour that is)
  
• The Sanguinary Guard is composed of the best of the 1st Company, and serve as the Lord Commander's personal Honour Guard, and as according to Blood Angel custom, use the traditional gear associated with them.
  

CHAPTER FLEET ORGANISATION:

• The 1st and 2nd Companies join together to form the 1st Fleet [Command and Veteran Fleet]
  
• The 3rd, 4th and 5th Companies join together to form the 2nd Fleet [battle Fleet]
  
• The 6th, 7th and 8th Companies join together to form the 3rd Fleet [battle Fleet]
  
• The 9th and 10th Companies join together to form the 4th Fleet [support/Training/Research Fleet]
  
• Each fleet is partially autonomous to be more independent
  
• The 4th Fleet conducts most of the recruitment and all the implantations and training, while the 2nd and 3rd Fleets would recruit only if they see someone with great potential (the recruits are sent to the 4th Fleet for implantation and training). The 1st Fleet will not recruit, as they are the veterans of the Chapter
  
• These codex deviations are meant to more evenly distribute forces across an expanse of space.
  
• The 1st Fleet is equipped with their space-faring fortress-monastery/battle barge, Pride of Sanguinius, 2 strike cruisers and multiple frigates
  
• The 2nd and 3rd Fleets are equipped with a battle barge, 2 strike cruisers and multiple frigates
  
• The 4th Fleet is equipped with a forge-ship, battle barge, strike cruiser and multiple frigates
  
• The chapter's fleets are located in a diamond shape, with each fleet located at the corners of the diamond. The 1st Fleet is located at the 12 o'clock position, the 2nd and 3rd Fleets at the 9 o'clock and 3 o'clock positions respectively, and the 4th Fleet at the 6 o'clock position. The distance between each point on the diamond is about 1 AU.
  

 

TRAINING:

• All recruits start off in the 10th (Scout) Company, learning the basics of Space Marine warfare.
  
• As their final test to become a full Space Marine, scouts walk through a raging inferno as a final symbol of casting off their previous lives and fully accepting their role as a Space Marine. This fire would kill a normal human, but the superior physiology of the Space Marine will allow them to live, even if the flames may cause permanent scarification.
  
• Upon ascension to full Battle-Brother status, marines are transferred to the 9th Company where they take on roles of Tactical Marines, and developing their skills to either specialise in close-quarters, ranged combat or a mixture of both.
  
• Once a 9th Company marine has successfully completed several campaigns, and whenever places are open in one of the Battle Companies, they are transferred to one. By this time, the marine will have specialised in one aspect of warfare. Tactical and Assault Marines are most common, as marines generally do not want to hang back at range, only some marines will develop a affinity for long ranged combat with heavy weapons, Devastators.
  
• Tactical Marines are much more flexible in their role, as it has been established in the Codex Astartes, and so, the majority of 1st and 2nd Company Marines were primarily Tactical Marines at the time of their induction into the 1st Fleet.
  
• If a marine of one of the Battle Companies has performed exceptionally well, they will often be selected for promotion to the 2nd Company, where they will now train daily in all 3 types of marine role, to become an even more flexible force.
  
• The 2nd and 1st Companies do not have specific squad types, and instead they adopt the roles of Tactical, Assault or Devastator Marine as the situation calls for.
  
• Once a 2nd Company marine has performed several centuries of service, they will then be inducted to the 1st Company.
  
• Veterans of the 1st Company will then continue to fight until they die, or be promoted to Captaincy of one of the Companies. Along with commanding a company, each Captain is also part of the Chapter Council, who decides the fate of the Chapter.
  
• Newly appointed Captains are trained by the other Captain(s) of their Fleet in order to learn duties and responsibilities of leading a Company.
  
• If the Chapter Master is to ever fall, the 10 Captains of the 10 Companies will elect one of their number to replace the Chapter Master. That marine will become the new Chapter Master and his place will be filled by a 1st Company Veteran.
  

 

NOTABLE ACTIONS:

To Be Added

 

CURRENT STATUS:

• Patrolling the border between Ultima Segmentum and Segmentum Obscurus as they have done since the formation of their Chapter.
  
• Fighting against Chaos Warbands, Traitor Guard and Orks primarily.
  
• Led by the current 14th Lord Commander of the Immolation Angels, Antares. He has served the Chapter for 800 years so far, and is one of the greatest Immolation Angels in their history. (I plan to use this guy as a counts-as Dante)
  
• As Baal is under attack by both Tyranid and Chaos forces in 999.M41, the First Fleet has left the patrolling of the border to the other 3 Fleets in order to support their parent legion.
  

 

IMAGES:

http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/7559/dsc00047tm.jpg

A Veteran Sergeant of a Tactical Squad

 

http://img819.imageshack.us/img819/9940/dsc00044rt.jpg

A Devastator Marine with Chapter Symbol visible (I have since added some scab red camo as well, similar to sergeant above)

 

This is a WIP, so it's mainly just a general idea at the moment, which is also being updated from time to time, so there will be some large holes present.

 

Now comment, criticise and discuss!

[Andrew J]

First off welcome to the B&C!

 

Love the name. Other than that not too much to go on. Sound like grey Blood Angels to me. "Death from Above" also seems to be overused. I would recommend looking at some other ways to make your chapter stand out from the BAs and other rapid response forces. Maybe try to adopt another secondary theme to help make them more unique? First thing that pops into my mind would be Vietnam troops. I dont know why, maybe Apocalypse Now and immolation? That also seems to be rarely if ever used by anyone.

 

Unless of course you could care less about uniqueness. Just my 2 cents hope it helps.

[Sun Grilled Bacon]

Now im thinking napalm strikes o_O

[Sun Grilled Bacon]

There are probably some contridictions in what I've stated, as well as established canon, and some overthinking in some areas... so if you could point it out, that would be great :)

[Andrew J]

I like what you have added. Love the addition of grey camo! That is always sweet to see. I hope to see some painted WIPs soon! Yes napalm strikes are visually striking.... hard to get out of your mind.

 

With the training and organization section you kind of repeat yourself. I would look to try to condense those together if possible.

 

Also you are heavy on the organization and light on beliefs, origins. I would try to expand those more to give the chapter more character.

[Sun Grilled Bacon]

UPDATE: Beliefs and Origins expanded, addition of some characters.

[Andrew J]

I like the new additions. They do bring some more character to your chapter. Do they do the firewalking through a raging fire or like over hot coals? I was picturing through a raging fire almost like a crematory, enough to severly burn them but their astartes physiology allows them to live and can quickly repair their skin. Also it can be seen as the final test. Like if they dont make it through they were not pure enough/ had too many sins, etc. I also like the addition of burning their litanies into their skin.

 

Do they have sang guard and death company or other BA specific units? Also does the Flaw include the Black Rage and Red Thirst? You might want to explain how that works with your chapter that some more. Did they fix it? How do they deal with it?

 

Hope that helps.

[Destecado]

Without a picture to go by I’m not sure of the exact color of grey you are going with, but might I suggest an ashen grey. If you don’t want to use this for the normal chapter colors, then perhaps for the Death Company...the ashen grey could be symbolic of self immolation…i.e. all that will be left of them is their ashes.

 

The curse (black rage) might present differently within the chapter. Their skin is flushed, hot to the touch, as if they were burning with a fever. Victims of the curse are stronger and faster than other marines, but they also lead short lives as their bodies burn themselves out…”The candle that burns twice as bright burns half as long.”

[Sun Grilled Bacon]

UPDATE: colour scheme slightly edited - additions to origins, beliefs, organisation and current status sections - section on gene-seed added

[Andrew J]

Really like the new additions with the geneseed. the origins section works better now with the new additions too. Now I am looking forward to some pictures!

[Sun Grilled Bacon]

UPDATE: New pics of WIP marines =D

[Andrew J]

Nice! It might be the lighting or the grey is also very dark but its hard to see the camo.... hmm just thought about that. I guess that is the point of camo is it not?

 

For some reason I had pictured a mostly codex grey color with the other colors used as camo. Almost like an urban camo. But I like what you have done so far!