Order of Dorn Recruitment/Combat Doctrine

[Cleal Baros]

Just wondering if I can get some C&C on my chapter's recruitment and combat doctrine sections. I realise seeing the whole IA article puts most people off as it's now quite long so I thought I;d post the two smaller sections in the hope of getting a little more feedback.

 

Recruitment

Drawn only from the noble houses of Dunholm the recruitment processes of the Order of Dorn differ from the more traditional methods of many chapters. As the heads of their respective houses each member of The Order is responsible for the induction of their own heir as well as their training in the means of war. Most similar in fashion to the recruitment and training methods of the Black Templars, neophytes or squires are trained on a one to one basis by the heads of their family and in time join him in the field to prove they have what it takes to become a Space Marine.

 

Far from the most efficient means of recruitment The Order’s tradition is both slow and complex. Many squires are lost before their ascension into the Chapter’s ranks either on the field or as a result of the medical processes involved in becoming a space marine and although the rates of mortality for aspirants amongst The Order are no higher than in other chapters, the more tedious and complicated means of finding their replacements makes the losses far more costly. Often a Knight will find themselves with no clear heir leading to conflict and infighting within his household or face delays the training of a new Knight as he waits for a male child of the correct lineage to come of age. This in turn often leads to situations in which the head of a household is lost in battle before his heir and replacement can be inducted and it is at this point the chaplaincy of The Order steps in. Those squires who find themselves without a Knight to train them are adopted, sometimes two or three at a time, by one of the chapter’s Chaplains who act as their mentor until such time as they are judged ready to make their errant quest.

 

The Errant Quest is the final stage of the Order’s recruitment process, and is only undertaken once a squire and heir has proven themselves in battle and completed many of the medical procedures required for ascension into the ranks of the Adeptus Astartes. Once a member of the Order feels his heir is ready to undertake the ordeal he will escort him to the inner sanctum of the fortress monastery of Alnweck and hand him over to the Chaplains of the order so that the trials may be begun. For twenty days the aspirant is tried and tested to his mental and physical limits, his mind is probed and tested, his system attacked with toxin and hallucinogens and his body pushed to the edge of its genetically altered limits. Again and again he will be offered the chance to withdraw, granted the opportunity to take a place in serfdom to the chapter and forgo his ascension into the order’s ranks and again and again he will pay more dearly should he refuse to do so.

 

Should he last and should, after twenty days of trial, he still protest his right to take a place amongst his battle brothers he will be flown out into the wilds of Rhys, deep into the heart of the dead continent and be abandoned there - in a land where no living thing can survive and where the veil between reality and the warp is still dangerously thin. This marks the beginning of the Errant Quest as the squire is forced to set out alone, back to Dunholm on a journey that can take more than a week. During this time, already on the limit of physical endurance and with the residual effects of the chaplaincy’s toxins still taking affect the squire will face his greatest trail for in Rhys, there are voices still to be heard on the wind.

 

Through tortuous days of walking, kept alive only by surgically implanted organs often becoming agonisingly active for the first time, triggered by those drugs administer during the twenty days or simply through the necessity to go on, the aspirants undergo a barrage of daemonic attacks. Sensing a sole presence in this place where the boundary between their realm and reality is so thin entities of the warp flock to attack the mind of potential vassals that they might experience physical form once again. Doubt, greed, pride, lust and fear the creatures of the warp will try anyway they can to open the mind of aspirants enough that they might force their way in and only through fighting the worst of themselves, by beating their own inner ‘daemons’ can the squires of the Order of Dorn hope to make it back to Dunholm alive. Should they make it back and in so doing prove that they have faced the worst of what the universe can throw at them and known no fear, they are taken up by the chaplains and apothecaries of the chapter and the final stages of hypno-cognative training and physical alteration are implemented. The aspirants are returned to their families and their mentors no longer as men, but as Space Marines of the Order of Dorn.

 

Combat Doctrine

The Order of Dorn often operates in formations made up of two chapter sorties, one battle sortie and one assault sortie. This allows the chapter to concentrate its fleet assets into more capable and concentrated battle groups while granting its sorties the added flexibility and advantage of operating in pairs. As such these fleets are quite capable of operating automatously in different theatres of combat across the Imperium.

 

In terms of their approach to warfare the Order of Dorn can be seen to reflect both the traditions of their parent legion and the culture of their homeworld. The tactics they employ demonstrate the chapter’s adherence to codes and tenants of Dunholm’s chivalric past while their stubborn temperament and unwillingness to admit defeat is clearly the product of Dorn’s gene-seed.

 

On entry to an enemy system the Order of Dorn will always declare their presence in a cacophony of vox and psychic communication. In perfect circumstances the Order endeavours to fill all channels with declarations of their intent, destroying their opponents ability to organise any meaningful response to their arrival as they make straight for their target maintaining a high translation velocity. It goes against of the Order’s tenants and traditions to perform any type of covert warfare as they believe to do so would suggest its requirement and bring into question their absolute superiority. This total belief in their own ability and the contempt in which they hold any resistance brought against them is also reflected on the battlefield as Knights of Dorn will often wade into withering hails of enemy fire rather than sully themselves with the seeking of cover which they view as an admission of their foes competency.

 

Following the dictates of the Codex Astartes the Order of Dorn will often seek to perform a single decapitating strike against their foe, utilising the terrifying strength of an entire battle sortie to strike at an enemy’s headquarters and capture their own fortifications for use against them. During the opening stages of an attack the assault echelon of an Order fleet will attempt to neutralise any orbital defences whilst the battle sortie makes planet fall. Once a beachhead has been formed the assault sortie then seeks to make landfall itself before sallying forth and striking out at whatever pockets of resistance survived bombardment from the fleets above. The three assault sorties of the Order of Dorn make great use of land speeder squadrons and bike mounted knights as well as rhino and razorback transports.

 

The tenacity and prowess of the Order of Dorn have won the chapter many great victories however it must be said that their unwillingness to compromise in their approach to war and their seeming inability to accept defeat have cost the chapter dear on occasion. Just as with other chapters bearing Dorn’s gene-seed the Order seems to show a propensity towards the continued persecution of conflicts many would deem already lost and this has resulted in the desperate last stand of knights no longer able to withdraw. (Info will be included on two of the chapters sorties/companies that have been lost in a hopeless last stands and a desperate advance).

 

Well there they are, any and all C&C is very much welcome.

 

Cheers,

Cleal

[Andrew J]

Were these parts in your last IA?

 

Anyway I read through this and it makes sense mostly. The first thing I thought of was do squires fight with the Order of Dorn or are they just on Heretu? You mentioned it in passing I think and could go into that more. The other thing is that I dont know if a chapter would just let their recruitment process be slowed down so much because of petty squabbling from mortals. I would think they would step in and make things happen if need be. Also space marines can take aspirants as young as 10 up to 14. That is a large range and I would think that a decent size family should be able to provide a good number at any time. Another thought just hit me though and that is is each individual marine is from a distinct family? So would the chapter be made up of 1000 families? I would tend to think that a family would good bloodlines would have more brothers in it than a small family with weaker bloodlines.

 

Just random thoughts. Hope that helps