Martoks Dogs of War

[Martok]

Origins

 

Fatally Flawed

The Dogs of War were once a great company of the lamentable Wolf Brothers. When the Canis Helix of the Wolf Brothers began to mutate Wolf Lord Martok and his Great Company left the chapter keep to find salvation for their lineage.

 

They planned to submit themselves and their Gene-seed to the Adeptus Biologis; hoping that their genetic instability might be cured. As they entered the Segmentum Solar the outer defences of Mars opened fire. It was immediately clear that the Imperium would not suffer their mutation.

 

With no where left to turn Martok ordered a full retreat. After a wild dive into the warp they rode the storm and translated back into realspace within the far reaches of Segmentum Obscuras. The astropaths onbaod were immediately screaming in chorus as a message from their Chapter was received. Their Chapter had been put to the sword due to the genetic mutation they suffered from. The Inquisition had excommunicated them from the Imperium.

 

Martoks Rune Priests cast the runes over and over hoping to find some clue as to what the remnants of the Wolf Bothers could do but they only ever revealed two things; Martok and Prospero. Prospero was the cursed home of the Thousands Sons Legion of Adeptus Astartes. Prospero was sacked by the Wolves of Fenris the Primogenitor Legion of the Wolf Brothers with the Primarch Leman Russ their gene sire at the vanguard.

 

Over and over the runes were cast and Martok would dismiss his Rune Priests in fits of rage. Eventually after 100 days of the runes repeating Martok let out a submissive sigh and ordered his Great Company to Prospero to seek out the meaning of the runes.

 

In truth, Martok knew far more then he would oblige to reveal. In the early years of the Wolf Brothers a Sorceror of the Corvidae the seers of the Thousand was found to be leading a cult on a world the Wolf Brothers strived to redeem. This Sorceror died by Martok’s blade but not before forcing his way into Martok’s mind. He forced Martok to follow the lines of his fates. Each bore many deaths some soon some remote. Alongside these deaths were paths to victory and redemption. Most clearly of all these fates was that of his Canis Helix mutating and turning him into the beast that slumbered within his heart. The only path that gave him redemption from this future saw him standing with an outstretched hand surrounded by glass and sand. The Wolf Brothers carried many of the sagas told by the (story tellers?) of the Space Wolves and Martok recognized the description of the Glass City, Tizca the capital of the Thousand Sons home world. A city annihilated by Russ’ fury.

 

Since that time he had believed this to be a last betrayal of the dying Sorcerer; to show him lies of desperation and masquerade them as fate. Now with his Chapter all but dead with only his Great Company left to endure the changes that were rapidly depleting their numbers this fate seemed all too true.

 

 

Sins of the Father

Upon arrival at Prospero the few battle brothers who were still combat effective made planet fall upon gunships and drop pods. This force of only 46 Astartes, Martok included met no resistance. The invasion so many years before still showed on the surface of the murdered world. All that was left was glass and sand.

 

When the drop site had been secure Martok took his Wolf Guard and a Land Raider to make the short journey to the shattered remains of the planets capital city Tizca. He reasoned that if any clue remained Tizca is where it would be found.

 

For a complete Terran month Martok searched the ruins of Tizca but found nothing. Just glass and sand...

 

On the first day of the second month Martok abandoned all hope of finding his answers in the damned city. He ordered his Wolf Guard to return to the packs who had been searching the remains of other cities. They were to assist them and prepare to withdraw from the planet.

 

As Martok watched the sun rise over the ruin of Tizca he contemplated how best to proceed. He saw no possible fate but the bestial demise of his beloved company.

 

As all hope was gone Martok decided that no matter how gruesome his fat may be he would use whatever power he could to bring retribution to the Inquisition; the organization that had turned turned on his Chapter in their moment of need.

 

One final time he looked over the ruins of Tizca. His acute sense immediately noticed something out of place; something disturbing the scene that had been replayed day after day for the past month. Martok mounted his Land Raider and moved to investigate. As he disembarked he could see that the disturbance was a glowing orb.... he made a warding sign against the malifacarum and moved cautiously towards the orb. With no other way to interact with the orb he reached out to it desperate for hope.

 

This act and this act alone sealed his fate and all those under his charge. Upon reaching out to the orb he had signed his pact with the forces of the warp. The same pact that the Primarch of the Thousand Sons, Magnus The Red had made during the Great Crusadeto save his Legion from their own mutations.

 

 

A New Dawn

Martok returned to his battle barge with the rest of the landing party which had been deployed to the planet. Martok needed his rune priests’ council to understand the orb that he had touched. As soon as they had docked he could see something was different to when he had left. As he descended the boarding ramp his Great Company was standing to attention. Each one of these warriors had been a howling beast one month before but now they stood unmarked by the curse of the Wulfen.

 

The council of his Rune Priests was guarded. One of them, Balder, spoke of his fears that they had entered a trap of the ruinous powers and that the salvation they had found may very well be damnation. He spoke of betrayal and stepping from Russ and the Allfathers’ light. To this Martok replied clearly:

 

“We are cast out. Our brothers have burnt under the guns of the Inquisition and the Imperium. Russ will not return to save us! We are nothing more than his illegitimate offspring.

 

We are the bastard rout and we stand alone!” After delivering his statement to Balder, Martoks second in command took his head.

 

Thus were the Bastard Rout born.

 

 

Organization

 

Recruitment

The Bastard Rout began few in number. Even after those lost to the Wulfen curse were returned to them they still numbered less than a hundred Astartes. With this in mind Martok decreed that any abandoned by the Imperium could fight with them. An open invite was made to join the pack and stand with them in the cold of isolation.

 

And thus many Astartes of excommunicated Chapters, renegade war bands, human and Xenos pirates joined the fleet over the 9000 years that it has existed for.

 

The Bastard Rout now outnumbers the Chapter strength that the Wolf Brothers could have ever boasted. However, renegades are inherently untrustworthy. For this reason Martok has organized the Bastard Rout to ensure that all are kept in line. Each renegade band that joins the Bastard Rout will be broken down. Individuals will be assigned first to a pack of Void Hunters. The Void Hunters are veterans of the Bastard Rout but few of them if any are still of the Wolf Brothers stock. Alongside these veterans new recruits either earn the trust of the pack or they will die in battle.

 

 

The Great Companies

The Void Hunters make up the core of the Bastard Routs Great Companies. In addition to these warriors are fire support units in the form of the Primal Fangs taking to war with long ranged weaponry. There are also initiates, slaves or prisoners who are deemed worthy of the Wolf Brothers gene seed will be subjected to implantation of the unstable gene seed. To stabilise the gene seed the initiates are then possessed by a daemon. This process will either destroy them or make them a deadly adversary on the battlefield. If the daemon is ever beaten by the warrior he will join the Wolf Guard but most die in the packs of the Daemon Claws.

 

The only two Great Companies that differ from the rank and file is that of Martok and his second in command the Headtaker.

 

 

Martoks Great Company

Martoks Great Company is made up of veterans some of which stood with him on Prospero when his fate was sealed. With access to the greatest armor the Bastard Rout can field, Martoks Great Company make use of Terminator Armour and make war mounted upon Land Raiders. Their fire support is provided by the Bastard Routs ancients, the Dreadnoughts.

 

 

The Daemon Cavalry of Khorne

The second in command, the head taker makes war in a very different way. He rides to battle on a Juggernought of Khorne as does most of his Great Company. They are supported by the twisted wolves they call their kin who follow the cavalry into war and lend their teeth and claws to those of the Juggernoughts. This fast moving force is usually deployed alongside the other Great Companies to provide flanking and relief forces but when they are deployed on their own the fighting is the most bloody and relentless warfare that the Bastard Rout can boast.

 

 

Heraldry

The heraldry and armor of the Bastad Rout varies greatly due to the various renegade war bands that have joined the Bastard Rout. However the armor is decorated though it will always be painted charcoal grey with red rim. This is the way it has been ever since the days of the Wolf Brothers.

 

In place of a chapter or Legion symbol the Bastard Rout use many symbols. Most widely used is the star of the Chaos Pantheon. However, some will bear the old symbol of the Wolf Brothers with further deviation seeing many displaying the mark of their chosen patron god. This deviation is most heavily noticeable with the Headtakers’ Daemon Cavalry who almost all bear the mark of Khorne upon their Pauldrons.

 

 

Base of Operations

The Bastard Rout does not have a singular planet to call home. They stay together as a pack within the void. This flotilla is rarely in one place at a time but they will never stray far from the main pack. The flotilla is broken down into ships from each of the Great Companies. This means that each Great Company is capable of making war in the void or by planet fall all without any outside support.

 

Although the Bastard Rout is not tied to a specific home world or star system they are likely to be found in the Maelstrom as with so many other piratical war bands. From this region of space they will strike out with overwhelming force at trade lanes and Imperial Navy patrols to restock their supplies or to simply hone their skills in the hunt. It is thought that Martok has never deployed the full strength of arms at his disposal and prefers to send raiding parties with the full fleet out of sight but close to react should the need arise. This line of thinking comes from the reports made by Imperial Navy squadrons who have attended the site of a raid. These reports regularly conclude that a larger fleet was present to strip the ambushed vessels than the fleet which attacked them due to the large disparity between warp signatures and weapons discharge.

 

 

Beliefs

The Bastard Rout believes a warrior is measured by the skulls that hang from his belt. This simple mission statement is what keeps the war band functioning. The warriors wish for war to prove their worth and Martok gives them the war they crave.

 

It stands to reason that this is why the war band is fleet based so that war is a constant and that any down time between combat zones is used for combat training and restocking whilst en route to the next campaign.

 

This has bred a system of respect amongst the warriors of the Bastard Rout. New warriors into the war band learn quickly that if they are to survive they must earn their newfound comrades approval. This respect can only be found on the battlefield. Unlike many renegade war bands infighting is not tolerated. Any infighting is dealt with by Martok’s second in command the “Headtaker”. This has meant that the actual discipline of the war band is unusually strong for a renegade war band. However, as mentioned before until a new recruit has made a name for himself no such discipline applies. New recruits are seen by veterans simply as an easy way to find replace damaged armor.

 

Due to the above thier is an unusual bond of unity within the Bastard Rout. Although they do not share a single Gene Seed or lineage they are still tied together by respect making them brothers just as many loyalist chapters could claim.

 

 

Battle Cry

The Bastard Rout always charge into combat with a bestial howl.

[Andrew J]

I love the feel of these guys. Your background seems solid to me and you have a good reason for them to turn on the Imperium.

 

You could go through and fix a couple small grammatical errors but overall its good.

 

Keep it up!

[heretic??ME??]

I really enjoyed reading this.

 

Should be nice to see some squads painted up. And this definite kit bash army which is always good, especially if you ebay.

[Martok]

Thanks guys I appreciate the positive comments.

 

@ Andrew J - The plausibility of them falling was the crux of this. I have read many IAs which are librarian goes bad takes everyone with him. Although not bad I wanted to develop a real empathy with their desperation. These guys are meant to be real anti heroes. They did not want to be evil but as the Imperium forced them to be they are going to be evil as hell.

 

My grammar is poor. <-- Obviously. I am currently proof reading this with a few friends so hopefully I will edit soon with a grammatically correct IA. Further to that I shall be adding bios for some of the notables and a few stories regarding key engagements in their history. Any suggestions on other things to add?

 

@ heretic??ME?? - Actually the army is done. I have about 5k pts in various degrees of built/painted but 1750 is complete:

 

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/index.p...howtopic=246116

 

I should be getting a photo shoot in with the army on Monday so I shall update this thread with some better pics with any luck.

 

- Martok

[Andrew J]

Yeah I read Battle of the Fang recently and it was one of my favorits SM novels so far and I can see where you got the idea from. You did a good job of making them empathetic with their plight.

 

I like the Bios and notables part. Side bars would be good for this.

 

This partially reminds me of 1000heathens Akans Reavers. Here is the link if you havent seen it already. Akans Reavers. It may give you some ideas for your renegades, though warning it is already 19 pages long and going.

[Martok]

I was trying to make this work. All the space wolf players I spoke to would immediately say the Canis Helix stops you from going chaos. Then the whole "there are no wolves on Fenris" came up and add that to the events in Battle of the Fang led me to understand (rightly or wrongly) that it is actually the Wolf DNA in Fenrisians working in conjuction with the Canis Helix that makes them so immune to corruption. Also the way the Wolf Brothers are shown in that book made it unarguable that Wolf Brothers could fall. At that point I had my Canon "hook" and the rest hangs from it.

 

Thanks for the link to 1000heathens thread. I am like 3 pages in and LOVING IT! Just gutted I didnt see it earlier enough to contribute :devil:

 

Hopefully early next week I will post an edit and at least one Character Bio and a notable engagement.

[Martok]

Here is a bio. Let me know what you think. This is an idea at this stage and could do with fleshing out:

 

Arik the Eternal

 

Arik was the first Headtaker and a Wolf Lord of the Bastard Rout. It was he that took the Rune Priest Balders head after he had voiced his concerns of Martoks actions on Prospero. This cemented him as the discipline master of the Bastard Rout.

 

More importantly he was the first of the Bastard Rout to truly understand the extent of their damnation. Upon Martok making a pact with the Chaos Pantheon each warrior of the Bastard Routs soul was entwined with that of a Daemon. The beats within the Canis Helix was held at bay by the Daemon and in turn the Daemon was kept from consuming the host by the Wolf. For the Headtaker this was not the case. He mastered the Wolf inside as had many of the other officers of the Rout. When the Daemon took hold within his soul it spoke to him. They came to an agreement that he would indulge the Daemon if the Daemon would lend him its strength.

 

It was the Daemon that encouraged him to silence the Rune Priest Baldur. Furthermore, when the Thunder Wolves they had brought with them died or turned on their corrupted masters it was the daemon that promised suitable replacements if the right tribute was paid to its master. Under Martoks permission Arik took his great company into the eye of terror and returned with less warriors but far more fearsome mounts, Juggernoughts of Khorne.

 

So from that time on his company rode the beasts of bronze and blood taking skulls in the name of Khorne.

 

For 2000 years Arik served Martok until his thread was cut. Killed by a Dreadknight of the Grey Knights; the tethered slaves of the Inquisition. His Great Company butchered the enemy in fury at the loss of their master. His body was secured and recovered after that battle and Arik was found with one of his twin hearts still beating. In honour of the Headtakers achievements as Wolf Lord Martok interred him into an ancient suit of Contemptor Dreadnought armour and gave him the title “The Everliving”. Now he serves as a member of the Great Wolfs Great Company although he has been seconded to lead engagements with other companies.

 

Since then many Headtakers have been and gone however, none have ever taken the mantle of Martoks bodyguard. This is now taken by the leader of Martoks Wolf Guard.