Brothers Penitent

[Aegnor]

Hi guys,  

 

Got the bare bones of a new DIY chapter, Dark Angel successors, that I would value some feedback upon as I nut it out and continue my research.    

 

I've tried and not got far with a couple of DIYs before.  One of those I now don't see as workable/interesting, the other I plan to continue. However, my DA project, this is to be an army I intend to actually collect and field, as I want to do a Dark Angel successor chapter (partly pre-emptively hopping on the bandwagon ahead of the rumoured 6th Ed starter pack, but even if that doesn't pan out, will do it anyway cause the DAs are cool.)  

 

This is very early days, I'm basically trying to nut out my major concepts and get them relatively solid before getting bogged down in the more superficial details.  I have nothing like the level of detail expected for an IA yet, but would value people's feedback at this early stage to help me get the basics right before I do much more of less central-to-the-story stuff.  With that in mind, please excuse the informal format of the information below -  as this moves on, I'll obviously put it more into the IA format.  (Trying to go straight for the IA template is something I think has led me down blind alleys before with my previous efforts).  

 

Two things to flag that may be considered ok, but might also annoy some.  First, I'm taking the name and place of a chapter GW has previously identified, but never expanded upon - the Brothers Penitent.  Second, this chapter's sole mention lists them as part of the Astartes Praeces.  I'm wedded to neither aspect, but was already tossing around the name "Angels Penitent" and wanting to do an army that was around the Eye of Terror, so it seems to fit beautifully.  Conscious GW might cut the rug out from under me at a later date, especially if a new Dark Angels codex is released in the semi-near future, but as far as I can see, I won't be directly treading on the toes of anyone on B&C - there are a couple of Angels Penitent already being developed, so Brothers might be a better term anyway.    

 

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The Angellus Penitent, commonly known as the Brothers Penitent  

 

Concept:  Dark Angel successors. Not Second Founding - likely a bit later.     

 

Key ideas: Count themselves among the Unforgiven, but struggle more than most of their fellow Unforgiven in that they are more prone to being conscious of the cost to the broader Imperial effort of forsaking their current activities to set off in pursuit of the Fallen.  This is not to say that they won't ever quit the field or similar if it means bringing a member of the Fallen to justice, just that there have been many occasions when they have decided that deserting their post or whatever was not worth the cost.  

 

This is not meant to be a point that makes them into a Mary Sue.  Obviously for any member of the Unforgiven to forsake a chance to address the shameful existence of the Fallen is a cause of huge turmoil and second guessing - more on this below.  They've fallen out with each other, and other members of the Unforgiven about this.  They keep generally good relations with the DA themselves, although at times this has not been the case, and have engaged in debates of various levels of civility with the DAs about their judgements in this regard, but some of the other Unforgiven mistrust them because of this.    

 

They reached this point of distinction from the norm (for the Unforgiven) after being lured away from the defence of an Imperial world from a Chaos incursion by a rumour of the Fallen.  They caught the heretic, but returned to find the world a smouldering, Chaos consumed ruin.  This prompted serious soul-searching among the Inner Circle.  What good was it to focus on correcting past shameful indiscretions but in the process create new avoidable ones?  Didn't their duty to the Emperor demand they prioritise protecting the Imperium of Man above all else - even their own honour, no matter how much doing so pained them?  After this they made an amendment to their Oath - they would pursue the Fallen to the ends of the cosmos, with every breath in their body, but not at the cost of seriously damaging the Imperium.  If a cost was to be borne, they would bear it - because they could, because they were the loyal sons of Lion el'Jonson.  

 

And so this chapter finds themselves trying, very uncomfortably, to occupy a middle ground.  They don't ignore the Fallen, and in the majority of cases, they'll pursue them with utmost ferocity.  Equally, they'll sometimes decide that they won't abandon a fight, especially against Chaos, in order to do so.  Usually they'll try some form of compromise, like sending a small detachment to observe, pursue and monitor the Fallen until the chapter's broader engagement is concluded, or splitting their forces to at least hold the line in their major engagement while the bulk of the forces head off after the Fallen.  

 

Implications

Any commander who makes the decision to forego the chase of a Fallen, or who withholds some resources and the chase subsequently fails, is considered shamed.  This is indicated by ceremonial markings on their armour and brandings on their face.  This shame can only be lifted by the capture of the Fallen in question, or if the Fallen should be captured elsewhere in the interim, by the capture of another Fallen nominated by the Inner Circle.  The use of the penitent's name and heraldry is forbidden - a pseudonym is usually adopted in the native tongue "Tyr"(lit. "Dog-of") and the conflict at which they did so, eg. if an officer were to forego a chase in order to continue a battle at Cadia, they would be referred to as "Tyr-Cadia".  Should an officer die while still shamed, their geneseed will not be used and their removal from the chapter records will be made permanent.  In the millenia the chapter has existed, scores of officers have been shamed, but only a dozen have died without correcting that transgression.     The shaming marks on the armour consist of red painted helm and gauntlets, with the name of the theatre where the officer disgraced themselves embossed upon them.  The name of the theatre is also tattooed onto their face, only to be removed once the smear on their honour is corrected.  Ironically, as the theatres named in these markings often reflect conflicts where the chapter remained engaged until the fighting's conclusion, they often appear to relate to what outsiders see as victories for the chapter, and hence are mistaken for honour markings - a misapprehension that is embarrassing for the individual in question, but which they obviously cannot correct.

[Andrew J]

I dont know too much about the DA but I really like your view of the fallen and the implications section is well thought out. I would think you could go with a 3rd or 4th founding for them. As that was relatively quickly after the 2nd founding and would still make them an old chapter with great history.

[Aegnor]

Ok, thinking a bit more about who these guys are, and where they find themselves now. I do see them as part of the Astartes Praeses (which I think I've misspelt throughout my first post.). That raises a couple of awkward questions about where they've been during the 13th Black Crusade so far. I don't want to try and shoe-horn them into the established history of the Crusade to date - and realize there'd be little support for doing so in any case.

 

My understanding of where the Crusade is "right now" is Abaddon is fully committed on the surface of Cadia, where he has the upperhand, but that the Imperium has just established superiority in the void in the Cadian system. More broadly, across the surrounding sectors, Chaos forces have taken planets.

 

My recent history for the Brothers Penitent will focus therefore on exploring an "untold" aspect of the Crusade - an aspect of this massive invasion that hasn't been focused on yet and which explains why they haven't appeared in the explored battles to date.

 

I think a Chaos warband, a very large one by normal standards, but not by the standards of the Black Crusade, attacked their homeworld. The warband had elements of the Fallen leading them, but comprised traitor marines, lost and damned types, and daemons. Through foul treachery, they achieved strategic surprise and put the Brothers Penitent on the backfoot. The fight for the world was long and hard, but as we reach the "right now", the Brothers Penitent have fought them off, and are preparing to send what help they can to Cadia, and to some of the other beleagured systems nearby.

[Brother-Sergeant Bohemond]

sounds interesting. Ill be watching this closely. :tu:

[Aegnor]

Hmm, slow progress this week. Been a bit sick and busy with work, so creative energies on this have been a bit less. I've written out an account of the pivotal incident where the Brothers opted to abandon a world, tentatively named as Moriah, to a Chaos invasion in order to pursue a member of the Fallen, and the aftermath of that decision, which will be important as it is the event in their past that will lead them to adjust how they apply their oaths as members of the Unforgiven. However... it's massively too long to inflict on you all here - it's all good background for me, but I'll have another go at it and try and produce a shorter version that is appropriate for an IA type article.

Otherwise, I had a play around with a possible colour scheme tonight. I'm going to make them a dark crimson colour, with the story being they initially had a scheme that was nearly identical to the Dark Angels themselves, except it was dark blue instead of dark green. However, after their crisis regarding the abandonment of Moriah, they changed their armour to the colour of a dried bloodstain to reflect their shame at having abandoned the planet. Their pauldrons are Dark Angel Green in honour of their founding legion. When an officer is shamed, their helm, gauntlets are painted bone-colour, as are their pauldrons as they are not worthy to wear the colours of the Dark Angels. Done up some pics below:

Normal Brother

Inner Circle

Shamed Officer