Disciples chapter

[Muras]

Ok, so I am taking another crack at this. Yes, it has been a while since my last post, and the one before that was was pointed out last time. I try to take feedback from a number of sources and slowly integrate it into my chapter while trying to bring it in line with the universe better as my original concept only worked so well within the established canon. I think this is a fairly significant stride in the correct direction while managing to retain what I wanted from my chapter.

 

Thanks for any feedback.

 

 

 

Origins

 

 

The chapter is a 26th founding chapter founded in the year 738M41. They were founded using Blood Angel geneseed and only relatively recently (approximately 850M41) reached full fighting strength due to considerable losses during their early history. The Disciples were founded in the Eastern Fringe to help pacify the rampant Orks and to provide a strong presence in that sector; later helping stymie the Tau's expansion, as well as resisting the numerous Tyranid Fleets encroaching from the galactic east in recent years. The Disciples original actions took place against Tau in the post Damocles Crusade encroachment upon Imperial space. Fortunately for the Tau, recent Tyranid incursions have forced the Imperium to abandon their eradication crusades and to focus on dealing with the massive Tyranid invasion.

 

Recent actions have shown them to be a worthy successor to their Primarch's gene seed, and they have proven an invaluable force in keeping the region from being lost to the light of the Emperor. Unlike many other sons of Sanguinius they did not receive the Blood Angel's call to arms and did not respond to Dante's request for assistance with the defence of Baal.

 

 

Home World

 

 

Phemos IV is a cold world with a significant number of mining facilities, in close proximity to the Damocles Gulf and the Tau home world. It is graded as a death world due to Phemos IV being engulfed in a Impact winter, the results of a war many centuries ago against a raging Ork horde causing geological instability on much of the planet. Substantial ore deposits and a series of 7 thriving planetary hives prevent the world from being abandoned.

 

The nuclear war left the planet devastated. The living conditions outside of the wall of the Hives are horrendous and without significant protective gear unaugmented humans cannot survive long. The worst of the radation has long since past, but the clouds still block nearly all sunlight from reaching the planet's surface and have dropped the temperatures well below freezing across the entire surface. Virtually all non-aquatic life Was destroyed durig the long winter, as such all food must be brought in from offworld.

 

The medicae facilities of the Primary Hive Borgannon on Phemos IV are known all throughout the Imperium for their continued refinement of medical knowledge rediscovered in the latter half of M41 in the Hive's extensive information archives. The rediscovered knowledge has permitted the medicae of the planet to perform near miracles in saving the lives of troops who have been involved in skirmishes with the Tau and Tyranids. These facilities boast an order of Sisters of the Bleeding Heart who take in supplicants from all across the Imperium who wish to learn from their medical expertise. Sisters are often dispatched to act as field medicae in major crusades in the sector.

 

The Disciples have established a Fortress Monastery on the northern polar icecap of Phemos IV, known locally as the Vault. The construction of the Monastery predates the Disciples acquisition of it, and the original purpose is shrouded in secrecy, the base was constructed in such a way as to conceal the base from interstellar passersby. Rumors date the base to thousands of years ago, abandoned for much of its existence. The location is obscured from sensors by the poles electromagnetic field and the naked eye by being largely below the icy surface.

 

The Disciples' Fortress Monastery consists of 4 primary wings, a central chapel and an underground aircraft hangar. Each wing is dedicated to a specific aspect of the Disciples' lives.

 

The first wing is their living quarters. They eat meals and spend their time at rest in this wing. Its primary purpose is to allow the Disciples to reflect upon their training and to master activities other than just war, a fairly unique trait for marines, enabled by the longevity their genetics offer. Many great works of artifice can be found here, from weapons armor to even sculptures and musical instruments. It is said that the chapter master Daius Ithymar is a the master violinist and can often be heard playing while he meditates on issues.

 

The second wing of the Disciples Fortress Monastery is dedicated to healing and spiritual worship. It is here amongst the wounded that the Disciples are trained in the arts of healing and the faith in humanity and the Emperor that the Chaplains instill in them. Any battle brother not on military duty is expected to spend their first 2 hours of each day here dividing their time between studying and practicing medicine and praying to the Emperor. Any Disciple can be expected to perform all but the most difficult of surgeries given the proper equipment.

 

The third wing is where they practice the arts of war in a number of hermetically sealed combat environments, emulating environmental extremes from blizzards to deserts.

 

The final wing is where those who are entombed as living ancients and the chapter's armory are preserved. It is rumored there is also a hidden compartment where those who are lost to the black rage are held, but none outside the chapter has ever seen it.

 

Recruiting is done via a lottery held every year. Male children of a young age are required to be presented to medicae facilities and a percentage any who appear to be potential genetic matches are taken from their families. They are then taken to a training outpost outside the hives near the northern pole to train for several years. All who train at this outpost and survive are hardened warriors and eventually enter the trials to become Disciples, either succeeding, serving as the chapter's serfs or dying in attempt.

 

 

Combat Doctrine

 

The Disciples prefer a flexible mix of ranged combat and hand to hand combat in accordance to the teachings of the Codex Astartes. Their geneseed compels them to maintain strong close combat capabilities, to be used when the situation warrants it, but they strive to balance this out with ranged weapons to increase the odds of winning the imminent assault decisively with few losses.

 

Often the chapter will employ significant forces to save even the smallest number of their comrades, believing, contrary to imperial doctrine, that the sacrifice of the few is not justifiable for the greater good (which has caused conflicts with other Imperial commanders on numerous occasions).

 

To the Disciples, every man, woman and child can make a difference, if someone had decided to 'sacrifice' the emperor or the Lord Solar Macharius in an engagement before he came of his own, humanity would have long since fallen to the Ruinous Powers. On the other hand they are very quick to take someone to task for lacking the will or perseverance to live up to this legacy the Empreror grants. This is quite at odds with the larger Imperium's view of such things and the Inquisition has kept a close eye on the Disciples for signs of heresy. The Inquisition has yet to find any actual evidence of heretical activity due to this belief, but their scrutiny continues.

 

Because of this belief in service and sacrifice the majority of the Disciples are at least partially trained in the way of the apothecary, though the Sanguinary priests are the chapter’s true masters of the art of healing. The Disciples believe that their calling is to both help save lives and to destroy the enemies of the Imperium. In this way they are often a welcome sight by other forces compared to more heartless chapters such as the Iron Hands.

 

Every marine's life is invaluable to the chapter, and when a marine dies their gene seed must be harvested; thus ensuring that their most potent warriors’ lives are never wasted. After battles, often the Disciples can be seen wandering the battlefield tending to wounded warriors, be they fellow space marines or lowly guardsmen. It is not unheard of for the Disciples to load their transports with the injured and to engage in fighting retreats to ensure the wounded are protected, even against horrendous odds.

 

 

Organization

 

 

The Disciples are organized as a Codex chapter consisting of 10 companies with a captain and command for each, a chapter master, an armory and a few specialists outside of the core chapter. The only deviations are they have a larger than average Apothecarion and a small contingent of Sanguinary guard to honor the traditions of their forbearers. Also notable is that they are very well equipped for such a young chapter, with the majority of their veterans having terminator armor available and a larger than average Land Raider complement.

 

The chapter boasts all of the typical Blood Angel’s deviations from the Codex, from Stormravens to Death Company. Death company in the chapter are called Bluehelms due to the heraldry they are given when inducted into the company. They also boast Sanguinary Guard who have an alternate variation of their typical gold armor.

 

 

Beliefs

 

 

The Disciples chapter has an unusually forward looking view, believing that each person has potential to bear great boons to the Imperium and will do nearly anything to save Imperial lives. They believe in the holiness and divinity of the Emperor. They believe in the Manifest Destiny of Humanity, and will stop at nothing to achieve this; destroying any who would oppose such a glorious goal. They value the lives of the humanity that they were created to protect, yet believe that only the Emperor is worthy of serving. Respect is given to those who show a regard for the lives of others and a willingness to protect the Imperium. Those who wantonly disregard the lives of those the Disciples protect are not worthy of respect.

 

Gene seed is viewed as the most holy gift the Emperor bestowed upon his marines, and they even revere the gene seed so much as to take great risks to retrieve it. There are even rumors that they have abandoned planned campaigns in their lengths to acquire and preserve other chapter's gene seed to be returned to the parent chapters as soon as possible. There is nothing more repugnant to the Disciples than traitor space marines, who use the gift of geneseed to battle against the Imperium.

 

The planet of Phemos IV was rescued during the war that caused the nuclear winter by Space Wolves of the Great Company of Henrikh Icebeard. Many of the guard who fought alongside the Wolves took to worshipping them as though they were gods amongst men. These beliefs and stories have been passed down through the generations to modern Phemos IV. When a marine chapter was stationed on the planet, the people took it as a sign of favor from the Emperor. In this way many of their totems and some of their beliefs spread throughout the planet and often even to this day some of the Disciples carry wolf pelt, bone totems or runic iconography.

 

The act of healing is a test of the Disciples strength and resolve. All sons of Sanguinius bear a sometimes unbearable thirst for blood. The Disciples show their resolve by healing despite this urge for the blood of those they are healing. There are no documented cases of them succumbing to this temptation, but with the fires of war one can never quite tell.

 

 

Gene seed

 

 

The Disciples are descended from the Blood Angels and have a very stable geneseed from what has been observed to date. They have all 19 of the original implants. No noteworthy signs of physical corruption have been observed, however they appear to carry the psychic curse that affects all sons of Sanguinius.

 

 

Battle cry

 

 

By the emperor we serve!

[fivepointedstar]

I like that you've centered you chapter around the "faith" aspect. The name Disiples is a good name, I like it. What there colors? The only thing you might want to expand on it there gene seed part, you almost make it seem they have cured the curse. But as I re-read it a few times it said "stable" not cured. Some what they sound more likely a Lamenters successor. Expecially the part of them taking the "Ranger" way of always coming back for there wounded.

[Madwolf Shadowmane]

Great start as a whole. The one part I would suggest altering is the Space Wolf part. As is I don't think it adds to the character of the Chapter. I can see it as a reason to use Space Wolf parts when you model them. I would either expand it into the character of your Chapter or remove it. Just my opinion, but a good solid start to an IA.

 

Madwolf

[TrashMan]

Not bad. Can't say I have any remarks..other than they may be a bit too humane given everything. Or not. Hehe...

 

Either way, no real downsides as far as I see.

[Aegnor]

All seems pretty solid. I was a bit worried about the "they won't throw away the lifes of their troops, contrary to some Imperial Commanders". As I'd imagine it, there is normally a pretty big difference in how the lifes of a Marine and an Imperial Guardsman, or civilian is valued. Marines are a pretty damn valuable and rare asset, and not wasting them would seem a pretty universal idea. That's not to say that any Marine isn't prepared to sacrifice themselves if required at a moment's notice, just that they're treated with a bit more of an eye to not throwing their lifes away than the Guard or civilians. That said, I see later on, this attitude of preserving life wherever possible seems to extend to allies who aren't Marines, so that is a notable characteristic.

 

The only other thing I'd question at this stage is that your chapter does recruitment via a lottery of potentially suitable candidates. The number of potential candidates who actually turn out to be suitable, and who then survive the training etc, is so incredibly small, it seems strange for them to potentially not take anyone who might be suitable, at least until they've done some basic testing to skim the cream of the crop. As I've often seen it portrayed, a youth who could be a suitable candidate to receive a geneseed is a one-in-a-million, so letting one go because he doesn't come up in a lottery seems a waste from the Disciples point of view. Maybe all males of a certain age are required to attend, they are put through a series of tests, and only the very best are then taken?

[Wargamer]

Personally, I think their combat doctrine is a little too... clouded in idealism.

 

Marines are soldiers, and soldiers know that people die in battle. The idea of minimising those losses is commendable, and arguably expected within the Astartes. The idea of applying that to the people of the Imperium is also acceptable, either through virtue ("It is our duty to protect these people!") or pragmatism ("The factory won't produce more guns if the workers are dead.").

 

However, the important point is that sometimes, somebody has to die. Risking the lives of an entire convoy of refugees for the sake of one old man who fell behind is rediculous. On an individual level it can work - the idea of the noble warrior who risks his own (far more valuable) life for the sake of one man is part of the Paladin architype, but the way you phrase it makes it sound as though your Chapter won't ever accept that sometimes you have to lose a few to save the rest. I can't imagine any military commander, let alone a Space Marine, ever holding that opinion.

 

If that is what you want, my advice would be to emphasise not that they won't sacrifice people when needed, but that they really do care when it happens: They don't see Guardsmen as mortals to be thrown into the grinder. They don't see civilians as an expendable asset. They recognise that sometimes a building can have value beyond its industrial output. They take all of these things into consideration, and will do everything in their power to preserve everything and everyone they can... but not at the expense of the greater objective.

[TrashMan]

Another though occured to me - if they value life so much, wouldnt' their recruitment methods be..less brutal?

 

My own chapter tries it's damnest to NOT kill recruits. Tests are designed that way and there's always medics present. They find a way to make use of everyone.

[Aegnor]

However, the important point is that sometimes, somebody has to die. Risking the lives of an entire convoy of refugees for the sake of one old man who fell behind is rediculous. On an individual level it can work - the idea of the noble warrior who risks his own (far more valuable) life for the sake of one man is part of the Paladin architype, but the way you phrase it makes it sound as though your Chapter won't ever accept that sometimes you have to lose a few to save the rest. I can't imagine any military commander, let alone a Space Marine, ever holding that opinion.

 

Or maybe that's an issue they themselves are in ongoing debate about. They all share the broader ideas Wargamer outlined in his full post, but there's an element within the chapter who take that even further to the extreme positions suggested in the above paragraph. Maybe a particular hero of the chapter made the kind of 'Paladin' sacrifice mentioned there, and there's a sub-cult who strive to act like he did at all times - which would pose some interesting challenges for the broader chapter command! :) Or that maybe it's something that your current chapter master feels extremely strongly about, but is confronted by the difficulty of actually putting that kind of idealism into practice at the senior command level, where an element of pragmatism and seeing the bigger picture is expected. That kind of clash of an ideal vs reality can really give your chapter some depth - how that conflict plays out gives you the interest in the ongoing narrative - like the Dark Angels being fiercely loyal to the Emperor, but compelled to do things he'd likely disapprove of to conceal their shame, or the Blood Angels being torn between the two sides of their character - the noble angel and the bloodthirsty avenging savage.

[Muras]

DeathKnight2000 - Blood Angel's gene seed is fairly stable. The physical part anyhow is, though the black rage and red thirst are related in some way to it, it's not due to their organs being corrupt it's more of a psychic effect due to their primarch's sacrifice if my memory serves.

 

Madwolf Shadowbane - I'm fond of the idea of having my chapter's belief structure somewhat influenced by both chapters' beliefs. I planned ot expand on this more in other information as I work on my chapter, do campaigns and the like, but was only realya foodnote in here. I'll think about a way to improve that.

 

Trashman - I figured based on the rest of the outlook that this wasn't necessary to explicitly call out that they tried to stop recruits from dying needlessly, due to their unwillingness to let people die and need for serfs to assist the chapter. If you think it's necessary I can see about calling this out a bit more. The humane aspect was something I was going for: I wanted them to be a strong embodiement of Sanguinius's self sacrificial nature, humility and his more positive outlook on things that were referenced in earlier background.

 

Aegnor - I suggested a lottery for a couple of reasons, the biggest of which is that if you take everyone genetically compatible out of the gene pool, it seems like it would decrease the availibility of compatible candidates dramatically over time. I also tried to accomodate for this a bit by having them take genetically compatible children at a younger age than is usual for a chapter, to help toughen their physical and mental facilities to have a increased success rate of recruiting, though perhaps I need to relook at this. Is that explanation adequate?

 

As for your second post I like the idea, but am not sure it'll fit into just the intitial IA, but would be something I'll keep in mind going forward if I can think of a way to squeeze it in.

 

Wargamer - I think I like your last idea, and may see about working it into there. I was again trying to go for the noble aspect of the Primarch when I was envisioning this. He had a very self sacrificial nature to him that I would see affecting his sons. I will probably tone it down slightly as you are correct, sometimes sacrifice is necessary, but perhaps they do it much less haphazardly than many commanders, are always reluctant to do so and are more inclined to be the ones doing the sacrificing instead of letting it fall to lesser men.

 

Thanks for the feedback so far!

[Aegnor]

I know what you mean about their recruitment process potentially weakening the genepool by removing all the "best" individuals. I've worried about the same thing with my guys, and I don't know whether anyone has ever come up with a satisfactory response. (oooh, just as I type that, I've thought of a pretty twisted idea that would be interesting.... Must write it up at some point!)

[Muras]

Aegnor, I'm rather curious what you came up with. I was partial to recruiting early based on genetic compatibility and then training longer producing more regular recruits with fewer failures and still leaving compatibility in the gene pool. Seems like something you wouldn't want to gamble with. I am though, rather curious how you think you've gotten around the issue.

[Aegnor]

My Celestial Dragons might be coming out of sabbatical to get an update on their homeworld/recruitment procedures to incorporate it, maybe tonight/tomorrow if I can get my writing hat into gear.

 

What you've just suggested makes sense and reflects, I believe, how the Ultramarines do it. And the Ultras are known for being rather efficient at these kinds of things! ;)

[Muras]

Missed the request for colors in one of the earlier replies. Image is below:

 

http://discipleschapter.com/images/disciple%20-%20Chapter%20Symbol.jpg