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Index Astartes: Knights of the Flame


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I thought I'd whip up a quick IA article to describe the Chapter who is to come to blows with my precious Supernovas. Enjoy.

 

The Knights of Flame

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Knights of Flame Battle-Brother, 3rd Company, 4th Squad

 

The Knights of Flame are Codex Chapter who consider themselves the pinnacle of the Adeptus Astartes. They are self-righteous in their dealings with others, and possessed of an unshakable belief that none, save perhaps the Ultramarines, can rival them as being worthy of the Emperor's blessings. They believe all other Chapters should follow in their glorious example, and are always looking for signs of imperfection in their would-be allies.

 

The Chapter's heraldry is ochre armour with black shoulder pads trimmed with Company colours. Their Chapter symbol is that of a golden bowl containing a pure white flame.

 

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/hq2.gif); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-position: 8px 2px; padding: 12px 8px 12px 8px; border: 1px solid #DDD; margin-left: 0 auto; text-align: left; color: #fff; text-indent:50px; font-size:130%; width:50%;">Organization

The Knights of Flame strictly adhere to the Codex Astartes. Their organisation is exactly as Guilliman decreed, and they retain all of the Codex-standard squad, company and rank markings. There is only one deviation from the Codex the Knights employ, and that is the use of Mourning Armour; should a great loss or shame befall the Chapter, those most closely affected will repaint their armour ash grey until such time as the shame is erased, or they are otherwise deemed forgiven by the Chaplains.

 

Homeworld

The Knights have had three Homeworlds during their history. Officially, these relocations were done to ensure their recruits were always close to the front lines, but in truth the Chapter abandoned their old homeworlds due to the 'impure population' found there. What exactly made these worlds impure is a matter of debate.

Their current homeworld, situated just beyond the galactic core, is the planet of Piras; a volcanic industrial world that is barely habitable even with the best efforts of Mechanicum terraformers. The people there are fiercely devout and have a remarkably low rate of mutation or psychic emergence - traits that may well explain why the Knights of Flame continue to favour them.

 

Life on Piras is hard, and often short. Great crawling machines, the smallest so vast it dwarfs the Imperial Leviathan, endlessly prowl the fire-wreathed surface of the world in search of mineral wealth. The frequent eruptions spew a seemingly endless supply of resources up onto the surface, but the miners know that those same eruptions could easily swallow up their landships; a fate that is far more common than any would like to admit.

 

The Fortress Monestary of the Knights of Flame is known as the Burning Keep, and represents the only permanent settlement on the planet. It is via this keep that the miners deposit their spoils to be taken up into orbit, and they can only do so by paying the Chapter's Tithe. Every crawler that docks is required, by Imperial Law, to submit any child between the age of ten and twelve to the Chapter if it is asked of them. The Knights of Flame rarely need to make demands of their people, for there are few who resent the chance of freeing their children from their hellish world; that they will become Angels of Death is merely a source of personal pride for the families.

 

Combat Doctrine
Knights and other Chapters

The Knights of Flame rarely get along well with other Chapters. The Knights tend to consider themselves superior to most other Astartes, and retain the belief that it is their right, if not their duty, to pass judgement on their peers. To this end, the Knights are often the first to answer the call when the Ordo Hereticus wish to investigate the actions of Chapters suspected of heresy; an action that has caused many to be distrustful of the Knights and their motives.

The Knights fight much as the Codex Astartes decrees they should. The core of any army will be made up of Tactical squads, supported as apropriate by Assault and Devastator squads, as well as vehicle support.

They show no preference for any one form of combat over another, though even by Astartes standards they seem loathed to employ stealth; whether they will do so at all seems to depend on the whims of the individual Captains. As such, some commanders will choose not to employ Scouts as reconnaissance units, and instead keep them as part of the main battlegroup. Other than this perculiarity, the Knights deploy as the Codex Astartes decrees.

 

Geneseed

The Knights of Flame are an Ultramarine sucessor, though their actual Geneseed was taken from stockpiles of at six different Chapters, all themselves second founding Ultramarine successors. The Chapter considers its Geneseed to have come directly from the Ultramarines themselves, ignoring any evidence to the contrary.

 

Beliefs

The Chapter Cult venerates Robute Guilliman both as their gene-father and as a visionary leader of humanity. They see him as the greatest of the Primarchs, and the one that came closest to the Emperor's vision of how they, and by the extension the Astartes, should be. They venerate the Codex Astartes to the point of treating it as a holy text, and this has resulted in a certain degree of distrust for 'innovation' within the Chapter; to seek a solution that goes against what the Codex teaches is bordering on heresy against Guilliman.

 

Battle Cry

"Feel the fury of the righteous!"

Interesting to see a chapter depicted as actually and unashamedly arrogant (relatively speaking - most chapters are supposed to be arrogant to some degree). The IA is short and sweet, requiring not alot of further exposition (imho). Not bad for something quickly whipped up. ;)

Two things:

 

1) While I can understand that the Chapter would change their home world once, twice makes it a bit much. Astartes from the Ultramarines fight all the way across the galaxy, going as far as the Eye of Terror, yet they don't deem changing their home world necessary. Also, planets with a human population who's bodies and minds can sustain the extreme changes done to them are hard to come by.

 

2) Why did they have their gene-seed drawn from six different Chapters? While they all come from the Ultramarines or a successor (so no real mixing), you don't need so much gene-seed. IIRC, you only need two Progenoid glands to start the process of making gene-stock for a new Chapter, so it doesn't make much sense to do what you wrote down (at least not in my mind, but I may be wrong/you may see it differently).

 

Otherwise, it's quite a nice, short and well-written Index Astartes. I quite like the colour scheme too. Any reason why there's no battle cry though? And I wouldn't mind seeing a beliefs section either (though maybe that's something you don't want to add, for whatever reason).

 

Ludovic

Nice, I too enjoyed the lofty feeling of these chaps. I agree about the homeworld points raised above, and was wondering if it might be a better fit with the Chapter did not have a homeworld, but instead were more fleet based, or had colonies on several small moons for fresh recruits? I say this because I got the feeling that your chapter was always on the move, always campaigning against rogue Astartes and invading the territories of those who departed from the Imperium's way.

 

[The Knights of Flame rarely get along well with other Chapters. The Knights tend to consider themselves superior to most other Astartes, and retain the belief that it is their right, if not their duty, to pass judgement on their peers. To this end, the Knights are often the first to answer the call when the Ordo Hereticus wish to investigate the actions of Chapters suspected of heresy; an action that has caused many to be distrustful of the Knights and their motives./quote]

 

Yes, this I like the sound of. Taking the idea of 'ultramarine' superiority and purity to the next level. I think you could add another little story section somewhere - perhaps relating to a character from the Chapter. That would add a little bit extra flavour.

 

Good stuff!

Two things:

 

1) While I can understand that the Chapter would change their home world once, twice makes it a bit much. Astartes from the Ultramarines fight all the way across the galaxy, going as far as the Eye of Terror, yet they don't deem changing their home world necessary. Also, planets with a human population who's bodies and minds can sustain the extreme changes done to them are hard to come by.

The Chapter changed homeworlds because it was initially a semi-Crusader Chapter. It was founded for a purpose, and so given a homeworld that allowed them to replenish troops close to the front. They never really settled until Piras.

 

2) Why did they have their gene-seed drawn from six different Chapters? While they all come from the Ultramarines or a successor (so no real mixing), you don't need so much gene-seed. IIRC, you only need two Progenoid glands to start the process of making gene-stock for a new Chapter, so it doesn't make much sense to do what you wrote down (at least not in my mind, but I may be wrong/you may see it differently).

It takes approximately 55 years to produce a Chapter from a single Genestock. Using six cuts that time down considerably.

 

There two most likely explanations are as follows: the first is the Age of Apostacy set the Founding back severely, and so they elected to fast-found the Chapter to make up for it. The second is that the Chapter was fast-founded on the order of a Warmaster, and the Age of Apostacy slammed the brakes on before they finished.

 

Otherwise, it's quite a nice, short and well-written Index Astartes. I quite like the colour scheme too. Any reason why there's no battle cry though? And I wouldn't mind seeing a beliefs section either (though maybe that's something you don't want to add, for whatever reason).

 

Ludovic

Both of those can be added easily enough.

 

Nice, I too enjoyed the lofty feeling of these chaps. I agree about the homeworld points raised above, and was wondering if it might be a better fit with the Chapter did not have a homeworld, but instead were more fleet based, or had colonies on several small moons for fresh recruits? I say this because I got the feeling that your chapter was always on the move, always campaigning against rogue Astartes and invading the territories of those who departed from the Imperium's way.

The Chapter itself is active over a wide area, but they were only fleet-based in the early days, and even then only in a semi-nomadic form.

The Chapter changed homeworlds because it was initially a semi-Crusader Chapter. It was founded for a purpose, and so given a homeworld that allowed them to replenish troops close to the front. They never really settled until Piras.

Semi-Crusader? That's quite amusing.

 

But you're not really taking into account that such planets are hard to come by and that even if they are sent far out, they usually still have just one home world. Anyway, you don't really seem to care much about criticism and advice given, so I'll just leave it at that :lol:

 

Ludovic

The Chapter changed homeworlds because it was initially a semi-Crusader Chapter. It was founded for a purpose, and so given a homeworld that allowed them to replenish troops close to the front. They never really settled until Piras.

Semi-Crusader? That's quite amusing.

 

But you're not really taking into account that such planets are hard to come by and that even if they are sent far out, they usually still have just one home world. Anyway, you don't really seem to care much about criticism and advice given, so I'll just leave it at that :P

 

Ludovic

What? You asked for clarification and I gave it. How is that in any way a sign of ignoring people's input?

What? You asked for clarification and I gave it. How is that in any way a sign of ignoring people's input?

After following your threads for a little while, it seems to me that you half-hear what people say and don't really give any weight to it. I'm not complaining, I'm just describing what I see, however wrong I may be (maybe I'm the one who's got a tight arse). But I don't want to argue about it. If you want more clarifications, you can always PM me.

 

Ludovic

So far, I like this Chapter.

 

They remind me of my own Red Lords in many ways; it's good to see another holier-than-thou, looking-down-their-nose-at-everyone chapter for a change! :)

 

I'd like to put forward the suggestion that maybe they should change homeworlds because they feel the population on the previous one is no longer sufficient for their recruitment needs, though. Seems less of a trivial reason and also makes the KotF even more arrogant. ;)

I'd like to put forward the suggestion that maybe they should change homeworlds because they feel the population on the previous one is no longer sufficient for their recruitment needs, though. Seems less of a trivial reason and also makes the KotF even more arrogant. :lol:

 

I'm not sure if the following is what you mean, but...

 

The "transfer" could occur because the natives of their - first - chosen world just aren't considered good enough by the Chapter's hierarchy; they don't measure up to the lofty standards set even for unaltered humans.

I'd like to put forward the suggestion that maybe they should change homeworlds because they feel the population on the previous one is no longer sufficient for their recruitment needs, though. Seems less of a trivial reason and also makes the KotF even more arrogant. :lol:

 

I'm not sure if the following is what you mean, but...

 

The "transfer" could occur because the natives of their - first - chosen world just aren't considered good enough by the Chapter's hierarchy; they don't measure up to the lofty standards set even for unaltered humans.

EDIT:

Yeah, that's kinda what I meant.

It'd be so many generation of marines after settling on their new homeworld before they judge it 'unworthy', just to further clarify.

 

Only it made less sense the way I originally wrote it. :)

What? You asked for clarification and I gave it. How is that in any way a sign of ignoring people's input?

After following your threads for a little while, it seems to me that you half-hear what people say and don't really give any weight to it. I'm not complaining, I'm just describing what I see, however wrong I may be (maybe I'm the one who's got a tight arse). But I don't want to argue about it. If you want more clarifications, you can always PM me.

 

Ludovic

 

 

I think the real issue is instead of showing these explanations in you're IA, you tell people what you ment as though they were the ones to make the mistake

I'd like to put forward the suggestion that maybe they should change homeworlds because they feel the population on the previous one is no longer sufficient for their recruitment needs, though. Seems less of a trivial reason and also makes the KotF even more arrogant. :P

 

I'm not sure if the following is what you mean, but...

 

The "transfer" could occur because the natives of their - first - chosen world just aren't considered good enough by the Chapter's hierarchy; they don't measure up to the lofty standards set even for unaltered humans.

EDIT:

Yeah, that's kinda what I meant.

It'd be so many generation of marines after settling on their new homeworld before they judge it 'unworthy', just to further clarify.

 

Only it made less sense the way I originally wrote it. ;)

 

Hmm... yes, that would fit nicely.

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