Night Angels "Drawing Board"

[Zynk Kaladin]

Edit 2014-10-23

 

Main Point:

Sanguinius intended for his Blood Angels to struggle for harmony between the pursuits of pure nobility and martial ferocity. However, the Night Angels have a very twisted application of his intents, perusing "heaven" or "hell" with very little regard for balance. Therefore, the chapter maintains a pronounced divide between angelic nobility and daemonic savagery in its philosophical beliefs and combat tactics.   However, during the chapters genesis in the 4th founding, they were a unified, Codex Astartes adherent chapter. (I need to explain what happened to make the chapter so divided in philosophy and WHY this happened).  Very little keeps the thin threads of the chapter together, blood or honor oaths, treaties, agreements, distractions via large military campaigns, and an ancient legend profound in the creation of their chapter.

Angelic:

-Often considers the welfare of Imperial citizenry
-Believes the mission of Astartes is to protect and defend the Imperium.  Basically the personification of the "Angels" part of Angels of Death
-Adorned with magnificent symbols of nobility and honor
-Adore Sanguinius as a paragon of righteousness
-Regal and sometimes pompous.
-Noble

Daemonic:

-Wages war using bloodthirsty butchery, using fear as a weapon
-Believes the mission of Astartes is to massacre the enemies of Mankind.  Basically the personification of the "Death" part of Angels of Death
-Veiled in skeletons, skulls, and deathly motifs
-Believes Sanguinius's skeletal remains will rise and lead the sons of Sanguinius in the final war.<2014-10-23>Maybe a bit too crazy?  Subtlety is always nice.  Basically while the "angels" adore Sangy for his good qualities, the "demons" worship him for making things die
-Believes the Emperor is the God of Death
-Death worshipers, honor the marines fallen to the Death Company
-Very susceptible to The Red Thirst and sometimes the call of Chaos <2014-10-23>This could raise a few eyebrows from very "inquisitive" people, but then again the Night Angels, much like their parent chapter, can deflect potential damage.  Death to traitors.
-Savage

 

Homeworld and Recruitment:

 

Homeworld:  Palacon, one of four moons orbiting [insert world1 here].

 

-Recruits from the paradise world of Daethos, renown for its aviation manufacturing infrastructure and military academies supplying recruits for the Royal Daethan Guard.  Despite its regalia and being so pretty on the exterior, powerful gangs are still at large cloaked, supplied, and managed by power-hungry aristocracy.

-Recruits from the world of [insert world1 here], a declining medieval world once sprawling with massive empires and city-states, now ruined due to great terrible wars.

 

Basically it'd be cool to have a mix of nobles, gangers, warrior-knights, academic soldiers, and savages under one chapter.  It adds to the divergence of the Night Angels.

Legend:
-Angelus Nox: A mysterious Astartes of the Blood Angels legion during the Horus Heresy. Most notably, texts during the time of the Heresy described him as "a drop of midnight amongst a blanket of blood".  He was blessed with various artifacts from the legion, most notably in possession of a sword given to a powerful Blood Angel leader, and first Night Angel chapter master, by Sanguinius. The Night Angels is a 4th founding chapter created from those Marines who held on to their company's close association to the Angelus Nox.  According to prophecy told by the black rage-stricken chapter master of the Night Angels, he will return to lead the chapter when the s- hits the fan

Once Divided:

The chapter almost ripped itself apart because of its antithetical beliefs. After the loss of their chapter master in the middle of the 41st millenia, champions of both sides rallied their followers for supremacy. Before the chapter could implode, the Angelus Nox revealed himself and proved he was the legend in flesh. He took the mantle of chapter master and tightened the loose bonds of brotherhood that almost ruined the Night Angels.<I'll have to do a lot better than just magically hand-wave the situation away with the appearance of the Angelus Nox.  He's a very important, legendary figure to the NA, but old disagreements and grudges are hard to just remove>

Combat Doctrine:

Strong emphasis on mobility via Thunderhawks, Storm Ravens, and other Astartes air support. Daethos is a supplier of Imperial and Astartes aircraft parts, so they have easy access through treaties with the local tech priest-hood for a plethora of air craft.

Because of the chapter's divided nature, it's combat doctrine ranges from savage close combat to tactical close-ranged application of firepower. Because they are descendants of Baal, the Night Angels often focus in close combat.

Cool Sayings:

-Mors Principium Est "Death is the Beginning"

"Darkness does not excuse the absence of the Emperor's light"

"I am death.  I am hell.  I am wrath."

[Messor]

Pulling off those two polar opposites sounds epic, but it'll be a tall order for sure. So what are we seeing here? Two halves of a whole Chapter which embrace different doctrines, but work loosely together? Or one whole Chapter that slips from end to end of the spectrum with no rhyme or reason?

[Zynk Kaladin]

Pulling off those two polar opposites sounds epic, but it'll be a tall order for sure. So what are we seeing here? Two halves of a whole Chapter which embrace different doctrines, but work loosely together? Or one whole Chapter that slips from end to end of the spectrum with no rhyme or reason?

 

Hmm, I think I need to find a unifying factor that brings these two competing doctrines together. My initial idea was that the legend of Angelus Nox, a tale dear to every Night Angel, coming to fruition would unify the chapter. However, I can see this would only be a temporary thing as they become comfortable with their "rightful"/fated leader. My thoughts lead me to shortly after the return of their strong leader of an outside unifying force, the 13th Black Crusade. Both sides must come together to deal with this external threat, where such a massive concentration of heretical forces have both the noble and savage forces of the chapter frothing for war.

 

It is said that in the crucible of conflict, old enemies could become the strongest of friends, especially when both fight side by side for the same thing.

[ChaptermasterDemon7]

Very interesting ideas. But as stated they are polar opposites of one another. I would love to see this pulled off and I will probably post like you have to help with my Blood Guardians.

[Messor]

Could certainly work for you, and I would suggest making it so that unless they work together and find some kinda synergy they'll be well and truly boned by the tidal wave of Chaos from the crusade.

[Zynk Kaladin]

Very interesting ideas. But as stated they are polar opposites of one another. I would love to see this pulled off and I will probably post like you have to help with my Blood Guardians.

 

Thanks Brother! I'll be looking forward to your thoughts as my ideas come into fruition.

 

 

Indeed a divided chapter is very susceptible to Chaos influences with heard feelings and wrathful emotions on both sides. I think a good direction is that the Night Angels were held together loosely where companies captains had more power and say over where their Astartes go and what they do, sort of like Space Wolf autonomy. However, certain events would trigger the chapter to unify temporarily like Black Crusades, Armageddon, et al. My thoughts are that three events happen recently in the 40k timeline that solidify the Night Angels as a more unified chapter:

 

1) Coming of the Angelus Nox: Strong chapter master of great import that enacted measures to bring together the Night Angels. Also. his unfolding legend unifies the chapter under his command. Tied to this the creator of the Night Angels, the 1st chapter master, is awakened from his dreadnaught slumber and supports the Angelus Nox. The 1st chapter master is highly respected by both sides.

2) 13th Black Crusade: Aspects of both noble and savage philosophies lend an especially considerable hate for heretics. Therefore, both sides are drawn to a common cause.

3) Request from Baal: Their Blood Angel brethren request for aid, but more importantly, Sanguinius's corpse is in danger. This is another issue both sides agree is a problem.

 

Put it lightly, the Night Angels sucked haaard before these events. They narrowly avoid, at the best, splitting or at the worst, active infighting throughout their existence. Often disagreements between leaders outside of battle stunt the chapter's progress and goals. They barely hold on to a unified chapter though a mysterious legend from their past and their mutual hate for the enemies of man. Companies prosecuted war and were mostly independent because the chapter often could not agree and become unified under a single grand strategy. This lends to disorganization on the entire command structure.

 

Now that they are unified even stronger than the chapter's genesis, they are the twin light and dark swords pointed right at the throat of Mankind's enemies. Abaddon is indeed changing his underwear right now.

 

EDIT: spelled Abaddon wrong. He doesn't deserve an edit but...

[Ace Debonair]

I was going to bring the C&C-Hammer down for old 'times sake (we never did kill any krakens on Fenris, did we? :huh: ), but I honestly see nothing wrong with any of the ideas you've put forward.

 

I'll keep my eyes open for the main IA when the time comes, though, and I'll do my best to help out via the old fashioned Liber way of jumping up and down on your ideas and seeing which ones break. :blink:

[Zynk Kaladin]

Ah, I'm looking forward to the nuclear salvos of a good ol'fashion Liber bombardment. It builds character. :wub:

 

I'll try to get an IA draft done by the end of this weekend. I'm having a hard time getting motivated after this short burst of typing. Must... blast... metal!

[Zynk Kaladin]

It's been a long time since I updated this, but as the saying goes: it's better late than never.  Not much groundbreaking material was added, but I've had a lot of time to think about the lore/backstory for the Angelus Nox which may be very controversial (surprise! it's Zynk, a loyalist Night Lord *GHASP!*).  I'd love to detail that... rich... history at some point, but it'd be a supplement to the eventual Night Angels IA.  A lot of the back story does tie into the chapter and it's founding, though so I might have to balance it.  We'll see.

 

How are my updated ideas so far?