new DA character

[kanan]

well after talking with my good friend Mikey on the phone i sat down and came up with some custom rules for our hallowed Chapter... please have a read and tell me what you think... many thanks...

 

 

 

 

S.O.G.  Captain Ariel Nathanielle                           185 pts

 

Ariel        WS   BS   S    T    W    I    A    Ld    Sv   Unit Type                              

              5       5    4    4     3    5    3    10    2+  Infantry (character)

 

Wargear

 

• Can take weapons and equipment as laid out in the entry for Company Veterans**

• Artificer armour

• Boltgun

• Bolt pistol

• Frag grenades

• Krack grenades

 

Special Rules

 

• Independent Character

• Inner Circle

• Tactical Precision

• Grim Resolve

 

S.O.G. Captain

 

If Ariel is taken as an HQ then he allows Company Veterans to be taken as troops with the following limitations and extra rules.

 

• A force comprising of S.O.G. Veterans may not take heavy support options in the force organization chart but may take 0-3 Razorbacks as heavy support vehicles/dedicated transports

 

• A force comprising of S.O.G. Veterans may take Ravenwing as fast attack choices

 

• A force comprising of S.O.G. Veterans may not take Deathwing 

 

• A force comprising of S.O.G. Veterans unlock the use of the Storm Raven 

Gunship as a fast attack and or dedicated transport choice and may take 0-3 Storm Ravens

 

• Though heavy support choices are lacking in an S.O.G. force you may take 0-3 Dreadnoughs as your elites choices

 

• A force comprising of S.O.G. Veterans may NOT take any Land Raiders/Predators/Vindicators/Whirlwinds/Devestators

 

 

 

** as updated in the Dark Angels codex 1.0A January FAQ update available for download from the GW site

 

 

The Dark Angels Special Operations Group (S.O.G.) comprises of space marines selected from across the chapter for their dedication, skill, and loyalty to the Dark Angels ideals.

S.O.G. troops are inducted into the Deathwing secretly and undergo a series of rigorous tests before they are allowed to understand the true nature of who the Dark Angels are and who the Fallen are and why they must seek them out and fight them. These troopers are given secret information that is otherwise deemed too dangerous for the majority of the Chapter to even know.

 

Once a trooper is fully accepted into the DA S.O.G. they are then assigned to small 5 man units of Veterans. Each squad can work independently from the Chapter for extended periods of time operating behind enemy lines and without aid from their DA Battle Brothers.

 

Sometimes many squads of S.O.G. are selected together for a mission due to its tactical importance and sensitivity. These larger formations of S.O.G. have their own rapid reaction strike cruiser which is the fastest in the whole DA fleet. With some limitations they can also take additional man power and equipment however they are a fast moving and hard hitting force so cannot be encumbered with Heavy Armour and all the logistics that this would create.

 

DA S.O.G. troopers are keepers of the Chapters greatest secrets and are privy to the inner workings of the Dark Angels and their Successor Chapters, they often provide escorts for high ranking members of the DA or act as honour guards when not on operations.

 

Usually the S.O.G. work as small teams spread across the galaxy and often without resupply for long periods of time. They search out any rumour of the Fallen and upon successfully finding any trace they then report back directly to S.O.G. Command and the Inner Circle.

 

Based on what is decided at the time more S.O.G. can be sent to a location with the aim of capturing Fallen or quelling rebellion started to hide Fallen activity. Secrecy is vital to any operation conducted by the S.O.G. and often covering orders are given to hide their true activity from local planetary governments.

 

 

 

there may be more i can add and any input is welcome so please feel free to join the discussion...

 

 

peace

[Raven Angel]

Basicly thats what the Ravenwing does man. Also I would not that DA already has access to Storm Eagles so it follows that any SOG would use that mark of transport though I could see an altered weapons fit in light of our new dex.

[syddraf]

There was a thread a while ago along these lines, they were called the knights of the order. Draw from all the unforgiven chapters, their role was to hunt the fallen independent of the rest of the chapters.

On entering the order they would paint their armour black and wear blackened robes, the meaning two fold, in memory of the legions colours and the shame of having lost half of that legion to chaos/rebellion.

Hidden in the remains of caliban, was the hulk of the loin's command ship, permanently fused into a piece of rock theship and asteroid were rebuilt to form a resupply base for the order. Most of the time the base is protected by a single squad of knights and an army of servitors and weapon placements, as the knights are always on the hunt for any clue or hint of the fallen.

 

Shadow guard had a great tale about the 13th black crusade involving the dark angels, successors and the knights, well worth a read, from memory it was called the gathering of angels.

 

I was thinking about doing up a small force to represent the knights and was going the use the storm raven as a transport, just seem to fit to me, also I was going without any chapter icons, because they need to be unidentifiable as dark angels chapter members. The only clue I was going to give was around the armour edges, where the black paint had come off the show a light highlight of their chapters colours.

Great hear the secret orders of the dark angels live on

[kanan]

Raven Angel... i can understand your point but bikes and speeders arent always the best units for certain missions... thats why i prefer to use Company Veterans and i have always wanted a DA character that could unlock DA Vets as troops... so upon reading through our new 6th Ed. Codex and finding a few things missing in an otherwise great army book i went ahead and had a discussion with a friend of mine... upon hanging up the phone i started to type my ideas on the computer... these are the results...

 

and i didnt see an entry for the Storm Raven so i thought perhaps i could sneakily unlock the use of a few with my new character... could you do one favour for me... tell me what a Storm Eagle is... as i havent heard of it... would that better suit my S.O.G. do you think?  

 

 

For the Lion! for the Emperor!

 

syddraf  hey i sadly didnt ever read that article that you mentioned in your reply in my thread... but the ideas you talk about are something i am kinda doing without even realizing it... the S.O.G. go back to 2007 when i was creating models for them and some background back in my WIP thread... in fact i think it was Feb. 07 when i first started being active on B&C which coincided with the 4th Ed. Dark Angel release...

 

and thanks for mentioning Shadow Guards story... i will drop him a PM and see if he can link me to it on the B&C... and yes my fellow Battle-Brother the secret Orders of the Dark Angels do live on in a different form... thank you for the kind words... i hope your small Veteran force can be modelled along similar lines to my DA S.O.G. and feel free to use/modify or rename my special character Capain Ariel Nathanielle... 

 

as to the Storm Raven Gunship... i did feel that was a missed opportunity and that we really needed to take some for ourselves... i feel without it my DA S.O.G. would be sorely lacking some kind of rapid insertion aircraft that could also give good fire support for the troops on the ground... they really need to sort this out in another FAQ me thinks...

 

and please reply in this thread if you have any other ideas as i would really appreciate it if you could raise them here... many thanks for reading and good luck with your Dark Angels/Successor Chapters...

 

 

anyways back in 07 had so many ideas kicking around in my head so i heavily converted many of my models and vehicles and even used modern day 21st century armour with some 40K embellishments to serve as custom vehicles... one was a 1/35 AFV club Stryker which i called the DA Hurricane assault transport... and some of my Landspeeders which i converted and named the Tsunami variant... but going back to the point you raised... i feel the S.O.G. could be a sort of reincarnation of the Knights of the Order from that early article... at least my own version...

 

i already started a DA story and i think i will post it here... the idea was always to have the Fallen make an appearance and the S.O.G. to be called in once the regular DA forces have left planet side... i hope you dont mind taking the time to have a read through of it... its really for all the DA players here... anyways many thanks Battle-Brother for your thoughts... i really appreciate the time taken to reply in my thread... Good Luck...

 

Semper Fidelis Brother...

 

 

 

 

The Relief of Atramis

 

The Strike Cruiser Eternal Vigilance had been travelling
across the Warp for several days now. Bound for a planetary system that had sent out a

distress signal via an astropathic message transmitted to the Rock, which was the hallowed

orbital fortress monastery of the Dark Angels Chapter.

 

Upon receiving the message the Chapter Master Azrael himself
issued the briefing to elements of the 3rd Battle Company and 2nd Company, the Ravenwing. It

was to be a rapid strike mission and the Chapters fastest strike cruiser was to be

used to deliver the troops to the battle zone.

 

After much discussion it was also decided that two squads of
the Dark Angels 1st Company, the Deathwing would also accompany the assault teams. Space was

limited so they could only take an additional two Land Raiders, two Predators and three

Rhino APCs.

 

It was to be a relatively small hard hitting force that
would be making planet fall on the beleaguered world of Atramis. According to the message that

was received Tyranids had overrun the capital city Belriam and overwhelmed the

planetary defence troops stationed in the capital.

 

Atramis was an important world to the Dark Angel Chapter as
it was a world they had used as a base while engaging in a campaign to eradicate an Ork

invasion in a nearby system. Even though Atramis was not directly inviolved in the conflict it

had proved invaluable as a resupply and staging point for that engagement.

The populace of Atramis had welcomed the Dark Angels with

open arms and the ruling government had provided all the assistance the Dark Angels

needed to carry out a successful purge of the Orks.

The planetary governor Lord Reas Glavern had pledged to the

Dark Angels that from that point on his system would always provide what ever help they could

to the Chapter and that the world could be used to recruit from if the Dark Angels so

wished.

Atramis was the jewel of that system. It was a large world

with a relatively small population. It had several large continents ranging from one

which was for the most part lush jungle with several huge lakes.

One which was mostly desert running along the equatorial

region of the planet and in the northern continent where the capital was located a temperate

region filled with miles of verdant grass land and large forests.

To the north and south were the polar regions of Atramis,

Icy wastelands for the most part.

The people on this world had developed into a complex
society based on an early warrior culture. Their Tech level was similar to that found in much

of the civilized worlds of the Imperium.

Because of the worlds long established warrior culture all

of the populace upon reaching adulthood were to be trained as members of the Planetary

Defence Force.

 

Atramis PDF though smaller than those found on other
Imperial worlds were tough and well trained. They had good equipment and we well versed in all

aspects of warfare.

 

Several hundred years before Dark Eldar had raided the world
thinking it would be an easy victory for them but the Atramis PDF had put up a valiant

defence and all the Dark Eldar were destroyed completely in a two year campaign that

encompassed battles fought across the entire world.

 

The people of Atramis informed the Imperium of the Dark

Eldar incursion but had not asked for any military aid preferring to trust in their own

military might.

 

Then during the Ork incursion in a nearby system they had
sent Atremis PDF to fight alongside the Dark Angels in that bitter war. They had

suffered huge losses but the Dark Angels were impressed by their prowess and martial skill.

 

All the Atramis PDF fought with courage and honour giving no
quarter and never retreating.

After the Ork war the world of Atramis swore oaths of
loyalty to the Dark Angels and from that point on there would always be a bond between the two.

 

Subsequently the Dark Angels visited the world recruiting a
batch of young warriors to be novices in the Chapter and it was promised that a small

force of Dark Angels would be permanently stationed on that world.

Now the World of Atramis was in danger and they had asked

the Dark Angels to help them in their most desperate hour.

 

For Chapter Master Azrael it was a priority to send a rapid
strike force to Atramis to aid their allies. Promises were made to their people and it was

with some regret that Azrael had not made the preparations to station Dark Angels on that

world sooner.

 

The plan was for two squads and a chaplain to be based there
in order to instruct and train the Atramis PDF and also maintain a Dark Angel presence on

that world.

 

The strike cruiser Eternal Vigilance left the Warp and has
made full speed towards the outer fringes of the Atramis system.

 

Onboard the ship the Dark Angels are making final
preparations for battle. In the shuttle bay Battle Brothers are embarking onto Thunderhawk gunships

and all the vehicles are being made secure and ready for transfer by Thunderhawk

transporters to the battle zone. Soon it will be time to make planet fall.

 

Onboard Thunderhawk Delta Interrogator Chaplain Uriel is

talking to his troops. As he walks along the inside of the Thunderhawk he looks into each of

his Battle Brothers faces in turn.

He sees their determined and serious expressions looking
back at him.

 

"Battle-Brothers we are preparing now to enter a
warzone. You have all made such preparations countless times before but I must stress to you

the importance of our mission here today."

 

"The people of Atramis are in great peril and only our
actions today will save them. The Atramis PDF has fallen back to the northern part of the

continent. Most of the populace have been air lifted to the southern continent Terranos to keep

them from harm during this conflict yet many hundreds of their people perished in the

initial Tyranid incursion when those xenos filth landed in the capital."

 

"One garrison of Atramis PDF sold their lives dearly to
delay the Tyranids from overrunning the main airfield. These brave men and woman faught and died

to facilitate most of the civilian population to be air lifted to safety."

 

"Now we are to land on the outskirts of the capital and
carry out a search and destroy mission against the Tyranids. We will be supported by

members of the Ravenwing who will conduct a series of hit and run attacks along the front

lines."

"There will also be support in the form of a squad of
Devestators led by Sergeant Ustez.

They will be split into two fire teams each attached to one
of our squads."

 

Chaplain Uriel looks at the Sergeant of squad Epsilon.

"Brother Garel your assault squads will exit the

Thunderhawk two clicks south of the airfield. It will be an aerial drop and you will be tasked to

engage the Tyranid warriors on the southern side of the air field. Tornadoes from Omega

squadron Raven wing will be assisting you."

 

Battle-Brother Garel nods his head in agreement,
"Affirmative my Chaplain."

Then Uriel turns to look at the members of Tactical Squad

Sigma under his command

He speaks directly to Veteran Sergeant Agustus.

"Augustus we are to support Garel and his two assault

squads. They will spearhead the assault on the group of Tyranids who are occupying the area

around the airfield.

Sergeant Ustez and his Devestator squad will also be
present."

 

"They are landing at our drop zone via Thunderhawk

Alpha Two. We will be landing ahead of them as Alpha two is air dropping two Assault squads over the

outskirts of Capital before it will be in postion to land Ustez and his squad."

Sergeant Agustus smiles and replies, "I look forward to
destroying the Tyranid filth."

Uriel responds, "I also share your sentiment Brother.

The people of Atramis must be freed and we will prosecute the foe with ruthless and relentless

vigour."

 

He turns to address all the Space Marines under his command.

"You all know your assignments. You are facing a deadly
and horrifying foe. Do not underestimate your enemy. Show them no mercy. Give no

quarter. On this day we will shall liberate the people of Atramis."

 

Uriel clenches his right fist and raises it to his chest and
shouts in a passionate voice,

 

"For the Emperor! For the Lion!"

 

All the Battle-Brothers present raise their clenched right
fists to their chest in unison as

Interrogator Chaplain's words echo around the cabin of the
Thunderhawk gunship.

Then all the Battle-Brothers shout loudly, "Death or
Glory!"

 

 

 

many thanks for reading...

 

 

peace

[chaplainmikey]

I personally like the idea.

As much as I love the role and motives behind the Ravenwing and Deathwing i've always liked the idea of a small contingent of infantry, such as Veterans, who would take on the role of assisting in the hunt in various ways.

Maybe they are embedded in regions of space gathering intell on rumours regarding the Fallen. Perhaps the target is holed up in a series of tight crumbling ruins where bikes and TDA armour just aren't capable of traversing efficiently. Or time is of the essence in a hunt where the target has evaded detection and the search requires many bodies on the ground searching an expansive area.

 

I like the idea that members of the succesors were also involved, similar to how the Deathwatch operate.

 

I was pretty disappointed that although we were gifted with 2 new flyers, neither had transport capacity similar to the Storm raven. That won,t stop me buying one and covering it in DA iconography though. ;)

 

Kanan, I remember reading a similar short story that you sent me some years ago.

I hope you are going to expand upon it or pen a story showcasing your S.O.G and how they operate.

I would also love to see a model for the character you have  created.

 

Cheers,

Mike.

[syddraf]

Heres Shadow Guards story, enjoy

 

http://fortressofunforgiven.homestead.com/CH03_03HoU_000GA.html

[Phoebus]

Do "Special Operations Group" and "trooper" sound terribly Dark Angel-ish to you?  ;)