Dark Angels and their possible allies

[Phoebus]

Well, let's remember that every Master of a Company is a member of the Inner Circle.  Furthermore, various novels, short stories, and Codex entries point to the fact that there is also the occasional "undercover" member of the Inner Circle in a Battle Company.

 

As to how normal Dark Angels feel when they leave in the middle of a battle?  Eh... chalk it up to inconsistent and/or unimaginative writing.  It's a case of "Theme Trumps Logic!" for the sake of the theme being represented.  If the Dark Angels were abandoning allies forces so often, there's no way the Space Wolves would be the only First Founding Chapter to be attacked by a major faction within the Imperium.  I figure they probably find a Fallen every few decades* and they have to pull something dodgy (such as disappearing from a battle) every couple of centuries.

 

In all actuality, something as drastic as the Angels of Redemption abandoning Gatlinghive to the Orks would be the very, very rare exception to the rule.  More likely, we'd see the Dark Angels being much more smart about things and (per the Codex) including detachments of the Deathwing and the Ravenwing with "conventional" Dark Angels forces.  They would do this precisely for the sake of flexibility.  That, way, whether they run into a Fallen unexpectedly (and don't want to expose the uninitiated)  or they get notified of a Fallen threat nearby, there's the ability to respond.

 

Unfortunately, that's not what we see in most of the fluff.  A key example of this is 'Ravenwing'.

 

 

On one occasion, Sammael keeps Fifth Company in a static position doing much of nothing while the capital of Piscina IV goes to hell and orks run rampant.  The reason for this is to ensure that no one interferes with them while in a Dark Angels fortress that is thought to have been compromised.  It's a weak premise.

 

Later, Sammael uses Fifth Company as bait to lure out enemy Chaos Space Marines.  He more or less sacrifices two squads and their vehicles in a rather unimaginative gamble to locate where the enemy's headquarters are.  It's one of those cases where you wish there were some ground rules for authors.  Say, as to what a starship's sensors and/or a Librarian's psychic sight can accomplish.

 

It's all rather unimaginative, and makes for a disappointing, dodgy part of an otherwise good novel.  It leaves you wondering why Sammael hasn't figured out how to balance his responsibilities after being on the job for so long.

 

 

* It takes me back to an older post I'd made.

 

Luther couldn't have had more than roughly 20-24,000 Space Marines by the time the Lion returned to Caliban.  Most of the planet was fried by the time the Lion and Luther dueled, and all but one fortress monastery had been destroyed.  Of the Dark Angels, probably a fourth to a half of their original manpower made it to the Second Founding (Heresy, Scouring, Caliban, etc.).  And thus we have anywhere from 25-50 Chapters.  For the purposes of this discussion, though, let's pretend that only the seven named Chapters exist (even though the Codex itself tells us otherwise).

 

What does this mean for the Hunt?  The Dark Angels have had ten thousand years and at least seven Chapters to find Fallen.  There's no way they were finding even ONE Fallen per year, on average.  Even if they were finding one Fallen every five years, that's at least two thousand Fallen found thus far.  How many could have survived Caliban?  If it's more than 10% of Luther's original force, it gets silly.  Point of fact, the Dark Angels probably have more Chapters than those listed in the Codex, and they find Fallen at a far slower rate than 1 per 5 years.

[facmanpob]

What does this mean for the Hunt?  The Dark Angels have had ten thousand years and at least seven Chapters to find Fallen.  There's no way they were finding even ONE Fallen per year, on average.  Even if they were finding one Fallen every five years, that's at least two thousand Fallen found thus far.  How many could have survived Caliban?  If it's more than 10% of Luther's original force, it gets silly.  Point of fact, the Dark Angels probably have more Chapters than those listed in the Codex, and they find Fallen at a far slower rate than 1 per 5 years.

Interrogator Chaplain Molochia had over 300 years of service and only got 12 Black Pearls.....and was one of the most successful chaplains at hunting the fallen (Codex DA 4th Ed, P37). So he was capturing one member of the Fallen every 25 years, and he was one of the most successful. iirc, Asmodai only has 2 Black Pearls.

[Phoebus]

facmanpob took my conjecture and paired it up with hard data.  Well done, sir!  :)

[facmanpob]

My pleaseure

Its always been my view that the rate of detection and hunting of the Fallen is so low as to make the whole "abandoning your ally to engage in the hunt" thing quite a rare event. Not so rare that a particularly inquisitive Inquisitor couldn't get a whiff of something, but not so common that every Guardsman and his dog is moaning about "the bl**dy Dark Angels have sodded off again"!

Unfortunately, it is sometimes handled in a bit of a ham-fisted way in the fluff.

[Cactus]

Black pearls are awarded for making a Fallen repent, so they only suggest a lower limit for numbers captured.

[Tiger9gamer]

Just curious.... how about the Death Korpse of Krieg?

[Nevetz]

If you are okay with Forge World army lists I LOVE to ally Elysians with my DA. Their Company Command Squad for 150pts gives -3 to enemy reserve rolls and you can take a squadron of Vendetta if you are missing some flyers or if you don't need some parachuting guardsmen, a single or a squadron of 2 Vultures with Punishers... weeeee!

 

Not to mention a good old Avenger with 2 Lascannons, 2 Missile Launchers and 7 S6 AP3 shots just for 150/190pts as Heavy Support :)

[Knight of the Raven]

There are no allies. There are only tools.

[jeremy1391]

Everyone except DA successors should be allies of convenience ! We are legion we stand alone!