The Praetorian Marines

[Naminé]

http://praetorianmarines.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/brutusignus-copy.jpg

Praetorian Marines:

‘Nostrum Maledictionem Est Victoria’

This is still a WIP and I will be adding new parts to this post in the near future, in which case the new aspects will be clearly labelled. Apologies if the formatting is off on some of the sections, trust me it is the forum having a spaz and not my fault! Any parts that say 'Would you like to know more?' are links to further information on my blog. Thanks for reading!

Overview –

The Praetorian Marines are a loyalist Space Marine chapter based near the north-eastern corner of the Ultima Segmentum. They deviate slightly from the Codex Astartes in terms of chapter structure and recruitment, as well as the naming of units and ranks. They wear silver and white power armour as standard, and their emblem is a depiction of a black horse of their home world.
Originally conceived during the 36^th Millennium, but only created during the 37^th, they have had quite a tumultuous past. In recent times they have finally recovered from severe losses, and now perform their duties on behalf of the Imperium.

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An example of the standard armour worn by a Praetorian Marine.

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The Praetorian emblem.

The Praetorian Marines as a concept are heavily inspired by ancient Rome, both aesthetically and in mentality. As a chapter they have had a lot go wrong; lost to bureaucracy, time, and then the warp. It has taken them until the present day to even achieve their full strength, and so they have never attained the glories of other chapters and their real tests have yet to begin. Nevertheless, they have successfully overcome all the adversity in their path, and now strive to prove to the Imperium and the galaxy at large that their continued existence is rightful and deserved.

Hence the Praetorian’s motto: ‘Our only curse is Victory.’

History –

The Praetorian Marines were initially conceived as part of the 21^st Founding, which soon came to be known as the ‘cursed founding’ due to several tragedies that befell the chapters created at the time. However, due to the comparatively late conception of the chapter that would eventually become the Praetorians, their creation was halted at the very first stages, until rigorous checks and tests could be performed to ascertain whether this would be another disaster in the making. In the meantime, all of the assets were sealed away and the handful of Space Marines recruited thus far were frozen in stasis. It was nearly a thousand years later that records of the chapter were once again stumbled upon by a humble member of the Adeptus Administratum, buried as they had been under centuries of fresh conflict and more pressing concerns. Evaluations of the hidden chapter determined that the project should be continued, as the need for another Space Marine chapter was still present, and the majority of materials were already assembled and ready.

Once ready, the Praetorians began their Journey to the Agri-world of Elysium in the Ultima Segmentum. However, disaster struck almost immediately, when a great part of the fleet was lost or destroyed in the Warp, and the chapter’s flagship was hurled across the galaxy and damaged. Severely undermanned and lost in the middle of non-imperial space, the Praetorian’s were forced to travel at only sub-light speeds, fending of the predications of despicable Xenos and foul evils alike. Over the decades in which they underwent this journey home, the chapter developed many variances from the Codex Astartes as necessity forced their hand, and they finally began to refer to themselves as the ‘Praetorian Marines’.

Eventually, they stumbled upon the territory of another Imperial faction: the Fighting Tigers of Veda. The Space Marines of the Fighting Tigers showed great kindness and hospitality to their visitors; aiding in the repairs of their ship and sharing a secret that would ensure the chapter’s continued survival. Since that day, the Praetorian’s have always viewed the Fighting Tigers chapter with utmost respect, and the chapter as a whole has vowed to repay the favour someday.

It was not much later that the Praetorian Marines finally arrived on their home world, whereby they proceeded to rebuild their forces, strengthen their defences and now continue to operate within the Tactus system.

Would you like to know more?

Organisation –

• Chapter Structure: For the most part, the Praetorian Marines adhere to the Codex Astartes; however, although they are divided into 10 companies as standard, the make-up of each company is radically different from the next. For example, the 2^nd company is purely made up of the Chapter’s vehicles and tanks, whilst the 3^rd company contains the bulk of the Praetorian’s close combat specialists. Over their time in isolation, the Praetorians have grown to refer to each unit by a different name to the standard Codex descriptions; for example, the standard Space Marine soldier is called a Legionary, whilst a biker in the 4^th Company is known as an Equite. Would you like to know more?Thanks to the shared wisdom of the Fighting Tigers Chapter, and due to the former need for rapid recruitment of new potentials, some of the Praetorian’s number are female. The actual number is a mere 3% of the total chapter, with the vast majority currently serving as Velite scouts within the 10^th Company.

• Home world & Jurisdiction: The Agri-world of Elysium had been long-singled out as a potential chapter home world, due to its location at the Eastern edge of the Ultima Segmentum, and the presence of several other Imperial worlds within its proximity. When the Praetorian Marines failed to arrive after their voyage to Elysium began, a detachment of Imperial Guard was assigned as a temporary measure in their stead. Whatever their original purpose, the Imperial Guard forces have since swelled to a great size, and they remain present upon the surface of Elysium until the current day. Would you like to know more?

The Praetorians themselves now have jurisdiction over the planet itself, the surrounding Tactus system and a handful of other systems nearby. As with most Space Marine chapters, they will travel to other locations at great distances if called upon by the greater Imperium to do so.

Battle Doctrine –

The Praetorian Marines chapter organisation has been carefully cultivated to promote flexible fighting forces of extremely specialised units and troops. Through the separation of each aspect of battle into individual companies, members of each company have the ability to master their particular role on the battlefield; whilst drawing upon the ranks of several companies for each campaign ensures that the chapter can still function together as a whole.

In other words, should the chapter go to war at any time, tanks drawn from the 2^nd company may take the field with Legionaries of the 5^th; each a master of their particular doctrine, yet in confidence that the total force can fight in a cohesive manner.

The tactics favoured by the Praetorians are those of versatility and quick reactionary counter-attacks. Developed during their long journey to Elysium in order to best preserve their manpower, and later honed over the centuries fighting the Imperium’s enemies, the Praetorians fight best utilising hit-and-run, ambush, and swift-moving firebases, often as a precursor to a particularly devastating hammer-blow designed to annihilate the enemy strongpoints.

For such encounters, timing is everything. This is why Velite scouts are employed to first gauge the enemies strengths and then to inform the rest of the Praetorian forces of the best time to strike. The necessity for speed in such attacks determines the force deployed: Legionaries in Testudos make way for Drop-pods and Equite Bikers when the need for rapidity is particularly great.

Current Campaigns -

The Praetorian Marines have had the misfortune to run into most of the current blights threatening the Imperium. Several campaigns are still being fought throughout neighbouring space against Xenos races and Heretics alike.

• The Necrons – The first encounter with the vile Necrons took place on the sacred planet of Serello: burial world of the Praetorian and Elysian heroes. Captain Isolde Lucé managed to lead her forces to a hard earned victory against the Necron threat. Would you like to know more? Following in the wake of that encounter, several other sorties have been run by both sides… Thus far the Praetorians have managed to overcome each attack, and now the Necron forces have fallen mysteriously dormant. Whilst it is too soon to declare a complete victory for Serello or the surrounding systems, the reduction in Necron attacks indicates a distinctive change in the foe’s behaviour.

• The Dark Eldar – Several pirate raids by the Dark Eldar have been carried out on worlds within the Praetorian Marines’ jurisdiction. For every Xenos attack that has been thwarted there has been another soon after at a weakened point in the loyalist defences. This game of cat-and-mouse has continued throughout the Praetorians tenure upon Elysium, and only the additional might of the local Imperial Guard has prevented the Dark Eldar attacks from becoming anything more then a continued nuisance.

• The Tyranids – Due to the location of Elysium within the eastern edge of the Ultima Segmentum, the Praetorians have had a few, isolated encounters with the Tyranid race. Due to a concentrated effort to push back the Xenos encroaching upon imperial worlds, the frequency of any Tyranid attacks has lessened. A small detachment of Elysian Guard and Praetorians now patrols the borders of space under the Chapter’s jurisdiction, but otherwise there are no further plans to pursue the enemy at this time.

• Sellendar’s Rebels – The traitorous ex-Praetorian continues to build his forces and scheme throughout the Tactus system, within secret strongholds and abandoned fortifications. Though instances of hostility are rare, several attempts to capture or kill Sellendar and his rebel forces have ended in miserable defeat. Would you like to know more? Quite what the old Master of the Forge is planning is currently unknown, though Captain Brutus Ignus in particular seeks the traitor with great fervour.

Relationships to other factions –

• The Dark Angels – Relationships with the Dark Angels chapter are somewhat strained and communication is few and far between. When the two did meet, the Dark Angels launched a sudden attack that ended in a grim stalemate only moments later. The reasons for said attack are as yet unknown, and no explanations on behalf of the Dark Angels are forthcoming. As such, the Praetorians now view the Chapter with suspicion; any retaliatory actions have been expressly forbidden by Praetor Nika.

• The Blood Angels – The Praetorian Marines enjoy a civil rivalry with those of the Blood Angel chapter; the two forces have engaged in many a training exercise together since operations first started on Elysium. Most recently, a training exercise occurred on Elysium itself, to which the Blood Angels appeared as honoured guests. Thus far the Praetorians have successfully prevailed in every encounter, a fact that vexes their opponents greatly; though the odds of an actual conflict arising between the two chapters are slim to none.

• The Eldar – Unlike many Imperial organisations, the Praetorian Marines have learned to differentiate between the Eldar and their dark cousins; due mainly to the difference in appearance and combat style between the two. It is also obvious that the Craftworld Eldar are more open to communication, though on those rare instances an exchange of words does occur, open-hostilities inevitably follow. Current encounters with the Eldar have ended quickly and resolutely, thus the Praetorian Marines do not pay them too much heed at the current time.

[Oriken Silverheart]

These females . . . . . . Are they actual space marines in the sense of being genetically-enhanced, post-human killing machines or simply some form of auxillery. If the former than you've lost me already, if the latter, interesting.

[Naminé]

These females . . . . . . Are they actual space marines in the sense of being genetically-enhanced, post-human killing machines or simply some form of auxillery. If the former than you've lost me already, if the latter, interesting.

They are Space Marines, so in other words, there are no differences between them other then gender :)

[Conn Eremon]

While initially entertaining, the Starship Troopers reference feel rather out of place.

[OGT Magne]

Mate unless there's been a retcon that I missed female space marines are a big no no. It simply can't be done.

[Naminé]

While initially entertaining, the Starship Troopers reference feel rather out of place.

 

Okee dokee, I see what you mean :) I'll go back and change some bits on the next update.

Mate unless there's been a retcon that I missed female space marines are a big no no. It simply can't be done.

 

See, I've checked all the documentation I have, and nowhere in the past 3 Space Marine Codices does it say that female marines cannot exist.  Apparantly people refer to an old throwaway sentence in the second edition, but considering there's been no repeat mention of it in the past, what... 16 years? It could be taken as a slight retcon of sorts.  If we adhere purely to what the old fluff says, then amongst other things, Necrons are still slaves to the C'tan, Calgar and Lysander are still just Sergeants and the Dark Eldar don't exist at all.  There was a really good debate about the issue on this very forum, which I would provide a link to, only it seems to have been lost in the warp :(

 

Point being; just because something isn't done in 40k, doesn't mean it cannot be done! :p

 

However, for those that this is a sticking point: What are your impressions of the Chapter if you ignore the female marine aspect?

 

Thanks :)

[Conn Eremon]

The issue with the examples you used, Namine, is that those all have substantial newer fluff contradicting them. Those have actually been retconned. There has never been a contradiction about the detail of gender, only reinforced. Looking at C:SM 5e, I see the creation part referring solely to brotherhoods, he's and him's.

[Vincent val Munshin]

Yeah, the female marine thing is odd. Plus, when you imagine huge amounts of injected testosterone to just get them to the point where they could accept the geneseed, pretty nasty. I like the paint scheme, though.

[Naminé]

The issue with the examples you used, Namine, is that those all have substantial newer fluff contradicting them. Those have actually been retconned. There has never been a contradiction about the detail of gender, only reinforced. Looking at C:SM 5e, I see the creation part referring solely to brotherhoods, he's and him's.

 

A good point, you are right that they have explicitly changed those elements.  I brought them up merely to highlight that fluff can and has changed in the last 16 years.

 

The fact is, for the better part of 2 decades, none of the Space Marine Codices have stated that only males can be space marines.  Why would they remove a simple sentence from the description? It's easy enough to keep/add in.  My own personal opinion is that GW of old realised it was restrictive for hobbyists and so removed it on purpose.

An example of what I'm talking about is as follows:

 

16 years ago (and never before), GW tells us that Space Marines can only eat ice cream.  From that point on, GW merely tells us that Space Marines can eat food.

 

Would anyone assume that to mean that Space Marines could only eat ice cream?  This is the exact same situation as the one surrounding female space marines.

 

 

As for references to space marines in the masculine, that is not really uncommon in real life let alone a setting were the overwhelming majority of Space Marines are male.  Just because a female marine may exist would not change the term 'brotherhood' nor would it necessarily prevent her being known as a 'battle-brother.'  References in the codex to he and him are a natural assumption based on the majority, as it often is in real life.  We refer to our race as 'mankind' yet there is a much higher proportion of females in the world then there would be amongst the ranks of the Adeptus Astartes!

With terms such as these, writers tend to pick a gender to begin with, and then roll with it.  Have you ever read the Pathfinder books?  They are a good example of this practice including both genders for different classes.

 

Either way, there is no actual statement in the current game saying Space Marines cannot be female; I really don't get why this one aspect in particular is such a bugbear for some people, especially in a world so willing to accept Necrons making friends with Blood Angels, and Draigo pwning the warp with every step.  Yes, these parts of the fluff are contentious and do raise a great deal of ire, but both of them combined still pale in comparison to the opposition to female space marines.  I honestly have no idea why.

 

I don't really want to derail this thread going into the frankly massive issue of female space marines since that was never its purpose, but I am happy to discuss it further in PM's if you wish :)

 

Thanks!

[Naminé]

Yeah, the female marine thing is odd. Plus, when you imagine huge amounts of injected testosterone to just get them to the point where they could accept the geneseed, pretty nasty. I like the paint scheme, though.

 

Background wise, the Praetorians learnt an alternative method of doing this from the Fighting Tigers chapter.

The paint scheme was meant to be a combination of a Star Wars stormtrooper and a Roman Legionary.  I have some alternate schemes for those in rank, unusual positions such as the Arcani and Veterans, which I will update with soon.  Thanks for looking! :) 

[Donkey Kong]

I'm actually very disappointed in the discussion I've seen here so far. Criticism does not involve poking at a single point and prodding an author to change what they've written. There's more to an IA than half a sentence that you don't like. If you've got the time to read that far, at least skim the rest and post something worthwhile instead of an argument everyone's heard before.

 

So, Namine, I'd like to start by applauding you for all the work you've done. I can't say I've read everything on your wordpress, but I've skimmed through enough to confidently say that you've certainly poured quite a bit of time and energy into this, and for that congratulations. Sadly, the IA itself doesn't really do anything for me.

 

Everything I've read is either generic or different for the sake of being different. Your Chapter name, your homeworld name, just generic. Most marines are going to have Roman/ Greek/ Knight/ Monk influences, and usually they focus in on something or do something different. GW examples: the Black Templars embrace the Knight attributes and the Ultramarines are the definitive Greco-Roman Chapter. In contrast, the Space Wolves are werewolf vikings with the language and fetishes to match. You're not embracing anything, and you're not doing anything different.

 

In your article you keep using the word "current." I don't know what you're trying to say since "current" in 40k doesn't really exist. Is current at the turn of the millennium, before or after? More importantly, why does it matter when your IA is supposed to be an overview of the Chapter, not what they're doing right now.

 

Of the campaigns you list, none of them seem to be active or ongoing events that warrant the space they're provided.

 

Of the relationships, I question why the Dark Angels or Blood Angels would care about you at all. I question the ability of your Chapter to meet in a stalemate against the Dark Angels Legion. I question why the Blood Angels would care about you when at the turn of the millennium they're supposedly busy at Ultramar fighting Tyranids. As for your Eldar analysis, I don't understand any of the generalizations here. The Imperium cannot differentiate, or doesn't care to differentiate? The Craftworld Eldar open communications and then fight while the True Eldar just fight? What? And then you don't pay them much heed so the relationship is... nonexistent?

 

I don't mean to be rude, but there's nothing here for me to dig into. Minus a few names that feel tacked on, a Chapter organization that doesn't make much sense, female space marines that also feel tacked on (3% but used to bolster numbers, but then huh? And I'm lost) and that I don't particularly care for, and a cursed founding history that doesn't amount to anything.

 

Sit down. Think: What am I trying to do. Work from there.

[Sanguis militis]

I disagree with what a lot of others when they slam you for female marines. Although in the fluff space marines are solely male, I think half the fun of creating your chapter is being able to use what games workshop has given you and use your creativity from there. Since this is by far the biggest deviance to any other space marine chapter and all of the fluff regarding them, if you want even a chance for others to find them acceptable you should come up with a very good explanation as to how female marines are possible. Did the tigers' apothecaries develop a way of indoctrinating females that transforms them into fully functioning marines? How did they do it? Who helped them? How does the imperium, especially other chapters view this? Don't get me wrong i love the idea and have 3 unpainted female grey knights that I use in normal squads and explained their background as sisters if battle who were recruited into the chapter through advanced surgery known only to the most talented of the adeptus biologis for a chapter as secretive, important, and advanced as the grey knights ( ofcourse that's a very brief explanation ).

 

Try and make it believable, but keep in mind no matter how well you do it most others will never accept female marines. Period. But others like me think its awesome and encourage you to play your army and write your fluff how you choose.

 

Again.. If you make it crazy, have crazy good reasoning for it.