Loyalist Deathguard successors?

[Sheesh Mode]

I'm making an army that plays as spacewolves and have been modeling quite a few of them with scythes of various sizes and shapes. The only other chapter I know of (that isn't the scythes of the Emperor) who wields scythes are the Death Guard. However, I'm a loyalist, I don't go in for nasty wiggly things from space-hell and I'm using GK bits on my models as well. (I think you can see where this is going)

 

So I asked myself the extremely heretical question: Is there a successor chapter of DG and do they work for the inquisition?

 

 

Well B&C what do you think? I know that some fluff says all loyalists from the traitor legions were exterminated, but that doesn't seem entirely likely. I mean every single damn loyalist left? Pretty wasteful and the inquisition is nothing if not pragmatic.

 

 

SO YEAH... any postulations on this possibility?

 

[Grotsmasha]

There is precedence, the Blood Ravens are Thousand Sons geneseed, they just don't know it. So suitably fluffed army that heavily implies DG geneseed is doable, but typically these types of ideas cop heavier criticism than just about any othe DIY idea, except maybe the Lost Legion ideas.

 

Cheers,

Jono

[Conn Eremon]

The Sons of Antaeus, a mostly under-developed Chapter, are rumored to be of Death Guard gene-seed, much like the Blood Ravens and the Thousand Sons and Astra Carcharadons and . . . I can't remember, Word Bearers or World Eaters.

[MordentHex]

The Sons of Antaeus. When i saw this topic thats exactly what came to mind.  21'st founding chapter i believe, reported to be as tough as the legendary Deathguard and use the same tactics. Was from way back in White Dwarf I think. They had toughness 5. :P

[daveNYC]

Yep.  Cursed Founding chapters are the go-to solution for anyone who wants a loyal chapter that has traitor legion traits.  The AdMech went nutso when they rolled those guys out.  Modified, or mix and matched, geneseed, dubious sourced geneseed, all the good stuff.  Doesn't hurt that the 21st Founding Chapters mostly ended up as a train wreck, and those that didn't aren't popular with the major Imperial powers.  Also: Lamenters, represent!

 

I thought that the Minotaurs were more the WE geneseed types.  Preferred Enemy: Space Marine seems a heavy hint.  

[Emperor's Furor]

Yeah I'd say go for Sons of Antaeus, they have a black and grey colour scheme.

[Marshall Riese]

The Exorcists seem to leam in that direction too. My gut feeling based on their fluff would be either Thousand Son or Word Bearer Geneseed. But with those records sealed by the highest levels of the Inquisition we shall never know.

[BLACK BLΠFLY]

The Death Guard have no known successor chapters. You could always do a newly renegade chapter.

[Kol Saresk]

I thought the Exorcists were like an experimental GK Successors?

[Conn Eremon]

Pretty much, but whose gene-seed is being used?

[Kol Saresk]

Well, the GK do have a high-rate of psykers, maybe KSons?

[Emperor's Furor]

I'd suggest the Exorcists use the Imperial Fists geneseed. T

 

his is based on the Imperial Fists used by Fabius Bile during his experiments, they seemed remarkedly capable of getting their self awareness. Perhaps the Imperials also drew this conclusion from some where and decided it may help with withstanding or over coming possessions. There's nothing to suggest they use the grey knight gene seed afaik.

 

Just an idea though, not suggesting it's fact.

[Kol Saresk]

Well, IIRC FW's IA 10 gave an account that the Exorcists were made under close supervision by both the Inquisition and the Grey Knights. The big major difference was that the Exorcists are all possessed by daemons for a short time before they are exorcised and while on campaign in the Eye of Terror, they racked up a pretty nice kill-count.

 

The Imperial Fists might have some ability to cope with mutation, but I don't know about possession.

[Wade Garrett]

The Carcharadons MIGHT possibly maybe be loyalist Night Lords, given their pale skin and fondness for Terror Tactics.

 

Likewise, the Red Scorpions could perhaps be Word Bearers or Emperor's Children, given their worship of the Emperor as a god and obsession with purity.

[Conn Eremon]

Sorry, I wasn't referring to Grey Knight gene-seed. I meant the Exorcists. See, they are shown as a spiritual successor of the Grey Knights, but it isn't stated they use the same gene-seed. It could be a new project starting from scratch, like the Grey Knights themselves were. Maybe they used Grey Knight gene-seed, maybe not. If not, who? I'd like to think Word Bearers, but aren't the new Space Sharks already rumored to be of Lorgar? Personally, they sound more like Sons of Horus to me, the Astra Carcharadons. But man, wouldn't that be the one taboo they don't break? The Warmasters' own?

[Sheesh Mode]

Yeah I'd say go for Sons of Antaeus, they have a black and grey colour scheme.

 

Hmm, interesting, so apparently there is a possibility of DeathGuard having loyalist successors. Albeit the information is vague and guarded. 

 

However, a radical Inquisitor assigned to purge chaos from around the warp discovers this chapter, who largely stay below the radar and conduct ambush tactics like the original Dusk Warriors of the Great Crusade, would he possibly extort them to his own ends?

 

"I have a spacemarine chapter descended from a legion everyone hates, how useful" 

 

Then give them material from the inquisition to help them fight chaos? 

 

Please keep in mind the materials I am using for my models: BT and Gk bits with some FW and SW stuff. 

 

 

Note: A lot of this is inspired from a line in Emprasque where Jagatai or Crovax mentions Death guard retaining the highest number of loyalists during the heresy. 

[Sheesh Mode]

You guys may have seen this... somewhere else...

 

The Redeemers Templar are a forgotten successor chapter of Loyalist
DeathGuard created in the wake of the Horus Heresy by Malcador the
Sigilite in an attempt to preserve what good remained of the traitor
armies.

As a result of their origins they are rightfully
suspicious of outsiders and avoid contact with Imperial forces wherever
possible. Particularly those worst effected by the Death Guard during
the Heresy so as to prevent unnecessary conflict with the rightful fury
of their fellow loyalists.

Furthermore, they are actively hunted
by the Greyknights for the actions of their accursed Primarch Mortarion
and his murder of Supreme Grand Master Geronitan. Some Greyknights hold
a special hatred for the Redeemers, seeing them as an insult to the
Emperor as Traitors and Heretics who claim to be loyal.

Despite
the overwhelming animosity the Imperium has for them, the Templar are
not without friends, even within the Inquisition. They regularly
communicate with Inquisitors of the Ordo Malleus and act as a
specialized weapon against the traitor legions, specifically the Death
Guard.

As a result of their, specialized nature, constant
movement and incessant need for secrecy, the Redeemers maintain a
minimum of Astartes, barely numbering more than 400 marines. To
compensate for this lack of manpower, each battle-brother is equipped to
operate against forces that vastly outnumber them. Even more-so than
normal astartes, as the Redeemers can ill afford to replace their
fallen.

Due to the nature of warp-travel and the sordid history
of their founders, the Redeemers Templar posses a rare trait in their
Gene Seed which retains certain of memories from each own. Leading to
each successor recollecting parts of their predecessors past with remarkable clarity, such as
moments of extraordinary glory and advancement or more often their
death.

This has led to the practice of renaming each new
aspirant after his forebear, both as a means of acknowledge the great
deeds of their fathers and to continue their legacy.

To an
outsider it would seem that several members of the Redeemers Templar are
immortal, as records of their lives span back the chapters history, in
rare cases, to its original founding. Indeed, it is a grave thing for a
geneseed to be lost or damaged as it ensures the death of the marine and
his lineage, inciting marines to fight all the harder to preserve their
brothers souls and ensure their proper return.

This mutation is
not without its flaws, for although the marine may remember his past he
also suffers from its trauma. Instances of severe stresses and
sometimes madness are not unheard of as the sheer weight of collected
memories bears down upon the Battle-Brothers psyche. In extreme cases
such men may be interred inside of a dreadnought where their rage and
pain may be stored until the next great battle.

Chapter traits

Founding: 2nd founding

Progenitor: Death Guard

Geneseed: Altered Stock (Past life memory retention)

Chapter Demeanor: Suffer Not the Work of Heretics

Likelihood of mutation: 30%

Chapter Flaw: We Stand Alone

Figure of Legend: Chapter Master

Deed of Legend: Stalwart enemy of Chaos, slew a Demon Prince of Nurgle

Homeworld: Fleet Based 5 ships

Organization: Unique

Combat Doctrine: Armored Assault

Specialty restrictions: No bikes

Special Equipment: Power Scythe

Chapter Beliefs: Esoteric (Reincarnation through Geneseed)

Chapter Strength: Endangered (:cuss not enough time to train people and we can't stop to pick up more!)

Chapter is friendly with: Spacewolves, Radical Inquisitors of the Ordo Malleus

Chapter enemies Chaos Legions (Deathguard), Deamon Hunters (Puritans and Greyknights)

 

---

 

Now here is some hastily written fluff!

 

----

 

 

 

 

A
unique moment in the history of the Redeemers Templar occurred in the
streets of Fortress-city Senach Munhaim, which is roughly translated to
Valley of the Fallen due to its ancient history.

An Alpha Legion
sleeper cell had successfully assassinated the Planetary Governor and
turned the local Arbites and PDF, leading to a continent wide revolt
against the remaining loyalists.

Spacewolves led by Wolf Lord
Sven Iron Head, quickly responded to the distress signal and made planet
fall within the following 6 months.
By that time most of the nation was in shambles, gangs and mutants ran amok wreaking havoc on the helpless civilian population.

Infuriated
by the predatory attacks on the civilian populace, Sven ordered
relentless extermination campaign on the traitors to avenge those
fallen.

In two months the nation was largely pacified as the
roving bands were brutally eliminated by the wolves or else lynched by
mobs of angry civilians bent on revenge. Idols were cast down and dens
of evil burned. Yet throughout this the alpha legion and their
constituents remained hidden, in spite of the apparent losses of their
allies.

Seeking to cut away at the pervasive shadow and bring
the light of his bolter to the traitors, Sven advanced on the Fort-city
of Senach Munhaim. According to the surrounding populace, the cultists
had gone about fortifying the city against the impending Spacewolf
assault, converting the already formidable bastion into an abattoir of
interlacing kill zones, booby traps and misdirection.

Typical to
his nature and wary of a possible summoning Sven hastened to assault
the city, his landspeeders providing a meager reconnaissance before
hand.

Upon
breaching its Iron doors and entering the City's main roads, Sven's
forces were bombarded by the massed attacks of the traitors, guided by
the Alpha Legionaries themselves.

Despite their prowess and
experience in combat, the wolves were forced to abandon their heavy
armor, funneled through the city streets into a small factory block near
its center.

As the battle raged on and his comrades ammunition
and stamina gradually depleted, Sven Iron Head realized the enemy wanted
him and his men alive. His intuition confirmed by several attempts to
take his wounded brethren hostage, even at the risk of losing their own
men. Yet this knowledge did little to calm Sven as he sought a gap in
the enemy cordon.

 

Were it not for the intervention of the Redeemers Templar, the space
wolves would surely have been captured and tortured for the Alpha
legions mysterious ends.

Yet as the enemy began to advance
against their beleaguered foe, capsules a meter long and four feet think
rained from the heavens each opening to emit a cloying smoke of soot
and ash that caused the eyes to water and the swelled the throat.

As
the metal pills continued to fall, Sven readied himself for the worst,
uncertain of the objects nature and purpose. Yet he took confidence in
uncertainty of his foes, as the hesitated in their assault, their eyes
cast skyward.

The thunderous approach of the admantium avalanche
was greeted by the spacewolves triumphant howling as they readied to
counter-attack.

Waves of bolter fire erupted from the droppods
as the Redeemer Templar elite cleared the drop zone, supported by the
impetuous bulk of Venerable Dreadnought Zayden. Thanks to the
smoke-seeds the Templar were able to rapidly eliminate the surrounding
cultists unmolested.and take up the vacated defensive positions of their enemies.

Disoriented
by the new threat, the Alpha legions forces re-positioned themselves to
counter the unknown aggressor and the Space Wolf counter attack.

More
pods began to drop in followed by a trio of thunderhawks whose
underbellies cradled the heavy vehicles of the chapter. Time was of the
essence, for although the Redeemers had managed to momentarily stun
their foe, they did not have the man power to maintain a static defense.
The vast regions of the underhive contained millions of renegade
guardsmen who had fled the Spacewolf invasion. These heretics now boiled
out of the ground like rats through secret tunnels and holes. Forcing
the Templar to abandon their positions or be overwhelmed like their
Fenresian Brothers.

 

They were soon joined by the belligerent strength of Sven Iron Head,
whose great frost blade smote dozens of traitors, gleaming with the
light of his Combi's flames. Beside him, Dreadnought Zayden obliterated
heretics with great gouts of Sun-fire from his Plasma cannon.

With
the combined might of the two heroes spearheading their assault, the
Redeemer Templar slowly advanced followed by their wulfen allies.

The
Alpha legion commander, aware of the approaching reinforcements and his
rapidly decreasing chances of victory, ordered forward his reserves.
Alpha legion chaos marines supported by mobs of cultists and
traitor-priests armed with Eviscerators.

They sought to surround
and overwhelm the loyalists in a tidal wave of hate, supported by the
precision fire of their Chaos masters. Yet, the rebels were not veterans
of war and were unaccustomed to combat against a well armed and
experienced foe.

As the mobs crashed and broke against the
marine fire-line, their moral was quickly drawn taut. Their fear of the
Alpha legionaries all that kept them from breaking, yet even as the
Chaos champion and his retinue met Sven and his wolfguard some of the
rebels began to break.

 

With a single strike of his mace, the Chaos champion killed a third of
Svens Wolf guard, with the second and third, he brought the great Wolf
lord to his knees, with the fourth he broke Zayden's leg casting the
great dreadnought down.

"POWER AND DEATH" The traitor bellowed, bringing his mace to bear over Svens bloodied face.

"Oblivion." Replied the dreadnought as his massive chain-claw extended outwards, snatching the champion off of his feet.

 

In the events following the assault on Senach Munhaim the Space Wolves
neglected to mention the presence of their unlikely allies to anyone
outside of the chapter.

Captain Donovan of the Redeemers Templar
met with Sven Iron Head beneath the gaze of the Ancient Zayden. The
trio discussed in length the nature of the Templar chapter, its mission
and the necessity for secrecy, particularly from the Inquisition.

Sven
a veteran of the First War for Armageddon and a typical Space Wolf,
understood the Templar's mission and swore an oath of secrecy.

As
a result of this conflict and subsequent events, the two have become
occasional allies, aiding each other when possible and trading
information and resources.

 

------


So that's about it boys and girls what do you think?

 

[Ezeriel]

Sounds pretty awesome to me, so I say go wild with it. 

 

It's similiar to what I've been thinking for my dusk raider army if I used it for 40k games.

 

In my still in work fluff, I have the newly formed Inquisition form the surviving DG from FoTE into one of the second founding chapters.  They take on their old name and armor colors and become a secret chapter that focuses on killing traitor chapters/legions, all with Inquisition oversight.  So basically traitor hunting version of GK.