IA: Kodiaks

[TGrizzly]

Chapter Symbol

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"Never Fear, Never Falter." - Chapter Moto

The Kodiaks are a 3rd founding chapter with a long history as guardians of the Gorund Subsector in the Ultima Segmentum.

Origins

The Kodiaks were created to be a guardian in the long war against the orks in the Ultima Segmentum. Born of Ferrus Manus' geneseed, they share many of his attributes. They have a long and honorable list of engagements, fighting everywhere from the Eye of Terror to the gates of the Imperial Palace in the age of apostasy.

The Kodiaks gained their name from an extremely large species of bear native to the Gorund System. They went for several years before deciding on their name, eventually taking their name and heraldry from the bears native to their homeworld. They believe that it epitomizes what they believe in, strength, cunning, and a sheer refusal to die.

Homeworld

The Kodiaks have chosen the namesake of the Gorund sector as their homeworld. Populated by savage tribesmen, the feral world of Gorund is home to the massive Kodiaks which give the chapter its name. Ritual combat and a fierce hunting tradition give rise to wave after wave of recruit as the marines watch from afar. The world itself is a temperate world, much of it covered in evergreen forests, that is known for mild summers and occasionally harsh winters.

There is only one true city on Gorund, and that is the one established around the Fortress Monastery and spaceport called simply, The Cave. This is inhabited by the chapter serfs and the Kodiaks themselves, though occasionally the tribesmen will venture near enough to trade for supplies during particularly harsh winters.

The population has been trained to suit the Kodiak's needs and mindset perfectly. They are fierce people, who have been taught to abhor weakness. The strongest and most cunning go on to join the ranks of the Kodiaks. Great honor is earned by the tribes that send the most recruits to The Cave, and as such the Kodiaks do their best not to recruit too heavily from one tribe, lest it harm the competition that they believe keeps them strong.

Early History

The Kodiaks were founded at the advent of the 32nd Millennium, and arrived to their allotted subsector just in time to help the local Imperial Guard forces turn away an ork Waaagh!. The now blooded chapter settled into their homeworld, and had just finished construction of their fortress monastery several years later when another warboss, Smashtusk, wanting to establish his name entered the system. This ork preferred to wear down the enemy with numbers, and the enormous size of the horde following him allowed him to do so with ease.

Several years into the war of attrition with Warboss Smashtusk, the Kodiaks were earning a reputation amongst the local Imperial Guard generals as shock troops and defenders of the highest caliber. Several times their drop pod assaults broke the back of an enemy assault, or their disciplined bolter fire held the line when many thought it would fail. This campaign culminated in a single apocalyptic battle where the greenskins were soundly defeated. Smashtusk was slain, and the will of the horde was broken. They retreated back, and the Kodiaks returned home to recover from their losses.

Several Black Crusades have had elements of the chapter opposing them. In particular the tenth, in which they came to the aid of their progenitors against the forces of the Iron Warriors. They have been present in at least company strength at every Black Crusade, and are one of the few chapters who can claim such a thing.

During the Age of Apostasy, the Kodiaks were among those chapters who were heavily besieged during Vandire's rise to power. They were hunting down a traitor marine force that was sowing dissent within the sub-sector, and were only able to commit a pair of companies to battle Vandire's forces. The two companies earned great distinction from those they fought with, in particular the Black Templar whom they developed a mutual respect for. The two chapters keep good relations, and often come to each other's aid. The Banners of the 3rd and 8th Companies bear a special seal to commemorate that they have made the trip to the Imperial Palace.

Since this they have battled Waaaghs!, Eldar corsairs, the ever expanding Tau Empire, Traitor Marines, Separatists, and splinters of Tyranid Hive Fleets.

Recent History

Despite the constant threat of the Ork Empire of Charadon, and the ever expanding Tau, the Kodiaks have held firm against these threats. Their most recent achievement was at the Siege of Caltan, where the second company led by Ulric Orksbane dealt the decisive blow to a Waaagh! the size of which hadn't been seen since Smashtusk's. Afterward, Ulric led in the mopping up of several raiding ork bands that continued to terrorize the sub sector.

Elements of the 2nd Company recently helped to defend an Imperial world from Eldar corsairs from Craftworld Mymeara, Where the defensive firepower stopped an attacking force including a pair of Wraithknights dead in its tracks.

Currently the chapter is tasked with helping to slow or stop the Third Sphere of Expansion by the Tau, and they have faced off many times with forces led by Shadowsun's lieutenants.

Geneseed

The Kodiaks bear the geneseed of Ferrus Manus, and like their primogenitors they show no outward physical flaw. There is no physical defect with any of the implants given to them, and they are careful to keep their geneseed from decaying. They do carry their Primarchs hatred of weakness, though they do not seem to exhibit the same 'itch' as the Iron Hands do to purge their flesh with bionics.

Beliefs

The Kodiaks hold the Emperor as a shining example and guardian of humanity, and their Primarch as the prime example of what it means to be a marine. Both are venerated in equal measure, though neither is deified.

Unlike their primogenitors, they do not view the flesh as weak. Instead they point to the fact that the Emperor received no bionics and neither did Ferrus Manus (Technically). Instead they focus upon making the flesh stronger, to the point that they shrug away wounds that would crippled even the average marine. They believe that physical strength combined with intelligence and cunning make warriors into forces to be reckoned with.

Their iron will combines with their grueling training and their constant striving to purge any weakness from their bodies to enable these warriors to continue fighting after taking wounds that would cripple an average astartes. Their history is rich with tales of men who kept fighting long after they should have dropped dead, and then living to tell about it.

Amongst their most hated foes are the greenskins that terrorized the entire subsector. They also have a long standing grudge against the forces of Craftworld Mymeara.

Organization

The Kodiaks were originally organized along the lines of the codex, but the long war against Smashtusk forced several changes that have persisted to this day. Companies 2-9 are battle companies, with the first being veterans and the tenth being scouts as usual. This mild change has not been enough to draw any ire from outside sources, and it allows them to spread out and defend more ground with greater tactical flexibility than would otherwise be available.

Their reliance on heavy firepower means that they tend to favor Devastator Squads over assault squads, and each company keeps at least a single Thunderfire Cannon in its arsenal.

Recruitment

The Kodiaks recruit almost exclusively from the tribesmen that populate Gorund, but they have been known to take promising aspirants from other quarters.

Once selected they are put through the same grueling training regimen that most chapters follow, and once they hav ereached the level required to become a full battle brother they are given one final test. They are given a combat knife and sent into the forests of Gorund, where they must stalk and kill a Gorund Kodiak. This is the ultimate test of strength and cunning, as a full grown Kodiak is easily the size of an unarmored marine. Many recruits that complete this task take a fang or a claw as a trophy, or carve their fallen brothers names into the talismans as a remembrance. Only once this is achieved can the scout be accepted into the chapter as a full fledged marine.

Combat Doctrine

The Kodiaks have become known for their fondness of close in firefights and drop pod assaults, where the weight of bolter fire can bring down almost any target. Their enemies are usually softened with long range fire from devastator squads and thunderfire cannons, and then engaged by the tactical squads at mid range. Once they have closed it is up to the tactical squads and the assault squads to win in the press of close combat. Their attacks generally focus on taking out any heavy armor or transports the enemy has from afar, before forcing the enemy to advance on foot through a hail of fire.

Equipment

The weapons of the Kodiaks are generally in good repair. Sergeants and veterans tend to favor lightning claws and power fists as the preferred close combat weapons. Plasma and melta guns are the preferred specialist weapons, with the lascannon fulfilling the need for long ranged firepower.

The long attrition wars against the orks claimed much of the Kodiaks motor pool. While they have worked tirelessly to replace their losses, they are still somewhat behind the average in almost all vehicle categories save the rhino. Their fleet is equally battered, though it is oftentimes augmented by the Imperial Navy as the Kodiaks work closely with all the Imperial forces within the sector against outside threats.

Relations

The Kodiaks have a very close working relation with both the Imperial Guard and Imperial Navy of the Gorund Subsector. The three groups have come to respect each other immensely, and are aware that many of the victories of the subsector have only come through cooperation. They know that their survival often rests within the others hands, and they are confident in each other's battle prowess.

The relations between the Kodiaks and other marine forces within the Ultima Segmentum are generally good. But as with every storied and ancient chapter, there have been incidents where they have fought against other Astartes chapters. Outside of the Age of Apostasy these incidents are rare, fortunately, and the Inquisition has so far turned a blind eye due to their effectiveness.

The Inquisition has no real connection one way or another with the Kodiaks, though they have been known to work together and at opposite ends from time to time. The Kodiaks have faced daemonic incursions in their history, and only their honor roll kept them from merely being mind wiped. They have also sent representatives, though very few, to the Deathwatch. They make very minimal efforts to stay on the good side of the Inquisition, but rarely stray from being anything but guardians of humanity. On the rare occasions when the two forces have stood at opposite ends of an issue, cooler heads have prevailed and outright warfare has been avoided.

Like all other astartes, the Kodiaks have a hatred for all xeno races. There have been infrequent and hastily drawn truces with the Tau when a greenskin horde arrives, but these instances are not enough to say that the two are friendly. Kodiaks hate all greenskins with a passion, and can barely stand Eldar.

The Kodiaks maintain a good relationship with their progenitors, with the latter helping to rebuild the decimated motor pool of the Kodiaks. Though they have differing beliefs as to how to obtain ultimate strength, the two manage to put aside philosophical differences when an enemy looms.

Notable Members

Captain Ulric Orksbane - 2nd Company

Chapter Master Raki Ursio

Notable Elements

Ursum Saevitia - Battlebarge

Tripudium Ursi - (Often shortened to Ursi) Strike Cruiser of the 2nd Company

[Lord-Captain Cepinari]

If you're not gonna have your Chapter be crazy for cybernetics, why bother having them use Iron Hand geneseed?  It sounds more like they just don't want to admit that they're descended from the Ultrasmurfs to the other Chapters for fear of ridicule.

[JeffTibbetts]

I know people will complain that it's not competitive, but I really want to see a double PFist dude getting ready for a bear hug! In all seriousness, I think this is a pretty understated and believable IA. So much so, that I think it could use some more spice. 

[TGrizzly]

Lord-Captain: I assumed not everybody follows the exact same beliefs as their founding chapter. The Iron Hands original beliefs were just abhorring weakness, the bionics were just a way to emulate their primarch. These are supposed to follow the 'original' beliefs that weakness is to be abhorred.

 

JeffTibbetts: Thanks, and my model for Ulric (Captain/chapter master rules) has a power fist/lightning claw combo. I plan to flesh it out more when I have more time to write.

[Demus Ragnok]

If you're not gonna have your Chapter be crazy for cybernetics, why bother having them use Iron Hand geneseed?  It sounds more like they just don't want to admit that they're descended from the Ultrasmurfs to the other Chapters for fear of ridicule.

There is more to the sons of Ferrus than just bionics.

[TGrizzly]

Amended recent history and beliefs, and added a relationships section.

[legoss]

The bionics thing for Iron Hands has now been termed the itch, it seems like it's a flaw in the gene-seed, just the same as the red thirst or the wulfen. I like where this is going though, not beating us over the head too much with bears just yet. Can't wait to see this shape up.

[Messor]

Relating to what legoss has said, it's good that you haven't been too heavy handed with(and here I switch to what JeffTibbets pointed out)...anything. There's a lot of good stuff here, it's believable, and reasonable, but lacking in character. As a third founding Chapter, you have thousands of years in which to develop quirks, political stances, all those little stamps in their space passports from places they gone to kill stuff. As with any Chapter, your primogenitor also provides a wealth of resources for individualism. They're Iron Hands stock, but the world they chose already "abhors weakness", leaving it feeling somewhat moot. What else about their gene-father has influenced them, especially being generations older than most successors? Their namesake is also glazed over with little more than a line in passing. I don't think you need play up the bear angle, but it's available to you, again, untapped.

[TGrizzly]

Thank you for your feedback.

 

 They're Iron Hands stock, but the world they chose already "abhors weakness", leaving it feeling somewhat moot.

 

I changed a few things around to make it to where they influenced the world to fit their beliefs rather than the other way around.

 

I intend to flesh this out more as I think of things for it, especially the early history section. The Recent History will probably focus a lot on the 2nd company, which is the one I play on the tabletop.

[Messor]

I would also suggest expanding on the relationship between the Chapter and homeworld. The natives approaching the Chapter only tentatively to trade suggest minimal contact, but the Chapter has somehow molded the people to adopt their mindset. Makes me wonder how aware the natives are of the Chapter, and the associated technology?