Bhramastras Chapter

[Hemal]

I did a rendition of my Bhramastras chapter which I am trying to develop a colour scheme for and here is the revised Chapter redux:

Chapter - Bhramastras
Homeworld - Indraprastha, Adeptus Tithe NON, Ultima Segmentum
Chapter Master Arjuna

The Bhramastras are a chapter created from the geneseed of the Aurora Chapter during the 26th founding, and their homeworld is a pre-feudal world on the fringes of the Maelstrom.

The world of Indraprastha was founded by explorators from a region of Terra during the Dark Age of Technology, and is home to an STC with one functioning template, the "Garuda" class assault transport.

Indeed, during the Age of Strife, even as the population regressed to a semi-feudal state and other technology and dataslates failed, they deified this machine based upon the cosmic eagle depicted in their Vedic scriptures from old Terra and built a vast temple complex around it.

Despite the regression of the population due to the failure of mechanical devices, the planet suffered few predations from the Enslavers during the Age of Strife, and developed a sophisticated civilisation the learnings of these scriptures influenced by the region of ancient Terra known as Bharata.

The planet had stagnated in development as it was poor in natural resources such as iron ore and petroleum, but the people thrived in the lush floodplains of the planets largest river, named the Indus after a long dead waterway from their ancestral home.

There were infrequent attacks by terrible creatures called Raksahsha, who took many forms and made their abodes in the deepest jungles. They made evil pacts with power-hungry princes but were invariably beaten back by the martial prowess of the Kshatriya class.

The Great Crusade
Legend has it that Indraprastha was initially brought to compliance by the Emperor himself, whilst campaigning with the XIII Legion.
The planet had been attacked in force by Rakshasa, this time not from the deep forests, but evil creatures who had dropped down from the stars themselves in great number, surly green creatures that ate the flesh of men and could not be killed by might of arms. But then the gods arrived upon pillars of fire and riding the mighty pinions of Garuda. Like the gods, their flesh was as iron and was the colour of the deepest ocean, and at their head strode a figure of gold, wielding the ancient Chakra and spitting forth fire and raining destruction upon their enemies.
great monuments to his arrival. A small presence of Imperial army soldiers was left to help secure the planet as well as provide security for the planetary governer and the cogs of Imperial machine, but the Crusade demanded the attention of the Emperor and his Legions, and the planet was again largely forgotten.

Horus Heresy
The main events of the Horus Heresy bypassed the planet, with very few news reports reaching the authorities. However early Imperial archives from the Salamanders Legion indicate the pernicious nature of Chaos had sown seeds of sedition, the last in the dynasty of planetary governers was somehow swayed to support Horus and called for a general muster of all men to fight the false Emperor. There were many Kshatriya who answered his calls, the promise of warfare abroad in the stars appealing to their sense of martial pride. Equally there were those who opposed the muster, who told of the days when the Emperor had descended from the stars and saved their people, and who were determined he was the true avatar of Vishnu.

The Imperial army units still based there sided with the only authority they were still in contact with, and those loyal to the Emperor, whilst vastly outnumbering the heretics, were woefully outgunned. A horrific toll was taken until loyalists managed to broadcast a distress signal using captured Imperial again gods descended, this time the green of the XVIII Salamanders Legion, en route to the Macragge system to recover their Primarch, and wiped out the allies of Horus.

Post Heresy
Again Indraprastha entered into a long period of isolation and stagnation, not knowing the events that had come to pass on Terra. The planet was only rediscovered by an Ecclesiarchy mission to the Khymaran Drift in the year M37.540. The missionaries found a populace kept under strict control by a capable warrior class, wielding crude but effective archaic weaponry, and a fervent religious order dedicated to the God-Emperor in his guise as Vishnu the Avenger. Upon hearing of His interrment on the Golden Throne, many thousands sacrificed themselves in ritual pyres in order that their souls would assist his rebirth, such was teh oputpouring of grief.

Deeming the populace to be more than dedicated to the Imperial Creed, the Vitrian Confessor leading the expedition brought Indraprastha back to the Imperial fold.

In M38.723, the warp route to the system stabilised, and the planet was at last brought to the attention of the wider universe. In short order, several Ork invasions were beaten back by the newly forged Indraprastha planetary defense forces, and an assault by the Alpha Legion operating out of the Maelstrom suceeded in extracting a copy of the plans for the "Garuda" assault craft.

During the Badab conflict, a sole Star Phantoms escort orbitted the planet acting as a picket force in case any secessionist ships broke through the Badab sector cordon, and several Star Phantoms were recruited from the population.

Bhramastras
The Departmento Munitorum argued that the planet showed great promise as an Imperial Guard recruitment world, but Master of the Administratum had other plans for a world in a region of hostile space.

[Hemal]

Heraldry:
The Bhramastras wear sand coloured armour with a blue chest, helmet, gauntlets and vambraces.  The sand colour echoes the traditional robes of a warrior ascetic of Indraprastha, whilst the blue reflects the skin of the avenging angels from days of yore, the warriors of Vishnu.
Their chapter symbol is the Chakra, an ancient weapon of the gods, said to have been wielded by the Emperor himself when he liberated the planet.

 

Beliefs:
The Chapter's name official title in High Gothic is Sagitae Imperatoris, the Emperor's Arrows, which in the language of Indraprastha loosely translates to "Bhramastras", literally the weapons of God.  The first Chapter Master eschewed the Low Gothic translation, feeling that the vedic name was a more apt description.

The beliefs of the chapter are lossely based upon the Imperial Cult, but as interpreted through the vedic scrolls of their homeworld. As such they revere the Emperor as the Avatar of the supreme being, and see Him as a means to obtain final grace or salvation.  They believe firmly in rebirth through their geneseed, and regard the dreadnaughts of other chapters with some suspicion - very few Bhramastras have had the opportunity to be interred and all subsequently spent their lives soon after, facing down impossible odds for the good of the chapter.

 

Organisation:
The Bhramastras are a Codex compliant chapter based upon Aurora Chapter Geneseed.  There are 9 companies of full Battle Brothers, the Chapter Master's household and the 10th company.

 

The 10th company is in fact made up of aspirant scouts in the process of becoming full marines and those aspirants in which the Black Carapace implant has failed.  As such it is a much larger formation than deemed appropriate, numbering somewhere between 300 and 400 men.

 

These warriors are treated with a degree of sympathy rather than disdain by battle brothers, and are not given the roles of chapter serfs, given their noble status in their previous life. 

 

Given their extensive battlefield experience and the longevity afforded by their other implants, they make excellent deputies for the veteran squad leaders, serving as exemplars of self sacrifice for all new aspirants. These failed aspirants are affectionately titled "Bishma" after an ancient warrior who gave up his kingdom and became a warrior ascetic to fulfil his duty. They are allowed to wear Silvered carapace armour and grow their beards to resemble their namesake.

 

The companies are named Ankinis and the entire chapter when gathered is named the Akshauhin, which was a measure of armed might in the ancient scriptures equal to 200,000 mortal soldiers.

 

The chapter shares a predeliction for armoured warfare akin to their promogenitors, driven from the chapter's original command cadre and fortuitous as the warriors of Indraprastha themselves traditionally fight from chariot platforms or Howdahs in a form of mobile warfare.

 

The vehicle pool is organised such that each company of full battle brothers can access at least 1 Land Raider squadron and 1 Predator squadron in addition to Rhinos, with the First company able to split its might across an additional 3 Predator squadrons and the more normal Terminator / Power armour mix.  Hence the chapter can deploy more than 60 main battle tanks of all types.

As the chapter is very young, the Land Raider variants are exclusively Phobos pattern, but are generally inferior to earlier exemplars of the mark.

 

In addition to the usual Thunderhawk transports used for insertion and rapid deployment, the Bhramastras can deploy from Garuda class Assault transports, roughly analogous to the ancient Stormbird design.  Though not fully sanctioned by the Adeptus Mechanicus, the Chapter's techmarines have suceeded in creating several of these gigantic craft, easily the equal to a flight of Imperial Navy Marauders.

 

The Chapter often deploys at full company strength rather than piecemeal deployments of ther battle-brothers, in order to better bring about a concentration of the Emperor's might in once place. They work very closely with other chapters stationed around the Maelstrom to combat the multitude of threats that find solace there, and have even sent expeditions to the worlds of Jericho's Reach, often in support of Deathwatch missions.

 

Recruitment:
The Bhramastras are regarded by the indigenous people of Indraprastha as semi-legendary figures, rarely seen apart from the contrails of their aircraft and the distant specks of their space craft.  Assault squads sometimes do intervene when feral Orks from the forests seek to assault the cities of Indraprastha but otherwise stand aloof from the populace. The well drilled PDF forces are normally more than adequate to deal with most threats.

 

All the noble houses send their sons to study at Gurukuls, schools administered by relgious orders, where the scions of royalty are imparted with knowledge of the scriptures, science, politics and above all warfare.

 

Each noble kshatriya, having completed their training typically aged 12 or 13, engages in a rite of passage whereby they must enter the deep forests and slay a mighty creature, whether it be a Wagh, Hathi or even a Rakshasha. Equipped with traditional weaponry rather than lasguns or vibroblades, sometimes these youths will be killed by their quarry, other times they simply disappear.  The Chaplains of the Bhramastras will wander these forests under the guise of a warrior ascetic, and may train small groups of these errant princes such that they do not simply become fodder for a wild beast or worse.

 

Once the princes return with their trophy they are judged for their deeds, this time by a Librarian of the chapter, posing as a Bhramin priest. Those who are deemed to have acted honourably will return to their families as feted heroes, likely to inherit great power and wielding command of their armies.  Those judged to have acted ignobly are cast out from society and exposed as frauds, spending their lives in atonement or banditry. Those few who have truly excelled are taken by the Librarian, in order to achieve Moksha, the afterlife in heaven, to sit at Vishnu's right hand as his avenging angel.

 

These princes, the most noble of bearing and skill at arms, tend to be very ready recruits for the divine warriors of the Bhramastras.  The conversion rate is very high, partly due to the exemplary geneseed from the Aurora chapter genestock and as the warriors are incredibly well motivated.  This is due to indoctrination from an early age via the ancient scriptures, so there is a tendency to rely less on psycho conditioning.

[Hemal]

Chapter History:

 

The Bhramastras were created to secure a newly stabilised warp translation point near the Khymaran Drift.  This new space route could allow Chaos renegades and other scum who populate the Maelstrom easy access to Imperial Spcae, and it was felt by the High Lords that an Astartes presence would be required to respond rapidly to any threats.

 

Work had already begun on the Battlebarge "Imperatoris lucem", at the Martian shipyards in 611.M41, along with attendant Strike Cruisers and escort ships, ostensibly because the Emperor's tarot indicated that a new founding was due.  The Adeptus Mechanicus opted to use Aurora Chapter geneseed from the vaults to constitute the new chapter when at last the founding was announced.  The Emperor's Arrows were formally constituted as a chapter Adeptus Astartes in 740.M41, becoming operational shortly before the end of the Badab war.  In the intervening period, chapter operatives inserted themselves into Indraprastha society, instituting practices that would assist the future chapter, enhancing the warrior spirit of the inhabitants.  Also during this period the Star Phantoms ships Death Shadow and Terror Wraith mounted a picket of the planet, allowing Adeptus Mechanicus forces to set up planetary defenses of a suitable scale for a chapter recruitment world. Finally the Fortress-Barge "Chakravayu" was launched in 935.M41 from Khar Daniush

 

Despite the loss of the original ex-Aurora command cadre en route from Firestorm to Indraprastha, preliminary recruitment commenced and the Chapter began to infiltrate their doctrine into the cultural practices of the citizens of Indraprastha. 

 

The Chapter's first engagement proved to be a phyrric victory. The Chapter was mobilised to investigate the Crow's World sector and the disappearance of the Fire Hawks chapter fortress. The now renamed Battlebarge "Vishnu's Light" was deployed with suitable escorts and they were days away from the last known sighting of the Rapturous Rex when assaulted by Eldar pirates.  Several direct hits were scored, including lance hits that obliterated the bridge, killing Chapter Master Arturus.  Captain Arjuna of the 2nd Company took command from the secondary bridge and commanded an orderly fall-back, giving the Bhramastras ships sufficient time to deploy a full Thunderhawk screen.  Taking one of the chapters Garuda assault ships, Arjuna suceeded in boarding the enemy cpital vessel and with a contingent of 1st Company terminators, butchered his way to the command bridge and killed the enemy field commander with his Stormbolter, the "Gandiva". 

 

It was a bitter victory indeed, Vishnu's Light was badly damaged, with no warp drive and light years away from succor on conventional drives.  All the escorts had been destroyed and the flagship's Astropathic Choir had been killed in a psychic backlash, so there was no way any messages could be sent.

 

However, a second fleet launched from Indraprastha consisting as heck the chapter's newly commissioned Fortress Barge managed to reach their stranded brethren after several months of searching. 

 

Captain Arjuna was duly sanctified as Chapter Master and it is under his leadership that the Bhramastras ride forth to slay the enemies of Man.

 

 

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Did you mean: Emperors light

 

[NightrawenII]

Its just "too".  too derivative.

*snip*

too much emphasis on "stuff".

*snip*

Heed his advice, he is wise.

 

 

~ NightrawenII

[Hemal]

Lol :-)

 

Point taken.

[Sergeant Lowe]

I haven't quite finished reading it all but please don't fall into the numerical legion trap.

 

if you want it that your planet was brought in by a certain legion please name it? rather than just use it's number.

[Hemal]

I haven't quite finished reading it all but please don't fall into the numerical legion trap.

 

if you want it that your planet was brought in by a certain legion please name it? rather than just use it's number.

 

Except at the time of Compliance, the Ultramarines were not so named...

[Hemal]

Bhramastras Reboot.

 

Ok so above cultural background is set - I didn't want to amend it too much as I've already painted a test mini and his squad.

 

=][= Report on progress of the "Bhramastra's" chapter (cf Low Gothic Emperor's Arrows) during operations on the Khymaran Drift

"Thought for the day - It is better to die than live with sedition"

 

Chapter Organisation

Codex Complaint as to be expected from a recently created Chapter, although open battlefield engagements appear to rely heavily on armoured spearheads, mainly of Predator pattern tanks.  This is evidently driven by the Aurora heritage and original command cadre.

 

Of note is the 10th Company, nominally all Novitiates of the Chapter, but it has been observed that many are of well above the average age expected of a Novitiate, matching the bulk expected of a full Astartes.  When pressed, the commanding officer bluntly responded that their lives would be well spent in the Emperor's service, and they were answerable only to Him.

 

Chapter Combat doctrine

Typically of Astartes, the Chapter favours rapid insertion to allow them to decapitate the enemy command structure or other key objectives.  Heavy armour is dropped to outflank enemy positions using Thunderhawk Transporter and often supported with an massed Infantry drop using Thunderhawks or the much larger and more archaic Garuda assault craft.  Little heavy artillery is deployed in the initial phases of a battle.  Drop pods are utilised in planetary assault missions but are regarded as being too random for widespread deployment.  Teleportation facilities on the capital ships I travelled upon are sealed - I can only surmise that the chapter has either never had the opportunity to use such deep strike methods, else they are faulty.

 

There is a predeliction I considered abherrent of offering a swift death to those enemies who have showed atypical honour in combat, even encouraged by the Chaplains should they be able to bring the apostate back to the Emperor's light.

 

Whilst as competent as other Astartes I have had the pleasure in accompanying in all fields of warfare, the Bhramastras appear to prefer ranged warfare, especially the Chapter Master, Arjuna, who wields his heirloom "Gandiva" patterm Storm Bolter with great effect.