IA: Sons of the Forge

[Samitte]

The Sons of the Forge

Scions of the Gorgon

Evidence points to the origins of the Sons being as early as the 4th fouding, with the 6th being the most likely. What is certain is the first officially recorded battle was the defense of Hive World Torontaal during the 4th Black Crusade. Founded with Iron Hands gene-seed to strengthen a part of the Segmentum Obscurus frequently hit by raiders from the Eye of Terror and prone to mutation and heresy. The Chapter has since then been on the defensive many times to fight off raiders from the Eye of Terror, mutant uprisings and daemonic incursions. This has resulted in the loss of more then one clan company over the millenia, and to the Chapter's militant attitude towards many other elements on the Imperium. Rarely recieving any help from fellow Space Marines they fostered close ties to the Adeptus Mechanicus, much like their Primogenitors the Iron Hands.

( Does this provide enough of an origin for the Chapter without too much boo-baa that should be in different sections? I tried to keep it short and to the point while providing some openings for later segments )

Located to the galactic north of the Eye of Terror, the Feudal world of Pressburg has provided generation upon generation of recruits for the Chapter. The planet is of massive size and dotted with city states and massive castles carved out of the mountains in a bygone age. Many of them lie in ruin but some are still inhabited by the petty kings and warlords. The Chapter leaves them be as long as they keep providing recruits and keep their wars civil to some extent. By keeping a close eye on the balance of power the Chapter makes sure to recruit from those factions currently strongest and in turn weakens them in the future. This keeps anyone from becoming too strong and becoming a problem.

( I have problems continueing, but here is part of what I wnated to write: In my head Pressburg is a big world with a low population for its size, thousands of city states, petty kingdoms and coalitions rise and fell over the millenia while ancient mountain fortresses slowly crumble and decay. Mutation is rife and once a while enough mutants gather to threaten the status quo. The Chapter then moves out en masse to slaughter them in a show of force that keeps the world docile towards their Adeptus Overlords for the coming century. The warlords and kings frequently raid their neighbours to steal their children and train them for the Chapter, something the Chapter is completely fine with since it provides loyal recruits with little to no ties to their past by the time they are first recruited.

I will finish this latere, but does this sound too harsh for a Loyalist Chapter? )

The Sons were organised in ten companies originally, of which only seven remain. Their first Chapter Master organised the Chapter much like their Primogenitor. The companies are each lead by their individual councils, of which the heads form the Great Council. Each takes care of their own recruitment and armoury, with the exception of the mighty Land Raiders, Thunderhawks and fleet. The entire Chapter can be organised into a mobile force with each squad having their own transport. As a whole the Sons have very few suits of Terminator armour, and it is only brought out during the most dire of times or when :cuss to :cuss fighting is required. The companies are each lead by a Warsmith and his council of varying sizes and makeup. The Warsmith fulfills both the role of company Captain and Reclusiarch leading the Chapter in rites before battle and into the fray. Techmarines make up a great number while Librarians are in short supply. The first is a natural effect of the Sons massive armoury, the second of their harsh recruitment practices. The few Librarians that the Chapter does have are rarely deployed, for losing even one of them in battle would mean a massive blow to the Chapter.

A squad normally consists of a sergeant, medic and 5 marines. The medics task is to at all times secure the geneseed and provide aid to brothers in need. This practice has become standard after the third time an entire company was wiped out, and all its geneseed with it. Should a brother fall, the medic is tasked with the savekeeping of their heritage until the company's Apothecary can secure it. In addition to them and the sergeant, two of the marines will also be tasked with taking care of their transport. One being the designated driver while the other takes care of the weapons and other systems. They are however very much part of the same squad.

(This flowed out nicely, doesn't feel entirely done though, anything I might have missed?)

The geneseed of the Sons is that of Ferrus Manus, and has been saveguarded by the Chapter's many Apothecaries (called Geneforgers) and shows no signs of dilution or detriment. They are directly descended from the Iron Hands themselves, and are very aware of this.

(Not much else to say really, anything I am missing?)

When the Sons go to war, they favour the armoured spearhead. Especially the more recently discovered Razorback STC has been widely accepted by them and they favour it as their steed of choice. Tactical squads advance towards the enemy, flanked by dreadnoughts, vindicators and predators while higly mobile teams of scouts move from position to position, taking out enemy commanders and raiding supply lines. Devastator squads and whirlwinds rain down suppressing fire on the enemy while modified Stormtalons do so from the air. When these tactics can be employed the Sons are in their element. But their niche doctrine means their effectiveness is less while fighting in cities or on ships. For this reason the first and second company are focussed on hand to hand and ship to ship combat. They also have the most bikes, jump packs and suits of terminator armour. The second company also has a few marines specialised in the use of meteor hammers. Usually taught to potential recruits from a young age, the art of fighting with them is seen as honourable within the second company and most of the older marines practice it.

(Not finishedm a headace started to come up.. But any C&C is welcome, and yes I will convert a squad with meteor hammers (counts as Power Maul or otherwise using the HH Meteor Hammer rules)

(t.b.a)

''Tempered in battle, Sons of the Forge!''

( This has stuck with me for a few years now, it feels really good but that can just be familiarity.)

(t.b.a.)

[Lord Commander Scrymgeour]

sounds perfectly fine to me. I'm sure that there are loads of crossovers between traitors and loyalists in terms of names. There are about a 1000 chapters after all, and each of the traitor legions would have tons of chapters/ companies etc.

[Heru]

Addendum: There is some evidence to suggest that the Fire Angels as a Chapter may not be the first to hold their name and livery, either in whole or in part; a circumstance which while unusual is not without precedent in the history of the Adeptus Astartes. This problem leads to some confusion as to the provenance of battle honours, and mention of Space Marine units bearing similar titles or derivations of name (rendered both in High and Low Gothic as well as various Administratum vox-compt scripts) that exist in numerous records contradicting the information presented here. This is a problem to which almost no Chapter's record is immune. Such data 'ghosts' are a constant source of difficulty in an Imperium whose incalculable and cyclopean breadth and depth seems only exceeded by the quill-strokes needed to record it by countless hands.

[Sergeant Lowe]

this sounds ok to me.

 

I remember reading somewhere about two chapters that bore the same name and number designation and it wasn't realised until they were both wiped out in battle. Then after the battle the when they were collecting the bodies they realised that there were too many bodies to equate for a single chapter. I can't remember the name of the chapter. 

 

So a loyalist chapter having the same name as a war band could be possible

[Lysimachus]

Especially where one of the two groups is a Chaos warband. It's not like they go back to the Adeptus Terra to register their name.

[Samitte]

Thanks for your input. I'm really happy to have the name thing over with since it did bother me.

@ Heru Talon: I think I should delve into the Imperial Armour books a bit more. Seems like they can provide some nice pieces of lore.

Updated much of the original post and added some framework, its all W.I.P. and any C&C is welcome. I added some of my own thoughts in brackets to most of them and will see if I can do some more tomorrow, but during the last hour a massive case of migraine started to come up and I'm off to bed

[Messor]

This is a great W.I.P. You already recognize some of the potential issues, though I think you've handled most of them quite well. I think what you have in mind for your homeworld is acceptable, though I think there may be a delicate balance to keep in mind between acceptable and suspicious levels of mutation. If the Chapter has the only access to the planet, it's not a big issue, but no Inquisitor will think lightly of a Chapter recruiting from a planet "rife with mutation".

[jokaero weaponsmith]

Was it your intent to use the term warsmith as I think that this term is from the Iron Warriors and not the Iron Hands

Iron Hands would have traditional called this role an Iron Father although this has been fragged with in the latest crud(fluff).

[Samitte]

This is a great W.I.P. You already recognize some of the potential issues, though I think you've handled most of them quite well. I think what you have in mind for your homeworld is acceptable, though I think there may be a delicate balance to keep in mind between acceptable and suspicious levels of mutation. If the Chapter has the only access to the planet, it's not a big issue, but no Inquisitor will think lightly of a Chapter recruiting from a planet "rife with mutation".

Thanks, yeah you are right about that. The Chapter and the Inquisition do have a very decent relationship and the regular cullings keep the problem under control. There have been talks in the Great Council for a few centuries now to maybe start recruiting on a different planet or become fleet based altogether. Since it directly affects the amount of recruits and if they don't handle it right, well there will be trouble.

At least, thats the general idea I had. Would you say thats within the realm of possibilities?

Was it your intent to use the term warsmith as I think that this term is from the Iron Warriors and not the Iron Hands

Iron Hands would have traditional called this role an Iron Father although this has been fragged with in the latest crud(fluff).

Ah dang you're right. I just knew I heard or read the word ''Warsmith'' somewhere a long, long time ago (Around 3rd edition) and it stuck and I fell in love with it. It's just so evocative. I also got told by a friend that ''Geneforgers sound lame and they don't forge anything anyway'' and I kind of agree with him after thinking it through. Stuff like that I came up with once in a blue moon a long time ago and just stuck with it never thinking; well that might not be the best solution. I'll brood on Iron Father a bit but its not bad. Just not as good as Warsmith is. (And the Salamanders took Forgefather )