IA: Tormentors (redux)

[OutlawSixActual]

Hello all.  After several years of not really doing much, I've made a small return to my Astartes Chapter, and realized that its fluff has been woefully out of date.  My original IA was published in 2006 (here:  http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/91281-index-astartes-tormentors/)  I spent a little bit of time and came up with some updated (and hopefully final!) fluff for my Chapter, the Tormentors.  Of course it'll never be final, but hey, at some point you've gotta jump in and publish!  So here goes.  I am at work so I will have to upload images when I get home.

 

++ TORMENTORS CHAPTER OF THE ADEPTUS ASTARTES ++

Defend the Righteous, Torment the Wicked

 

 

 

+ PRIMARY DATA +

http://i774.photobucket.com/albums/yy25/outlawsixactual/bolterandchainsword/Index%20Astartes/7392b069-9cdb-4cac-964b-9a6dc5dd4b48_zpsc69aed49.png

http://i774.photobucket.com/albums/yy25/outlawsixactual/bolterandchainsword/Index%20Astartes/bb748235-b669-4b8a-aa0d-b0e11501a20b_zps0b29d711.png

 

Founding:  25th Founding (470.M40)

Progenitor:  Imperial Fists (through Red Spectres)

Descendants:  None

Homeworld:  Bellos Prime

Allegiance:  Loyalist

 

+ APPEARANCE +
 

Tormentors color their armor in dark grey with deep red Shoulder pad insets.  The dark grey represents the Chapter’s Grand Crusade across the void, while the red harkens back to the Red Spectres, the chapter from which the Tormentors succeeded.  A Tormentor’s company is denoted by a numeral placed upon his left kneepad.

 

Tormentors rank is denoted by rank badges work on the left shoulder, in addition to color variations on the Astartes’ knee pads and helmets.  Brothers and Specialists wear both in the same gray as the rest of their armor.  Team Sergeants, the youngest leaders of the Chapter (in charge of one of the combat teams of a squad), are denoted by a single white stripe down the center of the helmet.  Squad Sergeants add a skull icon to their helmet atop the stripe, and color their left kneepad red.  Veterans wear all-white helmets and white kneepads.  In addition, their shoulder pads are further marked with the white laurel, a sign of significant experience within the Chapter.  Veteran Sergeants add a center stripe in gold.  The Tormentors officers – the Champions, Captains, and higher – wear blue knee pads, and their helmets are all white with a double blue stripe down the center of the helmet.

 

The Chapter’s Librarians, Apothecaries, Techmarines, and Chaplains follow the standard codex guides to the color of their armor, with the except that the inset of the right Shoulder pad is colored grey, and the left in the deep red of the Chapter.

 

http://i774.photobucket.com/albums/yy25/outlawsixactual/bolterandchainsword/Index%20Astartes/32fc7513-36d1-4bf5-bd04-d6d95f579921_zpsb76fd7ce.pnghttp://i774.photobucket.com/albums/yy25/outlawsixactual/bolterandchainsword/Index%20Astartes/6ae9c235-25cd-4856-8d33-849a145a8fbb_zps2eb6a3fe.png

 

+ ORIGINS +

 

25th Founding
The 25th Founding occured across a span of time in the 40th millennium as a number of major warp storms in the Galactic East were beginning to subside near the Storm of the Emperor’s Wrath.  Hundreds of star systems began to register on Imperial sensors, many of which had been cut off from the rest of real space for millennia.  At the same time, Imperial record keepers that were assigned to scrutinize these pockets of newly-returned space also started to notice other worlds and systems that had somehow fallen away from the attention of Imperial authorities and, for various reasons (internal strife, communication issues, or outright rebellion) were woefully behind tithes.

 

As part of the founding, the High Lords of Terra ordered that several additional Chapters be raised, beyond those that had already been planned, as part of force packages being sent to return these systems to the Imperial fold.  The Red Spectres, a 3rd Founding Chapter of high renown, received an order to prepare a cadre to establish a new chapter: the Tormentors.

 

The Red Spectres First Captain, Adreic Karinus, was selected to lead this new Chapter as its first High Marshal.  Each of the Red Spectres companies offered two of their Sergeants to serve as the chapter’s cadre, as the Adeptus Mechanicus began initial weapons and armor manufacturing, and the chapter’s initial skeleton staff began to cultivate the gene-seed and implants to build the first batches of brand new Tormentors.  Shipyards began construction of the initial ships of the fleet and completed the first strike cruiser, the Absolution of the Unclean, in 476.M40.

 

The High Marshal and his cadre began the official operations of the Tormentors in 470.M40, but it would be more than a decade before the chapter would build the strength necessary to depart on its grand crusade.

 

Origin of the Tormentors Name
High Marshal Karinus earned the nickname “Tormentor” when he was a Red Spectres squad leader.  During an operation to quell a rebellion in Segmentum Solar, his Tactical Squad participated in an assault to destroy a rebel command post, and the following pursuit of retreating survivors.  During the pursuit, the Red Spectres intercepted vox traffic where the rebels lamented, “We cannot outrun our cursed tormentors!”  After the rebellion was utterly crushed, Karinus’ Tactical Squad was awarded the nickname “Tormentors,” and the name stuck ever since.

 

First Grand Crusade of the Tormentors
The Tormentors were among several other new Chapters assigned to assist in the reclamation of the newly-rediscovered worlds.  Separate task forces were established, consisting primary of Imperial Guard regiments and Naval squadrons.  Each task force also received the support of one Chapter to provide hard-hitting strikes, or the ability to provide impressive displays of Imperial power to those worlds who only required a “gentle nudge” to return to the Emperor’s grace.

 

As part of one of these task forces, the Tormentors did not receive a homeworld.  Instead, the Red Spectres presented them with a Battle Barge of their very own, the Inexorable Dominion, which was soon joined by two newly-constructed Strike Cruisers, the Absolution of the Unclean and the Duke of Sabinot.  In the Tormentors’ charter, provisions were made such that the chapter could locate a suitable home world during its crusade and, once over or the chapter had made sufficient progress to establish a permanent base of operation, the Chapter Master could appeal directly to the respective Segmentum Commander to establish that world as its own.  The chapter would then develop a strong presence within that area and consolidate the Imperium’s gains on its newly-held worlds.

 

The Tormentors departed the Red Spectres home world of Formosus in 485.M40 and, for almost 200 years, sailed across north eastern reaches of Segmentum Ultimus as part of the Imperial task force, reaching and battling across a large variety of systems and cultures.  Some systems had been isolated by warp storms for thousands of years – the Emperor was little more than a nearly-forgotten myth passed from generation to generation in stories by campfires and from elders to grandchildren.  Other systems, isolated by the loss of communication, found in their situation an opportunity to decide their futures for themselves and declared autonomy.  The arrival of Imperial forces only led to resentment and open resistance to authority.  On others, the ravages of the warp left populations in ruin and overrun by chaotic entities.  Still other planets, never actually lost to warp storms, had eventually come to the realization that their was but a microscopic entity overlooked and ignored by the vast Imperium of Man, and found that they could avoid paying due tithes to Terra with little repercussion.  None of these worlds would escape the dreadful justice of the Imperial armies, and the Tormentors accepted their oath to return each system to Imperial control at any cost with grim determination.

 

As the Tormentors spread from world to world, High Marshal Karinus developed a standard plan for his Astartes’ interaction with each world.  The Tormentors, who had initially set sail as a chapter of three fighting companies with no veterans, would follow Imperial vanguard ships into each new sector of space.  At each new system, the Imperial Guard detached reconnaissance forces to the surface of each inhabitable planet and ascertained the locals’ likely reception to the return of Imperial authority.  Then, one of the Strike Cruisers would maneuver into orbit and launch survey groups to the surface.  These groups, made up of three squads and led by one of the chapter’s ex-Red Spectres, deployed with the initial goal of gauging the planet’s defensive posture, willingness to rejoin the Emperor, and  the planet’s suitability as a home world.

 

In some cases, just the sight of this small core of superhuman warriors moving though public squares was all that the local population needed to see to be convinced.  The nobility would rush to welcome the re-assertion of Imperial control, and the various organs of the Imperium would gauge the leadership’s suitability to remain in power, executing and replacing those deemed unfit to serve.

 

Most cases, however, called for deliberate and brutal campaigns, and the Tormentors shined in this role.  While the Navy bombarded strategic objectives from orbit, Imperial Guard regiments landed and conducted major offensives against indigenous defenses, and the Tormentors launched daring orbital assaults into major cities and population centers to smash the local infrastructure and decapitate the enemy control nodes.  Many other planets felt the taint of xenos or Chaos impurity, and in these cases the Astartes acted as liberators.  Either way, each planet the Tormentors came across was inevitably returned to the fold, and the Tormentors would then survey the surviving population for potential recruits to fill losses and grow the chapter.

 

Establishing the Homeworld

The Tormentors continued to analyze each new system they encountered for its suitability as a homeworld, taking into consideration the system’s proximity to others, available resources, access to reliable warp routes, and so on.  High standards and a desire for the best possible location, however, meant that the chapter still had not a world that met its requirements.

 

In 615.M40, after 130 years of crusades, battle, and the reintegration of worlds into the Imperium, the Tormentors accompanied the Imperial fleet into the last target zone of space where warp storms had subsided.  The Tormentors, now seven companies strong, and the Imperial forces, fresh with Imperial Guard and Naval crew replacements, set about continuing their work and fought campaign after campaign to establish Imperial authority.

In 642.M40, the Tormentors vanguard ships reached the Amella system.  The Amella system was still surrounded and isolated by a series of active, but static, warp storms, save for a narrow passageway through real space near the beacon world of Amella IV (Vespera).  From this waypoint, one could reach the other three systems of Amella, including the habitable world of Amella Prime, and could further travel to a deeper system, known as Bellos.  The Bellos and Amella systems, long isolated from the wars that ravaged the galaxy, had preserved knowledge of the Emperor through legends and tradition, and prophecies had long foretold of a great army of angelic warriors one falling through the skies in great fireballs, seeking to unite the peoples of the system.  The Tormentors’ arrival signaled the fulfillment of legend and most of the population, save those in small isolated pockets, willingly subjected themselves to their new masters.  Against those few pockets of resistance the Tormentors acted swiftly, and the entirety of the Amellan and Bellosian systems were soon under positive control.

 

The Tormentors departed to continue to subjugation of the rest of the target zone, but a small detachment of Marines remained to further analyze Bellos Prime.  It was the first system to feature all of the requirements of the Chapter’s future homeworld.  The Chapter Master submitted his intent to lay claim to Bellow Prime to the authorities of Segmentum Ultimus and, more than twenty years later when the final system of the target zone was under Imperial Control, the Tormentors received their approval.  The Grand Crusade ended in 668.M40 and the Chapter began construction of their fortress monastery on top of an ancient indigenous battlement.

 

+ CURRENT OPERATIONS +

 

The Tormentors now launch crusades from their homeworld of Bellos Prime.  When such a threat, opportunity, or other worthy objective presents itself, the Chapter Master declares a Crusade in his own name, and assigns a Brotherhood (or two) to execute it.  The Crusade will last until the objective has been completed, the enemy defeated, or the relic secured, or, failing that, when the Astartes force has suffered such casualties as to be incapable of continuing.

 

A Brotherhood is a group of three companies, with all attendant naval ships and forces assigned from the Armory and Chapter headquarters.  It is a standing subdivision of the Chapter that allows the Chapter Master to quickly dispatch a self-sufficient force to any battlezone he deems necessary, with all the manpower and resources to decisively execute whatever mission he assigns.  The Chapter maintains three such Brotherhoods, totaling nine companies, leaving the veteran company to split its forces and serve the Chapter where it can provide the most impact.

 

While Chapter forces are crusading, the forces remaining in Bellos Prime assume responsibilities for system security, patrols, and responding to local threats that do not require the launch of a crusade.  At certain times in the history of the Chapter, the Chapter Master has marshaled the entire Chapter to battle.  These are known as Grand Crusades and have occurred only 13 times in the history of the Chapter.

 

Crusade objectives are usually complex enough that the Space Marines on these deployments will further answer other miscellaneous distress calls and requests for support, even when they do not directly impact their overall objectives.

 

http://i774.photobucket.com/albums/yy25/outlawsixactual/bolterandchainsword/Index%20Astartes/c0def0c3-bfcb-43d8-b852-2ee51813c82c_zps166bf94f.pnghttp://i774.photobucket.com/albums/yy25/outlawsixactual/bolterandchainsword/Index%20Astartes/c5f193b0-ba55-46ea-baf7-be75d369617b_zpsbc99b949.png

 

+ COMBAT DOCTRINE +

 

The Tormentors are well-practiced in the execution of war, and have developed several favored and standardized methods of attack.  Tormentors are, at the same time, known for their adaptability and flexibility in warfighting, and thus tailor their combat techniques against the enemies they expect to face, and to prevent easy prediction of their tactics.  Above all, the Tormentors are notorious, among those that have felt their wrath, as ferocious fighters, well-suited to savage close-in fighting, and an inexorable advance through the use of lightning-fast orbital strikes and landings followed by immediate consolidation and attacks on critical command nodes and infrastructure to bring enemy forces to their knees in as short a time as possible.

 

Planetary Assault
Almost all Tormentors operations begin with a hard-hitting landing from orbit, presumably after their battle barges and warships have fought their way through void defenses and secured a position above the target objective.  When a company conducts the assault, a first force deploys violently by drop pod, consisting of several Tactical Squads supported by a Devastator Squad, the company’s dreadnoughts, and several Deathwinds.  This force, the “Attack section,” lands directly on enemy defenses and cause catastrophic damage, while throwing the enemy plan into mass confusion.  Almost immediately after, the “Battle section,” the remainder of the company’s tactical and devastator squads, lands, usually by Thunderhawks, with Thunderhawk transporters bringing the first wave of armored vehicles to the fight.  This force exploits the gains achieved by the initial force, and provides the heaviest firepower against the weakest links in enemy positions.  Finally, the “Conquest” section, consisting of three Assault squads, lands either via drop pod or Thunderhawk deployment, and conducts the close-in fighting to topple the enemy command structure, or valuable targets identified by the initial Marine forces, and to claim victory in the operation.

 

Immediately after the attack, the company secures the area and prepares for the arrival of follow-on waves of tanks and equipment to establish a ground base of operations.  If required, another battle company will land and assume the primary ground mission, or the Reserve company will provide replacements or reserve forces as dictated by the Brotherhood commander.  Imperial Guard forces, or the Chapter own mortal auxiliary forces, will further land and consolidate gains, then conduct the conventional ground campaigns to bring overall victory in the theater.

 

+ ORGANIZATION +

Over the course of hundreds of years of crusading, the Tormentors identified that they were routinely splitting the Chapters forces into groups of two to four companies to achieve specific tasks.  At the beginning of each crusade, the Chapter Master and his staff would deliberate on which battle companies were best suited for tasks, how to split up reserve companies to support the crusade, how to assign ships to move the force, and so on.  Even during the Tormentors’ First Grand Crusade, he routinely split his force to conduct operations simultaneously over large areas of space.

 

In 740.M40, Chapter Master Karinus introduced the formal Brotherhood formation.  The Chapter was split into three Brotherhoods, with the 1st comprising the 1st through 3rd Companies, the 2nd Brotherhood containing the 4th through 6th Companies, and the 3rd Brotherhood claiming the 7th through 9th.  At this time, the Chapter had not yet had a separate Veteran company, so he disbanded the 10th Scout Company, and instead created the X Company of Veterans.

 

Each Brotherhood’s first two companies are battle companies, and the third is a reserve company (So, the 2nd Brotherhood consists of the 4th and 5th Battle Companies, and the 6th Reserve Company).  One of the company Captains is chosen and promoted to lead his Brotherhood as its Lord Commander (and then, a Chapter Master is chosen from one of the three Lord Commanders).  Scouts are assigned directly to each Brotherhood headquarters, and consists of a section of three Scout squads.

 

Each Battle and Reserve company consists of six tactical squads, two devastator squads, and three assault squads, and are each organized into three sections:  First Section, or “Attack Section,” consists of three tactical squads and one devastator squad, and focuses on initial landings and assaults.  Second Section, or “Battle Section,” consists of three tactical squads and one devastator squad, and focuses on protracted ground combat to seize objectives of do battle with conventional enemy forces.  Third Section, or “Conquest Section,” consists of three assault squads, and focuses on delivering the death blow to enemy forces in order to claim total victory, or to focus violent effects wherever the enemy is vulnerable.  They also primarily operate the company’s air and fast-attack vehicles.

 

The X Company consists of 9 squads, and currently the Chapter has enough Terminator suits to equip approximately half of the company.

 

Reserve companies are organized into sections the same way as the Battle companies, but with different roles.  The First Section is the Orbital Reserve.  They stay aboard the strike cruiser or battle barge in orbit, ready to land and provide direct support to the Battle Companies where needed.  This section contains the most seasoned Marines of the company, and provide the source of replacements to the Battle Companies when required.  Second Section is the Armored Reserve.  They are the primary crews for tanks and vehicles in support of the Battle Companies.  This allows them to directly support the battle while also learning from observation of Battle Company brothers fighting as infantry.  When their sergeants deem them ready, brothers in this section will move to the Orbital Reserve in preparation of being called forward into the Battle Companies.  Finally, the Third Section, the Aerial Reserve, consists of three Assault Squads and contains the newest of the Astartes – this is the first assignment for Scouts that have been accepted as full Battle Brothers, and allows them to both support the battle, and practice their trade in vehicles and aerial support roles.  Battle Brothers must first serve on these Assault Squads to prove their ferocity in battle, as well as their unflinching mettle.  After all, it is useless for a Brother to be the best-skilled tactician, if he has not first demonstrated his bravery and fighting ability in the face of the enemy.

 

Each section in each company is led by a Veteran Sergeant, who is also the squad sergeant for the first squad of the section.

 

Each Brotherhood further controls it’s own naval group, consisting of a battle barge, two strike cruisers, and escort squadrons.  The Brotherhoods can therefore conduct operations along a vast front in space, without having to worry about impacting the abilities of the other Brotherhoods to move and deploy.

 

The Chapter command houses all of the necessary organs of the headquarters, including the Chapter’s Librarius, Cult, Keep, Apothecarium, and Forge, which are collectively known as the Functionary Houses

 

http://i774.photobucket.com/albums/yy25/outlawsixactual/bolterandchainsword/Index%20Astartes/ChapterOrganization_zpsce539d81.png

 

+ BELIEFS +

 

The Tormentors are a determined force of killers who place their primary focus on the destruction of the Emperor’s enemies.  However, they are not apathetic to the plight of the mortal men of the Imperium.  Indeed, the Chapter takes heed not to distance itself too much from the mortal populations, lest they become arrogant and detached in their ways and unable to truly understand the Imperium they have sworn to defend.

 

Therefore, while the Tormentors conduct unflinchingly violent attacks and execute destructive campaigns against enemy forces, they do take care not to cause wanton destruction among friendly populations, as some Chapters are infamous for.  In fact, the Chapter has been known to execute campaigns purely to support mortal forces when they have demonstrated their loyalty to the Emperor, and their righteousness through their own sacrifice in battle against the enemy.  The Chapter slogan is “Defend the righteous, torment the wicked,” and they strive to abide by that creed.

 

The Chapter, like most chapters, reveres the Emperor as their hereditary forefather and as the great leader to which the Tormentors have sworn their undying loyalty, but they see him as a man.  Rather, the Chapter Cult devotes its rituals and teachings to the adherence to the spirituality of war, sacrifice, and service, and deference to the mighty heroes that have preceded the Chapter.  It further focuses on strengthening the mind against the many psychic, chaotic, and spiritual threats the Marines will face, and on brothers forging the bonds to make them reliable for each other on the battlefield.

 

+ GENESEED +

 

The Tormentors are descended from Imperial Fists stock, through the Third Founding Red Spectres Chapter.  Red Spectres seed from the 3rd Founding fortunately managed to avoid the degradation experienced in modern Imperial Fists impants, and the Adeptus Mechanicus took pains to test and ensure the purest sample would go forward as the initial donor geneseed for the Tormentors.  Therefore, the Tormentors do not suffer from the same losses of the Betcher’s Gland and Su-San Membrane functionality as their progenitors at this point in their early history.  In addition, neither the Red Spectres nor the Tormentors have exhibited any of the draw to scrimshaw that the Imperial Fists tend to exhibit.

 

The Adeptus Mechanicus began replication of geneseed to start the new Chapter when the first geneseed was implanted in a host in 420.M40 under the secret direction of the High Lords of Terra. In 460.M40, the Red Spectres received official notification that it would produce a successor Chapter, along with 256 samples of the initial seed, giving the responsibility to further cultivate the stock to the Red Spectres, and then onto the Tormentors upon their official activation ten years later.

 

+THE GRAND COHORT +

 

While the Tormentors were the first chapter to settle in their sector following the completion of the Grand Crusade, other Chapters would later relocate or settle there to consolidate Imperial power amongst the reclaimed systems.  The Tormentors were one of five chapters in relative proximity to each other, the others being the Persecutors, Oppressors, Judicators, and Duskbringers.  The Duskbringers would later turn against the Imperium as the effects of the Badab War reverberated through the Imperium, and now the four remaining Chapters occasionally group together to accomplish objectives too large for one solitary Chapter.
 

[OutlawSixActual]

I've updated the IA with some example images, I'd appreciate your feedback!

[sitnam]

I'll start off by saying this is one of the most detailed IA's I have read on here and lengthy as well. That is not necessarily a bad thing, as I love things like organizatonal detail, though I feel some readers may be offput by walls of text.

 

I like the details of the founding, but it would of been nice to get some real highlights of a majot battle or some notable foe they faced.

 

One nit pick i do have is the bit about tje chapters auxilarry forces helping secure objectives. IIRC the astartes generally dont use their serfs for combat, it may even be a big no-no in the the eyrs of some

[Demus Ragnok]

Wow that's one nice looking IA.