Ghost Warriors WIP

[GreyCrow]

Hey guys !

 

This is my first DIY Chapter and I wanted to submit it to your more experienced eye in order to get any advice and comments to flush it out !

Comments and critics are more than welcome !

 

Brother Pierr, 2nd Company, 3rd Tactical Squad

[clearfloat][/clearfloat]

Origins of the Ghost Warriors

 

The Ghost Warriors are a 25th Founding Chapter. Following the end of the Angevin Crusade and the reintegration of the Calixis Sector in the Imperium, an increase in covert and hidden threats, both from xenos and heretics, has been reported by the Inquisition in the Sector as well as around the galaxy.

The Ghost Warriors were founded as a strikeforce to end these threats after they grew too big to be dealt by Inquisitorial forces and before they grew big enough to be a sizeable threat to the Imperium.

Homeworld

 

The Ghost Warriors are a fleet-based Chapter with each Company operating independently from their battle barge. However, they recruit exclusively from the world of Dusk in the Calixis Sector, where the first members of the Chapter were drawn from.

Dusk is a Feral world known for its dangers. The world is entirely covered in dense forests and high barren plateaux, with massive ancient trees several kilometers high with trunks as large as small buildings. It is said that the highest peak on Dusk is not as tall as the highest tree, and while this claim is a very accurate imagery for the usual scenery on Dusk, this information has not been verified.

Reaching deep down below the plateaux, the trees mask almost entirely the sun, and the deeper into the forest one ventures, the darker it becomes. The forests are home to dangerous predators and massive beasts. The deepest parts of the forest are named the Shadowlands and host vicious creatures, some with teeth as long as a man's arm, who periodically venture in the higher levels and sometimes the plateaux for food and to wreak havoc.

 

The plateaux are high lands where a few younger smaller trees can be found, bringing a few more light. This is the only habitable places on Dusk, although they are few and far between, each being only a few dozen kilometers wide. Plateaux are mainly barren with occasional grass over the rock, because of the enormous amount of nutrient the few trees present there capitalize for their own sustenance. Inhabitants must regularly venture in the lower levels of the forest in seach of food.

 

Human population on Dusk is very low, and the first Imperial explorators sent there were surprised to encounter a few human tribes that were relatively civilized, albeit with an extremely low technological level close to the Bronze Age of ancient Terra. Although civilised, the tribes have a strong martial culture necessary for their survival on the world of Dusk. Indeed, many ravenous predator packs come to the settlements to steal the humans' cattle and everybody, even the young and the women will defend their stock.

As a rite of passage to teenage years, the young of both sexes are sent with only spear, knife and what appears to be a primitive version of a wrist-mounted flamethrower, fueled by the venom of some strange creatures found on Dusk, to hunt and bring back the head of a predator of Dusk.

 

Only the strong return, and the bravest of all of them venture to the edge of the Shadowlands and bring back the head of the most dangerous of the beasts. The males among these heroes are the prime candidates for recruitment amongst the Ghost Warriors.

 

The Inquisition has found traces of an ancient xeno civilisation of undetermined origins that seemed to have been destroyed a few centuries or millennia ago. The discovery of this taint was made after investigating the mythological beliefs of the tribes that spoke of the "Shadow Warriors", great fighters that were both powerful and agile, stealthy and brutal. It is these "Shadow Warriors" that taught the primitive human tribes how to organize and fight, and it appears they vanished during the "War of the Great Beasts", an epic depicting the fight between the Shadow Warriors and a surge of dangerous creatures of a nature unknown.

It was during this war that both the Shadow Warriors and Great Beast went extinct, following a massive battle which traces can be found in a partially cut down sector of the main forest.

 

Although the nature of the Shadow Warriors seem xeno, Inquisitors have found an obsidian black Astartes Power Armour with no Chapter markings visible in the hut of the chieftain of a tribe, named Werda Verda in honour of the mythological warriors. It is held in high regard.

This tribe is highly unusual, as it is more warlike and shows more prowess in battle than any other. It lives on tribute food from other tribes in exchange for actively hunting the predator creatures in times of great need. They also act as a settler of disputes between the Tribes and are very respected.

The Werda Verda is home to easily the most glorious tribal hunter-warriors and is the tribe from which most of the Ghost Warriors aspirants are recruited from.

Organization

The Ghost Warriors follow the tactical organization of the Codex Astartes, but each Company operates independently. Battle Companies are fully indepedent, while Reserve Companies bolster the Imperial forces of other engagements by dispatching a few squads.

The Scouts of the 10th company rarely participate in battles, and begin their training in the forests of Dusk which is dangerous enough to hone their skills at combat and stealth. After a few years in the forests, they will usually participate in strikeforces against xeno and heretical threats in the Calixis Sector.

 

One deviation from the Codex Astartes is the permanent attachment of 1st company Veterans to each of the 8 main companies in order to provide leadership and guidance to the more junior members.

 

Another deviation from the Codex Astartes is that in order to maintain operational camouflage, confusion and to make it harder for the enemy to analyse strategic patterns in case of capture, neither the company number, the squad number or the squad type designation are visible on the Ghost Warriors armour.

 

The current size of the Ghost Warriors is unknown, although witnesses of different strikeforces estimate the size of the Chapter to be anything between 33% to 50% of a full Chapter. This is due to the extremely dangerous nature of their missions, often behind enemy lines, and their preferred method of fighting : being close enough to see the white in the eye of the enemy they shoot at and engage him in close combat if necessary.

 

Interestingly enough, multiple reports have confirmed that the squads in Ghost Warrior companies are often comprised of members numbering in multiples of the number three. Whether this is coincidental, due to battle losses or deliberate is however unknown.

Combat Doctrine

 

The Ghost Warriors are specialised in decisive strike and retreate warfare aiming to end the fight as quickly and brutally as it has started. They are expert at infiltration, often applying the hunt tactics that they have learned young when they were still on Dusk.

 

They abhor protracted fights and prefer to strike quick and true, aiming for weak spots in the enemy's defense or destroying key targets before comitting the rest of their strikeforce.

 

Aside from Devastator squads, the Ghost Warriors rarely carry Heavy Weapons into battle and generally prefer to fight close to the enemy. They are known to avoid the use of heavy armoured vehicles like the Land Raider or Predator chassis and rely more on light transports like the Rhinos and Razorbacks to carry their seasoned battle brothers to battle.

 

Because they like to vanish quickly after an engagement so that the enemy does not find their Strikeforce, they rely on fast moving vehicles and aircrafts to deliver a swift and precise blow to the enemy.

 

The Ghost Warriors value the life of each Battle Brother, but they value the experience and tactical guidance of their Veterans, who often lead squads and participate in every strike force. Dreadnoughts are regarded with high respect and are often the most heavily armoured vehicle the Ghost Warriors will field. It is also not uncommon for Dreadnoughts to have a say in the leadership of companies, whether through advisorial positions or clearer examples like Brother-Captain Philipp, the Captain of the Ghost Warriors 2nd Company that remained in position as Captain of the 2nd company following his interrement.

Geneseed

 

The geneseed of the Ghost Warriors is currently unknown, as all the Battle-Brothers wear helmets at all times when fighting and rarely remove them when meeting with outsiders.

However, due to their preferred fighting method and the pale faces that the few priviledged have seen would indicate that they are a successor Chapter of the Raven Guard.

Beliefs

 

 

The Ghost Warriors strongly believe that a battle is won through wits, not strengths. As such, they will always look to exploit their enemy's weaknesses to mess their battle plans.

 

They also believe it is their sacred duty to hunt the enemies of manking and weaken large scale armies to ease the battles fought by their brothers. They also seek personal glory but secret glory earned through useful acts and succesful strikes rather than heroic sacrifice, and their honoued Veterans have earned plenty.

 

 

[Teetengee]

Do the scouts train in the deepest areas of Dusk? Otherwise it seems strange that children could kill things on dusk as a right of passage that are strong enough to train scouts against. Also, wouldn't the scouts want to be trained in a large sample of different fields of war so that they can learn many tactics?

[Madwolf Shadowmane]

Typically a Battle barge carries 3 companies of Astartes, not just one.  Did you mean a strike cruiser?

[Tiberius Cato]

For your first DIY it is very well thought out. Before you even mentioned then geneseed the details screamed Raven Guard to me, so that may be a good path to follow and it could account for the size of your chapter as the Raven Guard geneseed is rejected by the bodies of many recruits. Thus it puts more value on a brother's life because they know he will be very hard to replace.

Also, the forest of Dusk remind me very much of Mirkwood from The Hobbit, not sure if that was intended or not. Your world however is superbl developed and as you described it I could imagine walking through the dark fortress and witnessing the massive predators lurking in the shadows.

While i'm not sure on the specifics, i'm not sure if a whole astartes chapter would get assigned to xenos infiltration forces, as they would be much smaller than say invasion forces. It could more cheaply be handled by the Imperial Guard.However, someone more knowledgable on the subject feel free to correct me.

All in all, great job, brother! And welcome to the Liber Astartes!

[GreyCrow]

Do the scouts train in the deepest areas of Dusk? Otherwise it seems strange that children could kill things on dusk as a right of passage that are strong enough to train scouts against. Also, wouldn't the scouts want to be trained in a large sample of different fields of war so that they can learn many tactics?

 

This is a very good point brother. I need to flesh out the training a little bit more and make !

 

 

Typically a Battle barge carries 3 companies of Astartes, not just one.  Did you mean a strike cruiser?

 

Ah yes, thanks, I always get messed up, I need to study the fleets of the Adeptus more carefully !

 

 

For your first DIY it is very well thought out. Before you even mentioned then geneseed the details screamed Raven Guard to me, so that may be a good path to follow and it could account for the size of your chapter as the Raven Guard geneseed is rejected by the bodies of many recruits. Thus it puts more value on a brother's life because they know he will be very hard to replace.

Also, the forest of Dusk remind me very much of Mirkwood from The Hobbit, not sure if that was intended or not. Your world however is superbl developed and as you described it I could imagine walking through the dark fortress and witnessing the massive predators lurking in the shadows.

While i'm not sure on the specifics, i'm not sure if a whole astartes chapter would get assigned to xenos infiltration forces, as they would be much smaller than say invasion forces. It could more cheaply be handled by the Imperial Guard.However, someone more knowledgable on the subject feel free to correct me.

All in all, great job, brother! And welcome to the Liber Astartes!

 

Thanks for the nice comments ! Indeed, Mirkwood was a source of inspiration, along with a few other planets/places, most notably Catachan from GW and Kashyyyk and Dagobah from Star Wars !

 

Good point regarding the size of the opposing conflicts, I'm going to work on that ;)

 

___

 

I'll think about it and update it during the weeks, thanks very much for your comments !

[Messor]

It's good to know what kind of world produces your marines, but what you have right now feels very standalone and separate from them, even though it's well developed. How does the environment of Dusk affect the sort of marine the planet produces? Do they have keen vision in the dark? Do they like fighting in low light conditions?

 

Also, these hero recruits, who slay beasts and bring back their heads, would have to be preteens to be eligible for implantation. It might make more sense (and tie the planet more closely to the Chapter) to have this be a trial for those already recruited, something they do before joining the scouts.

 

Regarding the gene seed, the unknown aspect isn't a strength for the article, not least of all because removing their helmet wouldn't tell anyone anything about them anyway. Loyal Chapters are expected to submit tithes to the AdMech, and if the Imperium didn't know a Chapter's gene seed before the tithes, they would afterward, unless they were heavily mutated.

 

On the small scale, plateaus is the plural of plateau. Other than that, this is off to an excellent start for an article.

[Elias]

man, I have already used that name http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/266965-ghost-warriorsv2/?do=findComment&comment=3251549 , so if it is not a problem, please rename your chapter. :)

[Messor]

Elias, each Liberite is free to title and name their content as they see fit. Simply because you used the name first doesn't give you ownership of it. In the future, please don't ask Liberites to change their content to suit your desires. Instead, try to offer a critique, and if you feel a name is ill suited, providing some alternatives would be the helpful approach.

[Teetengee]

I think the ghost warriors name really fits this chapter, what with the mysterious homeworld monsters and all the other stuff.

[GreyCrow]

Thanks for the further comments brothers, I've taken them into account and I'm churning out an updated version of the article to make more sense in the areas that lack coherency. Expect something tomorrow evening (today's workday was crazy and I'm too beat to produce anything worthwhile !)

In response to Messor's comment about the plateaus, please feel free to point out any grammatical error that you encounter and I'm sure there are plenty. English isn't my first language as many of you can tell, and anything to improve my knowledge of the language is much appreciated

@Elias : I'm sorry man, I did not see another battle brother had chosen a similar name for his Chapter and please excuse the offense it may have caused. Since it doesn't seem to be an issue with the forum administration, we both get to keep the name we favour, which is a solution I like very much

[Tiberius Cato]

If you don't mind Brother GreyCrow, may I ask what is your first language? Just from seeing you write plateaux I assume it to be French. I'm just curious haha.
On topic though, I suggestion I have is maybe your chapter was created to counter an enemy that has sent multiple infiltration forces to a specific region of space that houses an inquisitor's precious research project and he want his research to continue uninterupted for if something were to go wrong it would endanger the Imperium. I got the idea while playing Space Marine, sorry if it seems half cooked up!

 

Edit: I realise now that I look like a bit of an idiot. When I posted I was browsing on my phone and it doesn't show people's locations, just their post. My apologies for my ignorance.