The Liber Cluster

[Astus]

I've got a great idea for a Liberite Chapter: what do people think about having a typical Cursed founding chapter accidentally assigned to the expedition?

[Conn Eremon]

I'm just thinking the Chapter needs something to make it more grimdark. The first thing that comes to mind is to have this view of theirs be internal, and not accurately representative of how things actually are. Like that assault you mention is done because the Chapter wants to help, and damn it, they are good at helping. But the Iron Ravagers? They're pissed, because the Eagles stepped in on their thing. It had nothing to do with the Eagles, and they didn't want any help. When incidents like this become common, some frustrations might build up and spill over. I could see them having a good relationship with the Guard throughout all this, though.

 

The promethean: I'd say run with it, but be careful as those ideas can sometimes be hard to sell. But don't let that deter you if you think you got a good idea.

[Wade Garrett]

Random ideas I'm jotting down for later:

 

-A renegade Chapter that raids the Imperial settlers for blood sacrifices-which they are using to try and keep a Greater Daemon one of their heroes sealed up long ago contained. They hope to drive the Imperium out before it awakens said daemon, and constantly search for sorcerous lore to strengthen the wards and safeguards on its tomb.

 

It is not at all impossible that the Daemon has no interest in leaving its tomb, and merely seeks to see how far it could push the renegades down the left hand path while its corpoereal form slumbers.

 

-A loyalist Chapter that uses crocodilian iconography and specializes in amphibious assaults, booby traps, and fighting in difficult terrain. Basically, Cajun Voodoo Marines.

[Olis]

I can see it now: My Conflagrators aren't going to get on with the Eagles. Too prideful. Too 'virtuous'. Not enough penitence or prisoner-burning. ;)

[deathspectersgt7]

I found a skeleton impaled on a stake. would look the part. Put a dark blue helmet at its feet. 

[Nomus Sardauk]

Oooh my, I do so love watching the Liberites get together for a project, to see the creative juices start flowing, the ideas and concepts bouncing back and forth. To me, this is the Liber at it's best, where the community forges it's greatest works.

 

And I can't wait to see whatever comes next. :)

 

Random ideas I'm jotting down for later:

 

-A renegade Chapter that raids the Imperial settlers for blood sacrifices-which they are using to try and keep a Greater Daemon one of their heroes sealed up long ago contained. They hope to drive the Imperium out before it awakens said daemon, and constantly search for sorcerous lore to strengthen the wards and safeguards on its tomb.

 

It is not at all impossible that the Daemon has no interest in leaving its tomb, and merely seeks to see how far it could push the renegades down the left hand path while its corpoereal form slumbers.

 

-A loyalist Chapter that uses crocodilian iconography and specializes in amphibious assaults, booby traps, and fighting in difficult terrain. Basically, Cajun Voodoo Marines.

Both of these sound amazing, please, please do this. The Cajun Voodoo Marines in particular is one of the freshest and coolest concepts I've heard of in quite a while. :D

Edited June 23, 2014 by SanguiniusReborn

[Tiberius Cato]

I can only imagine how many toes will be stepped on by the Eagles. The other Liberite chapters better get some ice for their swollen feet! ;) Maybe I'll add in some kind of love for torture. e.g. some baptism through waterboarding, it may very well still be a popular method of interrogation in the 41st millenium!

[Tiberius Cato]

I can see it now: My Conflagrators aren't going to get on with the Eagles. Too prideful. Too 'virtuous'. Not enough penitence or prisoner-burning. ;)

We don't need anymore penitence, we're already the good guys. Infact some would say we're the most devout, with our enactment of the Emperor's divine will and all. Shoot, we even conquered what seems to be atleast an sixteenth of the darn sector!

[Conn Eremon]

 

I can see it now: My Conflagrators aren't going to get on with the Eagles. Too prideful. Too 'virtuous'. Not enough penitence or prisoner-burning. ;)

We don't need anymore penitence, we're already the good guys. Infact some would say we're the most devout, with our enactment of the Emperor's divine will and all. Shoot, we even conquered what seems to be atleast an sixteenth of the darn sector!

You just told the Conflagrators that you have had enough penitance.

 

That's purging talk, far as they are concerned. The only ones who say they don't need to be purified are heretics, and they need to be purified most of all.

 

I can see the Lords being diplomatic enough to work around their flaws and accentuate their strengths. They might be forced to spend a lot of time mending fences thanks to the Eagles throwing their weight around.

 

The Sons would get exasperated fast, in spite of the ease in which they can forge bonds of brotherhood between them and other Chapters. To the point where the Eagles might not be a welcome sight in Sons space. Perhaps because they tend to be a common sight nonetheless.

Edited June 23, 2014 by Cormac Airt

[Aegnor]

Never get involved in land wars in continental Asia? Or a suitably grimdark, Liber Cluster equivalent?

 

Edit:stoopid auto-correct, the liver cluster is something entirely different.

Edited June 23, 2014 by Aegnor

[Wade Garrett]

THE BLACKJAW KINDRED

 

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/sm.php?b62c=@iakk7_heH3z.hI9Cw.@hCEct.hFoyvhcddMi9uQih3jnG@h2L5ghl5A1hhZYbhye53hU0MXhVnUj___hVnUjha1dChJxTt_hVnUjha1dChJxTt@ha1dC@ha1dC@@hPh25@.@@hPh25@hRgQih2L9ph3GTn@h5EYghVnUjhFWV9hgDVEi7yPC__@hCEct@..hFWV9i7zal&

 

Honor, that's a mighty thin blanket 'gainst de chill of de grave.

 

 

Perhaps more than any other Chapter, the Kindred have been shaped and molded by the Liber Cluster. Although Imperial records mentioned three fleet based Astartes Chapters (the Hell Tigers, Chevaliers, and the Knives of Guilliman) were attached to the initial settlement expedition, it was still a shock when the second wave of

Imperium forces who entered the Maloccio system received orders to declare their idenity or be destroyed on standard Astartes frequencies.

 

It was the first, but far from the last time this unorthodox Astartes contingent would baffle their newly arrived brethren.

 

Although initially hailing the new arrivals as a respite from their centuries long guerilla war against "greenpig"

and "blacksoul" forces, it was not long before the relationship soured, due to matters ranging from the Kin's divergent battle doctrine (which makes heavy use of mortal specialists and salvaged Imperial Guard vehicles) to the archaic honor codes, superstition, and local folklore that has melded with their Chapter Cult (cults?).

 

The Kin see themselves as war-shamans, mediaries between the Emperor and His Primarchs and the people

of the Cluster. The "Ten Heavenly Lords" are revered as mercurial and capricious deities, who must be placated by votive offerings and ritual before they will bless their creations.

 

Furthermore, the Primarchs as venerated by the Kin have little in common with the figures from Imperial history. For example, Roboute Guilliman is worshipped as the War King, a peerless fighter in scarlet and bronze armor who forged a great empire with the edge of his sword, while Leman Russ is admired as a wandering philosopher mystic, patron of the arts, healing, and those who practice "white sorcery."

 

While the Kin's divergences have led for some to call them to be declared Excommunicate Traitoris and wiped out, the Chapter's current leader, Grandfather Baptiste, has formed a strong working relationship with the Inquisitorial elements present, who make good use of the Kin's local knowledge.

 

Likewise, the Kin show an unusual deference to the Conflagrators, and often follow that bitter Chapter's lead

in both council sessions and on the battlefield.

 

It is theorized that this is because in their pantheon, Vulkan is a grim figure who rules over the part of the afterlife where the unworthy dead atone for their sins with centuries of fiery torment and drudge labor before being allowed into the Emperor's paradise, and they see the Conflagrators as living messengers from the tyranical Hammeror.

Edited June 23, 2014 by Wade Garrett

[Conn Eremon]

Ooph, Wade. Those colors are good together, but that patchwork look hurts my eyes.

 

Edit: If you're going for a swamp camo look, I would suggest posting the base "uniform" of the Chapter, noting that they are more often seen wearing camouflage typical of their home world.

 

Unless you, or someone else, can do some photoshop magic to make it look like actual cam.

Edited June 23, 2014 by Cormac Airt

[Dosjetka]

If anyone is still worried about their work getting used by a third party to earn some creds, just use the Creative Commons license. Simple and effective.

[Ace Debonair]

If I didn't have to go out today I'd be typing up some stuff right now.

 

I'll be adding a potential Chapter to this mix later on if I get time.

[Aegnor]

Ok, please meet the:

Iron Ravagers



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The Iron Ravagers are descended from the lineage of Ferrus Manus. They have established their home world on the planet of Anesidora, a planet dominated by virulently fertile jungle. The Iron Ravagers share their forefather’s contempt for the weakness of flesh, and embrace the sacrifice of much of what makes them human in pursuit of a perfect blend of human and machine.

If Anesidora was settled by humans during the initial settlement of the Liber Cluster, the jungle has long since erased all evidence of their fate. The Iron Ravagers were attracted to the planet by the unique metallic and crystalline structure of the planet – which both supports the abundance of ‘hyper-life’ on the planet, but more pertinently offers a wide variety of valuable resources, including much that the chapter itself covets, notably extraordinary veins of the psychically resonant psycurium. The Ravagers are warriors, not miners however, and offered to share custody of the world with the agents of the Adeptus Mechanicus in a deal that is perhaps unique in the Imperium. The chapter safeguards the world, receives privileged access to the resources it produces, and recruits from its Martian derived population.

The ability of the chapter to consistently identify sufficient numbers of suitable candidates from the relatively small population, many of whom are too altered to breed, would in other circumstances perhaps attract more curiosity. In the frontier that is the Liber Cluster, it is just one anomaly amongst many. As it is, rumours circulate of arcane biological processes and clones, hot-housed in the super-fertile environment of Anesidora.

Given the constant struggle of the machines of the Mechanicus to overcome the virulent life of the planet in order to extract its mineral wealth, the Ravagers' inherited distaste of the biologic has only been reinforced. As a symbol of their rejection of the physical identity of their birth, in favour of the engineered perfection that is fusion of humanity and machine, they undergo an elective augmetic alteration soon after their initial induction into the chapter. Unlike the artificial fists of the Iron Hands, it is their face that is replaced, with a smooth, featureless adamantium face-plate being grafted onto their skull. While it leaves their superior Astartes sensory faculties intact, these identical face-plates give the Ravagers a disturbingly identical appearance.

The Ravagers are broadly codex-adherent in terms of their organisation and battle-field approach. The chapter perhaps unsurprisingly boasts a high number of techmarines and makes extensive use of dreadnought armour. Their approach to battle reflects the duality of their Primarch’s approach to war – a coldly logical and exactly preparation and execution of their duty, combined with a terrible wrath that overflows when confronted with the enemy. The Ravagers have developed their approach to war to successfully include the wrathful zeal that seizes them in the heat of battle as a factor to be counted upon, and used to their advantage.

Chapter Symbol

------------------------------
Their chapter badge with the fourth and fifth digits depicted as augmetic replacements - symbolic of the weaker aspects of their flesh (the weaker ring and pinky fingers) being replaced by elements of the machine. (Excuse the very basic MS Paint version used here - I think it conveys the idea at least).

Edited June 24, 2014 by Aegnor

[Reyner]

Here is my submission, something I haven't tried before. DARK ANGELS! (Their icon will either be two crossed swords or a lion and a sword - need to figure that out and get it into their colour scheme).

 

The Blades of the Lion

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/sm.php?b62c=@i5BFO_hyvFn.hlwXk____@@@i9ekr@.__iakk7iakk7___@@@@@@@@_@_@@@@@@@@@@@..___@@@__@____.iakk7&

 

 

The Blades of the Lion are a crusading, fleet based Chapter currently located in the Liber Cluster. The Blades are Dark Angels successors from an ancient founding who prefer to fight alone which has almost doomed them several times since they were created, they are prideful and will never ask for assistance even if they know they are doomed. Without a homeworld the Blades roam the Cluster in their Strike Cruisers attacking pirate and xenos strongholds wherever they find them, either dropping from the skies in drop pods or tearing through enemy ships in brutal boarding actions. Their leaders are master tacticians and take pride in surrounding the enemy and seeing utterly annihilated. The Chapter has a history of battling Orks in the Liber Cluster, matching the prowess of their bike mounted warriors against the Ork mechanised hordes but it is against Traitor Space Marines that the Blades fight the fiercest. The Blades are able to fully test their mettle when fighting foes comparable to themselves and relish it believing themselves to be utterly superior to anything that isn’t a Space Marine.

 

To outsiders the Blades of the Lion appear to strike at random then disappear into the void afterwards but in reality they are being guided by their Librarians who believe they are receiving visions from their Primarch in pursuit of the “Great Hunt”. Their Chaplains work alongside the Librarians deciphering the visions and interrogating prisoners to find their next target. It is unfortunate if any of these visions strike during a battle as the Blades may suddenly redeploy before their quarry escapes – this makes the Blades a sometimes unreliable asset in a large campaign but if they have the numbers they will endeavour to leave some marines behind so their allies are not overwhelmed.

 

The Blades will recruit from wherever they can, the Cluster is large enough for them to have plenty of recruiting worlds to choose from but they do not lay claim to any specifically. Once an initiate is taken in they are mind wiped and they will only know the Chapter. The “Great Hunt” is known by all of the Blades but only the high ranking marines know exactly what the Hunt is actually trying to achieve, the commanders know that the targets they hunt are the forever cursed Fallen. The rest of the Blades believe they are hunting traitors to the Emperor and are not aware that their targets were once or are still Dark Angel Legionnaires.

 

The Blades of the Lion are not trusted by most of the Liberite Chapters due to their isolationist attitude and tendencies to withdraw from combat without a word. The Blades rarely attend a Liberite Conclave but when they do their words are seldom ignored when planning assaults yet they will never offer themselves to be the lynchpin of a campaign, the risk of duty to the Imperium and the secret shame of the Great Hunt could spell disaster.

 

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edit: Made some changes to the Great Hunt and added little bits about who the Blades usually fight. Think it feels better now - any further comments on the rest?

Edited June 24, 2014 by Reyner

[Aegnor]

Can't imagine Azrael and the other Grand Masters of the Unforgiven would be thrilled about the Blades of the Lions telling all of their marines about the Fallen. Maybe there was another reason why the Blades found it a good idea to find a remote spot to stay out of the way of other Unforgiven for a while.

[helterskelter]

This certainly is a fun exercise in mass creativity! so i'd like to pose 3 ideas for this, most prefered i'll enhance and type up.

1) a purposefully understrength chapter, with extra specialists (chaps, libbys and techs) who, when possible, reclaim and resanctify armour, vehicles and ships from pirates/traitors.

2) a chapter dedicated entirely to void warfare

3) an aggressive mechanicum contigent

whichever is most prefered by my liber brethren

[Harlan Skorus]

I am liking the Chapters so far! Not going to contribute one (I hope to get involved in other areas) but it will be interesting to see them develop.

 

2) a chapter dedicated entirely to void warfare

 

I just randomly rolled an Imperial Guard regiment with the Navy Armsmen classification! We can be buddies.

 

(idea number 3 is also pretty cool, I'm not sure how you could explain a purposefully understrength Chapter)

[Reyner]

Can't imagine Azrael and the other Grand Masters of the Unforgiven would be thrilled about the Blades of the Lions telling all of their marines about the Fallen. Maybe there was another reason why the Blades found it a good idea to find a remote spot to stay out of the way of other Unforgiven for a while.

I put that part in because I thought I remembered one of the Unforgiven Chapters had done this (I remember one Successor believe they are exempt) I'll likely change it as I didn't like the sound of it too much but wondered what other guys thought. Would be fun for Azrael and the rest of the Unforgiven Chapter masters to throw the Blades across the galaxy though . Could be a reason why they went fleet based and sent off to die or something. 

Edited June 23, 2014 by Reyner

[Conn Eremon]

I'm aware of the Angels of Absolution, who feel themselves absolved of their own sins but still keen on hunting the Fallen, and the Disciples of Caliban, who were potentially very specifically created to hunt a particular Fallen down. However, in both cases I recall them having an Inner Circle that knows more than the rest of the Chapter. Like why the Angels feel absolved or what the Disciples were truly created for.

 

So, in my mind, each of those Chapters is likely just as steeped in secrecy and allegory as any other Unforgiven. However, what is written above can work with that. The "Great Hunt" might, ultimately, be about the Fallen, but to the greater Chapter it might mean something more broad and nonspecific. Gaining deeper insight and understanding on this Great Hunt might be how Marines progress up through the convoluted Chapter hierarchy, with the Inner Circle being almost entirely aware of everything (I have a feeling there are some things only the Dark Angels Inner Circle knows), to young Marines being told allegorical tales on hunting down those who would turn their back on the light of the Emperor.

[Reyner]

I did think about doing that - I haven't explicitly stated anywhere that the Great Hunt is all about the Fallen, I'll edit it a bit and work that in! As far as the non-Inner Circle marines know they hunt any traitor to the Emperor. 

[Wade Garrett]

Cormac:

 

I like your idea of having "field colors" (which each Marine is responsible for painting onto his own armor) and ceremonial/dress colors (white with black and gold trim, perhaps?) Added a bit more about the Blackjaws, although I may be going a bit over the top with their fluff...

[Reyner]

Sounds good Wade, you mention the Consecrators a few times in it but aren't they the Dark Angels successors with the older tech? Conflagrators are the fire maniacs of Olis aren't they? 

[Wade Garrett]

Whoops!

 

Editted to fix that little slip up.

 

In case it wasn't clear, my idea was that the Chevaliers, Hell Tigers, and Knives of Guilliman were all Ultramarines successors who fused together into these spiritualism obsessed swamp loonies while cut off from the Imperium at large for a great length of time.

 

I should also note that I was imagining them as a force that could hit the tabletop using the Tyrant's Legion list (to represent their necessity driven deviances from the Codex) with Grandfather Baptiste a counts-as Lufgt Huron.