Inter-Chapter leadership question

[Tiberius Cato]

Hail Brothers!

 

I have a question regarding representation of forces. Is it possible for the commanders of one chapter to dictate the actions and give orders to members of other chapters?

 

I'm looking to represent the DIY's I have in one cohesive force and I would like to represent them according to their combat preferences.

 

For instance, let's say I use my force of Shadow Wardens (a captain, tac squad, and scouts) and they're are joined by vanguard vets from the Knights of Castilya, assault squads from the War Angels, and bike squads, tanks, and devs from the Eagles of Glory.

 

So tl;dr, from a fluff perspective, is it possible for the Shadow Wardens captain to be in command of this diverse assortment of warriors?

[Kilofix]

Yes - I recall a number of other different Chapters giving overall command to Dante of the Blood Angels given his seniority.

[Grand Master Belial]

Of course!

 

If they are warriors from the same primarch, then they would see each other as brothers even if they have differing views.

 

Another example is that multiple small units respond to a distress call and the first to arrive takes over leadership as a matter of honor.

[Tiberius Cato]

Excellent, thanks for the responses brothers!

[Lysimachus]

Sometimes a call will go out for Chapters to support a particular Campaign. Most Chapters respond at Company level (at least). However, sometimes some of the Chapters will only have the resources available to send a squad or two of Marines. These units will often be banded together and led by the officer who is either the most experienced or suited to the mission at hand or who commands the largest faction within the coalition. This is called a Crusade army and the units within will usually wear a Crusade badge (typically a coloured shape combined with a symbol, like a red circle with a white sword, etc) that ties them all together on the battlefield.

[CoffeeGrunt]

Before a planned campaign, the most senior Commander often takes charge, as with Commander Dante leading the Space Marines on Armageddon during the first war. I believe Logan Grimnar and the others present deferred to his command during it, but obviously would have offered tactical advice as peers.

[Resarys]

A couple companies from 25th and 26th Founding Chapters are fighting a war for a few years, and then Dante shows up with Blood Angel reinforcements. Does command fall to him, or stay with the current commander who's already been running things?

[incinerator950]

Situational I would assume. It would be rude to assume command unless you've been prepared, briefed, and have a larger pool of experience to draw on.

[Black Cohort]

To me, the marine who takes command when there are marines from several chapters would be rank then any of the following: guy with the most experience at that type of combat, winner of a ritual duel, guy from the oldest/ most respected chapter, guy who brought the most marines, oldest, first on site.  With the order of priority of everything past rank depending on the chapters in question.

[Kristoff]

Before a planned campaign, the most senior Commander often takes charge, as with Commander Dante leading the Space Marines on Armageddon during the first war. I believe Logan Grimnar and the others present deferred to his command during it, but obviously would have offered tactical advice as peers.

Correct. Helbrecht was then given orbital command and was the fleet commander at that point, allowing Dante to focus on the surface as a whole.

 

Even in an ad-hoc affair where they dribble in, most force commanders will defer to a Captain, and most Captains defer to a Chapter Master. Chapter Masters will defer as they choose, but will often side with experience, appreciation of skill, or sometimes even just Founding status. Calgar will often be in over all command over a force of multiple Ultramarine successors, no matter how more experienced a successor's Master may be over him. Same goes with Azrael. Fist, Scar, and Raven successors aren't as worshipful of their prime chapter, though, so will follow more internal processes for it.

 

But as for the original OP's concept, so long as they are all using the same Tactics, there is no problem in the same Battle-Forged Detachment rules or fluff-wise.

[Tiberius Cato]

Awesome, thank you all for clearing this up for me!

Mods feel free to lock this topic, my question has been sufficiently answered.

[Kilofix]

Another example would be Inquisitors that have been known to preside over a number of Chapter detachments - e.g. At Vraks, Hector Rex led Red Hunters, Grey Knights, and to a lesser extent - Angels of Absolution, in addition to Krieg Guardsmen.

[Olis]

As requested by the OP, this thread is locked now that he has his answers.