IA: Tempest Sentinels WIP

[Excubitor]

Finally putting several years worth of notes and writings together for the Liber Challenge. So here they are, the Tempest Sentinels

Chapter name: Tempest Sentinels
Descended from if known: Salamanders
Founding number if known: Unknown, records hint at possible 3rd, earliest official records date from slightly before the 6th.
Descendants if known: None known
Chapter origins: Originally a fleet-based crusading Chapter, this changed when the Ur-counsel of Terra Nova declared secession from the Imperium.

One of the Chapter’s chosen by the High Lords to bring the secessionists to heel, the Tempest Sentinels were deployed in full Chapter strength alongside an Imperial Navy battle squadron and a pair of Imperial Guard regiments to begin the campaign by seizing a foothold in secessionist space. However, the Chapter and its allies were trapped in a Warp-storm and blown off-course, becoming stranded in the Imperial-controlled Orodruin system.

As they transitioned into realspace from the Warp, they ran into another force that had become stranded in the system – an Orc Space Hulk and its escorts. The two fleets fought in the orbit of one of the two habitable planets in the system, a jungle deathworld called Rhuine inhabited by feral human tribes. They managed to destroy the Orc fleet, the crippled Space Hulk crashing into the world below. However, the cost was high. The Imperial Navy squadron was mostly gone, only a crippled Exorcist-class Grand Cruiser and a few damaged escorts surviving. The Guard regiments had also taken losses, effectively losing two thirds of their strength from their transports being destroyed by the Orcs. The Tempest Sentinels had lost one of their two Battle barges (which had also crashed onto the deathworld below), all bar 3 Strike Cruisers, and most of their escorts, with the survivors taking minor to moderate damage. Over 300 of the Chapter’s brethren had fallen in the battle.

Travelling to the other habitable planet, Palegier, they found the inhabitants under siege from Orc raiding parties that had landed there immediately before the Imperial battlegroup had arrived. Deploying most of the remaining Companies and the surviving Guardsmen to the surface, in short order the Orcs had been eradicated from the planet. While repairing the more severely damaged ships in orbit, the Chapter used its remaining Battle Barge, the Emperor’s Storm, to tow the crippled Exorcist and several other wrecks into a stable orbit over Palegier while the least damaged Strike Cruiser took a company to the surface to retrieve what they could from the wrecked Battle Barge. While there, the Librarians, Chaplains and Apothecaries also evaluated the feral human tribes for possible recruitment and Land Speeder detachments scouted wide areas for Orc traces.

Over the centuries trapped in the Orodruin System by the Warp Storms, the Tempest Sentinels managed to convert the Grand Cruiser and several wrecks into a large orbital station from which to base the remnants of their Chapter fleet. Recruiting from both the civilized Palegier and feral Rhuine, and despite losses taken fighting the Orcs on Rhuine, the Chapter managed to regain most of its strength by the time the Warp Storms had abated. Not knowing the situation of the Imperium, but knowing their duty to Terra, they used what remained of their fleet to mount raids on the Terra Nova seccetionists. With the First company and the battle companies kept back to defend their new home system, they reorganized their chapter, eventually creating the organization the chapter follows today, the 6th, 7th, and 8th companies being based on their battle barge for raids, and the 9th and 10th on strike cruisers hitting different targets from their main force.

Organisation:
The Tempest Sentinels have a slightly different Company make-up, attributed to the period they were cut off from the Imperium. Slightly larger than a Codex chapter, the 1st through 5th Companies are as the Codex Astartes declares, but their 6th through 10th Companies show their divergence from the Codex Astartes, and the influence that remains from the Nova-Terra Interregnum .

The 6th Company is made up of 6 Tactical and 4 Assault Squads, the 6th specializing in Drop Pod Assaults and low orbital insertions, and thus lacks armour outside of Dreadnoughts and aircraft, while the 7th company, specializing in rapid, devastating mobile assaults, is comprised of 4 tactical and 6 assault squads, and uses bikes and armoured transports extensively, but lack dreadnoughts due to their lack of speed. Both utilise Land Speeders for mobile fire support.

The 8th company counter-balances these two, 5 tactical and 5 Devastator squads, and a reputation for holding their ground no matter the cost. On more than one occasion, the company has been virtually wiped out to the last holding their posts. Any strike forces not comprising of a full battle company usually is comprised of units taken from these three companies, and it’s not uncommon in larger deployments for them to be deployed together, playing off the strengths of the others.

The 9th and 10th are again different. Created during their time cut off from the Imperium and referred to as Crusade Companies, these two forces are comprised of 5 tactical, 2 Assault, 2 Devastator, and 1 Veteran and act as virtually independent battle forces, rarely returning to the Chapter except to resupply or to face a major threat. Much of the Chapter's battle doctrine facing foes in other Segmentums, such as the Tau, comes from these companies.

Scouts are not assigned a company, being attached to companies as their training and missions require.

The 1st company is also split, between Terminator veterans and 'Sentinel' veterans. As part of their selection into the 1st company, a nominated marine must undergo a period of service in the Deathwatch, being promoted to the Sentinel rank within the company upon completion. Always deployed as Sternguard, further training is undertaken before being granted permssion to apply for the rare openings in Terminator Squads.


Combat Doctrine
The Tempest Sentinels follow most of the Codex Astartes to the letter. As such, they are proficient in many areas of combat. Though they can fight in any terrain, as befits members of the Adeptus Astartes, they have a fondness for short range combat, like their Salamanders progenitors, as they prefer to strike from unexpected directions. A favoured tactic of the chapter is to infiltrate close to enemy lines, and strike hard at key points simultaneously with Whirlwind bombardments and armored assaults on other sections of the lines. They also have a dislike of static gunlines, preferring aggressive defence to retain the initiative to simply conceding to any foe.

Another slight divergence to most Codex Chapters is the prevalence of powered close combat weapons like Power Swords, Power Fists and Lightning Claws. A trait they possess from their time trapped is a “waste not, want not” attitude, especially in their case towards weapons used by past heroes. No piece of valued wargear is left in a vault or stasis field in the Reclusiarch. Many of the Chapters powered weapons and master-crafted wargear have seen multiple owners wield them with pride and honour in the Emperor’s name. And as befitting such honored wargear, each sergeant and Captain must prove their worth to wield such treasures on the battlefield before being bequeathed their rank.

Homeworld:
Orodruin System, Palegier (civilized world, location of orbital Fortress-Monastery), Rhuine (deathworld, location of feral human tribes), Nurhn (volcanic world, mined extensively for ore and minerals)

Battle Cry: By our Blood and Blade His Will be Done!

Notable Actions:
Liberation of Kanor
Liberation of Nenual
Siege of Eridas
Destruction of Gelagrur
Liberation of Concordia

Notable Characters
Tactical Squad, 9th Crusade Company (Wraiths) - Famous for their stealth, the Wraiths are specialists in infiltration and silent strikes. Another, often looked down-upon (by other Chapters) specialty, is their way of making contact with resistance groups and strengthening organised resistance against their enemies. They are the vanguard of the 9th.

8th Assault Squad, 6th Company (Bulwarks) - Unusual for an assault squad, the Bulwarks are an elite squad of teleport specialists, armed and equipped to teleport in and secure drop sites against incredible firepower. Also used to hold breaches in multi-company assaults. Preferance for heavy shields, special weapons and bolters.

Ja'el 'The Bastion' (Sentinel Veteran, 1st Company Standard bearer) - It was during the Battle for Concordia that Brother Ja'el of the Storm Templar's first made his name. The sole survivor of his combat squad while in action with the 4th company, seeing the company standard bearer cut down by a greater Daemon of Slannesh he charged forward, picking up a fallen terminator's Storm Shield as he went. Shield in one hand and bolter in the other, he fired upon the Daemon before engaging it in combat, using his last Krak grenade to vanquish the wounded beast. Picking up the standard and placing the Storm Shield upon the ground, he held his position with disciplined fire from his bolter, banner aloft, until reinforcements from the rest of the company reached him.

Jer'ra (Senior Veteran Sergeant, 9th Crusade Company. Temporary Captain) - Amoung the most respected brothers of the Chapter, Jer'ra has refused many promotions and transfers out of the 9th, preferring to lead his squad against the enemy. A skilled duelist, he possess a keen mind tempered in over a century of leadership. Former sergeant of the Wraiths, heavy losses in recent campaigns have led to his temporary assumption of the 9th's captaincy...a promotion he knows he is unlikely to be able to refuse upon return to the Chapter.

Syl'va (Chapter Champion) - A quiet, unassuming marine, few who have met him outside his armour would ever expect he is amoung the greatest swordsmen in the Chapter. Possesses a deceptive grace and speed that has seen many a foe underestimate him in challenges, thinking they have the upper hand until they suddenly find themselves fatally wounded.

Lots of notes equals a long IA it seems...the two squads are based on individual projects I'm working on, a Tactical squad made from kitbashing new plastics and a Legion of the Damned counts-as. The characters are based on individual models that I have noted to perform above the call of duty in games consistently, and have taken short notes on notable actions.

Hopefully managed to remove all notes of previous name incarnations from the notes I copied.

[Excubitor]

Added painter picture of the colour scheme

[Doctor Perils]

I'll have to have more of a look at this later, but I'd advise you give the titles a different size, or even use the basicheader BBCode, to make the overall article more legible