IA - Fire Drakes (Second Draft, opinions welcome)

[Wargasm40k]

I tidied up some parts, expanded on others to give the Chapter some character. Basically take the Space Wolves and Salamanders and smack em together. The events in the notable campaigns section actually come from events that happened in the Chapter Master game and several scenarios I ran on both Dawn of War and Dawn of War II. So read, enjoy, feel free to be brutally honest or honestly brutal. Opinions, positive criticism, any kind of feedback is more than welcome before I put the final touches on these guys before their final write up.

FIRE DRAKES

Founding: 23rd Founding

Reason for Founding: To bolster Imperial defenses from increasing Xenos threats.

Parent Chapter: Salamanders

Homeworld: Igneon Prime

Fortress Monestary: Draconis Mons (Mountain of Dragons)

Speciality: Close Assault & Heat weaponry.

Colors: Blazing Orange, Coal Black, Burnished Gold

Chapter Symbol: Stylized flaming dragon over a black background.

Battlecry: By fire be cleansed!

Origin

The founding of the Fire Drakes came as a need to reinforce the sectors along the border between the Ultima Segmentum and Segmentum Tempestus that had seen increased Xenos threats over the previous centuries. The Salamanders where chosen to sire and train the new chapter as the Lord of Terra believed the Salamanders self reliance, sense of duty, and preference for flame weaponry would be a boon if passed on to their successor, the latter especially given the multitude of orks plaguing the area.

The Salamanders selected ten of their first company veterans, the Firedrakes, to train and lead the new chapter after its creation. These veterans blessed the new chapter with the name Fire Drakes to remind the future generations of Astartes of their honored origin and inspire them to rise to the standards expected by the legendary veterans of the Salamanders first company.

Homeworld

Igneon Prime is a large volcanic Deathworld class planet with a feral population of nomadic tribes that are the descendants of prisoners sent to mine the mineral rich surface when it was used as a penal colony during the days of the early Imperium. The planets surface is pockmarked with active volcanoes with bands of fertile but shifting habitable zones where the tribes make their homes. The planets northern hemisphere is the most stable area and home to an ancient and massive shield volcano known as Draconis Mons or the Mountain of Dragons.

Fortress Monastery

The lair of the Fire Drakes is built into the massive shield volcano. Their fortress monastery is defended by a labyrinth of lava filled trenches ringing the slopes of the mountain, and bristling with an array of defense guns, and ground to orbit weapons.

Early History

The Fire Drakes early days were fraught with bad luck. During the Charon Campaign the chapter answered the call to defend an Imperial system from an incoming ork attack. The bulk of the chapter’s forces were deployed to aid in the defense of a hive world, the expected target of the incoming orks, while the fifth company was sent to defend an agri colony on one of the inner planets. Whether it was the unknowable mind of the Xenos, or simply bad luck, the orks bypassed the heavily defended hive world and attacked the agri colony. Outnumbered many times, out of ammunition and forced to fight in hand to hand combat with whatever they could use the Fifth company held their ground until their brothers could redeploy and come to their aid. By the time reinforcements arrived the Fifth company had suffered over fifty percent casualties and over half of the survivors were severely wounded.

A second disaster came during the beginning of the Ajall War. The First, Second, Fourth, Sixth, and Ninth companies entered the Warp en route to the Ajall system. When their ships emerged the Ninth company’s strike cruiser never reappeared. The Dragon's Fire, the Devastator company, and most of the Fire Drakes long range support vehicles were lost to the Warp.

Chapter Organization

In the beginning the Fire Drakes were a Codex compliant chapter. But after the Charaon and Ajall disasters it was decided that a new structure was needed so that no single loss could limit their tools of warfare as the loss of the Ninth had. All companies were reformed, the Assault squads and what few Devastator squads were left were spread evenly across the remaining companies. The Ninth was reformed during this time with squads from the other companies.

Each company was now made up of five Tactical squads, four Assault squads and one Devastator squad and a command squad. At full strength the Fire Drakes would number around eleven hundred. ten battle companies and a pool of recruits on the homeworld that would be assigned as scouts to each battle company as needed during resupply at the Fortress Monastery.

This new formation allowed each company to be fully independent of the others as they were now each a self contained army. Over time the Fire Drakes tribal nature began to be reflected as each company began to gain it’s own identity and become tribes unto themselves. Veterans would no longer be promoted to the first company but would instead remain within their own company to serve as squad sergeants or being promoted into the Dragon Guard, the company Captain’s body guard. The command squad of each company would consist of the Captain, his Dragon Guard, the company senior Librarian, Apothecary, and Tech Marine.

Recruitment

Each year the children of every tribe on Igneon Prime who are in their tenth year compete in a series of trials to select the most intelligent and physically fit. The five children who rank the greatest from each tribe are then taken to the base of the Fortress Monastery where they must pass through the Gate of Dragons. One by one each recruit steps into the gate, gene readers scour the child’s body for impurities while a Librarian searches their mind for any taint of chaos. If the recruit passes the test of purity they are allowed to proceed through the gate, if corruption in the mind or body are found flamers built into the gate cleanse the space and the gate opens for the next recruit.

From there the new neophytes begin their indoctrination, physical training and early augmentation. When the neophytes are ready they take the final trials to become scouts. Those that fail but survive become chapter serfs while those that pass as assigned to a battle company as scout marines. Once assigned to a company the scouts are apprenticed to their company’s Tech Marines where they are taught to repair and maintain weapons and armor when not deployed in the field. This allows the Tech Marines to focus on more advanced tasks and gives the scouts the knowledge and skill required to repair and maintain their own equipment when they finally rise to become a full Astartes.

Combat Doctrine

After the changes to the chapter organization the Fire Drakes adapted to prefer close assaults and short range firefights. Tactical squads use flamers and meltas for mass infantry or heavily armored targets leaving the Devastator squads to adopt a strictly anti-vehicle/hard target loadout. The Fire Drakes like to get in as close as they can as quick as they can to butcher and burn their enemies.

Chapter Beliefs

The tribal people of Igneon Prime worship the Emperor as the Great Dragon, a giant gold scaled dragon that burns all that is impure and would show favor to warriors who slew the impure in His name. The Fire Drakes brought this belief with them where it became merged with the Promethean Cult brought by the Salamanders in the early days of the chapter. The resulting merge left a belief system that revered the Emperor as the Great Dragon and the Primarch Vulkan as the Dragon Son. They adhere to the Dragon Son’s teaching of self reliance and self sacrifice. They bring the purifying fire of the Great Dragon to purge the impure from His domain. Despite their barbaric nature and savagery in battle the Fire Drakes see themselves as noble defenders of humanity, thus they will not use tactics that endanger the lives of the innocent if at all possible. The Fire Drakes burn the name of each world or battle they fight in on their flesh to both purify themselves with the pain of the fire and to mark the passage of each warrior’s own saga. Upon a warrior’s death their gene seed is removed and the body is cremated. Their saga burned into the rock walls of the Hall of Dragons as an eternal memorial to inspire future generations.

Notable Campaigns

Charon Campaign: The Fire Draks first major war which saw eight companies deployed to the Charon system to help bolster the defenses against an ork WAAAGH which was headed in that direction. Seven companies deployed on Charon VI, a hive world and a major recruiting planet for the Imperial Guard in the sector while the Fifth company was sent to Charon III to help defend the space port on the agri world as a precaution. For an unkown reason the ork horde ignored the heavily defended Charon VI and went straight for Charon III. The Fifth company quickly found themselves outnumbered and surrounded as countless roks and crude landing craft rained from the sky to disgorge the green tide upon the agri world. The other companies on Charon VI had been dug in alongside the Imperial Guard and PDF awaiting the orks when they received word the WAAAGH had passed them by. It was nearly a week before they could redeploy to their ships and break through the ork fleet to relieve the Fifth, who were well under half strength through casualties and wounded and completely out of ammunition. The ships of the Fire Drakes and the Imperial Navy finally destroyed the ork vessels in orbit and over the next month provided air support and orbital bombardment while Imperial Guard forces landed at the space port and together with the Fire Drakes began to push back the orks and finally break the siege.

The Ajall War: Widespread rebellion and Chaos worship in the Ajall system led to the Fire Drakes being called for assistance. Five companies were sent to fight but only four arrived, the Ninth company and their strike cruiser being lost in the Warp along the way. The loss of the Devastator company along with a large portion of the Fire Drakes long range support vehicles was not only a blow to moral as well as a loss in precious geneseed and resources, but it also forced the Ajall war to drag on longer than it should have, as the rebels and cultists had captured many armored vehicles and fortified their positions in bunkers. The lack of heavy fire support forced the Fire Drakes to adapt their tactics to allow for rapid strikes and close quarter assaults. The Fire Drakes themselves preferred this method of fighting but it took a tole on their fleet of rhinos and other transports as they had little choice but to charge through enemy fire.

The slaying of Warboss Gorkill Bluddrinka: A Deathwatch kill team was sent to infiltrate the space hulk Abomination to kill the ork Warboss Gorkill Bluddrinka, an ork freebooter. He and his crew used the hulk as their base of operation to raid any planet or ship they could find along the hulks path. The Abomination entered and left the Warp at seemingly random locations which made sending the Imperial Navy to destroy it impossible as the hulk would be gone by the time any sizable fleet could be sent to its location. The kill team sent aboard battled their way to the center of the hulk where Gorkill made his lair, after a vicious and epic fight the Warboss was finally slain. This caused the remaining orks to begin fighting among themselves over who would be the new Kaptun. A Fire Drake named Thorfin Ashbringer was the only survivor and used the chaos of the infighting to make his escape from the hulk and detonate the explosive charges the kill team had set along the way and broke the hulk apart.

Gron Campaign: The largest and most bloody war the Fire Drakes have participated in thus far in their history. Initially three companies were sent to help in the defense of the planet Gron from an ork Waaagh which had sprung up from the jungles of it's southern hemisphere. Gron was a strategic trading hub and recruiting world for the Gronian Imperial Guard regiments, not to mention was rich in valuable metals and other minerals. It could not be allowed to fall to xenos filth. By the time the Fire Drakes had arrived the orks had already crushed several Gronian Imperial Guard regiments and had breached the walls. Orks were running rampant through the streets, the Gronian PDF were disorganized. Weeks of fighting turned into months with no end to the warfare in sight. The ork Waaagh was wide spread at this point with a seemingly endless stream of orks coming up from the south to reinforce the horde. Several other Space Marine chapters had forces deployed on the world as well as forces from other Guard regiments and even the Adeptus Sororitas. Four more companies of Fire Drakes were sent to join the war but even then it was barely enough to stem the tide. A desperate gamble was decided and a joint operation of Fire Drakes, Space Wolves, Black Templars, and the Gronian Reapers, Gron's most elite Imperial Guard force, struck the heart of the horde in an attempt to draw out the Warboss and end him. The gamble worked but at the cost of the entire Gronian Reapers regiment and heavy casualties among the Space Marines, but it had worked. The endless stream of orks halted as the united tribes fell to infighting and the Imperial forces were able to make headway in driving the orks from the city. Victory was in sight, or so it seemed. As if drawn to the fighting like carrion birds, the forces of Chaos arrived on the planet. Khorne's Hands, Skulltakers, and Gorebringers descended on the war torn world to join in the bloodshed and made planetfall in the east, out on the mining flats. Trapped between the Khornate warbands and the green tide, many Imperial Guard and PDF forces deployed in the east turned to chaos to kill in the name of the Blood God rather than be butchered in his name. The forces of the Imperium were scattered across the city and wilderness fighting the orks still and with so many greenskins between them and the forces of Chaos no unified front could be made to meet the bloodthirsty traitors. This lack of solidified resistance allowed the Khornate warbands, their cult armies, and the traitor guardsmen to gain momentum and carve a bloody path of destruction into the city. Risking everything, the remaining Fire Drake companies went to Gron. With the full force of an entire Space Marine chapter brought to bear the traitors momentum was halted long enough for the remaining Imperial forces to make a unified front. The Fire Drakes, companies from the Ultramarines, Space Wolves, Black Templars, Blood Angels, and forces from half a dozen other Space Marine chapters formed a bulwark for the Imperial Guard, Sisters of Battle, and the remnants of the PDF to rally around and drive the Chaos forces back street by street and hab block by hab block until they were finally defeated. With the traitors destroyed the Imperial forces were finally able to fully concentrate on the orks and drive south and back to the jungles from whence they had come. The southern half of the continent was heavily bombarded from orbit but the orks would never truly be eliminated.

The cleansing of Edenus. As part of a relief force sent to aide Imperial forces from a Tyranid splinter fleet, the Fire Drakes arrived in the system to find they were too late. The Fire Drakes battle barge and three strike cruisers destroyed the hive ships in orbit with the help of the Imperial Navy but the planet was too far gone. An Inquisitor of the Ordo Xenos gave the order for Exterminatus, but the Fire Drakes force commander convinced the Inquisitor to stay the order for now. They had destroyed the hive ships, the Tyranids weren't going anywhere and there was still a sizable defense force on the planet as well as thousands of civilians. The Fire Drakes deployed to the surface to help bolster the defenses while their transports and those of the Imperial Navy evacuated the civilians. Once the civilians had been taken to safety the defenders began pulling back and tightening their lines as more and more of them were extracted. The Fire Drakes intended to go last, making a fighting withdrawal to the transports but a colonel of the Death Korps of Krieg would have none of it. Retreating was not the Krieg way and the colonel and his men would fight to the last, the Krieg colonel even went so far as to order the Fire Drakes to withdraw while his men held the line. Impressed by their sense of duty and self sacrifice the Fire Drake force commander wished them a worthy death and withdrew with his men. Once in orbit the ships of the Fire Drakes and Imperial navy bombarded the planet with Cycllonic Torpedoes and battery fire until the entire planet was a purifying inferno. Upon return to the chapter homeworld the Death Korps of Krieg was given a true honor by having the names of those who fought and died on Edenus recorded in the Hall of Dragons.

Notable Fire Drakes

Thorfin Ashbringer: Proclaimed a hero and promoted to Dragonborn for his deeds in the Deathwatch upon returning to the chapter.

Loki the Lucky: An assault sergeant with the second company famed for never returning from a battle unscathed. His left leg, right arm, right eye, lower jaw,, several fingers on his left hand, and numerous organs are all bionic replacements from wounds suffered in numerous campaigns. Every inch of his remaining flesh is acid burned from when he was swallowed whole by a Tyranid bio-titan. Using his twin chainswords he cut his way out of a digestion sack and carved his way through the beasts insides where he breached the armored exterior with a melta charge to make his escape.

Specialist ranks

Dragon Priests: They serve the same role as Chaplains in other chapters, however Dragon Priests not only serve the spiritual needs of their company, but also record the deeds of fallen warriors in the Hall of Dragons.

Dragonborn: The greatest warrior in each company is seen as blessed by the Great Dragon and given the title of Dragonborn. These peerless warriors are gifted with the finest weapons and armor and seek out the most challenging foes in battle for honor and glory.

Chapter Colors & Apperance

The Fire Drakes colors are a quartered scheme of Blazing Orange and Coal Black with Burnished Gold trim. Each warrior adorns his gear with bone trophies and the fire resistant hides of the predatory reptiles on their homeworld.

Chapter Colors

Second Company Dragonborn

Chapter Symbol

http://i.imgur.com/90Hf1rl.jpg?1

[Wargasm40k]

Also, for the chapter symbol, that's the best picture I could find that represents what I want their chapter symbol to be.  I can't draw worth a damn.