The Storm Angels, a BA Successor Chapter Fluff (WIP)

[Tyriks]

So, I am a new player who chose Ad Mech for my first army, which has gotten somewhat boring since there is very little variety available for me.  As such, I've been getting excited about BA as a possible ally but possible standalone force.  So, I am trying to come up with a chapter to operate out of.  Any critiques or insights are very welcome!  Since this post is long and I don't want to scare people off, I'm putting headers in each section so if you don't want to read the whole ting, just read part and tell me what you like or don't about that chunk!

 

The Name

 

So, started out thinking about color schemes and names.  I don't want to have a generic name like a lot of the official successors do (i.e. Blood synonym, noun) so my first idea was to paint their armor to look like bone and name them accordingly.  However, bone turns out to be tricky to paint right (at least for someone of my current skill level) and I couldn't get it to look good.  It looked more like they were ready for a garden party than galactic conquest.  Further, Bone Angels sounds like a bad adult movie.  I toyed with the name Bone Lords, but that sounds a little chaotic, and anything like Bone Crushers sounds too generic.  I might just stick with Bone Lords, though, if I can't come up with something I like more.  I'm okay with the name Angels Ascendant, but I feel like that has to be a chapter already and I'm just not finding them.  Currently, I'm leaning towards Storm Angels.  I like storms, it doesn't sound chaotic, but it has some sense of power and danger.  And they're still angels so there's a clear connection.  Any ideas here would be helpful.

 

The Colors

 

I have (I'm 90% sure) settled on a scheme.  I'll post a picture later but I'm moving and the camera with the pics on it got packed up somewhere.  The armor is mostly a light gray (Administratum) with Mephiston Red on the shoulders, helmets, chainswords, et cetera.  Any bladed weapon will be Screaming Skull (it looks really good on chainsword teeth, anyway).  I'm thinking Sergeants will get a red right gauntlet to show off (maybe just a fancier helmet, though, depending on how it looks) and Vets will get a red right arm to distinguish them.  I really liked the way this looked on test models because the gray is light without being bright, so it makes the red really pop out a lot, I think.  It's also a lot easier to paint than white armor, haha.  If I remember, I'll work it up in the painter and link here.

 

Now, here comes the crazy part - my death company won't be black.  Before you call the asylum, hear me out - I want them to aesthetically fit in with my army more than I feel like they do normally.  I want them to look different and menacing, but not look like an allied detachment.  So, I want to paint them the same as the rest, but with Mechanicum Standard instead of Administratum (so, they'll be charcoal gray).  The Mechanicum Standard is pretty dark on my Ad Mech models, so I'm not worried about that.  I might also darken the red for them, but I'll decide that later.  

 

The History

 

So, now on to their actual story.  I wanted them to be not particularly popular within the Imperium (so there's a good reason for them to wind up fighting other Imperials), so I felt like they needed some controversy in their past.  So, they were founded at some point (haven't decided yet, but they won't be all that old.  Maybe M37ish) and took a home world in the same system as another Space Marine chapter.  They initially were not overly fond of each other and competed to outdo each other in everything.  When an Ork Waaagh rolled through the system, they had to band together to avoid extinction.  Even working together, they barely managed to fend the Orks off.  They built a strong alliance from that point onward, often sending small groups of troops along with each other to battles.  

 

That all changed maybe 400ish years ago when the buddy chapter's master fell to Chaos.  A small group of scouts that had been sent to assist the buddy chapter noticed some of their number performing a chaos ritual after the battle.  One scout went to tell the chapter master, unsure of how high the corruption went.  They established a meeting time and agreed that if he didn't come back, it was to be assumed the entire chapter had fallen.  He told the chapter master that he was the only one who saw , and was killed to keep it a secret.  The other scouts managed to get word back to the rest of the chapter before being hunted down by the buddy chapter.  

 

This led to a massive war between the two chapters.  My chapter sent word to the Imperium leadership, but was met with skepticism due to the track record of the buddy chapter.  They sent Inquisitors to investigate, but they never reported back, probably having been destroyed in the conflict.  The war got so intense that my chapter took extreme measures to end it by placing nuclear explosives (or some grimdark equivalent, not sure if the Imperium uses nukes) beneath their planets crust and detonated them.  This sent their planet hurtling out of orbit, which disrupted the orbit of the buddy chapter's planet, destroying both planets.  

 

This worked, exterminating the buddy chapter (or close enough), but drew the ire of the Imperium.  Not only were the claims of the buddy chapter's corruption unfounded (in their eyes), but they lost two very valuable planets and many imperial citizens.  My chapter evacuated most of their population beforehand, but assumed the citizens on the buddy chapter's planet were either corrupted or already slain.  It's uncertain still whether or not that was true.  The Inquisition investigated but couldn't come up with anything firm enough to convince the High Lords to commit enough troops to kill an entire chapter that not only had a good history but also still had every appearance of being willing to kill mankind's enemies, so they were simply sent to battlegrounds where it was believed they would die in combat.  But, they didn't, and eventually they began to earn back Imperial trust, but that is extremely slow going.

[Damon Nightman]

Man, really like the way you formatted this thread, puts my new chapter thread to shame lol.

 

At work right now, but will give actual and hopefully helpful feedback when I get home lol.

 

Name has been the hardest part for me because I also want a unique, less generic BA successor name. I'll think about "bone" names on my drive home that might work

[Damon Nightman]

I like the name Storm Angels, I can picture a marine saying "We are the Angels of the Storm!" right before doing something awesome lol. 

 

Color scheme sounds cool too. i think your DC idea is fine, no need for everyone to have black DC. The charcoal color would look great imo (I'm specifically picturing the Knights of Blood paint scheme i saw someone post on this forum recently)

 

Lastly, i really like the history. The whole idea of starting off as almost enemies with the other chapter, then close friends, then full blown enemies again is great and unique. I like that your chapter is now trying to work it's way back into the good graces of the Imperium slowly but surely. 

[Charlo]

I like it!

 

One potential story hook:

 

You were the Storm Angels, but upon all this business with the inquisition you were instructed to go on pennance crusade (as the big I doesn't tend to "not find proof", they'll just petition what they think happened to Terra) and while on crusade you must change your name to something more appropriate.

 

I'm thinking something death/ skull/ bone related as a reminder of all the innocents ended by your war with the other chapter? How about "The Martyred Wings" ?

 

After 1k years you may have your old chapter name back and will have earned the respect you deserve ;)

[Tyriks]

Charlo, I really like that idea, but I'm going to switch it around. They were the Bone Lords but became the Storm Angels as penance and also to sound less like a Chaos warband. Thanks for the idea!

 

As far as the Inquisition not finding evidence, I just meant that their petition to exterminate the chapter was rejected. This could have been more resource driven than evidence driven, but they wanted it and the High Lords or whoever made the call felt that there were better ways (like sending them to the front lines over and over again).

[Arkangilos]

Honestly, I would avoid having them share a system with another chapter. There are billions of stars within the Imperium, and only a million chapters. Sure, they can have a company or detachment stationed with another for some purposes, but it is highly unlikely for them to share even the same sector. It's a waste of resources and not as efficient over all.

 

By the way, you can still have the dynamic with that chapter without sharing a system or even a sector.

[Tyriks]

Honestly, I would avoid having them share a system with another chapter. There are billions of stars within the Imperium, and only a million chapters. Sure, they can have a company or detachment stationed with another for some purposes, but it is highly unlikely for them to share even the same sector. It's a waste of resources and not as efficient over all.

By the way, you can still have the dynamic with that chapter without sharing a system or even a sector.

I'm aware, and I don't mind. It's not so unreasonable that it doesn't fit with existing fluff, because the Imperium doesn't make efficient choices that reliably. Also, the act of destroying their own home planet to destabilize the other planet only works if both are in the same system. That action is largely why the Imperium isn't that happy with them and also shows the lengths that the chapter is willing to go to to get the job done, which is too important for me to drop it.

Further, there could be good reasons for it. Maybe they were requested to take another planet in the system because it was deemed valuable but not yet defensible. Or, maybe the system was close enough to Baal that the BA felt they had the right to take it but this other chapter moved in anyway, and the BA wanted to stake a claim. There are plenty of bureaucratic or political reasons to make what would otherwise be an unlikely (or even downright bad) decision. I just need to come up with the right one

[Arkangilos]

Eh, I don't really see any right reason for it. Home world selection is a very big deal at the founding of the chapter. Like, the HLoT spend a LOT of time deciding which world it would be.

 

Foundings are serious affairs, and every piece of it is taken very seriously, including where the chapter will be.

 

As for the possible reasons, they don't really work. That *one* space marine chapter could easily make the entire system strong.

 

The Ultramarines (the standard) have an entire realm (though much smaller than it used to be) under their protection and that realm does just fine. Why would this be an exception? That would mean that both chapters are so weak that the HLoT who spent a lot of time making this decision decided that they couldn't handle it by themselves.

 

Also, why would the Blood Angels claim it? They don't have the right to tell the HLoT, "Sorry, only our successors can come here." Honestly, the way it would work is, "this system is under our protection" and then no other chapters would be stationed there because he BA have it protected.

 

And I don't understand the thing where they would grab one planet in the system because it was valuable but not defensible... There is another chapter in the system, that system is insanely defended already. Also, it is RARE for chapters to get valuable planets, because the value of the planet goes away when the tithe goes away. SM home worlds do not owe tithes, so any value it has is lost to anyone accept the chapter. Most chapters get worlds that have no value, but are incredibly dangerous so the potential recruits are strong.

 

Also, I'm not sure if a single chapter would have the firepower to knock a whole planet out of orbit like that.

 

To destroy caliban it took the complete fleet of an *entire legion*

 

Same with Nostromo.

 

Space Marines can exterminatus, but not knock a planet out of orbit. They are specifically limited now so they can't do what they used to be able to do.

[Arkangilos]

Also, other important things: how did your chapter evacuate an entire world? Where did the population go? How did the chapter acquire the fleet to do it? (These aren't questions to shoot the idea down, but they are questions that are important and can/will flesh it out. Maybe the whole reason they weren't censured as bad was because they sent the population to colonize a newly discovered world or something).

[Arkangilos]

You can have everything you want without it being your chapter's homeworld.

 

But, I am fallible, so I'll ask down in the liber section to see what they say about this, too. If they back up that you can do it, I will revoke my criticisms :)

 

Also, I'm not trying to shoot down your chapter! I like the ideas and the character.

 

It's interesting, which is why I am interested to give my critiques.

[Tyriks]

Destabilizing a planet's orbit from the surface of the planet is extremely easy, actually, with the kind of weapons they have.  We could do it to earth with nuclear weapons already. You just need to cause large enough explosions along tectonic rifts (natural earthquakes actually change the planet's orbit and rotation slightly; engineered ones could do a lot more).  It would be much harder to destabilize from orbit because you would essentially just have to hit the planet hard enough to physically move it out of orbit, instead of using its own momentum to do it for you.  

 

I think if the BA felt entitled to the planetary system and the HLoT gave it t someone else, they would be pissed and might try to claim it anyway.  I think that's what I am going to go with.  Or, if my chapter got there first, found more valuable resources than expected, and the HLoT tried to reassign them to send a chapter they favored there because they were concerned about how my chapter would use the resources.  That could add to the tension (and disbelief) of the situation when my chapter claims the other chapter is corrupt and then kills them before anyone can prove otherwise.  

 

As far as evacuation goes, I haven't worked that out yet.  I intend to, but I'm in the process of moving so I don't have much time.  The planet wouldn't have been a hive planet, and probably wasn't a forge planet either, though maybe it was in the process of becoming one.  The population was safely delivered to another planet (part of the reason the HLoT didn't agree to kill off the chapter), but I don't know yet which planet.

 

I am not at all offended by your questions and criticism!  I appreciate it.  It makes developing a history and corporate identity a lot easier by pointing out things I didn't think of.  

[Tyriks]

When you say liber section, do you mean the Liber Astartes forum?  What is that?  I tried reading some stuff there and it just doesn't make sense.  

[Arkangilos]

I think if the BA felt entitled to the planetary system and the HLoT gave it t someone else, they would be pissed and might try to claim it anyway.

That's not how it works, though. Chapter's cannot claim systems, they are either assigned systems, or they promise systems protection. Only the HLoT can decide where a successor is formed, because only they can found chapters.

 

Or, if my chapter got there first, found more valuable resources than expected,

Chapter's don't care about that. Their only concern is killing the enemies of the Imperium. Home worlds are decided before the chapter is founded, and go through a very long and extreme series of tests. The HLoT won't go, "that world is rich in resources, let us deprive ourselves of such resources by giving it to a chapter when they are founded 20 years from now."

 

They would say, "see that horrible death world over there? Let's test the population. When the chapter is founded in 2 decades, we will grant them that world."

 

I mean, I guess second home worlds could be granted, though.

 

Space Marines don't look for resources other than people, that's the job of Rogue Traders.

 

As for the orbit thing, it would still take an extremely long time for the shift in orbit to be noticeable by either world, unless one was very, very close to the other. A moon would make more sense. But, I can get behind the idea of this either way. I mean the system could already be delicately balanced, so yeah, I can accept that.

 

Even if it wasn't a hive world, the population would be in the billions, unless it was a feral or death world.

 

Also, the HLoT don't care so much about populations. Humanity is the one resource in abundance. Entire worlds have been destroyed for less.

 

Again, I want to reiterate, resource rich worlds would not be given to Astartes of second founding or later.

 

But, someone did say if you had a really good reason and could sell it, then the implausible could be alright. I am just not sold on it yet.

[Tyriks]

 

I think if the BA felt entitled to the planetary system and the HLoT gave it t someone else, they would be pissed and might try to claim it anyway.

That's not how it works, though. Chapter's cannot claim systems, they are either assigned systems, or they promise systems protection. Only the HLoT can decide where a successor is formed, because only they can found chapters.

 

Or, if my chapter got there first, found more valuable resources than expected,

Chapter's don't care about that. Their only concern is killing the enemies of the Imperium. Home worlds are decided before the chapter is founded, and go through a very long and extreme series of tests. The HLoT won't go, "that world is rich in resources, let us deprive ourselves of such resources by giving it to a chapter when they are founded 20 years from now."

Chapters aren't supposed to care about that.  That does not mean that they don't.  Especially for groups like the Blood Angels who don't want nosy visitors due to their flaws.  And if a system is rich in something valuable, they absolutely would send marines there to guard it.  They aren't going to leave valuable systems unprotected, and especially valuable systems would warrant more than one chapter.  

 

Think about this: each chapter is, at least in theory, no more than one thousand marines.  One thousand marines couldn't hold even a city against a hive fleet or an Ork Waaagh, no matter how tough they are.  They would just not have the numbers.  Even if the Orks could not even damage the marines, like actual zero chance of hurting them, so what?  They would just go around them.  If you look at NY City, which is a tiny little hamlet compared to cities in 40k, it is about 305 square miles.  You could divide that up and give each marine 1/3 of a square mile to defend by himself, and you would still have a couple miles left over.  You could walk right through the marines and never even know they were there!  Now imagine that same thousand trying to cover the surface of the earth.  Each marine would have about 197,000 square miles to defend!  There is just no way for that to work.  In light of that, having two chapters in one system is not at all unreasonable, if there was a reason to protect it.  

 

Also, Ultramar (I believe) was split up when the Second Founding happened.  Different parts of it were given to different Ultramarine chapters.  So the whole thing is not guarded exclusively by the Ultramarines (if it was, there would be 2 marines PER PLANET!  And that assumes there were no Ultramarines outside of Ultramar).

[Arkangilos]

There are already less than one marine per planet, which is why it is highly unlikely they would concentrate marine home worlds in a single system.

 

The space marines are a highly mobile strike force, not the balwark to stand tall against invaders, that is what the imperial guard is for. In a sector you will have billions of soldiers in the form of PDF and IG, and a chapter to supplement those forces. If that one chapter isn't enough for a particular waaaaagh or invasion, they call upon the assistance of outside chapters, as in chapters that are not in that sector. In cases like the eye of terror, you have several chapters stationed along the surrounding sectors, but a lot of them don't have home worlds there.

 

And again, the Blood Angels do not get a say in who goes where. They literally have zero actual power when it comes to running the imperium and founding chapters. They don't get a say on if their seed is used, they don't get a say in what worlds their successors get, nothing.

 

As to Ultramar, most of it was split up, but there are still several systems in Ultramar that fall under the Ultramarines.

 

The Liber Astartes section is where a lot of lore buffs hang out. There are several threads there that are very helpful.

[Arkangilos]

like, literally, the fluff has always said there is less than one marine per world... And it's like you forget they have fast strike cruisers, have plenty of stories where one company has single handedly held off entire invasions, etc.

 

Hell, one squad even made an entire world surrender. The fluff is against you on this one.

 

I will point out that while several others have agreed with me when I posed the question, they all said it could be done if sold well. But you just aren't selling it well yet.

 

Also, the planets would have already been explored. When a founding happens, they already know what world they are sending the new chapter to.

[Arkangilos]

Think about it like this, you have an entire galaxy to defend, and only one thousand chapters, do you want your chapters clustered in the same system, doing the same thing, at the same place, competing for the same resources and recruits, when you have billions of soldiers that can do it for them?

 

Here, I'll give an example of something I think would work: during the past they competed with the other chapter while on campaign. Over this huge, long campaign into a huge Ork empire, built up a strong friendship. However, an Ork counter attack struck out at their friends home world, weakening it dramatically. In the same system was another world, where your chapter lost its greatest hero. But together, you and the friend stopped the Ork threat.

 

But! The crusade was halted, and your friends world was not strong anymore (having been mauled by Orks). So over the most holy site where your hero died, you built a monument fortress, where a good portion of your chapter was stationed, both to aid them and honor your hero. It was a holy site, and a very strategically important one.

 

That way it is incredibly important, isn't a homeworld, but has the strategic value of one. It bypasses the "too many chapter home worlds together", but actually *increases* what your chapter would do to achieve victory because you *desicrated a memorial to one of your greatest heroes*

 

A homeworld you can replace with time, holy sites you cannot.

 

Also, sorry about the triple post :(

[Tyriks]

No one is saying the BA caused them to be founded.  But, fledgling chapters tend to associate with their predecessors.  So, if the BA had an agenda, they could try to persuade newly founded chapters to help them out.  I'm considering the holy site idea, but that seems harder to swallow.  They would have a much harder time getting into a position to destabilize the planet in that circumstance, since it would be in the heart of enemy territory and very far from their own.  

 

 

 

 

like, literally, the fluff has always said there is less than one marine per world... And it's like you forget they have fast strike cruisers, have plenty of stories where one company has single handedly held off entire invasions, etc.

Hell, one squad even made an entire world surrender. The fluff is against you on this one.

The fastest ships are not instantaneous.  It still takes time to get troops together, shuttle them off to warzones, perform their appropriate pre-battle rituals and such.  Warp travel is faster than light, but it's not the same as teleporting.  

 

Just because a novel says that it happened doesn't mean it's logical that it could happen, though.  Lots of Black Library books have things happening in them that are too cheesy for me - I'm not going to write my chapter's history to suit random novels.  I'm not writing anything over the top, like my chapter master is one of the lost primarchs, or anything contradictory, like he is actually the Emperor's dad.  It might seem unlikely to want to concentrate troops, but it really isn't.  Like you said, people are not important to the Imperium.  If a planet or system was exceptionally rich in resources, it would make sense to station more than 1000 marines there.  There could easily be less than one marine per planet, but it doesn't mean the Imperium would care; most of those worlds are replaceable because they have little value.  Most worlds could never sustain life; of those that could, some would have chemical compositions that make them more or less valuable.  Not every world is the same.

 

Yes, there are Imperial Guard also.  But how much would you be willing to rely on them to keep something valuable safe in a universe with Necrons, Eldar, Tyranids, and Orks?  They, after all, would be no different than the people of the entire world that surrendered to one squad of space marines.  

 

 

 

Think about it like this, you have an entire galaxy to defend, and only one thousand chapters, do you want your chapters clustered in the same system, doing the same thing, at the same place, competing for the same resources and recruits, when you have billions of soldiers that can do it for them?

It depends on a lot.  But, ultimately, yes, you would.  If a site was valuable (for any reason), you wouldn't just leave the cannon fodder to take care of it when you have elite super-soldiers.  

 

 

 

Also, the planets would have already been explored. When a founding happens, they already know what world they are sending the new chapter to. 

We have been on Earth for some 50,000 years now and still don't know a lot about it.  Imperial surveys make mistakes, I'm sure.  

 

What I am leaning towards right now is that the system was originally just for my chapter, but the other chapter (an older, somewhat well-respected fleet based chapter) set down for emergency repairs (or something) and just never left.  For awhile, my chapter tried to help them out, but then got upset that they weren't leaving.  Since the older chapter had a good record, no one else wanted to get involved in forcing them out (and no one knew that they were planning on setting up shop there).  That would explain the initial animosity beyond just proximity.  That could also have led to resentment with the larger Imperium, which would add to their belief that my chapter was the one in the wrong.  

[Arkangilos]

They would have a much harder time getting into a position to destabilize the planet in that circumstance, since it would be in the heart of enemy territory and very far from their own.

No, I meant the Ork counter attack went into imperial space. But your idea of them basing down isn't bad, either.

 

Also, I wasn't referencing any novels. The codices themselves talk about squads that subdue worlds, lone companies that halt a waaaagh and even an entire tyranid tendril.

 

No offense, but the majority of your response shows a lack of understanding of the fluff and the reason behind the codex astartes, which is to make it so that space marines have to rely on the Imperial Guard in 90 percent of the cases.

 

One chapter is more than enough for defending an entire sector, because that is what they *want* for a reason.

 

One star system is not valuable enough for two chapters.

 

*even holy Terra itself does not have a chapter stationed on it* it is the *most* important world.

 

Cadia does not have a space marine, and it is one of the most important worlds.

 

Not a single important world is a homeworld. (Not counting Macragge)

 

So I named for you two of the most important worlds, and neither of them have more than one chapter within a sector of them.

 

And you are completely clueless as to what space marines are for, they aren't to protect single worlds. Or there would be entire chapters stationed on Cadia, Terra, Mars, etc.

 

Space marines are spread out for two reasons: to cover more ground in offensive operations, and to prevent them from becoming too powerful with other chapters.

[Arkangilos]

But, it seems you are set in your ways, so off to a different critique!

 

The headers are nice, and if you want to make them even nicer, you can add cooler ones (where they are colored bars with skulls and stuff). If you click on the link in my Sig that says Sanguinary Crusaders you can see an example. Or you can go to the Liber and look at one of the guides. I'm on my phone or I would link it directly.

 

It might be in the BBCode in one of the sections, too.

 

Yup, under headers: http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/304061-bbcode-guide/?do=findComment&comment=3964280

[Conn Eremon]

What I am leaning towards right now is that the system was originally just for my chapter, but the other chapter (an older, somewhat well-respected fleet based chapter) set down for emergency repairs (or something) and just never left. For awhile, my chapter tried to help them out, but then got upset that they weren't leaving. Since the older chapter had a good record, no one else wanted to get involved in forcing them out (and no one knew that they were planning on setting up shop there). That would explain the initial animosity beyond just proximity. That could also have led to resentment with the larger Imperium, which would add to their belief that my chapter was the one in the wrong.

What if the older Chapter couldn't leave? There have been incidences of Chapters landing ships, whether intentionally or not, and then never leaving. The Crimson Fists were given Rynn's World, where they beached their Chapter barge, proving their permanence. The Fists Exemplar crashed their starfort, and claimed that world. It's not an uncommon sight among people making DIYs. The logic is that the Chapter could never just leave this behind, but cannot take it with them either. The only real choice they have, the only choice they would ever consider, is to remain behind with it.

 

So, what if this older Chapter doesn't leave, because as far as it is concerned it can't leave?

 

This does leave a lot of questions to answer, such as why a Chapter barge, or equivalent, would be in such poor condition inside another Chapter's system, or later on, how one Chapter is capable of destroying another without becoming at least nearly destroyed itself. The answer already provided does seem quite a bit "too easy."

[Tyriks]

What if the older Chapter couldn't leave? There have been incidences of Chapters landing ships, whether intentionally or not, and then never leaving. The Crimson Fists were given Rynn's World, where they beached their Chapter barge, proving their permanence. The Fists Exemplar crashed their starfort, and claimed that world. It's not an uncommon sight among people making DIYs. The logic is that the Chapter could never just leave this behind, but cannot take it with them either. The only real choice they have, the only choice they would ever consider, is to remain behind with it.

So, what if this older Chapter doesn't leave, because as far as it is concerned it can't leave?

This would make a lot of sense. I like this idea a lot, thanks!

 

This does leave a lot of questions to answer, such as why a Chapter barge, or equivalent, would be in such poor condition inside another Chapter's system, or later on, how one Chapter is capable of destroying another without becoming at least nearly destroyed itself. The answer already provided does seem quite a bit "too easy."

Well, first, it would have taken a huge toll on my chapter, hence the need to go to extreme measures. And, maybe the other chapter wasn't exterminated, but managed to escape. I'm not opposed to that at all, I just don't want to have an ongoing rivalry, so if they're out there my Storm Angels don't know. I expect my chapter to still be small (I'm thinking around 600) because they've only recently been given actual time to recuperate from the losses. Further, I would assume that the other chapter would not have been at full strength. They weren't prepared for the secret to come out and weren't expecting it for some time yet. They could have been in the process of weeding out the loyalists, and maybe had some of their own number fight against them when it came out. On top of that, if they crash landed there only a couple years prior (maybe a decade), their own numbers would likely have been small to start with. They had, after all, just come out of some conflict by the skin of their teeth (which is why they crashed in the first place). If the planet is sparsely populated and their ride just broke down, it seems reasonable to be slow to fill out their numbers. They just wouldn't have enough recruits.

[Arkangilos]

Lovely!

[Conn Eremon]

Couple ideas to jump off of your last post.

 

One, having the other Chapter undermanned does help. It goes together with the predicament of their barge/equivalent. A Chapter protects their home with its life, so it may nearly have died off in whatever incident forced them planetside. If you up the timetable, you can have this war happen soon enough that the other Chapter is outnumbered. Because frankly, 600 is a very high number for a Chapter than just fought another to the death and then went on a Penitence Crusade (if that happened, can't remember right now). One thing we have been shown is that Marine on Marine violence comes with an absolutely horrific death toll on both sides, and even worse collateral. And Penitence Crusades are not much better.

 

Having the corruption be pre-planetfall could increase the timetable. Might even explain their presence, if this Chapter was in the midst of a relatively quiet civil war the loyalists lost.

 

But that brings me to the second point. I actually wonder if you might be best served removing the external conflict with this other Chapter and making it internal, a conflict with heretical elements within your Chapter. It removes the other Chapter, which is taking a lot of space in your Chapter's lore just to rationalize, but it also means introducing corruption within your own Chapter. Your Chapter could overcome it, perhaps all in-house. But you can't hide the touch of Chaos, and, like I said earlier, internecine warfare is a bloody mess, and it can be hard to hide all that evidence. Leading to an attempt to convince suspicious, perhaps paranoid, inquisitors that what's done is done, and the survivors are devoted and pure.

 

Basically, there are other avenues you can explore to lead to the same, desired conclusion.

 

Both examples are ones I have explored, or will explore, with my own DIYs. My Imperial Dragons had a corrupted First Captain, that led to devastating civil war and a complete reconstruction of their self-identity in the proceeding penitence crusades, as they bled themselves dry under the direction of those unconvinced of their loyalty. My Crimson Specters are of the most recent Founding, and perhaps it is their relative youth that explains why no Imperial authority has entertained the accusations they have leveled against the Honored Sons/Brethren (undecided), and so they feel they must take matters into their own hands.

 

Different paths to a similar conclusion.

[Tyriks]

That was my original idea, but it felt too similar to the Dark Angels. It also is a bit closer to my Ad Mech's history, and I want something different. I wanted more of a young, almost naively optimistic chapter that gets screwed over and now sees how grimdark their universe actually is. When I'm settled on the course of the history and write it up in a bit more detail, I want to make this more apparent, but for now I just want to iron out details.

 

When it comes to the numbers, 600 is the current strength, having been finished with their penitence for a little while now. I think a founding in early M39, with the other chapter crashing in maybe 30 years later and the war being only a couple years later. Then, penitence until maybe 10 years ago (not sure on how much time to give them here). So they aren't currently crusading, they've had some time to actually focus on rebuilding.

 

I'm also leaning towards them failing to evacuate their planet, but having a few ships that took humans with them when they fled and used them for recruitment when possible over the course of their penitence . That, or they failed completely but were given chances to recruit while crusading.