Custom Chapter Woes

[The Vagabird]

I've been trying to nail down this custom chapter for so long. Every time I try and work the issues out in my head I end up with a severe case of ":cussit", either fed up that my chapter lacks focus, or is turning into a bunch of unrealistic sues. I need help, bad, and a lot of it.

 

I'll lay out the basics of the crunch and fluff, more on request.

 

 

Fluff:

They were building a private empire up on the fringes of the Imperium for a long time, sort of like a smaller Ultramar, with decent standards of living and all around trying to be good rulers. Then the Reign of Blood happened and they got smacked around by their allies for being too inquisitive/anti-Ecclesiarchy/independent, leaving their empire in shambles and their homeworld battered. After Vandire went down, the rest of the Imperium figured "mistakes were made", as a lot of loyalists were forced to fight loyalists, and so the chapter wasn't declared Traitoris.

 

Now they're caught in a tough spot. They want to be a noble chapter, but they're forced to scavenge and steal in order to remain strong. They'll steal armor from under fallen allies' noses and mark it down as a "debt of honor", they'll only ever journey outside of their usual patrol sectors if they hear tell of a cache of information and archaotech - either to keep it for themselves or barter it to the AdMech who they desperately want to curry favor with, and they'll sometimes even abduct prominent scientists/researchers/warriors to bring back to their homeworld if they feel they'd do better with them.

 

Their High Command is very secretive. The Librarius holds major sway, and the high council is always trying to refine their chapter's philosophy in the face of a universe that REALLY hates trying to be kind or sensible. Willpower and the nobility of suffering is understandably quite big with them (though not quite to, say, Doom Eagles levels). They need to spend large amounts of energy both ensuring that their chapter survives, but also pursuing their interests and ideals - making sure the AdMech keeps training all the techmarines they'd like to have, sending brothers to the Deathwatch, making sure their warriors don't slip into despair or become disgusted by some of the more callous elements of the Imperium they must call their allies.

 

The chapter aesthetic is a mixture of various northern indigenous styles, with lots of animal and rain/storm/mist imagery. Sort of similar to the White Scar's barbarian vibe over the Space Wolves barbarian vibe.

 

Crunch:

I'm not decided on gene-seed, but they're likely White Scars successors, and therefor feel the only vehicles worthy of actually being driven by an astartes are bikes and landspeeders. They don't use much in the way of tanks, but like drop pods, aerial vehicles, and dreadnoughts.

 

I wanted to make them a more reasonable chapter in terms of tactics, able to adapt to the situations presented to them, but for the sake of homing in on core strengths I'm thinking I want to do a sort of "focused strike" combat style. IE: whether it's loud and proud or sneaky, they like to size up their enemy's weakness and then charge through in an unstoppable blow - beheading armies by killing leaders, bulldozing through weakened fortifications with devastators and dreads, or harrowing enemy lines with bikes before motoring through in a massive spearhead. They have nothing against heavy firepower/armor, but they like to have their enemy where they want them, and then being there when the perfect opportunity presents itself.

 

So here are my major dilemmas, now that the synopsis is out.

 

1. I STILL can't decide on a name and heraldry. My current title I'm floating is the "Emancipators", in reference to their past as conquerors ("emancipating" forgotten worlds from xenos predation), and their desire to uphold nobility.

 

2. The nobility thing. I want them to be one of the nice chapters, like the Salamanders, or Lamenters, but what are ways to do this without them coming off as - I shudder at the word - sue-ish? The fact that they need to spend so much effort balancing survival with nobility is one thing, and I would have straight up nuked their homeworld if I didn't want to have fun designing it later.

 

3. Librarians. The chapter divided the duties of Chaplains amongst the Apothecaries and Librarians, similar to the White Scars. But the chapter is also an inquisitive one. They're not the kind to try and use Chaos against Chaos, but they still want to try and dissect the mysteries of their enemy. What are ways that the chapter could ensure they don't fall to Chaos while still trying delve into the secrets of the universe?

 

4. What would be a good Chapter Tactic for them? Also is there a better word for the type of combat plan I'm trying to describe? "Tactical Strike"? "Lightning Strike"?

 

5 (disclaimer). Even though they're meant to be an under-strength chapter who needs to struggle for their resources, I will %100 admit the reason I have them loot their gear is because I wanted an excuse to do conversions and use fancy Forge World bitz, since I enjoy modelling and painting. Same reason that while I wanted their combat tactics to be a bit more focused, I still wanted an excuse to grab lots of cool models and bitz.

 

Any help is appreciated! I've tried getting help both on the B&C before, and also /tg/, but I can just never nail these guys down.

 

Also: I'll take any constructive criticism, but please enough of these people who instantly bash any marine chapters who try to be nice or sensible. I understand 40k is about grimdark, but I choose to try and build a chapter who struggles rather than is just another Black Templar clone. If you like angry chapters, power to you, but don't just disregard what I'm trying to do with my personal chapter.

[blackoption]

A couple of random thoughts.

 

1.  You might be trying too hard on the name.  A chapter's personality is not always a caricature of their name. For example... while one might guess that the Black Consuls are a very stern and severe chapter by the 'Black' aspect of their name, there is no way to tell that the Novamarines operate off the monodominate view of 'Humanity Only' in this galaxy just from their name. As a White scar successor, you could have a wide range of names that work for poetic reasons or even lineage reasons.  By their color scheme, I'd call them the 'Jade Cavaliers'.

 

2. Nobility can be explained more through cultural reasons.  The Salamanders tend to be noble because they see themselves as protectors of mortals. Same with the Lamenters, Ultramarines, Imperial Fists, and a host of other chapters.  Yet they reasons they see themselves are protectors can vary: Salamanders remember the teachings of their Primarch, Ultramarines by tradition of defending the realm of Ultramar, Lamenters for having an almost naive outlook on war and strive to be noble for noble's sake. What reasons does this Chapter have to be a protector of man as opposed to a warrior of man (like the Marines Malevolent or Space Wolves).

 

3. Any particular reasons to NOT have chaplains?  Right now they seem like Space Wolf proxies in this regard (Wolf Priests and Rune Priests sharing the role of Chaplaincy). 

 

4. If you are a CODEX chapter, I'd recommend looking at FW chapter tactics. They are free for download on their sight.  Mantis Warriors (though outdated) might be a good way to replicate rule wise what you are going for regarding striking at an enemy with lighter weapons at their weakest point.

 

5. This seems like a self inflicted handicap to me. I've used FW bits from Red Scorpions as well as Ultramarine Invictarii armor sets for my chapter.  Who's to say that those particular bits could not be A. personalized honor to reflect accomplishments or B. Gifts from AD Mech or other chapters as part of debts of honor.  So long as your not using other chapter's symbols directly on your models (and even then, who is to say it isn't a commemoration for when that Astartes or that Artificer Armor didn't campaign alongside those venerable chapter's of note) I do not see it as an issue at if you use their bits.

[Grand Master Belial]

There is a lot to play with and a LOT of blending of styles within. I could easily bend what you have to make them a Dark Angel Successor as well as most other loyalist chapters. But let's stick with the list.

 

1. My first thought when reading this was something along the lines of the Conquistadors but spun up in the telling by a remembrancer from the Great Crusade. They come in polished armor to conquer the fallacies brought forth by the Imperial Truth and the Light of the Astronomicon. Basically, they believe they are conquering by enlightening the locals and making their lives better. By espousing the Pre-Ecclesiarical teachings from before the Heresey, that would put them in a bad light with the Imperium and help explain why they are in a bad way with armor and supplies.

 

Another option that came to me was totems and the shamans of the tribes. They can be known as the War Shamans and their heraldry would be tied to a totem animal. With each Company embodying the spirit of their totem. Bear Company for the Terminators, Eagle Company would be an Assault Company, Wolf Company would be a Tactical Company and so on. The Librarians can then easily take up the Chaplain role by virtue of their Force Staves shaped like Totem poles and being the Shamans of the chapter. When not in battle, the brothers can go out amongst the populace where they would be Shamans in their own rite to the locals to inspire, help and educate.

 

2. I kind of helped a bit here in the previous answer but something to think about is that while the chapter may be in a bad way with the Imperium, their world may not be and the chapter could rely on them to trade for the chapter or to help foster a series of Rogue Traders that the chapter will provide security in return for some needed supplies in place of sending more than a few brothers to the Deathwatch.

 

3. The War Shamans idea helps to set up this one and also provides a necessary out with help of a pointy eared xenos race. The idea of focusing on a single aspect and blocking out the rest may provide a method for the Librarians to parse the mysteries of the universe and limiting themselves to the risks of catastrophes. I'll leave whether they actually interact or are inspired by their observations of them and coming up with their own system.

 

4. I am unfamiliar with all the Tactics as I don't play much but using the totem animal idea could allow a formation for each animal persona. If they were DA, the various 'wings' would be in play here with a wing being called in based on the situation.

 

5. The Shamans idea plays into this one pretty well as you can convert and collect to represent the various spirit motifs.

[The Vagabird]

 

2. Nobility can be explained more through cultural reasons.  The Salamanders tend to be noble because they see themselves as protectors of mortals. Same with the Lamenters, Ultramarines, Imperial Fists, and a host of other chapters.  Yet they reasons they see themselves are protectors can vary: Salamanders remember the teachings of their Primarch, Ultramarines by tradition of defending the realm of Ultramar, Lamenters for having an almost naive outlook on war and strive to be noble for noble's sake. What reasons does this Chapter have to be a protector of man as opposed to a warrior of man (like the Marines Malevolent or Space Wolves).

 

Interesting insight. I'll keep this in mind.

 

There is a lot to play with and a LOT of blending of styles within. I could easily bend what you have to make them a Dark Angel Successor as well as most other loyalist chapters. But let's stick with the list.

 

1. My first thought when reading this was something along the lines of the Conquistadors but spun up in the telling by a remembrancer from the Great Crusade. They come in polished armor to conquer the fallacies brought forth by the Imperial Truth and the Light of the Astronomicon. Basically, they believe they are conquering by enlightening the locals and making their lives better. By espousing the Pre-Ecclesiarical teachings from before the Heresey, that would put them in a bad light with the Imperium and help explain why they are in a bad way with armor and supplies.

 

Another option that came to me was totems and the shamans of the tribes. They can be known as the War Shamans and their heraldry would be tied to a totem animal. With each Company embodying the spirit of their totem. Bear Company for the Terminators, Eagle Company would be an Assault Company, Wolf Company would be a Tactical Company and so on. The Librarians can then easily take up the Chaplain role by virtue of their Force Staves shaped like Totem poles and being the Shamans of the chapter. When not in battle, the brothers can go out amongst the populace where they would be Shamans in their own rite to the locals to inspire, help and educate.

 

2. I kind of helped a bit here in the previous answer but something to think about is that while the chapter may be in a bad way with the Imperium, their world may not be and the chapter could rely on them to trade for the chapter or to help foster a series of Rogue Traders that the chapter will provide security in return for some needed supplies in place of sending more than a few brothers to the Deathwatch.

 

3. The War Shamans idea helps to set up this one and also provides a necessary out with help of a pointy eared xenos race. The idea of focusing on a single aspect and blocking out the rest may provide a method for the Librarians to parse the mysteries of the universe and limiting themselves to the risks of catastrophes. I'll leave whether they actually interact or are inspired by their observations of them and coming up with their own system.

 

4. I am unfamiliar with all the Tactics as I don't play much but using the totem animal idea could allow a formation for each animal persona. If they were DA, the various 'wings' would be in play here with a wing being called in based on the situation.

 

5. The Shamans idea plays into this one pretty well as you can convert and collect to represent the various spirit motifs.

 

 

Extremely helpful, and very in line with what I was aiming for even without being told all the lore. I really like the idea of operate through third parties like Rogue Traders, and having the Shamans focus on singular aspects. This opens up a whole realm of ways I could better structure the chapter.

 

As for the companies, my existing model has a two-headed system wherein half the chapter is "loud and proud" and the other half is more "sneaky-tactical", each with two battle companies, two reserve, and one command. I'm likely going to have a more Codex-like system wherein CQC is deemed more for veterans and heavy weapons deemed more for novices, while terminators are kept to the command companies. Bikes are more of an earned honor, and situational. They'll usually be given to adept-level marines and veterans.

[Tyriks]

For the name, why not something like "Storm Riders"?  It would fit better with WS lineage/tactics than anything else, but something like that would fit your intended theme.  Or even "Storm Shields" to reflect their desire to defend the people they are in power over.  

[Grand Master Belial]

I live to serve.

 

Perhaps we will see them appear next March for the 2017 Brotherhood of Angels IA event starting on Liber Day.

[NightrawenII]

 

They were building a private empire up on the fringes of the Imperium for a long time, sort of like a smaller Ultramar, with decent standards of living and all around trying to be good rulers. Then the Reign of Blood happened and they got smacked around by their allies for being too inquisitive/anti-Ecclesiarchy/independent, leaving their empire in shambles and their homeworld battered. After Vandire went down, the rest of the Imperium figured "mistakes were made", as a lot of loyalists were forced to fight loyalists, and so the chapter wasn't declared Traitoris.

Well, empire-building is outside of mandate of Space Marine Chapter, so they will be smacked regardless of Reign of Blood, send on penitent crusade and the worlds would be returned under control of Administratum.

 

 

Now they're caught in a tough spot. They want to be a noble chapter, but they're forced to scavenge and steal in order to remain strong. They'll steal armor from under fallen allies' noses and mark it down as a "debt of honor", they'll only ever journey outside of their usual patrol sectors if they hear tell of a cache of information and archaotech - either to keep it for themselves or barter it to the AdMech who they desperately want to curry favor with, and they'll sometimes even abduct prominent scientists/researchers/warriors to bring back to their homeworld if they feel they'd do better with them.

Except that was 5,000 years in past.

You can build nation in century, the XYZ Chapter should be fine right now.

 

 

Their High Command is very secretive.

Why?

 

 

I wanted to make them a more reasonable chapter in terms of tactics, able to adapt to the situations presented to them, but for the sake of homing in on core strengths I'm thinking I want to do a sort of "focused strike" combat style. IE: whether it's loud and proud or sneaky, they like to size up their enemy's weakness and then charge through in an unstoppable blow - beheading armies by killing leaders, bulldozing through weakened fortifications with devastators and dreads, or harrowing enemy lines with bikes before motoring through in a massive spearhead. They have nothing against heavy firepower/armor, but they like to have their enemy where they want them, and then being there when the perfect opportunity presents itself.

In FFG's Rites of Battle this tactic is called lightning strike.

 

Btw, it was also favorite tactic of Horus and his Sons...

 

 

1. I STILL can't decide on a name and heraldry. My current title I'm floating is the "Emancipators", in reference to their past as conquerors ("emancipating" forgotten worlds from xenos predation), and their desire to uphold nobility.

Agreed with blackoption.

The name doesn't need to correspond with Chapter belief/creed/actions. Red Scorpions, for example, don't even have red armour.

 

 

2. The nobility thing. I want them to be one of the nice chapters, like the Salamanders, or Lamenters, but what are ways to do this without them coming off as - I shudder at the word - sue-ish? The fact that they need to spend so much effort balancing survival with nobility is one thing, and I would have straight up nuked their homeworld if I didn't want to have fun designing it later.

For you to say 'nobility' so often, you describe helluva self-centered Chapter.

 

3. Librarians. *snip* What are ways that the chapter could ensure they don't fall to Chaos while still trying delve into the secrets of the universe?

None.

That's the point about Chaos, man. It can and does corrupt and twist even the most noble individuals and/or ideas.

 

5 (disclaimer). Even though they're meant to be an under-strength chapter who needs to struggle for their resources, I will %100 admit the reason I have them loot their gear is because I wanted an excuse to do conversions and use fancy Forge World bitz, since I enjoy modelling and painting. Same reason that while I wanted their combat tactics to be a bit more focused, I still wanted an excuse to grab lots of cool models and bitz.

Agreed with blackoption.

It's self-inflicted handicap.

 

 

~ NightrawenII

[The Vagabird]

So do you have anything helpful to add, or what? You even managed to give me the proper name of the battle doctrine and then shot it down with the Horus comparison.

[NightrawenII]

So do you have anything helpful to add, or what? You even managed to give me the proper name of the battle doctrine and then shot it down with the Horus comparison.

I can provide only what I consider helpful, if you don't like it nor find it helpful. Well, that's another thing...

 

Also, it's not comparison and I'm not shooting it down. The lightning strike was strategic doctrine of Sons of Horus Legion, a simple fact. However, it doesn't mean that it was later not incorporated into Codex Astartes and that the Later Founding Chapter cannot use it as their prefered doctrine.

 

What I'm shooting down is the fact that your Chapter doesn't read like paragon of nobility* and that it's still struggling to get the necessary gear.

 

 

* ... and the irony of the fact that very rarely the nobility adhered to noblesse oblige is not lost on me.

 

 

~ NightrawenII

[The Vagabird]

 

So do you have anything helpful to add, or what? You even managed to give me the proper name of the battle doctrine and then shot it down with the Horus comparison.

I can provide only what I consider helpful, if you don't like it nor find it helpful. Well, that's another thing...

 

Also, it's not comparison and I'm not shooting it down. The lightning strike was strategic doctrine of Sons of Horus Legion, a simple fact. However, it doesn't mean that it was later not incorporated into Codex Astartes and that the Later Founding Chapter cannot use it as their prefered doctrine.

 

What I'm shooting down is the fact that your Chapter doesn't read like paragon of nobility* and that it's still struggling to get the necessary gear.

 

 

* ... and the irony of the fact that very rarely the nobility adhered to noblesse oblige is not lost on me.

 

 

~ NightrawenII

 

 

It's more in the realm of not killing civilians, respecting their allies, protecting the weak, etc. I might just drop the looting part. I figured it would be a more reasonable path to explain my using FW conversions than just saying "oh and they also happen to have all this sweet gear lying around", but if that's apparently not so much an issue I could always drop the battlefield scavving for the sake of making them stand more in line with honorability.

[Tyriks]

With regards to the "nobility" issue, you could always say that in their glory days, they were exactly what our romantic conception of nobility is, but since their fall from grace, they have lost that, but they don't realize it.  So, their actions have changed, but they don't want to come to terms with it, so they've adapted what they consider noble to fit their current behavior instead of the other way around.  

[blackoption]

Most chapters have some capability with their own forges. He it a forge ship or their own production facilities in their fortress monastery. Why can't a forge Lord or notable techmarine in your past be the creator/s of your epic level war gear?

 

I like Tryiks suggestion regarding nobility.

[Grand Master Belial]

To add to blackoption, the Salamanders take pride in their gear and each piece is a work of art in it's own right. Instead of looting and to build on their appearance of nobility. They work to create nicer pieces of armor and gear and would send them to artificers and skilled techmarines in an effort to create a more noble look for each individual marine. 

 

I'd love to see what you have decided on so far for your chapter. 

[The Vagabird]

Most chapters have some capability with their own forges. He it a forge ship or their own production facilities in their fortress monastery. Why can't a forge Lord or notable techmarine in your past be the creator/s of your epic level war gear?

 

I like Tryiks suggestion regarding nobility.

 

 

To add to blackoption, the Salamanders take pride in their gear and each piece is a work of art in it's own right. Instead of looting and to build on their appearance of nobility. They work to create nicer pieces of armor and gear and would send them to artificers and skilled techmarines in an effort to create a more noble look for each individual marine. 

 

I'd love to see what you have decided on so far for your chapter. 

 

I suppose I'll just give them notable forging capabilities. I wanted to handicap them for the sake of taking their lumps in the name of heroism, but after the reassurance I realize it will work a lot better to cut out the looting and just give them quality artificers.

[Grand Master Belial]

I have been pondering the desire for your chapter to be handicapped in some way. What if it were in large vehicles? The forges of the chapter are small and are ill-equipped to produce anything larger than an attack bike. As a consequence, the chapter has a habit of purloining tanks and stuff from the field of battle. This can be what has them in trouble with the AdMech and either has to do special missions for better gear and equipment or continue their efforts to find the gear elsewhere through their Rogue Traders or other non-sanctioned activities.

[The Vagabird]

I have been pondering the desire for your chapter to be handicapped in some way. What if it were in large vehicles? The forges of the chapter are small and are ill-equipped to produce anything larger than an attack bike. As a consequence, the chapter has a habit of purloining tanks and stuff from the field of battle. This can be what has them in trouble with the AdMech and either has to do special missions for better gear and equipment or continue their efforts to find the gear elsewhere through their Rogue Traders or other non-sanctioned activities.

 

I like it, as I've never been big on tanks. Though it does leave some issues of Dreadnoughts and aerial transports, however I believe I could sort that out. Interesting idea, thank you!

[Grand Master Belial]

I left the link where they would have do odd jobs for the AdMech to get some things. I can see Dreadnoughts being in that category. The mission would be brutal and probably a suicide mission but the chapter will perform them and usually come out on top though severely beaten down with several casualties. The aerial vehicles would be a little easier to get through Rogue Traders or outright piracy. 

 

Something that hasn't been brought up yet is their ties to their parent chapter and their gene-brothers. If their ties are strong enough and they have proven themselves in their brothers eyes on the fields of battle, they may shift some equipment their way in spite of the AdMech. 

[The Vagabird]

I left the link where they would have do odd jobs for the AdMech to get some things. I can see Dreadnoughts being in that category. The mission would be brutal and probably a suicide mission but the chapter will perform them and usually come out on top though severely beaten down with several casualties. The aerial vehicles would be a little easier to get through Rogue Traders or outright piracy. 

 

Something that hasn't been brought up yet is their ties to their parent chapter and their gene-brothers. If their ties are strong enough and they have proven themselves in their brothers eyes on the fields of battle, they may shift some equipment their way in spite of the AdMech. 

 

I've been liking the suggestions to have ties to Rogue Traders. It fits with the chapters style, and for some reason I always forget that Traders are a thing despite how cool they are.

 

The chapter, though likely a White Scars successor, doesn't really put much into their parentage. But perhaps I could write it up that due to their actions helping several of the larger chapters they were gifted wargear and vehicles as recompense for their sacrifices.

[Sugarlessllama]

I really like where you are going with this chapter. So I thought I would share some of my thoughts:

 

1. The idea of them recovering from founding a failed state, is really awesome. You should really play that up more. A crusading chapter in search of a new home is not something that I have really seen in the lore before.
2. Trying to develop closer ties with the Adeptus Machanicus is something I like. It would make sense if they needed to almost everything in their armory, and the ability to maintain equipment currently in inventory. Someone else in the thread mentioned Rogue Traders... perhaps one from Mars? Someone who offers those ties, but has their own agenda and needs military support. This would play very well with any vague notions of them attempting to restart their version of Ultramar.
3. White Scars gene-seed. I'm iffy on this. If their leadership is so super secretive, and they have ties to the AdMech, I would think it would play better to leave their gene-seed unknown. Blame it on the fall their chapter homeworld. All records of their founding were lost... or were they?

Those are just a few of my thoughts. I hope they help.

[The Vagabird]

Does anyone have ideas for heraldry?

[Doctor Perils]

What's your final name for them? If you have a lot of animal and "storm" imagery, how about a bear of some sort? Or a deer?

[Grand Master Belial]

For my War Shamans idea, they could have a totem pole for their heraldry but originally I was borrowing from the Wolves and have their Company totem in place of the Chapter Badge. The Conquistadors would probably have something like a Maltese cross (or other historical Spanish heraldry). Let's see, other ideas would be a crossed sword and lightning bolt; The two heads of the Aquilla Eagle with the Seeing Eye pointed forward; or have the Ravenwing logo grasping a lightning bolt instead of a sword, a hood with a single eye like a star peering out from underneath (like a one-eyed jawa).

[The Vagabird]

For my War Shamans idea, they could have a totem pole for their heraldry but originally I was borrowing from the Wolves and have their Company totem in place of the Chapter Badge. The Conquistadors would probably have something like a Maltese cross (or other historical Spanish heraldry). Let's see, other ideas would be a crossed sword and lightning bolt; The two heads of the Aquilla Eagle with the Seeing Eye pointed forward; or have the Ravenwing logo grasping a lightning bolt instead of a sword, a hood with a single eye like a star peering out from underneath (like a one-eyed jawa).

I like these, they're pretty close to ideas I was having already about winged weapons and lightning bolts.

 

On another note does anyone have an in-lore justification for not having scouts, but having recon-marines? It's really just a matter of me not liking the scout models, but still wanting infiltration options. Plus the Space Marine Recon Squad looks really cool.

[Grand Master Belial]

You would be borrowing from the Space Wolves there. As their newest recruits are the Blood Claws and the Scouts are Grizzled Veterans that have lost their packs. The other option is the Raven Guard who have silent running power armor and typically act as recon marines on a chapter level. 

 

In a way, I kind of want to mix the two ideas for your chapter. I'm going to stick with my suggestion of the War Shamans for this example. The Shamans organize like the Wolves in Great Companies where each company recruits and trains its own Neophytes and selects which ones are ready to join their brethren. Each Company is represented by a Totem Animal or Animal Spirit of the Emperor (they don't know their heritage). One Company is the Raven Company who have fought with the Raven Guard in several campaigns and have come to respect and have tried to adopt their style of fighting. As a consequence the Company is called upon to be the eyes of the chapter often scouting far ahead of the rest of their brothers to gain intelligence and relay coordinates for orbital strikes or a drop pod assault from the other companies. Over the centuries of service, they have been gifted with several suits of armor from the Raven Guard that run absolutely silent. 

[The Vagabird]

You would be borrowing from the Space Wolves there. As their newest recruits are the Blood Claws and the Scouts are Grizzled Veterans that have lost their packs. The other option is the Raven Guard who have silent running power armor and typically act as recon marines on a chapter level. 

 

In a way, I kind of want to mix the two ideas for your chapter. I'm going to stick with my suggestion of the War Shamans for this example. The Shamans organize like the Wolves in Great Companies where each company recruits and trains its own Neophytes and selects which ones are ready to join their brethren. Each Company is represented by a Totem Animal or Animal Spirit of the Emperor (they don't know their heritage). One Company is the Raven Company who have fought with the Raven Guard in several campaigns and have come to respect and have tried to adopt their style of fighting. As a consequence the Company is called upon to be the eyes of the chapter often scouting far ahead of the rest of their brothers to gain intelligence and relay coordinates for orbital strikes or a drop pod assault from the other companies. Over the centuries of service, they have been gifted with several suits of armor from the Raven Guard that run absolutely silent. 

 

Sounds great! I might institute a Templars-esque style of apprenticeship in the chapter. Funnily enough, I was going to make the devastators of my chapter the veterans, and I completely forgot the Wolves did that exact thing.

 

I'm thinking "A storm gathers/brews" for the warcry, with maybe "The storm arrives!" for the in-combat variation. I'm trying to think of a more general motto though, one that might be said before battle or within the chapter. Something like "We shall weather." in relation to weathering the storm or somesuch.