IA Steel Crows

[Claws and Effect]

ORIGINS

 

The Steel Crows are a 17th Founding successor of the Raven Guard drawn from Revilers gene-stock. They were founded to watch over the planet of Lanius IV, which is strategically important and had tried to rebel several times. As the Revilers were one of the chapters sent in to quell the uprising with great success, the High Lords saw fit to create a new Chapter from their gene-seed to watch over the planet and free up the Revilers to fight elsewhere.

 

HOMEWORLD

 

Lanius IV is located in the eastern Ultima Segmentum, midway between the Maelstrom and the Eastern Fringe. It is a civilized Imperial world with a highly militaristic society. It is also a Warp transit node, with nearly 20% of shipping and military traffic in the sector passing through the system.

 

All citizens are expected to be able to defend themselves in the event of an attack, to the chagrin of several attackers over the centuries. The Eldar, Dark Eldar, Orks and Tau have all been driven off the planet at various times by the concerted effort of the Steel Crows chapter and the planet's own PDF, which is on par with some Imperial Guard battalions. Not to mention the actual Guard regiments drawn from the planet.

 

A Tyranid Hive Fleet is turning its attention to the world, which will likely prove the grimmest test of the Lanian populace's resolve.

 

The relationship between the citizens and the Steel Crows is a unique one, nearly as close as that of the Salamanders and Nocturneans. The citizens view the Steel Crows as "OUR Space Marines", and hold them in great esteem, never forgetting that every Astartes was once one of them. During the recent Ork assault on the planet, a beleaguered squad was rescued from certain death by hundreds of normal folks with autoguns. When asked why, the citizens responded that any one of the Marines in that squad could have been one of their children (and in fact, one of them actually WAS the child of one of the citizens involved).

 

The Steel Crows directly govern the planet as one of the conditions set forth in their initial founding. Unusually, the planetary governor is not the acting Chapter Master, but a number of former Chapter Masters (always an odd number to eliminate the possibility of deadlocks). They take an active role in policing the planet as well, with patrols comprising part of their Scout training.

 

COMBAT DOCTRINE

 

The Steel Crows specialize in guerilla warfare and urban combat. Specifically, they are expert city fighters. They have a one-sided grudge with the Imperial Fists over the Fists' tendency to blast holes in walls and knock buildings down while fighting in cities. They view those tactics as needlessly costly and callous. After all, people still have to live there when the fight is over, and if you reduce their house to rubble to get to a few cultists you aren't doing them any favors. They strive to avoid structural damage whenever possible when fighting on Imperial worlds, for that very reason.

 

Their conservative hit-and-fade tactics have drawn accusations of cowardice at times, but the Crows silence critics with results. Where another chapter might engage an enemy directly and smash them in a matter of hours while losing 30% of their force, the Crows will take longer to achieve the same goal, but will suffer few casualties or none at all. Make no mistake though, when time is of the essence the Crows can launch a frontal assault with the best of them. They just prefer not to if there is a way to achieve the same goal while taking fewer casualties.

 

ORGANIZATION

 

The Steel Crows are Codex compliant, with one notable exception. The 1st through 10th Companies are exactly as the Codex dictates. However, they have an 11th Company that remains on their home world at all times. This 11th Company consists of 50 Scouts and 50 battle-brothers. The High Lords are aware of this deviation and allow it, as a constant presence on the planet is part of the terms of the chapter's Founding.

 

Unlike other chapters, whose Chapter Master serves until death, the Steel Crows have a finite number of years their active Chapter Master serves. That number is usually three centuries, but it can be extended if they are on campaign when the third century ends. Upon stepping down, a departing Chapter Master joins the Council that fills the role of Planetary Governor. This Council generally consists of 5 members, but can be more or less depending on how many Chapter Masters actually survived to step down.

 

When a Council member reaches an age where his mind starts slipping he will be voluntarily entombed in a dreadnought chassis to sleep away the centuries until he is needed again. Only once have all the venerable entombed Masters been roused from their slumber to battle at one time. The attacking Chaos warband stood no chance when all 46 dreadnoughts took the field together.

 

The Chapter's heraldry and colors are designed to honor both their immediate forefathers and their primogenitor legion. Their Chapter symbol is a lightning bolt bisecting a corvid skull to honor their Revilers ancestry, and the right arm of their armor is painted black to honor their Raven Guard roots. They also follow the Raven Guard convention of displaying the company color on only the right pauldron.

 

Other than the right arm, the Steel Crows colors are a dark gunmetal over most of their armor, with pauldrons, chest aquila and helmets of a deep midnight blue. The kneepads (if any) are also deep blue, with their squad number on the right one. Veterans paint both arms black and add a black helmet.

 

One cannot mention the Steel Crows without also mentioning the Lanian Guard regiments. They fight together so often they are practically a single fighting force. With the militaristic society of Lanius IV, a Lanian Guard trooper is likely a Steel Crows aspirant who washed out of the selection process early on and opted for Guard service over chapter serfdom. Due to the closeness of the Guard and the Crows, there is an unprecedented level of respect and communication between them, with the Crows often serving as shock troops to drive the panicked enemy straight into the teeth of thousands of lasguns and hundreds of heavier weapons.

 

This relationship has led to Lanian company command being comfortable turning over overall command to a Steel Crows Captain in the field, as they know the Crows will not treat them like meat to be run through the grinder the way some other chapters might.

 

GENESEED

 

Like their Raven Guard and Revilers forebears, the Steel Crows lack a Betcher's Gland and Mucranoid. Furthermore, their Melanochrome often malfunctions like their Death Spectre cousins, leading to a rather high proportion of albinos within their ranks.

 

Their Lyman's Ear underwent a further mutation, sharpening the Crows' hearing to the point of making echolocation possible. Even their Raven Guard ancestors are hard pressed to sneak up on a Steel Crow, and they can target enemies in pitch darkness by hearing alone. This quirk of incredibly sharp hearing often leads to battle-brothers forgoing helmets, as the helmets' autosenses cannot match their natural hearing.

 

It should come as no surprise that Noise Marines are amongst their most hated foes.

 

Due to the further mutation of the Steel Crows' geneseed, it was decreed that no successors will be created using it and they will be required to send tithes twice as often so the Mechanicus on Mars can ensure it remains stable and does not mutate further.

[Claws and Effect]

I will be working out table top rules for the chapter as well. Currently I'm leaning toward the following Chapter Tactics:

 

Fight on the Move. Exactly as the White Scars tactic. All Steel Crows units have the Hit and Run special rule. Can reroll dice when determining Run moves.

 

Wings of Murder: May use jump packs in both Movement and Assault phases. Automatically pass dangerous terrain rolls. May reroll the higher of the 2 dice in Deep Strike scatter rolls. Must accept the second result.

 

I figured those Tactics would suit a chapter that is accustomed to mobile warfare in enclosed areas. Their use of jump packs is very precise, stemming from things like landing on flimsy fire escapes in narrow alleys.

[Claws and Effect]

Nothing?

[Lysimachus]

There's a lot of good points, scheme and heraldry sound cool, and I like the closeness with the local people.

 

However, I do find their relationship with their Homeworld slightly odd? It seems to me that a world that has a regular stream of military traffic passing through and a strong militaristic population would be fairly secure already, why would you have a Chapter assigned there?

 

Or are you saying that the world has gradually become that way since the Chapter took over? Which makes more sense in some ways but might also raise issues with the division of military power in the Imperium and leave the Chapter open to accusations of building their forces too high? (I'd probably lose the extra Company for the same reason, just say that the Crows are obligated to keep at least 50/100 Marines at their Fortress Monastery at all times?)

[Claws and Effect]

There's a lot of good points, scheme and heraldry sound cool, and I like the closeness with the local people.

However, I do find their relationship with their Homeworld slightly odd? It seems to me that a world that has a regular stream of military traffic passing through and a strong militaristic population would be fairly secure already, why would you have a Chapter assigned there?

Or are you saying that the world has gradually become that way since the Chapter took over? Which makes more sense in some ways but might also raise issues with the division of military power in the Imperium and leave the Chapter open to accusations of building their forces too high? (I'd probably lose the extra Company for the same reason, just say that the Crows are obligated to keep at least 50/100 Marines at their Fortress Monastery at all times?)

Yes the world became that way gradually over the course of several millenia. The Chapter had to impose strict martial law in the beginning, and loosened the restrictions as time went on.

 

The 11th Company is always 90% new recruits. Either brand new Neophytes (Scouts), or battle-brothers who have just received their Black Carapace. It also includes 5 Vanguard Veterans and 5 Veteran Scouts that serve as Sergeants. The 1st and 10th Companies are perpetually at 95 Marines because of this. Unlike a lot of other chapters, they have a hard limit on their 10th Company.

 

The Chapter's precision with jump packs requires significant extra training, and the 9th Company doesn't want Marines whose mastery of them is shaky (the 8th and 9th Company are reversed, with new battle-brothers becoming Assault Marines first).

 

Since the Chapter is seldom at full strength, in practice the existence of the 11th Company rarely brings the total number of Marines over the Codex dictated 1,000.

 

The Steel Crows are a rare chapter in that they have the luxury of a steady stream of potential recruits and the geneseed to spare. They could easily go well over the Codex dictated numbers but view the 11th Company as a benefit that should not be abused, as it allows their Assault Marines to already be experts in the use of jump packs before joining the 9th.

[Claws and Effect]

Upon reading that back, further clarification is in order.

 

Companies are only reinforced upon return to the home world, rather than risk losing a handful of inexperienced Marines in the Warp. Even with their conservative battle tactics, a Steel Crows' company in the field is rarely at better than 80% strength. Sometimes you lose men, no matter how careful you are.