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First time DIY Chapter. Need Help!


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So I'm not new to 40k I've been playing for around 4 years now but i just recently decided to get into the Space Marines and I want to create my own chapter. So i decided i would post here to get opinions and advice but please be kind as its my first time trying to write in any regards to 40k.

 

Here is what i have come up with so far.

 

Chapter Name: Star Specters

 

Founding: Unknown (subject to change)

 

Homeworld: Eyhines, Ultima Segmentum

 

Chapter Master: Sellius Orion

 

Progenitor Chapter: Imperial Fists

 

Status: Loyalist

 

Battle Cry: (work in progress)

 

Additonal info: I know for a fact i want the chapter to be some what culturally bound to the home world and i would like help with the home world culture. For the culture I'm thinking the Franconian period of European history and as for the combat style i was thinking of an attrition style specialty

 

Thanks for any help. 

 

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A good start but I am a little lost of time period. I keep thinking of the time period of the Musketeers which is not a bad one. You could use the Templar bodies for their tabards and that could be how they are identified as squads with subtle variations in the tabards.

 

Attrition suits the IF lineage and I could see squads leap frogging with storm shields to take and hold ground while defenses are brought up behind them.

With attrition warfare, numbers matter. The Codex Astartes has a loophole that allows Space Marine Chapters to have more than 1000 Marines, in anticipation of heavy casualties the Chapter will expect in a coming war- a loophole the Black Templars famously exploited- so feel free to give your Chapter two extra Scout companies, though the battle companies are likely undersized due to the casualties received.

 

Firepower also helps. Feel free to give your Marines Leman Russ battle tanks so they can win the numbers game. You can explain the tanks' presence with a backstory of how the Chapter planet was originally an Astra Militarum recruiting world that rebelled and was subjected to orbital bombardment to crush this rebellion- the planet itself forgotten and its population descending to barbarism- before the Marines came, brought order, found and repaired the battle tank manufactories still standing.

As for the Chapter's culture, the term "Franconian" made me think of Charlemagne's Kingdom of the Franks. (When I looked up the term on Wikipedia, I was guided to an article on "Franconia," a region in Germany.) If you can find Bretonnian models from 'Warhammer Fantasy Battle', you can use the knights' components to make your Space Marines distinctive on the battlefield.

Thanks for the input. I really like the idea with planet rebellion history and the use of Leman Russ tanks. And I thought about it and I decided I want the chapter colors to be a dark purple with a silver secondary. Also thank you Bjorn Firewalker you are correct in the time period I was thinking of.

 

Just adding another possible idea but I really like the idea of an Emperor's Champion like the Black Templars have.

Will your Chapter symbol resemble this coat of arms? (It's for Eysines, a commune in France. I found it when looking up "Eyhines," the name you chose for the Chapter planet. The golden arm resembles a reliquary for Charlemagne's arm, displayed at the Aachen Cathedral- the way the arm is honored, draws parallels to the way Rogal Dorn's severed hand is honored.)

Do you have chosen your chapter symbol? If not why don't try the symbol of the Carolingian dynasty:

 

 

600px-Triquetra-Cross.svg.png

 

 

It's relatively similar to the templar cross (and than perfect to an Imperial Fists sucessor chapter) and it's very close to the franconian theme.

Once again thank you Bjorn I read the article about Charlemagne's paladins and I think a council of the 12 best warriors to serve as advisors beneath the Chapter Master could be a really cool idea.

There are many ways to wage war, all of which must be mastered if one wishes to win a war. The council should include the best Vanguard Veteran, the best Sternguard veteran, the best warship captain (void warfare), the best Techmarine pilot (aerospace warfare), the best Techmarine tank commander (armored warfare and artillery support), the best scout-sniper (covert warfare), a Chaplain (psychological warfare), and unless you share the Black Templars' beliefs, a Librarian (psychic and spiritual warfare) as well.

So for the chapter badge i was thinking of a cross pattee across a stylized star (lack of drawing skill and editing software constrain me). As for the thoughts on the Librarium I thought it would be interesting if there were Librarians but the come few and far between to the chapter thus making them very rare. Going back to the Paladins idea i was thinking the captain of each company would be a member and then following them would be the Chief Librarian and then an Emperor's Champion esque position.

 

Just another sort of spitball idea but are green energy field power weapons reasonable or no?

 

Power weapons have been painted in all the colors of a rainbow. I don't find green energy fields aesthetically pleasing, but if you do, feel free to paint your Marines' power weapons in that color.

 

As for the idea a Captain serves as a Paladin, I must ask if "Paladin" is a title used in place of "Captain", the way "Marshal" is in the Black Templars, or "Company Master" and "Grand Master" are in the Dark Angels. You should clarify a Paladin's role- are Paladins meant to lead companies in battle, or are they meant to advise the Chapter Master? Both tasks demand a lot of time and attention, which may prevent a Paladin from successfully completing one or even both of them.

Perhaps the dilemma may be solved by having each Company's Captain name his second-in-command as "Paladin", to advise the Chapter Master, to advocate for his Company's needs (what logistical support it needs, what glorious battles its members want to fight), and to learn- from the Chapter Master himself- what aspects of war he must master as a Captain.

Power weapons have been painted in all the colors of a rainbow. I don't find green energy fields aesthetically pleasing, but if you do, feel free to paint your Marines' power weapons in that color.

 

As for the idea a Captain serves as a Paladin, I must ask if "Paladin" is a title used in place of "Captain", the way "Marshal" is in the Black Templars, or "Company Master" and "Grand Master" are in the Dark Angels. You should clarify a Paladin's role- are Paladins meant to lead companies in battle, or are they meant to advise the Chapter Master? Both tasks demand a lot of time and attention, which may prevent a Paladin from successfully completing one or even both of them.

 

I can see why that makes sense and I hadn't thought of that so what if the "Paladins" are the 11 most senior marines aside from the Chapter Master and the Chief Librarian is automatically reserved as one? 

Hello!

 

You could just have the Paladins be the honour guard of any other Chapter albeit with more attention and status

 

The honour guard are supposed to be the Chapters greatest, with Chapter Masters often listening to them because they have more experience than anyone else, Captains included, they just don't lead. Also form the fiercest fighting force, all veterans above and beyond 1st Company.

 

Hope this helps!

As for the Chapter's culture, the term "Franconian" made me think of Charlemagne's Kingdom of the Franks. (When I looked up the term on Wikipedia, I was guided to an article on "Franconia," a region in Germany.) If you can find Bretonnian models from 'Warhammer Fantasy Battle', you can use the knights' components to make your Space Marines distinctive on the battlefield.

You are looking for Francia.

 

Is there a particular reason why you picked the Ultima Segmentum?

 

Space Marine chapters are particularly bad at attrition. They just don't have the man power to go into a meat grinder.

OK so with new suggestion in mind I'm revising the original template in the initial post. This is now the direction I would like to go toward.

 

Chapter Name: Star Specters

 

Founding: Unknown (Subject to change)

 

Progenitor Chapter: Imperial Fists

 

Homeworld: Eysines (Original was a typo)

 

Chapter Master: Sellius Orion

 

Status: Loyalist

 

Battle Cry: Undetermined

 

Colors: Purple with Silver (Like profile pic)

 

Chapter Badge: Undetermined

 

Combat Doctrine: Attrition

 

Additional Info: Culturally similar to Charlemagne's era, has a unique Honor Guard called the Paladins who also serve as advisory council, An Emperor's Champion in similar tradition to the Black Templars, Few Librarians due to unknown issues (can be expanded upon later), Has 11 companies due to combat style and heavy losses (Presumed), and finally with permission i would like to borrow Bjorn Firewalker's idea for the Homeworld history.

 

Thanks to Bjorn Firewalker, Erasus, and Ezr91ael for the input.

 

P.S. Nothing is set in stone yet this is still a work in progress. I think this was a very enlightening and helpful first day. 

Quixus in response to choosing the Ultima Segmentum it is due to the fact it is the by far the largest Segmentum and therfore it is very plausible that another chapter would be established within the segmentum by the High Lords of Terra. Also i do realize that Space Marines don't have the required man power for true attrition but it was a lore point that i loved from the Imperial Fists and why I chose them for the progenitor because i liked that characteristic.

 

As for exact location i was looking in Codex: Space Marines at the galactic map and i was thinking north-easterly from  Honourium (Novamarines homeworld) as it is rather empty and there is an Imperial Fists "detachment" for lack of a better word in that region.

 

Still looking for feedback anything helps. Thanks!

I think your Chapter needs at least 24 Paladins- two for each Company, plus an Apothecary, a Chaplain, a Librarian, and a Techmarine.

 

Here's my idea. Each Company has a Paladin-Captain as its commander, and a Paladin-Lieutenant as its second-in-command. When a Veteran Sergeant is promoted to the rank of Paladin-Lieutenant, he will then be sent to the Chapter Master's council, to serve in three ways: one is to serve as the Paladin-Captain's advocate, explaining to the Chapter Master what materiel the Company NEEDS in order to fight the battles the Paladin-Captain WANTS to fight; two is to serve as the Chapter Master's student, learning the ways of war a Paladin-Captain must master, as the Paladin-Lieutenant will eventually be promoted to replace his Company's Paladin-Captain; three is to serve as the Chapter Master's bodyguard and Champion.

 

Each Company has 100 Initiates and 100 Neophytes, like its counterpart in the Black Templars Chapter; the Codex Astartes allows such divergence when a Chapter anticipates higher-than-usual casualties, and it's not unusual for each Company to suffer 50% or higher casualty rates in a campaign. Your Chapter is prepared to wage wars of attrition like its hated enemy, the Iron Warriors Legion, because sometimes "You must fight fire with fire." Each Marine goes to battle prepared to die; each dead Marine will be remembered as a martyr, and promptly avenged.

The Chapter Master's council consists of eight Paladin-Lieutenants from eight different Companies (the others are accompanying their Paladin-Captains on campaigns), plus a Paladin-Apothecary, a Paladin-Chaplain, a Paladin-Librarian, and a Paladin-Techmarine, for 12 in total.

Hello!

 

Bjorn Firewalker is a very helpful frater and has put forth many ideas, which is a good thing.

However I respectfully disagree with most of them, we're like Puritan and Radical Inquisitors and you can choose to agree/disagree with either of us on any point.

 

The Paladins do not need to be so intricate as suggested, with triple layers of Company command. They'll serve fine as just the Honour Guard, free to be assigned where the Chapter Master sees fit. Elite and distinct.

 

Also for having 200 fighting men per company, this Chapter is not the Black Templars with their glorious and long history that allow them to get away with their numbers. 100 as usual is fine for attrition. The Death Guard were known for attrition warfare yet they never suffered the losses the Iron Warriors did. You can grind down the enemy through quality over quantity. Each marine slowly works his way through 100 of the enemy kind of thing. Endurance becomes the keyword, much like the Imperial Fists, they're known for stubbornly enduring.

 

I have some questions, which will hopefully help you flesh stuff out, but some are just curiosity;

 

1) why Star Specters? Is there a cultural link to spectres?

2) favoured or recurring enemy?

3) well established allies?

4) long running rivalries?

5) Chapter view on Emperor: god or man?

6) founding?

7) any significance behind colour scheme? Or personal preference?

8) any particularly common unit? I.e. Armour/Vanguard/Dreadnoughts

9) any particular rare unit?

10) heroes?

11) common personality traits?

12) quirks? I.e. Fists like to schrimshaw, Blood Angels are artistic

13) adeptus mechanicus: helpful ally or pesky meddlers? Overall I mean, since you can always have instances of both

14) large number of Techmarines? Or small number?

15) preferred weapons?

16) any well known relics?

17) or battles?

18) any luck with a battle cry yet?

 

I hope these questions help as starting points on ideas. I am genuinely curious for the answers though so keep us posted if anything comes up!

 

Best of luck!

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