Anges de Vindication

[Volt]

ANGES DE VINDICATION

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CHAPTER NAME: .............. THE ANGES DE VINDICATION FOUNDING: ..................2ND M.31 CHAPTER WORLD: .............NORMENDIE I FORTRESS MONASTERY: ........CAEN GENE-SEED: ...FIRST LEGION KNOWN DESCENDANTS: .........SUSPECTED, SONS OF LAZARUS   BATTLE CRY: .......IN NOMINE DEI IMPERATOR! "Do not engage in petty political grandstanding with me Salamander. Your righteous attempts to save the living are noble but flawed; for what comes in their inevitable death? Do you not care of the soul when it enters the afterlife- or do you simply ignore this question, and slip into blissful and sinful relishing of your own heroism? We do not abandon the innocent, Salamander. We do care, not of the body, but for the soul. The essence that lies in all our brothers and sisters. We shall deny these uncouth false-gods their prize, and rip the souls of man from their wretched claws."

T

he Anges de Vindication, or Angels of Vindication outside of the regional dialect of their homeworld, are among the ancient brotherhood of Chapters tracing their origins back to the Second Founding- found in the wake of the cataclysm that was the Horus Heresy. While the elements of the First Legion that formed the Angels of Vindication were not directly involved in the fighting, such was the influence of Horus' uprising that the Angels' predecessors were caught in it nonetheless. Trapped while traveling around the northern reaches of space encircling Ocularis Terribus by a warp storm, five whole Chapters of the First Legion were thrown into terrible and endless conflict with Daemons for the duration of the Heresy. After the initial ambush and loss of almost all their commanding officers, the expedition force landed on a habitable world within the warp storm. Abominations from the immaterium savaged them again, and by the time the storms had abated and taken the daemons with them the expeditionary force had been reduced from 5,000 Astartes to 1,066. Still reeling from the intense loss of life they had suffered at the hands of Chaos, the Legionaires were further wounded to learn of the death of their Priamrch, Lion el'Jonson, at the hands of chaos agents as well. It is therefore unsurprising that, upon Guilliman passing his Codex reform and initiating the Second Founding , the Legionaires dedicated themselves to purging Chaos under the name of the Anges de Vindication.
 
In warfare the Angels of Vindication favor brutal fast attacks upon the enemy with highly mobile forces. Few marines in their Chapter ever walk to the battlefield- almost all of them either being embarked upon a rhino or razorback. Riding along with the mechanized infantry, predator tanks and devastators provide fire support on the go to smash the enemy with such force and speed that they will not have the time to prepare a defense. Drop pod assaults are also utilized by the Chapter, but only against static targets and once the mechanized infantry has knocked out any AA batteries that could interfere with deepstrikes. The chapter semi-values the Codex Astartes. They believe Guilliman to be an irrefutable brilliant tactician and comparable to the Lion in his mastery of the art of war, but still lesser. Thus they adhere to some aspects, but ignore others. The Anges de Vindication largely organize themselves according to the Codex with the typical "Unforgiven" deviations, but detest the idea of tactical identification of units, companies, and vehicles as an unnecessary vulnerability. The chapter also finds the idea of restricting their numbers to a mere thousand to be patently absurd, although this is also given the deadly nature of the chapter's prey.
 
Normendie I is an ancient world, its history stretching back to Old Night, beyond even the days of the Imperium. A meager feudal world ten thousand years ago where a population of a hundred thousand was considered substantial- it has since blossomed into an almighty global hive. It sits in space as a curiosity viewed from orbit- gothic spires bursting into the stratosphere, between which gigantic artificial plateaus support gardens hosting entire forests and water systems. More impressive than its architecture however is the culture of the Normen people, who have refused to to give an inch of their cultural heritage. Crossbows and pikes may be long forgotten, but the feudal society is stronger than ever. Noble houses that numbered a mere ten men in the past could now colonize their own planet. Heraldic devices have bloated in size and detail to the point that the oldest houses carry crests so large and ornate that they could be painted to scale on an entire three story hab building. The feudal culture permeates even the Chapter, who have completely embraced it, fusing with it and their people. Brothers retain connections with the noble houses they descend from, and are free to display their coat of arms along with the Chapter's arms upon their pauldrons or poleyns.
 
The fortress monastery of the chapter, Caen, is easily distinguishable upon the planet's surface unlike the rest of the world's structures. The majority of the planet may be draped in endless cityscape, but the lands surrounding Caen have been flattened to form a protective killing field providing unobstructed sight. Constructed ten thousand years ago, Caen's height is far more modest compared to the hive spires standing in its region, originally built with the intention of not disrupting the people too much with a structure millennia beyond their technological prowess. Thus to untrained eyes, Caen may appear as an overgrown medieval castle, but the stone brick walls are a mere aesthetic choice. Underneath them lies walls twenty meters thick forged from the finest alloys available, including hidden void shield generators. Much of the monastery is underground, forming an extensive byzantine mess of catacombs, feasting halls, armories, forges, power generators, living quarters, and trophy rooms.
 
The naval assets of the Anges de Vindication are large, necessitated by the great host of the chapter. While still only having the eight Battle Barges standard for a successor of the First Legion, the Anges de Vindiction maintain a fleet of thirty strike cruisers and forty rapid strike vessels (fifteen Cobra-Class Destroyers and twenty-five Sword-Class Frigates).
 
The Anges de Vindication deviate heavily from the cultural norm of the Adeptus Astartes, tying directly to the experiences of their founders and their salvation from the daemonic hordes that beset them. The chapter's history claims that upon the internment of the Emperor upon the Golden Throne that burst of consecrated light shot through the warp, scouring the daemons upon Normendie and dispersing the warp storm surrounding the system. Since that day the very founders of the chapter have affirmed the Emperor's divinity, addressing him the same as the Imperial Cult. Not only has this made the chapter assimilate easily with the local culture of their new homeworld, but it has also bred an intense zealotry within the chapter, one which the Chaplains channel against corruption with great success. Every neophyte entering the chapter exists a frothing zealot with limitless love for the God-Emperor and all his creations.... and utter hatred for the dark forces that would oppose him and his children.
 
 
 

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Brother Baldri d'Artois Anges de Vindication 5th Company

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Veteran Brother Gilebert Moulins Anges de Vindication Deathwing Company

[clearfloat][/clearfloat]
 

ORGANIZATION

 
Organized in a similar manner to a small Chapter from the glory days of the Legions, the Anges de Vindication care little for the dictates of the Codex Astartes save at the lowest levels of organization: companies. Numbering a total of three-thousand brothers-at-arms, this number is broken up into a total of 28 companies. Of these twenty-eight companies, two of which are the abnormal Deathwing and Ravenwing companies of the Unforgiven. Due to the immense size of the Chapter and their wide spanning campaigns, each of these companies number 200 brothers each. The twenty-six further companies are organized as normal, numbering ten squads with ten brothers a squad, not including the Company Master and his retinue. Skirting closely around the limits imposed upon Chapters by the Codex, while faintly not having a care in the world, the Agnes de Vindication find their breaches looked over both courtesy of their well-standing relationship with the Ecclesiarchy, and being broken up into "Orders". Similar to the Battalions of the long-dead Legions, Orders are comprised of roughly eight companies each with approximately sixty-six brothers from first and second company , although the numbers fluctuate. Orders are deployed across the galaxy in pursuit of the Chapter's goals, and it is rare that all three ever gather in one spot. In deployments, two Orders are almost always deployed simultaneously while one Order remains upon the surface of Normendie. This is the Order suffering the worst casualties of the active duo, and will remain on-world until brothers have healed, the fallen brothers have had their sabatons filled by a new astartes, and their armory is fully repaired. The wheel twists, and the next Order takes its brief retirement to recuperate.
 
Unlike many Chapters the Angels see no purpose for a scout company. Rather, an Order will requisition the neophytes in need of field experience and will employ them as infiltrators. Otherwise the neophytes have no true organization, and most will remain on the homeworld until it is believed they are spiritually and physically fit for reception of the black carapace. A noted deviation from "Unforgiven" Chapters' structure of the Ravenwing is that the use of bikes is not restricted to brothers of the Ravenwing. Rather, any brother-sergeant of a line company is free to mount up if the terrain permits, and all brothers are trained in the use of bikes before reception of the black carapace. Thus with the role of cavalry often filled by their juniors, the veterans of the Ravenwing will be found in alien skies seated in the cockpits of fighters or land speeders.
 
Along with eschewing the Codice's limits upon the limit of line-brothers in a Chapter, the Anges de Vindication deviate heavily from the standardization of Adeptus Astartes heraldry. Upon no brother in the Chapter shall you find a single company marking, and rare is there any indication of a Brother's rank save the level of decoration upon his war plate. Rather, Brothers are free to decorate their armor in the heraldry of the noble house from which they descend, typically adorning the right pauldron or a poleyn with their personal arms. Unlike other Chapters where the banners of companies rarely change, company banners frequently change over the centuries to reflect the arms of the current Master. However, given the sheer size of some noble families on Normendie and the amount of neophytes they supply to the Chapter, it is not surprising to find the same banners back in place after a brief absence. Several houses are even specifically associated with certain companies within the Anges de Vindication- so rarely does the bloodline of their commander change.
 

SELECTED BATTLE HONORS

The Scouring of Thasia [827.M31]
 

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Looks promising. Regarding Normandie's noble houses, I have to ask: When one of its members becomes a Space Marine, will he have to renounce his standing as a member of a noble house, so the Angels de Vindication can be certain the Marine has no competing loyalties? Or will the Chapter honor the noble house for providing recruits, as a reward to ensure the noble house's loyalty to the Chapter?

[Volt]

Looks promising. Regarding Normandie's noble houses, I have to ask: When one of its members becomes a Space Marine, will he have to renounce his standing as a member of a noble house, so the Angels de Vindication can be certain the Marine has no competing loyalties? Or will the Chapter honor the noble house for providing recruits, as a reward to ensure the noble house's loyalty to the Chapter?

They remain a member of the noble house, and have rights to bear familial heraldry on their power at equal or lesser size to the chapter's sigil. It is the Chapter's belief, especially in the wake of the Horus Heresy and the betrayal of Luther, that detaching yourself from humanity and growing aloof is at the root of most Astartes' fall to chaos. By tethering themselves to their people and even retaining contact with their families, they remain grounded and humble. The only exception is Chaplains- in order to enter the ranks it is required they strip themselves of all connections to everything but the Emperor. 

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Are Librarians also required to renounce their families and other ties that may compete for their loyalties? Or are these ties emphasized to make them feel human, and ensure their loyalty to humanity- in turn, to the Imperium that allows humanity to survive?

[Volt]

Are Librarians also required to renounce their families and other ties that may compete for their loyalties? Or are these ties emphasized to make them feel human, and ensure their loyalty to humanity- in turn, to the Imperium that allows humanity to survive?

The latter, they retain familial ties and it's considered especially important given how vulnerable librarians are to both corruption and hubris.

 

By the way, do you have a clue how to hell to make these captions work so there's multiple lines?

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Sadly, no.

[Ezr91aeL]

I love the idea of the connection between aristocracy and the chapter! And I love the scheme too... (I'm using the same for my sisters)

[Formosus XVI]

I'm curious Volt, do the Anges de Vindication have any particular demons princes, heralds, or greater demons that continually attempts to oppose or destroy them?

[Volt]

I'm curious Volt, do the Anges de Vindication have any particular demons princes, heralds, or greater demons that continually attempts to oppose or destroy them?

Their great nemesis is a Greater Daemon of Nurgle and his host of minions, all starting with said daemon killing the biological brother of the chapter's founder in the first assault by daemons while stuck in the warp storm. Some Paladins (Grand Masters) have cast him back into the warp, others failed and suffered the same fate as Sigfrid (the biological brother of Robert, the founder).

[Frater Petrus]

Ah ah 1066, and their Chapter Master's name is Guillaume ?

The only thing not adding up is the fact they are a 2nd founding chapter.

Are they following a knight like training, grooming and relationship between each other ? Do Marines swear loyalty to the Chapter Master ? Do they want to conquer England ?

Do you intend to give them a warcry in french ? I can help correct it if you are not a native speaker.

Nice concept, Emperor bless your men !

[Volt]

Ah ah 1066, and their Chapter Master's name is Guillaume ?

The only thing not adding up is the fact they are a 2nd founding chapter.

Are they following a knight like training, grooming and relationship between each other ? Do Marines swear loyalty to the Chapter Master ? Do they want to conquer England ?

Do you intend to give them a warcry in french ? I can help correct it if you are not a native speaker.

Nice concept, Emperor bless your men !

Guillaume is a long dead Paladin in the Chapter's history. Warcry was also added, in latin to the best of my ability. Think I got it right though.

[Vesper]

Hey Volt,

 

Cool beans. As someone who lived and studied in Caen (born and raised in Normandy), I get all the references, so that's pretty funny to read.

 

Some tidbit that might help and/or inspire : Guillaume's main castle in Normandy used to be Falaise. It literaly means "cliff". Might come in handy to name something.

[Volt]

Hey Volt,

 

Cool beans. As someone who lived and studied in Caen (born and raised in Normandy), I get all the references, so that's pretty funny to read.

 

Some tidbit that might help and/or inspire : Guillaume's main castle in Normandy used to be Falaise. It literaly means "cliff". Might come in handy to name something.

Actually that does help. I was trying to think of a name for a flagship and was absolutely stumped.

[Volt]

Query, but what's a good way to write battle honours?