The Vetting of a Chapter

[Mileposter]

Let me jump right in: I have my DIY Chapter fairly ready to go. Pretty well thought out (I think) background. A unique flavor (I think) of Doctrine. A rather clever (I think) set of naming and iconography conventions. An interesting (I think) chapter organization. A refreshing (I think) stance on fighting a war as a larger picture.
 
Notice a lot of 'I think' in those statements? That's because my Chapter has largely been created in a vacuum with an audience of one. While I have several friends who are actively invested and involved with playing the game, much of my actual work on the Chapter has been done in the between time - long drives to and from work, waiting for the rain to clear, thoughts amid busywork, etc. It is not really the topic of conversation at the game shop where the actual playing occurs. And I would like to put those 'I think's to the test before putting the work into polishing the IA.
 
Thus, post.
 
Part of this is that I am a somewhat 'lore-nazi' when it comes to the creation of my own fluff. 'Somewhat' meaning that I dare not contradict what has been established within the lore, stories, or setting - but I also allow for the slight 'what if'. If the only reference we have of something being one way is that one guardsman said so in a book somewhere.. Well, he could have been wrong. Unreliable narrator and all that. More established things are looked to as gospel.
 
So please, I welcome the nazi-esque fine-toothed comb, as well as the general critique of flavor and 'feel' the chapter has. I've presented the ideas below in a more bullet-point-like format to escape some of the frills and attack the meat of the ideas, as well as not spoiling everything before I'm done with the IA.
 
On Basics:
The Eclipse Marines were founded during the 23rd "Sentinel" Founding, Successors of the Raven Guard Chapter.
Their armor is characterized by their split color plates, left half gray and right half ivory, over black insets with orange trim and gold embellishments.
They are based on the fortress world of Valleshar, Marilith Zone, Veiled Region, Segmentum Pacificus. This is a sector I've added.
 
On Origins:
Founded as Fleet-Based Chapter with the purpose of guarding against the threats represented in the largely uncivilized and chaotic Veiled Region.
Relocated to Valleshar after the Sabbat Worlds Crusade in 783.M41.
The Eclipse Marines established a protective hold over their small corner of the Marilith Zone.
During 842.M41, an Ork Warband led by Warboss Toofkrakka assaulted the sector, intent on starting his own WAAAGH!.
With a lack of Imperial aid, and through the arrogance of the Chapter Master of the time, the Eclipse Marines nearly fail in protecting the Agri World Ialdon.
A Freeblade Knight is on one of the besieged worlds, damaged from fighting with the Orks. Eclipse helps the Knight through and the Knight becomes Oathsworn to the Chapter.
The Orks inadvertently awaken collection of Necrons, who immediately begin fighting the inhabitants of the sector in a wildly sporadic manner.
Victory over the Orks and Necrons comes at a high cost, leaving the Chapter at nearly half capacity.
Chapter Master recuses himself, blaming the losses of the Chapter on his own decisions. A new Chapter Master is chosen, and he proposes a change in battle tactics. The Knighthood formations are field tested under extreme scrutiny.
The potential break from the Codex Astares creates tension among the leadership of the Chapter.
Victory against the Orks helps cement a good relationship with nearby Forge World Enyara and the acquisition of two additional Knights.
The internal struggles between leaders about adherence to the Codex Astartes are quelled as the effectiveness of the Knighthood formations against the Orks and Necrons solidifies their adoption as the permanent combat structure of the Chapter.
The fallout of the Badab War strains Imperial relations, as doubt is cast on the hold they have on their cluster being similar to the Astral Claws.
The Night of a Thousand Rebellions sends everything in the Marilith Zone into disarray. The Eclipse Marines become the de facto policing agency despite being spread thin.
The opening of the Cicatrix Maledictum has pretty much put the kabash on any attention the area was getting from the Imperium. Negative or positive.
 
On Combat Doctrine:
The Eclipse Marines favor fighting a battle on multiple fronts, flanking the enemy. The pincer, the hammer and anvil, the old one-two, etc.
This will often take the form of a steadfast Troop/Heavy Support gunline backed up by rapid deployment Fast Attack/Flyer backfield.
Their doctrine emphasizes, even amid the gunline, always move forward. An inch gained is still a gain. The feint is often frowned upon for giving up ground.
The Eclipse follow the Raven Guard mentality of subterfuge in the form of surprise tactics rather than outright stealth. The feint may be frowned upon, but the riposte is praised. Every encounter should be or include an ambush or outflank of some variety. War thus becomes cerebral.
They will often travel in one formation, but deploy in another on the field to disguise their intended plan of action.
The appearance of the 'Knightly' tradition of the Eclipse Marines is another layer of subterfuge - it applies to decoration preference only. They are not above fighting dirty when the opponent believes them to be too noble for it.
They have rejected or flat not been able to receive Primaris reinforcements at this time.
 
On Organization:
The Chapter was stretched thin as far as numbers go, and with the slower recruiting process the Raven Guard Gene-seed requires, they've only managed to reach about 75% capacity.
The Chapter is organized into three 'Knighthoods'. This is similar to the Black Templars in concept.
Each Knighthood is comprised of two Battle Groups, each roughly the size of a company. Each Knighthood is led by a Captain that is given the title of Knight Commander.
Each Battle Group is led by a Captain and a Command Squad, same as a Company would be, and have a dedicated apothecary/chaplain.
Battle Groups within a Knighthood are separated into a "Sable" Battle Group and a "Blood" Battle Group.
When a Knighthood is deployed, the Sable Group forms the advancing gunline, and Blood Group provides the deep-striking troops. Put another way: Sable is the anvil, Blood is the hammer.

Brothers spend time among the Sable Battle Group before being advanced into the Blood Battle Group. Thus the Sable Battle Group also serves the role of the Reserve Companies.
Each Knighthood is assigned with an Imperial Knight. These Knights are not Marines, but they are Oathsworn, and so considered part of the Chapters assets when planning deployments.

 
On Symbolism:
The Eclipse Marines Chapter Symbol is a ringed circle that is split in half vertically, with the right side transparent and the left white (or black, when rarely inverted).
The chapter symbol can be found on the Forgeworld Raven Guard Legion transfers, at the upper left of the page. This symbol was used for the linemen of the Legion.
This inheritance is intentional, as the Eclipse Marines were founded with the idea of 'holding the line' and are of Raven Guard heritage. The history of the symbol is a bit of pride with the Chapter.
Even the Chapter Name, "Eclipse Marines", is a hearkening to the mentality of the Chapter - an Eclipse is often seen as a twilight-like merging of darkness and light, and is used as a descriptor of standing against all odds.
As a single squads position within a Knighthood may change rapidly as combat or a campaign demands, Marines will often display personal symbols or heraldry on the right pauldron rather than imagery specific to unit type. Others opt for imagery of their Knighthood, which most often doubles as the imagery for the Imperial Knight.

As two Knighthoods will rarely ever be deployed side by side, and even should it occur, the markings for Battle Groups are far more predominant than Knighthood - since each Sable or Blood Battle Group would be performing the same role.

Edited October 17, 2017 by Pentharian

[ONDIG]

Good stuff.I like the appropriation of the old squad markings and the reason behind the inclusion of the Knights. Additionally the Thousand rebellions establishes them as protectors of the people not unlike the revolt led by Corax himself on deliverance.So does this mean you'll be doing some Knightly kitbashing?Little bits o Greyknights and a few Templars upgrades would be just the thing!

[Mileposter]

Good stuff.

 

Many Thanks!

 

 

So does this mean you'll be doing some Knightly kitbashing?Little bits o Greyknights and a few Templars upgrades would be just the thing!

 

Indeed. Similar to how RG Vanguards are known to prefer/specialize in double lightning claws, the Eclipse Marines Vanguards are almost entirely Storm Shield and Power Sword setups. These Veterans I'm intending to do either some major kitbashing or minor modeling to give that swordsman-esque feel.

[Olis]

The most obvious thing that stands out to me at this time, in terms of critique, is placing this Chapter within the Sabbat Worlds. This is quite the name-drop, seeing as an entire series of well known (and well read, in my case) books is based there - my recommendation is to lose this location as the home for the Chapter. Now, one thing I did think of while I was reading lends itself well to you having your cake and eating it. You could have the Chapter based there originally prior to the Sabbat Worlds Crusade, given that humanity first establishes itself there before M37, and then have them leave that world for some reason long before the Crusade takes place. This in and of itself is also a name-drop, of course, but it may not be as defining (and egregious) a detail as it is now. Therefore you can use it further to your advantage by adding character, history and drama by describing the loss of their homeworld and their subsequent flight and, eventually if at all, resettlement elsewhere. 

 

The problem with that suggestion is... why do all that to keep the mention of the the Sabbat Worlds when it would work just as well by having them leave [insert planet here] behind? What purpose does the Sabbat Worlds have in this article except provide a keystone to it that could, with some work, be replaced with an entirely self-designed world/location of your own? To that end, perhaps it may be best to simply ditch the mention altogether. I would certainly suggest making the homeworld elsewhere, at the very least, preferably in an area that has not been well covered in canon. The Halo Stars or the Veiled Region spring to mind. 

[Mileposter]

@Olis - The use of the Sabbat Worlds is two-fold, but entirely superfluous. I am not attached to keeping them in that specific region.

 

The theory was that they were established there after the Sabbat Worlds Crusade, and in part because of the Crusade, both to avoid conflict with the written works but also to provide a reason a Sentinel-Founding Chapter would exist in a given sector.

 

I had selected a known area because of the desire to tie the Chapter into something lore-wise. I can easily scratch that itch elsewhere, such as with the iconography that @ONDIG mentions.

 

That said, it is true that the Sabbat Worlds provided a unique benefit, in that there is a known Knight World nearby and a Forge World that is documented for having made 'personal' arrangements with organizations and forces; deals that would not be easily approved by AdMech. This was a convenient explanation for why the Forge World would be producing Knights, and how the Eclipse could get their hands on a second without bending lore. Again, I can easily let go of the Sabbat Worlds, but I'd like to avoid creating my own Forge World if I can. Either a region nearby another Forge World, to keep the same story, or a suggestion on another story both solve this hurdle.

 

I am very open to ideas in this area.

Edited August 17, 2017 by Pentharian

[Mileposter]

Based on the feedback thus far, I've made the following changes to the Basics and Origin:

 

Changing their area to be based on the fortress world of Valleshar, Marilith Zone, Veiled Region, Segmentum Pacificus. This is a unique system I've added. I'll include some fun information about the area in the IA so as to help the area lend flavor to the Chapter, but the basics is that the Marilith Zone includes a pair of Imperial Agri Worlds (Ialdon and Suufari), a Forge World (Enyara), a Fortress World (Valleshar), and an Exodite World (Gall).

 

Eclipse Marines are still relocated to Valleshar after the Sabbat Worlds Crusade in 783.M41. Still establish a protective hold over their small corner of the Marilith Zone.

 

Orks are still a problem, and still led by Toofkrakka, but these greenskins hail from halo Stars this time around, and end up waking the real trouble for the Eclipse Marines this version: The Necrons. The necrons are prevalent in the Veiled Region, and it seemed to make sense to me that a single Chapter being arrogant on their own would have a hard time putting the Necrons down. Haven't decided if the Marilith Zone includes a Tomb World or if some Necrons were simply here.

 

As always, feedback appreciated.

[Olis]

The proposed changes eliminate the problem I had with the concept - though at this moment the OP hasn't been updated yet. I'll look forward to seeing the changes. :)

[Mileposter]

After seeing it done so many other times during my research, I've removed the segment of history about the Chapter being nearly depleted. Destruction seems overdone. Instead, I've changed it to be that they nearly fail their assigned vigil instead - this seems to me a far more interesting happening to explore and can have a far greater impact on the character of the Chapter. helps that it's a little more unique than "OMG CHAOS" as not all human emotions lead to a fall.

 

I've adjusted the capacity numbers to reflect simply being stretched thin with combat. With that, however, means that there's less reason to be paired down so thin with Knighthoods - they'll have close to 10 companies worth of marines, and so heraldry denoting their 'company' equivalents becomes necessary to explain. Added a little bit to explain what the Eclipse Marines choose to display.

[Mileposter]

It's been a little while since I fiddled with these folks.

 

Updated the Knighthood organization and progression to reflect the more complete Chapter concept. Shouldn't have anything left of the 'nearly destroyed' remnants in there.

 

Completely reworked the color scheme and markings so that they're not 'Raven Guard, but different' when it comes to painting. The markings in the image are just a bunch of placeholders, since I'm not in a position to add my own custom ones to it. Should look a little better than the original at the least.

Edited October 17, 2017 by Pentharian

[Brother Lunkhead]

Looks good. I think you made good choices in your changes. I'm putting together a back-story for my own chapter and I try to keep it on the edge or away from official cannon so some giant GW game developer doesn't unknowingly step on my chapter lore and leave a gooey mess (that at least works for me).  I'm a bit of a lore- Nazi myself, so I sympathize. Fortunately it's a big galactic sand box to play in.

 

I really like the knighthood theme. A bit outside of the codex, but definitely well within the 40k SM structure (a clumsy word I know but the old brain is a bit foggy today) 

Your color scheme looks nice and clean. This is an area I'm loathed to comment on as one's choice of chapter colors is very personal (imo). Suffice to say it looks good.

 

Looks like a lot of fun. Keep up the good work