Index Astartes: Crimson Guard v0.2

[Dosjetka]

Index Astartes: Crimson Guard

Crimson Guard Chapter heraldry

• 21st Founding;
• Primary mission: safeguard of the [name] Gap, a mineral-rich area in Segmentum Tempestus of critical importance to the nearby Forge Worlds of Alar-Median and Tolkhan;
• Curse of mortality: their life spans are far shorter than those of other Astartes who are functionally immortal.

• [name], planet closest to the system sun;
• Arid world, main resource is minerals;
• In proximity to a Warp anomaly that traps Warp-travelling craft and catapults them out of the Immaterium and into the system's sun though sometimes these ship crash into the planet's surface instead when the planet passes in front of the [Warp anomaly name], creating massive duststorms and tectonic instability which can last for months if not years;
• As a direct consequence of this, fortress-monastery is an orbiting space station.

• Unknown gene-seed experimentation has lead the Chapter's members to lose the "Astartes immortality" trait;
• The rate of aging varies and does not seem to follow any given pattern, members of the Chapter used to survive longer but as the end of the 41st millennium approaches any Crimson Guard rarely survives for longer then two centuries unless they are kept in stasis;
• As a direct result of this gene-seed/organ degeneration, the Chapter has a much higher recruitment rate;
• Chapter Apothecarion primary mission is to attempt to find a cure, with the help of the Adeptus Biologis and a cabal of Inquisitors.

• Due to their shortened life spans, the Crimson Guard tend to maximise their efforts as much as possible, to make their short existences worthwhile for both the Chapter and the wider Imperium;
• “The flame that burns half as long burns twice as bright”;
• Far more aggressive in their tactics, have less issues with sacrificing themselves because even if they survive they won't last long afterwards (relatively speaking);
• Have experimented with cocktails of combat drugs to increase combat efficiency but these have occasionally led to some Astartes spiralling out of control and wreaking havoc among allies or civilians.

• Higher recruitment rate and two extra Scout Companies to keep the other fighting and reserve formations as closet to optimal operational levels as possible;
• Otherwise, follow standard Codex-approved Comany organisation;
• Veterans in the Chapter are younger and less experienced than those of other Chapters;
• A formation known as the "Old Guard" (name subject to change but works well with Chapter name) is given a variety of non- or limited combat duties and is made up of those Astartes who are no longer battle-worthy.

• While some members are optimistic about the Apothecaries finding a cure, many view the whole Chapter as ultimately doomed to die off and replaced by a "healthy" Chapter (some even believe that the Adeptus Biologis and Inquisitorial agents working with the Apothecarion are trying to accelerate the Chapter's demise and resent their presence and meddling);
• Due to the increasingly short lives of the Chapter's members, a great majority have taken it upon themselves to record their own history and thoughts so as to not be forgotten once they die, these personal histories are often in the form of pieces of parchment attached with wax to their armour;
• A portion of the Old Guard has been tasked with recording the Chapter's deeds (known as "Remembrancers"?) and to safeguard the texts, relics, and Dreadnoughts that are stored in stasis within the Chapter's Memoriam.

• "Burn fast, burn bright!"
• "Slay fast, burn bright!"
• "Slay before you die!"

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Old first post content below:

Hidden Content

I'll get back to my Vigilants of Estare soon enough but in the meantime I've been painting and ended up with a member of the Crimson Guard. I really like the colour scheme and the fact there is no official fluff about them except for name and colours is great!

Now, my ideas so far are:

- 21st Founding Chapter.
- heightened aggression (not sure if gene-seed manipulation, Astartes organ manipulation, implants, combat drugs, or a mix n' match of a few of those) but also drastically reduce life span (i.e. the members of this Chapter aren't functionally immortal any more and their bodies/minds will deteriorate after x decades/centuries). In essence, they burn briefly but fiercely.
- if the aggression is linked to their gene-seed, it was decided long ago, after a number of incidents, that specialists (Chaplains, Librarians, Apothecaries, Techmarines) would receive different gene-seed to avoid any side effects. Aggressive combat troops and officers is generally good, aggressive support staff isn't so good.
- constantly under watch by the Adpetus Biologis and a cabal of Inquisitors.
- increased number of Chaplains to keep troops in check/dispatch crazies if need be.

I'll be developing more fluff in my WIP thread but this will be very much on a individual/squad level so I figured that getting some feedback from you fine folks on the general Chapter fluff was a good idea.

All feedback and suggestions appreciated!

Edited December 10, 2018 by Chaplain Dosjetka
Updated with v0.2 [29/10/17]

[Dizzyeye01]

Personally, I would take a page from Halo with the later Spartan IIIs where they had increased aggression and needed to take daily drugs in order to keep themselves in check. You could have it where the drugs they use to keep themselves calm is the very thing stripping their immortality and is the lesser of two evils.

 

That way you don't have to worry about the complications made with the support staff having seperate geneseed. After all, if there is more stable geneseed why not scrap the more unstable stock?

[Brother Cambrius]

This would be a fun one to roll out. Only thing I would advise is to avoid Xerox-ing the pre-heresy World Eaters or their fellow 21st Gounding siblings, The Minotaurs.

 

I like the idea Dizzyeye suggested on them having the medication (smoothers I think they were called) to calm them when combat is not taking place.

 

How would the specialists have different geneseed from their more aggressive brethren, would it come from their parent chapter or from another gene-stock? How do the others view this and is there a fractured hostility between the ranks?

 

I'll be keeping my eye on this as you build it up alongside your army. :tu:

 

Cambrius

[Lysimachus]

Another option might be to have them use Chapter serfs in those support roles? Perhaps even using (appropriately trained/enhanced) individuals as strategic 'counsellors' and vehicle crews, though that might imply the problem with the Chapter's Marines to be more extreme than you want?

[Conn Eremon]

I personally think increased aggression fits best as a trait inherited from their home world or recruitment stock, or perhaps attribute it to the indoctrination process. But that's in large part because of how prolific genetically aggressive chapters are.

 

The latter route allows you to potentially have more than one indoctrination process. The question then would be what decision-making process decides who is remolded so aggressively.

[Commissar Molotov]

The Cursed Founding now, I think, has extra resonance with the addition to the 40k universe of Belisarius Cawl and the news that he was fiddling with the Primaris project for millennia. Could some of the failings be due to his handiwork? Who knows...

 

The concept on the face of it is interesting. The idea of Marines with a short lifespan is intriguing and not something that we have seen.

 

Dizzyeye's post is interesting because some fluff suggests that Marines do need monitoring throughout their lives to ensure their implants work properly. I do think you need to quantify what 'increased aggression' would mean and how it manifests, though I'm not a huge fan of the chapter command having different gene-seed.

[Draakur]

Have you considered at all the juxtaposition between a group called the "Guard", by definition a defensive stance or action, and your idea for a tendency towards hyper aggression ? Goes without saying that a Chapter's name needn't be a perfect description of their behaviour or temperament, but it could make for an interesting point. Perhaps this is an ongoing issue for them - they were initially created to "guard" a region, but their particular nature has them repeatedly drawing out and away from their domains, going on the offensive and chasing enemy elements around, and leaving the regions they were duty bound to protect open to predators.

 

Could create some very bad blood and/or mistrust if those places suffered due to the Crimson Guards' negligence, especially if they were an aloof/arrogant enough breed of Chapter to tell them to suck it up and deal with it, "we're Astartes and beyond reproach", etc.

 

Just thoughts...

[Doctor Perils]

How about the aggressivity coming from their shorter lifespans rather then the other way round: the chapter commanders discover that the lifespans are getting progressively shorter; without meddling directly with the geneseed, what can he do to ensure they get the optimal number of years of service from them? Speed up the recruitment and indoctrination process - in turn, the hyper-psychoindoctrination messes with their minds and boosts their aggressivity, a side effect they simply can't get rid of

 

And their curse is that the lifespans are getting progressively shorter as the centuries wear on, each generation living five years less then the previous one - will they survive into the 42nd millennium, or will they decide to go out with a bang?

 

 

Edit: I imagine there is also an aging process? Perhaps the older marines can't fight effectively enough to keep up with their younger brethren, and must set aside their power armour and man the walls of their fortress monastery after a certain point - the "old guard" as it were. In that case, first company veterans and officers might have much less experience then in conventional chapters, which would lead them to use more aggressive tactics and strategies then a more mellow officer would

Edited October 21, 2017 by Lord Thørn

[Dosjetka]

Plenty of top-notch ideas here. Thank you all for chipping in and contributing to my very rough ideas!

 

Using various ideas you have pitched, I have created the skeleton of my IA and posted it in this thread's first post. Any feedback is appreciated. :tu:

[Dizzyeye01]

One thing I thought about while I was reading the skeleton of the IA was the mention of the Old Guard being used record the history of the chapter. Part of me feels like the concept is sound but I feel like it may be a better idea going with having a chapter serf being assigned to a marine and it is part of their duty to record what is told by the marine.

 

As for the Old Guard, you could have it that they're a part of the 10th and due to their limited time want to make sure that their skills are passsed onto the next generation. Not to say this isn't a common thing in other chapters but it is more common within the chapter due to their lack of apparent immortality.

 

That's all I've got at the moment but if anything else pops up I'll include it.

[Conn Eremon]

I rather feel like two centuries isn't much of a curse. That's far from the Blood Angel longevity, but doesn't seem that far off the average. Even the original Legionnaires were getting ancient and weathered looking by the end of the two century Great Crusade, and not all of them had fought in it from the beginning.

[No Foes Remain]

Hey Dos, read this and had a thought. Some chapters sometimes use cry-sleep (Charnel Guard being one of them) when traveling from campaign to campaign. Something you could consider.