The Dragoons, Guardians of the Gothic Sector v1.5

[Saxxon the Dragoon]

Gothic Sector, Cyclops Cluster, Planet Endiness.

Planet Endiness. 2 moons, Vellweb and Tiberoa

Home to the Dragoons Chapter. Salamander Successor.

Chapter Master: Megiddo Drakenfall

Current Status: Under Strength, 5 out of 8 Astartes companies at operational strength, 2 Primaris companies near full strength.

Current Fleet Status:

• 1 Battle Barge- Litany of Fire and Fury
• 3 Strike Cruisers- Hellkite, Wyvern’s Bite, Flame’s Purity
• 5 hunter Class Destroyers
• 4 Gladius Class Frigates
• 4 Nova Class Frigates
• 4 Cobra Class Destroyers
• 11 Sword Class Destroyers

The strike cruiser Maw of Flames was transporting the 3^rd company, currently believed lost.

The strike cruiser Teeth of Tiberoa was transporting the 7^th company, currently believed lost.

 

The Dragoons Chapter claims to be a successor of the Salamanders Chapter. While sharing much in the way of iconography and weapon choice, the Dragoons have diverged significantly when it comes to tactics and doctrine. The Chapter symbol is that of a dragon’s head, with feathered wings. The chapter is somewhat known for its care and maintenance of its equipment, able to maintain equipment and make field repairs until full repair’s can be done. But the chapter also has a more questionable reputation as ‘Relic Hunters’. While often conducting themselves above reproach in the matters of warfare, they are also known to search space hulks, dead worlds, mechanicum vaults and the like to search for relics, equipment and anything that could be of use in the war against humanity’s enemies. This has sometimes been a great boon for the chapter as a whole as it has brought with it weapons, armor and even war machines to support their war effort; it has also put them at odds with some chapters as relics from other chapters have made their way into the Dragoon’s armory. While it has not lead to outright conflict with another chapter, it has put the chapter in tough situations as the Master of the Armory or Captains/lieutenants have had to negotiate with the original chapter’s captain about returning said gear. Usually the Dragoon’s will return most standard equipment without issue, but non-standard equipment the Dragoons will challenge the other chapter to a duel for ownership of the contested artifacts should negotiations fail. This has lead to some fantastic fights between chapter champions and a few rivalries.

 

 

The Dragoons also have a larger than standard compliment of Librarians and Tech Marines, with each company having 1 to 3 on average. And due to the chapter holding artificers and technology in high esteem, the chapter tends to a larger contingent of Mechanicus support, a better supplied and supported chapter forge and access to some lost equipment due to the chapter’s search for relics of the past. The close relationship with the Cult of Mars and the ancient artifacts recovered has given the chapter more support than normal and a stronger relationship compared to other chapters.

The Dragoons are a non-standard codex chapter. The chapter has 8 companies as compared to the standard 10. The chapter’s combat doctrine is also non-codex. Each company is roughly 120 marines strong, and follows a ‘combined arms’ combat style. Meaning each company has roughly every single unit type available to them. This allows companies to be very versatile in their response and deployment of assets, and allows more training and experience in working together with all the assets.

 

Each company is roughly compromised of: 1 Captain, 1-3 Librarians, 1-3 Lieutenants, 1-2 Chaplains, 1 Apothecary, 6-8 Tactical squads, 2 Assault squads, 2 Devastator squads, 1-2 Terminator squads, 3-6 Dreadnoughts. The chapter doesn’t count scouts as part of their company counts, as each company is responsible for the training of their own scouts, and since the number of scouts in training is in flux they aren’t considered full brothers until they have earned their power armor. Each company has their own compliment of vehicles, and has a larger than standard number of pilots and drivers to operate and maintain the motor pool.

 

Strong ties with the Cult Mechanicus has allowed the chapter to field equipment not normally standard. And with the chapter’s reputation for searching for, recovering and repairing warmachines and technology the chapter can field vehicles not usually associated with astartes. The chapter has access to several Sicaran tanks, a Warhound Titan and currently working with an Imperial Knight Freeblade. The chapter has also recovered multiple Fire Raptors and is currently in the process of bringing the back to operational capacity. Recovery of Contemptors from space hulks has also been a great boon. While the Dragoons have held onto the data templates for the Sicaran tanks (they can’t fully construct the vehicles, but can repair what they have recovered), the chapter has been working on spreading the data and STC templates for Contemptors to chapters they are on friendly terms with.

 

Combat Doctrine

The Dragoons combat doctrine is combine arms doctrine, with a focus on mobile weapon systems supporting fast attack and fast attack operations to avoid getting bogged down. While a company tends to only have 6 tactical squads, the availability of any asset allows them to fill in with more assault or devastator squads. While this focus on more versatility can leave fewer tactical squads to hold the line. It does allow for more assault marines to flank or more devastators to lay down more fire support on priority targets. Since the chapter is more focused on flanking and fast fire support, the chapter tends to have fewer vindicators and whirlwinds (as they are more designed for siege warfare) and more land speeders, stormbird aircraft, razorbacks and landraiders. Though this viewpoint has been changed somewhat when the Dragoons assisted the Minotaurs chapter in hunting down a chapter that was believed to go rogue. The Dragoons have started fielding the Helios pattern more regularly as the vehicle has proven excellent in dealing with entrenched foes. As more and more chaos forced have taken control of more planets, being able to deliver heavy long range fire that can survive chaos counter attacks have proven pivotal to purging operations.

 

CHAPTER HISTORY

Since at least M36 has the Dragoons Chapter defended humanity in the Gothic Sector, whether from Orks, Eldar, Tyranids and the forces of Chaos.

M36 N/A. The earliest records of the Chapters creation and history have been lost or forgotten. The oldest accounts in the chapter’s history that are still available describes campaigns against Eldar Corsairs and fringe Craftworld elements as they assaulted Endiness. The story of Captain Kyr’tan holding his ground in front of a sacred monument while Eldar Banshee’s assailed him. It was said that while he stood in front of the monument to the emperor, a golden glow enveloped him and not a single blade could lay into the Captain. He wiped out multiple squads of banshees by himself. When reinforcements from the Sisters of the Silver Chalice rallied to recover the monument from Eldar control, they were surprised to see the captain, alone and surrounded by the bodies of slain Eldar. When the canoness relieved Kyr’tan of the defense of the monument, Kyr’tan drove his power sword into the ground and stated “I am relieved, continue in my stead”. The glow faded from Kyr’tan as he laid his back against the monument and died. Rents and cuts in his armor revealed as blood poured from the many wounds he had suffered.

 

M37 602, 1^st company of the Dragoons with elements of the 6^th and 8^th held against a chaos ‘Hellion’ warband. The chapter saw great success in combat against the forces of chaos on the planet of Argent and Durogas. While Casualties overall were low, the 1^st company lost its captain and was interred into a Dreadnought.

 

M38 106, Patrolling space lanes near Port Maw, investigating reports of xenos raids and space hulks disgorged from the warp. Elements of the 2^nd company engaged Eldar corsairs and after several engagements the Eldar retreated. Giving chase, the small fleet was able to follow the ships back to their space hulk base. Requesting support from the 1^st company to assist in blockading the hulk and boarding the wreck to cleanse the xenos. Purging operations were successful. Librarians in the boarding parties investigated psychic emanations and discovered a large supply cache of astartes equipment including Contemptor dreadnought frames and a Warhound Titan.

 

M38 514- On a Vault search of a planet with no recorded name near the Tamahl and Gothic sector border. Further investigation of strange signals proved fruitful. A strange rock formation turned out to be a former outpost Legion outpost. The fortification was almost mistaken as just an unusual rock formation. Techmarines of the 5^th company recovered partial STC fragments and several Sicaran battle tanks in different levels of disrepair. The legion symbols being too worn from weather to verify. The tanks were taken back to Endiness for study and repairs.

 

M38 839- Responding to distress calls for aid against a Heretic Astartes warband called the Shadow Stalkers on the planet of Kur’ess. Upon arriving to the planet, they were surprised to find the chaos warband already engaged with another chapter. Bearing the color of bronze with a crimson bull head. The Dragoons fleet cut off the warband’s retreat and gave fire support while the Minotaurs boarding actions disabled the ships. Sending ground forces to the planet’s surface to assist the Minotaurs in cleanup operations. While they weren’t surprised that the Minotaurs barely coordinated or even communicated with them, though the Dragoons were surprised to find another chapter deploying multiple contemptors at the numbers they were. While the heretics were quickly wiped out, the Dragoon commanders were impressed by the Helios Land Raider that the Minotaurs deployed and upon returning to their home planet, the techmarines were put to task in replicating the pattern of land raider.

 

M39 742- 3^rd company assisted in the Domacles Gulf Crusade. While overall the 3^rd company saw many successful missions in the campaign, the company lost many vehicles and weapon support systems to Tau long range weapons. Troop casualties overall were low, but the lack of heavy weapon systems after the ceasefire was negotiated left the 3^rd company ill-prepared to assist the Tyranid threat as the Hive Fleet Behemoth as it assaulted the Imperium.

 

M39 743-745, the 4^th and 6^th Companies of the chapter assisted in the fighting splinter fleets from Hive Fleet Behemoth. Both companies suffered heavy casualties as the companies defended against overwhelming swarms of Carnifex and Genestealer bioforms. 3^rd Company, returning from the Domacles Gulf was redirected to assist the 4^th and 6^th company. While the imperial positions were eventually overrun, the 3^rd company was able to give cover and fire support and allow the remnants of the 4^th and 6^th company to retreat and buy more time for the last of the Guard and Mechanicus elements escape the planet.

 

M39 983- While dealing with a Dark Eldar incursion into the sector, the chapter was taken by surprise as a massive ork warband stumbled into the sector. Losing support craft and 2 strike cruisers heavily damaged in the fleet defense, the Dragoons lost their supply lines while fighting the Dark Eldar and were unprepared as ork roks fell from the sky. The 2^nd, 4^th and 5^th company suffered heavy losses and fought a fighting retreat.

M40 960- Investigating a massive space hulk named Gulgori, the 7^th company terminators purged the wreck of Tyranid infestation. While suffering heavy losses, they were able to recover large supply and armor caches and recovered relics from multiple chapters before destroying the space hulk. While the Dragoon’s attempted to return relics to chapters that were recovered, several chapters were outright hostile. Believing the Dragoons to be little more than grave robbers picking over the bones of their dead. While not all chapters were hostile, and a few even thankful for the return of their fallen, there was no doubt that the chapters had an unfavorable view of the Dragoons.

 

The Gothic War (Abaddon's 12th Black Crusade)

M41 143-151 Abaddon's 12th Black Crusade Launched in full force onto the Gothic Sector. While the Dragoons were initially dealing with Eldar corsairs and Ork raids at the time, the sudden onslaught from chaos took the chapter by surprise. The Dragoons lost many ships in early defense operations trying to hold orbital defenses and imperial held planets from overwhelming chaos forces. As admiral Ravensburg was assigned to leading the defense of the Gothic Sector. Shortly after the Gothic War was launched in full, warp storms surrounded the gothic sector, preventing outside reinforcement from the Imperium. While Endiness was well defended and the Dragoons fleet had destroyed or forced the retreat of several Chaos fleets. The Dragoons led many hit and run attacks on the different warband fleets, and baiting chaos ships into ork held asteroid fields. While the Dragoons did not participate in the defense of the Blackstone Fortresses, they did harass and destroy many pirates that preyed upon merchant fleets transporting resources to starving worlds and pushed back against chaos fleets that had overextended. After 7 years the warp storms surrounding the gothic sector waned and fresh reinforcements were able to arrive in system and help deal with Abaddon's crusade to capture the Blackstone Fortresses.

M41 152-160 In the aftermath of Abaddon's defeat, the Dragoons spent years hunting down remnants of chaos fleets, pirates and enforcing the Emperor's rule on many planets and space lanes that had been neglected due to the greater fighting of Abaddon's Crusade. The Dragoon's fleet forced never fully recovered to their pre- 12th crusade strength 1 Battle Barge, 3 Strike Cruisers and dozens of escort ships were lost defending imperial holdings, or were destroyed bringing justice to chaos fleets. Ships requisition orders were diverted or delayed due to supply shortages and repairs for the many ships that were destroyed or damage in the two decades of conflict.

 

 

 

Dark side of the Imperium

The Cicatrix Maledictum has had a devastating effect on the chapter. Already being engaged on several battlefields in the gothic sector and with two companies outside of the gothic sector answer distress calls in Tamahl sector. During the opening of the rift, the 3^rd and 7^th company were lost in the warp. Any and all attempts to contact the company’s ships via astropaths have gone unanswered. The 8^th company was defending the chapter’s lunar base, manning the planetary defenses when a chaos fleet erupted from the warp outside the system. The 8^th were able to send out warning signals to the chapter and surrounding planets, but with the warp in chaos and the astronomicon blocked out, there would be no reinforcements. The 8^th was completely wiped out defending the station. While the planetary defenses on the moon were silenced by chaos forces, it the 8^th’s sacrifice was not in vain. A chaos Acheron heavy cruiser, and a couple chaos cruisers were destroyed or disabled, allowing the Dragoon’s Battlebarge Litany of Fire and Fury as well as its support craft to counterattack and destroy more of the chaos fleet. While the fleet counterattacked, Chapter Master Megiddo Drakenfall lead a strike force from the Hellkite to retake the defenses on Vellweb and bring the weapons to bear against chaos.

With the planetary defenses of Vellweb back under the Dragoons control and flanking attacks of the strike cruisers, the chaos fleet was forced to retreat.

 

While the war in space was being won by the Dragoon’s fleet, the forces of chaos were able to land a strong beachhead on Endiness and start assaulting the mechanicus forges. The Dragoon’s 2^nd and 5^th company fought in defense of the forges, supported by the warhound titan Melbu Frama and assistance from a Freeblade Knight Mortiferus. Sororitas from the Sisters of the Silver Chalice defended the primary hive of Serdio. While the forces of Chaos were pushed back from the forges and the hive, the Dragoons weren’t able to drive the forces of chaos out due to being spread too thin.

 

Losing 3 (3^rd, 7^th and 8^th) companies, 1^st company retaking the planetary defenses on Vellweb, 2^nd and 5^th defending primary objectives on Endiness, 4^th company leading boarding actions against the chaos fleets, that only left the 6^th company to go on the offensive. With fleet support limited, several locations under siege and chaos daemons spawning intermittently, the 6^th company was limited to hit and run engagements, trying to draw out the forces of chaos to be brought down by air support and concerted devastator fire support.

 

When the warp storms from the opening of the Cicatrix waned and the light of the astronomicon available, the calls of support from the Dragoons were answered with a contingent of Elysians. Reinforced the Dragoons went fully on the offensive. With strafing runs from Valkyries, and Elysians to hold objectives the Dragoons 2^nd, 5^th and 6^th were able to fully commit to the attack on the chaos beach head. As the campaign wore on, the forces of chaos were pushed back until their last stronghold. A military outpost that was formerly manned by planetary guard. What remained of the Dragoons fire support vehicles maintained a meager barrage. Not enough to break their hold, but enough to prevent a breakout. As the Dragoon’s prepared for the final assault, they were joined by elements from the 1^st and 4^th company as the chaos fleet had been routed. With well-placed planetary bombardments from strike cruisers in orbit opened up holes in the outpost’s defenses. With mortar and air support from the Elysian’s, and the combined assault of 5 space marine companies, the forces of chaos were purged.

 

While the Dragoons were recovering from the siege of their planet, rebuilding and repairing defenses and recruiting fresh bodies. A small fleet of supply ships able to break the Chaos blockade of Port Maw arrived. Arriving from Port Maw with reports and reinforcements from the other side of the Imperium. Of the news of the return of Guillimen and the Indomnitus Crusade. While only one of the ships containing the Primaris reinforcements for the Dragoons survived, it was welcome sight. The heavy losses incurred by the assault by chaos, and the loss of 3 companies left the Dragoons severely undermanned. While the Primaris support of 2 companies would certainly fill some of the gaps in the chapter strength, they were strict adherents to the Codex’s teachings. Leading to heated exchanges between the commanders of the Astartes and Primaris. While the Primaris were fervent to fight the enemies of man, they had no interest in the search for relics and warmachines of the imperium, and did not care for any tactics outside the teachings of the Codex. While the Captain of the Primaris would not refuse any orders from the chapter master, he would only follow Codex tactics to accomplish the mission, leading to higher than estimated casualties. Leading the Primaris sergeants to question the wisdom of only Codex approved tactics. Their strict interpretation of the Codex and its teachings has lead some to question the decisions and cost the lives of more than a few of the Primaris.

 

 

More to come....

Edited January 29, 2018 by Saxxon the Dragoon

[Dosjetka]

Welcome to the Liber, Saxxon. :tu:

 

I'll go over your IA in more detail later on. For the time being, something that struck me straight away is the fact you've placed the Chapter in the Gothic Sector, an area that has seen quite a bit of coverage on GW's part. You give them the title of "Guardians of the Gothic Sector" and yet I don't recall hearing about them in any fluff covering the 12th Black Crusade/Gothic War? Where were the Sector's guardians during those dire times when the area needed defenders?

 

I realise that this is a DIY Chapter so it's normal they aren't mentioned in the official fluff. My point is that I find it unwise to use a well-known event (or character, other Chapter, etc) to define a Chapter, especially if the Chapter is supposed to play an important role, because 1) the chances the DIY Chapter name will appear in official GW material is close to nil and 2) retcons are very much a thing and you could find yourself having to re-write your whole Chapter history because GW decided to revise the storyline of x event that your Chapter relied upon, lore-wise.

[Saxxon the Dragoon]

Because of how in depth and busy the 12th crusade was (and yes, I played BFG and still have my fleet and did a campaign of using both BFG and my marines and sisters when the eye of terror book came out for the 12th crusade) I plan on detailing that info, but it requires a lot of work that I haven't gotten to yet. Since the forums got wiped out, I dont have access to my original posting that had the theatre my chapter was operating on during the 12th crusade so I have to rewrite it from scraps of memory.

 

And I say that the Dragoons are 'guardians of the gothic sector' because there really arent any space marine chapters that are based in the gothic sector and I fell in love with the lore of that sector of space. Even back in old forums, I had made it pretty well known my chapter was in the gothic sector and had taken part in the defense of it.

 

and by now, I think we are all used to GW retconning things. Including the 12th crusade. Originally the 12th black crusade was beaten by the imperium, and then it was retconned (when the armada book came out) into the 12th crusade in the gothic sector as pretty much chaos completing all of their objectives (destroying the necron blackstone fortresses) and heavily damaging the imperium before retreating, only to kick off the 13th black crusade in the Armada book and focus on destroying Cadia (which finally happened 4 editions later), and now we have the Cicatrix Maledictum.

 

I still have my Space Marine fleet, but outside of painting 1 of my strike cruisers, most of my fleet is either unprimed or barely based. I am currently going through and re-painting a lot of my army or painting new additions to my army (like my primaris and my contemptor). Once I get them painted I plan on adding pictures and updating a lot of the original post.

Edited January 23, 2018 by Saxxon the Dragoon

[Dosjetka]

Fair enough.

 

I've read through the first few paragraphs of your Chapter History and I get the distinct feeling there is a case of name-dropping/event-piggybacking here.

 

As an example, why couldn't the Chapter that assisted the Dragoons in eradicating the Shadow Stalkers be another, lesser-known Chapter? It seems to me the Minotaurs' role in your Chapter History could be supplanted by another Chapter and that would reduce the prevading feeling of name-dropping.

 

Similarly, if your Chapter is heavily involved in the defence of the Gothic Sector, what are they doing participating in the Damocles Crusade on the other side of the galaxy? While possible, it is unlikely they would get involved as there are plenty of other Chapters at full strength in the area who could lend assistance. At the very least, you could explain what made them travel so far across the Imperium when their base of operations is in the Segmentum Obscurus.

 

Last but not least, the Battle for Macragge is and has always been an Ultramarines-only event. There was some assistance provided by other Chapters in the clean-up operations that followed the main event but during that war, the Ultramarines were caught largely by surprise and were alone. Trying to insert elements of your Chapter into that campaign feels both lazy and cheap.

 

I realise that the campaigns GW creates are cool and many of us would like to have our Chapters involved in them to some degree, but trying to shoehorn your Chapter into these events is generally frowned upon here in the Liber and I personally dislike it.

 

In conclusion: make the Dragoons the heroes of your own DIY campaigns, don't try and steal the thunder from other Chapters/forces. It looks lazy and feels cheap.

 

Edit: Typos. If there are any more, you have my apologies. Writing fairly long texts on a phone is a pain.

Edited January 25, 2018 by Chaplain Dosjetka

[Saxxon the Dragoon]

As an example, why couldn't the Chapter that assisted the Dragoons in eradicating the Shadow Stalkers be another, lesser-known Chapter? It seems to me the Minotaurs' role in your Chapter History could be supplanted by another Chapter and that would reduce the prevading feeling of name-dropping.

 

 

I wanted an 'in lore' reason for why my chapter has a Land Raider Helios (since the Helios isn't an STC design, but an variant the Minotaurs created, and the Minotaurs arent known for sharing their tech). Considering the Minotaurs disappeared between M38 to M41 and only recently showed up, as well as them being well known to hunt down chapters that have gone rogue/heretical. I didnt want to supplant the lore the Minotaurs already have. My chapter didn't save them, and aiding them was incidental (not like the Minotaurs would ever ask for help, they would rather die than whisper an utterance for assistance). And it gives a little bit of 'thats interesting' about the fact that the Minotaurs are known for the number of Contemptor Dreads they have, and I wanted to remark upon it since my chapter as 'relic hunters' of sorts have access to Contemptors they were surprised to see another chapter not just have Contemptors, but to field multiple of them as a regular chapter would field standard Dreads.

 

Similarly, if your Chapter is heavily involved in the defence of the Gothic Sector, what are they doing participating in the Damocles Crusade on the other side of the galaxy? While possible, it is unlikely they would get involved as there are plenty of other Chapters at full strength in the area who could lend assistance. At the very least, you could explain what made them travel so far across the Imperium when their base of operations is in the Segmentum Obscurus.

 

 

Ravenguard are stupidly far from the Tau empire, and yet they still fought in the Domacles Gulf Crusade. Hell, the Dark Angels, Salamanders and Ultramarines are closer to Tau space than the Ravenguard and yet the Ravenguard were sent. White Scars are nearly the same distance as the Salamanders, and yet the Salamanders weren't called to purge the Tau from the Domacles Gulf. My chapter does have 8 companies, and not all of them are always in a major conflict at all times. Sending an inactive company to assist in the purging of Xenos that the High Lords spent years planning, its not unreasonable. But I will keep this in mind, my chapter did fight the tau A LOT back in the 4th edition era, so I at least wanted to represent that.

 

Last but not least, the Battle for Macragge is and has always been an Ultramarines-only event. There was some assistance provided by other Chapters in the clean-up operations that followed the main event but during that war, the Ultramarines were caught largely by surprise and were alone. Trying to insert elements of your Chapter into that campaign feels both lazy and cheap.

 

I definitely didn't want to take away the Battle for Macragge away from the Ultramarines, I should probably state clearly that my Chapter assisted in fighting a splinter fleets in helping to purge the surrounding systems. Again I played against a lot of Tyranid players back in 4th edition (and got my arse kicked a lot by them) and wanted to reflect that in the lore of my chapter. Its not like anybody is ever going to outshine the emperor's blueberries when it comes to the lore or the marketing of warhammer 40k.

 

I realise that the campaigns GW creates are cool and many of us would like to have our Chapters involved in them to some degree, but trying to shoehorn your Chapter into these events is generally frowned upon here in the Liber and I personally dislike it.

 

Its not like I am trying to throw my chapter into every conflict as if its some kind of Sonic fanfic. Just that they participated in a couple of the major actions (there are far more major battlefields, like Armageddon that I wasn't going to touch at all), and I have tried to keep most of my lore within and around the Gothic and Tamahl sectors. While I certainly need to detail out more of my chapter's actions during the 12th Black Crusade, I wont be touching the 13th Crusade. Or much of anything thats been going on with the return of Guillimen, partly because with the Cicatix, my chapter is cut off from that side of the imperium. And partly because most of the lore currently going on is on well and away on the other side of the galaxy, there is no reasonable way for my chapter to be operating over there. Now maybe 1 of the 2 ships that were in transit and currently missing with the warp rift happened, they can show up somewhere else in the galaxy. But currently my chapter is mostly busy fighting chaos daemons and chaos marines in the gothic sector. I dont see the gothic sector being of much interest to GW in the near future since they dont like revisiting places over and over again unless its named Armageddon.

[Dosjetka]

Those are all valid reasons but do they require you to piggyback well-known events? There are thousands or even tens of thousands of battlefields where Tyranids and/or Tau are involved. Why do you have to focus on the campaigns who are in the spotlight? Why not explore your own campaign ideas? It'll be far more interesting for both yourself and readers.

 

The Minotaurs issue is minor but there are other ways to justify the presence of a Land Raider Helios in your army/Chapter.

[Saxxon the Dragoon]

I guess I could rework around the events with Tyranids, they have become much more significant presence since 4th edition so its not too difficult nowadays to work around that.

Though when it comes to the Tau, outside of the Domacles Gulf/3rd sphere of expansion, there has been very little in the way of interaction between the Imperium and Tau. While the Tau were recently going to start their 4th sphere of expansion, we know that a good chunk of their fleet got jumbled around in the warp and appeared near the blood angels only to get completely wiped out. So I am kind of put in a difficult position of either using the Domacles Gulf Crusade, or completely removing them from my chapter's lore, and considering fighting (and beating) Tau early on in my early hobby days (after getting stomped by tyarnids all the time) it kind of feels significant to me.

 

As for the Minotaurs/Helios, how other way would I explain that, that isnt just going to step on the toes of the minotaurs anyways? 'My army doesnt field much in the way of vindicators so my forge master ordered a whirlwind turret put on a land raider', how is that any different than the Minotaurs putting a whirlwind turret on a land raider because they don't trust imperial guard artillary support? I would at least prefer that they copied the idea after seeing it in action while working along with the Minotaurs. Its better than trying to hand-wave every special vehicle my army has access to as 'they just found it' or 'parallel thinking'. It gets a little repetitive saying my chapter finds everything that they use, and trying to push that narrative to a Helios. The Minotaurs are not a chapter that just leaves stuff around.  Especially since they disappeared for 3k years. At least the Black Templars shared their Crusader plans with everyone, unlike the Blood Angels and Space Wolves who like to bogart all their fancy toys so no one else can play with them.

[Wargamer]

+++INCOMING ASTROPATHIC COMMUNICATION+++

+++DISPATCH DATE - 0 084 018.M3+++

+++FROM: OFFICE OF THE ADMINISTRATUM - LIBRIS ARCHIVIST SUB-DIVISION+++

+++TO: ASTARTES CHAPTER "THE DRAGOONS" - ASTARTES LIBRARIUS +++

+++PRIORITY: TERTIUS EXPLICATE+++

 

+++THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: TO KNOW THY BROTHER IS TO KNOW THE EMPEROR+++

Greetings, Saxxon.

 

I have been charged by the Holy Emperor with the task of examining this documentation and preparing it for transcription into the Imperial Archive. In accordance with the Inquisition's Edicts on accepted thought, any potential discrepancy in the True and Proper History of Mankind shall be highlighted and clarification sought. Failure to provide clarification within the accepted period of one-hundred Terran orbits may result in sanctions against your Chapter, including but not limited to Excommunication by cyclonic torpedo.

 

Dictation of points of inquiry to follow:

 

First of all, the Chapter's name. "Dragoon" is a military unit, referring traditionally to infantry who rode into battle on horseback. Increasingly, it took to mean any kind of cavalry force, which in turn implies a ceremonial role. The simple title of "The Dragoons" comes across as strange, as it would be akin to having a Space Marine Chapter named "The Knights" or "The Marines". Perhaps something has been lost in transmission? My auto-compiler Servo-Skull suggests that "The Endiness Dragoons" or some other combination of "The [verb] Dragoons" or "The Dragoons of [name]" would be expected.

 

Second, the Chapter "claims" to be a Salamander Successor. Their iconographjy, affinity for technology and Chapter structure all appear to be inkeeping with a Salamanders Successor, so I am unsure of where or why this vaguery has arisen. If I may be so bold, I feel your Chapter's noble lineage should be proclaimed directly. Likewise, phrases such as "somewhat known" imply some degree of mediocrity or lack of assertiveness - traits which one would never associate with the noble Astartes!

 

With regard to your supposed acquisition of a Warhound Titan and Imperial Knight - I struggle to believe the Collegia Titanicus would ever surrender ownership of what is not only a precious, nigh-irreplaceable weapon of war, but also the divine wroth of the Machine God made manifest! Did you perhaps mean to say that the Adeptus Mechanicus routinely second elements of their Titan forces and/or Knight Households to assist in the reclamation of particularly rare and precious forms of technology? After all, if the former were true it would certainly bring down the fury of the Inquisition where it to be known, and one cannot easily hide a Titan!

 

Onto the issue of the Chapter's location. I have consulted with the Master Archivists and they have no mention of any Space Marine Chapter within the Gothic Sector, nor indeed any mention of Tyranids in the Gothic Sector. This is a rather confusing contradiction as it flies in the face of the Established History, which is of course perfect, immutable and unchanging (and stating otherwise is punishable by pulping). As such, I can only assume that some form of data-transfer corruption has taken place. I understand others have raised this concern as well, and so I would hope we can all agree on what the true location of your homeworld is. Perhaps it is close to the Gothic Sector? Or is there some other Gothic Sector of which I am unfamiliar - if this is the case, please forward the Sector Governor's personal details to the Office of Renaming at your earliest convenience.

With regard to the incident at Port Maw - M38 106 - there are no records of Eldar Corsairs ever operating out of a Space Hulk, certainly not one of Imperial design. Eldar view Imperial technology as primitive and crude (and thus we see the inherent folly of the xenos!), and no sources given to me by the Xenology of Inferior Species supports this notion. Are you certain it was Eldar Corsairs operating out of the Hulk and not Orks, Chaos or simple renegades?

With regard to the Vault search - M38 514 - There is a minor typo in the official record: "outpost Legion outpost". This account is, while remarkable, not discordant with Official Imperial History and is raised purely so that the Ordo Grammaticus does not see fit to send agents against us.

 

Further to earlier queries, and as a point in general, I feel it necessary to remind you that Official History does not record your Chapter's presence at either the Gothic War or the Damocles Gulf Crusade. This is something we have seen many times - with young and impressionable scribes linking their favoured regiments, fleets or Astartes Chapters to great events in Imperial History. Such actions are forgivable (for all sin is absolved in the purifying flame of the Ordo Hereticus), but the Holy Truth of His Official History must always be preserved. To have served in and around the perimeter of such events is, perhaps, a more appropriate compromise between history as you recall it, and history as the Holy Inquisition decrees it. Your efforts against the Tyranids in 743-745 M39 are and example of the record that appears to be accepted by the hooded Inquisitorial agent staring at me from across the room as I dictate this.

Finally, an agent of the Ordo Dramaticus - the holy scribes who create the thrilling narratives that inspire our citizens to ever greater acts of service in His name - approve of the supposed tension between the Primaris and Mundanus Marines. While of course such tensions would never exist in reality (the very idea that infighting of any kind could ever take place between Astartes is a fiction, and to assert otherwise is Heresy), the idea of it sparks a level of excitement and intrigue that falls within accepted bounds of thought and leaves the reader eager to learn whether the disparate sides of the Chapter come together, or perhaps even split apart (not that such a thing could ever happen, I hasten to add!).

With that, I believe my analysis of the presented document is concluded. I hope that you are able to address my concerns raised within my lifetime, but in the event that my life is spent before your reply reaches Holy Terra, I shall make sure my descendants are properly briefed and awaiting your communication.

Your Obdt Servant,
Adeptus Scribe 31415926.

[Saxxon the Dragoon]

Thank you for taking the time to read and criticize, here are my answers.
 

 

First of all, the Chapter's name. "Dragoon" is a military unit, referring traditionally to infantry who rode into battle on horseback. Increasingly, it took to mean any kind of cavalry force, which in turn implies a ceremonial role. The simple title of "The Dragoons" comes across as strange, as it would be akin to having a Space Marine Chapter named "The Knights" or "The Marines". Perhaps something has been lost in transmission? My auto-compiler Servo-Skull suggests that "The Endiness Dragoons" or some other combination of "The [verb] Dragoons" or "The Dragoons of [name]" would be expected.

 

The Dragoons will use long range fire supported by gunship/landspeeders strafing the enemy and assault marines or biker charges similarly to cavalry charges in the days of old. Preferring to hit and run tactics over attrition. The name of Dragoons is not just referencing the old military unit, but also combat tactics. And considering you have officially named GW chapters called the 'Invaders', 'Hawk', 'Exorcists', 'Relictors', 'Subjugators' and the like, Dragoons is not out of place in the least.

 

 

Second, the Chapter "claims" to be a Salamander Successor. Their iconographjy, affinity for technology and Chapter structure all appear to be inkeeping with a Salamanders Successor, so I am unsure of where or why this vaguery has arisen. If I may be so bold, I feel your Chapter's noble lineage should be proclaimed directly. Likewise, phrases such as "somewhat known" imply some degree of mediocrity or lack of assertiveness - traits which one would never associate with the noble Astartes!

 

Only a handful of chapters claim the Salamanders as their parent chapter, and the Salamanders haven't officially recognized any successor chapters. Considering the Black Dragons and Storm Giants also claim to be Salamander successors, but there are no official records to confirm or deny. Its not that the Salamanders have been outlawed from having successors like the Space Wolves, but there just arent any records available as to who is actually a successor of the Salamanders.

 

With regard to your supposed acquisition of a Warhound Titan and Imperial Knight - I struggle to believe the Collegia Titanicus would ever surrender ownership of what is not only a precious, nigh-irreplaceable weapon of war, but also the divine wroth of the Machine God made manifest! Did you perhaps mean to say that the Adeptus Mechanicus routinely second elements of their Titan forces and/or Knight Households to assist in the reclamation of particularly rare and precious forms of technology? After all, if the former were true it would certainly bring down the fury of the Inquisition where it to be known, and one cannot easily hide a Titan!

 

Due to the close relationship the chapter has with the mechanicus, the warhound and knight is often deployed alongside the forces of the Dragoons if they find it is necessary. The Dragoons do not try to take the secrets or the warmachines of the mechanicus away from them, just like the mechanicus do not try to take away the war machines of the Astartes. But cooperation and sharing of assets and recovered secrets has proven fruitful. The Mechanicus is able to forge equipment that was previously lost, and the Astartes can call upon the aid of the Mechanicus for super-heavy support. And considering the Chapter Master is effectively the planetary governor, He does have the authority to order the resources of the planet's Mechanicus resources brought to bear if need be. And considering the split in the galaxy, Space Marine Chapters can be considered 'fiefdoms' for those stuck on the dark side of the Imperium. Considering Dante is now the Commander of the Dark Imperium, its not unreasonable.

 

 

Onto the issue of the Chapter's location. I have consulted with the Master Archivists and they have no mention of any Space Marine Chapter within the Gothic Sector, nor indeed any mention of Tyranids in the Gothic Sector. This is a rather confusing contradiction as it flies in the face of the Established History, which is of course perfect, immutable and unchanging (and stating otherwise is punishable by pulping). As such, I can only assume that some form of data-transfer corruption has taken place. I understand others have raised this concern as well, and so I would hope we can all agree on what the true location of your homeworld is. Perhaps it is close to the Gothic Sector? Or is there some other Gothic Sector of which I am unfamiliar - if this is the case, please forward the Sector Governor's personal details to the Office of Renaming at your earliest convenience.

Well Imperial records aren't what they used to be. We dont even know the correct year, and S1 is notorious for losing paperwork. As for the Tyranids, your records are again wrong (as usual with S-1), Hive Fleet Ouroboris came in near the Gothic sector in M36 and has popped back up on several occasions. as you can see from here. And at times the Chapter has sent forces from the Gothic sector to other area's of the galaxy to assist in other issues. Just like the Space Wolves assisted with the destruction of Ouroboris, even though they are at the southern end of the Ultima Segmentum (quite a considerable distance from Fenris).

As for the location of my Chapter's homeworld, Endiness, if you refer to your star charts of the Gothic Sector here you can locate the Cyclops Cluster. Though due to warp storms that tend to hit the Gothic sector from time to time does inhibit astropathic communication. And the stellar debris and gases can hinder conventional communications.
 

With regard to the incident at Port Maw - M38 106 - there are no records of Eldar Corsairs ever operating out of a Space Hulk, certainly not one of Imperial design. Eldar view Imperial technology as primitive and crude (and thus we see the inherent folly of the xenos!), and no sources given to me by the Xenology of Inferior Species supports this notion. Are you certain it was Eldar Corsairs operating out of the Hulk and not Orks, Chaos or simple renegades?

 

The Gothic sector has a long history of dealing with Eldar, Ork and even Human pirates. Chasing one often leads to fights with the others. The corsairs used the Hulk to mask the signatures of their ships. Rather devious of those xenos, but the destruction of both would prevent such occurrences from happening again. While Eldar would never deign themselves to live, much less walk in the remains of human manufacturing. They certainly weren't against the idea of cutting open chunks of the hulk to fit their ships into to hide when they weren't plundering merchant ships.
 

With regard to the Vault search - M38 514 - There is a minor typo in the official record: "outpost Legion outpost". This account is, while remarkable, not discordant with Official Imperial History and is raised purely so that the Ordo Grammaticus does not see fit to send agents against us.

 

Must have been a hiccup in the servo-skull recording the accounts. The offending servo-skull shall be inspected and the issue shall eventually be corrected.

 

Further to earlier queries, and as a point in general, I feel it necessary to remind you that Official History does not record your Chapter's presence at either the Gothic War or the Damocles Gulf Crusade. This is something we have seen many times - with young and impressionable scribes linking their favoured regiments, fleets or Astartes Chapters to great events in Imperial History. Such actions are forgivable (for all sin is absolved in the purifying flame of the Ordo Hereticus), but the Holy Truth of His Official History must always be preserved. To have served in and around the perimeter of such events is, perhaps, a more appropriate compromise between history as you recall it, and history as the Holy Inquisition decrees it. Your efforts against the Tyranids in 743-745 M39 are and example of the record that appears to be accepted by the hooded Inquisitorial agent staring at me from across the room as I dictate this.

 

 

There isn't a space anywhere in the galaxy that hasn't been used narrative wise in the galaxy, from the Ghoul Stars to the Veiled Region. The only way to have ANY action against the Tau in lore is during the 3rd sphere (considering the imperium didnt really care about them during the first or second sphere of expansion), and considering the 4th sphere of expansion hasn't kicked off yet, the narrative space is incredibly limited thanks to GW. And what little lore we have of the Tau in current era is a small fleet caught in the warp storms popped out by the Blood Angels area of space and were instantly wiped out. So until something new happens in the lore and Tau start popping up all over the place, the Tau haven't crossed the Domacles Gulf yet.

The Inquisition and the High Lords of Terra are also known for screwing around with the history books and changing or expunging records.

Similar but different issue when it comes to the 12th Crusade, and as someone else pointed out (before I updated my original post with an update, but you can still see their comment) my chapter being in the Gothic Sector and NOT HAVING ANY LORE ON THE 12TH CRUSADE is a major issue. To have a roughly 20 year long war with a major antagonist and not have ANYTHING in my chapter history about it also causes issues. I am literally damned if I do, damned if I don't. And if I decide to move my chapter to another sector of the galaxy and GW decides to add new lore/conflicts in that area its just going to be the same problem all over again. I did state that my chapter fought in against the crusade, but did not participate in any of the battle's for the 6 blackstone fortresses, they were more focused on fighting chaos and pirate fleets and retaking planets. So its not like I am trying to over-write or re-write the history of the 12th Black Crusade. I tried to write them as being part of the defense of it without stepping on the toes of any of the major engagements noted in the 2 BFG source books.
 

Finally, an agent of the Ordo Dramaticus - the holy scribes who create the thrilling narratives that inspire our citizens to ever greater acts of service in His name - approve of the supposed tension between the Primaris and Mundanus Marines. While of course such tensions would never exist in reality (the very idea that infighting of any kind could ever take place between Astartes is a fiction, and to assert otherwise is Heresy), the idea of it sparks a level of excitement and intrigue that falls within accepted bounds of thought and leaves the reader eager to learn whether the disparate sides of the Chapter come together, or perhaps even split apart (not that such a thing could ever happen, I hasten to add!).

 

You mean infighting like the Soul Drinkers, or the Blood Ravens having to purge half their chapter because they fell to chaos, or the Dark Angels having to purge themselves all over the galaxy. The conflict between Astartes and Primaris in my chapter partly because the Primaris have been hypno-trained in how to fight using only Codex, but my Astartes has centuries upon centuries of fighting and using non-codex tactics. And the that is certainly going to cause tension. Not to mention the Primaris dont understand the culture of the chapter and don't have the same reverence for older STC technology, and since Primaris don't use equipment that Astartes use (they dont use the same ammo, weapons, vehicles, etc) they aren't interested in chasing around the galaxy looking for legacy gear.

 

With that, I believe my analysis of the presented document is concluded. I hope that you are able to address my concerns raised within my lifetime, but in the event that my life is spent before your reply reaches Holy Terra, I shall make sure my descendants are properly briefed and awaiting your communication.

 

Well you didn't have to wait long for a response, one less task for your descendants.

Edited January 31, 2018 by Saxxon the Dragoon