The Cinderborn WIP Ashen Claws Successor

[Lord Marshal Ragnrok]

+++WIP+++

 

"The Cinderborn" is now their temporary name, might change it or come up with a 40k language version.

All of this is very much still in the brainstorming stage and as such is very cut up at the moment.

General Idea: Ashen Claws/First Claw (Night Lords/Carcharadons inspired demi-legion opposed to Chaos.

Your thoughts are welcome as I figure this out.  Keep in mind I will work on this as I have time and as ideas come to me.

 

++Please be courteous.++

 

The Cinderborn

 

"Only the Dead Truly Speak" - Attributed to Malgus Daalore, "The Black Warden"

 

Founding: First/Various (see Ancestry)

Primary Ancestry: Ashen Claws (Raven Guard), Night Lords, Heresy Era Blackshields

Homeworld: Fleet-Based

Loyalty: Independent/Renegade

 

Overview

 

The Cinderborn are a very large warband of renegade space marines drawing their lineage from the days of the Horus Heresy.  Before its original members banded together, they were outcasts spawned of The Great Betrayal.  Some were Night Lords of either Terran stock or among the first Nostramo recruits inducted after the legion's reunion with their Primarch.  Others were formerly of the 18th Chapter of the Raven Guard, who became the renegade Ashen Claws.  Among the last to join were Astartes of unknown lineage from the many Blackshield warbands that roamed space during the Heresy.  Each and every Cinderborn is an outcast from their original brethen, their new brotherhood all they have left.

 

The Cinderborn were drawn together by a bold but forgotten warlord known as Malgus Daalore, once a Astartes captain in one of the legions.  None now know from which legion he hailed, for only the Spodusari have ever seen his face.  The Inquisition, in its study of The Cinderborn, has tried to unravel the mystery of "The Black Warden" and believes he was a Terran born member of the Raven Guard or Night Lords.  It is believed by the Imperium that the real Malgus Daalore died centuries ago and that the current leader of The Cinderborn is simply one of a long line of successors who have each taken up his mantle, always being referred to by his title in lieu of name and even wearing one his ancient suits of armor.  But the death of Malgus Daalore is as much a myth as the man himself and "The Black Warden" of The Cinderborn has never once been seen without full armor.  There are even some in the Inquisition who suggest this secrecy could be better explained if the original individual was an Alpha Legionnaire.  Only one truth is known, that he brought his new brethen together through a singular unity: that they are outcasts with no allegiance save each other, all vehemently opposed to Chaos, though like the Night Lords they do use it within limitations for their own ends.  Though they are renegades, they actively fight against Chaos warbands and despise all Chaotic corruption.  One could say The Cinderborn walk the thinnest line between damnation and their freedom.

 

Combat Doctrine

 

Given that The Cinderborn are fleet-based warband and have collected many different classes of ships over the centuries, they have become well suited to naval combat.  If they are not acting with a main fleet, their naval vessels usually operate in smaller strike groups; it is rare to see a Cinderborn vessel alone.  Their ships are modified for both ship-to-ship combat and planetary assaults, typically using their force of astartes as the final hammer in such actions.

 

As The Cinderborn are descended from factions such as the Raven Guard, Night Lords and Blackshields, they focus largely on shock assault and ambush tactics.  It is typical for a force of The Cinderborn to quickly deploy from an orbiting naval asset by drop pod or drop ship, sending advance recon squads before striking hard at the enemy with a series of faints and ambushes.  They utilize a large number of assault marines and raptors, supporting tactical infantry, with elites in reserve.  While they do possess armor, they typically utilize it in support role, rather than in an armored assault, due to their limited numbers.

 

Culture

 

*Pre-Entry Notes, Disregard for now*

 

Avoid combat with Imps, unless attacked

Fight Chaos

Usually fight for resources - newer war material, archeotech, ships etc

Trade for above

 

Organization

 

The Cinderborn as a whole is quite large and is comparable in size to a small Astartes Legion of old.  The standard initial size of the ancient legions was 10000 Astartes, although most grew to around 100,000 Astartes, the smallest numbered from 6000-10000, making the latter the most accurate estimate of the size of warbands like The Cinderborn and Red Corsairs.  The warband follows the organization doctrines of the Legion Astartes with their own twists, many of which are drawn from their former legions.  They do make use of specialist officers and units such as Equerries and particularly Recon Squads.  However, while they have units reminiscent of Chaos units such as Raptors and Beserkers, they are naturally different because of their despise for Chaotic corruption, this also means that there are no Noise Marines, Possessed or other heavily corrupted units in their armies.

 

Basic unit is 10 man Squads led by Sergeants (or Veteran Sergeants for Veteran Squads) formed into 100 man Companies led by Captains

 

Companies are grouped into 5 Company Battalions led by a Commmanders/Corphyus

 

2 Battalions make up a 1000 man Chapter led by a Lord/Warsmith

 

Known Chapter Names: II Dread Coils, IV Howling Falcons, VI Dawn Reapers, VII Void Steeds, VIII Steel Wardens, IX Midnight Crusaders, X Final Sons

 

First Chapter all veteran, elite, "The Atraemorta", The Black Doom, led by the First Master/Atramenti include the 1st Company led by the First Captain the "Talonmaster", the 2nd Company led by the Second Captain the "Terrormaster", the 3rd Company led by the 3rd Captain the "Tithe Reaper" and Veteran Companies 4-10.

 

There is also a Librarius with (in rising order) Librarians, Sorcerers, and Magisters led by the Arch-Magister, although they not true Chaos Sorcerers due to their philosophy on Chaos.

 

The Apothecarium is made up of (in rising order) Apothecaries, Senior Apothecaries, and Surgeon Masters led by the Chief Apothecary

 

The Armory is made up of Techmarines and Warpsmiths led by the Master of the Forge, while the Lord Alchemancer serves as chief Quartermaster.

 

The Cinderborn make use of a rather strange version of a Chaplaincy charged with teaching their brothers how to use Chaos for their own ends without becoming corrupted by it.  They are made up of (in rising order) Chaplains, Senior Chaplains, and Warseers led by a Grand Inquisitor, who enforce this will and also execute those who show signs of Chaotic corruption, especially mutation.

 

Chief among the senior officers of The Cinderborn are the Praetors/Warlords and first among them is the Lord Preeminent, Interrex (Regent) of The Cinderborn.  These mighty warriors, along with other chosen leaders of The Cinderborn, form The Spodusari, sometimes called the Ashen Court, the true leadership of The Cinderborn under The Black Warden.

 

Chapter Fleet

 

The Cinderborn fleet consists of vessels collected throughout the ages as well as a few newer vessels of unknown class and origin.  Their large fleet is estimated to include around 531 ships total.

 

Known Ships:

Relic Gloriana class Battleship (Legion Flagship): Malefic Intent

Battle Barges: Executrix (Chapter X flagship), Abyss' Truth (Chapter VI flagship)

Battleships: Desolator class Second Death (Chapter II flagship), Oberon class Ominous Remuneration (Chapter VIII flagship), Unknown class Eleemosynary (Chapter VII flagship), Unknown class Oriflamme (Chapter IV flagship)

Battlecruisers (typically Battalion flagships) (2 Unknown classes): Unknown class Chalice of Fire, Unknown class Tisiphone, Unknown class Reclaimer, Unknown class Admonitor

Strike Cruisers (typiclally Company flagships): Warpsong, Talon's Embrace, Stormwind, Luminator

Cruisers (typically Company flagships) (3 Unknown classes, Murder & Dauntless classes): Unknown class Star of Wrath, Unknown class Solumn Crusader, Murder class Soul Hunter, Unknown class Paramount, Unknown class Legacy of Forefathers, Dauntless class Peerless, Dauntless class Prosecutor, Unknown class Song of War, Unknown class Abysmal Gale

Escorts: Falchion class Frigate Honors Precedence, Claymore class Corvette Raven's Wind, Claymore class Corvette Terran Son, Infidel class Raider Xarax' Retribution, Cobra class Destroyer Bombard, Unknown class Corvette Ghosts of Isstvan

 

Relics

 

The Augur of Xarax (pronounced Zaaraz, the second "a" is almost silent) is a truly odd phenomena.  It was once the primary navigator of the flagship Malefic Intent, but early in The Cinderborn's history, while traversing the warp, the vessel was beset by demons, instantly killing the secondary navigator who was on duty.  Realizing the ship and all within would be torn apart if they remained, the primary navigator, a woman named Xarax, woken by the attack, attempted to use her sight to rip the ship out of warp even though she was far from the protection of the navigator's sanctum.  She was successful, lurching the ship into realspace, damaging it heavily and saving them from the grip of Chaos, but sacrificing her soul in the process.  The Cinderborn Librarus, seeing what would happen and knowing the ship need its last navigator, performed an arcane ritual to bind her soul to the ship itself.  Yet unlike some similar rituals attempted by others, Xarax did not become the Machine Spirit, as that had been miraculously undamaged in the struggle, instead her soul, now forever open to her sight, took up residence in the bowls of the ship which she had once called home before her mutation, creating The Augur of Xarax.  Since then The Augur of Xarax has been used in times of great need as an oracle of sorts to guide The Cinderborn and help protect them from the schemes of Chaos.  Its secrets have save them from destruction on many occasions since.

 

Marine Images

 

Color Scheme - 

Chapter Fleet

[Sete]

Ashen Sons. (was playing around with a 3rd legion sucessor)

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Suggested name: "Cremators".

[Lord Marshal Ragnrok]

maybe Cinderborn?

[Dosjetka]

Something that struck me while quickly going through your first post: the Black Templars having (a rumoured) 6'000 Battle-Brothers is quite a big deal in the 41st Millennium and their presence is felt across the galaxy. They are however loyal to the Emperor and the Imperium, so despite being under investigation by a handful of Imperial servants, some of whom are Inquisitors, they are largely left alone and they hide their numbers well with their crusades. How does a renegade force like the one you describe remain hidden with between 6'000 and 10'000 members and over the span of ten millennia?

How has this force not attracted the attention of more "trigger-happy" elements who would hunt them down and exterminate them rather than study them like you mention the Inquisition does (brief reminder: the Inquisition is not a single monolithic entity and the Imperium as a whole usually has a "shoot first ask questions later" mindset)? After all, a renegade is only one step away from being a traitor and many would say they already are traitors to the Imperium and/or the Emperor!

Last but not least, does having so many members add anything of value to your warband/story/idea? Couldn't a similar result be achieved with between 600-1'000 members or even just 60-100? Those kind of numbers would at the very least make the concept a lot more believeable.

[Lord Marshal Ragnrok]

Something that struck me while quickly going through your first post: the Black Templars having (a rumoured) 6'000 Battle-Brothers is quite a big deal in the 41st Millennium and their presence is felt across the galaxy. They are however loyal to the Emperor and the Imperium, so despite being under investigation by a handful of Imperial servants, some of whom are Inquisitors, they are largely left alone and they hide their numbers well with their crusades. How does a renegade force like the one you describe remain hidden with between 6'000 and 10'000 members and over the span of ten millennia?

How has this force not attracted the attention of more "trigger-happy" elements who would hunt them down and exterminate them rather than study them like you mention the Inquisition does (brief reminder: the Inquisition is not a single monolithic entity and the Imperium as a whole usually has a "shoot first ask questions later" mindset)? After all, a renegade is only one step away from being a traitor and many would say they already are traitors to the Imperium and/or the Emperor!

Last but not least, does having so many members add anything of value to your warband/story/idea? Couldn't a similar result be achieved with between 600-1'000 members or even just 60-100? Those kind of numbers would at the very least make the concept a lot more believeable.

 

To answer your first, which i knew would come up haha - i took the idea as valid given that gw seems to have made the Red Corsairs "legion sized" now.  Of course they dont give any rough number, but given that an astartes legion size seems to be at minimum around 10k, i assumed they meant something around 6-10k as a low range being the acceptable number of Red Corsairs.  Given that the traitor legions, when their warbands are counted together, are easily in the 100k+ range, i figured it must be believable that there are other large, 1000s strong warbands that are not part of the traitor legions, such as the Red Corsairs.  My warband is intended to have slowly reached their numbers over the centuries, rather than immediately, thus making the concept make more sense.  Additionally, the Ashen Claws warband, which is strongly implied to still exist, is more than likely a 1000s strong force, at least at some point in their life time, (at least this is the understanding i have based on what i have read about them) so given my group descends from them, they would have the potential to become fairly large over time. They are also intended to be a warband known to, but ill understood, by the Inquisition or obvious reasons.  they are also intended to fluctuate in strength due to their wars with rival warbands.

 

When i say that the Inq is studying them, i by no means imply that they arent targeting them as well.  Like you said, the Inq primary method of study involves a health about of "shoot to capture", think of it as aggressive study lol.  Its more like they want answers to the warband's past in order to answer current questions about loyalty and why they are a completely rogue faction.  The Imperium lacks information on its own servants, nevermind info on rogues, its the Inq job to find that info.  Your point on feathering the line between being a traitor and a simple renegade kind of a central idea of this concept, they are meant to straddle the line between being renegades and damnation.

 

With your last question, I will be able to answer when I have fleshed out the faction better.  I just got back from travelling and still have alot going on, so check in in maybe a week or so, and hopefully there will be answers for you.  I like the idea of a large fleet-based force of renegade nomads.  But I have to get the combat/culture written out more before I can answer that better.

 

Hopefully this helps clarify for now and thanks for your feedback!

[Lord Marshal Ragnrok]

updated with Combat Doctrine first version

[Lord Marshal Ragnrok]

very minor cosmetic update, hope to get back to this soon.

[Brother Tyler]

(What is the best way to make a organization structure within B&C code?)

What are you trying to achieve? There are some things that you can do with the BBCode, with tables being the most likely method for something as complex as an organization chart. Tables are notoriously tricky to work with, though, so you might be better served creating an organization chart using some other software (e.g., PowerPoint) that you can then save as an image (screenshot if you are unable to save a file as an image file).

[Lord Marshal Ragnrok]

 

(What is the best way to make a organization structure within B&C code?)

What are you trying to achieve? There are some things that you can do with the BBCode, with tables being the most likely method for something as complex as an organization chart. Tables are notoriously tricky to work with, though, so you might be better served creating an organization chart using some other software (e.g., PowerPoint) that you can then save as an image (screenshot if you are unable to save a file as an image file).

 

 

yea im basically trying to make a warband organization chart/list thingy.  sounds like the table will take me a year to get right.  the info i have is currently a large gdoc, so i think it wont fit in an image...

i guess ill have to do with what iv got? unless i can link the gdoc?

[Brother Tyler]

Sure, you can link a .gdoc. The only downside is that it breaks up the continuity of the article.

 

You should be able to download a .gdoc as a .pdf, then you can convert the .pdf to a .jpg. Then you can upload the image to your gallery and post it in your article. If you can't convert a .pdf to a .jpg, send it me via email (see my profile) and I can convert it for you and send it back.

[Lord Marshal Ragnrok]

Sure, you can link a .gdoc. The only downside is that it breaks up the continuity of the article.

 

You should be able to download a .gdoc as a .pdf, then you can convert the .pdf to a .jpg. Then you can upload the image to your gallery and post it in your article. If you can't convert a .pdf to a .jpg, send it me via email (see my profile) and I can convert it for you and send it back.

 

hmm guess ill have to think about it then. a random gdoc image def breaks the feel of it all.

 

 

2020:

Covid has given me time to get the creative buzz going so I plan to do some work to this again.