Dos' latest attempt at a DIY Chapter: initial notes/thoughts

[Dosjetka]

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Update #3 (10/06/19, 17:48)

 

Name ideas (in no particular order):

• Repudiators
• Abolishers
• Obviators
• Retaliators
• Irruptors
• Evictors
• Extrudors

Concept ideas:

• Bold colour scheme;
• Ultramarine gene-seed, Red Consuls successors;
• Chapter stationed on galaxy edge in current-day Imperium Nihilus, within reasonable distance of the T'au Empire;
• "Where His lantern flickers and wanes, His luminous angels patrol the darkness and purge the shadows";
• Has Astartes garrisons on important planets within their jurisdiction;
• Large part of the Chapter is deployed on garrison-duty while the rest mans the fleet;
• Chapter gradually put in place garrisons due to wide area to patrol, response times too high in case of aggression;
• Each garrison includes a Chaplain to ensure continued and strong adherence to Imperium/Chapter cult;
• Powerful and large fleet, though as a result limited ground-based armour (Rhino-chassis vehicles, Land Raider variants, etc) which is a handicap when faced with land-based operations such as siege warfare, armoured assaults, etc;
• Have managed to maintain a good relationship with the local AdMech over the Chapter's history though various incidents have seen the Chapter upgrade their forges and use their Chapter Keeps to store wargear and ammunition for when situations deteriorate;
• Remain distant from most Imperial agencies, with a particular dislike of the Administratum and Ecclesiarchy due to the bloody events of the Nova Terra Interregnum and Age of Apostasy which the Chapter got caught up in, with dire consequences.

 

Hidden Content

Update #2 (10/06/19, 15:46)

 

Name ideas (in no particular order):

• Repudiators
• Abolishers
• Obviators
• Retaliators
• Irruptors
• Evictors
• Extrudors

Concept ideas:

• Bold colour scheme;
• Chapter stationed on galaxy edge (which one?);
• "Where His psychic might is weaker, His luminous angels patrol the darkness and purge the shadows."
• Has Astartes garrisons on important planets within their jurisdiction;
• Large part of the Chapter is deployed on garrison-duty while the rest mans the fleet;
• Chapter gradually put in place garrisons due to wide area to patrol, response times too high in case of aggression;
• Each garrison includes a Chaplain to ensure continued and strong adherence to Imperium/Chapter cult;
• Powerful and large fleet, though as a result limited ground-based armour (Rhino-chassis vehicles, Land Raider variants, etc) which is a handicap when faced with land-based operations such as siege warfare, armoured assaults, etc;
• Have managed to maintain a good relationship with the local AdMech over the Chapter's history though various incidents have seen the Chapter upgrade their forges and use their Chapter Keeps to store wargear and ammunition for when situations deteriorate;
• Remain distant from most Imperial agencies, with a particular dislike of the Administratum and Ecclesiarchy due to the bloody events of the Nova Terra Interregnum and Age of Apostasy which the Chapter got caught up in, with dire consequences.

 

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Update #1 (10/06/19, 13:15)

 

Name ideas (in no particular order):

• Repudiators
• Abolishers
• Obviators
• Retaliators

Concept ideas:

• Chapter stationed on galaxy edge (which one?);
• Has Astartes garrisons on important planets within their jurisdiction;
• Chapter gradually put in place garrisons due to wide area to patrol, response times too high in case of aggression;
• Each garrison includes a Chaplain to ensure continued and strong adherence to Imperium/Chapter cult;
• Powerful and large fleet, though as a result limited ground-based heavy armour;
• Fleet-based or has a/mulitple home world(s)?;
• Bold colour scheme;
• Was around and active during the Nova Terra Interregnum of M35.

[Commissar Molotov]

Awesome to see you back at it, Dos.

 

What's driving your latest concepts?

 

The idea of the garrisons will obviously draw comparison to the Black Templars and their Chapter Keeps, but it does make sense to think of a far-flung Chapter in terms of logistics. What are their relationships like with the wider Imperium, and with the Adeptus Mechanicus? Operating where the light of the Astronomicon is dim and distant would likely shape their thought processes and their Chapter Cult. Could their distance from the Imperium have to do with the Nova Terra Interregnum and the Age of Apostasy that followed relatively closer afterward?

 

What do you see as the Chapter's downsides? You talk about them being separated and having limited response times, but for all their distance from the Imperium the seem to be rather powerful and dominant in their area of the galaxy, as you have presented them.

[Kelborn]

Cool to have you back, Dos! :D

 

Your notes remind me of a Primaris chapter of mine: the Star Lords. Based on the 18th century British Navy, East India Company and to a certain degree Kul Tiras of Warcraft.

 

Like Molotov already said, it reminds me of Black Templars + their Keeps or Dark Angels + their recruiting posts. A fleet-based chapter would fit quite well, travelling from one world to another for resupply, etc. Especially due to them having a chaplain stationed on each post.

 

In which era do you want to settle them? Pre or post Gathering Storm? Primaris yes or no?

 

Any more stuff you've got thus far?

[Dosjetka]

Mol,

 

The main drive behind this endeavour has been @apologist's recent series of blog posts about creating your own army. It's something I've been wanting to do for a while and, coupled with a few other reasons, I'd like 2019 to be the year when I finally complete an article detailing my own Chapter of Adpetus Astartes.

 

The drive behind these concepts are, quite simply, just an idea I had last night. We see plenty of Space Marine Chapters rushing about the Imperium, which makes sense given their limited resources and mandate, but I am curious to explore the idea of a hybrid "standing force" of sorts, where a portion of the Chapter has garrison duties on the more important planets while the rest of the Chapter sails the stars to reinforce garrisons, ensure personnel rotations and deployment of freshly-issued or repaired equipment, ensure the continued loyalty of garrisons, etc.

 

With regards to the Adeptus Mechanicus, I imagine that they are on good terms with them. In many ways they are the only lifeline that the Chapter has, so they would go to great lengths to ensure the well-being of their relationship. Seconding Space Marines and ships to escort Mechanicus expeditions beyond the galaxy edge would definitely something the Chapter leadership would be ready and willing to do. However, given the nature of both parties, I'd say their relationship has had its strained moments. To avoid running dry during such times, they have probably made sure that their forges are capable of covering a range of basic wargear needs and they no doubt use their Chapter Keeps/garrisons as equipment and ammunition stockpiles.

 

With regards to the wider Imperium, I'd imagine they keep interactions limited to affairs pertaining to the defense of their protectorate. This might include stepping in to deal with any intercine Imperial conflicts, which would then beg the question: would they generally side with the Adeptus Mechanicus to ensure a good working relationship with them? If they don't get involved personally, perhaps they get on well with the local Inquisition who use the threat of Astartes intervention to keep Planetary Governors, Administratum officials, Ecclesiarchy ministers, and local military officers in line? Definitely something to explore further.

 

Concerning the Astronomican being weak, the Chapter no doubt sees itself as the physical manifestation of the Emperor's light to some degree. Where His psychic might is weaker, His luminous angels stalk the darkness and purge the shadows.

 

Using the Nova Terra Interregnum and/or Age of Apostasy to explain their isolation and distance is a good idea. Perhaps they got too involved in the intercine conflict and suffered greatly because of it? Could tie in to the Chapter not interfering in local matters mentioned above.

 

The downside of the Chapter is not being able to engage in protracted land-based (siege, armoured, amphibious, etc) warfare due to their resources being used to maintain their considerable fleet. As a result of this, their armoury would contain very few transports and heavy support vehicles (Rhino-chassis vehicles, Land Raider variants, Bikes, etc) and they would be forced to neutralise/obliterate their foes in void-based combat or within the first few hours/days of planetfall using Drop Pod assault and orbital bombardments. Beyond that they would have issues moving their assets around and would have to continually ensure air and void superiority to have a chance at reaching their objectives.

Perhaps this drawback could give me the chance to develop either a second Chapter that complements this one or their relationship with the local Imperial Guard who could help them fill that hole in their operational capabilites.

 

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Kelborn,

 

I would like to get them to the post-Gathering Storm/Primaris stage. I've started to warm to the idea of Primaris and would like to use this Chapter as an opportunity to explore them in more detail.

 

More stuff above and further more stuff soon. :)

[Dizzyeye01]

One way you could have your force be stationary is that the region your chapter operates in has frequent warpstkrms which can cut off planets at a time or some force of anomaly that can stop the Astrinomcon (forgive the spelling, on mobile) at times meaning ships can be lost in these blank areas that pop up. Just a thought.

[Dosjetka]

A flickering/waxing and waning Astronomican at the edge of the galaxy both makes sense and is a fantastic idea/way to justify the garrisons. Cheers, Yor! :tu:

[Bryan Blaire]

They could just be stationed in the Imperium Nihilus, Dos (although I’m pretty sure that’s the angle I am also going to be taking with the Gate Hewers).

 

And I honestly didn’t know the idea of Marine garrisons was limited to just a couple of Chapters. I figured with a Chapter Keep/Stronghold, every Chapter would maintain some small garrisons amongst areas they were slated to maneuver in, with only fleet-based Chapters possibly having none at all (even those I would expect to have garrisons on some orbital stations or Mandeville points, etc.).

[Dosjetka]

They most likely will be stationed in what is now the Imperium Nihilus. If you let me know where your Chapter will be (it's a large area after all), I'll make sure mine aren't too close by. :)

 

I wouldn't go as far as saying that it is limited to certain Chapters though it is rarely mentioned so my assumption is that it isn't common practice at all. That's very much my own headcanon though.

[Commissar Molotov]

Given your well-known hobby butterfly syndrome, I think it's clear that your Chapter concept needs to speak to you; it needs to have some sort of hold on you that you will appreciate and hold on to!

 

The idea of a Chapter having a demesne that it watches over isn't a bad one - particularly in the more far-flung areas of the Imperium. You see that in Abnett's Brothers of the Snake, where the Iron Snakes guard the Reef Stars, or in AD-B's most recent novel where the Emperor's Spears (along with two other Chapters) guard Ellara's Veil. You mention it being a "Protectorate", and I think that's a good way to avoid comparison with the Astral Claws' dominions or the like.

 

Depends to what extent you want to push the imagery of light, from a more general idea of the Astartes as the EMperor's angels to full heliocultists. After all, the edge of the Imperium is dark and full of terrors... I like Dredgen Yor's ideas of the flickering Astronomicon - this could perhaps be used in a Morse Code-like way - perhaps the Librarians and sages of your Chapter attempt to divine messages from the Emperor from this flickering? Perhaps it allows them (in a way similar to the Silver Skulls' Prognosticars) to foretell events and can be seen as a good (or bad) omen?

 

I think that "fleet-based" and "boarding specialist" are very, very common themes for DIY creators to apply to their Chapters. That doesn't preclude you from using those ideas, of course, but I wonder whether the Chapter restricting itself to only a few types of warfare is useful for a Chapter that has little in the way of support (and therefore needs to be able to operate independently.) It also prevents you from making whatever miniatures you want in the future (and as you've said you're interested in the Primaris models, I wonder if the two are as compatible as you would like.) After all, your Chapter will have been reinforced by forces from Guilliman and Cawl.

 

As always, the core of the Chapter would be beliefs - that's what distinguishes one Chapter of the Astartes from another. If you can explore how your Chapter thinks about the world around them, how they see their duty to the Emperor and their place in the Dark Millennium, that can give you a core that you can hold on to. Over eight millennia of war, a Chapter like yours could have had many battles, many organisational changes and differences which can justify any model you want to make.