IA: The Warminds (Draft 3.1 - now with more Quelled stuff)

[Ace Debonair]

"The Day of Fate awaits, regardless." - Motto of the Warminds, translated into High Gothic

Early History:

"Whatever else happens next, we fight and die as we must. Our duty demands nothing less." - Captain Janten, Warminds 2nd Company, before the siege of Derestonia Secundus

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A typical Battle Brother of the Warminds

Created in the Eighteenth Founding to protect the worlds on the north edge of the spatial anomaly the Imperium calls the Glastheim Rifts, the Warminds claim proud descent from the lineage of the great Primarch Corax of the Raven Guard.

And since their inception, the Chapter has seen their own extinction ever drawing closer and closer.

Life around the Glastheim Rifts is a constant war of survival. Between xenos invaders, heretic cults and seccessionist raiders, there are no shortage of foes for the Warminds to fight again. The Orks of Waaaagh [-REDACTED-] in particular have proven to be a constant nemesis, coming back to make merciless war again and again no matter how many times they are vanquished. The xenocide campaign against the Inferash Tribune and their Prismatic Battleships ended in an Imperial victory, but at a heavy cost in lives to the Warminds, who lost most of their Second and Sixth Companies in the process.

And though the worlds of the systems around the Glastheim Rifts are filled with hardy populations of humans, the geneseed of the Raven Guard is notoriously unstable. Very few recruits drawn from these worlds were found to survive the transformative process of becoming a Space Marine.

Radiation from the Glastheim Rifts - a constant, broiling Warp Storm of frightening intensity and unpredictability - no doubt played a significant factor in decreasing the stability of the Warminds' geneseed even further. The Warminds took the view that this was the judgement of Corax and the Emperor, a test of the Chapter's worth. Their demise was, perhaps, inevitable, but the Warminds would strive to make Primarch and Emperor proud of them, so that they would go to their forebears' side in death and be welcomed gladly.

After a few bleak decades with barely any recruits coming into the battle-worn Chapter, the Warminds finally found the former agri-world of Geffen to produce recruits with a greater rate of survival. Concerned about their Chapter's future, the Warminds established a Fortress Monastery on this world to better protect it.

Over time it became increasingly commonplace for brothers of the Warminds that had been recruited from Geffen to develop psychic powers. Though the population itself showed no real signs of psychic potential beyond the average, the varied mutations in the Warminds' geneseed seemed to bring about this particular benefit.

And yet, this boon brought with it more problems. Not all Warminds who developed psychic powers were able to fully control them, and those that could not were faced with inevitable descents into madness, despair and death.

The Apothecarion and Librarium struggled to find a solution for this problem, and eventually hit upon a complex surgical procedure that completely eliminated the psychic potential of an afflicted brother, at the cost of removing that Space Marine's capacity to feel or display any real depth of emotion. This procedure, which the Warminds called the Quelling, served to save brothers who would have otherwise become another casualty that the Chapter could ill-afford. The Quelled were found to have lowered initiative compared to their other brothers, adapting more slowly to sudden changes in battlefield circumstances and being less able to orchestrate plans. Thus, the Quelled were barred from high office of any kind in the Chapter, and their armour marked with white shoulders to denote their status as Quelled.

The Warminds became more and more convinced of their own certain demise. Each death brought the Chapter closer to extinction - an event the Warminds referred to as the 'Day of Fate', the final judgement of the Chapter and their legacy by The Emperor himself.

In the latter half of M37, the Warminds were one of the Chapters drafted into the accord known as the Silver Circle - an alliance of Space Marine Chapters around the Glastheim Rifts who were forever tasked with the vigil of keeping the Rifts in Imperial control. The Warminds were, notably, the only Chapter willing to work with their new brothers-in-arms from the very beginning. Though the Warminds were chronically under-strength, they made a point of sending forces to reinforce their brothers where the fighting was thickest, gradually drawing their fellow Chapters together under a bond of shared victories against the enemies of mankind.

It was, perhaps, this gamble of soldifying the kinship between the Circle that allowed the Warminds to survive as long as they did. When Waaaagh [-REDACTED-] launched a series of attacks on the Geffenia system itself in M39, both the Brotherhood of Crows and the Champions of Athlum sent battle companies to assist the Warminds in breaking the system-wide siege. In M40 the Stonebound came to the aid of the Warminds as they battled the last desperate remnants of the Inferash Tribune, their swift actions preventing the activation of the Inferash's deadly Armageddon Bombs on the hive world of Balsamo.

Nevertheless, at the close of the 41st Millennium, the Warminds are all but depleted. With little more than two hundred active Space Marines left alive in the Chapter, they still fight on defiantly, with stealth, steadfast discipline and psychic might, warding off the myriad threats that beset them. Though the Day of Fate looms large, and total extinction beckons, the Warminds do their duty as best they can, and fight in defence of humanity, determined to go to their end as warriors and earn their place beside The Emperor.

Recent History:

"If this is not a sign from The Emperor, then surely nothing is." - Chaplain Daoadus, Warminds 3rd Company

The dawn of the Dark Millennium was a time of great upheaval and transformation across the entire galaxy. Few Chapters, however, found their situation so completely changed as the Warminds did.

With the awakening of the Cicatrix Maledictum came a drastic upswing in the level of Chaos activity around the Glastheim Rifts. Heretical cults that had been painstakingly seeded on over a hundred worlds in the immediate area of the Rifts simultaneously sprang into cruel action, staging uprisings, assassinations, and open rebellions across far too many fronts for the Space Marines to counter-act.

The return of Waaaagh [-REDACTED-], this time as a three-pronged attack against the systems surrounding Geffenia, further stymied the Warminds' ability to fight off the heretics.

Fatalism gripped the Chapter more tightly than ever - surely the Day of Fate had finally come, for every battle, every campaign prosecuted by the Warminds resulted in painful losses to the already-dwindling Chapter's numbers.

But everything changed when the Indomitus Crusade arrived.

A large force of Adeptus Mechanicus envoys and their Skitarii bodyguards, reinforced by over two hundred Primaris Space Marines, seven full regiments of Imperial Guard and the mighty Knights of House Tanzia swept across the Geffenia system and it's neighbours. This intervention force paused in their advance only to leave the Warminds with the new technology needed to recruit Primaris marines of their own, complete with verifiable proof the technology was approved by no less a figure than Roboute Guilliman himself.

In desperate need of recruits, the Warminds took a chance on the Primaris marines. The results were astounding - the acceptance rate of the geneseed was increased a hundredfold, to the point that more than half the initiates who underwent the implantation survived the process. Furthermore, the psychic potential of the Chapter still persisted, albeit slightly less potently than before. Some amongst their number still require Quelling, and a few amongst the Chapter worry that the number of Quelled amongst the Primaris marines is rising over time.

In current times, the Warminds are still experiencing something of a resurgence. Numbering above six hundred marines for the first time in centuries, over half the Chapter's number are Primaris Space Marines. Squads of Intercessors, Incursors and Infiltrators make up much of the Warminds' core forces in battle, supported as always by the enduring pre-primaris Warminds.

The Chapter's mentality is currently divided on whether or not they have survived the Day of Fate and been found worthy, or whether this is merely an interlude before judgement falls upon them once again.

Homeworld:

"When all your life is a desperate struggle against death, war eternal holds little to surprise you." - Brother Yuandor, Warminds 10th Company

Geffen used to be a large and important agri-world that supplied several systems with produce, but the fate of the planet was altered forever when a group of xeno-pirates attacked it in M32, sowing terror and death with biological weaponry on a massive scale.

Now the world is largely desolate, its' population huddled around the few surviving farm-clans and the healthy land they own, or forming raider gangs in the skeletal remains of the world's once-great cities.

The farm clans war often over farmable land, and food is often scarce even for the most powerful clans. Alliances are formed and broken and formed again amongst the clans, and no power base lasts forever amongst the people of Geffen. Sudden attacks by the wily and ruthless raider gangs of the Dead Cities happen whenever the raiders' food runs low. The Cities are large, desolate and forbidding, filled with traps to snare unwary wildlife - or would be hunters - while the Raiders dwell in the dark and isolated ruins to keep out of the weather.

Cannibal cults will break out infrequently in situations where the population of a clan far exceeds the amount of food they can produce. This is one sin that the Warminds simply do not tolerate, however. When a cannibal cult is discovered, the Chapter's psykers will invariably root out those involved in such morally corrupt activity, publicly execute them, and burn their corpse in a ritual pyre.

The Warminds take recruits from both the farm-clans and the raiders, as youths from both factions are equally likely to display the mix of strength, ferocity and cunning that makes a great Space Marine.

The term 'Day of Fate' comes from an old Geffenic fable about how those who die are judged by The Emperor, and the worthy are fated to serve at His side evermore.

The Warminds' Fortress Monastery, known also as the Temple of Souls, is built in the centre of the largest wasteland, far from the population centres of Geffen. With artfully constructed rooms and barren but carefully tended stone gardens given over entirely for meditation and study, it is said to be a place of learning and philosophy as much as a fortress.

Beliefs:

"What we leave behind after death is the true measure of our life's worth. We must leave His Imperium stronger for our efforts." - Chaplain Sonamus, Warminds 6th Company

Perhaps due to their entire existence essentially being a struggle to simply survive, the Warminds are a Chapter given over to much dwelling on death and the impermanence of all life. The Warminds are also certain that The Emperor judges his sons at the moment of their death, and so are determined to fight as relentlessy as Space Marines should, to not only prove their individual worth, but to demonstrate the worth of their Chapter to Him.

As far as the Warminds are concerned, the protection of Humanity is the foremost duty of Space Marines. The Chapter will willingly enter into battles or campaigns that will take a heavy toll on their numbers if it means preserving the lives of Imperial citizens. Even when a battle inflicts heavy losses on the Warminds, they are unflinching in their resolve, and press onwards to the next battle to preserve the people of the Imperium.

Whenever a Warmind is slain in battle, the Chapter does feel the loss keenly, in part due to their inability to easily replenish their losses, and in part due to the psychic connection much of the Chapter shares. However, the grief carries also a portion of pride; as another marine goes to The Emperor's side and displays the valour and convictions of his brothers. In accordance with an old Geffenic tradition, slain battle-brothers are interred into a tomb below the fortress monastery, clad entirely in white and wearing a white, snarling mask to frighten off any predatory evil spirits that dare approach.

The Chapter is known to make much use of modified helmets made to resemble these death masks, albeit coloured gold rather than white. These helms are often passed down through generations of Warminds, and are strictly only worn into battle, for they are said to connect the wearer to the warrior souls of the Warminds who have gone before them.

The white shoulders of the Quelled are symbolically tied to the death mask tradition; for most intents and purposes any brother who undergoes the Quelling is largely treated as already dead by his brothers.

Though the Warminds do not look with favour on the Quelled, they preserve and continue to use the ritual surgery that creates them whenever a Battle Brother loses control of his power for two reasons. Firstly, the simple logistics of being unable to replace every battle brother who fails to master their gifts. Secondly, every enemy attack that targets one of the Quelled is an attack not spent against a 'honed' Warmind. The Chapter must survive and fight until the Day of Fate - even if it means relying on the Quelled to do so.

Outside of battle, the Warminds appear to be somewhat distant and philosophical in demeanour. It is thought that to some extent this calm, contemplative persona exists as a means to disguise the altered nature of the Quelled.

On the battlefield, however, the Warminds, though disciplined, channel the hatred and rage of true Space Marines in combat. They do not shy away from battle once it is joined, as such behaviour would mark them as unworthy to their Primarch and Emperor.

The Chapter's steadfast devotion to the putting the defence of Humanity first, beyond all other concerns, has earned them much respect from other Imperial forces in the north of the Glastheim Rifts. Regiments and Battlefleets alike, not to mention the PDFs of over a hundred worlds, proudly carry banners or campaign markings dedicated to the battles fought alongside the Chapter's forces.

Of the Chapters in the Silver Circle, the Warminds are by far the most effective at rooting out the insidious chaos cults planted on Imperial worlds by the heretics from within the Glastheim Rifts, thanks largely to their psychic gifts. This success rate has earned the Chapter, if not the favour, then the grudging respect of the Order of the Iron Tower - an order of Adepta Sororitas whose Mission Fleets patrol Imperial Space around the Rifts, and typically express a strong dislike of Space Marines.

It is also this well-documented reputation for earnest and unwavering devotion to the Imperium that keeps most Inquisitors from taking much unneeded interest in the Warminds. There are innumerable other threats around the Rifts that require the investigative eyes of the Inquisition, and the Warminds, in spite of their oddities, are simply not considered a high priority.

Battle Doctrines:

"If you Aeldari were half as foresighted as you claim, you'd have seen that coming." - Codicier Dolmaan, Warminds 2nd Company, to the dying Farseer Trygerd Swiftmind

The combat doctrines of the Warminds echo their primogenitors the Raven Guard, with a focus on stealth and ambushes, and use of rapid engagements, misdirection and feints.

Where a protracted battle is unavoidable, the Warminds make use of armour to help minimize risks to their numbers - Land Raiders, Vindicators or Dreadnoughts are often employed to protect, support, or clear a path for infantry, their durable armour and high firepower forcing enemies to react to their presence rather than focus on the Space Marine themselves. The Warminds make use of Assault Marines, Stormhawks, and Scouts to support the flanks of larger offensives, each bringing the ability to pressure enemies in different ways, and open up new avenues of attack.

Typically, the Warminds field very few Vanguard Veterans, preferring to destroy their enemies with firepower. Sternguard veterans, deployed by Stormraven where practical, are used to turn the tide of battle when the Warminds would otherwise falter.

But perhaps the largest deviation from their ancestors is the significant psychic power that the Warminds channel in battle. Most Battle Brothers (save for the Quelled) are capable of low-level psychic powers, such as manipulating light or dust to throw off an enemy's aim, or increasing the perceived weight of their wargear, to throw them off-balance.

These powers are further complemented by the close-combat doctrines of the Chapter. Some of the martial techniques used by the Warminds can come across as needlessly elaborate or showy in comparison to the more utilitarian techniques of other Chapters. But as befits sons of Corax, this is further misdirection - the flowing movements and flourishing strikes are designed to mislead an enemy and buy the Warmind using such arts vital moments to muster their focus or gauge their enemy's reactions.

In extreme situations, sometimes even standard battle-brothers of the Warminds can demonstrate impressive psychic powers, and tales of Warminds in desperate situations turning aside the strikes or shots of powerful enemies with nothing but their mind are far from unheard of.

Organisation:

"Our numbers are few, but our spirit remains strong." - Brother Ralhaw, Warminds 1st Company

Though each Company is chronically under-strength, the Warminds adhere to the organisational tenets of the Codex Astartes, their number divided into ten Companies as per regulation.

The most notable difference in how the Chapter arranges itself is in its' Librarium. With so many burgeoning Psychics in the Chapter, the Librarium is divided into twelve ranks to better detail the psychic strength of their brothers. Only high-ranking Librarians are required to wear the Codex-approved blue to denote their status. In essence, only these high-ranking Librarians are permitted to carry out the traditional duties associated with the role in other Chapters, but the lower ranks are functionally more aware of these duties and what the role of Librarian requires. Leadership roles within the Chapter still fall to Captains and Lieutenants, rather than the Librarium, but it is not uncommon for Librarians to offer advice if they have any to share.

The Quelled are spread throughout squads, in the company of their more psychically-capable brothers who offer direction, protection and guidance to their wayward kin. Not all squads bear members of the Quelled, and very few squads have multiple Quelled in their ranks. Devastator and Tactical squads make the best use of the Quelled, where their unnatural calm and limitless patience are stronger advantages.

The coming of Primaris marines has seen the Warminds integrate the newcomers into the ranks of their existing companies, symbolically unifying the past and present of the Chapter. Much use is made of Vanguard marines and Phobos armour within the Chapter's ranks, as befitting scions of Corax.

Geneseed:

"Our Primarch and our Emperor will seek to test your worth exhaustively. From this point on, your fate is in their hands." - Apothecary Zusang, Warminds 10th Company, about to begin implantation of the geneseed on a new recruit

As noted earlier, the geneseed of the Warminds is equal parts blessing and curse to the Chapter. The geneseed of the Raven Guard has long been known for it's numerous discrepancies compared to other, more stable lineages, and the further mutations caused by proximity to the Glastheim Rifts have exacerbated the inherent difficulty in finding viable recruits.

The singular positive trait is that most recruits into the Chapter, even the very rare recruits from worlds other than Geffen, eventually develop a degree of psychic power.

Though the Warminds have often requested fresh stocks of Raven Guard geneseed to be delivered to them, the closest Forgeworld capable of providing such deliveries lies a long way away, on the opposite side of the Glastheim Rifts. Fleets heading from this Forge World have a difficult and perilous road ahead of them to reach the Geffenia system, not least due to the predations of the heretics and renegades who dwell within the rifts themselves. As such, actual shipments of fresh geneseed arriving at Geffen are a very rare occurrence indeed. Worse, the radiation surrounding the Glastheim Rifts does not take long to effect the fresh shipments once they arrive, resulting in continued difficulties with recruitment for the Warminds.

The coming of the Indomitus Crusade and the introduction of Primaris geneseed essentially resolved many of these issues for the Warminds, giving them a much higher success rate in inducting new recruits. However, experiments have shown success rates amongst recruits taken from worlds other than Geffen are still extremely low, being only marginally improved from before.

Battlecry:

"The Day of Fate Dawns!"



-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

EDIT: 21/11/2019

Another update! I can't let the White Hawks have all of the fun now, can I?


All thoughts, opinions, C&C, scathing mockery etc welcome! Edited January 17, 2022 by Ace Debonair

[Brother Lunkhead]

Visions of Kung-Fu Theatre and Old Run Run Shaw films dancing in my head What can I say?..... kung-fu philosopher wizards in power armor, what's not to love? 40K does not have enough of these.

 

The only problem I see is with the Quelled. I kind of like the idea, but Zombie Marines are not very optimal for Raven Guard style ops. Possible cannon fodder companies??  But even that seems a waste of gene-seed, training, and materials. Perhaps the loss of control comes over a long period of time, ending in forming a sort of "Death Company".

 

Other than that, it looks (dare I say it) ACES

[Brother Cambrius]

Warminds?

 

VYAAAAA! RASPUTIN! 

 

*ahem*

 

A good foundation to build on, trick is to not make them cookie cutter Blood Ravens, but the ground work is already pushing away from that. :D With the increase in psychic activity in recruits, does that stem specifically from Geffen, or from the geneseed inherently? Do Librarians hold unique command placements within the hierarchy of the chapter due to the high amount of psychically attuned Astartes?

 

I am looking forwards to more. :)

 

Cambrius

[Dizzyeye01]

In terms of the Quelled, there was an idea introduced in a Deathwatch book where the main character had his psychic powers dampered by an implant inserted into their spines in order to avoid deaths and such from new members. Perhaps the Warminds have something similar but with some kind of disadvantage in order to balance things out?

 

Also in turns of the kung-fu mage warriors, how do they use their powers to help them? Is it more increasing their strength, using foresight to dodge attacks and hit weak points before the enemy evens knows it or something else? There's a lot of ways you could play the kung fu into this. It could even be seen as a way of calming themselves outside of battle potentially.

 

Interested to see where you take these guys 

[Knight of the Raven]

'It's "mind war," not the other way round, you stupid mon'keigh! Here, I'll show you!'
—Farseer Trygerd Swiftmind, also known as the Crimson Robe, seconds before her head exploded due to psychic backlash
 

 

I'm becoming very curious about these Glastheim Rifts. What makes them so important—or dangerous—that they justify six full chapters of the Adeptus Astartes being deployed there? More specifically, what makes them so important that they justify these six chapters when they're apparently filled with background radiation intense enough to damage their geneseeds?

Since I doubt these six chapters are genetically degenerate in six different ways, the obvious answer is that it's only the area the Warminds are saddled with that's dangerously radioactive. In that case, it's not obvious from the way the article is worded. If the entire Glastheim Rifts are a geneseed-murdering hellhole... what about them makes such a cost-prohibitive endeavor worth it? Or is it simply an original take on a Penitent Crusade, and the six chapters are still making up for the failings of their ancestors?

I'm also curious about these pseudo-tranquils. Pseudo, because actual tranquils have about as much spirit of initiative as a chair and a genuine tranquil space marine would literally be more useful to the chapter and the Imperium at large dead, his throat torn and his fused ribcage cracked open to get the precious geneseed back.

Namely, how did the Warminds develop this practice in the first place—and how many times did it go wrong before they successfully finalized it? More importantly, seeing how twitchy the Imperium is about psykers in general, and how interested some of its higher-ups are in curbing the power of the Adeptus Astartes, why hasn't any "ally" come and pried this practice from their cold, dead hands yet?

The 'typical Warmind personality' also seems pretty close to what they'd look like as a Quelled before even going under the ritual knife, I find.

I don't know much about "eastern warrior monks," so I can't help you on that front. I might have some things on the "Stereotypical Fantasy Mage," or more specifically Elder Scrolls-pattern mages in heavy armor, since 'scrawny, squishy little thing in a robe' doesn't mesh with space marines.

I don't think the Warminds need to be 'designed' as filled to the brim with psykers from the start. Attrition can lead to most of the survivors being librarian material for some reason or another—seeing things coming tends to have a way to prevent you from dying horribly, for one. If psykers end up making most of the veterans, it's only logical the wise among them rise to the ranks of advisors eventually, allowing a "wizard council" without the need of making most/all recruits psychic.

That last point goes back to an earlier one, incidentally. The Warminds' primogenitor don't have their homeworld nuked from orbit in spite of rampant mutation among the population because Deliverance produces gear that matches the quality of genuine forgeworlds, in enough quantity to rival a small one.

(The Raven Guard's clout as a loyal First Founding chapter helps, too.)

Unless the population of Geffen develops psychic powers only after becoming space marines, that's an entire planet's worth of ticking time bombs—that's also the homeworld of a space marine chapter. Again, why are they not dead yet?

Mind you, from my understanding, the answer seems to be that everyone outside of the Glastheim Rifts doesn't even know they exist. If Commorragh isn't aware of a kabal terrorizing an entire realm, chances are the Imperium forgot the place even exists (unless tithes aren't paid, naturally).

Going back to the White Jedi wizard council, I'd need more information to comment on it further.

I also liked that you had scheduled the Warminds to die. Bowing out and letting the curtain fall is a quality that is simply not found enough in this world.

Since we're talking about the primaris reinforcements to a Raven Guard successor, I'm wondering about the purity of the geneseed used by Cawl. He abducted recruits from the Great Scouring, right? I'm not familiar with the current lore about the Raven Guard's genetic degradation, but could he have found some clean, undamaged geneseed to use on the new guys? It certainly exists, at least once upon a time; the Raven Guard had to import some of their own geneseed back from Mars because they didn't have enough viable samples on their own.

I find Geffen interesting. I've not seen warring farm-clans before. Also curious about these Dead Cities.

[Ace Debonair]

Visions of Kung-Fu Theatre and Old Run Run Shaw films dancing in my head:wacko: What can I say?..... kung-fu philosopher wizards in power armor, what's not to love? 40K does not have enough of these.

I know, right?

I'm hoping this Chapter will help adjust the balance accordingly.

 

The only problem I see is with the Quelled. I kind of like the idea, but Zombie Marines are not very optimal for Raven Guard style ops. Possible cannon fodder companies??  But even that seems a waste of gene-seed, training, and materials. Perhaps the loss of control comes over a long period of time, ending in forming a sort of "Death Company".

 

Other than that, it looks (dare I say it) ACES:D

I see what you did there.

 

More seriously, the Quelled aren't really like zombies - rather, they are still functioning Battle Brothers, just incapable of any psychic powers or any real depth of emotion. They retain all of their discipline and fighting ability, but do get a bit worse at adapting to new situations on the fly, making them less suited for leadership. 

 

Warminds?

Yep.

 

The names are easily the best thing about Destiny these days though, so that's likely to be the sole nod to the game in this Chapter.

 

A good foundation to build on, trick is to not make them cookie cutter Blood Ravens, but the ground work is already pushing away from that. With the increase in psychic activity in recruits, does that stem specifically from Geffen, or from the geneseed inherently? Do Librarians hold unique command placements within the hierarchy of the chapter due to the high amount of psychically attuned Astartes?

 

I am looking forwards to more.

 

Cambrius

The increased number of psykers is tied to the mutation of the geneseed, in my head. The people of Geffen are the only ones with anything like a viable rate of successful aspirants, and the Warminds eventually have too low a supply of geneseed to really risk it on aspirants from other worlds.

 

Of course, not being born yesterday, they'll get fresh stocks of Raven Guard geneseed in from the AdMech when they can - but given proximity to the Glastheim Rifts is what causes the mutation in the geneseed to begin with, they'll still mostly implant it in Geffenic recruits.

 

As for Librarians, I'm not sure how much of a leadership role they'll play. I imagine they serve more as advisors for Captains than as actual leaders.

 

In terms of the Quelled, there was an idea introduced in a Deathwatch book where the main character had his psychic powers dampered by an implant inserted into their spines in order to avoid deaths and such from new members. Perhaps the Warminds have something similar but with some kind of disadvantage in order to balance things out?

Hmmmm. I like the idea of having the Quelled more than the Warminds having a simple fix for uncontrollable psychic powers - unless that implant also deadened the character's ability to feel emotions?

 

I'd also imagine the Deathwatch have access to more esoteric (and expensive) gear than some nobody Chapter in some backwater part of the galaxy.

 

Besides, horrifying ritualised surgery adds a little bit of that 40k grimdark flavour we all love.

 

 

Also in turns of the kung-fu mage warriors, how do they use their powers to help them? Is it more increasing their strength, using foresight to dodge attacks and hit weak points before the enemy evens knows it or something else? There's a lot of ways you could play the kung fu into this. It could even be seen as a way of calming themselves outside of battle potentially.

 

Interested to see where you take these guys 

So; The more powerful casters amongst the Warminds will use their powers like you'd expect mages to - lots of grandiose, powerful spells with myriad effects.

 

The lower orders of casters will be more reliant on low-key magics, more subtle stuff like remotely kicking up thick dust clouds to obscure enemy vision, or increasing the perceived weight of an enemy's weapon or armour to throw them off-balance. One of my favourite ideas is having the power to briefly convince an enemy that something unpleasant is coming up behind them, forcing them to turn and deal with the imagined threat, giving  the Warmind the window of opportunity to strike a telling blow.

 

I actually figure their most common spell would be something like Magelight from the Elder Scrolls games - a source of bright light that can be thrown at (and adhere to) targets, either to mess with their vision, mark a target for their brothers to shoot, or simply to distract an enemy.

 

The kung-fu martial arts plays into this - some of the martial techniques used by the Warminds will seem overly showy and flourish-heavy compared to the more utilitarian styles employed by most Space Marines. But that is actually part of the intent all along, designed to mislead an enemy while the Warmind in question musters their magic or gauges their enemy's abilities.

 

TL;DR: Misdirection, in ways other than just using the shadows.

 

 

 

 

EDIT:

 

Knight of the Raven, I'll have to reply to your comments later - real life stuff like work is about to get in my way for a couple of days.

Forgiveness please!

Edited August 1, 2019 by Ace Debonair

[Knight of the Raven]

Knight of the Raven, I'll have to reply to your comments later - real life stuff like work is about to get in my way for a couple of days.

Forgiveness please!

If anything, I should be the one apologizing, what with my huge posts bursting from the calm + THE LIBER + waters like a killer whale. I'll have to use the Jaws theme as my ringtone at this rate. And thanks for the warning.

 

The point of this quick reply, however, is to offer two suggestions in light of your post. Getting hold of the late Warhammer Fantasy Battle magic schools may prove useful for inspiration, and so may learning about the Avatar: the Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra cartoons, since they revolve around using asian martial arts to 'summon' the four classical elements in battle.

 

(I'm not familiar with the actual quality of these two works, however.)

 

edit: quote tags are the devil.

Edited August 1, 2019 by Knight of the Raven

[Messor]

Besides the obvious (that this is a really fun concept), the first thing that jumped out at me was the livery. I was definitely not expecting it to be so bright! It's a good look, though. Can you share the painter version as well? Considering their subdued personality, a good way to augment the character of the chapter could definitely be some unique and specific takes on the manifestation of the various psychic abilities they use, in the vein Raven suggested, reflecting their inspiration.

 

Aside from what has already been covered, it seems like the Warminds have a strong judgement streak, and it makes me curious how they feel about and interact with their allies elsewhere in the region. Harsher than they see (or saw) themselves? More charitable? Does their perspective of the Emperor's judgement extend to the larger empire? Does the arrival of the Great Rift and return of Guilliman balance out or represent a significant lean one way or the other?

 

Interested to see more.

[Brother Lunkhead]

Ace Debonair

Posted Today, 07:39 AM

 

Brother Lunkhead, on 31 Jul 2019 - 5:18 PM, said:http://bolterandchainsword.com//public/style_images/carbon_red/snapback.png

The only problem I see is with the Quelled. I kind of like the idea, but Zombie Marines are not very optimal for Raven Guard style ops. Possible cannon fodder companies??  But even that seems a waste of gene-seed, training, and materials. Perhaps the loss of control comes over a long period of time, ending in forming a sort of "Death Company".
 
Other than that, it looks (dare I say it) ACES:D

 

I see what you did there.

More seriously, the Quelled aren't really like zombies - rather, they are still functioning Battle Brothers, just incapable of any psychic powers or any real depth of emotion. They retain all of their discipline and fighting ability, but do get a bit worse at adapting to new situations on the fly, making them less suited for leadership. 

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Ok.... cool Not Space Marine Zombies...…. I see where you are going with this. I would humbly suggest that the lack of emotional depth of the Quelled actually makes them more suitable for combat. No emotional confusion, just focused clinical analysis on the problem at hand. This will enhance their ability to adapt to new situations. On the leadership front I agree.... not at all suited. Without depth of emotion there is no passion, no empathy, and no charisma...… all necessary in a good leader.

 

Do the people of Geffen possess a high degree of psychic ability or are they just more compatible genetically for the Warminds' purposes?

If they do have more psychers, then the Warminds are going to have to contend with the Black Ships, the Silent Sisterhood, maybe the Sororitas in general, and definitely the Inquisition. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, as it adds more depth to your Chapter's story.

 

I think you choice of chapter colors and livery design are going to look fantastic. This looks to be one very cool Space Marine Chapter

 

…….. Everybody was Kung Fu fiiiightiiiing…….

[Ace Debonair]

 

 

'It's "mind war," not the other way round, you stupid mon'keigh! Here, I'll show you!'

—Farseer Trygerd Swiftmind, also known as the Crimson Robe, seconds before her head exploded due to psychic backlash

 

 

 

Three sentences in and you've already won this thread.

 

I'm becoming very curious about these Glastheim Rifts. What makes them so important—or dangerous—that they justify six full chapters of the Adeptus Astartes being deployed there? More specifically, what makes them so important that they justify these six chapters when they're apparently filled with background radiation intense enough to damage their geneseeds?

Long story short, The Glastheim Rifts are just the place I'm putting all my DIYs these days.

 

As for what they actually are, the Glastheim Rifts are a small, isolated warp rift surrounded by larger warp storms with a ship's graveyard at it's heart rather than any planets.

 

The Imperium, for a time, was convinced the Rifts linked secretly to the Eye of Terror because of the high frequency of heretical activity in the area.

 

There is no secret passage to the Eye of Terror, of course. But there are heretics in the heart of the Glastheim Rifts.

 

Rather than six Chapters being sent to the Rifts at once to form the Silver Circle, I'm going to have the Circle created as an Imperial mandate that assigns the five nearest Chapters to establish outposts around the Rifts when heretical activity (and Imperial paranoia) really starts to flare up.

 

The Sixth Chapter is part of the Ultima Founding, (and will be a while in the development stages) and is an all-Primaris Chapter, so they'll turn up later.

 

 

Since I doubt these six chapters are genetically degenerate in six different ways, the obvious answer is that it's only the area the Warminds are saddled with that's dangerously radioactive. In that case, it's not obvious from the way the article is worded. If the entire Glastheim Rifts are a geneseed-murdering hellhole... what about them makes such a cost-prohibitive endeavor worth it? Or is it simply an original take on a Penitent Crusade, and the six chapters are still making up for the failings of their ancestors?

My current stance on the idea: Raven Guard geneseed is all kinds of unstable anyway, so they'll be by far the most affected by the radiation around the Rifts. I think the next closest in terms of deficiency was the Brotherhood of Crows, whose geneseed flaw will develop before they ever reach the Rifts.

 

 

I'm also curious about these pseudo-tranquils. Pseudo, because actual tranquils have about as much spirit of initiative as a chair and a genuine tranquil space marine would literally be more useful to the chapter and the Imperium at large dead, his throat torn and his fused ribcage cracked open to get the precious geneseed back.

 

Namely, how did the Warminds develop this practice in the first place—and how many times did it go wrong before they successfully finalized it? More importantly, seeing how twitchy the Imperium is about psykers in general, and how interested some of its higher-ups are in curbing the power of the Adeptus Astartes, why hasn't any "ally" come and pried this practice from their cold, dead hands yet?

Yeah, the Quelled are a little bit more functional than your Dragon Age Tranquil are. As for how the Chapter came about their current practice, I'm not yet certain, but I'm leaning towards the explanation that it developed out of a fear that simply killing the unstable marines would add to their attrition woes.

 

As for why nobody's done anything about it, the Warminds might simply never mention it to outsiders. The black shoulder armour of the Quelled could be made to symbolise penitence, likewise the 'wilful' suppression of emotion.

 

 

...Although I'm not sure how workable a solution that is.

 

 

The 'typical Warmind personality' also seems pretty close to what they'd look like as a Quelled before even going under the ritual knife, I find.

True that.

I'll be sure to differentiate them a bit more.

 

I don't think the Warminds need to be 'designed' as filled to the brim with psykers from the start. Attrition can lead to most of the survivors being librarian material for some reason or another—seeing things coming tends to have a way to prevent you from dying horribly, for one. If psykers end up making most of the veterans, it's only logical the wise among them rise to the ranks of advisors eventually, allowing a "wizard council" without the need of making most/all recruits psychic.

I do like that idea, but part of the point of the Chapter is a more widespread use of magic on the battlefield. So to an extent, a fairly hefty number of psykers in the Chapter is a requirement.

 

That last point goes back to an earlier one, incidentally. The Warminds' primogenitor don't have their homeworld nuked from orbit in spite of rampant mutation among the population because Deliverance produces gear that matches the quality of genuine forgeworlds, in enough quantity to rival a small one.

 

(The Raven Guard's clout as a loyal First Founding chapter helps, too.)

 

Unless the population of Geffen develops psychic powers only after becoming space marines, that's an entire planet's worth of ticking time bombs—that's also the homeworld of a space marine chapter. Again, why are they not dead yet?

Yeah, the Psychic power comes from the geneseed rather than the populace. Most Geffenic aspirants would be as naturally psychic as a potato without the Warminds' geneseed.

 

I'll be sure to make that more clear too!

 

 

Mind you, from my understanding, the answer seems to be that everyone outside of the Glastheim Rifts doesn't even know they exist. If Commorragh isn't aware of a kabal terrorizing an entire realm, chances are the Imperium forgot the place even exists (unless tithes aren't paid, naturally).

Yeah, that's partly the idea.

The Rifts are defended, and generally well enough that nobody really pays attention to them.

 

There's more urgent/bigger things going on in the Imperium, after all.

 

 

I also liked that you had scheduled the Warminds to die. Bowing out and letting the curtain fall is a quality that is simply not found enough in this world.

 

Since we're talking about the primaris reinforcements to a Raven Guard successor, I'm wondering about the purity of the geneseed used by Cawl. He abducted recruits from the Great Scouring, right? I'm not familiar with the current lore about the Raven Guard's genetic degradation, but could he have found some clean, undamaged geneseed to use on the new guys? It certainly exists, at least once upon a time; the Raven Guard had to import some of their own geneseed back from Mars because they didn't have enough viable samples on their own.

All I could find on the subject of Primaris geneseed in general could be summed up as "it's the same, but better and more stable".

Given that genetic instability was literally the method I was about to use to kill the Warminds, the fact the Primaris deliberately have more stable geneseed felt kind of like GW was cheating on my behalf to save my doomed Chapter.

 

Of course, since I figure all the flaws will probably show up again in Primaris marines sooner or later, It might turn out to be a brief moment of peace before the whole lot fails, and I'm sure some in the Chapter look at it this way. It might basically amount to a grace period before the Day of Fate.

 

But it might be salvation, a reward for staying true to The Emperor and serving His people.

 

I find Geffen interesting. I've not seen warring farm-clans before. Also curious about these Dead Cities.

 

Me too - that was all the notes I'd made on either thing so far!

It's probably going to be the bit I spend the most time and words on, knowing me.

 

 

If anything, I should be the one apologizing, what with my huge posts bursting from the calm + THE LIBER + waters like a killer whale. I'll have to use the Jaws theme as my ringtone at this rate. And thanks for the warning.

I mean, I did put a wall of text right there in the first post - I consider a lengthy reply to be quite the compliment!

 

The point of this quick reply, however, is to offer two suggestions in light of your post. Getting hold of the late Warhammer Fantasy Battle magic schools may prove useful for inspiration, and so may learning about the Avatar: the Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra cartoons, since they revolve around using asian martial arts to 'summon' the four classical elements in battle.

 

(I'm not familiar with the actual quality of these two works, however.)

I'mma go look these things up next time I get chance - I have a passing familiarity with all of them, but nothing in-depth.

 

 

Besides the obvious (that this is a really fun concept), the first thing that jumped out at me was the livery. I was definitely not expecting it to be so bright! It's a good look, though. Can you share the painter version as well?

I suppose so. BEHOLD!

 

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/sm.php?b62c=@hvgwP_i8y3o.hxCHu@@@@@@@hXbsb@hCmX3@@i3CYqi3CYq@_@@@@@@@@@_._.@@@@@@@@@@hCmX3.@@@@@@_@@@@@@.iakk7&grid=TRUEhttp://www.bolterandchainsword.com/sm.php?b62c=@hvgwP_hg0DM.hCmX3@@@@@@@hXbsb@.@@i3CYqi3CYq@i8y3o@@@@@@@@@____@@@@@@@@@@.hxCHu@@@@@@i8y3o@@@@@@hxCHuiakk7&grid=TRUE

 

A regular Warmind and a Salamander one of the Quelled.

 

… I might not go with Black Shoulders for the Quelled after all.

 

Aside from what has already been covered, it seems like the Warminds have a strong judgement streak, and it makes me curious how they feel about and interact with their allies elsewhere in the region. Harsher than they see (or saw) themselves? More charitable? Does their perspective of the Emperor's judgement extend to the larger empire? Does the arrival of the Great Rift and return of Guilliman balance out or represent a significant lean one way or the other?

 

Interested to see more.

 

Uh. Without getting too far into how the Warminds feel about the other Chapters in the Circle (because I haven't posted anything about them yet), the Warminds believe that everyone in time must face their own trials, as decreed by The Emperor. The Day of Fate comes for all, sooner or later.

 

Not sure what they'd make of any recent developments beyond the Primaris marines, to be honest, but I'd imagine whether or not we're all doomed still is a point of contention amongst the Chapter.

 

 

Ok.... cool:sweat: Not Space Marine Zombies...…. I see where you are going with this. I would humbly suggest that the lack of emotional depth of the Quelled actually makes them more suitable for combat. No emotional confusion, just focused clinical analysis on the problem at hand. This will enhance their ability to adapt to new situations. On the leadership front I agree.... not at all suited. Without depth of emotion there is no passion, no empathy, and no charisma...… all necessary in a good leader.

A Space Marine without the capacity for proper hatred or anger is probably less ferocious and less stubborn, though.

 

I'm also deliberately lowering the initiative separately of their emotional handicap, although I appreciate I hadn't made it clear the two were separate things. My bad!

 

 

Do the people of Geffen possess a high degree of psychic ability or are they just more compatible genetically for the Warminds' purposes?

If they do have more psychers, then the Warminds are going to have to contend with the Black Ships, the Silent Sisterhood, maybe the Sororitas in general, and definitely the Inquisition. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, as it adds more depth to your Chapter's story.

It's the latter - the psychic stuff comes from the geneseed. Geffen's native population have a better survival rate than other planets, and are as naturally psychic as a doorknob.

 

For what it's worth they are going to have clashes of ideology with an Order of Sororitas (once I'm done fleshing them out too), but not to the point of openly fighting.

 

I think you choice of chapter colors and livery design are going to look fantastic. This looks to be one very cool Space Marine Chapter

I'm hoping it will be, they've been a long time coming!

[Lysimachus]

Love the idea, the image of eastern style mages (I don't really like Last Airbender due to poor plot, etc, but the visual is pretty damn cool!) really works well.

 

Most of the fluff works for me too, but there is one thing that throws me a bit:

Chapter is Founded, assigned to area around rifts, after some time (presumably hundreds if not thousands of years?) suffers from geneseed mutation that causes an increase in psychic ability. So... why are they called Warminds, a name that they were presumably Founded with?

 

My suggestion would probably be to give them a different 'official' name, something less specific to what they are now, and make 'Warminds' a moniker that has come to be used by their peers/allies (and eventually themselves) in the present?

[Ace Debonair]

Most of the fluff works for me too, but there is one thing that throws me a bit:

Chapter is Founded, assigned to area around rifts, after some time (presumably hundreds if not thousands of years?) suffers from geneseed mutation that causes an increase in psychic ability. So... why are they called Warminds, a name that they were presumably Founded with?

 

My suggestion would probably be to give them a different 'official' name, something less specific to what they are now, and make 'Warminds' a moniker that has come to be used by their peers/allies (and eventually themselves) in the present?

One of the Silver Circle already undergoes a name change in-story, so I was going to just let the Warminds have the one name.

But since you bring it up, I suppose the name 'Warminds' is a little on-the-nose for what they are.

 

I'll have to come up with something fitting, but not so cool as to warrant throwing out my original name for the Chapter!

[Messor]

I honestly don't feel like a coincidentally appropriate name would be a problem in this case. They could have been founded as the Warminds for having a training cadre of particularly skilled strategists. Or maybe it's something derived from the Emperor's Tarot at their founding. A name like Warminds seems pretty appropriate for a force of elite warriors, that just happens to get *way* more appropriate in their future.

[Brother Cambrius]

Warminds is an excellent name in my opinion.

 

It could very well be a name provided by the Adeptus Ministorum in the Founding of the Chapter initially, but that can be bland.

 

In terms of defining character, instead the name could originate from the decree of the founding master of the Warminds, declaring something akin to this:

 

"As Astartes, we are the embodiment of warfare. But the physical strength we possess in unleashing war is but a candle to the burning star that is our minds. From our mind comes the decision to take action. From the mind comes the memory of training and skills in war. From our mind comes our faith and purpose. We must embody warfare into our minds, so that we can become the truly unstoppable weapons of the Emperor.

 

We are the Warminds. From our mental strength, our action wins wars."

 

Just something that came to mind, forgive the mental monologue ramble. :sweat:

 

<EDIT> Suffer not the Typo to live

 

Cambrius

Edited August 2, 2019 by Brother Cambrius

[Brother Lunkhead]

...... Yeah, what Messor and Brother Cambrius said

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

http://bolterandchainsword.com//public/style_images/carbon_red/post_offline.pngAce Debonair

Posted Yesterday, 02:50 PM

 

A Space Marine without the capacity for proper hatred or anger is probably less ferocious and less stubborn, though.

 

I'm also deliberately lowering the initiative separately of their emotional handicap,

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Ferocity doesn't necessarily equate to tenacity or stubbornness. It just makes for a slightly less intimidating giant bolter wielding, power armor wearing killing machine

 

How do you explain the lowering of initiative? Is it just a unexplained quirk of the quelling process (I think that's legit)?

 

I like your livery choices, and I think the black pauldrons for the Quelled is fine.

 

Just for fun I came up with an alternate livery based on your design. Brighter colors for a slightly more grandiose magic wielding kung fu kicking Space Marine:

 

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/sm.php?b62c=@h271h_iafZK.hr48R@@@@@@@ia3h6@.@@_i3PBS@_@@@@@@@@@_i3PBS_i3PBS@@@@@@@@@@..@@@@@@_@@@@@@_iakk7&grid=TRUE

 

Cheers

Edited August 2, 2019 by Brother Lunkhead

[Ace Debonair]

...So on further thought I'm thinking the two best routes to take regarding the name are either:

 

1] Give the Chapter a different name and then have Warminds as an unofficial name later

 

2] Call them Warminds from the get go, and simply deal with the fact that most Chapters tend to have remarkably appropriate names.

 

I feel like going out of my way to justify the name is, on balance, an odder choice than just rolling with it.

Although if it feels odd after the First Draft is complete, I'll figure out something to add.

 

 

Brother Lunkhead:

 

I feel like the inability to properly hate an enemy is a real drawback to a Space Marine's capacity to fight that enemy, but I do see your point.

 

The lowered initiative is going to just be a side-effect of the Quelling. I don't know enough science to give a plausible explanation even before we introduce things like connections to the warp!

 

The alternate colours are pretty good, although the scheme for the standard marines is set in stone since I've already painted a squad of Warminds and am pretty happy with them.

[Brother Lunkhead]

Lowered initiative as a side effect of the Quelling seems a good enough explanation to me. 

 

Warminds from the get go has my vote.

 

Livery looks good.

 

Looks like Warminds are a GO

[Knight of the Raven]

Sorry for the delay. And thanks for the answers.
 

As for why nobody's done anything about it, the Warminds might simply never mention it to outsiders. The black shoulder armour of the Quelled could be made to symbolise penitence, likewise the 'wilful' suppression of emotion.


...Although I'm not sure how workable a solution that is.

It never occurred to me that this wasn't public knowledge, and I'd just read the Blood Ravens' updated Index Astartes prior to writing that post. My attention has an interesting sense of humor, it seems.

I don't know much about space marine physiology, especially when psykers are involved, so I can't help with their struggle to stabilize their brothers. Even the most 'public' chapters tend to be obsessive with their privacy, however, so your solution seems very workable to me.

Though I am unsure of what would happen if an inquisitor showed up at their doorstep with questions about these Quelled... Or even just one who'd ask for a place to stay because they ended up stranded in the Rifts, and those guys with the black pauldrons behave a little too robotically not to look suspicious.

 

I do like that idea, but part of the point of the Chapter is a more widespread use of magic on the battlefield. So to an extent, a fairly hefty number of psykers in the Chapter is a requirement.

True, only psykers can use magic in Warhammer 40,000, since all and any 'enchantment' literally amounts to daemonic possession in the setting.

 

I mean, I did put a wall of text right there in the first post - I consider a lengthy reply to be quite the compliment!

The line between constructive criticism and stopping inspiration dead in its tracks is very fine, I've found.

Some more musings, although your answers weren't directed at me;

 

A regular Warmind and a Salamander one of the Quelled.

… I might not go with Black Shoulders for the Quelled after all.

If I remember correctly, white is the color of mourning in eastern-asian culture rather than black. Perhaps white pauldrons instead?

And since I'm talking about the color scheme; I found the green to look good on your test model. However, everything that's painted in this... copperish? color looks like a toy to me. Possibly because of the color itself, probably because the colors are so close to each other the model (minus the head and weapon) looks to have only two colors, and that's all.

 

 Uh. Without getting too far into how the Warminds feel about the other Chapters in the Circle (because I haven't posted anything about them yet), the Warminds believe that everyone in time must face their own trials, as decreed by The Emperor. The Day of Fate comes for all, sooner or later.

Not sure what they'd make of any recent developments beyond the Primaris marines, to be honest, but I'd imagine whether or not we're all doomed still is a point of contention amongst the Chapter.

From my very limited reading about that chapter, I find your Warminds might get along well with the Doom Eagles. All this 'death is inevitable' this, 'only by accepting this can we hope to spare others from grief' that...

 

I'm also deliberately lowering the initiative separately of their emotional handicap, although I appreciate I hadn't made it clear the two were separate things. My bad!

In the days of the first Index Astartes articles, Salamanders had a lower initiative, basically because they spent far too much time thinking about their next actions or some such. Slow and purposeful, in spirit if not in rules.

And, as an (now thoroughly irrelevant) aside;

 

There is no secret passage to the Eye of Terror, of course. But there are heretics in the heart of the Glastheim Rifts.

The Cadian Gate wasn't the only safe way out of the Eye of Terror, back in the day. It was merely the best known—possibly the only one known as far as loyalists are aware—and probably the most beneficial for the huge war fleets Abaddon needed to despoil the Imperium. There were others way in and out, at least if a battle report from the early 2000s is to be believed.

The Iron Warriors used the Perdictor system for safe travel thanks to its population's regularly-scheduled prayers to the Chaos Gods that brought forth warp storms. After the Hydra Cordatus business, Nechissar Van Daal of the Black Legion deemed the fleets pursuing Honsou's Grand Companies too close for comfort and sent his forces against the Iron Warriors and the daemon prince charged personally by Perturabo to defend the gate, Charon, in order to disrupt the ritual and keep the mysteries of the Perdictor Gate secret.

(Spoiler: everyone involved died.)

The Glatheim Rifts are probably too far away from the former Eye of Terror to be one of these secret safe passages, but since this is very old, arguably canon lore, I took the opportunity to mention it just in case someone finds it useful.

[Ace Debonair]

Lowered initiative as a side effect of the Quelling seems a good enough explanation to me. 

 

Warminds from the get go has my vote.

 

Livery looks good.

 

Looks like Warminds are a GO:tu:

 

It's a slow go, but I'm working on it!

 

 

It never occurred to me that this wasn't public knowledge, and I'd just read the Blood Ravens' updated Index Astartes prior to writing that post. My attention has an interesting sense of humor, it seems.

 

I don't know much about space marine physiology, especially when psykers are involved, so I can't help with their struggle to stabilize their brothers. Even the most 'public' chapters tend to be obsessive with their privacy, however, so your solution seems very workable to me.

 

Though I am unsure of what would happen if an inquisitor showed up at their doorstep with questions about these Quelled... Or even just one who'd ask for a place to stay because they ended up stranded in the Rifts, and those guys with the black pauldrons behave a little too robotically not to look suspicious.

I suppose a lot would depend on the Inquisitor in question.

 

I have a hard time adopting the right mindset for dealing with the Inquisition, to be honest.

 

There's plenty of Chaos-related shenanigans around the Glastheim Rifts for the Inquisition to get stuck into, so I imagine that for the most part Inquisitors would be willing to leave the Warminds to their own devices (at least until all the obvious Heresy in the region is on fire).

 

I'll worry about how the Warminds deal with the particularly nosy Inquisitors who wouldn't leave them alone once the rest of the Chapter is written out.

 

 

True, only psykers can use magic in Warhammer 40,000, since all and any 'enchantment' literally amounts to daemonic possession in the setting.

Which has actually given me more ideas for another Chaos faction - gonna have to hold off on that for now though, I've got too many things going on already!

 

 

If I remember correctly, white is the color of mourning in eastern-asian culture rather than black. Perhaps white pauldrons instead?

White pauldrons? White pauldrons. I can make this work, I think:

 

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/sm.php?b62c=@hvgwP_iakk7.hxCHu@@@@@@@hXbsb@hCmX3@@i3CYqi3CYq@_@@@@@@@@@._._@@@@@@@@@@hCmX3.@@@@@@_@@@@@@._&grid=TRUE

 

Ta-da! I changed the belt too, since having just the one bit in orange looked weird.

 

And since I'm talking about the color scheme; I found the green to look good on your test model. However, everything that's painted in this... copperish? color looks like a toy to me. Possibly because of the color itself, probably because the colors are so close to each other the model (minus the head and weapon) looks to have only two colors, and that's all.

Yeah, in the photo I have to admit the metallic bronze colour has come out a LOT more orange than it looks in reality.

The metallic colour's rather more yellow-hued in person, but I can't seem to photograph it properly.

 

 

From my very limited reading about that chapter, I find your Warminds might get along well with the Doom Eagles. All this 'death is inevitable' this, 'only by accepting this can we hope to spare others from grief' that...

That does sound like something the Warminds would say, albeit tempered with "the manner of death is not written in stone - let us make sure we die fighting".

 

 

And, as an (now thoroughly irrelevant) aside;

 

The Cadian Gate wasn't the only safe way out of the Eye of Terror, back in the day. It was merely the best known—possibly the only one known as far as loyalists are aware—and probably the most beneficial for the huge war fleets Abaddon needed to despoil the Imperium. There were others way in and out, at least if a battle report from the early 2000s is to be believed.

 

The Iron Warriors used the Perdictor system for safe travel thanks to its population's regularly-scheduled prayers to the Chaos Gods that brought forth warp storms. After the Hydra Cordatus business, Nechissar Van Daal of the Black Legion deemed the fleets pursuing Honsou's Grand Companies too close for comfort and sent his forces against the Iron Warriors and the daemon prince charged personally by Perturabo to defend the gate, Charon, in order to disrupt the ritual and keep the mysteries of the Perdictor Gate secret.

 

(Spoiler: everyone involved died.)

 

The Glatheim Rifts are probably too far away from the former Eye of Terror to be one of these secret safe passages, but since this is very old, arguably canon lore, I took the opportunity to mention it just in case someone finds it useful.

I'm filing this away under "reasons there are six Chapters around the Glastheim Rifts".   Knowledge or even suspicion of other places linked to The Eye would probably be enough to send the Imperium into paranoia mode, and the Glastheim Rifts have confirmed heretical activity in the area.

 

Of course, the six Chapters are going to be a gradual buildup, starting at one in the Tenth Founding (technically two, but that's a detail for another story) and building up bit by bit until the Ultima Founding adds number six.

[Knight of the Raven]

I suppose a lot would depend on the Inquisitor in question.

 

I have a hard time adopting the right mindset for dealing with the Inquisition, to be honest.

 

 

There's plenty of Chaos-related shenanigans around the Glastheim Rifts for the Inquisition to get stuck into, so I imagine that for the most part Inquisitors would be willing to leave the Warminds to their own devices (at least until all the obvious Heresy in the region is on fire).

 

I'll worry about how the Warminds deal with the particularly nosy Inquisitors who wouldn't leave them alone once the rest of the Chapter is written out.

Funny that. I read relevant information about the Inquisition literally last night. And by "relevant information," I mean 'lore that's genuinely five times older than the Cicatrix Maledictum.'

 

Namely, Index Astartes: Rogue Sons.

 

It states that while the Ordo Malleus is in charge of maintaining records about the original Traitor Legions, it is the Ordo Hereticus that's responsible for all chapters that strayed from the Emperor's Light since then. Even if they were only declared Excommincatus because a 'particularly obtuse' got offended that they 'worshipped the Emperor as a reptile' or because one of their own uppity inquisitors presented 'perfectly debatable assumptions' as evidence and somehow got greenlighted.

 

It also specifies which corruption concerns which Ordo. If Chaos is suspected, the Ordo Malleus calls forth the Grey Knights. Heretical doctrine leads to the mobilization of the Sisters of Battle. Alien taint or influence is the purview of the Ordo Xenos.

 

So, which domain would the Quelled belong to?

 

Beyond exceeding the mandate given to space marines, that is. Ruling a world as opposed to only recruiting from it, for example; but that's not the case here. Everyone looks suspiciously at the Adeptus Astartes and sees hubris and pride as a sword of Damocles over the head of the wider Imperium as well, including and most of all inquisitors—ignoring irony like a middle child in the process.

 

The article also mentions that space marines tend to police themselves; for example when an inquisitor brings proof of corruption to the master of another chapter. It's entirely possible for loyal chapters to plan, prosecute and sometimes finish a joint punitive campaign against their wayward cousins before higher authorities are even aware their target drifted from the straight and narrow.

 

It also states that actually getting hold of that evidence is practically impossible. Even loyal chapters with millennia of faithful service and nothing to reproach themselves do not take kindly to nosy, prying outsiders. But renegade chapters tend to make their new allegiance obvious anyway.

 

White pauldrons? White pauldrons. I can make this work, I think:

 

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/sm.php?b62c=@hvgwP_iakk7.hxCHu@@@@@@@hXbsb@hCmX3@@i3CYqi3CYq@_@@@@@@@@@._._@@@@@@@@@@hCmX3.@@@@@@_@@@@@@._&grid=TRUE

 

Ta-da! I changed the belt too, since having just the one bit in orange looked weird.

I was sure he reminded me of the Mantis Warriors, but they have yellow pauldrons instead. And let's be honest, who even heard of the Dark Crusaders, Guardians of Celeres and Honoured Sons? They don't even have the same shade of green anyway.

 

(And the Vorpal Swords roughly share the Salamanders' color scheme as well.)

[Ace Debonair]

I've updated the first post with my first draft of the IA!

It's probably a mess, as first drafts tend to be.

For the sake of keeping my notes in one place, I'm copy-pasting the former contents of the first post here.

I'm feeling inspired, brothers.
Perhaps it's time I revisited the Glastheim Rifts and those who defend them.
But this time, I'm going to do things one Chapter at a time - and I'm starting with the Warminds.

You're probably asking: "Who are the Warminds?" If so, good question! I'll try to answer as best I can.

The basic flavour of the Warminds is "Space Marine Mages", but rather than the Thousand-Sons-style Egyptian theme, I'm going for kind of a blend of Stereotypical Fantasy Mages and eastern warrior monks. Essentially I want bands of kung-fu philosopher wizards in power armour.

Obviously, though, since that's a little bit too 'powerful' for a whole Chapter, I'm installing two counter-measures.

Firstly: their numbers are going to be greatly diminished. As Raven Guard successors, they have a poor rate of success with aspirants anyway, and further mutation via radiation can not only give me the wizard-heavy Chapter I want, it can further increase the chance of failure in recruits, making the Warminds incapable of fielding a fully psychic Chapter through sheer attrition.

Secondly: the powers of the Warminds are unpredictable and hard to control - not all of them can master the power that flows within them. Those that cannot are put through a complicated ritual surgery and made Quelled, completely removing their ability to use psychic powers. Anyone familiar with the Tranquil from Dragon Age will have a pretty good idea of what the Quelled are like - incapable of expressing emotion, and much poorer than other marines at taking initiative, the Quelled are barred from holding high office in the Chapter and watched over scrupulously by the Chaplains and their still-active mage brothers.

I still can't decide if either or both of these checks would still excuse a mostly-psychic Chapter. I suppose I could downgrade to just "has more librarians than typical Chapters" like the Blood Ravens do, but the "wizard council" aspect of the Chapter is one of the reasons I created the Warminds to begin with.


Now, on top of all this... The other thing with this Chapter - back before Primaris Space Marines were even a thing, I was genuinely going to have the Warminds on the very edge of dying out when "the story moved forward" because their geneseed was too unstable to produce a constant stream of viable recruits.

Then the galactic story really went ahead and moved forward, and in ways I don't think any of us really saw coming.

But since Primaris marines (which are now a thing) have apparently got a more stable geneseed than their Firstborn kindred, that leaves room for the Warminds to literally be saved from the brink of death by the Indomitus Crusade even without any battles being fought.

So, it's a time of miracles to the Warminds, who had previously felt that they had been judged and found wanting by their Primarch and Emperor, and come to accept their inevitable death.


So, with all that said, here's a short list of my current ideas for the Warminds:



* 18th Founding, Raven Guard successors. Assigned to protect the Glastheim Rifts.

* Suffering from seriously atrophied geneseed due to radiation from the Glastheim Rifts, the Warminds can only safely recruit from a single world - Geffen - and are slowly dying out.

* The only positive is that most recruits generate psychic power at one point or another, making the Warminds quite a potent force even if only a comparatively small one.

* Typical Warmind personality: Measured, Calm, Contemplative. Most Warminds meditate daily on death and the inevitable extinction that awaits them, and the Chapter has a strong sense of Legacy; they work to leave behind a galaxy worthy of The Emperor.

* Often, the Chapter makes reference to The Day of Fate. This, in Geffenic legend, is the day someone dies and is claimed by The Emperor, who judges their worth and either takes them to His side or destroys them utterly. The Chapter's motto in High Gothic roughly translates to "The Day of Fate is here".

* Geffen, the Warminds' Homeworld, is a suffering former agri-world where wars are fought over farmable land. Most people are part of one of the great farm-clans that war over land, although raider gangs from the Dead Cities are not unheard of. The Warminds will take recruits from either if they show the right aptitudes.

* Combat Doctrine is largely taken straight from the Raven Guard - plan carefully and strike decisively from the shadows. The only real deviation is in the Warminds' greater reliance on psychic powers.

* Organisation is largely standard, although each company is under-strength. The main difference is the Librarium - with so many burgeoning psychics in the Chapter, the Librarium is divided into twelve ranks to better denote the psychic strength of their brothers. The highest ranking Librarians are only outranked by Captains and the Chapter Master, and serve mostly as advisors for the same.

* The coming of Primaris marines is miraculous to the Warminds. They have been judged on the Day of Fate and found worthy, and so studiously instil the virtues of their Chapter to the newcomers. Nevertheless, a shift in the Chapter's tone is prevalent - they now mostly refer to the Day of Fate as an event that will await those who face the Warminds in battle, as the Chapter itself has already been found worthy.



Heraldry:

The painter doesn't really show off metallic green too well, so here's one I prepared earlier:



Not shown in the above picture:

Robes (where appropriate) will be cream/bone coloured on the outside and vibrant orange on the inside. Librarians will have some blue about their person as per the Codex, but exactly where will probably vary from model to model.

The Warminds also wear a lot of Death Masks, as much because I enjoy painting them as because they fit the feel of the Chapter.

The Quelled will have entirely black shoulder armour, making them immediately obvious to their brothers.



I'm looking forward to any C&C, scornful mockery, ideas, musings, violent objections or other thoughts anyone has - what does everyone think so far?

[Allart01]

Well, you didn't keep me waiting long!

I think you are onto something with the direction you're going with your theme.

 

I don't love bright green and brown on marines, so I like the Quelled version of the heraldry more. 

Perhaps you could make it less Salamander-y, but when all is said and done, it's down to your personal taste.

 

The History section feels a little chaotic, but there are good ideas in there. 

I feel that you may benefit from expanding some of the background for the Ghastheim Rift (why is it so emportant to deserve not one but three marines Chapters for its defence?) and perhaps even some battles.

Waagh [REDACTED] sounds pretty important for the history of the Chapter. How did they adapt to face their costant enemy? Did they develop a particular enmity towards the greenskins, or a particular expertise in this field?

The same goes for the Inferash and their Primastic Battleships. Am I missing something here? Who are these people? I need to know! :P

 

I like the overall Chapter feel and behaviour.

Somewhat resigned, but determined, powerful but restrained, reflective while an (almost) inevitable doom is coming to claim them.

I enjoyed reading their diplomatic side. They are about to die, but will have lots of friends around their bed! Perhaps you could explore this side of the Warminds even further. What are their relationship with the wider Imperium? How do they behave towards the populace of the Ghasteim Rift?

 

Geffen sounds like a good recruiting world, but I would add another pinch of Grimdark to really drive home their desperate struggle for survival. What lenghts do they have to go to in order to see another day? I suspect this may cause them do develop a certain nihilistic and passionate worldview, something that the Chapter could work with (they battle against impending doom aswell, but perhaps they would smooth the more cynical aspects of their recruits teaching them a monastic approach to life? I'm picturing the Master of Recruits as some sort of Buddha in front of some bratty ganger they just recruited, funny as it is).

 

Hope my feedback helps. 

 

Cheers!

[Knight of the Raven]

I didn't expect Triggered 'didn't think this through' Redshirt to make it to the history books. And I can't help but think this [REDACTED] is code for [name pending]. Since when anyone in the Imperium bothers to cover the existence of orks, after all?

From the name of their ships, I'm picturing the Harmony from the first Endless Space when I imagine the Inferash Tribune. Not that I actually played that game's only expansion. Whatever they may truly be—have been, since they apparently made their last stand in M40—they wouldn't be the first species to be mentioned in the lore as battling against space marines. It's 'minor civilizations' like that that helps remind the Milky Way is an enormous place, both in matters of time and space.

I find it interesting that the Warminds' behavior towards the people they protect isn't mentioned, seeing as they descend from one of the friendliest chapters out there. Either way, I do think Corax would be proud of them (assuming there's any light left upstairs once he comes back from throwing himself at traitors in the Warp); they're convinced they're doomed, and what do they do? Do they give up on the futility of life and retreat within their fortress-monastery to wait for the end? Do they beseech all and any higher power to save them from their fate? Do they simply stop caring?

No! They're fulfilling their duty come hell or high water and fighting to the bitter end. To the last breath, indeed.

The recruits must be quite salty when they see the Warminds have beautiful, carefully-tended gardens that aren't even used for food when they've been starving most of their previous life, though. They're monks, alright; and I'm even reminded of an interesting discovery early in the first Dune novel.

Moving on, I disagree with The_Bloody about adding grimdark to the world of Geffen for a few reasons. First, they were a flourishing agri-world that's been turned into a wraith of its former self because of a biological armageddon, and now will struggle to even have a life that's remotely comfortable until they die out for good. They're a post-apocalyptic culture for all intents and purposes, swapping the usual nuclear holocaust for a biological one, and without anything like the Brotherhood of Steel, the Enclave, the Commonwealth Institute of Technology or even a M. House to help the survivors gain back a sliver of their previous glory.

It's already rough enough from where I'm standing. And that's my second point: push the 'grimdark' enough, and it becomes a joke. Push it some more and the reader may actually walk away because the thing has become a caricature they can't take seriously anymore. Pust it one last time and it's formally knighted punchline to the universe's black comedy routine.

(This point can be very subjective, true, depending on each individual's personal preferences as it does.)

My last and biggest point, however, would be... is it actually necessary? Subjective again, but the 'raw deal' looks enough to me, as I mentioned. Would it actually contribute that much to the whole?

Of course, my obsession with that question is why I've not completed a story or even a draft of one in over a year, so import some salt from Medrengard.

[Allart01]

Let me rephrase it: I didn't mean to say to make It worse for the sake of it. Their situation can be hard enough as it is. What I'm saying Is that I think their struggle would be better driven home, as a plot point, by a harder punch.

 

You can tell me that they're having a hard time, and that's ok, but for my taste, if you can really make me understand the entity of their struggle... That's better.

 

This Is what I meant, I'm not necessarily talking about exaggeration.

Edited August 14, 2019 by The_Bloody

[Messor]

I very dig this first draft. Seeing a standing belief section prompted a question; given their strong beliefs surrounding death, do they maintain particular rights or observances with the death of a battle brother, compared to typical chapters?

 

I also agree with the notion you have of placing the history at or towards the end, particularly for the most recent history, but I could also see some of those more important details being distributed in other relevant sections.