LASC 19 -- IA: The Voidborn WIP

[Trokair]

Ok, I haven’t done one of these in years, so I suspect that there are far too many issues for it to be a great post I thought I better get it out there as the clock for LASC 2019 is ticking. Please let me know your thoughts and any suggestions for improvements are welcome.

 

Edit: Update, I have but the previous version in spoiler tags. 

 

 

Chapter Overview

 

Founded: 25^th Founding

Progenitor gene-seed: ---

Homeworld: ---

Chapter Fleet:

3 Battle Barge: Darktide, Duskbringer and Dawnbreaker

9 Strike Cruisers

Assorted Escorts

 

The Voidborn are a fleet based chapter stationed primarily in the far reaches of Segmentum Tempestus.

 

As a fleet based chapter the Voidborn have specialized in Void Combat, from ship and space station boarding actions, to dealing with hulks and even in conjunction with the Imperial Navy acting in fleet on fleet combat engagements.

 

Planetary shook assault is also a common role for the Voidborn. Due to their specialization as a chapter they posse’s fewer ground vehicles and supporting infrastructure then most chapters and cannot therefore engage in prolonged ground campaigns.

 

 

Chapter Organization

 

Unlike planet based, and most fleet based Chapters, the Voidborn do not have a single Fortress Monastery or primary ship/base. Instead each of the three Battle Barges, the Darktide, the  Duskbringer and the Dawnbreaker, have been specially adapted so that each contains everything required to run the chapter. Each ship will take a lead role for a century in turn, but this is purely a formality and the three Battle Barges are mostly independent and go where they are needed. The rest of the chapter fleet is roughly equally divided between the three Battle Barrages.

 

Due to the semi independence of the three fleets of the chapter the normal Codex structure of 10 companies does not suit the Chapter, instead they work at a smaller organizational level roughly equivalent to a Codex Demi-Company and internally referred to as Void-Companies.  Each of the three Battle Barges is home to around three of these Void-Companies and has space to host up to a total of about six. The Strike Cruisers are usually home to one each and sometimes host a second.

 

The Void-Companies aboard the three Battle Barges roughly follow the structure of what in a codex chapter would be the 1^st and 2^nd Companies and 10^th Company While the other ‘battle companies’ are on the Strike Cruisers of each fleet. 

 

Due to the recruitment method there are times when there is a large influx of recruits and at such times rather then moving the scouts on in the normal method entire new Void-Companies are created out of the scouts that are ready. These new companies are usually paired with an existing company on a Strike Cruiser and are hosted on said ship.

 

This can lead to there being several floating companies that are not tied to any one ship but rather move from ship to ship as required. If a company tied to a ship is destroyed or reduced in numbers to a unworkable level one of the floating companies takes their place and settles in.

 

 

Recruitment

 

Whenever any ship of the Voidborn is in docks for resupply it will seek any suitable recruits from the local population. The quality and quantity of the recruits gained this way is highly variable depending on the conditions of the local population and how long the Voidborn are there.

 

As such the chapter also sourced a steady supply of recruits from within the chapter fleets human population. The Voidborn purposely keep mixed crews and ensure that the standard of health and working condition of the human crew is such that there is a steady supply of young blood. As such a majority of both the Marines and the chapter serves are literally voidborn.

 

In normal times the internal supply of recruits can help maintain the Chapter strength but never quit reaches self sufficiency and the external recruits are still needed to keep the chapter at full strength. Any large influx of external recruits serves as a buffer against future hardship and casualties that the chapter might face.

 

 

Heraldry

 

The Voidborn rarely use squad and similar tactical markings on their armour as the basic functions of such markings (easy identification of units, disposition and similar) are pointless in most void related combat, whether it is ship or station assault or Hulk duty. Even in planetary assault missions the Voidborn will only done such markings if the mission calls of it.

 

The Voidborn also eschew traditional chapter and company heraldry. In their belief the Void is too great to be defined by symbols and instead they embrace its nothingness.

 

Voidborn armour is black at the start of a Marines service, then for each victory they will add a mark on their armour that is the colour of the star(s) in the system(s) in which the mission took place, with ongoing campaigns resulting in constellations. Star marks are made in relative location to other star marks on the armour where possible.  As such each Voidborn will accumulate their own unique star field on their armour, which tells both the Marines career, and for the skilled astro-cartographer the journey of the Marine through space.

 

Armoury of the Chapter

 

As a relative young chapter the Voidborn only posses a few or even none of the relic technologies that older chapters do, such as TDA, anti-grave (Landspeeders), plasma and so on. Instead the Armouries consist mostly of the simpler or more recent technologies.

 

The specific lack of sizable supply of TDA compared to their usefulness for a chapter engaged in Void combat has let the chapter to take a more creative approach to such technologies as the Centurion exo-armour, developing specific variants for their own use. These include fully void sealable version* that can go on extended trips outside the ship and variants compatible with inbuilt teleporter supporting technologies.

 

Combat Doctrine

 

The Void is one of the harshest environments for Human and Astartes to function in, and that is before the randomness of battle makes a mockery of protective measures.  This has led the Voidborn to place a heavy emphasis on the quality of their equipment, amour, weapons and ships. What would be a very minor defect on a planet ends up as being lethal in the Void.

 

Each Voidborn spends considerable time ensuring that his personal equipment is fully functional and of the highest standard, modifying and repairing as required, for any failure would not endanger themselves but also the fellow battle brothers. This has led to a high importance of self reliance within the chapter creeping into all aspects of Voidborn life. If left unchecked such individualism could be disastrous in an environment where cooperation is often key to survival, let alone victory. As such there is a fine line that has to be thread.

 

This has led to a series of overlapping and on the face of it oddly contradictory social structure. A marine is a unit of one and depends on his own self reliance to ensure that he and his equipment is in the best shape at all times independent of outside support. A squad will equally rely on the squads collective self reliance to do its duties both in combat and all other times. So within the squad there is a group of self reliant, and therefore self focused individuals, but as a squad they function as one and rely on each other. Then at Void Company level each squad is a unit of one (squad) self reliant and individual from the other squads. Then for large scale engagements each Void Company is its own self reliant force.

 

In other forces such insular behavior between groups could well lead to rivalries (that can be a motivator or actively harmfully to cooperation). However amongst the Voidborn neither side of this scale really express itself as in the end the Voidborn are self reliant unit of one (Chapter).

 

(I hope that the gist of this is coming across but I feel that I have not explained it all that well)

 

 

 

 

Chapter Overview
 
Founded: 25^th Founding
Progenitor gene-seed: ---
Homeworld: ---
Chapter Fleet:
3 Battle Barge: Darktide, Duskbringer and Dawnbreaker
9 Strike Cruisers
Assorted Escorts
 
The Voidborn are a fleet based chapter stationed primarily in the far reaches of Segmentum Tempestus.
 
As a fleet based chapter the Voidborn have specialized in Void Combat, from ship and space station boarding actions, to dealing with hulks and even in conjunction with the Imperial Navy acting in fleet on fleet combat engagments.
 
Planetary shook assault is also a common role for the Voidborn. Due to their specialization as a chapter they posse’s fewer ground vehicles and supporting infrastructure then most chapters and cannot therefore engage in prolonged ground campaigns.
 

Chapter Organization

 

Unlike planet based, and most fleet based Chapters, the Voidborn do not have a single Fortress Monastery or primary ship/base. Instead each of the three Battle Barges, the Darktide, the  Duskbringer and the Dawnbreaker, have been specially adapted so that each contains everything required to run the chapter. Each ship will take a lead role for a century in turn, but this is purely a formality and the three Battle Barges are mostly independent and go where they are needed. The rest of the chapter fleet is roughly equally divided between the three Battle Barrages.
 
Due to the semi independence of the three fleets of the chapter the normal Codex structure of 10 companies does not suit the Chapter, instead they work at a smaller organizational level roughly equivalent to a Codex Demi-Company and internally referred to as Void-Companies.  Each of the three Battle Barges is home to five or six of these Void-Companies while the Strike Cruisers are usually home to one each and sometimes hosting a second.
 
The Void-Companies aboard the three Battle Barges roughly follow the structure of what in a codex chapter would be the 1st and 2nd Companies and then the reserve Companies including the scout while the other ‘battle companies’ are on the Strike Cruisers of each fleet. 
 

Recruitment
 
Whenever any ship of the Voidborn is in docks for resupply it will seek any suitable recruits from the local population. However this rarely yields the quantity, let alone the quality, of recruits required to keep the chapter at full strength. Instead the majority of recruits are sourced from within the chapter fleets human population. The Voidborn purposely keep mixed crews and ensure that the standard of health and working condition of the human crew is such that there is a steady supply of young blood. As a result the majority of both the Marines and the chapter serves are literally voidborn.
 

Heraldry
 
The Voidborn rarley use squad and similar tactical markings on their armour as the basic functions of such markings (easy identification of units, disposition and similar) are pointless in most void related combat, whether it is ship or station assault or Hulk duty. Even in planetary assault missions the Voidborn will only done such markings if the mission calls of it.
 
The Voidborn also eschew traditional chapter and company heraldry. In their belief the Void is too grand to be defined by symbols and instead they embrace its nothingness.

Voidborn armour is black at the start of a Marines service, then for each victory they will add a mark on their armour that is the colour of the star(s) in the system(s) in which the mission took place, with ongoing campaigns resulting in constellations. Star marks are made in relative location to other star marks on the armour where possible.  As such each Voidborn will accumulate their own unique star field on the armour, which tells both the Marines career, and for the skilled astro-cartographer the journey of the Marine through space.

 

 

Armoury of the Chapter

 

As a relative young chapter the Voidborn only posses a few or even none of the relic technologies that older chapters do, such as TDA, anti-grave (Landspeeders), plasma and so on. Instead the Armouries consist mostly of the simpler or more recent technologies.

 

The specific lack of sizable supply of TDA compared to their usefulness for a chapter engaged in Void combat has let the chapter to take a more creative approach to such technologies as the Centurion exo-armour, developing specific variants for their own use. These include fully void sealable version* that can go on extended trips outside the ship and variants compatible with inbuilt teleporter supporting technologies.
 

 

 

 

*I am picturing this as a ‘dreadnough’ sized conversion / count as for actual table top, probably based of a Kastelan.

 

 

Practicalities for the Tabletop
 

In terms of Chapter Traits, I think the Salamander trait would be most suited. The -1AP aspect would represent the high standard craftsmanship of their armour as it has to be void hardened, while the reroll would represent the equally high craftsmanship required for their weapons so as to remain functional in the brutal environment of void combat.

 

For all that I can envision the Voidborn armour I think it would be rather difficult to actually do in practice, especially for enough models to be a kill team (let alone an army). As such I have used the painter to make this simplified scheme.
 
http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/sm/bpe=000000&bpj=969696&bp=000000&bpc=000000&hdt=000000&hdm=000096&hdl=000000&ey=FF9600&er=969696&pi=000000&nk=000000&ch=000000&eg=FF9600&sk=FF9600&abs=000000&bt=000000&cod=000000&ull=000000&lk=000096&lll=000000&lft=969696&url=000000&rk=000096&lrl=000000&rft=969696&slt=000000&sli=000096&srt=000000&sri=000096&ula=000000&lel=000096&lla=000000&lw=000000&lh=000096&ura=000000&rel=000096&rla=000000&rw=000000&rh=000096&bg=FFFFFF&rb=969696&gr=969696&wg=true&aq=true&mk7=969696&mk8=true&bs=000000&/spacemarine.jpg

[Ace Debonair]

Interesting concept!

 

I like the idea of each marine building their heraldry slowly as they complete campaigns.

I imagine the more seasoned veterans have armour that is mostly just patterns of stars, colourful swirls of light across their dark armour.

 

The one bit that made me a bit twitchy was with regard to their numbers - if each of the Battle Barges has six Void-companies, that's eighteen in total, which is equivalent to Nine regular Companies before you even get into the strike cruisers.

 

Altogether, they'd have anywhere between 24 Void Companies (12 regular companies) at minimum capacity and 36 Void Companies (18 regular companies) at maximum.

 

It might be worth reducing the number of strike cruisers, or possibly reducing the number of Void Companies aboard the Battle Barges.

Being nearly twice as large as other Chapters doesn't really add anything personality-wise to the Chapter, after all.

 

I do like the idea of them having void-capable Centurion suits, though, especially as you've described them - larger and bulkier, closer to Dreadnought size.

I can already picture Voidborn boarding actions against enemy ships being spearheaded by a first wave of these 'Void Centurions', to clear a path for the more nimble regular marines.

[Trokair]

Thank you for your reply.

 

Regarding the numbers, in my mind it was not at the full extent of the potential, but rather an average. While a Strike Cruiser can hold about one company (so 2 Void Companies) I intended that each Strike Cruiser has a native Void company and space for a second if operational need would call for it. Equally the Battle Barrage would have several native Void Companies and can most several more if needed. So the total strength is more along the line of 9 Void Companies native to the Battle Barges (3 each) and another 6 were native to the Strike Cruisers (1 each) with another 5 or 6 floating void companies that move from one ship to another as required for campaigns. This is still more than a Codex Chapter in terms of pure numbers, but not a lot more. I would imagine that Void combat, hulk operation and planetary shock assault have a higher casualty rate then more conventional Chapters so the aim was to aim for a slight over capacity so that the chapter is never seriously under strength. This is also why there are the floating companies.

 

I will think further and revise.

[Trokair]

I have made some updates and corrections in the opening post. 

[gripschi]

I Like your Voidborns.

 

The unique and Indenpence Organisation, are things i like.

 

Your recruit method is something i like very much. To be honest, i inplemnt it in my own IA. A very good draft how to sustain Numbers.

 

 

To your Armoury, its safe to assume, that they have way more Void Vehicles? Like Thunderhawk, Castelus Ram and so on?

 

Maybe they use them to Support Limited Ground Offensive?

 

 

Iam eager to read more.

[Messor]

I really dig the evolving, constellation heraldry concept, and it's a nice touch that so many Voidborn are actually born in the fleet. Is the progenitor unknown, or simply TBD? Based on what you have so far, the thing that I'm most interested in learning about next is how they fight and what drives them; it sounds like individuality, or at least independence are more valued than you typically see in the Imperium.

[Trokair]

Yes, as a fleet based chapter specializing in void related combat they have extra capabilities. In fact I am playing with the idea of having some special adapted boarding torpedoes that have short range teleproters installed so that the troops can be flung into the target if the torpedo would be destroyed by defense fire. That or have the boarding torpedoes themselves teleport to avoid defensive fire and deliver its troop safely.  However this might all be a bit too much old tech that the chapter does not have a lot of.

 

In terms of supporting a ground offensive, while they could give some air support the most likely support would be an orbital drop assault onto key targets.

 

Thanks Messor.

 

In terms of the Progenitor, I am leaning towards unknown as none of the loyalists feel right.

[Trokair]

I have added another section entitle Combat Doctrine to the article. I have made several attempts at this section and I am still not happy with it as I just can’t seem to get the idea onto paper in a satisfactory way. But as the deadline is today I thought I better throw it in with the intention to come back later to revise and fix it.