Fleet or Homeworld?

[Nid'hunter]

I was wondering, for my highly pious Chapter about wether I should have it based in a fleet or with a homeworld. So what do you guys think.

 

My Chapter will be Pious, especially wanting to do some bug hunting, I kinda want them to have the feel of the elite Grey Knights, Indeed it takes a lot to get implanted in my Chapter, they have tussled with several Inquisitors.

 

Thats just a few of my chapters quirks in a nutshell. So can I please get some help. :D

[Commissar Molotov]

Firstly, remember that in the scheme of things that Tyranids have only been around for a relatively short time, which means your chapter won't have had long to change their doctrine.

 

Now, whilst planets give a stationary place to rally to, they are also prone to being attacked and require a dedicated defensive force. A fleet is more mobile, but if a ship is destroyed, then its loss will be keenly felt.

 

I'm sure other people will give you more pros and cons, but it's up to you. Don't forget that a chapter with a homeworld can have an extensive fleet and undergo crusades (like the Crimson Fists).

[schoon]

For a Pious chapter, it really doesn't matter if they are planet or fleet based.

 

However if you're looking to make them Bug Hunters, then having a home planet in a Hive Fleet area would appear to make more sense for you.

[Librarian- Melechor]

I agree with Commissar molotov and schoon both, but you could have a homeworld and a crusading fleet for your chapter. It's really entirely up for you to decide in the end.

[Nid'hunter]

Thanks Guys :D

[Grand Master Belial]

Firstly, remember that in the scheme of things that Tyranids have only been around for a relatively short time, which means your chapter won't have had long to change their doctrine.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Unless their homeworld was devastated by the bugs. Now they are fleet-based and have a bone to pick with the bugs that snacked on their home.

 

Belial Out.

[Commissar Molotov]

Sure, if you want a clich

[Brother Sergeant Alasseo]

Firstly, remember that in the scheme of things that Tyranids have only been around for a relatively short time, which means your chapter won't have had long to change their doctrine.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Not that short a time: excluding stabilised proto-tyrannic offshoots such as the Catachan Devil and Fenrisian Kraken, there have been sporadic contacts with tyranid fore-runners and splinter fleets since M35 (Tiamet, Ouroboris in M36 and Collossus in M38). It is only after Behemoth, Kraken and Leviathan gave the Biologis adepts more sample material that the common tyranicii genus was linked to all of these.

 

Now, an old chapter would fit in with the Ouroboris or Zoroastra-Attila (Collossus) Wars. I would favour the Ouroboris Wars in the Scarus Sector (Helican Sub-), mainly because they did not involve the zoats, and the conclusive battle (and the crusade preceding it) was fought under the direct auspices of the Emperor Himself (according to Cardinal Miriamulus, of Thracian Primaris).

Given that it was unlikely to actually be the Emperor, and the majority of people have never even seen a space marine, I suspect the campaign was led by a particularly skilled and/or charismatic Astartes officer (bingo, possible DIY plot-hook, just don't go too far, hint about it).

 

As for the fleet/planet based dilemma: a planet based chapter may have some recruiting problems; marines tend to favour extreme deathworlds as home bases, so the indigenous population will be scarce (if hardened). A larger recruiting sample will increase the number of people who survive implantation, at least according to the law of averages.

So it is logical that a chapter which does not have a ready recruiting base (either through not having a homeworld, or through choosing one which is so deadly that no-one can survive on it un-augmented) would actually have a larger successful recruitment rate as they would be forced to recruit from a vaster selection of the human race, potentially over several sectors. The wider recruiting base means that there is a higher chance of sufficient candidates proving themselves compatible with the implants (larger sample, every person has the ~same chance of being compatible, ergo more people will be compatible)

Of course, there will be a greater number of failures, but a starship always needs more men to crew it.

 

Now, a planet based chapter doesn't risk as much to attrition over warp-jumping, as there will be few times when the whole chapter is in transit; but the risk of holding one base is that it is relatively simple to come up with a strategy to cripple the chapter (possibly beyond the point of recovery): nuke the planet, totally destroy the fortress-monastery from orbit, or some other OTT method of assault. Admittedly achieving such a stratagem is not so easy (look at the Space Wolves, Crimson Fists, Astral Claws etc), but it is a serious risk.

On the other hand, it's easier to destroy a fleet...

 

As a slightly more practical note, the logistics of maintaining a chapter on a permanent crusade (as the majority of fleet-based chapters seem to do) are mind-boggling. Not only do they have to make fairly regular stops to select individuals for implantation and so on, but they have to have a constant resupply of food, munitions, armour replacement parts, tanks, fuel and so on. Admittedly, many of these can be sorted out by forges among the fleet, but they would still have the problem of food and fuel. It's kinda hard to be sent resupply parcels/vessels when the fleet is permanently on the move beating the hell out of the enemies of humanity.

The fleet would have to make regular stops and either trade for supplies, demand/recquisition(?sp) them from the locals, or wait for a supply convoy from the Adeptus Mechanicus or the Departmento Munitorum. Waiting for resupply is always the most dangerous time for a fleet: they aren't mobile to avoid a threat, they are running low on consumables (food, fuel, ammunition, etc) and so often can't afford to fight, and they essentially have to stick around waiting for a convoy of slow, lightly armed, poorly armoured and shielded supply ships to arrive at their location and offload to their own ships. Supply lines are always prime targets for piracy, and I doubt that the marines would appreciate having their supplies killed.

Now, a planet-based chapter still has to have a regular resupply (probably, it would depend just where they were based), but because they are stationary, it is possible to set up a decent, regular and safe supply line from the nearest forgeworld or wherever, so the whole system is more reliable.

 

Just some thoughts I came up with while tired, maybe some more later (ie tomorrow).