The Revelators

[Moogoo the Great]

Well, guys, it appears I'm moderating in here for the time being. So, it stands to ceremony that I post what meager fluff I have on my marine army for inspection.

 

REVELATORS

Mortis Proditer

 

Colour Scheme:

Mustard yellow armour, with black shoulder trim, backpacks, bolters and kneepads.

 

Geneseed:

Imperial Fist

 

Chapter Master:

Revelius XII

All Chapter Masters of the Revelators name themselves "Revelius" when attaining the position. It is taken as a sign of great honour, and comes with a massive hammer that has the chapter symbol egraved on the head in reverse.

 

Organisation:

The Chapter is composed of eight Companies, one (Primus Companius) through six (Sextius Companius), nine (Nonnum Campanium) and ten (Decate Companium). Companies seven and eight (++records redacted++) were present long ago, but turned traitor and joined the Eyes of the Storm legion of Chaos Space Marines during a massive battle in which Revelator fought Revelator. Company organisation is as follows:

 

Primus: Terminators and Veterans

Secundus: Battle company

Tertius: Battle company

Quaternus: Battle company

Septius: Battle company

Sextius: Battle company

Nonnum: Battle company

Decate: Veteran Company

 

In addition, there is a seperate Training and Scout company. Battle companies rotate duty, so some are always in reserve.

 

Hatred of Traitors:

In the Great Betrayal, the Revelators fought to close a great warp rift opened by the traitors. Since then, the Chapter has been under the watchful eye of a member of the Imperial Inquisiton. Rather than view this as an imposition like other chapters, the Revelators take pride in proving their piety to the Inquisition.

 

Unique Considerations:

The Revelators have not had access to the Rhino STC for a long time. As such, Rhinos are nonexistent, and Razorbacks are limited. Predators are not, however as they use a slightly different STC design. Most troops, therefore, elect to use droppods or Thunderhawks to drop into position. In addition, due to their style of fighting, they will often try to infilrate targets ahead of time using Scouts (who are stealthy) and Assault Marines (who arent, but ARE fast) to plant drop beacons.

 

Any questions? I just typed this up now, so it's probably full of holes.

[Commissar Molotov]

Well, welcome to the Liber, Moogoo.

 

I've seen the Revelators around for quite a long time, and it's interesting to gain some insight into their character. Do you have more fluff than this, or are you simply summarising it?

 

Here's my thoughts on what you've got thus far.

 

Revelius XII

All Chapter Masters of the Revelators name themselves "Revelius" when attaining the position. It is taken as a sign of great honour, and comes with a massive hammer that has the chapter symbol egraved on the head in reverse.

Is there a reason for this tradition? Does it stem from their homeworld? Was the first chapter master called Revelius? If so, what did he do to garner this honour in memoriam?

 

Organisation:

The Chapter is composed of eight Companies, one (Primus Companius) through six (Sextius Companius), nine (Nonnum Campanium) and ten (Decate Companium). Companies seven and eight (++records redacted++) were present long ago, but turned traitor and joined the Eyes of the Storm legion of Chaos Space Marines during a massive battle in which Revelator fought Revelator. Company organisation is as follows:

 

Primus: Terminators and Veterans

Secundus: Battle company

Tertius: Battle company

Quaternus: Battle company

Septius: Battle company

Sextius: Battle company

Nonnum: Battle company

Decate: Veteran Company

 

In addition, there is a seperate Training and Scout company. Battle companies rotate duty, so some are always in reserve.

 

Well, firstly I'd ask why the two companies of Revelators turned? Do you know? Do the Revelators know? Does the Inquisition know? It'd be interesting to find out why.

 

Secondly, regarding the composition of your chapter - you seem to make a false allusion. You say "My chapter's got eight companies!" and then at the bottom you say "and there's a training and scout company too"... so you're actually closer to the ten company formation than it seemed.

 

Why do the Revelators have six battle companies when a codex chapter only has four? Why and how do they have two veteran companies? Why do you only have one reserve company when a codex chapter has four? How do you maintain losses? Are your companies larger than normal? And how come the 'scout'/reserve company isn't in your list? They're just as honourable and worthy as the other eight, aren't they?

 

In the Great Betrayal, the Revelators fought to close a great warp rift opened by the traitors. Since then, the Chapter has been under the watchful eye of a member of the Imperial Inquisiton. Rather than view this as an imposition like other chapters, the Revelators take pride in proving their piety to the Inquisition.

Interesting, I like the dutiful/pennant angle here... and it makes a change to see a chapter not hating the Inquisition outright ;).

 

Unique Considerations:

The Revelators have not had access to the Rhino STC for a long time. As such, Rhinos are nonexistent, and Razorbacks are limited. Predators are not, however as they use a slightly different STC design. Most troops, therefore, elect to use droppods or Thunderhawks to drop into position. In addition, due to their style of fighting, they will often try to infilrate targets ahead of time using Scouts (who are stealthy) and Assault Marines (who arent, but ARE fast) to plant drop beacons.

 

I don't understand this at all. The Revelators could travel to any forgeworld producing rhinos and have a couple. They're still in production, after all. I don't see how you can have 'lost' access to rhinos and razorbacks. How has every single Rhino in your chapter been destroyed? Perhaps you could look at other justifications for a shift in your combat doctrine.

 

Other questions:

 

What's their belief system? Their views on the Emperor/Rogal Dorn/The Inquisition/The Imperium as a whole/Other Space Marine chapters.

 

What's their homeworld? The homeworld typically has a huge influence on a chapter's character, but you've mentioned nothing about it here.

[Moogoo the Great]

Is there a reason for this tradition? Does it stem from their homeworld? Was the first chapter master called Revelius? If so, what did he do to garner this honour in memoriam?

Just a tradition, the true beginning lost in the depths of time. Oh, and the Chapter is named for their homeworld, Revelate.

 

Well, firstly I'd ask why the two companies of Revelators turned? Do you know? Do the Revelators know? Does the Inquisition know? It'd be interesting to find out why.

 

The Revelators know. The lure of Tzeentch made these two (formerly reserve companies) feel that their abilities werre wasted in constant training. They willingly summoned Daemons to their training base on Revelate's moon. When the rest of the chapter got word of what was happening, nothing short of a massive battle, sacrifice of half of the chapter's Librarians and destruction of the moon (they now have more of a ring) could quell the tide of chaos forces. Since then, there has been sort of a "hunt the fallen" type mission, in addition to their regular duties.

 

Secondly, regarding the composition of your chapter - you seem to make a false allusion. You say "My chapter's got eight companies!" and then at the bottom you say "and there's a training and scout company too"... so you're actually closer to the ten company formation than it seemed.

 

Why do the Revelators have six battle companies when a codex chapter only has four? Why and how do they have two veteran companies? Why do you only have one reserve company when a codex chapter has four? How do you maintain losses? Are your companies larger than normal? And how come the 'scout'/reserve company isn't in your list? They're just as honourable and worthy as the other eight, aren't they?

Good point. As to six battle companies, they rotate duty, so some are reserve for a bit, then go active when the others come back. The scout/training company isn't usually considered a company by the rest of the chapter, due to the fact it doesn't have a number, and they scouts temporarily join an existing company just prior to battle. All of this is tradition. Wierd but true.

 

Interesting, I like the dutiful/pennant angle here... and it makes a change to see a chapter not hating the Inquisition outright happy.gif.

 

Thanks. ;) Gives me an excuse to take stuff from the Ordo Malleus codex, such as Eversor Assassins. :lol:

 

I don't understand this at all. The Revelators could travel to any forgeworld producing rhinos and have a couple. They're still in production, after all. I don't see how you can have 'lost' access to rhinos and razorbacks. How has every single Rhino in your chapter been destroyed? Perhaps you could look at other justifications for a shift in your combat doctrine.

Any ideas? Maybe they just strapped a Razorback or Predator conversion kit to all their old rhinos, not liking the "coffin on tracks".

 

What's their belief system? Their views on the Emperor/Rogal Dorn/The Inquisition/The Imperium as a whole/Other Space Marine chapters.

 

What's their homeworld? The homeworld typically has a huge influence on a chapter's character, but you've mentioned nothing about it here.

 

They get along pretty well with other marines, particularly the Crimson Fists, with whom they have a long-standing history of fighting alongside. They revere both Dorn and the Emperor, nothing out of the ordinary here.

 

Their homeworld of Revelate contains a small number of modern cities and large number of nomadic tribes of humans. My model conversions try to indicate which one a marine has been inducted from, as the nomads like to put black war paint on their armour, wear bone necklaces etc. Not to the extent of the Space Wolves, of course, but still noticable on individual models.

 

Thanks for the critique. :)

[Commissar Molotov]

Is there a reason for this tradition? Does it stem from their homeworld? Was the first chapter master called Revelius? If so, what did he do to garner this honour in memoriam?

 

Just a tradition, the true beginning lost in the depths of time. Oh, and the Chapter is named for their homeworld, Revelate.

 

This seems cheesy to me. Their homeworld is called 'Revelate', the chapter's called the Revelators, and the Chapter Master's called Revelius? Eh, I don't especially like it, but it's your chapter. I do think that 'lost to the depths of time' is a cop-out, when with a few minutes' work you could have a cool episode that would really add to the character of your chapter. Even "The first chapter master, Revelius, died at the summit of Mt. Kyptos during the last stand of the third company at Keranos V. In honour of his valiant sacrifice, the marine that succeeded him took his name in memoriam. This tradition has continued until the present day, a tradition that emphasises the Revelators' reverence for dutiful valiance." <-- that seriously took thirty seconds, but it contributes that tiny little bit to your chapter.

 

The Revelators know. The lure of Tzeentch made these two (formerly reserve companies) feel that their abilities werre wasted in constant training. They willingly summoned Daemons to their training base on Revelate's moon. When the rest of the chapter got word of what was happening, nothing short of a massive battle, sacrifice of half of the chapter's Librarians and destruction of the moon (they now have more of a ring) could quell the tide of chaos forces. Since then, there has been sort of a "hunt the fallen" type mission, in addition to their regular duties.

Alright, so a decent into hubris is interesting. Perhaps the Revaltors consider 'pride' to be a great sin? In which case you can build that in to your chapter's mind-set. Humility is a virtue, and they are certainly not aloof when working alongside Imperial Guardsmen, for example.

 

One thing, though - destroying a planet's moon would have serious, serious environmental impacts upon the world beneath. That really should be mentioned. After all, our moon regulates our tides. What impact has it had on the planet, and, more importantly, its people?

 

Good point. As to six battle companies, they rotate duty, so some are reserve for a bit, then go active when the others come back. The scout/training company isn't usually considered a company by the rest of the chapter, due to the fact it doesn't have a number, and they scouts temporarily join an existing company just prior to battle. All of this is tradition. Wierd but true.

 

Given the time to takes to make marines, these companies would be in reserve for a long time, especially if the chapter's in the midst of a major engagement. Why isn't the scout company considered a company? The scout company has no formal limit in any chapter, and scouts are dispersed amongst all chapters. Does that mean your terminators aren't a 'proper company'? Do they always fight together in one first company force, or are they dispatched amongst the chapter where needed? I just find that using 'tradition' is perhaps a weak excuse... of course it works in certain places, but constantly using 'tradition' as the be-all and end-all is a little flimsy. What happened to make your chapter adopt these policies? You said before that the two traitor companies were reserve companies, so presumably your chapter had a codex organisation then. Why did it change?

 

Why does your chapter have two veteran companies? How have you managed to garner so many 'veterans'? Are your 'veterans' comparable to the 'veterans' of other chapters, or is it just a title?

 

Any ideas? Maybe they just strapped a Razorback or Predator conversion kit to all their old rhinos, not liking the "coffin on tracks".

Ah, when you get into the Liber Astartes, you have to shed your table-top illusions. The Rhino isn't a fifty-point 'coffin on tracks', it's a venerable machine of war that carries the angels of death to righteous and glorious battle. :lol: I honestly can't see why a chapter would suddenly lose all their Rhinos. If you're in a situation where you're using Predators, you're just as likely to see Rhinos. Of course, to transport between battlefields you could use Thunderhawks, but...? I don't know. Perhaps look to the Raven Guard, who aren't exceptionally vehicle-heavy... but perhaps you should slightly disassociate your table-top army with the fluff of your army? Your chapter likely has quite a few rhinos, even if they're only in the armouries for the situations when they're needed... perhaps your table-top army is a particular force, shaped by the foibles of its' commander?

 

They get along pretty well with other marines, particularly the Crimson Fists, with whom they have a long-standing history of fighting alongside. They revere both Dorn and the Emperor, nothing out of the ordinary here.

 

Indeed not, but then not every chapter needs a super-crazy belief system.

 

Just some more thoughts that'll hopefully stimulate your ideas.

[NINmaestro]

One thing, though - destroying a planet's moon would have serious, serious environmental impacts upon the world beneath. That really should be mentioned. After all, our moon regulates our tides. What impact has it had on the planet, and, more importantly, its people?

The only way this wouldn't screw the planet completely is if there was no water on teh planet, but then of course this planet would be inable to support life according to wimpy human standards now would it? This part needs serious fleshing out. Otherwise, sounds like a good start. Sounds a bit Catholic to me, but a good start nonetheless.

[Moogoo the Great]

Thanks for the ideas. Real trial-by-fire type critiquing, Molotov. :blink: And no, I'm not complaining. Most people lack the ability to give(or appreciate) an honest and constructive critique. I'll save this thread and work out my fluff a bit more, and post it when I've gotten it a bit more fleshed out. <_<

[Commissar Molotov]

Haha, 'trial by fire'? Sounds dangerous... but hey, that's the Liber for you. <_< I know I sometimes give the impression of being harsh - or seem grouchy and uncompromising, but that's not the case - I'm simply trying to help you get your fluff to the highest standard it can be. I've seen the Revelators in the PC+A. They're a great army... I'm just here to try to help you with the other end :blink:

 

I look forward to seeing your next draft. The Revelators have great promise.

[Hemal]

Hey Moogs - all good stuf - perhaps teh Veteran companies excel at different things? The 1st company is the "assault" focus, so the Veterans in that company must take Furious assault, the 8th could be a "stealth" unit, so the Vets there must take infiltrate? Just an idea?

Of course, only 1st co would get =T= honours...

[Race Bannon]

QUOTE

QUOTE

Is there a reason for this tradition? Does it stem from their homeworld? Was the first chapter master called Revelius? If so, what did he do to garner this honour in memoriam?

 

 

Just a tradition, the true beginning lost in the depths of time.

 

As cheesy as this sounds I was considering it and remembered my college days. I joined a fraternity that had certain traditions, especially in the 'Becoming a Brother" ceremonies. For some of the traditions no one knew about why they started or how. They "were" in place and had been for each of the members. So I just shrugged my shoulders and accepted it.

 

An old Chapter may have a few of the same things. Some traditions have just been passed down. Not the "why" because either it is *now* irrelevant or simply forgotten.

 

This is different from "records missing" I think.

[Commissar Molotov]

Hey Moogs - all good stuf - perhaps teh Veteran companies excel at different things? The 1st company is the "assault" focus, so the Veterans in that company must take Furious assault, the 8th could be a "stealth" unit, so the Vets there must take infiltrate? Just an idea?

Of course, only 1st co would get =T= honours...

 

Certainly an interesting suggestion - not all veteran companies need be organised like the Ultramarines, into tactical squads. After all, the Blood Angels 1st Company, when not in Terminator Armour, are organised into Assault Squads. But why does your chapter have two companies of veterans? (Twice the amount of chapters such as the Ultramarines)

 

As cheesy as this sounds I was considering it and remembered my college days. I joined a fraternity that had certain traditions, especially in the 'Becoming a Brother" ceremonies. For some of the traditions no one knew about why they started or how. They "were" in place and had been for each of the members. So I just shrugged my shoulders and accepted it.

 

An old Chapter may have a few of the same things. Some traditions have just been passed down. Not the "why" because either it is *now* irrelevant or simply forgotten.

 

This is certainly true. I admit that saying it's 'lost in the mist of time' is entirely possible, and adds in a way to the chapter - I guess it's just my burning desire to find out more. ;) I would be wary of explaining away every foible to 'tradition', though.