I'd always been interested in the Astral Claws, having built up a Red Corsairs Chaos army. And when Forge World released the two Badab War books, they quickly became my favorite Chapter. There's just something appealing to me about the tragedy where they're doomed from both their own arrogance and outright political maneuvering of the corrupt sector rulers . Right now, I'm building a Tyrant's Legion army for a spring/summer event I'm running at my local GW store, and i thought I'd take a stab at detailing the Astral Claws for Deathwatch. Since the timeline in DW is 817.M41, it's certainly possible to have an Astral Claws Marine in Deathwatch, since the Badab War doesn't start outright until Huron declares secession in 903.M41. However, two factors to keep in mind:

1) Lugft Huron is trying to consolidate and maximize the total numbers of his Chapter. Sending a member of his Chapter to join Deathwatch might not be something he'd want to do.

2) The Inquisition and Administratum are starting to become suspicious of the Astral Claws. Right now, the Chapter is in good favor after leading the victorious forces in the Lycanthos Drift Campaign and their victories in leading the Maelstrom Warder Chapters. But dark stories are starting to come out of the Maelstrom Zone about some of Huron's new tactics.

Overall, I think the addition of the Astral Claws can add an interesting sense of foreboding to a DW campaign. How will an Astral Claw deal with his Chapter's increasingly erratic and confrontational behavior? How will the other branches of the Inquisition deal with the character? Will the character eventually fall with the rest of his Chapter or will he become a pariah while maintaining the last vestiges of honor?

The list is still a work in progress, and I'm looking for suggestions for more psychic powers, Chapter Advances, and a 'multi-purpose' Chapter Trapping like the Cingulum, Dark Angles Robes, ect. General Feedback is always welcome too.

Name : Astral Claws

Founding : 10th, mid-M35

Purpose : To counteract the shrinking borders of the Imperium during the Nova Terra Interregnum

Home System : Fleet based; Badab Primus after 718.M41

Gene-Seed (Progenitor) : Unknown, information contradictory

Chapter Master : Lugft Huron (elected 715.M41)

Current Status : Overstrength (post 780.M41). It is generally assumed that the Astral Claws are far over the proscribed strength for a Chapter as dictated by the Codex Astartes. Imperial estimates place the Astral Claws as between 25% to 100% above Codex regulations.

Combat Doctrine : Under Lufgt Huron, the Astral Claws have adapted to a more rapid deployment style of combat. Bike Squadrons are frequently made use of as flankers and supporting central units of Tactical Marines. It is this ability to redeploy force quickly along with Huron's strategic brilliance which has lead to the success that the Chapter enjoys. "Hammer and Anvil' strategies where Tactical and Devastator Marines make up the Anvil and Bike Squads act as the Hammer are the order of the day. Assault Marine squads are also utilized extensively where close quarter fighting is expected or where the terrain hampers the mobility of Bike Squadrons.

Characteristics : +5 Willpower, +5 Fellowship. The Astral Claws have a long and proud tradition, attaining recognitions and glory faster than almost any non-Primogenitor Chapter. They take immense pride in their accomplishments and strive for excellence in all forms of combat. Despite desires for personal glory, they realize that it is (mainly) by working as part of a whole that victory, and thus glory, is achieved.

Astral Claw Marines have Rival: Fire Hawks after 780.M41

Chapter Demeanor : Defiant Pride . Astral Claws aspire to bring honor to themselves as well as their Chapter. Members of Deathwatch realize that they have been selected for a great honor and represent the best of their Chapter as well as the best of the Imperium; and thus, they must present themselves as the best. They often display more Chapter trappings than is considered proper by members of the Deathwatch, including customizing their issued wargear with imagery of lion heads or adding golden or silver trim to make the gear stand out more.

Solo Mode : Lionheart . While all Space Marines show courage in the face of innumerable horrors, those of the Astral Claws show a courage in battle that can inspire their teammates. If an Astral Claws Marine is in personal combat with a Fear-causing enemy, the enemy's Degree of Fear is lessened by 1. An enemy with the Fear (1) ability looses that ability. This effect only happens once the Astral Claw is in personal combat with such an enemy. This effect is passive and occurs even when the Battle Brother is not in Solo mode.

Improvement: At Rank 3, the Killteam Commander gets a +10 on the Command Roll to avoid Cohesion damage by a Fear causing enemy. At Rank 5, the Degree of Fear is lessened by 2 when the Astral Claw is in personal combat with a Fear causing enemy, Fear (1) and Fear (2) enemies loose their ability completely. At Rank 7, the Killteam no longer takes Cohesion damage from any Fear causing enemy as long as the Astral Claw is conscious.

Attack Pattern : Divine Wrath
Action: Free Action
Cost: 2
Sustained: No

Effect: When faced with the ravening hordes that would destroy humanity, the Astral Claw that leads a Killteam is resolute in achieving the total annihilation of all opposition. For the Astral Claw and all members of the Killteam in Support Range, the threshold for a hit damaging a Horde's Magnitude is 13, after reductions from Armor and Toughness Bonus.

Improvement: If the Battle-Brother is Rank 4 or more, the damage threshold is lowered to 11 after reductions from Armor and Toughness Bonus.

Defense Pattern : Courage Under Fire . As per Rites of Battle, pg. 33.

Astral Claws Chapter Advances
Command 400
Command +10 400
Command +20 400
Drive (Ground Vehicle) +10 300
Drive (Ground Vehicle) +20 300
Exemplar of Honor 500
Scourge of Heretics 500
Talented (Command) 500
Talented (Drive Ground Vehicle) 500

Chapter Deed : Siege of Lycanthos Secundus . In 780.M41, the Astral Claws lead an assortment of Space Marine Chapters into the heavily fortifies Lycanthos system to put an end to the long-running Forth Quadrant Rebellion. The climax of the campaign to purge the traitors and heretics from this zone was the seige of Lycanthos Secundus, a massive garrison deemed to be virtually impregnable. Under the leadership of Chapter Master Lugft Huron, the Astral Claws took Lycanthos Secundus in a masterful display of strategic planning and courageous close quarter fighting, routing the Chaos forces of the Bleak Brotherhood.

Cost: 300 XP
Benefits: Hatred (Chaos), Tactics (Assault Doctrine), choice of Demolition or Security

Chapter Trappings

Lionhead Totem : The lion is the symbol of the Astral Claws, representing the courage, nobility, and strength all members of the Chapter aspire to. It is common for Astral Claws assigned to Deathwatch to affix a totem of a lion's head cast in silver to their armor (usually on the right shoulder pad) or on a weapon. A Lionhead Totem grants a +2 to all Willpower Rolls.

Psychic Powers

Lion's Roar : Same as Blood Angels Power 'Fear The Darkness', except the Librarian lets out a mighty roar that causes the fear effect

Hunter's Sight
Action: Half
Opposed: No
Range: Self
Sustained: Yes
XP: 500
Description: With this power, the Librarian gains the acute vision of a lion. The Librarian can see perfectly in darkness and gains a +5 x PR bonus to his Perception for sight based tests.

Duration until end of combat for the attack pattern?

It certainly didn't set of alarms on the first read, like most home-brew Chapters!

Maybe add exemplar of honour to the skill list? Does that fit with the fluff?

Nice solo ability, but needs labelling as Passive, I'd guess.

Very nice, Runescryer!

Awesome stuff. I am trying to write a DW Badab War campaign guide/adventure. Do you mind if I use it?

Salcor

Feel free to use it, Salcor

And it's my understanding that all non-sustainable Squad Mode abilities already last for the full duration of a combat once activated, Siranui.

Okay, so adding a few things in:

Astral Claws Chapter Advances

Exemplar of Honor 500

Talented (Command) 500

Thanks for the feedback

Runescryer said:

Just throwing in an idea that might alleviate both of these potential issues with a single throw: Write down that Astral Claws in the Deathwatch are nearly non-existent, but that any player characters could be "Token Marines" that were sent by Huron to serve as distraction and alleviate any suspicion that may have been cast on his Chapter.

If he noticed that he is being investigated by the Imperium (perhaps due to an inquiry into these tactics you mentioned or because an Inquisitor dropped by to have a casual first chat) then he could well engineer minimal support for the Deathwatch in order to have something to point out regarding his Chapter's supposed service and loyalty.

Characters that were "volunteered" for this task might even be given some sort of dark foreboding due to a talk with their Chapter Master that they are to return home immediately should they receive a specific signal. Might make for some interesting roleplaying of said character's personality concerning a split loyalty that is technically not allowed to exist, though of course he should never confess this to anyone other than a fellow Astral Claw.

Or they might be part of the "old guard", and sent off because they're not playing nice with the extreme Huron fans...

Interesting stuff!

For my Astral Claws, I based them on Dark Angels (which is suggested as a possible source of their Geneseed in the Badab Wars Volume 1). So I used the advances and skills of the Dark Angels, but gave then Deceive advances and Forbidden Lore (Astrates), the latter reflecting the NPCs apothecary status as he tries to find out how to make marines quickly and discover other chapters' secrets. Of course, I was doing this pre-RoB...

Alex E

One thought that occurred to me regarding reasons why Marines join the Deathwatch is that for some Chapters, forcing one of their number to join the Deathwatch might actually be a punishment.

Think about it: nearly all marine chapters have a proud history going back hundreds if not thousands of years. They live in a close fraternal community forged by bonds of tradition and friendship. They are aloof from normal humanity, and usually have little in common with other chapters. Most of them probably love their life, having been in effect designed for it, and are immensly fulfilled serving in their original chapter.

Assignment to the Deathwatch, then, for many Marines, would actually be a pretty trying experience. Given how different Chapters are from each other, although Deathwatch membership is usually treated as an honour, presumably there are some where it amounts, in effect, to an exile.

This creates an oportunity for some fun roleplaying: an Ultramarine would be proud and delighted to be in the Deathwatch, whereas an exiled Marine (who may or may not be a troublesome or rebellious character in his own chapter) may treat such enthusiasm with thinly veiled contempt. Makes for fun PC group dynamics!

So maybe Lufgt Huron punishes his less efficient marines by sending them to the Deathwatch?