Hi I suppose I should start off with the whole "Yay first post!" thing. Well there it was, now down to the thread itself. I was recently asked to join a Deathwatch game (which I have never played before) and our GM in an attempt to promote creativity and variety asked that each of us create our own chapter to call home. He then referred me to Deathwatch Rites of Battle as a point of reference, which was great because I didn't have the slightest inkling of where to start. I typed this up in word and now ask for this forum's feedback on the chapter.

Custom Space Marine Chapter
The Redeemers Ultima
Why was the chapter founded? The chapter was founded to fight against the Chaos threat. The chapter’s main purpose is to battle against the first founding legions that fell in the Horus Heresy, and completely eradicate them. Unlike other chapters however, instead of simply guarding the Eye of Terror, they instead fight within it, battling on daemon and death worlds alike in their quest to root out and destroy all traitor marines. As such, the chapter has developed into a system valuing their chaplains above all and rigorously testing and praying to remain pure.
The Chapter’s Founding: The chapter’s past records were completely destroyed millennia ago. No traces of information have ever been found regarding their heritage, though it bothers most members of the chapter little. The only one believed to have any possible information is Honorable Brother Arkham, a chaplain now interred within the sarcophagus of a dreadnought. The chapter has thus far been unable to awake him, and the scriptures on his tomb state he will wake only when “The chapter’s brink is that of our lord’s.”

Gene-Seed:
The chapter’s gene-seed, wherever it is drawn from, possesses a deep flaw.
No Mercy, No Respite: The brothers of this chapter simply cannot accept defeat. They will never voluntarily fall back, and only in the direst of situations in where the strongest chaplain leaders give the orders will they retreat. They will sometimes ignore “secondary” concerns during missions, instead opting for a pure victory. They give no thought to other forces, and only if it would be utterly convenient would they ally themselves.
Faith In Suspicion: The brothers of the chapter utterly despise Sisters of Battle. They view their lesser power armor and bolters as weak, and see the sisters as pathetic attempts to recreate the Emperor’s work. They will never work with Sisters of Battle in ay way, and indeed most will refuse to even acknowledge their presence.

Chapter Characteristics: +5 Willpower and +5 Toughness. Brothers of the chapter are known for their hardiness and mental fortitude. They fight day after day on worlds that would shatter the minds of mortals and cause even other Astartes to have pause.

Chapter Heroes:
All brothers of the Chapter revere the Emperor, however it is Lost Brother Raelus that they revere nearly as much. A chaplain of incredible skill, honor and courage, Raelus is said to have led the chapter even from its fledgling beginnings. He was among the most loyal of the servants of the Emperor ever to serve, and the entire chapter aspires to emulate his devotion.

Home world:
The Redeemers Ultima home world is a medieval world located in the Septimus System, far from the cradle of Terra. It is best known for its constant state of warfare among its peoples, and the new and inventive ways they devise to kill each other Different factions are always fighting amongst each other, and the chapter likes it this way. Eronus Prime is also known as having a natural beauty reminiscent of ancient Terran paintings, and has indeed drawn in many artists to the planet.
Eronus Prime is ruled by the chapter very loosely, providing a lot of leeway so long as new quality recruits continue to join their ranks.

Chapter Organization:
The Redeemers Vigilant are one of the few chapters that stray greatly from the Codex Astartes. They number 10 “Legionary” companies. Each company is responsible for a different first founding legion. The order being as follows:
1st Company- The Black Legion
2nd Company- Iron Warriors
3rd Company- Emperor’s Children
4th Company- Alpha Legion
5th Company- World Eaters
6th Company- Death Guard
7th Company- Night Lords
8th Company- Word Bearers
9th Company- Thousand Sons

Unlike standard Space Marine Chapters, the first company of the Redeemers Ultima is not a terminator company. The first company is the company charged with the Arch-traitor’s legion itself, the Black Legion. They, like their brother companies have evolved to fight their foes. In fact, an outsider looking in might find that they have quite a few alarming similarities to the traitor legions. The fourth company, for example, is known for its clever and underhanded tactics, where as the warriors of the eighth company are even more fanatical than their brothers.
The chapter also possesses other companies as well. They have three Scout companies, along with a “Praetorian” company, “Invictus” company, and “Destrovus” Company. The scout companies are constantly changing and shifting in size, as the chapter is often embattled and suffers heavy losses more often than not. The Praetorian company is what might be considered a ‘First Company’ by other chapters. The members of this chapter are all gifted suits of holy terminator armor, and are veterans of countless battles. These warriors are called in wherever the fighting is thickest, and have seen many horrors that would break the weak willed.
The Invictus company is a special company within the chapter often reserved for those who were great warriors that have suffered debilitating injuries. Warriors in this group are undoubtedly true servants of the Imperium, and are given special knowledge of very private information. The Invictus is in charge of gathering and utilizing information regarding current loyalist chapters and any possible corrupt members. If even a single marine falls from any chapter around the Imperium, the Invictus are expected to know and immediately report it, inscribing another name in the Hall of Heretics where all traitor marines are carved and summarily crosses out upon death.
The Destrovus Company is the company in charge of standard battles, such as against non-chaos threats, and any fallen chapters that are not of the first founding and do not require one of the nine to destroy. They are experts at battling against xenos, and the chapter has a long history of battling against both dark eldar and orks.
It is important to note that the Redeemers Ultima do not utilize anyone of psychic power. It is not that they do not trust (more than normal anyway) psykers, it is simply that while in the Eye of Terror, it is near impossible for a mind sensitive to the warp to hold itself completely together.

Chapter Equipment:
The Redeemers Ultima have a few unique things about them when it comes to matters of their armories and weaponry. The first is that they possess an arbitrarily high amount of chaplain equipment. While other chapters hold such weaponry and armor as revered and rare relics, the Redeemers Vigilant have massive amounts of such war gear. It is theorized that almost the entire chapter could be outfitted in such gear. This surplus of equipment combined with the above average levels of devotion have allowed chaplains to be a fairly common site within the chapter, enabling them to fulfill more of a sergeant role as opposed to their regular role.
The chapter also possesses an above average amount of dreadnoughts. Each of the nine companies has at least one, and the Praetorian has no less than four. The Destrovus company is known to possess only one, and it remains unknown if the Invictus utilize dreadnoughts within their ranks. The other problem however is that the chapter has such a few amount of standard astartes battle tanks as to be almost laughable. The chapter has only three predators total, one whirlwind, and absolutely no land speeders of any type. They are severely limited in land raiders, possessing only two, and count only three bike squads amongst their numbers. Their supply of standard Rhino APCs is only slightly below average, and the chapter’s drop pod supply is quite standard in its numerical value.
The Redeemers Ultima places a lot of importance in getting both their armor and weaponry blessed by a squad chaplain before battle. Without receiving a blessing, most warriors feel near heretical and it has been known to cause many warriors’ combat skill to decrease sharply. It has now become a tradition of the chapter for all members to bless their equipment before battle or facing punishment.

Chapter Beliefs:
The Redeemers Ultima are devoutly loyal to the Emperor and do his bidding every day both on the battlefield and off. They are constantly in prayer and meditation when not in battle, and most if not all of the brothers of the chapter will inscribe their entire armor with hand inscribed scriptures and prayers over every facing.
The chapter possesses close ties with the Black Templar chapter, as both share a similar goal in constant crusading against the Emperor’s enemies. They rarely fight side-by-side, but when they do each chapter is overjoyed.
The chapter is currently far above nominal strength, and is indeed far past the amount of Space Marines a chapter should have as laid down by the Codex Astartes. This has been a cause of much strife amongst the High Lords of Terra, and indeed there have been rumors of possible reprimands being handed down to them. Of course, whether they would actually be able to access them in the Eye of Terror is a different matter entirely.

My main concern is that the chapter fails to give off a unique feel, and will come across as Black Templars in the eye of terror. Also, the name to me is a bit iffy. But otherwise, I look forward to comments, critiques, insults, and more. Thanks for taking the time to read it, I am aware that it is a lot of writing.

Sounds like they're a successor chapter of the black templars or imperial fists. Overall a nice twist, maybe try to twist them to more of a "using the enemies weapons against them?" goes well along with your tactic setup of them adapting their enemies combat style. It goes a bit against your chaplain theme, so some other solution would probably be better.

One thing you could do to seperate them from the black templars is remove the aspect of singel duels against the hardest opponent, claiming that one's loyalties to the golden throne goes higher then ones pride and honor and thus feel no shame in using underhanded tactics in fighting their fallen brethren.

One thing I noticed, there's a breach in logic when it comes to chapter size. You say they're suffering heavy casualties (which is understandable considering what they do) but that they're also able to keep well above chapter strenght. Most chapters struggle to keep the number of battlebrothers up during extended crusades and the like, and being in constant combat they'd either need some form of accelerated recruitment or recieve additional geneseeds from other chapters not to mention quite a large pool of recruitment worlds to meet demands of humans to actually make into space marines.


Either add some fluff to explain how they can keep constantly fighting inside the eye of terror or reduce them greatly in size.

Chaplains, Chaplains everywhere .

Alex

I like the set-up and think this chapter is pretty cool. I like the non-Codex organization for the Chapter and that they are directed against the first founding traitor legions. Nice job.

Although like Ghaundan said, there are a few things that may need to be shored up a little.

First off, thanks a lot for the feedback, I really appreciate. I'm still relatively new to the Warhammer 40,000 universe and wanted to be sure everything was in line. I would like to explain what was going through my head, if you don't mind.

Ghaundan said:

These are some great suggestions, and I can completely understand where you're coming from. As for their parent chapter, I was certainly thinking of the Imperial Fists. I was told that the Black Templars have no successor chapters and so wanted to avoid any conflicts with what's been printed (unless of course I am wrong).

When it comes to the "using the enemies tactics" bit, I had not envisioned them using the enemies' weapons as I had hoped to keep them devoutly pure. I originally tended for it to be something along the lines of how the Death Guard were known to use pretty much only infantry, and so the 6th company would mirror this, also only using infantry. The entire idea of honor and single combat was not meant to be a large part of the chapter's beliefs. I envisioned that they would be more along the lines of "Get the job done quckly, effectively, and correctly, we have a mission to do." They are supposed to be more pragmatic and cautious, rather than prideful and honorable.

Now I am nearly finished. My idea was that the chapter would return to its homeworld periodically to retrieve new members that were being prepared while they were gone. At the time of the retrieval, they gather far more space marines than allowed before leaving again. Naturally, many of these marines would die quickly, but I was also told that time flows differently in the Eye of Terror as opposed to regular space. I was relying on this to explain how they are able to stay at optimal strength (though of course they would never remain at optimal strength). When I said above regular chapter strength I was referring more to their maximum numbers rather than their actual numbers. My guess is that their average actual numbers would be moderately below average chapter strength.

And finally I would like to say thanks again for your comments and feedback (to everyone). I hope this helped clear up some issues. I realize now that this is a lot of writing, and that realization spurred another that I type too much. And with that, I congratulate you on reading this entire post.

I have only a few questions that might help flesh out your chapter.

Do they know who their progenator was? Often times a later founding chapter will take some of the traditions, or ideals from their founding chapter as a basis for how they will grow in the future.

Why the do they have such a great disdain for the Sisters of Battle? I can under stand seeing them as not true warriors, or at the same level as Guardsmen, but I fail to see how such an otherwise pious chapter of Marines could view the Sisters (who are based on faith) with such venom. Did they have some great falling out in the past? Does their views of the Emperor or practices offend them to such an extreme? Seeing as how they focus on battling Chaos, one would assume that they would have good ties with the Grey Knights, Sisters of Battle, and other "daemon Hunters". What is the root of this shift in their attitude? Does it extend to the other forces?

You've set them up in a very dangerous position. Modeling their great companies after the Traitor Legions, and locating them so close the the strongholds of Chaos. I can see many other chapters being very concerned about them falling down a slippery slope in to Chaos themselves. Also, certain chapter may not see a great difference between a Traitor Legion, and a great company who's "straying too far" from the Codex.

Being in such an unadmirable position, they must have a larger then average amount of Chaos Taint running through their world and their people. What steps do they take to keep Chaos at bay? What do they do if one of their own has fallen?

How do the various great companies work when their methods cannot be matched to a Chaos equivalent? I.E. How can the 2nd Company counter the Iron Warriors without being heavily mechanized? How can the 9th Company understand the Thousand Sons if they lack psycher potential? How can the 7th company counter the tactics of the lightning strikes of the Night Lords?

How is the chapter run? Does the Praetorian company serve as the head of the Chapter? Is that where the Chapter Master can be found?

When was the Chapter founded, and in what great events have they played part in? Were they around to fight in the Badab Wars? Did they help hold the line at Armagedon? They are stationed right in the thick of the most recent 13th Black Crusade, how did they survive and weather through that most recent bout with the forces of Chaos?

Just some food for thought. Great concept, and let us know how it goes.

like your idea, and even if some questions about the past, witch fondation and primogenitor? And why such a hate against the SoB?

But I think of a different organisation:

-Against all precept rules of the codex the actual number of Sm within the chapter is slitghly over 1200 and count 3 scouts compagnies.

- far from standard codex organisation the sixth first compagnies of this chapter are composed 150 SM, other comes as usual.

1st C : Specialized against Chaos undivided army.

2nd C : Specialized against Tzeenth followers

3rd C : Specialized against Nurgle followers

4th C : Specialized against Khorne followers

5th C : Specialized against Slaneesh followers

7th C : "Nornal" combat unit

8th C : "Intelligence Network"

9th C : Praetorians

Once more quite far from the codex astartes doctrine the deployement of SM is gathered after 8th Compagnie work and composed with squad fron all revelant compagnies.

It's quite a change and I do not tell you that your idea is bad. I like it, it's the way I would have done it. But your work is good.

As for the questions raised about the founding and the Progenitor , the OP does state that all records of the Chapter Founding were lost...

Ebon

Once again, thanks a lot everybody for the feedback, WolfBrotherShrey you raised some great points, some of which I never even thought about. If you don't mind, I would now love to explain.

Firstly, the chapter doesn't know who its primogenitor was, as the records of it were lost.

Secondly, the chapter and the sisters of battle were indeed supposed to have had a falling out previously. The main idea I had Note: this is only a very rough idea so far) behind it was that the sisters had been fighting against chaos on some planet when the chapter had noticed and arrived to help. The sisters however, had proved immensely distrustful of the chapter, citing the obvious reason of fighting in the eye of terror and saying that the way the chapter was no better than the foes they faced and said they would rather fight and die alone than fight beside those who would emulate the ways of chaos (or at least their fighting style). This incident caused permenant enmity between the two forces. It was my idea that something like this would not be an isolated incident, as I'm sure there are many space marine chapters/imperial forces that would be distrustful of the marines.

As for corruption within the chapter, the space marines are by no means incorruptible (uncorruptible?). They have of course had marines fall, though it is still exceedingly rare. As stated, all marines in the chapter are highly zealous in their devotion to the emperor. The constant prayer and high amount of chaplain are the only reason the chapter is not extremely corrupt (or fallen).

The question of how they can compete with the legions is a bit harder to answer. The chapter's resources are not evenly distributed. The second company for example, possesses almost all of the armoured assets available to the chapter. The seventh company heavily favours assault marines and incorporate stealth,shock, and terror tactics into their combat doctrine. The fourth favor close combat assaults and direct charges.

The Praetorian Company could be considered the chapter's leadership, and does sometimes serve in an almost Honor Guard role to the chapter master. It is also important to note that both the Praetorian and Invictus company are below 100 strong. The Invictus numbering anywhere from 25-50 and the Praetorian has never been above 75 members.

Finally, the chapter founding. I have already written that the chapter doesn't have recordsof its founding, though I reason that the chapter would have some general idea. Now I'm not the best with Warhammer 40,000 timeline, and really wouldn't know when to put them. I'm not sure when most of the major events happen other than that Horus Heresy=10,000 years ago. SO any help with this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again for the feedback everybody.

If you have access to a Warhammer 40K rule book it'll have a rough outline of the timeline and some of the great events that helped shape the 40K Universe. Barring that, check out this site: wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Timeline It's a little vague, and you'll have to do some digging around, but it's a good starting point.

The reason I brought up the questions about their Progenator (even though their records have been lost) is that it often serves as a basis for future ties/traditions with other chapters. It's been previously mentioned that they might have strong ties to the Black Templar, are there any chapters with whom they have emnity towards? Any chapters who've stepped on their toes or vice versa?

What is life like on their homeworld? Are they one of the Space Marine worlds who know of the Emperor and have a strong sense of faith? Is that how they keep the taint of Chaos at bay? Being so close to the Eye of Terror do they have a strong Ecclesiarchy connection, something that helps bind the people against Chaos?

A random note. Do Marines cycle through the various companies? Do the members of the Preatorian company have to have mastered the styles and forms of combat that make the other companies? Other then being closely tied to the Chapter Master, what is it that makes them special or different then the other Companies? Are there rivalries or competitions between the various companies?

As for the divide between sororitas and your chapter, it sounds like it could be a nice hook to use for RP/scenarios so you should flesh it out a bit! Both are pious so a dispute over something there should be easy to come up with. First things that come to mind are:
Both the Sororitas request aid to make a final push to recover a holy relic (they might not say this to the Astartes) and there is an argument about who takes custody of the artefact.

They aid in taking a cult fortress, the Astartes want to examine the site for information (battle tactics etc etc) while the sororitas want to burn the place to the ground.

There's lots you can think of and the details are gold if you have a GM that likes to use character backgrounds for all they're worth!


An idea that came to me, having recently played some Space Marine the quote "Better crippled in body then corrupt in mind". Maybe make the space marines recognise their actions as heretical but argue that they keep their flesh and mind seperate (there have been a few cultures with this mindset through history). Basically condeming their flesh while trying to save their minds through devoted prayer and pious adherence to the Emperor. Could also be used for some awesome battlecries!

WolfbrotherShrey once again thanks for the awesome feedback! And those links were very useful thanks a lot. My friend loaned me his rulebook and I don't think I've ever seena rulebook with so much fluff. Now their progentor is certainly I believe going to be the Imperial Fists (which I originally intended) though I don't think they will ever find out. As for relations with other chapters, like I said they are of course close with the Black Templars. Likewise, I'm sure there are plenty of chapters who would rather avoid contact with those who fight always in the Eye Of Terror but I don't really have any specifics in mind. That's something I will definately want to work on.

Their homeworld is a religous warzone fairly often, though I envision the world as not being in total chaos. They do know of the Emperor and are devoutly faithful, their strong faith is their strongest defense. I had actually never thought of their relationship with the Ecclesiarchy but I would assume it would be fairly friendly, as the chapter would look favorably upon those who spread the word of the Emperor. I am, however, not entirely sure because I'm not really all too familiar with the Ecclesiarchy in the warhammer 40,000 universe. Is it highly corrupt, etc.?

Now to your final point. I pictured that the marines would be evaluated throughout their entire scout career as to where they belong by their sergeants. If the sergeant still is unsure of where they belong, or the recruit shows a particular zealous hatred towards xenos they are placed within the Destrovus Company. All marines of course may be moved from company to company if their attitude shifts, and I'm sort of wondering whether it would be appropriate for members of Night Lord's/Alpha Legion companies to have to cycle out as such tactics are typically unused by Imperial forces and would probably be thought to foster corruption.

The Praetorian Company is the elite of the chapter, their greatest warriors drawn from all companies. I envision them as being a highly unified and efficient fighting force, seamlessly blending the different methods of fighting used by their foes into a terrifying vision of what could be if Chaos would ever unite. The companies do hve rivalries, but nothing too serious. By comparing what they have done to combat forces of chaos and boasting of how they have damaged the Traitor legions I think it would promote a competetive spirit between the chapter and provide plenty of role-playing opportunities.

Ghaundan: thanks for your post, I really like your ideas to emphasize the divide between the chapter and the sisters. My GM does indeed like to use character's personal background, and he is sure to love these ideas. And I agree, the reason for their rivalry should probably be completely explained.

As for your thoughts on corruption in body rather than mind, I actually like it.I'm not entirely sure if I want corrupted marines in the chapter (I had originally envisioned the chapter as constantly checking for purity) but this definately gave me some ideas. Thanks a lot for your feedback.

i like this chapter youve drawn up alot! a suggestion however is to keep in line with the scouts and then moved to a chapter that best suits their hatred, pehaps a regular seconding to other chapters to fully expand their knowlage if the archenemy and their hatred for it in all its forms. I think this would sit well with your idea of the honor guard/ pertorians blending styles as they have all mastered eachothers styles but favor their companies either as choice or simply by dint of pride.

also is the apothecary count high in this chapter? one would think it would be to keep the physical purity at its highest in a choas tainted life as well as the high attrition rate they suffer.

the replenishment rate described works fine but i would add a few worlds to the recruitment list to make it a little more solid, few chapters recruit from only 1 world and the ultra marines have an entire sector as a recruitment ground!

i think when i can actually be a player i might play one of these marines

another idea that just hit me is the rolled or chosen history could change his solo mode ability based on the company he was placed into, or the hard to roll option is the pretorian and id probably give them the ultramarines favored son but upgraded so that it gives +1 coheison regarless but like +2 or 3 if you are leading. that or just +1 but if your squad leader you can use the RoB distiction "brothers of the blood" once per game session without having it(represnting his varried understanding of the wide range of tatic employed by the loyal and disloyal) id make it something like theyd have to roll a high number (twice)or pay xp to get the "i was a super bad ass before i came to deathwatch" option.

good work keep it up!