Ok guys. Here is my campaign for DH or better said campaign backdrop. I am always keen to introduce politics and political rivalries in my game. To borrow from Tim Eccles and Warhammer FRP I am fascinated by the notion of the Private War. I think that we should take literally motto of the 40k: In the grim darkness of the future there is only war. But you know it never said what kind of war. That just means that there is always some sort of conflict going in. And as I see it the glorious Imperium of Men is its own biggest enemy. There are always these neat, little, conflicts, wars in every aspect bar their name, brewing and exploding all around the Imperium. One noble hates another, one sub-sector is resentful of another, one Space Marine chapter still nurses a grudge against another, one Inquisitor is working against the other and so on and on…So I like to play up on this interplay of power, ambition and politics where it can be a little hard to decide what is the best for the Imperium.

So, without a further ado here is the gist of it.

Calixis sector. Fringe of the Imperium of Men. The light of Astronomican grows dimmer with each passing decade. Ships are late and missives from other sectors, let alone form other Segmentum are rare and trips are arduous. Some mutter that we are living in the End Times. Maybe it is time for humankind, dispersed all over the starry sky to close its ranks and try to weather this coming storm in hopes that there will be next, clear, morning. But not all think like that.

Adeptus Astartes, space marines, Celestial Lions chapter (ok, lets use them because they were the chapter that have inspired me. It will be some other chapter of my own making but for the purpose of this story let us use that name as a sort of a placeholder, ok?) are on the verge of extinction. Their gene-seed is forfeit. Their apothecaries have been slain to a man. There is no one to test gene-seed purity and to harvest it from fallen brothers. Their proud tradition is at the end. But that was the Emperor’s will.

Or was it?

Lord Valerian, their chapter master, doesn’t think so. He KNOWS with the certainty of a doomed man that it was the Inquisition (or some group within it) that have brought this calamity upon his beloved chapter. He knows that he defied them when THEY have ordered him to slaughter civilians on =censored= and he knows that THEY have never forgiven him for this disobedience. He knows that THEY have decided to make him and his own into example that you do not disobey the Holy Ordos. Not even if you are Emperor’s Angel of Death.
He knows that THEY have fed tactical info to chapter’s enemies. He knows that THEY have assassinated his last apothecary. He knows that THEY think him beaten…but there is still bite in this old lion.

What’s more, he thinks that this corrupt institution known as Calixis Conclave is leading whole sector down the road of no return. Lord Hax is spineless old man who just kowtows to various power groups and doesn’t want to hear his legitimate grievances.
He is not even sure anymore if Emperor is alive if He allows these things to happen to His children. He just knows that he has to do something about it all. His chapter will be treated with respect that it deserves and he will find a way to save then from extinction.

And so it begins.

Celestial Lions will make their move, recruit allies and collect favors they are owed. He will do as his adept-serfs are advising: He will claim that Drusus has with his dying breath bequeathed Malfian sub-sector to them to be Chapter’s star-fief. A little white lie necessary in this pit of corruption. Tactical move. Like a bit of battlefield cunning.

His serf-envoys will traverse the sub-sector and offer his protection to those who support his claim. They will recruit anyone that can help them now and they will also search for a way to reproduce again chapter’s gene-seed. They will speak with everyone because now is not the time to be squeamish about it all. Where it is possible they will recruit Governors to their cause. If governors and rulers of planets won’t listen, his envoys will seek out noble. If nobles won’t listen, his envoys will seek out bishops and cardinals. If Ecclesiarhy won’t listen, his envoys will seek out guilders and criminals and if no one will listen they will seek out mutants and witches. He’ll use them and get rid of them JUST LIKE INQUISTION DOES.

Once his allies are in place, they will make a move against inquisitors that Lord Valerian thinks are responsible for chapter’s current predicament.

And then he will have to cause some…incident. Something that will just show to everybody that they need them and that Hax and Inquisition and all of them can not protect them.

And than he will be savior of the sub-sector and his men will rise and claim stars for the chapter and he will carve new Ultramar from the ruins of the sub-sector and if anyone, but just anyone, tries to stand in their way he will be swept aside like a terran-ant.

Also, this strange folks from the Amaranthine Syndicate are claiming that they can find him a way to reproduce again chapter’s gene-seed. They just need some time and some small resources and they will do it in exchange for a just few favors…

So here it is. It is obvious what is happening. In already volatile equation that is Calixis sector (or any sector to be honest) we have just added unknown quantity of a vengeance-crazed Space Marine chapter master. He is determined to carve a fief for him and his own as a vengeance but also because he believes that it is for the best. He is in all possibility the next Lufgt Huron and Calixis sector is on the brink of its own Badb War.
Also he is, unknowingly for now, consorting with xenos (through Syndicate) but it is just question of time when he stops caring about that.
So what I want? I want to push my PCs into first shadowy, spy vs spy war against various Valerian’s allies slowly destabilizing Malfian sub-sector. Then I want to go for full frontal, no holds barred war. And then I want them stuck behind the enemy lines and hating Lord Valerian so much that they will be ready to chase him to Kronus expanse in August ?

So my questions are:

1. Is Malfian sub-sector too ambitious? Should I go for something smaller? A planet? A group of systems? What is reasonable enough for a crazed stellar warlord? Is Malfian sub-sector right for something like this? Is somewhere else better?
2. Who should I involve? Are there some groups, besides obvious suspects, that could be involved? Temple Tendency? Tech-Heretics? I think that this narrative is so open-ended that you can involve just about anyone but who is this mysterious stranger...
3. How to gradually reveal frakkin Space Marines as the real enemies? Obviously, I don’t want PCs slugging out against SM Assault Squad but I want them to be aware, at one moment, that they are against the iconic bad mothers of 40K.
4. I want to start within grey areas, but I would love if PCs are left no choice but to fight Lord Valerian and his allies. Again, I hate railroading but I want somehow to set up from the begging that even if PCs are sympathetic to Lord Valerian’s cause they will be left no choice but to oppose him.
5. What kind of adventures should I write for this one? Space hulk crawls searching for clues that Drusus never left anything to Celestial Lions (in fact that he said Rosebud thinking of his first grav-sleds when he was just a young boy being taken to Schola Progenium)? Spy vs Spy convoluted plots in the bowels of Hive cities?
6. What is the incident Lord Valerian is planning? Full blown Waaaagh!(sp?) Mutant uprising a la Tranch? Assassination of Lord Hax? Orbital bombardment of Malfi that will be blamed on some heretical cult?
7. What could Amaranthine Syndicate want? More bodies for their maggoty masters. Too prosaic. There must be something a little bit more…esoteric…
8. How long would it take for other SM chapters to get involved? And when we are at SM issues: How large is SM crusader fleet?
9. How protracted this war could be? Few years? A decade? A century?

Anything else I haven’t thought of? Any input would be more then welcome, so hit me with your 40k stick and CALIXIS SECTOR WILL BURN ?

I would make a very small possibility that they change side, find an iquisitor to call excommunicate traitoris, that could be even their inquisitor's old inquisitor. what prevents the space marines from loaning an apohecary from another capter?.

I don't really know what really stops them

But in Celestial Lions fluff on Lexicanum it seemed that they are going the way of DoDo after they lost all of theirs. Maybe something was wrong with their gene-seed and now they are trying to hide that. What do you think?

I like your idea VERY much! A chapter on the edge of becoming traitors.

As long as it doesn't turn out to become firefights and close combat with a squad of very angry marines.

(If it does I think there will be some very sad and dead PC's.)

It's nice and mighty, just keep it out from becoming over the topp.

But there are many good things there!

Please keep us updated on how it goes!

A Spacemarine Apothacary is similar in some manner to the Techmarines, they receive training not only from their chapters peers but also from the specialists on mars.

The Techmarines gain training from the Ad-Mech, the Apothacary recieves training from the Ad-Mech-Biologis.

In the event that a chapter cannot claim back its gene seed they (often) are called back to the terran system and basically given orders to "go forth and multiply in His Holy Name" and given more training for those who show promise as an Apothacary, though they may have training of such things as the go out, which means a small force of Ad-Mech working with the chapter as tutors and the like.

There are only a few recorded cases (from GW lore/previous editions) of chapters being told that they are not allowed to recruit until they have performed some kind of atonement for allowing themselves to become so depleted.

And not to mention that Old chapters can be mixed in with new foundings, with their names & colours changes to represent a rebirth of sorts in the eye of the Emperor.

(The best way to represent this kind of army is to use Spacewolf Scouts for the TT version as a special unit, but thats not in relation to This game just a side thought)

Well the Fallen and the dark angels seems to pop up in my mind.

In my experience a single fully fledged space marine is easily the match of an entire team of acolytes unless they're using plasma, melta, power, force weapons. And even then they'd get 1 shot. And when the smoke clears and he's still standing, only looking angry, they would be meat butter from either the Astartes quality boltgun/suitable close combat weapon. So involving a Chapter Master who is the best of the best of this chapter is going to slaughter a group of pcs, then yawn.

In Purge the Unclean they have an example of a Brother Sergeant Space Marine so that should give you an Idea for where to go from there. One of the groups I gm for ticked off Agamorr by shooting him in the back when he wasn't looking with a heavy bolter intentionally. 10 minutes later they had rolled up new characters and were starting a new mission... complaining about how quickly they died and how hard he hit them 1d10+17 I think.

And as to the question of how big a crusader fleet would be... If you follow a normal chapter that would be 1,000 BAMF's as well as Dreadnaughts, scouts, support personnel, chapter serfs, naval personnel, not to mention any groups/ planets that they enslave and or convert to their views. I'd say easily in the range of hundreds if not thousands of ships, and the amount of men would be as much as you see fit in order to make the entire Calixis Sector crap kittens when the "bomb" drops on what's going on.

How long would it take other SM chapters to get involved? None of the loyalists want another Horus Heresy no matter how small, so they'd respond very quickly, as in drop everything not absolutely important and haul arse to the war front.

And lastly go to town on the sector, a single company (100) of Space Marines is usually enough to destroy most resistance on a warfront, so pacifying a planetary population could be as simple as 1-5 SM's per Hive/continent. This is of course not counting the rebellions that they could incite, being space marines and all they command a great amount of respect and fear so a single marine telling the populace to rise up and throw off the shackles of a government not fulfilling their duty to the Emperor could be enough.

This is however just my 2 thrones on the subject

I certainly do not plan for PCs to go toe to toe with the Emperor's Best but I also think that it is worth mentioning that DeathWatch marine in Shades on Twilight is not your ordinary (if such thing exists) SM. He is experienced veteran of DeathWatch in artificer armor.

Is there anywhere I could read a little bit more about Space Marine serfs and auxillary personnel? Or should I just yank historical Teutonic Order structure (with lay brothers, secular knights, familiars, lay-sisters and so on and on) add some head-tubes and use it as a foundation for the workings of 'my' SM chapter?

Cat that Walked by Himself said:

Absolutely correct on the brother sergeant, he's special in some ways. But space marines are veterans of many battles before they become full battle brothers, not sure how much your familiar with space marines fluff so I don't want to geek out unnecessarily.

Horus Heresy works for some of that. Space Wolf also gives a little insight into the serfs and aux. personnel. Also reading through some of the space marine codexes may give you an idea. Although seeing as how the chapter will effectively be of your own creation the set up for knightly orders also works very well. I tend to favor the knights templar, but then again I'm also a Black Templar player.

Ok. Here is the state of my head for today:

0. This should be modular (meaning that other scenarios not directly tied to the main storyline could be easily fitted) campaign set against the background of the looming civil war in the Calixis sector. Of course, we all know that by the end of the second act this gun will fire.

0.1. Here I am trying, with you, to develop main antagonists (characters that initiate change in player characters) and their intentions. Latter I would like to work-out some locations and scenario seeds and hooks.

1. Lord Valentin, chapter master of Celestial Lions, has made some powerful enemies in the Scarus conclave (why is not important at the moment). Inquisitor Ademars (he is not that important and besides he is going to die in a few lines time), unscrupulous member of Ordo Hereticus has used used specially tailored gene-sliced retro-virus (I really don't know what I am talking and now I am just spouting what I heard on House MD last week) to sterilize or better said render inert Celestial Lions gene-seed. His plan is brilliant in its stupidity - He plans to blackmail Celestial Lions into cooperation with him and his fellow conspirators in the Scarus Conclave.

1.5. This virus was developed and gene-spliced by renegade tech-priest Fremi using unknown xeno-technology.

2. Of course, this backfires. Badly. Lord Valentin, confronted with this situation by Inquisitor Ademars, flies into murderous rage and slaughters him (Ademars. See I told you he'll be dead in several lines time). Unfortunately, he also kills tech-priest Fremi, the only person who knew how to deactivate this virus. Valentin then decides that full head on confrontation with the rest of conspirators is not something worth risking his entire chapter's future and orders Celestial Lions' crusading fleet to Calixis sector.

2.5. They go to Calixis because they have participated in Angevine crusade and have had traditionally good relations with the governors of planets in Hazeroth sub-sector (does this sound plausible?)

3. Once there they quietly settle in an abandoned Black Templar bastion on planet Clove in Hazeroth sub-sector. They also request permission from sector's governor to participate in Wrack War on Malice (anyone knows anything more about this conflict?).

4. Valentine also sends out his serf-emissaries through out the sector to consult any tech-priests and magos-biologis in the sector that they can find. Alas, to no avail! Although tech priests now have the whole population of Clove to experiment on they can not find a way to make the gene-seed active again. He slowly sinks into bleak despair that turns into cold calculating rage: 'He will make them pay'.

5. By some strange turn of fate, one member of Inquisitor Ademars retinue, interrogator Jezov has survived. Justifiably afraid for his life he decides to go underground, picks up his old Inquisitors stash of cash, dark secrets and cool equipment and runs for Calixis sector where he settles on Solomon and there he eventually becomes very powerful underworld figure.

6. One of lord Valentin's serf-emissaries is contacted by mysterious members of Amarantine Syndicate who offer them to find a cure for their gene-seed malfunction. They claim that they can find a cure and that xeno-technology needed to produce cure are somewhere in the sub-sector. They just don't know exactly where. They need to cast a tight net across the sub-sector in order to find it. They provide some proofs for their claim (what proofs?) and ask straight: What is this cure worth to you?

7. Lord Valentin is already mad with rage and he makes his proposal without hesitation: He will conquer and hold the whole Hazeroth sub-sector as long as it takes for them to find the secret (what it should be? data-slate in some obscure library? a person? a xeno artifact?) that could lead the to the cure.

8. But of course, Lord Valentin knows that he can not just get out and start shooting also he can not just ask Hax and sector dignitaries (whom he doesn't really trust): 'Hey I need some xeno artifact to cure affliction that was put on my chapter by this Inquisitor...but don't worry I killed him...'. So, he decides to start a campaign to win over allies in the sector that will help him in his rebellion. But he also needs something that could give some legitimacy to his claim...

9. So, he decides, upon the advice of his serf-savants and serf-diplomats to forge the Testament of St.Drusus in a way that it suggests that the Saint of Calixis bequethed capital world of Hazeroth sub-sector (which is?). His envoys carrying this paper spread out through sub-sector seeking allies. From imperial governors and planetary nobles to pirates and heretics they seek allies. He is moving into position for a strike. If Hax breaks down and acknowledges his claim all the better, but if he does not so much worse for all of them...

10. Years pass...

Uhhuh...much still to be done and much more to think about. How to involve PCs? There are questions to which I don't have answers, but what do you think for now. Would you change something? Add something? Please be candid and any idea and help is appreciated.