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Hello all,

Here is the backstory for my new Marine Chapter that I am working on. I am trying to embrace the lighter side of the hobby and build an Army oriented on a storyline for a change. The storyline is probably pretty vanilla as far as fluff goes, but please give me feedback on ways I can improve it and try to make it more unique. The concept is to develop the Chapter as I play them over time. Once sufficient battle honors have been earned, the traits will change to match the Chapter's new status.

Thanks,
Mike K.

Astral Dragons

Part of a relatively new founding, the Astral Dragons are one of the newest Chapters in the Imperial array and are still trying to establish themselves amongst their older and more prestigious brethren.

Created during the midst of Hive Fleet Leviathan’s attack, the Astral Dragons never received their full allotment of equipment as the needs of the Imperial war machine forced them into the fray. While still under strength, the Chapter’s 2nd and 3rd Companies forced a landing on the desert world of Azhi Dahaki and established a fire base on the arid, windswept world. Within days, spores from a splinter fleet of Leviathan began landing on Azhi Dahaki as the aliens continued their advance towards the Holy Terra.

Captain Mordekai, commander of the 2nd Company and leader of the combined task force, knew that he was terribly short-handed. The Chapter had received no suits of the fabled Terminator armor yet, nor did it have any of the consecrated dreadnoughts that other Chapters could rely on to strengthen the teeth of their defenses. The only assets available in significant numbers were the Chapter’s vehicles, which had recently been delivered en masse and, albeit suffering from some mechanical teething problems, were in excellent condition.

Not confident in his ability to defend a static stronghold for a significant period of time, Captain Mordekai embarked on a bold strategy. Leaving only a minimal force behind to defend his base camp, Captain Mordekai mounted the remainder of his forces and launched a series of bold attacks designed to destroy the spores as they landed. For the next several weeks, columns of Astral Dragons armored formations, spearheaded by the Chapter’s Predators and supported by attack bikes and landspeeders, sped across the burning sands and attacked one drop zone after the other. Once the speed of the Tyranid assault increased, Captain Mordekai’s columns slowly ran out of room to maneuver and the Astral Dragons were forced back into their base camp.

The base camp, nicknamed Tiamat’s Lair by its defenders, was located on one of the few prominent hills on Azhi Dahaki. The terrain surrounding Tiamat’s Lair was completely barren, with nothing but sand for miles. The only concealment occurred when occasional sandstorms swept through the area and blotched out the sun, making it impossible for any type of movement and leaving exposed skin flayed from the force of the wind-blown sands. As the Tyranid forces began to assemble for their assault on Tiamat’s Lair, the marines worked overtime to strengthen their defenses. Each vehicle was given at least two alternate fighting positions and miles of Azhi Dahaki’s sand was covered with mines deployed from Castellan launchers. The defenders were given an unknown blessing, as the alien intelligence controlling Azhi Dahaki’s attackers delayed the assault so that it would coincide with the Tyranid assault on the Imperial Fist forces defending Miral.

For three days and nights, the Tyranid assault raged nonstop and the Astral Dragons were hard-pressed to maintain their firebase. Only their bold offenses earlier in the campaign had prevented the Tyranids from massing sufficient numbers to overrun them outright. Just when the Tyranids seemed poised to breakthrough the Marine lines and destroy the fledgling chapter outright, the desert winds kicked up and a raging sandstorm enveloped the area. The alien life forms, lacking any organic protection from the elements, were flayed alive while the Space Marines were protected by their composite armor.

The sandstorm raged continuously for the next two days and during the respite in the ground fighting, the Chapter’s strike cruisers, supported by Imperial Naval vessels, were able to destroy the Tyranid fleet in orbit. Once the sandstorm lifted, the Strike Cruisers, now no longer committed to the orbital battle, were able to bring their awesome firepower to the defender’s aid and within a few hours the battle was won and the Astral Dragons returned to the offense, spending the next several months mopping up nests of Tyranid resistance.

Despite their heroic efforts, Fate had an unfortunate twist in store for the Chapter. A shipment of Terminator armor, originally destined to outfit the 1st Company, was diverted to the world of Miral to replenish the Imperial Fist’s stock. The Chapter’s veterans, instead of being consolidated into a 1st Company, were instead dispersed throughout the Battle Companies with the intent of providing solid leadership to the new marines who would have to be inducted to replace the losses taken on Azhi Dahaki . Feeling slighted at the loss of the Terminator armor to a more prestigious Chapter, the Chapter Master at the time, Lord Commander Dragien, vowed that a 1st Company would not be formed until the Astral Dragons received their own Terminator armor. His descendants have maintained this vow as their own and, despite centuries of loyal service, the Astral Dragons have yet to receive their valued suits of armor and to this day no 1st Company exists.

Because of Lord Commander Dragien’s vow, the Astral Dragons have become known for being exceptionally exuberant in the performance of their duties. Seeking to prove their worthiness of receiving the hallowed suits of terminator armor, the Astral Dragons often display a literal adherence to the dictates of the Codex Astartes regarding the treatment of their foes and have become known for granting no quarter. Their Chaplains have developed an especially good rapport with more radical sects of the Ecclesiarchy who whole-heartedly approve of the Astral Dragons stringent measures against Xenos and Heretic alike. The current Chapter Master, Lord Commander Septimus, encourages the ruthless extermination of all the Imperium’s enemies in the hopes that the Astral Dragons will receive recognition by winning the Chapter’s first Iron Halo or finally being deemed prestigious enough to receive the long overdue suits of Terminator armor. He holds especially high hopes for a young captain named Temion, commander of the 4th Company.

Over the centuries, the Astral Dragons have become renowned in the Segmentum Pacificus as masters of maneuver warfare. Whenever a front locks down into static lines, the Astral Dragons are called upon to break it open. The Chapter prefers to insert scouts by Thunderhawk to recon enemy deployments and secure suitable landing sites. Once the situation has been clarified, the Astral Dragons will land large amounts of mechanized forces and use the information gained by their scouts and Imperial allies to achieve a breakthrough in a decisive sector. Once the enemy front has been breached, the Astral Dragons exploit their success by punching deep into the enemy’s heart and ruthlessly destroying anything the enemy can use. Once the breach has been sufficiently built in width and depth, Imperial armored formations are passed to the fore to continue expanding the breakthrough. The Astral Dragons have come to eschew drop pod assaults, believing that they cause the Chapter to incur significantly higher casualties than required.

Opponents of the Astral Dragons have argued that their especially stern adherence to certain parts of the Codex comes from a dark secret concerning the Chapter’s origin, notably the lack of a publicly acknowledged Primarch and whisperings of dark rituals kept hidden from all outside the Chapter. However, important allies within the Ecclesiarchy have kept the few Inquisitors who sought to press the matter more than satisfied and for now the knowledge of who the Astral Dragons’ Primarch is remains a closely guarded secret known only to the highest members of the Chapter and a few, select members of the Ecclesiarchy and Terran Adepts who have the necessary skill, patience, clearance and importance to dig through the Imperial bureaucracy and unlock the records of the Chapter’s founding.

Currently, the Astral Dragons call the Segmentum Pacificus home. The Chapter maintains several small strongholds that are used as recruiting bases for new initiates but the bulk of the Chapter resides on the fortress world of Tien Lung where it continuously trains for its next deployment. Tien Lung serves the Chapter’s logistical base and it is from here, in the heart of the Segmentum Pacificus, that the Astral Dragon’s fleets of Strike Cruisers and escorts range far and wide to destroy the Emperor’s enemies and serve His Will. It is here at Tien Lung that the Lord Commander Septimus has his headquarters and works tirelessly to build the Astral Dragons into one of the most prestigious and revered Chapters in the Imperium.


Traits: “No Mercy, No Respite”, “Cleanse & Purify”, “Aspire to Glory”

Great background, I dig it. The battle, in particular, is a compelling device.

Kudos on actually having a homeworld, its downright trendy these days for chapters to be spaceborne. Further kudos for including the reasons behind your playstyle in the fiction.

Thanks for the comments. Appreaciate you taking the time.

Pretty cool. I like that they are still proving themselves to the emperor and peers. I take it Temion is your force commander you game with?

I'd suggest giving them some recurring arch enemy, a particular warlord or pirate or inquisitor just to spice things up. Like you said though, this might just develop on its own after a few games or campaigns.

Jedi,

Yup, Temion is the Force Commander I game with. The idea is that once he does something sufficiently cool with a minimal wargear rig, I can write up pieces where he is awarded additional gear for his heroics. I think I'm gonna start him out with a simple kit of powerfist, bolt pistol, terminator honors. The recurring enemy will also hopefully write itself the way my old Black Cross marines came to be known as "Hugger's Bane" after smashing Eldar quite frequently.

Thanks for the feedback,
Mike K.