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Founding-26th founding
Primarch-Roboute Guilliman
War cry-Due to the decentralized nature of the chapter each squad has it's own warcry or lack thereof.
Created to help reinforce the space surrounding the Cadian Gate and the Eye of Terror. The chapter is part of the Astartes Praesus.
Battle tactics/history-
The chapter followed the codex closely but specialised in fleet actions, boarding, ship to ship fighting. Bigger than average fleet due to the size of space it patrolled.
3 Battle Barges
9 Strike Cruisers
up to 25 escorts

Pre-Invasion
Defeated the chaos war bands of Algrammar the bloody, a greater daemon of Khorne.
Annihilated the marauding Dark Eldar pirates of the Void Talons kabal.
Also defeated and recaptured several vessels from a renegade segmentum obscurus flotilla.
Responsible for the reclamation of over 50 suits of terminator armour (Identified as pre-heresy, belonging to the Imperial Fist legion, they were subsequently returned to the Imperial Fist chapter) from the Space Hulk classified as “Pit of Shades” [Inquisitorial note: The hulk was infested with genestealers, there were also several examples of xenos and pre-heresy imperial technology that was handed over to the Mechanicus] although during the boarding actions the first chapter master of the Sentinels of Uphrateus was slain early on, the Sentinels carried on without a single misstep or hitch, the extracted many valuable items of technology and any war gear before detonating charges in the hulks plasma reactors.

Loss of contact
Some time during the Balur crusade the Eye of Terror enveloped the Uphrateus system. The Sentinels had gathered to celebrate their recent success over the Arch-tyrant of Kerys and were all presumed lost. All attempts to contact the system failed. The Sentinels were struck from the roll of active astartes and the system coded for eventual deletion from Imperial archives.

Reclaiming Uphrateus
200 years later the Eye of Terror surrounding the planet receded and exploratory probes sent to investigate the system. The system was found to be chaos held, largely by the Word Bearer legion and their auxillaries but they had allies in the form of a large war band of World Eaters and a terror force of Night Lords, although both had taken heavy casualties in fighting the Sentinels. The Sentinels were found to be fighting the Word Bearers at their capital. A vast and unholy cathedral dedicated to chaos which stood on the site of the ruined Sentinels fortress-monastery.
It was this attack that had forced the warp to retreat from the system. However the Sentinels had taken heavy casualties and a Chaos Sorcerer by the name of Lord Mindblighter sought to summon a mighty Khornate Daemon host to destroy the Sentinels. 2 great companies of the Space Wolf chapter were tasked with reclaiming the system but would not arrive in time to stop the summoning. For this purpose a Culexus assassin was sent to assassinate the Chaos Lord.
The assassin was successful but the Sentinels could not take the cathedral and began to retreat. It was then they revealed their original mission. The entire attack had been a distraction for a force of marines to infiltrate the maze of tunnels under the cathedral and set charges to destroy the entire cathedral. They succeeded with devastating effectiveness and the entire cathedral was destroyed and not a stone was left standing. The Sentinels then scattered and assisted the Space Wolf great companies in planetfall and retaking the planet. The other planets in the Uphrateus system had been relatively untouched by the forces of Chaos. They were reclaimed easily.

New Organisation
The chapter was scattered during the first year of conflict. Most 'companies' are little more than War bands, squads are usually mixed with whoever was at hand resulting in a squad being made from devastator, assault and tactical operatives.
Each war band is responsible for its own recruitment and equipment meaning the chapter as a whole rarely fights together but each war band is essentially autonomous. The Sentinels submitted to purity tests after the reclamation and were found pure by a covenant of the Inquisition.
Inquistion Note: Each war band claims to be the 1st company, it is unknown what elements of the original Sentinels make up what elements of this current organisation.
The chapter currently consists of 400-500 marines currently divided into 8 war bands of around 50 or more marines in each. Some of these war bands consist entirely of vehicles such as Brother-Sergeant Sorrel's war band which comprises of 4 predator destructors, 2 predator annihilators, 2 land raiders, 6 vindicators and 3 whirlwinds.

New battle tactics and recent engagements-
The SoU now harbours a deep hatred of Chaos, for obvious reasons. They now employ a hit-and-run, guerrilla and psychological warfare tactics to make up for their depleted numbers.

During the Karrel's world uprising they arrived after disguising their ships, equipment and armour as belonging to the Blood Angels chapter and using enough drop pods for over 4 times their number they made planet-fall and infiltrated the besieged Ramik hive. Each squad then began to sabotage and destroy key objectives before the entire war band went dark for almost a year before then committing a series of bloody raids on command targets and sabotaging almost every vehicle in the rogue PDF's armoury over the course of 3 months. This left the defenders bewildered and demoralised and ripe for the imperial forces outside of the city. A message of thanks was sent by the Lord-General in command of the Imperial forces to Commander Dante of the Blood Angels. To this day few know the truth behind the Karrel's world suppression. The reason for the disguise is unknown but it is believed by the Inquisition that the Sentinels were attempting a sector wide deception campaign to convince the forces of chaos that the Blood Angels were spread thin across the segmentum obscurus. The tactic is believed to have worked as all Blood Angel positions across the sector were assaulted and subsequently held by the Blood Angels with massive enemy casualties.

On the world of Traneris, two war bands of the Sentinels deployed to fight the recently renegade populace. Knowing they were outnumbered the Sentinels disguised themselves as Chaos renegades and arrived in orbit of the planet declaring their allegiance for the world and for Chaos. The governor accepted their help and the Sentinels infiltrated their way into every part of the defence forces. The Sentinels installed a new hierarchy in the military that led directly to them and only them, each marine was given command of a contingent of rebel PDF. Finally an honour guard was assigned to the governor. When Imperial forces arrived in orbit the Sentinels sprang their trap, charges went off in power plants, orbital defences, ammo dumps, vehicle sheds, barracks and key infrastructure. The marines turned on the men under their command gunning them down before disappearing. The renegade PDF was left leaderless as their power armoured advisers killed anyone capable of commanding anything more than a platoon. The governor was cut down by his 'honour guard' who also destroyed his palace with demolition charges for good measure. When the forces of the Imperium arrived at the capitol city they found sergeant Garran of the 1st company and Commander Trakya also of the 1st company in front of the gates, the Sentinels formally issued the Tranerisian surrender before returning to their ships.

Home world-
The planet of Uphrateus had once been a hive world home to the Sentinels, it is located slightly south of the Eye of Terror. 86% of the planet was hive city with the remaining 14% being water mass. After the invasion the civilian populace fragmented into tribes of humans living off what they can find. The Sentinels use these tribes as a recruitment source.
The tribes not only fight with each other but also the predators in the ruins. The predators include large reptiles and packs of smaller canines. The entire surface of Uphrateus is now more or less 1 massive urban wasteland. The Sentinel's new fortress-monastery is in an unknown location [Inquisition Note:Find it! If the Sentinels ever go rogue they will be difficult to root out] current thinking indicates that each war band maintains its own base with secondary bases scattered all over the cities.
The Sentinels decide on chapter wide matters through the meeting of each war bands leader at a secret location, this location is changed and each leader goes alone. It is unknown which war band is more senior or who is in overall command, however the most likely suspect for leadership would be Iago Wynter, leader of a war band numbering almost 80 marines (including vehicles crews for 4 vindicators) he has so far been the representative of the Sentinels to the Inquisition and other Imperial organisations.

Contact with other chapters-
So far the Sentinels of Uphrateus have had limited contact with other astartes chapters, the little contact it has had has mainly been negative. Other chapters have looked on the Sentinels with disdain for using underhand tactics. On several occasions this has turned into more hostile behaviour when the Sentinels imitates another chapter to fool enemy forces into guessing at their composition or possible tactics.
However one of the few chapters the Sentinels have had good contact with is the Space Wolves,the Celestial Lions and the Exorcists.
The Space Wolf chapter helped them reclaim their home world, it also helped re-supply them along with making their case of purity to the Inquisition, in return the Sentinels have pledged to assist the Space Wolves in any venture.
The Exorcists have sent a detachment of marines to the Sentinels to assist them in learning anti-daemon tactics, though they found little to teach them the two chapters have grown close.
Three war bands of the Sentinels have also begun the trip to Armageddon it is expected they will make contact with the Celestial Lions to honour a pact made on the day of their chapter's founding to assist the chapter in their hour of need.

Anyone?

Its one of the few custom chapters I've that has a history that isn't Mary Sue. Meaning it isn't lost 1st founding, super prestigious, silly real world names (like basing it off of mythological or historical figures), or closet furries or vampires (unlike the official chapters...)

Its pretty in depth, and definitely an interesting read.

How long did it take to get the numbers back up to where they are now after being depleted by prolonged chaos invasion?

The Sentinels recruited from the remnants of the civilian population during the war but after they retook the planet it took almost 150 years to recruit to where they are now.

The giant wall of text scares me.

coolyo294 wrote:The giant wall of text scares me.

Sorry for that...

notabot187 wrote:Its one of the few custom chapters I've that has a history that isn't Mary Sue. Meaning it isn't lost 1st founding, super prestigious, silly real world names (like basing it off of mythological or historical figures), or closet furries or vampires (unlike the official chapters...)

Its pretty in depth, and definitely an interesting read

Says it as good as anyone can. good stuff, PF

nice job. I like it.

Definitely a good background. Very interesting!

Could we have some info on their colour scheme and symbols?

I'll be posting that sometime soon.
Need to figure out what their colour scheme is...

Beliefs-
The Sentinels believe that their mission to fight the enemy takes precedent over any and all civilian lives or property. They have been known to destroy an entire city block to destroy enemy emplacements. They have planted bombs in civilian vehicles to catch their adversaries off-guard. They have used civilians as cover or even living bombs in some cases. This attitude towards the Emperor's subjects has brought them into conflict on more than one occasion, with other chapters and other organisations. Most notably the famously philanthropic Salamanders during the aftermath of the Traneris rebellion. Another instance was with the planetary governor of Idel prime, when a scout squad stole his private skimmer and tore through the streets chasing a Dark Eldar raider bearing the newest Archon of the Void Talons cabal. The raider was downed and the Archon eliminated after a lengthy chase in which the governors skimmer suffered irreparable damage.

The Librarium-
The Librarium of the chapter was devastated during the war. There are only 4 full librarians left and less than a dozen initiates with psychic talent. However the few left are very potent psykers having survived full immersion in the Eye of Terror and been able to tell the tale. The Chief Librarian of the Sentinels died almost instantly when the system was engulfed his named successor died a few weeks later during the initial invasion. The current master of the Librarium has not been chosen as the few remaining librarians are currently ensuring the Sentinel have a librarium to draw upon. The war bands of the Sentinels have mixed feelings about psykers as some see them as the embodiment of the enemy they have just spent the last 200 years fighting, whilst others see them as the only defence against chaos. The newest librarium is on the northern polar continent, safely buried deep within the polar sector's ruins, which was practically untouched by chaos forces.

The Chapliancy-
The Sentinels are not an overly zealous chapter. They have seen hell and fought for their very survival unceasingly for over 200 years. This has given them a somewhat odd aspect of the imperial cult. They view the Emperor as most astartes chapters do, the prime examples of humanity, but with a somewhat more pragmatical view on religion. The chaplaincy of the Sentinels however is even more deeply entrenched in their faith than before. They are zealots willing to pay any price in the name of victory, often charging into battle with numberless hordes or mighty war machines despite the odds, because of this very few war bands are willing to take them into battle unless it is open warfare and even then they are not especially liked. The new sanctum of the Sentinels is under the ruined capital city of Uphrateus right next to everything that drives the chapter and at the heart of their biggest loss.

The Forge-
The Forge of the Sentinels consists only of two individuals. One is Forgemaster Xanthius, the other is his apprentice Ferrsh. Xanthius is forgemaster only because all other techmarines in the chapter are dead. Upon being informed of his colleges demise he set off alone but for his apprentice and retrieved the bodies of the other techmarines and stripped them of their armour, weapons, implants and gene-seed. Xanthius never said why but it is common belief that he now wears the former Forgemaster's boots, this has led to a tradition in the Sentinels for an officer or squad leader to wear the armour of their predecessor The new forge of the Sentinels has been set-up deep inside a volcano using the geothermal energy to power it.

I like the edgier side that you've given them, it certainly sets them apart from vanilla marines chapters without resorting to geneseed pollution as someone else further up the thread mentioned. It almost, but not quite, has an aplha legion feel, but in a much more loyalist way. This is definitely a compliment by the way!

Its nice to see a SM chapter being pragmatic rather than dogmatic, it certainly makes them more, real IMO, and altogether more relate-able (sp?). I know thats not always the done thing with superhuman warriors, but in this case it works really well. Now all I'm waiting for is the colour scheme to complete the mental image.

Sentinels of Uphrateus colours.
The shoulder trim and the insignia on the chest can change according to the warband and the squad a marine belongs to.



Automatically Appended Next Post:
Tadaa! The image now works.

Notable members of the Sentinels

"Iago Winter is possibly the most treacherous bastard i have ever had the misfortune of meeting"-Supreme Grand Master Azrael of the Dark Angels Chapter
Commander Iago Winter is fast becoming infamous for his tactics and strategy across the Segmentum Obscurus. He is known for his last minute actions and deceptive strategies. He has turned the tables on a foe more than once with his overly deceptive and elaborate plans. He wields one of the chapter's few remaining relic blades and a bewildering array of back-up weapons.
The war band of Iago Winter is larger than most despite having pulled off some of the most daring raids during the fight for their home world.
It currently numbers 80 marines including 4 vindicators salvaged from the chapter original vehicles. Commander Winter is currently reinforcing a Blood Angels and Dark Angels crusade, tensions within the command group are running high.

"Damreth has a long skein and it shall not end for many years yet"-Harald Deathspeaker, Rune priest of the Space Wolf Chapter
Librarian Damreth is the most senior of all the surviving librarians. As the Eye began to engulf the system he was hit by the Chief librarian's psychic feedback which left him permanently blind, however he compensates for this by using his psychic senses. Librarian Damreth is a grim man having seen his chapter and everything they stand for teeter upon the edge of extinction. Damreth is increasingly obsessed with conserving all the data they managed to rescue from the fortress-monastery before it was destroyed. He is also a staunch believer that the chapter should return to the old ways however he realises that this is impossible, the chapter may not have been tainted by chaos, but they were changed. Damreth is currently training more talented members for the Librarium in the Sentinels polar fortress on Euphrateus.

"Master Frax is a holy man indeed, his faith shall carry him through the stars of the Imperium and to victory time and time again. It shall not be a lesser being that fells Frax"-Veteran Sergeant Arrohel of the Exorcist Chapter
Master of Sanctity Frax is the master of the chapliancy. It is he who inspire the Sentinels to do the work of the Emperor and it is he who held the chapter together during those dark days. Frax's steadfast belief in the divinity of the Emperor has been a shining example to the Sentinels as they fought the heretical Word Bearers. Frax slew the Dark Apostle Serazunar whilst chanting the catechisms of hate over the Apostles own unholy chanting. Frax also tumbled the greater daemon Algrammar the Bloody with but a single word of faith having been driven to the point of death fighting him in single combat. Frax is currently en-route to the warzone in Armageddon.

Nice background!

I suppose you are planning to create models for these three characters? Do you already have plans on how you're gonna represent them?

Laodamia wrote:Nice background!

I suppose you are planning to create models for these three characters? Do you already have plans on how you're gonna represent them?

For the Commander and the Librarian yes. I will probably build The Master of Sanctity at some point but i don't have any plans for him right now.

Notable characters cont.

"I'm not entirely sure Kandor is aware he is mortal"-Lieutenant Alonso of the 31st Grimnurst irregulars
Master-Sergeant Kandor is the proclaimed leader of a war band numbering only 20 marines and 10 initiated scouts. This war band however has been responsible for some of the most thorough assassinations to date. Kandor and his war band specialise in improvised plans and assassinations. This may sounds paradoxical at first but after witnessing Kandor and his meagre troops in action none can doubt their strange expertise at their work. Kandor has also been responsible for leading Imperial Guard regiments in some very bloody rearguard, forlorn hope and Last Stand actions, such as the final stand of the 56th Freeman Heralds. The assassinations of the rogue inquisitor Imhenst, and the ork war lords 'Eadsmasher and Leadbiter have been attributed to Kandor. Although he has not claimed responsibility, these assassinations match the pattern of Kandor's other targets demises, they are usually characterised by an opening round of sniper fire before being followed by a number of melta or demo charges before a lance strike is called in to devastate anything remaining.
Kandor works closely with other Imperial forces in his operational area sometimes entirely taking over an operation or assault if their leaders prove incompetent or die. Kandor is currently in operational command of 3 Imperial guard regiments defending the besieged hive city of Kalakteris hive on Fracia prime, reinforcements are inbound for both the besieged and the besiegers and the battle is estimated to last for at least another half decade.

"Sergeant Garran is a treacherous son of a whore and he would be dead if he stood still for half a second"-Captain Heist of the Imperial Fists Space Marine chapter.
Sergeant Garran leads a modestly sized war band numbering around 50 marines. He is especially talented at deception. Garran uses any and all advantages to distract and fool the enemy. On several occasions he has managed to fool enemy commanders into believig he has 300 marines under his command and not simply 50, this has been achieved through the use of the war bands entire contingent of drop pods, rhinos and thunderhawks to attack an enemy position. Many times he has not even had to attack an enemy directly instead he infiltrates their ranks disguised as members of traitor legions before destroying vital systems and personel and escaping. On the world of Jiryl he managed to start a war between a war band of World Eaters and a contingent of the Word Bearers by faking a series of transmissions which eventually boiled down to hurling insults at the World Eaters over the Word Bearers vox channels.
Sergeant Garran's whereabouts are currently unknown but the Inquisitor Aldmen has narrowed his location down to 1 of 5 different worlds.

The Sanguis Draconis
The Sanguis Draconis, a chapter formed during the same founding as the Sentinels, has more recently established an understanding with the Sentinels regarding their tactics. The Sentinels, still understrength from the invasion, assist the Sanguis Draconis in finding heretical cults and weak points in enemy held strongholds allowing the full might of the Draconis strikeforce's to hit home with devastating effect.
This has been witnessed several times but none have been so terrifyingly brutal as the assault on Erreck's World shipyards massacre.

Erreck's World is an uninhabitable desert world with no water and very little shelter. However it is situated in just the right place for the Imperial Navy to establish a re-supply point.
Over the centuries this grew into a full sized shipyard capable of refitting an entire fleet at once. A century before the Sentinels rediscovery, the shipyards were attacked and captured by Chaos forces with the help of Dark Eldar mercenaries and traitors inside the shipyard itself. The shipyard was to remain in the hands of Chaos for almost 4 centuries before the Draconis Sanguis was charged with retaking the shipyards.
The assault on the shipyards fell under the command of the zealous Captain Q'eras of the 4th company with elements of the 7th assault company.
Captain Q'eras studied the blueprints and plans of the shipyards for weeks until realising that any conventional attack would destroy the company before it even got close.
Q'eras began to search for other options of attack and found that a small war band of Sentinels was on patrol nearby, having heard of their reputation for infiltration and trickery he approached their ship and requested their assistance. Better the enemy was punished by what he viewed as the Emperor's most unworthy servants than not punished at all.
The Sentinels agreed to help and soon scattered and disapeared.
A four months later they reappeared bearing updated blueprints, troop dispositions, key power hubs and even what the shipyard commander liked to eat for his evening meal.
Q'earas began to plan his assault. The Sentinels would sabotage the shipyards outer defences and their infiltrated scouts would begin a power struggle inside. Whilst this occured the Draconis would board the station and begin the reclaimation.
The strikeforce left their holding positions and made for the shipyards.
The attack was wholly unexpected and few defences were operational long enough to pose a threat to the Sanguis Draconis' Strike Cruisers.
The Sanguis Draconis boarded the orbital station and the slaughter truly began.
Frustrated from the past 2 months of no action, the Sanguis Draconis tore the Chaos troops apart in a frenzy of holy fury and purifying flames. Entire platoons were slaughtered before they could even report they were attacked.
During this the Sentinels acted as a mobile recon force within the labyrinthine shipyard, identifying heavy troop concentrations and bringing the wrath of the Draconis on the Chaos forces.
The one-sided conflict lasted almost a week despite the newly promoted Chaos commander's attempts to surrender and when they routed to a strong point the Draconis simply blew open the airlocks on the increasingly small Chaos held part of the shipyards.
With the shipyards purged Imperial Navy personnel moved in and began restoring the base to it's former status.
The Sentinels and the Draconis parted on what couldn't be described as a friendship but more of a tolerance for each other.
Since then the Sentinels have time and time again come to the aid of the Draconis and vice versa.

Pretty damn good. It appears to flow with ease in you, my friend.

For reference, the 40k Background forum is for discussion of published fluff. Original material goes in Dakka Fiction. Thanks!

Loving the background to your chapter. It all flows well. I particularly like the organisation of the chapter, having been impacted by the chapter's history.

Glad you like it.

Holy crap. There were 3 awesome tidbits of fluff that really made me like that huge wall of text.

Einz: Loyalist warbands. Very cool.

Zwei: Every warband claims to be first company. THIS WAS VERY VERY COOL. And I haven't seen it done before.

Drei: Recruiting from a world that is pretty much Lud from Stephen King's Dark Tower series (sorry that I made such an obscure connection). Very cool.

Glad you liked it.
I wasn't aware of the third point but it sounds awesome so i may have to read up on it. Thanks.

So this fluff is fantastic. Very well done. Are there any special FoC changes or other special rules that these guys have?

Nope...
I use the SM codex as is.