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My own Space Marine chapter!

A religiously fanatical chapter, the Dark Crusaders were created from a mix of the gene-seed of Sanguinus and Corax. This resulted in genetic mutations of the mind, leading to an abundance of psykers within the chapter. They are led by Grand Master Isaiah Eden, who wields the combi-flamer Judgements and the power axe Revelation. As a sort of joke, the mized gene-seed has resulted in female space marines.
There are many different types of squads within the Chapter - Avenger Terminator squads, Wrathguard, Steelstorm, Psyflame and Darkblade Veterans, along with Chaos Warders, Darkened and Psychic Wardens.

1st Company:
Captain Ashaya Veridas
Composed of Veterans and Terminators.

2nd Company:
Captain Charin Ezekius
Composed of Psychic Wardens and Tactical squads.

3rd Company:
Captain Denrath Thrast
Composed of Tactical, Devastator and Assault squads.

4th Company:
Captain Shalia Reth
Composed of Tactical, Devastator and Assault squads.

5th Company:
Shadow company. Led by the Chaos Warder Vayellith.

6th Company:
Shadow company. Led by the Darkened Shar-Khar the Scarred.

7th Company:
Psychic Company. Led by Chief Librarian Callidex.
Composed of Tactical squads and Psychic Wardens.

8th Company:
Captain Baherrin Alrach
Composed of Tactical, Devastator and Assault squads.

9th Company:
Captain Erin Shadroth
Composed of Tactical, Devastator and Assault squads.

10th Company:
Shadow company. Composed of various types of Darkened and other forsaken Crusaders. Commander unknown.


The Dark Crusaders do not suffer from the xenophobia the rest of the Imperium does, and has gone so far as to utilise alien technology. Thus, their Darkblade Veterans sport wargear such as the Gauss Bolter, Pulse Blaster, Disintegrator Bolter, Laslance and Devourer Bolter. They work with the Ordo Psychicae to monitor the flows of psychic energy around the Imperium and react to any anomalies.

One of their greatest exploits was the chase for a shard of Horus' armour - it was taken from the Warmaster's corpse by Abaddon, stolen by a rogue Chaos Sorcerer and passed from generation to generation through murder, leaving a bloody trail. Captain Ashaya Veridas led her company to find it. During the battle, it was taken by an Eldar Farseer, who Ashaya chased. Invading the Eldar craftworld she took the shard... and was subsequently captured by Chaos.

The Eldar and Space Marines formed an uneasy truce to take down the Chaos fleet. They caught up with their foes over a lost world. Terminators rescued Ashaya just as the Chaos ship was blown to pieces by xeno and Imperial fire.

When the enemy had fallen to the planet below, the truce was broken and ultimately the Eldar destroyed. Ashaya then took her remaining forces down to find the shard, and although they did, they were ambushed by an ork Waaagh! and pursued. Now, the Dark Crusaders were followed by vengeful Eldar from Craftworld Iyanden, infuriated Chaos from the Black Legion and an ork Waaagh!, as well as a Tyranid hive fleet the Shard had attracted.

The final battle took place over the Dark Crusader homeworld of Nirvana. For hours they battled, until finally the skies split open.

Aid had come from not one but five other Chapters - Ultramarines, Raven Guard, Black Templars, Imperial Fists and Blood Angels. Mere minutes after they arrived and started bombarding the enemy forces, the Tau appeared as well, intent on nullifying the armada before it could pose a threat to the Greater Good. For days, the different factions fought each other, forging temporary alliances and breaking them within hours. Necrons phased in, their Gauss weaponry spitting indiscriminate death to all. During this time, the Dark Crusaders fought with weapons that seemed ironic to their allies. Devourer bolters blasted apart Tyranids, Gauss bolters atomically split the Necrons, and Pulse blasters shredded through dozens of Tau.

On the fifteenth day of battle, the skies rained fire. Out of nowhere, storms of Dark Eldar raiding craft broke down upon Nirvana, Ravagers disintegrating whole squads of Terminators and swooping out of range before taking a hit. Mandrakes infiltrated the buildings, while Venoms dispatched their passengers right on top of those Marines deemed a threat. No less than three Kabals had joined forces for this greatest of realspace raids - the Iron Thorns, the Slashed Eye, and even Asdrubael Vect's Kabal of the Black Heart.

For three more days the fighting continued, until by some incredible coincidence the leaders of all the forces found themselves on the same battlefield. Each sought out their rivals, eager to shed the blood of their foes.

Isaiah Eden single-handedly slew a Hive Tyrant with a full bodyguard of Hive Guard. Blood Angels Chief Librarian Mephiston ripped apart the Tau battlesuit commander. Asdrubael Vect flayed the Iyanden Autarch alive. Darnath Lysander crushed the Necron lord. The ten Dark Crusader captains acted as an unstoppable force, striking down the most powerful Chaos forced. The Ork Warboss Gorbitz severely wounded Kayvaan Shrike.

Finally, the surviving leaders met to decide the fate of the world. Abaddon the Despoiler, Asdrubael Vect, Isaiah Eden and the Nightbringer fought. While Isaiah, Abaddon, the Nightbringer and Gorbitz tore at each other, Vect only stepped in to quickly strike at a wounded foe.

Gorbitz was first to fall, his nervous system shattered by a blow from Vect's sceptre. Isaiah, burning with psychic power, incinerated the Nightbringer as Abaddon ran the Grand Master through with Drach'nyen. Fighting the pain, Isaiah retaliated, striking down the Chaos Warmaster. Howling in rage, Abaddon teleported away, leaving just Vect and the wounded Isaiah.

Instead of striking the killing blow, Vect just laughed, walking away from the battle with the cryptic statement, "You fought well enough. But I will return again, and then you will pay the price of mercy."

Seeing their leaders fall, the foes of the Imperium melted away into the shadows of the Warp. Victory belonged to the Dark Crusaders.

Noooooooooo.

Female Space Marines are never a good idea, even as a joke.

It's um .. colourful ...

Welcome to the forums.

I'm not a fan of female Space Marines, but it's your dime.

I'm a bigger not a fan of mixing Gene Seed. Gene Seed manipulation is not only frowned upon, it's heresy. Again, it's your dime though.

Now post some pictures of your painted Space Marines!

kronk wrote:Welcome to the forums.

I'm not a fan of female Space Marines, but it's your dime.

I'm a bigger not a fan of mixing Gene Seed. Gene Seed manipulation is not only frowned upon, it's heresy. Again, it's your dime though.

Now post some pictures of your painted Space Marines!

So is Chaos-worship, but it's not like no one does THAT.

I suppose the situations are a bit different, as Chaos-worship can happen anywhere and anytime by - almost - anyone whereas the founding of a Chapter is rare and strictly monitored and performed by highly trustworthy individuals - okay, that last part I'm just making up, but it seems to make sense.

And I suppose when it was inevitably found out, the Chapter would be... I dunno, but something bad anywhere between, "Report for scrutiny and intensive medical tests. All of you," and, "Oh, and you see that chapter there? The one with the mixed- Yeah, that one. Take them out by any means necessary." And the Chapter would be forced to go on the run or probably be wiped out.


Back to the female Space Marine thing. I think a better explanation that would avoid the mixed geneseed issue would be that certain notable women who fought closely alongside the Chapter and proved their worth, were granted a suit of power armor. To make them more effective warriors, the extra room inside the armor was taken up by a strength-enhancing exoskeleton. All of this would have been done at the Chapter's expense - some Chapters are probably cool like that. They would also have been granted an honorary place in the Chapter, and allowed to work their way through the ranks as an equal. The same would apply to males who prove their worth in the same way, of course. You wouldn't see many such honorary Dark Crusaders, but you'd probably have a few throughout the Chapter.



But, like the guy I quoted said, it's your Chapter, run it the way you want. ^_^

It's, uh... it's a bit much. Seems like you're trying to do everything at once with them.

Pouncey wrote:
So is Chaos-worship, but it's not like no one does THAT.

Which is also heresy and will get your chapter into trouble. I'd say that Geneseed manipulation is only a very small step down from Chaos worship in the eyes of the Inquisition and would be punished just as harshly.

kronk wrote:

Pouncey wrote:
So is Chaos-worship, but it's not like no one does THAT.

Which is also heresy and will get your chapter into trouble. I'd say that Geneseed manipulation is only a very small step down from Chaos worship in the eyes of the Inquisition and would be punished just as harshly.

As I mentioned later in my post. ^_^

Mix gene-seed

AND female SM.......

you opened up a whole can of nerd rage for dakka lol

anyway, would love to see some painted minis.

So they're 'religiously fanatical' but tolerant of aliens and psykers (as well as being equal opportunities employers) - which rather eliminates two thirds of the Imperial Creed.

If you're having fun playing them and writing about them, I wouldn't dream of stopping you, but they're not really in keeping with the setting's dour, grim atmosphere. Where are the flaws and failings which make fictional characters interesting? What, for that matter, is in the least bit 'dark' about these Dark Crusaders?

Actually - new user, first post, hyperbolic army background that ticks most of the famous flamebait topics...

I suspect our friend here lives under a bridge and eats billy-goats.

Would be a bit much to write for just flamebait, eh?

That said, I don't like it, for the reasons already stated by others.

Yes, we all want to be the coolest and bestest and specialest. If everybody were special, no one would be special at all.

If you are not a troll, you could take my advice and stick with an official chapter.

So, in regards to the Chaos aspect... They're chasing a shard of the armour which Abaddon destroyed along with the rest of Horus, apart from the Talon. For some reason these Black Legion warriors don't destroy either the Eldar or the Necrons when they're chasing a piece of armour that according to fluff they don't even want. For some reason, Abaddon's sword fails to devour the soul of the person he's impaled, a female Space Marine, no less (but that's a whole different kettle of fish), and then you kill two main characters. Not to mention the fact that your entire story seems to revolve around 'They were going to do this, but then this guy turned up! And this guy! And then all of these people!'

And Gauss Bolters? Really?

English Assassin wrote:So they're 'religiously fanatical' but tolerant of aliens and psykers (as well as being equal opportunities employers) - which rather eliminates two thirds of the Imperial Creed.

Not tolerant of aliens and psykers, just not as xenophobic.

And the 'dark' is due to the inclusion of shadow companies in the chapter. There is an army special rule called 'Forsaken', which all Darkened and Chaos Warders have (as well a some psykers). The rest of the army has 'Crusade'.

Will post a photo when I figure out how... and when I manage to make the painting better. I suck at painting.

Also, above poster, when I read Necron codex I took it as if the Nightbringer could, if the necrodermis body was killed, make another one? Also, Abaddon didn't die. He ran away.