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Hello everyone! With the new Marine Dex almost out I am looking at creating a Sternguard Drop Pod army and pontentially running it with my own homemade Chapter I have dubbed as the "Fire Drakes". Here is a brief fluff piece about them:

A successor Chapter of the Salamanders (unknown founding) that is smaller then other Space Marine Chapters due to the violence of their assaults. Their Combat Doctrine is that they specialize in is Drop Pod Assault or "Tip of the Spear" mentality that utilize a large number of Flame and Melta weapons much like the Fire Lords and Salamanders. They are a fleet based chapter with a very low number of vehicles but have an unsually high amount of Stormtalons, Stormravens and Thunderhawk Gunships, especially for a smaller sized chapter (currently numbering only 6 Companies).

Due to their unparalelled skill at using their Drop Pods they are invaluable to other Imperial Forces when it comes to planetary assaults, landing among the enemy or conducting surgical strikes behind enemy lines. Their favorite tactic is to saturate the planned drop zone with incendiary missiles and air strikes before the drop pod hits. Unlike most chapters it is also common for fliers such as Stormtalons and Stormravens to accompany the Drop Pods to earth to better clear landing zones for their infantry, though risky it has proven very effective. Also being a smaller chapter they are made up of alot of veterans as only the best continue to survive the many drop podassaults.

Now with this in mind I have been trying to come up with a scheme that fits both their fighting style and their heritage and have come up with the following scheme (I am sorry but I am at work and it has the Bolterandchainsword Marine Painter blocked )

Helmet: White
Primary Color: An "Ash Grey" much like this http://www.dakkadakka.com/gallery/9358-.html
Should Pad Insert: Orange
Shoulder Pad Trim: Either Orange or the Ash Grey of the armor
Shoulder Pad Style: Looking at using these from Chapterhouse or trying to find someone to custom sculpt some: http://chapterhousestudios.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=85_86_108&product_id=246
Logo: http://www.renomartialarts.com/fire_dragon.jpg" target="_new" rel="nofollow"> http://www.renomartialarts.com/fire_dragon.jpg

This is just a first rough draft idea of what I am thinking but if you guys think of something else that is much more creative or would fit the theme of a "Fire Drakes" Space Marine chapter let me know and thanks for your help guys!

Most I can think of to suggest is making green stuff flames on the armor, gives character and since their armor isn't black they won't be confused with Legion of the Damned. Maybe simplify the logo design as well or it will be hell to put it into practice. Only other thing is heavy drop pod assaults are usually called "steel rain" in 40k fluff. Not trying to be mean, just trying to help ya as much as I can since I have a thing for custom armies. Have fun, colors btw sound good

Aren't the "fire Drakes" the name of the salamanders first company?

Otherwise it sounds like a good plan for a Marine army. To help set hem apart you could also use the armorcast.com flamed effects o accentuate their theme.
http://armorcast.com/store/popup_image.php?pID=822

Yeah I'm fairly sure they are as im about to start a salamanders army

You can play around with the Space Marine painter and link your results so we can give you feedback.

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/smpbeta.php

For the shoulder trim, do you want to adhere to codex norms? This is normally where company colors are shown. So the vets would have white (which would look good with the white helmets) but normal marines would need a different color. With your "smaller chapter" bit, I'd say you don't have any reserve companies, just 1st vets, 2-5 battle, and 6th scouts. Yellow, red, green, and black are traditionally the colors of the battle companies. Orange is normally the 6th company colors.

What I'd suggest is going with a white helmet/trim for the vets. For the normal marines, I'd keep the helmet in the armor's ash grey color, and go with black trim 5th company. Although the green might work.