Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Now, obviously, the 10th company of a Space marine chapter that follows the codex to the letter, is devoted to scouts. But it also has a Captain, Chaplain, apothecary etc etc

Now I'm wondering if the Captain and the chaplain engage in scout missions behind enemy lines, or is that deemed to be 'below' them? Is the 10th company Captain just a figurehead, and if he is, would he get annoyed at not participating in fighting, or do the leaders of a 10th company get their hands dirty?

Thanks.

I always imagined he's stationed at the fortress monastery and is in head of recruiting and training and neophytes. He'd probably prefer to be out fighting but it's a great honour for any SM to be in charge of recruit the future of the chapter in his hands and even if he didn't like it a SM will do anything that he's told to do.

I *think* the Scout's HQ staff is just an organisational assignment. Much like the Reserves, the Scout company is not supposed to fight as an independent unit, but only in support of a Battle Company - which would deploy its own HQ staff, with the Battle Company's Captain taking command of the mission. The Scout Captain is also the Master of Recruits (see chart) and as such oversees the training of new initiates, whilst I believe the Chaplain and Apothecary to be required "on-site" within the Fortress Monastery as well to support the education and basically serve in the Marines' version of a boot camp.

That's my interpretation, anyways, based on how companies 6 through 10 have been said to be used.

I believe "GW Fluff-wise" the above are correct.

However I personally have modified my Chapter to be more like current military doctrine , i.e. true scouts ( Long Range Reconnaissance Patrols) are selected from already experienced individuals (Veterans if you will ) and consequently come from my slightly enlarged 1st Company. These guys do the preliminary recce on whatever targets are to be struck and mark landing sites / activate teleport beacons etc etc. They can conduct ambushes , demolitions and sniping way behind "enemy lines" with little or no support to weaken defences and confuse the enemy to the Astartes true intent. Think of Call of Duty :Black Ops / Metal Gear Solid etc etc and you have the idea.

Game wise this leads to some fun games of 8-10 (unseen) Veteran Astartes against unlimited Orcs / Tyranid / Cultists trying to destroy / kill / capture a Tech device / WarLord / Space port etc etc.

The above is way beyond the capabilities of even a well trained recruit and so I have the 10th organised as scouts but with more modest objectives , to screen the front of Astartes positions , company snipers and as Casualty replacements should battle companies require them.
They are also organised in the same way as regular Astartes squads and will occaisionally be used as regular marines to gain vital combat experience. They would be led by Veteran Sgts from the 10th.

In this organisation ,the Captain, Chaplain , Apothicary etc can all be reasonably expected to put in a battlefield showing from time to time , just to "keep there hand in".

Just my twopeneth worth !

Of course they fight. w/r/t reserve companies:

Entire [reserve] companies may be deployed to sieze or defend important objectives in large battles or campaigns. Alternatively, the Reserve companies can supply individual squads to the Battle companies...

A strike force ends up having like 200 marines, and multiple space craft. These guys are a chapter's entire presence in a solar system. They are conducting multiple operations at once. When there is a supporting objective three continents away, or on a satellite of another planet, a battle company captain would probably love to have another responsible officer around he could ask to go take care of things with the forty marines worth of reserve company squads, tanks, and land speeders he brought along.

The tenth captain almost definitely fights a good amount of time. However, he categorically is not a stealth master who is spends missions breathing through a straw and building punji traps. His job is not to be in an infiltrator, it's to control infiltration units. Besides sometimes fighting a daemon prince, his real job is to talk into a radio. There is a difference between scout sergeants, who command units that they are functional parts of, and captains, who command units they are not really parts of.

I don't really keep with this kind of modern studio material, but it is still informative to look at the chart from third edition. The tenth company includes, besides scout squads and veteran sergeants, separate groups called recruiting sergeants and neophytes. If it is at all reliable, scout squads are normal fighting units, and anyone still in training is not in one. For the same reason and those above, I think the company chaplain and apothecary are there largely to service the fighting units, and implantation has more to do with the chapter headquarters.

[quote=

The tenth captain almost definitely fights a good amount of time. However, he categorically is not a stealth master who is spends missions breathing through a straw and building punji traps. His job is not to be in an infiltrator, it's to control infiltration units. Besides sometimes fighting a daemon prince, his real job is to talk into a radio. There is a difference between scout sergeants, who command units that they are functional parts of, and captains, who command units they are not really parts of.

pelicaniforce wrote:
The tenth captain almost definitely fights a good amount of time. His job is not to be in an infiltrator, it's to control infiltration units. Besides sometimes fighting a daemon prince, his real job is to talk into a radio. There is a difference between scout sergeants, who command units that they are functional parts of, and captains, who command units they are not really parts of.

I approve. While most Marine officers are supposed to be at the front leading by example the Captain of the Scout Company is probably the one who spends the most time leading over radio instead. He'll charge into the fray only when and if his scouts find a target they can't take out on their own. His first job is after all to train new recruits.