The Brotherhood of the Mammoth
Chapter Origins
The Brotherhood of the Mammoth was at one point a doomed company, lost and stranded upon a feral death world known as Kor, thought lost to time. Rumor has it that they were once a crusading chapter, the company’s vessels awash in a sea of chaos, and shipwrecked upon a world in the earliest stages of civilization. The Brotherhood of the Mammoth fought tooth an nail for survival on a savage and unforgiving world. Marines died out and, to spare the world they now called home from the ravages of chaos, they could only select from the local population. So high was the death rate that all 100 originally marines soon died and were replaced by their successors. Combat doctrine became, weapons became holy artifacts, and their faith in the Emperor melded with local, primitive, superstitions. By the time the Imperium made contact with them once again, almost seven hundred years later, they were a changed lot.
Their fanatical devotion and savage military tactics made them unparalleled weapons of war- if not blunt ones. Their genetic stock had changed, tempered by the harsh environmental pressures of their home world and even the brightest minds could not tell from what stock they came. For their unwavering service, and so they could be made useful, they were refounded as a Chapter and their genetic stock flourished with many new recruits from their death world home planet of Kor.
Present Day
The Brotherhood of the Mammoth, or “Mammoths” are shock troopers used when subtlety is not required. They are employed primarily by the Inquisition and the Ecclesiarchy have many preachers and missionaries amongst their number. They are used against Orks mostly and are returned to their savage homeworld after their mission. The Space Wolves and White Scars (and their successor chapters) seem to like them just fine but most other chapter find them “dumb” and brutish.
Chapter Disposition
Mammoths are a simple lot, most only speak a degenerated form of low Gothic, and following tribal ways. They revere the Emperor and have been re-educated since rejoining the Imperium but in private they still have a bit of a merged faith system. They see him as a benevolent defender of humanity, protecting them from predators, and this is good enough for the Inquisition- it is a simple interpretation but it is one that keeps them on the path. To them the term “Emperor” is a proper noun; the personal name for their deity- not a rank or title someone can have.
Mammoths are always awed by weaponry as it has superstitious meaning to them. Before their rediscovery they passed down weapons marine to marine and repaired them with whatever they could. Many of their bolters have hand-carved wooden casings or pieces of metal replaced with bone. Since a single bolter round could fell a herd animal or kill a predator and they had such a limited supply of them- they believe that they are partially divine or somehow magical in nature.
Bullets are called “Emperor’s Stone” or, in their slang, “Ump’tones” and they believed that they can literally called the wrath of the Emperor down upon whatever they pointed it at. While the understand the fundamentals of how weapons work- they believe that bolter rounds (ump’tones) double as religious artifacts. They were able to maintain a small supply of ammo from an ancient emergency ammunition converter, known as “The Giver” from the pre-heresy time that was stored on their ship as a relic- it produced just one round per day if the proper minerals were placed in it. They used to earn ump’tones for acts of valor.
They also believed magic utterances gave the ump’tone greater power and would often yell or scream as their fired their weapon. In modern times they have reclaimed the full knowledge of how these weapons work but still believe in the superstitious practices of old. Thus they still scream when they fire as they believe it invokes the Emperor and hold bolter rounds (particularly those produced by The Giver).
Genetics / Physical Appearance
Genetically Mammoths have a relatively pure genetic stock though they tend to be somewhat shorter and stockier than other marines. They are about 10% shorter and wider. They have thicker brows than most and grow an abundance of dark hair (facial, and on their head). For this reason they rarely wear helmets- few fit their enlarged brows and those with heavy beards or hair find it impossible to properly seal it.
During the lost ages getting the geneseed and sheer
raw materials to make new marines was quite difficult. While the apothecaries and attendants of the crashed crusading vessel were still alive the process was relatively straightforward but as they died off and machines stopped working the process became more and more difficult. Technical details passed into story and many superstitions and rituals sprung up around the process. During the last century before the Imperium made contact with them the process was almost entirely unpredictable and they surely would have ceased producing marines. During the lost times there were many partially created marines who lacked certain organs or elements and even some who could not wear power armor due to the lack of black carapace. These failures were either remedied or the marines killed in battle shortly after the chapter was taken back into the fold.
Orks
Mammoths are very effective against orks, though not in the tradational way. The Mammoths love to brawl with greenskins and will go out of their way to kill them. Their way of thinking share some similarities and orcs seem to “respect” the Mammoth’s ways of fighting. They have a tendency to savagely beat the orcs at their own games and a frequent occurrence is that a Mammoth Chief (Captain) will kill a warboss in one-on-one combat. Special titles and trinkets are bestowed upon brothers who kill a warboss (this is often part of the rite of claiming the title of chief).
Units
Techmarines: Mammoths lack techmarines, their gear requisitions are handled primarily by the inquisition and several tech-priests have been assigned to act as support units.
Hunters (Tactical Marines):
Marines who have proven themselves on an offworld mission (called a “hunt” by the Mammoths) are awarded an ump’tone, a bolter, and the armor of a marine. Hunters are judged by how many kills they make and many carve it into their armor or paint it on. Hunters live together in a cave dwelling, known as a lodge, and are expected to live or die together. They hunt daily with bows and arrows or knives to keep their skills sharp. Hunters switch caves due to political and social reasons and sometimes certain units are deployed with more or less squad members than their expected number (range from 5-10 marines).
Elder (Sergeants): Elders are older marines who have served for decades become the
de facto leaders of a cave of hunters. While imperial records try to keep track of who is a squad’s Sergeant, it’s often quite difficult to tell. As it’s the oldest one and marines shift caves frequently, an older marine may move caves to join a new one.
Chiefs (Captain): A dozen or so caves make up a tribe. A tribe is equivalent to a Company though the numbers are rough. “Chief”, a title equivalent to that of a Captain, is a title won by beating the last chief who is typically exiled after his failure. A chief has a small retinue of bodyguards, typically old hunter buddies, and his cave is the “high cave”- the cave highest in elevation over that of his brothers.
Herders (Assault Marines): Mammoths keep herds of animals for food and sport. Herders are responsible for the tribe’s animals, which often take the place of their vehicles. These brothers typically go somewhat feral themselves and are particularly cruel. They often grow their hair out quite long and paint their faces like fierce animals, and modify their armor extensively to have animalistic elements to it. They ride pterodactyls into combat and are famous for using thunderclaws and small hand-held power hatchets.
Stonemen (Devastators):
Those who have earned the right to sling the Emperor Stones dedicate themselves to mastering the art. In the time before the Imperium they often only had a single round of ammunition and they became expert marksmen; if they missed they died. Stonemen also are masters of the sling and in the before times they would often use slings to fire bolter rounds or the few remaining grenades at their targets with uncanny accuracy. Unlike normal marines they use long range weapons like sniper rifles, stalker pattern bolters, las guns, and even their own bolter/grenade slings as a last resort. They are able to pip an ace miles away and account for even the worst conditions of a shot. Stonemen can use a long range weapon effectively even at melee ranges.
Vultures (Scout Sergeants)
When the process of creating space marines became too difficult to maintain in the days before Imperium reclaimed the chapter some of the marines were not fully developed. While they have since been given the necessary processes, they never matured quite as much and are thus on par with scouts typically. However they are considered some of the bravest and most honored members of the chapter as they fight despite their weakness. Many are some of the older members of the chapter and they train the newer members of the chapter, teaching them the old and savage ways.
Chicks (Scouts)
A chick is a new scout. They are typically armed with less civilized weapon (bows, slings, spears, knives, hatchets, etc) when first inducted and sent into the wild to claim their first kill. When they return their tribe feasts on the kill and they are allowed to learn the ways of the modern weapons (like bolters). Because of this “chicks” are often seen with weapons like bows and arrows still on their backs as backup weapons. They are mostly armed with melee weapons and tend to shy away from heavy ranged (as not all of them have practiced extensively with them yet).
Biters (Chaplain): Biters are skalds who, in the elder day committed every technical manual, every logbook, and every scrap of data from their wrecked ship to memory and passed it down to future biters. They act as teachers, spiritual advisers, wise men, and as inspirations to the mammoth hordes. In combat their primary goal is to instill fear in the enemy. They paint their faces like nightmarish beasts, file their teeth to sharp points, and grow their nails long. The name “biters” comes from their practice of filing their teeth and that they are ever watchful of their flock- often using savage methods to keep their brother marines loyal.
Drummers (Librarians): Psykers are rare among mammoths and are not your typical disciplined battle brother. They possess none of the normal talents a psyker is expected to have- they possess the ability to throw their fellow battle brothers into a frothing rage, augment their physical strength, and keep them from feeling pain. This power, known as “the drumming” manifests itself in the form of loud percussion noises in the minds of the battle brothers. The drummer must whip himself into a frenzy- the more violent and passionate his action- the better his brothers will fight. He also serves as signal corps of sort, able to change the rhythm to signal different actions.
Vehicles: There are few vehicles in the Mammoth’s armory. A few drop pods, a few thunderhawks, and a few rhinos. Most of their time they ride massive beasts, armored and terrifying, into combat. Giant armor-plated six-legged carnivorous horses are the equivalent of bikes, their feral riding bears take the place of land speeders, and their murder mammoths are equivalent of rhinos. They ride a pterodactyl-like creature called a “soar-wing” who serve much the same function as a jump pack.
Ships are something truly alien to the Mammoths, even though they understand them they still believe them to be divine vessels that transport them across the stars. They hop onto any ship due to their infatuation with their magical powers, Imperial or otherwise, like it should take them somewhere and many have been caught (and executed) flying or trying to fly craft from other species.
Theories
A lot of their history was lost in the crash and, as the only records they had were passed down via an unreliable and highly ritualized oral tradition, nothing is really for sure. The dates of their arrival are only guessed at (as they recount that they have been here for 12,005 clinks... an poorly understood measure of time) but their relics are VERY old- some of it predating the rise of the first marine chapters. Some believe they might have been test soldiers, something between thunder warrior and space marine.
Others believe what the Inquisition suggests, that they are a successor chapter of unknown origin from one of the early foundings. Their genetics have been changed by drastic environmental factors but it is most related to Imperial Fist or perhaps Ultramarine stock. The obvious answer is that they are related to the Space Wolves or White Scars, but that is only due to their savage ways.
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