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I think my custom chapter organisation is beginning to take shape, and I was thinking of what auxiliary forces they would have.
I've posted the specifics of the chapter previously, basically I've replaced the current organisation with something more similar to that of the British Army. Since British OP and I don't really like the Girlyman-approved way of organising chapters.

Firstly, a Knights house. Since Cretacia is the lone (barely) habitable world in the system these knights hail from the [as yet unnamed] forgeworld of the local system of Aythea.
The knights house is drawn to Cretacia to practice the hunt against the giant fething dinosaurs that inhabit it. Over the centuries the knights have developed highly aggressive machine spirits and eagerly follow the Flesh Tearers around looking for more carnage to sow.
As part of the deal that allows House Rapax to hunt on Cretacia their forge world is required to provide material for the Cretacian Reavers and Flesh Tearers chapter.
I thought a good name would be House Rapax, as that's apparently another latin word for raptor (which means hunter in English). For an emblem I thought a Salamanders dragon head over a blood drop. As the blood drop is pretty easy to paint, and I own plenty of transfers for both. But would that Salamanders head stick out as too obviously Salamanders?
No idea on the colour scheme though.


Secondly, an Imperial Guard regiment. I want them to be a semi-elite airborne force.
They'll be using any combination of the rules for D-99/Elysians/Regular/Tempestus.
I want them to have an aesthetic in the region of a cross between Elysians and Tempestus, making use of flyers and (flyer borne) Chimera chassis's. So since this is obviously different to the typical deathworld (Catachan) look they'll need a reason they're not savages like the rest of Cretacia. And as much as I would love some decent Guard squads, none exist (decent of otherwise) so they'll have to be using guns I'm afraid.
As a name I was thinking of the Cretacian Reavers. No idea on the colour scheme. But two roads I can think to take these guys
1. A small, elite regiment formed from the members of Cretacia which pass the initial test to become an Astartes but cannot continue for any reason, be that the wrong chromosomes or other flaw. They trained to be a fast moving, hard hitting force. The objective is to provide support for the Flesh Tearers but being the precise and sometimes stealthy instrument they aren't.
Problem with this one is that this would surely only leave a small population to draw from, perhaps only enough to make a platoon or even less let a lone a regiment.
2. The support force of House Rapax. Providing the kind of support Knights need, preventing them from being overwhelmed by lesser forces and surgically taking out weapons that might prove a significant threat to the Titans.
Problem with this is that I think being attached to the Knight House means they're less 'Cretacian' and isn't this a job for the Skitarii?
Both have obvious problems to me, so I'm open to suggestions.

Ehh... There's really nothing too out of the realms of possibility in 40K, but Flesh Tearers? They're one of the worst afflicted BA successors known as far as the Black Rage goes, and as you say their recruitment world isn't exactly populous.

Making the IG regiment an auxiliary of the Knight House is IMO a much better idea. They might not be savages but surely a hunting Knight isn't going to care about that? They are his serfs and cottagers, sworn to his service. They're obligated to give him a certain amount of day's labor for living on his land, and if he chooses to use them as linemen for a hunt that's his choice. Some explanation for using them off-world would be men getting several years off their service to the Knight for a single campaign, or buying a son (or two) out of the service requirement.

Nice ideas

Well, problem number 1 about the number of failed aspirants is solved if you ascribe to the whole '1000 marines is a stupid number for a marine chapter' and accept that in order to be in any way effective they'd need much higher numbers.

 Ynneadwraith wrote:
Nice ideas

Well, problem number 1 about the number of failed aspirants is solved if you ascribe to the whole '1000 marines is a stupid number for a marine chapter' and accept that in order to be in any way effective they'd need much higher numbers.

I don't mind 1000 marines in a chapter, hell my Flesh Tearers have 400.


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Spetulhu wrote:
Making the IG regiment an auxiliary of the Knight House is IMO a much better idea. They might not be savages but surely a hunting Knight isn't going to care about that? They are his serfs and cottagers, sworn to his service. They're obligated to give him a certain amount of day's labor for living on his land, and if he chooses to use them as linemen for a hunt that's his choice. Some explanation for using them off-world would be men getting several years off their service to the Knight for a single campaign, or buying a son (or two) out of the service requirement.

I'm not sure if I misunderstand you or not but the Knights house is hunting on Cretacia, so if anything they're on the Cretacian's land.
One thing I wasn't sure on though is what role an elite hard-hitting airborne force would actually provide for a knights house.

 kirotheavenger wrote:

Spetulhu wrote:
Making the IG regiment an auxiliary of the Knight House is IMO a much better idea.

I'm not sure if I misunderstand you or not but the Knights house is hunting on Cretacia. One thing I wasn't sure on though is what role an elite hard-hitting airborne force would actually provide for a knights house.

Yes, hunting on Cretacia - but there's a very limited population there (and the Flesh Tearers are hurting to maintain their numbers as it is) so the Knights hunting there should probably provide their own auxiliaries for hunts. Seeing as the prey consists of huge and presumably fast moving creatures on a totally undeveloped world a Knight would almost certainly need to have his helpers airborne - and with big guns too if only to scare the creatures in the direction of the Knight who wants the kill.

And if they already maintain such a force for their own fancy, why not use it when fighting? A Knight is big and stompy but a bit slow, having airborne elites to soften up targets or keep enemy AT units from closing is by no means a bad idea!

Spetulhu wrote:

 kirotheavenger wrote:

Spetulhu wrote:
Making the IG regiment an auxiliary of the Knight House is IMO a much better idea.

I'm not sure if I misunderstand you or not but the Knights house is hunting on Cretacia. One thing I wasn't sure on though is what role an elite hard-hitting airborne force would actually provide for a knights house.

Yes, hunting on Cretacia - but there's a very limited population there (and the Flesh Tearers are hurting to maintain their numbers as it is) so the Knights hunting there should probably provide their own auxiliaries for hunts. Seeing as the prey consists of huge and presumably fast moving creatures on a totally undeveloped world a Knight would almost certainly need to have his helpers airborne - and with big guns too if only to scare the creatures in the direction of the Knight who wants the kill.

And if they already maintain such a force for their own fancy, why not use it when fighting? A Knight is big and stompy but a bit slow, having airborne elites to soften up targets or keep enemy AT units from closing is by no means a bad idea!

Hmm I think I like that.
Problem with that though that they wouldn't be Cretacian at all then :(
Unless maybe it's a bit like the Tanith. They were originally founded from a small war band on Cretacia when the Knights first came and realised gak was realer than they first thought. But then numbers have since been supplemented by members from the Aythean system?
Something like: When House Rapax (the knights) first arrived on Cretacia for the hunts they found that their Knights had a lot of issues with navigating and hunting the big beasts, as well as smaller beasts overwhelming them. As such they formed a small unit (the Cretacian Reavers) to guide and defend the Knights. Since then this unit has grown into a full blown regiment, mainly recruited from outside the system forming the protection detail of the knights. Using flyers to move rapidly around the jungle, to locate and goad the creatures into the Knights. The regiment only recruits enough actual Cretacians to form a single elite detachment in the regiment. (This would be my equivalent of D-99).

Also anyone got any ideas on colour schemes?
I quite like a light/dark grey splinter camo on aircraft. So maybe a dark grey armour, light grey fabric on the Guard? Not got a foggiest on the Knights though, but I think I want black shoulders.

The Reavers could be Cretacian of origin who migrated (or were displaced) to another world. They would retain customs, apperences and rituals almost identical to those of "real" Cretacian. House Rapax could have decided to bring back some of the locals with them as a reward for the help they provided to their knights. This would explain their number large enough for one (or several) regiments as well as their more sophisticated equipment.

I would suggest ash colors for the Reavers, various shades of grey and black that tend toward deep blue or red on occasion. I would use pictures of violent volcanic plumes for inspiration.

I think the Salamander head with the blood drop would be a nice look. Maybe work to cut off/paint over some of the frills of the back of the Salamander head to give it a similar, but unique look?
You could say that the Guardsmen aren't an actual Guard regiment, but support units for the Knights. They could be the "Rapax Household Guard" so you get a British sounding name in there as well. They were taken from Cretacians who showed standout strength and intelligence when acting as guides for the Knights on their hunts. They've been removed from Cretacia and go through a couple years of "finishing school"/basic training before they become elite airborne forces. I'm personally a fan of the old Stormtrooper (pre-Kasrkin) look or even back when Stormtroopers wore berets. Different from other guard units.

 Flanker wrote:
I think the Salamander head with the blood drop would be a nice look. Maybe work to cut off/paint over some of the frills of the back of the Salamander head to give it a similar, but unique look?
You could say that the Guardsmen aren't an actual Guard regiment, but support units for the Knights. They could be the "Rapax Household Guard" so you get a British sounding name in there as well. They were taken from Cretacians who showed standout strength and intelligence when acting as guides for the Knights on their hunts. They've been removed from Cretacia and go through a couple years of "finishing school"/basic training before they become elite airborne forces. I'm personally a fan of the old Stormtrooper (pre-Kasrkin) look or even back when Stormtroopers wore berets. Different from other guard units.

I agree, berets are dope.
I prefer the name Cretacian Reavers though, it matches the brutality of the Flesh Tearers name.

 kirotheavenger wrote:

I agree, berets are dope.
I prefer the name Cretacian Reavers though, it matches the brutality of the Flesh Tearers name.

Yeah, it does. Fair enough. Additionally, I don't see any fluff reasons why you can't raise Guardsmen from Cretacia. The Flesh Tearers' low numbers is due to their genetic instabilities, not a lack of recruits. Although the Cretacians would likely need a some refinement and a decent amount of training before they're marching rank and file in a regiment.

 Flanker wrote:

 kirotheavenger wrote:

I agree, berets are dope.
I prefer the name Cretacian Reavers though, it matches the brutality of the Flesh Tearers name.

Yeah, it does. Fair enough. Additionally, I don't see any fluff reasons why you can't raise Guardsmen from Cretacia. The Flesh Tearers' low numbers is due to their genetic instabilities, not a lack of recruits. Although the Cretacians would likely need a some refinement and a decent amount of training before they're marching rank and file in a regiment.

Well the population of Cretacia is unknown, so I guess it's not impossible that there's a few thousand men and women going spare to join the Guard. The presumed low numbers come from the fact that it's a death world populated only by scattered tribes.
Then perhaps the elite company could just be composed of the really 'ard lads who get various stimulants and stuff.


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Although the Reavers could just be the name for the Guards elite detachment.