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Hello all! How's everyone doing?

I'd like to start off by saying I'm fairly new to 40k (started back up again after about 15 years) and I dont really know the do and donts to making your own fluff in regards to successor chapters and clans. I get the motion that 40k can be as insane and crazy as you want, but I also think things need to at least make a little sense no?

I'll be very specific, I am starting a custom Blood Angels successor chapter. Is there anything in the fluff about them having different planets, cities, codes and conducts within the chapter etc. Or must they come from Baal, and follow at least the blood angel fluff? Where would the line be between whats okay to add and what isnt really?

I'm also starting an Ork army as well and would like to make a custom clan based off the Goffs (Nite Goffs) that are painted purple but still follow Goff kult and kustoms. I suppose the question there would be the same in regards to home worlds and planets and even names of characters and such.

Thanks all for replies!
cmcorms

Successor chapters typically don't draw from the same planet as the original chapter.

Your chapter could start from any different world. Link it as a world conquered / rescued by the BAs, and claimed as a founder world by them to start the new chapter.

The world does not need to have a similar environment as Baal but you might want to have some similar characteristics culture wise that the BA thought would make it a useful world to recruit for a new founding.

Alternatively the IoM could think its locally strategic, and it and the BA agreed to its suitable enough to found a successor there.

For the Orks, heck they can be anything. Have fun with them!

For space marines, they don't even have to come from a planet as such. They could have a moon over a feral world for their recruiting ground. Or even be a roaming chapter who are fleet based or on some kind of fortress/space station.

There are successor chapters which were created when the space marine legions were split up, or there are subsequent ones created later on. Some are created to replace lost chapters, whilst others are created for a specific reason (eg: to defend a planet or region etc).

It is even suspected that there are some chapters of space marines which were created from the traitor legions (Iron Skulls, Blood Ravens etc), but they were a squad or company that remained loyal. Now with the Primaris marines it's pretty much suspicious that some of the new chapters are created directly from the old traitor legion genes (eg: Sons of the Phoenix, Brotherhood of a Thousand, etc).

Not all space marines chapters are codex compliant, and don't need companies, squads etc if you don't want to. So you can organise them how you want. With Primaris, I'm not sure how the codex will work or change.

Culture wise usually successors of the Blood Angels will have similar flaws in their geneseed. Some eradicate the flaws, and some have extra flaws. Successors and parent chapters tend to have good relations and often fight alongside each other, especially when called to battle.

When painting an army it's important to note, that aslong as your models are consistent and identifiable they can have the chapter rules of any chapter. So you could paint them silver and pink, call them the Ultra Skulls, and give them Blood Angels traits one battle, and give them Raven Guard in another different battle. The fluff and history is for you!

I have a Chaos Space Marine warband which I play as either Renegades or Black Legion, and I painted them blue and silver and sometimes make them Slaanesh and sometimes Khorne, depending on needs!

SM are designed so that you can do what you will with them. (SW, GK and DC disclaimer.)

I would advice you to narrow down the following thing, and deside witch one of the elements you think are most important and take it from there:

Colour Scheme - anything is allowed. But make sure it is an easy colour to paint and that has a good contrast. SM are inspiered by knights heraldry, so think bold colours instead of functional camuflage.

Cultural background - what defines these SM. Either as a chapter or from the planets they recruit on.

Name culture - most SM chapters draw names form typical earth cultures. Come up with one you think is cool. Brazilïan, Icelandic, South African, Papua New Guinea or Kazakstanian names could all be cool. It also gives your unit much more depth.

Combat doctrine - If there are some units you like, it is easy to say that this BA originated chapter uses a lot of these units in their combat.

Narative: What are their goals as a chapter?

Colour Scheme - anything is allowed. But make sure it is an easy colour to paint and that has a good contrast. SM are inspiered by knights heraldry, so think bold colours instead of functional camuflage.

Do note however, some marines use camo schemes. Because they are rare sometimes they are excellent.

Thank you all for the replies and tips! Super helpful!

Just wanted to make sure I wasn't creating something that was so crazy and out of bounds.... I know I need to play within the rules of the lore and I'm fine with that.... Just wanna add my own personal touch.

I will be creating a backstory/lore for all of my armies as I think it makes the models more interesting!

I'll definitely share some of my created fluff when I get around to it. I do have a general idea, I just need to iron it out!

Thanks again!

cmcorms

I myself have a BA Successor homebrew and have been trying to build their own world and traditions, culture, history and ranks as well as paint scheme.

What makes Blood Angels interesting for me as my founding Legion is unlike the Ultramarines, whose successors are a dime a dozen since about half of all chapters claim to be Ultramarine successors, the Blood Angels family are relatively close-knit, all to some degree suffer from The Twin Flaws of Black Rage and Red Thirst even if they have different secrets, traditions regarding it or even names for it.

One of the large things recently involving Blood Angels and almost all their successors were the Devastation of Baal. Long story short; Dante requested aid from most BA Successors, and most showed up in chapter strength or with large detachments. Hive Fleet Leviathan overran Baal, daemons turned up as well but turns out they killed more Tyranids than anything else. Gulliman arrives in the nick of time to finish up and reinforces the now very depleted family of Blood Angels bloodline chapters with Primaris.
I am still trying to work out how many of my guys made it there, why and where most of the chapter would have to be to not manage to help more, and such like, as I have a large number of small marines and a lot less Primaris. I think I eventually want about a company, but I don't want a large number of casualties on Baal.

I think for BA, a red of some kind prominent in their heraldry is a common thing but not necessarily mandated. Flesh Tearers have a lot of black, I think it's Angels Encarmine, if I recall, paint their Sanguinary Guard and Death Company all white instead of gold and black respectively.

Personally, I use a majority red and the Blood Angels ranks, helmet colours, and livery, except I have blue pauldrons and cuisses/thighs, and codex company colours on the pauldron rims instead of the blood angel company yellow black and green single and double droplets. Being the Angels of Armageddon, the blood drop on the icon is painted as a meteor instead.

As for the rules, you could run them Blood Angels codex, but don't have to at all. Before it became a serious thing with the keyword in 8th, I actually just ran both Codex units like Centurions and Thunderfire cannons and Ironclad Dreadnoughts with my Blood Angels units so that in an Apocalypse game with everything affecting "friendlies" it really didn't matter what book or chapter models came from, unlike today.

One piece of advice I'd give is that whatever other background you go with, make sure to give your chapter flaws. And I don't mean flaws in the Mary Sue sense of "hardships they've endured" or "others don't understand them" or "they're too badass for their own good." I mean actual negative traits that materially hold your chapter back in some way, and that hypothetically could be within their power to solve if they wanted to.

It could be something petty, like a personal or doctrinal disagreement between two power figures within the chapter that creates internal political tension. It could be a rival that they've wronged- and I mean actually and intentionally wronged. Maybe their ways of war are so brutal that even other Imperial forces refuse to fight alongside them, like the Flesh Tearers. Or a stubborn doctrine that continually puts the chapter in unnecessary trouble. Or a gene seed mutation that leaves them disfigured, giving them a reputation as sinister monsters. Maybe they lord their power over the system they're supposed to be protecting, toeing the line of warlord-ism while still technically adhering to Imperial authority.

Flaws like these help counteract the other positive special attributes of your chapter, helping explain why they're not as prominent as other known chapters while giving them license to excel in their field. They also give them something to work against and add texture to their interactions with other groups.

I can tell you what not to do. Especially for the BA successors:

1. Do NOT try to come up with a way to get around the inherent BA geneseed flaws. Embrace them.

2. Don't make them vastly different in ways ways of war fighting. Sure they will have their own flavor drawn from their environmental influences but don't try and make a BA successor that fights more like White Scars.

3. Don't try and make them non-codex compliant. The codex, despite what Ultra Smurfs say, is very flexible.

4. Don't try and make them part of one of the special/ cursed foundings.

Basically don't try and upstage everyone thats come before you by making your chapter super duper special. Its the art of making them special in the margins that makes good DIY fluff.

 SickSix wrote:


2. Don't make them vastly different in ways of war fighting. Sure they will have their own flavor drawn from their environmental influences but don't try and make a BA successor that fights more like White Scars.

Come to think of it, a BA successor could get away with most tactics that at least involve a bit of shock and awe and close assaults.
Blood Angel bikers are definitely highly regarded as among the galaxies best fast attack space marines after Ravenwing and the Scars because those that don't choose the jump packs specialise deeply on the bike. Salamander style close range high power weaponry like Heavy Flamers and Melta weapons would also work well if its in the idea to supplement assault units. Indeed, the Assault Squad for BA is great in that although normally the basic squad members need to run the despoiler loadout of pistol+chainsword over a boltgun even as non-jump infantry, they get 2 plasma/flamer/meltaguns per 5 men, instead of a tactical combat squad's 1 (But that 1 can be a heavy flamer.) The Salamanders are known more for implacable slower advance, so maybe not that part. The Raven Guard makes extensive use of recon and infiltration, but that's also to supplement their "Deliverance" drop strikes, drop pod and assault squad deep strikes on objectives and where the enemy battle line is weakest, or even thickest so long as that gives the most benefit to allied forces. Especially with Suppressors now as Vanguard but a deep strike option, alongside the characters and Reivers with Grav Chutes, that's also quite a Blood Angel-y thing to do.

One doesn't have to play a Blood Angels Successor as just Blood Angels repainted, but the trick will be though as SickSix says not to step on other chapter's toes.
I myself like a combination of the short-range fire support followed by the charge and deep striking (even if its fluff and I'm not actually using deployment rules) with air support.
Back in 4th, you could run Tacticals with 5 men including the Heavy and Special, and with chapter trait for custom chapters, at the cost of a drawback, make it an extra special instead of a heavy. I ran 20 Tactical as 4 squads, thus with 4 sergeants, 8 plasma guns, and 8 bolter marines as my Troops core. So when 5th Blood Angels came out I was ecstatic to take them as on-foot combat squads of assault marines and replace the few boltgun men with chainswords, and as troops (... and in a deep striking Land Raider. Ward, what were you smoking that day?)
I myself am less likely to field the likes of Infiltrators and Eliminators but Reivers and Suppressors are great for my stealthy boys. I wish there was a way to drop Aggressors other than a Sokar Stormbird.
You can make them distinct, but identify what makes BA distinct, keep to that but you can put a twist on it, and not just overwrite it with what someone else does you also like.