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WORK IN PROGRESS

this is a codex supplement for codex dark angels that addresses what i feel are weaknesses of the codex without breaking them or making them unfair. these are meant to be an alternative and not a replacement for their codex base rules. it will contain the contents of other supplements including datasheets, relics, warlord traits, and new usr's. the concept here is to add flavor to an otherwise stale army that doesn't necessarily replace the existing book. i selected the guardians of the covenant as they i feel are the most visually eye-catching of the successors (that gw bothered to art in the base codex). seeing as how the dark angels as a faction are a very populous one because its one of the two starter armies i feel this is truly a missed opportunity.

now onto the supplement writing:

Guardians of the covenant army wide special rules:

combat squads - before deployment any unit with this special rule may separate into two equal halves and remains that way until the end of the game. both squads are considered two separate units for all game purposes however they can embark on the same dedicated transport if capacity of the vehicle allows for it

wisdom is sharper than blades - if a librarian is taken as an HQ choice (and takes up a force organization slot) this model may upgrade to mastery level 2 for free, however he may not purchase anything from the special issue wargear table if the model does(as listed in codex: dark angels) or the relics of oblivion (see codex supplement: guardians of the covenant). in addition anytime your warlord slays a psyker in close combat (including challenges) he gains the adamantium will special rule for the remained of the game.

scourge of xenos:

any model taken in a detachment from this supplement or that takes up a slot in the force organization chart in a combined arms detachment, allied detachment (see brb), or the bulwark against oblivion detachment has the prefered enemy: xenos special rule. note that the the scourge of xenos special rule replaces the inner circle special rule on all models applicable

warlord traits:

1 - your warlod is a hero of many crusades and can boldly lead his men on through shell and shot alike. heroic crusader: your warlord and any friendly model within 6" have the crusader special rule
2 - your warlord is a master of rapid quick strikes; able to appear suddenly from nowhere and strike decisive blows. shock and awe: your warlord and the unit he joins adds +1 to the result when making reserve rolls
3 - the enemy warlord is suspected of having connections to the fallen or perhaps even cypher himself; apprehension is above all other priorities the hunt: if your warlord or the unit is with, slays the enemy warlord in the assault phase, you score an additional victory point
4 - your warlord has confronted many might daemons and vicious alien beasts on dozens of worlds slayer of legend: your warlord has the monster hunter special rule
5 - your warlord is always first in the field as to better asses the enemys strengths and to lead by example first in the field: your warlord and a unit he joins has the scout special rule (including their dedicated transport (if applicable))
6 - your warlord knows that the coming foes are a serious threat to the emperium and they must be stopped no matter the price; and he must not stop until the enemy is dead standing up to oblivion: your warlord has the eternal warrior special rule

the bulwark against oblivion detachment:

force org chart breakdown:

HQ: 1-3
troops: 0-2
fast attack: 0-6
elite: 2-5
heavy support: 0-2
lords of war 0-1
fortification: 0-1

rules:

stand against darkness - at the start of the game before deployment or rolling for warlord traits roll a d6 for each unit with the infantry (and variant) type (add+1 for a troop or a unit with no slot in the force org chart) on a roll of a 6 that unit has the relentless special rule, if they already have relentless they gain the fearless special rule for the duration of your first turn

secrets of the defeated: as long as your warlord is a part of this detachment you may re-roll your warlord trait (if using the table in this supplement)

the relics of oblivion:

notes: if purchasing items from this list one cannot purchase relics from dark angels chapter relics table (see codex: dark angels) and you are limited to one item per HQ, per detachment and each HQ may only have one on their person at a given time.

the mace of clarity (30p):
this power maul is made by a master weapon-smith of days gone by and was found in an ancient astartes tomb dating back to the heresy on an un-named world. a chief techmarine later inscribed excerpts of the scrolls of oblivion on its shaft and treated its head with sacred oils giving it a mirror finish

s +3, ap3, mastercrafted, specialist weapon, unweildly, blind


the pistol of lentis "the pure" (17p):
this plasma pistol was wielded by the first chief interrogator chaplain of the guardians of the covenant, with it he led his brothers to many victories over the foul heretic and their daemonic allies. it is rarely handed out and wherever it has gone to meet the enemy, victory has followed

12' s7 ap2, pistol


shards of hagrids wrath (45p):
this armor was fashioned from the broken remains of the dreadnaught sarcophagus of brother hagrid jessein who held the entrance passage of a necron tomb (alone) against attempts by the abominations to flee their crypt after his brothers had planted explosives in its bowels in an effort to destroy it. in the resulting heroic defense and explosion his casement was blown apart. into hundreds of pieces rendering it unrecoverable. this armor was constructed in his memory from its broken remains and has been adorned with several seals of purity and blessed with hymns of fury.

this artifices armor grants the wearer the feel no pain special rule, a 2+ armor save, and the rage and furious charge special rules


halo of divine intervention (25p) (chaplain/interrogator chaplain only):
this iron halo was to be awared to a dark angel company master after the heresy however this un-named master died before ever receiving it. since then it has remained lost in the chapter armory and chapter/legion history until it resurfaced in the hands of the guardians of the covenent. since then the chapter master has allowed the chaplains to take it out for a time.

this iron halo replaces the rosarius of the chaplain and confers a 3+ invulnerable save to its bearer and the fear special rule.


the claws of the lion (50):
these lightning claws are carefully guarded by the chapters armoury and are kept in a glass case on display in the monastary. their decorative metal claws and ornate gloves depicting a great winged skull are looked after by only the chief techmarine himself and only given to a commander of any kind for one tour of duty at a time and only after consulting with the grandmaster himself. the techmarines of the chapter are convinced the claws could cut through the bulkheads of warships and pre-date the heresy by several hundred years.

thse lightning claws replace all weapons equipped by their bearer (excluding grenade and bombs) and have the following statline:

s+2, ap2, melee, shred, specialist weapon, armorbane, ancient circuitry

ancient circuitry: anytime the wielder of this weapon is in a challenge this weapon has sx2 instead of s+2

formations of war for the guardians of the covenant

1) the battlefield command retinue:

1- interrogator chaplain (or one chaplain)
1- librarian
1- company master
1- techmarine
1- company command squad

special rules: icon of heroism

icon of heroism: a company command retinue is an awesome sight to behold for their battle brothers. they are the greatest collection of heroes and warriors a company can assemble and they are inspirations to all around them this formation counts as one unit, for each turn the squad remains on the field with no models removed as casualties they grant friendly models of the dark angels faction within 18" the furious charge special rule. if the company master, librarian, interrogator chaplain, or the entire company command squad is removed from play during the assault phase they no longer grant furious charge and instead grant rage withing 12". in addition all friendly units for the duration of your opponents next turn within 6" treat their weapons as being twin linked.

2) the guardians of Mortikah VII

1- company master
1-deathwing command squad
1-2 deathwing terminator squads
0-1 dreadnought

note: the dreadnought MUST purchase the venerable upgrade to be included in this formation, and no squads may take a dedicated transport

special rules: protectors of the homeworld

protectors of the homeworld the 1st company is a secluded company that rarely fight alongside their other brothers. however they will take to the field whenever matters of serious magnitude require it. and should they ever be called to defend Mortikah VII hell itself would have no manner of creature with the power to overcome them. when facing their enemies they often fight with herculean effort; even for an adeptus astartes. : as long as any infantry and the company master remain alive in this formation your opponent scores no victory points that would normally be awarded for removing a squad in this formation from play (excluding first blood), in addition all infantry in this formation have the feel no pain special rule

the land speeder strike wing:

1- land speeder venegance
2- ravenwing support squadron
1- dark talon

special rules: it will not die (land speeder vengeance only), vector dancer (dark talon)

the chapters fast moving land speeders are often seen in the field deployed alongside the chapters various ground support aircraft. when in combat together they can often be heard over vox exchanging combat information to help each other traverse the battlefield and using carefully timed and co-ordinated strikes to inflict the maximum amount of damage in the right place and at the right time.

the darkest angels:

1- chaplain asmodai
3- veteran squads

note: no squads in this formation may purchase a dedicated transport

special rules: angel of darkness

angel of darkness: all models within this formation has the infiltrate special rule, in addition asmodai has the night vision special rule

amongst the chapters battle brothers select brothers are set apart from their kin by a single black dot on their right shoulder. these battle brothers are masters of covert surprise warfare and are called upon to launch ambushes and raids, led by a mysterious chaplain they often take to the field at night to best make use of its mystery and natural unease it instills in lesser men and foul xenos

the guns of unending might:

1- techmarine
1- servitor squad
2- devestator squads
1- whirlwind

special rules: mighty thunderbolt

mighty thunderbolt: all infantry in this formation have the relentless special rule, and at the start of one of your player turns you may elect to call for the mighty thunderbolt. all units in this formation then target a single enemy vehicle, monstrous creature/flying monstrous creature, or squadron of vehicles. any attacks made during your shooting phase against them by a model in this formation count as being twin linked.

devastators and the chapters long range vehicles support their brothers in the heat of battle with the heaviest of weapons, to allow them to fight mighty beasts, armored vehicles, and fortified positions sometimes called upon to bring their combined might crashing down upon the toughest targets


the sacred banners of the guardians of the covenant

in this section you will find a different set of banners to the ones in codex: dark angels (in the sacred banners list) these replace them and you cannot have more than 1 banner per detachment

like their founding chapter the guardians of the covenant hold three great banners in high esteem, these banners are carried into battle to inspire the chapters astartes on in spite of all manners of horrors around them. they are lovingly cared for by a member of the reclusiam by the name of brother Matthias Greize

the banner of conflagration (65p)

this banner grants all friendly models with the codex dark angels faction within 10" the fleshbane special rule for all shooting attacks, they may also re-roll all failed to wound results of 1 made during the shooting phase, finally it allows all friendly models within 10" to re-roll all failed morale and pinning checks

this banner was made in honor of company master krieze firstline master of the 1st company who worked with the sisters of the order of zealous purity to cleanse the villius system of heretics and tratiors. in the end so numerous were the bodies of the dead traitors and heretics that one could walk the streets of the system capital and not encounter a soul for 5 terran hours

the banner of oblivion (55p)

this banner grants all friendly units with the dark angels faction within 12" +1 WS, the zealot special rule, and allows all friendly models within 10" to re-roll all failed morale and pinning checks

this banner was not made by the chapters reclusiarch but rather by brother belthor of the dark angels chapter honoring their strong warriors and faith in both the emporer and their primarch which he witnessed first hand at the battle of thunder rift where the dark angels 3rd battle company and the 4th company of the guardians of the covenant held the tyranids in place long enough for other imperial forces to drive into their nests that were located in a cave system and destroy them at their source. origionally named the banner of zeal it was later renamed as the chapters command structure felt the current name more suitable

the banner of wisdom (40p)

this banner grants all friendly models with the dark angels faction within 18' the fearless special rule, in addition to the adamantium will special rule

this banner is the most ceremonial of the three banners; company masters new to their positions are sealed in private chapel with this banner and the cheif reclusiarch. there he spends several days praying, signing hymns, meditating, and fasting until the reclusiarch declares him worthy of his new post. it is considered a sign of great trust between the reclusiam and the company master for this banner to be carried into battle

The big shortcomings of the DA book at present are ass native AA and overreliance on weak units; this is a pretty cool/characterful set of rules at first glance, but I don't think it plugs any holes in the book I've observed.

 AnomanderRake wrote:
The big shortcomings of the DA book at present are ass native AA and overreliance on weak units; this is a pretty cool/characterful set of rules at first glance, but I don't think it plugs any holes in the book I've observed.

the DA codex has many problems as a dark angels when we hit the table. they become obvious and apparent the second you start actually fielding them especially against well written books and they are as follows:

1) no good hq's generic hq's beyond the librarians are stale and boring, the interrogator chaplain is hopelessly mediocre, the librarian is minorly overcosted, and the company masters ability to hand out adamantium will and fear are horribly underutilized because of dated mindsets of players stuck in 5th or 6th edition where things being troops choices was meaningful. then we get to our other hq's azreal is a horrible duelist, he relies on his squad to do anything productive and since he cant deepstrike pairing him with terminators is predictable and pairing him with anyone else is a terrible idea because they are too squishy to get much done 9/10. belial is basically a terminator company master who can make things troops with a gimmick power sword. that sword is somehow worth 30 points and no its not. and being able to take 6 squads of termites isnt either. asmodai is a joke and ezekiel would be fething epic if he had an invul save or fnp, or heavens the ability to buy wargear like normal people. him in TDA would be pretty incredible tbh or on a bike. then we can discuss sammael the guy whos bike is worth more than he is. if you could give his jetbike to a generic hq youd get more done. his saving grace is that hes the only marine hq from any codex with a plasma cannon, troops bikers means very little again when they are barely any more resilient than a regular marine.

2) bad relics many relics are useless, or overcosted, or unpredictable. basically the two worth taking are the banners of fortitude & devastation and maybe the mace of redemption (but its too pricey imo).

3) overcosted everything, many squads are horribly overcosted or their priced funny so math sucks making lists

4) bad specialist units the lsv is a glass cannon, the flyers suck, the dwk's sarge will kill more cheap units than his squad collectively, the dwt's have bugged sargeants, the dwcs is just 5 men and so their doomed to a life expectancy of 15 minutes and thanks to an overcosted and bugged apothecary getting them fnp from an 85 point sacred banner is actually more cost effective than the apothecary (if you can believe that a relic that costs as much as 5 assault marines is better than an apothecary), the veterans, darkshroud, and black knights are like shining diamonds inside a 80 gallon vat of liquefied manure

5) no anti air options: this one isnt a problem for casual games as then you can discuss forge world. and if FW didnt come down from on high with the contempor mortis plan spam would effectively kill our army, there would be literally 0 we could do. so thank heavens we have that going for us. having better anti-air options is a must for a future codex. in fact if they want to plastic and port the contempor mortis from FW i would probably kiss my local GW store owner. thatd be great. we need an option for fighting planes.

and you want to know something, i believe i can fix all of it with formations, wargear, and traits. if not for the long term than the short. codecies work both ways. you can improve the value of something by making tweaks elsewhere, and you can nerf things just as quickly. my goal here is to take dark angles out of their comfort zones and at the same time rewarding them for doing so. with the detachment theres no place for belial, sammy, and (to a lesser extent) azreal beyond sheer novelty and brings them back to their base hq's. by improving the relics they can get (which im not done doing btw) we make them not feel punished for abandoning them. and when i finally get around to the formations im going to include ill be negating the issues various models have that otherwise (in some cases) NEVER get table time. you ever seen a land speeder vengeance on a table? didnt think so.

the pistol of lentis "the pure" (15p):
this plasma pistol was wielded by the first chief interrogator chaplain of the guardians of the covenant, with it he led his brothers to many victories over the foul heretic and their daemonic allies. it is rarely handed out and wherever it has gone to meet the enemy, victory has followed

12' s7 ap2, pistol

I dont have my marine dex to hand but isnt a standard plasma pistol 15 points? Removing gets hot may need a higher cost on the pistol.

protectors of the homeworld the 1st company is a secluded company that rarely fight alongside their other brothers. however they will take to the field whenever matters of serious magnitude require it. and should they ever be called to defend Mortikah VII hell itself would have no manner of creature with the power to overcome them. when facing their enemies they often fight with herculean effort; even for an adeptus astartes. : as long as any infantry and the company master remain alive in this formation your oppent scores no victory points, in addition all infantry in this formation have the feel no pain special rule

The wording of this rule seems to imply that your opponent simply cannot win if even a single infantry model from this formation survives, is this intended?

the darkest angels:

1 chaplain
3 assault marine squads

note: the assault marine squads MUST purchase the veteran sergeant upgrade)

special rules: angel of darkness

angel of darkness: all models within this formation has the infiltrate special rule, in addition the interrogator chaplain has the night vision special rule

Assault marines arent known for their stealth, perhaps if they opt not to take jump packs, or look to the new BA formations and allow them to deepstrike from turn one onwards?

Otherwise a very interesting set of rules!

 Melcavuk wrote:

the pistol of lentis "the pure" (15p):
this plasma pistol was wielded by the first chief interrogator chaplain of the guardians of the covenant, with it he led his brothers to many victories over the foul heretic and their daemonic allies. it is rarely handed out and wherever it has gone to meet the enemy, victory has followed

12' s7 ap2, pistol

I dont have my marine dex to hand but isnt a standard plasma pistol 15 points? Removing gets hot may need a higher cost on the pistol.

protectors of the homeworld the 1st company is a secluded company that rarely fight alongside their other brothers. however they will take to the field whenever matters of serious magnitude require it. and should they ever be called to defend Mortikah VII hell itself would have no manner of creature with the power to overcome them. when facing their enemies they often fight with herculean effort; even for an adeptus astartes. : as long as any infantry and the company master remain alive in this formation your oppent scores no victory points, in addition all infantry in this formation have the feel no pain special rule

The wording of this rule seems to imply that your opponent simply cannot win if even a single infantry model from this formation survives, is this intended?

the darkest angels:

1 chaplain
3 assault marine squads

note: the assault marine squads MUST purchase the veteran sergeant upgrade)

special rules: angel of darkness

angel of darkness: all models within this formation has the infiltrate special rule, in addition the interrogator chaplain has the night vision special rule

Assault marines arent known for their stealth, perhaps if they opt not to take jump packs, or look to the new BA formations and allow them to deepstrike from turn one onwards?

Otherwise a very interesting set of rules!

1) ill think about it but its a plasma pistol and nobody takes tham as it, a 15 point one without gets hot is hardly a huge change to a weapon nobody takes because its inferior to all its brother plasmas
2) yea i am going to reword it, i ment for it to only be that you dont score points that you would normally get from those units (excluding fb)
3) i was thinking of maybe swapping infiltrate for scout but that still would make them inferior to ravenwing bikers in almost every case. the reason i chose it was not to try and make them more like attack squadrons but an alternative to them. and while deepstrike would help its basically me stealing a formation from another armies supplement.

ill be adding more now and hopefully soon i can start playtesting this with my friends (if they will let me)

I love it! I have just started a Guardians company (4th Company) and have been working on some supplemental rules and fluff for them. Your ideas are fantastic. I've taken a lot from the "Sons of Mortikah" blog, as I feel he really captures the feel of the Chapter, and I kind of ran with it from there. Thanks for posting your ideas, I especially like your Warlord traits.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Here's a couple of the special formations I was working on. The second one is particular to the Fourth Company, but could easily be adapted to any company, as most of them fought in the Campaign against the Lelith. They are both steeped in the fluff created on the "Sons of Mortikah" blog.

The Gathering of Knowledge - Convenio Scientia +20 Points
Even among space marines, the Guardians of the Covenant are wise beyond their years. The library in the spire is the culmination of 10,000 years of the gathering of knowledge. The Astartes of the Guardians of the Covenant have access to this knowledge, and because of the emphasis put on knowledge by the Chapter, the Chapter Masters and other leaders spend enormous amounts of time in the library, sharpening their understanding of enemy tactics and weapons systems. When a full complement of a company’s command structure is on the field, the assembled knowledge gives the Company every edge over the enemy.

Formation Requirements:
Your Detachment must have a Company Master, Librarian, and Chaplain.
Special Rules:
This formation confers the warlord trait tactical genius. Furthermore, your warlord still gets to roll for a warlord trait as normal but must roll on the Dark Angel (or Guardians of the Covenant) Warlord traits table.

The Shield of Faith - Sumentes scutum fidei +50 Points
Those Battle Brothers that were there during the Lelith incursion remember those days when it looked like they would be overwhelmed by the shape-shifting xenos. With most of their battle brothers dead, their leadership decimated, and only their faith in the emperor to sustain them, these veterans withstood the horror of the xenos onslought until the rest of the chapter relieved them and purged the planet of the foul xenos subjugators. Those battle-brothers that survived became the veteran backbone of the fourth company. During that time of survival the brothers of the fourth company learned a new level of comradeship and faith. It honed their skills to a new level, and made them even more steadfast in the face of danger; even shrugging off the most grievous of wounds such was their faith in the emperor and their comrades.

Formation Requirements.
All Space Marine squads must have veteran sgts. The army must include a Chaplain, Venerable Dreadnought, and Company banner.

Special rules:
Any unit from this detachment within 8 inches of another unit from this detachment is granted the fearless special rule. Also, any unit within 12 inches of the Company banner is also granted the Feel no Pain special rule.

What do you think?

dmatthewgooch wrote:
I love it! I have just started a Guardians company (4th Company) and have been working on some supplemental rules and fluff for them. Your ideas are fantastic. I've taken a lot from the "Sons of Mortikah" blog, as I feel he really captures the feel of the Chapter, and I kind of ran with it from there. Thanks for posting your ideas, I especially like your Warlord traits.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Here's a couple of the special formations I was working on. The second one is particular to the Fourth Company, but could easily be adapted to any company, as most of them fought in the Campaign against the Lelith. They are both steeped in the fluff created on the "Sons of Mortikah" blog.

The Gathering of Knowledge - Convenio Scientia +20 Points
Even among space marines, the Guardians of the Covenant are wise beyond their years. The library in the spire is the culmination of 10,000 years of the gathering of knowledge. The Astartes of the Guardians of the Covenant have access to this knowledge, and because of the emphasis put on knowledge by the Chapter, the Chapter Masters and other leaders spend enormous amounts of time in the library, sharpening their understanding of enemy tactics and weapons systems. When a full complement of a company’s command structure is on the field, the assembled knowledge gives the Company every edge over the enemy.

Formation Requirements:
Your Detachment must have a Company Master, Librarian, and Chaplain.
Special Rules:
This formation confers the warlord trait tactical genius. Furthermore, your warlord still gets to roll for a warlord trait as normal but must roll on the Dark Angel (or Guardians of the Covenant) Warlord traits table.

The Shield of Faith - Sumentes scutum fidei +50 Points
Those Battle Brothers that were there during the Lelith incursion remember those days when it looked like they would be overwhelmed by the shape-shifting xenos. With most of their battle brothers dead, their leadership decimated, and only their faith in the emperor to sustain them, these veterans withstood the horror of the xenos onslought until the rest of the chapter relieved them and purged the planet of the foul xenos subjugators. Those battle-brothers that survived became the veteran backbone of the fourth company. During that time of survival the brothers of the fourth company learned a new level of comradeship and faith. It honed their skills to a new level, and made them even more steadfast in the face of danger; even shrugging off the most grievous of wounds such was their faith in the emperor and their comrades.

Formation Requirements.
All Space Marine squads must have veteran sgts. The army must include a Chaplain, Venerable Dreadnought, and Company banner.

Special rules:
Any unit from this detachment within 8 inches of another unit from this detachment is granted the fearless special rule. Also, any unit within 12 inches of the Company banner is also granted the Feel no Pain special rule.

What do you think?

i think the rules and limitations of each formation are poorly explained and/or out of context and your second formation isnt a formation at all its a force org with special rule and bad outlines. i think you need work; go to your codex and maybe pickup a dataslate or a supplement and look at their format.

also im not sure that some of your post is about are those relics? and if so why are they between formations? thats confusing. i just find these badly laid out and hard for me to read. i also find the relic descriptions cryptic. if you want to include fluff fine; but dont bury the rules for items inside them thats asking for issues when we start to discuss rules as intended versus rules as written. rules for things should be black or white and contain to story telling or narrative blended in with the rules.

dungeons and dragons books are the same way as what im trying to get across or piles of other games. they explain to you what something might be with a lore piece, and then explain bluntly and abruptly what these things are and how they effect your game with hard stat numbers and rule explanations.

 ionusx wrote:

dmatthewgooch wrote:
I love it! I have just started a Guardians company (4th Company) and have been working on some supplemental rules and fluff for them. Your ideas are fantastic. I've taken a lot from the "Sons of Mortikah" blog, as I feel he really captures the feel of the Chapter, and I kind of ran with it from there. Thanks for posting your ideas, I especially like your Warlord traits.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Here's a couple of the special formations I was working on. The second one is particular to the Fourth Company, but could easily be adapted to any company, as most of them fought in the Campaign against the Lelith. They are both steeped in the fluff created on the "Sons of Mortikah" blog.

The Gathering of Knowledge - Convenio Scientia +20 Points
Even among space marines, the Guardians of the Covenant are wise beyond their years. The library in the spire is the culmination of 10,000 years of the gathering of knowledge. The Astartes of the Guardians of the Covenant have access to this knowledge, and because of the emphasis put on knowledge by the Chapter, the Chapter Masters and other leaders spend enormous amounts of time in the library, sharpening their understanding of enemy tactics and weapons systems. When a full complement of a company’s command structure is on the field, the assembled knowledge gives the Company every edge over the enemy.

Formation Requirements:
Your Detachment must have a Company Master, Librarian, and Chaplain.
Special Rules:
This formation confers the warlord trait tactical genius. Furthermore, your warlord still gets to roll for a warlord trait as normal but must roll on the Dark Angel (or Guardians of the Covenant) Warlord traits table.

The Shield of Faith - Sumentes scutum fidei +50 Points
Those Battle Brothers that were there during the Lelith incursion remember those days when it looked like they would be overwhelmed by the shape-shifting xenos. With most of their battle brothers dead, their leadership decimated, and only their faith in the emperor to sustain them, these veterans withstood the horror of the xenos onslought until the rest of the chapter relieved them and purged the planet of the foul xenos subjugators. Those battle-brothers that survived became the veteran backbone of the fourth company. During that time of survival the brothers of the fourth company learned a new level of comradeship and faith. It honed their skills to a new level, and made them even more steadfast in the face of danger; even shrugging off the most grievous of wounds such was their faith in the emperor and their comrades.

Formation Requirements.
All Space Marine squads must have veteran sgts. The army must include a Chaplain, Venerable Dreadnought, and Company banner.

Special rules:
Any unit from this detachment within 8 inches of another unit from this detachment is granted the fearless special rule. Also, any unit within 12 inches of the Company banner is also granted the Feel no Pain special rule.

What do you think?

i think the rules and limitations of each formation are poorly explained and/or out of context and your second formation isnt a formation at all its a force org with special rule and bad outlines. i think you need work; go to your codex and maybe pickup a dataslate or a supplement and look at their format.

also im not sure that some of your post is about are those relics? and if so why are they between formations? thats confusing. i just find these badly laid out and hard for me to read. i also find the relic descriptions cryptic. if you want to include fluff fine; but dont bury the rules for items inside them thats asking for issues when we start to discuss rules as intended versus rules as written. rules for things should be black or white and contain to story telling or narrative blended in with the rules.

dungeons and dragons books are the same way as what im trying to get across or piles of other games. they explain to you what something might be with a lore piece, and then explain bluntly and abruptly what these things are and how they effect your game with hard stat numbers and rule explanations.

So basically Ionusx, you're saying they are only good if they are YOUR rules...
ie plasma pistol reference early in post.
Go write your own Codex bro. several here have posted adjustments that you seem to deem to think have no merit. Why post here if you didn't have any room for critique? Kinkos opens in an hour. Have fun.

 Josey4u wrote:

 ionusx wrote:

dmatthewgooch wrote:
I love it! I have just started a Guardians company (4th Company) and have been working on some supplemental rules and fluff for them. Your ideas are fantastic. I've taken a lot from the "Sons of Mortikah" blog, as I feel he really captures the feel of the Chapter, and I kind of ran with it from there. Thanks for posting your ideas, I especially like your Warlord traits.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Here's a couple of the special formations I was working on. The second one is particular to the Fourth Company, but could easily be adapted to any company, as most of them fought in the Campaign against the Lelith. They are both steeped in the fluff created on the "Sons of Mortikah" blog.

The Gathering of Knowledge - Convenio Scientia +20 Points
Even among space marines, the Guardians of the Covenant are wise beyond their years. The library in the spire is the culmination of 10,000 years of the gathering of knowledge. The Astartes of the Guardians of the Covenant have access to this knowledge, and because of the emphasis put on knowledge by the Chapter, the Chapter Masters and other leaders spend enormous amounts of time in the library, sharpening their understanding of enemy tactics and weapons systems. When a full complement of a company’s command structure is on the field, the assembled knowledge gives the Company every edge over the enemy.

Formation Requirements:
Your Detachment must have a Company Master, Librarian, and Chaplain.
Special Rules:
This formation confers the warlord trait tactical genius. Furthermore, your warlord still gets to roll for a warlord trait as normal but must roll on the Dark Angel (or Guardians of the Covenant) Warlord traits table.

The Shield of Faith - Sumentes scutum fidei +50 Points
Those Battle Brothers that were there during the Lelith incursion remember those days when it looked like they would be overwhelmed by the shape-shifting xenos. With most of their battle brothers dead, their leadership decimated, and only their faith in the emperor to sustain them, these veterans withstood the horror of the xenos onslought until the rest of the chapter relieved them and purged the planet of the foul xenos subjugators. Those battle-brothers that survived became the veteran backbone of the fourth company. During that time of survival the brothers of the fourth company learned a new level of comradeship and faith. It honed their skills to a new level, and made them even more steadfast in the face of danger; even shrugging off the most grievous of wounds such was their faith in the emperor and their comrades.

Formation Requirements.
All Space Marine squads must have veteran sgts. The army must include a Chaplain, Venerable Dreadnought, and Company banner.

Special rules:
Any unit from this detachment within 8 inches of another unit from this detachment is granted the fearless special rule. Also, any unit within 12 inches of the Company banner is also granted the Feel no Pain special rule.

What do you think?

i think the rules and limitations of each formation are poorly explained and/or out of context and your second formation isnt a formation at all its a force org with special rule and bad outlines. i think you need work; go to your codex and maybe pickup a dataslate or a supplement and look at their format.

also im not sure that some of your post is about are those relics? and if so why are they between formations? thats confusing. i just find these badly laid out and hard for me to read. i also find the relic descriptions cryptic. if you want to include fluff fine; but dont bury the rules for items inside them thats asking for issues when we start to discuss rules as intended versus rules as written. rules for things should be black or white and contain to story telling or narrative blended in with the rules.

dungeons and dragons books are the same way as what im trying to get across or piles of other games. they explain to you what something might be with a lore piece, and then explain bluntly and abruptly what these things are and how they effect your game with hard stat numbers and rule explanations.

So basically Ionusx, you're saying they are only good if they are YOUR rules...
ie plasma pistol reference early in post.
Go write your own Codex bro. several here have posted adjustments that you seem to deem to think have no merit. Why post here if you didn't have any room for critique? Kinkos opens in an hour. Have fun.

I've taken plenty of suggestions here and worked with them in fact I've use several. I think it's you here over reacting. And yes I am open to critique but if you aren't going to be clear about exactly is a rule and what isn't and then if your going to reference things that you may have made up yourself list those as well. The thing about writing homebrew rules for things is that its not as simple as writing one tiny sentence and calling it a weekend; especially when their out of context of something you wrote much larger.

dmatthewgooch wrote:
I love it! I have just started a Guardians company (4th Company) and have been working on some supplemental rules and fluff for them. Your ideas are fantastic. I've taken a lot from the "Sons of Mortikah" blog, as I feel he really captures the feel of the Chapter, and I kind of ran with it from there. Thanks for posting your ideas, I especially like your Warlord traits.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Here's a couple of the special formations I was working on. The second one is particular to the Fourth Company, but could easily be adapted to any company, as most of them fought in the Campaign against the Lelith. They are both steeped in the fluff created on the "Sons of Mortikah" blog.

The Gathering of Knowledge - Convenio Scientia +20 Points
Even among space marines, the Guardians of the Covenant are wise beyond their years. The library in the spire is the culmination of 10,000 years of the gathering of knowledge. The Astartes of the Guardians of the Covenant have access to this knowledge, and because of the emphasis put on knowledge by the Chapter, the Chapter Masters and other leaders spend enormous amounts of time in the library, sharpening their understanding of enemy tactics and weapons systems. When a full complement of a company’s command structure is on the field, the assembled knowledge gives the Company every edge over the enemy.

Formation Requirements:
Your Detachment must have a Company Master, Librarian, and Chaplain.
Special Rules:
This formation confers the warlord trait tactical genius. Furthermore, your warlord still gets to roll for a warlord trait as normal but must roll on the Dark Angel (or Guardians of the Covenant) Warlord traits table.

The Shield of Faith - Sumentes scutum fidei +50 Points
Those Battle Brothers that were there during the Lelith incursion remember those days when it looked like they would be overwhelmed by the shape-shifting xenos. With most of their battle brothers dead, their leadership decimated, and only their faith in the emperor to sustain them, these veterans withstood the horror of the xenos onslought until the rest of the chapter relieved them and purged the planet of the foul xenos subjugators. Those battle-brothers that survived became the veteran backbone of the fourth company. During that time of survival the brothers of the fourth company learned a new level of comradeship and faith. It honed their skills to a new level, and made them even more steadfast in the face of danger; even shrugging off the most grievous of wounds such was their faith in the emperor and their comrades.

Formation Requirements.
All Space Marine squads must have veteran sgts. The army must include a Chaplain, Venerable Dreadnought, and Company banner.

Special rules:
Any unit from this detachment within 8 inches of another unit from this detachment is granted the fearless special rule. Also, any unit within 12 inches of the Company banner is also granted the Feel no Pain special rule.

What do you think?

in an effort to deal with the ruffian above i will breakdown what i think iof each thing this person suggested and what i think of each one more clearly.

The Gathering of Knowledge - Convenio Scientia +20 Points
Even among space marines, the Guardians of the Covenant are wise beyond their years. The library in the spire is the culmination of 10,000 years of the gathering of knowledge. The Astartes of the Guardians of the Covenant have access to this knowledge, and because of the emphasis put on knowledge by the Chapter, the Chapter Masters and other leaders spend enormous amounts of time in the library, sharpening their understanding of enemy tactics and weapons systems. When a full complement of a company’s command structure is on the field, the assembled knowledge gives the Company every edge over the enemy. im going to take the first bit as lore, its fine

Formation Requirements:
Your Detachment must have a Company Master, Librarian, and Chaplain. also fine however i feel that this formation is very small and beyond giving purpose to the generic chaplain accomplishes litte, consider expanding it to include more units, or maybe a dedicated transport
Special Rules:
This formation confers the warlord trait tactical genius. Furthermore, your warlord still gets to roll for a warlord trait as normal but must roll on the Dark Angel (or Guardians of the Covenant) Warlord traits table.

to me this formation appears to be council of the waaagh lite edition, the points tax you tack on top is also a bit confusing, to my knowledge formations dont have a points tax anywhere unless its buried as a unit or a relic that must be brought to battle; a tax on top of exisitng units doesnt happen in any official datasheet or supplement that i am aware of (and i own no small pile of supplements and datasheets), consider doing other things to increase its base price such as adding another hq item like a techmarine (if you feel its to expensive base) or make a piece of wargear mandatory like the company master has to have a relic bearer and the chaplain must purchase an auspex or something like that.

The Shield of Faith - Sumentes scutum fidei +50 Points
Those Battle Brothers that were there during the Lelith incursion remember those days when it looked like they would be overwhelmed by the shape-shifting xenos. With most of their battle brothers dead, their leadership decimated, and only their faith in the emperor to sustain them, these veterans withstood the horror of the xenos onslought until the rest of the chapter relieved them and purged the planet of the foul xenos subjugators. Those battle-brothers that survived became the veteran backbone of the fourth company. During that time of survival the brothers of the fourth company learned a new level of comradeship and faith. It honed their skills to a new level, and made them even more steadfast in the face of danger; even shrugging off the most grievous of wounds such was their faith in the emperor and their comrades. this is again lore, my opinion hasnt changed

Formation Requirements.
All Space Marine squads must have veteran sgts. The army must include a Chaplain, Venerable Dreadnought, and Company banner. this is where things become weird, a formation (as defined by the brb) is a static collection of predetermined units that when taken togeather act as their own detachment and take up no force org slots, this appears to be a force org chart with limitations but then those limitations are incomplete as it doesnt go on to list what slots i have to play with around these requirements. space marine squads is cryptic it doesnt define clearly who does and doesnt buy one i interpret this as every squad including, devestators, assault marines, tactical marines, ravenwing attack squadrons but it could easily be misinterpreted to mean something else so it needs some explaining, the company banner is again cryptic i thinka better way of writing this would of been like so:

a chaplain
a command squad (or ravenwing command squad or deathwing command squad)
a venerable dreadnought

id then list what else is in the formation be that tactical marines or whatever followed by the limitations for each squad (id also like to point out that a venerable dreadnought doesnt have his own heading in the base codex but that is a side issue)

and again we have that points tax there which is again something im fairly certain doesnt occur in any formations im aware of its an interesting idea but diverges from the format we have grown accustomed too in datasheets


Special rules:
Any unit from this detachment within 8 inches of another unit from this detachment is granted the fearless special rule. Also, any unit within 12 inches of the Company banner is also granted the Feel no Pain special rule.

rules as written dictates in this last bit that the enemy would also get feel no pain which is odd considering the enemy wouldnt understand the significance of the banner nor be able to feed off its symbolism. to them its a ratty old tablecloth some yahoo was ordered to wave around you need some rewording here

so i think that these formations need work n places i think their a good start and certainly interesting but they need some tidying up.

Unfortunately you have came across completely arrogant and condescending to take what you list here as serious. I didn't post any rules, but I think you need to evaluate the way you communicate to the others that did. You won't, but I'll suggest it anyway. From the posts above, I doubt you get much feedback given the way you responded to it.