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Blackshields (i.e. freelance Space Marines) are mostly associated with the Heresy era, but what happens in the modern 40k era when a chapter is pretty much wiped out aside from a handful of survivors? Do the survivors embark on a lone crusade of revenge, or do they tend to get integrated into a successor, parent or "sibling" chapter?

There are Blackshields in Deathwatch so at least some end there but some of them are rumoured to be former renegades/chaos too.

The Ashen Claws still exist and show up in the Second Carcharadons novel.

 Shadow Walker wrote:
There are Blackshields in Deathwatch so at least some end there but some of them are rumoured to be former renegades/chaos too.

Deathwatch Blackshields are unrelated to 30k-era Blackshields. John French called them as similar as the 300 Spartans and an American football team calling themselves the Spartans.

jareddm wrote:

 Shadow Walker wrote:
There are Blackshields in Deathwatch so at least some end there but some of them are rumoured to be former renegades/chaos too.

Deathwatch Blackshields are unrelated to 30k-era Blackshields. John French called them as similar as the 300 Spartans and an American football team calling themselves the Spartans.

I know that they are not the same. He asked what could happen with the ''homeless'' SM and one of the option is became Blackshield in DW.

-Guardsman- wrote:
Blackshields (i.e. freelance Space Marines) are mostly associated with the Heresy era, but what happens in the modern 40k era when a chapter is pretty much wiped out aside from a handful of survivors? Do the survivors embark on a lone crusade of revenge, or do they tend to get integrated into a successor, parent or "sibling" chapter?

Going by both the Crimson Fists and Scythes of the Emperor, they rebuild the chapter. The Imperium has a stockpile of each Chapter's geneseed to do such things.

 Platuan4th wrote:

-Guardsman- wrote:
Blackshields (i.e. freelance Space Marines) are mostly associated with the Heresy era, but what happens in the modern 40k era when a chapter is pretty much wiped out aside from a handful of survivors? Do the survivors embark on a lone crusade of revenge, or do they tend to get integrated into a successor, parent or "sibling" chapter?

Going by both the Crimson Fists and Scythes of the Emperor, they rebuild the chapter. The Imperium has a stockpile of each Chapter's geneseed to do such things.

Not all Chapters get to rebuild - see Astral Knights, for example, who were struck from the roster due to having "insufficient manpower" to try and rebuild.

I guess it depends on how strong your plot armour is (Crimson Fists).

I’m sure a wealthy planetary governor would enjoy having the last few survivors of a SM chapter as their personal body guard.

Who would ever really know or care

Assigned to an inquisitor's retinue, attached to an existing marine chapter, any number of things.

 Alkasyn wrote:

 Platuan4th wrote:

-Guardsman- wrote:
Blackshields (i.e. freelance Space Marines) are mostly associated with the Heresy era, but what happens in the modern 40k era when a chapter is pretty much wiped out aside from a handful of survivors? Do the survivors embark on a lone crusade of revenge, or do they tend to get integrated into a successor, parent or "sibling" chapter?

Going by both the Crimson Fists and Scythes of the Emperor, they rebuild the chapter. The Imperium has a stockpile of each Chapter's geneseed to do such things.

Not all Chapters get to rebuild - see Astral Knights, for example, who were struck from the roster due to having "insufficient manpower" to try and rebuild.

I guess it depends on how strong your plot armour is (Crimson Fists).

Or from a Watsonian perspective - a famous 2nd founding chapter like the Fists is worth rebuilding, a random later chapter not so much!

Lord Zarkov wrote:

 Alkasyn wrote:

 Platuan4th wrote:

-Guardsman- wrote:
Blackshields (i.e. freelance Space Marines) are mostly associated with the Heresy era, but what happens in the modern 40k era when a chapter is pretty much wiped out aside from a handful of survivors? Do the survivors embark on a lone crusade of revenge, or do they tend to get integrated into a successor, parent or "sibling" chapter?

Going by both the Crimson Fists and Scythes of the Emperor, they rebuild the chapter. The Imperium has a stockpile of each Chapter's geneseed to do such things.

Not all Chapters get to rebuild - see Astral Knights, for example, who were struck from the roster due to having "insufficient manpower" to try and rebuild.

I guess it depends on how strong your plot armour is (Crimson Fists).

Or from a Watsonian perspective - a famous 2nd founding chapter like the Fists is worth rebuilding, a random later chapter not so much!

While I have no basis for this opinion/idea,

Maybe some "homeless" Space Marines could move to a related chapter if they have close ties to their progenitor/successor. Would probably be limited to when there are only a few survivors and all other resources were destroyed. This idea would only work with close direct ties between chapters.

 Salted Diamond wrote:

While I have no basis for this opinion/idea,

Maybe some "homeless" Space Marines could move to a related chapter if they have close ties to their progenitor/successor. Would probably be limited to when there are only a few survivors and all other resources were destroyed. This idea would only work with close direct ties between chapters.

I could see IF and their successors doing this.

Maybe some isolated marines decide the emperor is steering them to a separate destiny from their chapters and they heed his call.

Maybe he actually is. Maybe some marines are destined to be the lone paladin who is guided to where he's needed by the emperor's will.

Also blackshields are still mentioned in kill team as a background. They were in deathwatch rpg.