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SPOILER WARNING!!!!  SPOILER WARNING!!!!  DO NOT READ THIS THREAD UNLESS YOU HAVE READ THE HORUS HERESY BOOKS!!!!

 

Hi all.  I love the Forums so far, so I thought that I would give a little history on my own Space Marine Chapter for others to look at.  It is full of fluff, and I would like any ideas others may have to offer.  I am sure that I am not the only one on the planet to think of this idea, so I feel safe in posting it here.

I absoutly loved the Horus Heresy stuff, but my favortie character from the books, Captain Loken of the Luna Wolves/Sons of Horus, died on Istvaan IV.  So, I was a little lost as to how I wanted my own Chapter to progress. 

Then, I read Flight of the Eisenstein.  I found a new hero in Captain Garro.  He is like a young King Arthur in my mind, weilding Libertas instead of Excalibur.  So, I went with his character in the end.  What follows is the fluff on my personal Chapter:

After the Seige of Terra, when the Traitor Legions were pushed back into the void, the Empire was left in ruin.  The Emperor was placed on the Golden Throne, forever present, yet forever lost to his Empire.  Entire worlds were in open revolt.  Once mighty fleets were left adrift in the cold darkness of space.  Even the Empire's greatest, the Space Marines, were unsure of what to do next.  The light of Humanity was never so faint.

However, there was still hope.  There were individuals, strong and inquisitive in nature, that had been given a new purpose.  A special destiny that would lead Humanity through the darkness.

One of these individuals, a noble and powerful soul, had to fall to the very depths of despair before he would realize his destiny.  His name was Nathaniel Garro, and he was a Captain of the Death Guard.  Betrayed, battered, and lost, Captain Garro had only to let go of his will to live in order to end his pain.  However, there was something that would not allow Nathaniel to relent.  It was not his powerful will, as the very core of his beliefs had been shattered.  It was not his massive and augmented body, as it was injured beyond mortal limits.  There was something else.  A voice.  A distant voice.  A tiny voice that told Nathaniel that he had a "purpose".  It was enough.

In time, through horrible trials and pain, Nathaniel found something that he lacked for his entire life.  Indeed, he had been trained to forget such foolishness.  Yet, in his very core, Nathaniel had discovered a weapon more powerful than any in the universe.  More than that, Nathaniel had discovered an armor that could withstand even the impossible and chaotic.  Nathaniel had found his "purpose".  He had discovered FAITH.

After the events of the Horus Heresy, as they were now being called, Nathaniel was charged with an impossible task.  Not only was he supposed to help the wounded Empire survive, he was to build a weapon that could destroy the Great Enemy itself.  This weapon, the greatest of its kind, would one day become the Grey Knights.

However, such a weapon could not be forged overnight.  Hundreds of years of special training and preperation were required.  The wounded Empire needed heroes if it were to survive that long.  Heroes that could fight the Great Enemy now, before the perfect weapon could be forged.

Thus, the Sons of Light were born.  From a handful of individuals, each with their own personal experience with the Devine Emperor, a brotherhood was formed.  Over the following centuries, a mighty Chapter emerged.

Today, the Sons of Light number a little over one thousand Battle Brothers.  Unique among most of the other Space Marines Chapters, the Sons of Light all believe in the Divinity of the Emperor of Mankind.  As such, the Sons of Light have more Chaplins in their Chapter than almost any other.  Each Battle Brother has had at least one personal experience with the Devine Emperor, ranging from special dreams to outright visions.  To this end, Librarians are not cast aside in the Sons of Light, as all have a faith at least equal to their psychic potential.  However, they are constantly in need of a Chaplin's attention, as the evil of the Warp is a constant drain on their strength of will.

The Sons of Light also differ from many Codex Chapters in that they have a very special purpose.  Just as the Grey Knights hunt the Daemon, the Sons of Light hunt the Traitor.  Because of this, all of the Sons of LIght are adept at swordsmanship as well as using the Holy Bolter.  This is more than just a legacy from Captain Garro, but rather a practical tactic.  Power Armor is very strong, and even Bolter rounds can find weak points hard to penetrate.  This practice also means that there is a greater number of Power Sword weilding troops in the Sons of Light than usual.

Also, special training has been incorporated into the training of many Sons of LIght Devastator squads.  Because of their intimate understanding of their own equipment's strengths and weaknesses, the Sons of Light that dedicate their attention to heavey weaponry know how to use them to their maximum potential.  Many a Traitor army has found the Sons of LIght's Devastator squads to be very effective at their assigned tasks.

Such specialization in tactics is not always beneficial.  For instance, since so much time is devoted to close range and personal combat training, not much time can be devoted to other applications of force.  The Sons of Light do not use Land Speeders or bike squadrons for this very reason.

If the Sons of LIght have a weakness, it is their devotion to their mission.  There have been a few occasions, many more than the Chapter's command staff would like anyway, where extra losses were suffered when a tactical regrouping could have saved many a Battle Brother's life.

Finally, due to their faithfulness to the Emperor of Mankind, as well as their specific mission, the Sons of Light have extensive connections within the Inquisition.  The history of the Chapter is full of battles where the Adepta Soroitas, and even the mighty Grey Knights, have stood beside the Sons of Light in order to purge the unclean.

Battle Cry: "We are of PURPOSE!!!"

Chapter Traits:

Suffer Not The Works Of Heretics

Trust Your Battle-Brother

Eye to Eye

Death Before Dishonor

Chapter Colors:

White Power Armor

Deep Red Shoulder Pads

Gold and Black Trim and Chapter Icons

Chapter Symbol:

A gold sword with blade pointed up and Laurel for the hand guard

Let me know what you think....

 

Ok first things first, the name is just cheesey, was this intended

second, half of your descriptionms of the chapters specialisation just seem to be generic Marine Doctrine, understanding the strangths and weakness of your equipment for example... more or less oneof the basic tennants of Alll Space marines.

Also there are many chapters whose soul purpose is to fight against erenagde mariens although this usually ends up as fighting renegades or chaotic forces in general i.e the chapters specifically stationed around the Eye of Terror and the Maelstrom.

Also even Garro is portrayed as a great man and hero to the imperium its unlikely the inquisiotn or the high lords of terra would allow him to have contact with the 2nd founding legions enough to influence as you have suggested, because of what his legion did.

However saying that, you have hit on an idea, the link between recruit and emperor, via dreams or vision, now this is is a good idea and worth expanding on, but certain members of the inquistion are likmely to highely suspeicious of a chapter who have such a high number opsychically active individuals.

just some thigns to think about

actually if one reads the latest hh book it appears that garro is used as the founding of the inquisition itself and possibly even the grey knights so this fluff is kind of accurate but also slightly iffy. best thing i think would be to reread the books and see what other areas you can plunder for ideas
millest

Thanks for the replies.  I actually do appreciate your input.  I'll address what you have provided.

1.  Actually, the name was the hardest part.  Imperial Paladins or Imperial Crusaders sounded much more accurate, but the names were already part of GW fluff.  Shadow Hunters, or something close, would be really neat, but does not reflect their belief in the Emperor as a god.  So, I thought long and hard about it, and thought of the Bible.  The "Sons of God" was another name for Angels, so Sons of Light seemed pretty cool.  It wasn't supposed to be cheesy.  If you have a better suggestion, I am all for it.  So many names have already been posted, that it is tough to be clever with this one.

2. It was REALLY late when I typed my first post, so it was not as clear as I would have liked.  The Sons of Light acutally hunt the Traitor Marine.  They are more like a crusading chapter, like the Black Templars, as opposed to other chapters.  Over the centuries, they have replaced the standard Codex organization in order to have different troops on a Strike Cruiser.  This basically breaks down to the Command group, made up of the Company Captain, Chaplin, Librarian, and 7 veteran Marines.  Basically the Command Squad.  Each has Terminator Honors, not just because of the extra attack, but because they can put on the Company's 10 Terminator suits.  This means they have either Power Armor or Terminator Armor, but only 10 suits of the stronger stuff.  There are 4 Tactical Squads in each company, as well as 1 Assault Squad and 2 Devastator Squads.  Finally, there are 20 Scouts, both to meet mission requirements as well as replace any lost Marines.  This makes 100 Marines, as well as equipment, on each Assault Cruiser.

3.  Also, in keeping with the fluff for the army, each Sergeant in every squad is a veteran as well as a "chaplin" for their squad.  These are men that have not only proven themselves as being worthy of wearing Terminator Armor, but also spiritual purity.  Each wears armor composed of older components, as well as highly embelished.  Not really Artificer Armor, but close.  They each have scripture inscribed on their armor, as well as from parchment hanging from their belts.  They see to the development of their squad, as well as their spiritual needs.  This makes being a Sergeant in the Sons of Light a very special honor.  When a senior member of the veteran Marines in the Command Squad is killed, then a Veteran Sergeant is selected to take thier place.  A new Veteran Sergeant is selected to replace the former Sergeant based on their personal devotion to their faith and men.

4.  Being more of a crusading chapter, the Sons of Light are hardly ever in a position to devote more than a Company to any type of engagement.  That is why they have to rely on the Sisters of Battle, Grey Knights, or other Inquisition forces to bolster their numbers.  This also fits into the fluff, as the Inquisition is the boby that actually finds most of the Chaos Marine activity.  I envisioned the Sons of Light to be a special force that the Inquisition could call upon.  Stronger than the Sisters of Battle, but not as specialized as the Grey Knights.  That way, if an Inquisitor descovers a group of Imperial Guard or other local traitors, the Sisters of Battle or the Inquisitor's own personal forces could be brought to bear.  However, if Traitor Space Marines were present, the Sons of Light could be called in.  If their was a large threat of Daemon activity, then the Grey Knights could be called in.  It just seemd like a more practical use of forces.

5.  Because the Sons of Light are used to hunt Traitor Marines, I selected Traits that would work against such forces.  Sure, I could just load up on Lascannons, Plasma weapons, and Lightning Claws.  I did not do this.  I see the Sons of Light fighting on renegade ships as well as on planetary bodies.  So, my troops all have Rocket Launchers, Meltaguns, and Power Swords.  The Meltaguns and Power Swords could be of great use on ships, as Rocket Launchers would be easy enough to equip and train with.  Besides, I HATE plasma weapons.  I don't care how effective they are, I would not use one if it could blow up in my hand.

6.  I picked Captain Garro over all of the other characters in the Horus Heresy books, because he actually had FAITH.  That's what made him different from all of the others.  I loved the Captain Loken character, but he died on Istvaan IV.  I could make up some lame story about him surviving, but that was just too much of a streach.  Because Garro had the faith, I thought it would be neat to see how that worked into the unit.

7.  Not all of the troops are psykers.  Captain Garro was not a psyker, and yet he had a vision.  I see the Sons of Light as being spiritual, not psykers.  Each recruit must still be a leader and warrior above their peers.  However, their faith must be their strongest attribute.  Each potential recruit is examined by a Chaplin and Librarian in secret.  However, the potential recruit is never approached by the examiners.  They are simply evaluated and observed from afar.  Right before the Chaplin and Librarian leave a planet with potential recruits, only one of the recruits will have an experience that directs them to a special place.  This is where the recruit is finally approached by the Chaplin and Librarian.  This is how most of the Sons of Light receive their special connection with the Emperor.  Others, such as Veteran Sergeants, Chaplins, and Librarians might have 1 more encounter with the Emperor in their lifetime.  Rare individuals, such as Captains and Chapter heroes, might have more.  This is in the GW fluff, as the Black Templars will select an Emperor's champion based on omens and visions.  I just really liked how it worked with the Sons of Light.

Again, let me know what you think.  I love the dialog...

I like it a lot more now that you have explained it in more detail.

I can see what you're trying to do.

I say go for it.

Good luck

are you the same capten loken from PHforums?

Posted By upliftingprimer on 06/05/2007 4:08 PM

are you the same capten loken from PHforums?

I'm sorry, but I don't even know what that is.  I guess some one else likes Captain Loken as well.

You do know that Captain Loken.....was, well....gay....

I don't see how you have come to this idea, unless I missed a homosexual love scene in another book with Captain Loken. Actually, I don't remember ANY love scenes in ANY books, straight or otherwise, that would suggest that Space Marines are sexual beings. They don't have the time, and it doesn't fit their character either. I'm not saying that being gay is a bad thing. My brother is gay, and I love him very much. I am simply saying that Space Marines, at least to my knowledge, are not sexual beings. They have a brotherly love for their fellow Space Marines, because they are alike. They are no longer really human, so they would find comfort in each other. However, this doesn't translate to homosexuality. It just means brotherhood and kinship.

So, unless you know something else that I do not, I just don't see how you can say that Captain Loken is gay.

If any Space Marines are sexual, it would be the Emperor's Children. However, as they are all base and vile creatures of pain and pleasure, calling them "sexual" would be a grave misunderstanding of the word.

2nd space wolves novel, ragnar gets all gooey for inquistor aprentice lass

Religious fanatics alá emperor? KoooL!! Go for it, and gief piccies!