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The title is kind of dis-ingenious, but I was wondering about the obligations of a scout sergeant and promotion into a command squad.

I'm building a unique command squad for Pellas Mir'San (Salamanders) and although I can't mess with Mir'San's fluff, for each of the other (officially unnamed) members in the squad I have written a sort of mini background which kind of dictates how the model actually looks. However the problem I have is that my Command-Sergeant's invented fluff states him having been a scout-sergeant, lost a scout squad to an ambush and, feeling guilty and filled with fury, transfers into the 2nd Company, subsequently joins the Deathwatch when the call comes, and ends up returning to the 2nd Company as a Deathwatch veteran. Problem is - I don't even know if this chain of events would be possible! Can a Scout-Sergeant switch Company on a whim?

Similarly, my Command-Veteran's background states that he was a talented smith who WASN'T selected to be a Techmarine, rises to veteran (without becoming Sergeant) and is then posted back to the 2nd Company, whereupon he is selected for the command squad. So can an Astartes turn-down the post of Techmarine? Can an Astartes become a veteran without becoming a Sergeant first? And, finally, can Veterans be permanently attached to Companies in a manner similar to Chaplains, Apothecaries etc.?

I gather it's a lot of questions, but if the Dakka community can help me get my head around them, then I can get on and actually finish the Command Squad!

In the 40k universe the answer is always "yes". The setting is big enough and the timelibe long enough to allow anything to happen. Specifically on the scout sergeant thing, veteran sargeants are posted to the 10th company to train new recruits, if something untoward happened and the sergeant was no longer likely to ve a viable training officer, then he would be reassigned as a matter of course. Where he went would depend on the specifics of the issue, his skill set and which company needed him more.

Well, as I stated, with regards to my Scout Sergeant, the background I had written and was now pondering over, has him choosing, or at least requesting, to transfer to the 2nd Companyof his own violation. It's not so much that he is incapable of training scouts, but he feels that he needs to do penance for what he perceives as his own fault - hence why he personally requests to transfer. That's my problem!

In answer to the first point, yes.

Scout Sergeants are usually older ex tactical marines anyway, because they're responsible for leading groups of scouts (who in most chapters are initiates)

I see no reason why a marine couldn't request a transfer between companies, at the discretion of his captain.

Hmmm, well i'll just have to go with it then. Seems to be alright. Thnks to both of you!

Absolutely no problem, one of the members of my UM Command Squad is a DW marine from the Scythes of the Emperor who owes a blood debt to Captain Fabian and is seeing out his remaining service with Fabian after a member of Fabian's Command Squad died on mission with SotE marine (with the rest of the Kill-team), SotE guy feels bad, requests to serve with Fabian to whom he already owes a debt (Tyranid wars, saved his life, let him serve with the UM for a while) and is allowed, now flies with the UM for a while.

Glad I'm not mental having this idea and someone else had a similar one.
As for the Scout, I'm pretty sure that Scout Sergeants are roughly of equal rank to 1st Company Veterans, so requesting a transfer to a Battle Company after seeing himself as unfit to train new recruits would, to me, be an ideal solution.

And the tech adept? Maybe he just wasn't in touch enough to be a Techmarine, but more so than his brothers.

@ Sir Samuel Buca - Hehe, sounds like we should swap fluff some time, yours sounds pretty intriguing As for the veteran, that part of the post was sort of an after-thought. After reading on Lexicanum, I found that a veteran does not necessarily have to be a Sergeant first, and regarding his Techmarine status, because he's a Salamander, my fluff states him as being superbly skilled at crafting weapons - guess it just doesn't extend to all the skills desired for a Techmarine

I thought seeing as I was doing a Command Squad I may as well write some fluff for them as I was going along - so I came up with my 'Anvil Guard' project, and this thread was just to check up on some aspects!

I did the same, we should definitely trade ideas some time, I think I could come up with a lot from picking your brain.

 Warpig1815 wrote:
So can an Astartes turn-down the post of Techmarine? Can an Astartes become a veteran without becoming a Sergeant first? And, finally, can Veterans be permanently attached to Companies in a manner similar to Chaplains, Apothecaries etc.?

To answer these in particular, as I don't think they've been covered yet - apologies if they have...

An Astartes can turn down a post. Captain Stern of the Grey Knights springs to mind, they want him to become a Grand Master, he won't until M'Kachen is banished or trapped. I think the Space Wolves have an equivalent as well - was it Arjac? Don't have the book to hand.

Veterans that aren't Sergeants do exist - they're kind of rare, but the Dark Angels do it more often than others, because they don't have veteran power-armour squads in the Deathwing - they form up veteran units from their normal Companies instead. In other Chapters it's a case of skipping a step by showing extraordinary prowess - for instance, Ragnar Blackmane was elevated to the Wolf Guard very young and is I believe the youngest Wolf Lord ever. Bear in mind that Veterans aren't automatically selected for Command squads, there will be some Veterans who have the centuries of experience required and are better than your average Marine but have simply never gained rank, so won't be in your Command Squad as a result.

As for Veterans being permanently attached to Companies - if they've come from the 1st Company already, it'll be as part of a Command Squad or Honour Guard, or as a Veteran Sergeant to one of the squads. Veteran units (again, except for Dark Angels) stay in the 1st Company. Demotion is possible, however, leaving you someone in a normal Company with 1st Company skills and experience.
As I've already mentioned, you can have veteran levels of skill already in the Company who haven't become members of the 1st Company or gained any kind of rank either.

@Super Ready - Many Thanks, that covers everything I was pondering about and was very concise, cheers!

@Sir Samuel Buca - Feel free to add me as a friend if you want to trade ideas, God knows I have enough floating around