Friday, April 26, 2013

Guardians of the Blood

I have been thinking for a while as to what army I want to create in the future. My friends voted that I should run Elysians which I do plan on doing some time, maybe once they get updated to 6th ed. I am not yet done with Space Marines. I don't want this force to be a regular army that I can play with every weekend, I want it to be a unique thing that I bring out for campaigns and special fun games like Apocolypse. With that said I have made a rough draft for what I want the heart of my chapter to consist of and here it is.

Guardians of the Blood Space Marine Chapter
Progenitor: Imperial Fists
Specialty: Shock Troops
Colors: TBD
Heraldry: Bleeding Cross
Home World: Fleet Based
Chapter Command
Chapter Master: Elias Sturm
High Chaplain: Caecilius Tesh
Chief Librarian: Arrian Ventris
Chief Medic: Vitus Govax
Veteran Master Sergeant: Judas Rapt
Battle Companies
Blades Edge Brotherhood: Veteran Master Sergeant Judas Rapt- 13 Veteran Battle Brothers.
First Company: Captain Valens- 10 Veterans, 50 Tactical Marines, 30 Assault Marines, 25 Devastators.
Second Company: Captain Marinus- 10 Veterans, 50 Tactical Marines, 30 Assault Marines, 25 Devastators.
Third Company: Captain Dacius- 10 Veterans, 50 Tactical Marines, 30 Assault Marines, 25 Devastators.
Fourth Light Company: Captain Janus- 20 Sternguard, 30 Tactical Marines, 10 Assault Bikes, 20 Scouts.
Fifth Heavy Company: Captain Galenus- 10 Veterans, 40 Devastators, 40 Tactical Marines.
Sixth Armored Company: Captain Corvin- 3 Land Raiders, 12 Predators, 4 Vindicators, 6 Whirlwinds.


Background
            999.M41- The full weight of the Guardian Knights emerges from the warp in the Baal system in answer to summons from Chapter Master Dante of the Blood Angels calling for help. Chapter Master Elias Sturm coordinates his chapter’s deployment with Dante across the region. Beset upon by Daemons under Ka’Bandha and Hive Fleet Leviathan the sons of Sanguinius and Rogal Dorn fight for their right to exist on a daily basis. The Guardian Knights were tasked with defending against the Tyranid invasion, allied with elements from successor chapters such as the Flesh Tearers and Angels Encarmine as well as the Blood Angels themselves. Guardian Knight assault squads learned many new techniques from their allies and used them with deadly efficiency cutting away at Tyranid synapse monsters to devastating result. As the war in the sector dragged on more Blood Angel successor chapters were called to the opposite front to combat the Daemon hosts of Ka’Bandha leaving the Guardian Knights stretched thin. Having found the planet that was providing a significant portion of biomass to Hive Fleet Leviathan Chapter Master Elias Sturm sent his elite Blade’s Edge Brotherhood and first company elements to kill the synapse creature there. Veteran Master Sergeant Judas Rapt took his force along with two of the chapters librarians to deliver a telling blow to the Tyranids. On the surface of the planet the chapter elite cut a bloody path to the biomass pools and after planting melta charges the veterans began their hunt for the brood lords. As soon as the Thunderhawk touched down both librarians had begun convulsing and frothing at the mouth, not wanting to slay his brothers Judas had the squad apothecary administer a strong sedative and left him with them. For two days the Brotherhood hunted down Gene steeler brood lords, Tyrvigons, and Zoanthropes before falling back to the Thunderhawk to extract. Upon leaving the planet’s atmosphere both librarians were taken off their powerful sedatives and regained consciousness they reported to Rapt that they had glimpsed part of the hive minds plan and that the chapter was about to face its biggest trial yet. Chapter Master Sturm learned from his librarians that the Tyranids were massing for an attack designed to crush his strongest defensive positions. Redeploying his chapter to defend against this new offensive, nearly all of the chapters strength was recalled except for those that were needed to keep a presence in battles that were already raging. Sturm called upon his Astropaths to get a message to Dante to warn about this new threat but this close to the shadow that the Tyranids cast in the warp they all died a gruesome death when they attempted to send the message. In desperation Chief Librarian Arrian Ventris brought together his fellow psyker kin and with their combined might sent a message out through the warp. The cost of this message was nearly all of the psykers were killed or suffered some sort of mental crippling that they were granted the Emperors grace.
Final Days
The first losses of the chapter were to the fleet. While they fought bravely the fleet was driven off by the sheer mass of Tyranid vessels. Unable to oppose the Tyranid landings except from fire from heavy weapons from Devastator squads the horde was soon assembled to wipe out the Guardian Knights. Assault squads were sent ahead of the defensive lines to harass the advancing swarm and guide them into ambushes put in place by the chapter’s scouts and tactical marines. While that tactic worked for a time eventually the bigger monsters and synapse creatures caught up the advancing swarms and were able to control them more efficiently. Losses started to pile up on the exposed assault squads and scouts who were eventually recalled to the static lines, but not before melta mines were planted to further slow the swarm’s progress. A notable achievement from the scouts was exploding the side of a mountain to crush a Carnifex brood under the weight of the massive boulders crashing down on them. Still the day came when the swarm was within bolter range and the fight began in earnest. Guardian Knight Assault squads split into kill teams that prowled the back of the lines until synapse creatures appeared, then upon wings of fire they would jump into the fray and bring it down. Tactical marines were reassigned to assault squads to keep their dwindling numbers up to assault strength. The Guardian Knights were slowly driven back to secondary and tertiary defense lines yet the hive tyrant had yet to show itself. On the fifth day holes started to be punched through the defense lines and the assault marines were tasked with closing them with counter charges, Chapter Master Elias and his Terminator clad bodyguard also led the counter charges where the biggest breaches were. Bone weary and bolter ammunition almost depleted on the dawn of day six the Hive Tyrant approached at the head of a new swarm. Elias smiled as he sent out a sonic pulse that would reach all three of the planets moons.
Final Hours
For over a week Veteran Master Sergeant Judas Rapt and his Brotherhood along with elements of the Veteran First Company had been in underground bunkers waiting for the signal from the Chapter Master and it had finally came. A number of bunkers had gone silent in the waiting week and the Tyranids were actively looking for them now. It had been hell for each battle brother so not move for that week fearing to cause the slightest vibration that would alert the Tyranids to their presence, now the time for stealth was over. Judas turned on the teleporter that would send his Brotherhood to where the Chapter Master willed it. These teleport bunkers had been stripped out of the warships and buried here under the watchful eyes of the tech marines who would also stay behind to make sure they functioned through the whole process. The smell of ozone reached Judas’ nostrils even through his helmet, the next thing he saw was a Tyranid Hive Tyrant looming up before him. If a Tyranid could show surprise Judas knew it was showing it now as he swung his thunder hammer at the beast.
Even the intervention of the Brotherhood and First Company elements the battle was doomed from the start. The Terminators were pushed back to the lines after creating a mountain of pulverized Tyranid flesh. Bolters were dropped in favor of chain swords and combat blades, even the Devastator squads were now fighting tooth and nail. The few Chaplains left were chanting the Mass of Doom to spur the chapter onto one last glorious charge. Before he could give the order Elias looked into the rising sun and saw a number of golden angels burning his way, and he knew he would be by the Emperor’s side very soon.
The Elite Sanguinary Guard and Lord Dante screamed over head of the Guardian Knights and slammed into Tyranid mass with a righteous fury. In space the combined efforts of the Blood Angel successor fleets and an Imperial Navy combat flotilla with the remnants of the Guardian Knight ships reengaged the Tyranid bio ships.
New Life
After the successful campaign against the Tyranids and Daemons the Guardian Knights and Blood Angels signed a pact of brotherhood between the two chapters. Commander Dante, out of respect for the losses Elias had suffered in defense of his own chapter, gave 10 scouts and 20 neophytes as well as a small vial of blood that came from the grail that the Sanguinary Priests keep pure to his new found friend as a gesture that they would regrow their chapters together. In honor of such gifts Sturm changed his chapters name to Guardians of the Blood and that they would display a new chapter symbol, a bleeding cross, to represent the blood they spilled with the sons of Sanguinius.




This is a very rough sketch of my Guardians of the Blood chapter insignia. The idea is that it is a cross with a blood drop in the middle and the arms of the cross are the imperial eagles with a shield running between the neck and head sections. Go ahead and make fun of my childish drawings if you really feel like it lol.

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