10 replies to this topic

[khalaek]

Hey All,

I had a burst of inspiration today and decided to make an IA article for the DIY chapter the Steel Scythes. What follows is very much a work in progress, as this definitely is NOT finished, and definitely NEEDS polishing before I would say I’m happy with it. Let me know what you think, especially if you have ideas for how it can be better.

Without further ado…

Index Astartes: Steel Scythes

Founding	Unknown (399.M40)
Successor Of	Ultramarines
Current Strength	Approximately Full Strength (~1,000 Astartes)
Current Chapter Master	Odysseus Castori
Homeworld	Napolis
Colours	White armor, Black helmet, right arm, left leg

Chapter Approved Scheme M.40
Brother Ganus, Second Company First Tactical Squad

Chapter Founding

The Steel Scythes chapter of the Adeptus Astartes was created in M40 because of increased demand for protection on the Imperium’s Eastern Fringe. Escalating conflict with the Tau and Tyranid xenos races spread Imperial forces thin, a problem made worse by the need for those same forces, especially the Astartes of the Ultramarines, to fight against incursions from the warp in the Cadian Sector. At the time, a Captain of the Ultramarines by the name of Darus Proganthes proposed the creation of a new chapter whose sole responsibility would be the Eastern Fringe; they would not fight in other areas of Imperial space except in the most absolute desperate times of need. The chapter’s charter was ratified just after the conclusion of Abbadon’s 11th Black Crusade, and work began to build the newly founded chapter.

Having been the one to propose the new founding, Proganthes was offered the role of Founding Master and was allowed to select a small handful of Ultramarines to form the foundation of the chapter’s forces. Proganthes was considered a paragon of the “citizen soldier” concept that defined the culture of Ultramar and the early Ultramarines, and saw the Space Marine as a civil servant as much as a military leader. He decided to make this the culture he would instill in his new organization, a decision approved by his superiors due to the nature of the chapter’s permanent station in one area, necessitating a deeper relationship with local citizens than would otherwise be warranted.

The homeworld Proganthes chose was Napolis, an agri-world located in the area of space just to the galactic Northeast and outside the realm of Ultramar. This choice of homeworld served two important purposes: first, Napolis was strategically positioned to be able to respond to a variety of threats; and second, the fertile farmlands and post-feudalistic culture of Napolis would provide the perfect place for his “servant leadership” project to begin. And it was on this world, where Proganthes observed farm workers using ancient harvesting tools, that the name Steel Scythes was born.

Thus the Steel Scythes came to be, and continue to serve their people and the Emperor to this day.

Organization

The Steel Scythes are fundamentally a Codex Astartes compliant chapter, in the spirit of their Ultramarines primogenitors. However, given their unique nature as a garrison chapter and their deep roots in the citizenry of Napolis and the surrounding system, the chapter differs in two key areas, both revolving around the initiation of new recruits.

Neophytes of the Steel Scythes–those recruits who have completely genetic alteration but are not yet ready for combat–are called hoplites, a title given as a mark of honor and as an expectation of commitment. Hoplites combine their martial training with education to prepare them in their new roles as servant leaders of the Napolisian population. Part of this education is practice, in which the hoplites actually serve in some capacity in a village somewhere on the planet, under the counsel of a Socrat, or tutor who oversees the theoretical instruction and placement of hoplites in various areas such as farming, construction, banking, etc as needed by the village in question. A hoplite will remain in this role, rotating through various fields of work, until an opening in the ranks of the Scout Company becomes available, and the Socrat successfully petitions him to the Council of Turin, a small group consisting of planetary leaders and veteran Astartes, who decide the promotion of hoplites to full battle-brethren, and the addition of hoplites to the Scout Company.

In this way new members of the chapter learn what it means to serve the ones they lead and protect, a culture which has allowed the people of Napolis to flourish and give deeper purpose to the mission of the Steel Scythes, many of whom were born on Napolis and, in rare cases, serve the very families they were born into.

A hoplite who is inducted into the Scout Company does not become part of a squad of other scouts in the traditional way. Members of the Scout Company are sent out to serve under the personal tutelage of a battle-brother who will teach them the ways of war, and continue their education in servant leadership. When scouts are needed for combat duties such as infiltration and sabotage, hoplites will be placed into essentially ad-hoc squads with other hoplites under battle-brothers in the same squad or company. Since the martial skills learned in service to the Scout Company is invaluable to a young Astartes, this is seen as a necessary evil to the combat effectiveness of the fighting company, though the Socrats–who all went through the same process–would prefer it not need to be the case.

Chapter Approved Scheme M.40
Veteran Brother (“Socrat”) Scalio in Tactical Dreadnought Armor

Combat Doctrine

In battle, the warriors of the Steel Scythes fight according to the dictates of the Codex Astartes, adhering to the theories of strategem laid out by Roboute Guilliman as stringently as any chapter can, except that they allow for much more tactical freedom among squads. All squad leaders are present during planning sessions regardless of the size of the operation. This allows them to provide input and be able to adapt to the changes in combat conditions as they arise much more effectively. As with other Codex-compliant chapters, the Battle Companies of the Steel Scythes rarely fight major engagements without the support of veteran Socrats from the First (Veteran) Company or Hoplites from the Tenth (Scout) Company, as has been described earlier.

Chapter Beliefs

The members of the Steel Scythes follow a path foreign to most other chapters. Throughout his life, a Steel Scythe serves primarily in the military capacity for which all Astartes are created. When not needed for war, they also serve in governmental roles on various planets in Napolis’s solar system. They become part of the population there, living among the people, taking up leadership roles in whatever areas need it. They believe that they must know for whom they fight, that intimately knowing the citizens of the Eastern Fringe gives them purpose in their mission as protectors of the realm. This was the way Proganthes taught the first hoplites, and remains a fundamental belief over a thousand years later.

Proganthes also taught that the Emperor was not a god to be worshipped. Where other chapters ignore the teachings of the Codex which described the Great Crusades as a struggle to unite humanity under the banner of reason and order, which could only come from shunning god-worship, Proganthes embraced it. “The Emperor fought to abolish religion and faith,” Proganthes is noted as saying. “So why do we worship him as a god?”

Having adopted this as a chapter-wide belief has brought them into conflict with the Ecclesiarchy, though the High Lords themselves have commended the Steel Scythes and their commitment to seeing the Imperium thrive. Several times the priests of the Ecclesiarchy have decried these Astartes as heretics, but after so many years and countless investigations by the Inquisition, not a single Marine has been found to be tainted.

Notable History

• 399.M40¬—The Steel Scythes are created from Ultramarine gene-stock, under the command of former Ultramarines Captain Darus Proganthes.
• 523.M40—The Steel Scythes first major engagement, defending the Dracon system from an invasion of Orks under the banner of Waaagh! Grimskul, whose faces were half painted black. It is believed that prior to this conflict, which the Steel Scythes executed perfectly and completely, their helmets were painted white, and that they changed to black to honor their trial by fire.
• 998.M41—The Taros Campaign is fought against the expanding Tau Empire. Three hundred Scythes participated, their first official encounter with the Tau xenos. As a result of this conflict Brother-Captain Davos of the Third Company devoted himself to studying the Tau and how to fight them. This study has revealed philosophies on government that are being slowly integrated into Steel Scythes practices.
• 800.M41—The Steel Scythes are called up to contribute to the Damocles Gulf Crusade, but increasing reports of Tyranid Hive Fleets require their attention. As with every Imperial force who faced the aliens, the Steel Scythes took heavy casualties, but were able to fend off the bio-daemons.

Colors and Heraldry

The Steel Scythes wear armor that is primarily white, with the right arm and shoulder, as well as the left leg and the helmet in coal black. Eyes and lenses are colored red, and any fabric worn in ornament is colored white, black or red according to the desire of the wearer.

The badge of the chapter is two crossed scythes in black.

Companies are marked by a black Greek letter to the right of the squad designation on the right shoulder pad. Squads are marked by Roman numerals to the left of the squad designation.

Edited by khalaek, 07 August 2012 - 05:21 AM.

[Orlunu]

Only small quibble I have is with the naming of the marines's positions. "Centurions" of the imperium and "hoplites". With centurions this is just a case of rank, the size of his command (80 men or 160 in certain units) was the be all and end all of a centurion. To me having an entire unit of centurions smells of the kind of video game that just equates rank to fighting prowess. Hoplites were heavily armoured formation infantry, scouts are light skirmishers and infiltrators.
Just me being pedantic though.

There isn't any reference to their history as a chapter. Thinking of where they are, have their major wars been against Tau? Orks? Did they help fight any 'Nids? More importantly, how did this affect them?

PS. Will there be heraldic differences between the companies? If so, what?

[Ecritter]

They are pretty young, so maybe no major battles yet.

[khalaek]

Only small quibble I have is with the naming of the marines's positions. "Centurions" of the imperium and "hoplites". With centurions this is just a case of rank, the size of his command (80 men or 160 in certain units) was the be all and end all of a centurion. To me having an entire unit of centurions smells of the kind of video game that just equates rank to fighting prowess. Hoplites were heavily armoured formation infantry, scouts are light skirmishers and infiltrators.
Just me being pedantic though.

There isn't any reference to their history as a chapter. Thinking of where they are, have their major wars been against Tau? Orks? Did they help fight any 'Nids? More importantly, how did this affect them?

PS. Will there be heraldic differences between the companies? If so, what?

Thanks for the input. Like I said I haven't finished adding all the content yet; I still need to write the "Beliefs," "Colors," and "Notable History" to go in. For their major conquests I think examples of fighting Tau, Tyranids and Orks (all xenos that frequent the Eastern Fringe) would be appropriate, especially Tau since I have experience playing against them in games of 40k (we'll call it "first-hand research" ).

I also hear you on the naming of different positions. At it's most basic the hoplite in Greek culture was a citizen-soldier who would purchase his own armor and equipment and received basic military training but otherwise was whatever civilian profession he pursued (artist, farmer, merchant, etc.), so that's more what I was trying to get at, especially with the Hoplite's rare function in the traditional Space Marine Scout role. The Centurions thing I came up with on the fly when I was Photoshopping the SM Painter picture, so it's inclusion in this IA is tentative at best right now.

And you know, I completely haven't even thought of company heraldry. I would have said it would be Codex standard heraldry, but that would look a little strange given the unique coloring of the armor. I'll have to think about that some more. Do you (anyone reading this) have any thoughts?

And to Ecritter: M.40 actually means the millenium ending in the year 40,000. Right now the game's fluff is in M.41 (the 41st Millenium). So I'm basically trying to say that the Scythes aren't a brand new chapter.

Edited by khalaek, 06 August 2012 - 09:45 PM.

[Orlunu]

Understand where you were coming from on the hoplites now, didn't think about that bit before. I still think that it would be worth it, if you could spare the time, to look into another name with that connotation which doesn't summon up the kind of image "hoplite" does, but I am really just throwing around scraps here because I can't see much to change
On heraldry, I can't see anything colourful working with that scheme, I would pick a symbol for each company. Animal heads, greek letters, that kind of thing. I would display it on a knee or shoulder pad, but I suppose you codex followers need both shoulder pads in case you can't work out that the guy with a las cannon is a devastator
Is always great if you can get a regular opponent worked into your chapter history.

PS. If you are willing to test different names for hoplites, "Armiger" springs to mind. Is of roughly equivalent rank to a squire, but without the military focus (although squires were armigers). Lords in training, fair few people such as lawyers and politicians, squires etc. Has a social rank I would equate to the Astartes novitiates more than the farmers etc. of the hoplites, and less feel of the phalanx. But it's your chapter, so whatever you want, I'm just musing.

Good luck

[khalaek]

For those still tracking, I've "finished" creating the content for this IA article. The original post has been edited instead of constantly uploading new versions. Let me know what you think.

Orlunu, now that I've finished compiling content I can start (and have already in some cases) integrating your suggestions.

For the Imperium!

[CantonWC]

The Steel Scythes chapter of the Adeptus Astartes was created in M40 because of increased demand for protection on the Imperium’s Eastern Fringe. Escalating conflict with the Tau and Tyranid xenos races spread Imperial forces thin, a problem made worse by the need for those same forces, especially the Astartes of the Ultramarines, to fight against incursions from the warp in the Cadian Sector.

This is incorrect. The first recorded contact with the Tyranids was 745M41, and the Damocles Gulf Crusade was 742M41.

Also, the Eye of Terror is on the other side of the galaxy from Ultramar. I do not think the Ultramarines necessarily have any obligation to defend Cadia when they need to look after their own space.

At the time, a Captain of the Ultramarines by the name of Darus Proganthes proposed the creation of a new chapter whose sole responsibility would be the Eastern Fringe; they would not fight in other areas of Imperial space except in the most absolute desperate times of need

This is not how Chapters are founded. Only the Emperor, acting through the High Lords of Terra, may commission new Chapters.


That's all for now - will be back later, maybe.

[khalaek]

This is incorrect. The first recorded contact with the Tyranids was 745M41, and the Damocles Gulf Crusade was 742M41.

You're right about the Tyranids in that the Imperium's first recorded contact with the officially classified xenos species of Tyranid occured in 745.M41, but vanguard fleets and other contact preceded this by thousands of years (source).

You're also right about the Damocles Gulf Crusade as being the first major military action by the Imperium. However, the immense nature of crusades means that few, if any, are ever called defensively. Generally Crusades are called when a threat is deemed large enough to warrant such an action, as was the case with the Damocles Gulf Crusade (source). There are also instances of Tau entering Imperial space before this event. (source)

For simplicity's sake I have named them as they are currently identified, but that doesn't mean they immediately got their current name when the Imperium first made contact.

Also, the Eye of Terror is on the other side of the galaxy from Ultramar. I do not think the Ultramarines necessarily have any obligation to defend Cadia when they need to look after their own space.

9th Black Crusade

This is not how Chapters are founded. Only the Emperor, acting through the High Lords of Terra, may commission new Chapters.

The High Lords of Terra must ratify the creation of new Chapters, but I've read several instances in which A high-ranking officer or Imperial official proposing the creation. See the section entitled "Founding of a Space Marine Chapter" here



Sorry 'bout it.

[CantonWC]

For simplicity's sake I have named them as they are currently identified, but that doesn't mean they immediately got their current name when the Imperium first made contact.

Well what exactly do you mean. You gave these two alien races as the reason for the formation of the Chapter, but formal military contact has happened only recently.

The Steel Scythes were formed M40. The Tau haven't shown up yet. Were they really formed to fight a bug species that no one has yet recognized as the Tyranid species? Are you going to shuffle around the founding date until things match up?

9th Black Crusade

Well I don't really see any context for this event. It could be that the Ultramarines just happened to be in the "neighborhood." Again, they are on the other side of the galaxy, they need to look after their own autonomous region. That's not to say they can't crusade afar, but they have plenty of responsibility already.

The High Lords of Terra must ratify the creation of new Chapters, but I've read several instances in which A high-ranking officer or Imperial official proposing the creation. See the section entitled "Founding of a Space Marine Chapter" here

It is said that the Disciples of Caliban, a Dark Angels Successor Chapter, was created following the direct appeal of the Supreme Grand Master of the Dark Angels, an extremely rare request.

An extremely rare event, a request from what could be considered the de facto leader of the Dark Angels and Successors. Proganthes is just a Captain. You're making it sound like he's doing all of this himself. If he suggests to the Chapter Master, and the CM appeals to the High Lords, then that's a little different, but again it's a very rare thing.

You sure you want to do this? Space Marines don't normally do this kind of thing. It's almost always the grinding gears of generations of bureaucrats and planners who decide when a Founding takes place and what areas need a Chapter. Wouldn't they already have figured a need for a new Chapter in such and such area, making the suggestion redundant?

[khalaek]

Alright so I managed to paint up a test model for the Steel Scythes, pictures of which will be posted tomorrow (hopefully). It looks good, even for a repaint of an old model (really thick paint and notches in the plastic...it's definitely a test model).

I'm not gonna lie, I started creating this chapter solely as an exercise in writing. I'm trying to develop my skills as an amateur writer, and Index Astartes pieces are great for practicing exposition. That said, I'm enjoying this project and the way the model looked so much that I think I'm going to have a go at building a small army for them. Which means now it's time to get serious with this whole thing.

If you (all of you) will help me, I'm going to take this IA one section at a time to write and refine it until it's worthy of the annals of the Adeptus Astartes (even if you're being a little ridiculous with your comments ).

Let the mission commence!

[khalaek]

As promised, pics of Battle-brother Lazio are up.

Here's a teaser, the rest are posted on the Hall of Honor here



If I have time I'm going to start working on the Chapter Founding section today. We'll see though.