Does a Primaris Blackshield Make Sense in the Fluff?

[Sea-People]

This isn't a rules thing. I just want to use the shoulder pad.

 

Blackshields traditionally are marines who have shunned their chapter livery and/or are totally-not-renegade-or-worse.

 

How would a Primaris marine become a black shield? Traitor Primaris don't exist (yet...), and since they are such a recent addition I can't imagine it being particularly easy to hide their chapter of origin. Not sure why a Primaris marine would want to hide their chapter either...

 

Could a Primaris Blackshield make sense?

[N1SB]

I think it definitely makes sense, but in a different context.  In fact, a comparable parallel happens in Dark Imperium.

 

Here's what the novel described, like as a prologue to 8th ed 40k.  Archmagos Cawl created a bunch of Primaris.  Half of them formed new Primaris Chapters.  The other half were taken by Roboute Guilliman, Primarch and Lord Commander of the Imperium, on the Indomitus Crusade.  At that point, they're known as the Unnumbered Sons (or Greyshields as they called themselves).

 

The Unnumbered Sons were called such because there was a bunch of them, their numbers kept changing due to casualties in the Indomitus Crusade and, here's the part most relevant to your question, they didn't belong to any Chapter or Legion in the 30k sense.  Back in the 30k era, usually people called Space Marines by their Legion number, like instead of saying Ultramarine, they'd just say "the XIIIth".

 

The Unnumbered Sons on the Indomitus Crusade didn't technically belong to any Chapter (thus, they had no identity like a Legion number, thus "Unnumbered") until they ran into one that needed reinforcements, in which case Guilliman would assign them to join that Chapter based on their genesire.  By the end of the Crusade, there were still a bunch of unassigned Unnumbered Sons.  Roboute Guilliman sent a bunch of Primaris directly to the Inquisition correction: Watch Fortresses and it's likely those were from these leftover Unnumbered Sons.

 

Thus, this leads into your answer imho.  A Blackshield is basically a Marine without a Chapter (actually the term even existed back in 30k in a comparable but different context).  For traditional Marines, it represents those that turned their backs to their own Chapters (or their Chaptered turned their backs on them).  For Primaris, it is more likely to represent he never had a Chapter to begin with, that he was an unassigned Unnumbered Son, like he was practically an "orphan" until the Inquisition correction: a Watch Fortress "adopted" him.

 

Reason for edit - really good question below.

[Boytoy]

one of my primaris sergeants is a blackshield. i figured he would have been assigned to a staunchly traditionalist, backwater chapter who shunned the primaris and sent most of their's to die. he survived the suicide mission, removed his chapter heraldry and joined the deathwatch. 

 

Although, i love the unassigned Unnumbered Son idea - such a neat innovation in the lore

[Sea-People]

I think it definitely makes sense, but in a different context.  In fact, a comparable parallel happens in Dark Imperium.

 

Here's what the novel described, like as a prologue to 8th ed 40k.  Archmagos Cawl created a bunch of Primaris.  Half of them formed new Primaris Chapters.  The other half were taken by Roboute Guilliman, Primarch and Lord Commander of the Imperium, on the Indomitus Crusade.  At that point, they're known as the Unnumbered Sons (or Greyshields as they called themselves).

 

The Unnumbered Sons were called such because there was a bunch of them, their numbers kept changing due to casualties in the Indomitus Crusade and, here's the part most relevant to your question, they didn't belong to any Chapter or Legion in the 30k sense.  Back in the 30k era, usually people called Space Marines by their Legion number, like instead of saying Ultramarine, they'd just say "the XIIIth".  The Unnumbered Sons on the Indomitus Crusade didn't technically belong to any Chapter (thus, they had no identity like a Legion number, thus "Unnumbered") until they ran into one that needed reinforcements, in which case Guilliman would assign them to join that Chapter based on their genesire.  By the end of the Crusade, there were still a bunch of unassigned Unnumbered Sons.  Roboute Guilliman sent a bunch of Primaris directly to the Inquisition and it's likely those were from these leftover Unnumbered Sons.

 

Thus, this leads into your answer imho.  A Blackshield is basically a Marine without a Chapter (actually the term even existed back in 30k in a comparable but different context).  For traditional Marines, it represents those that turned their backs to their own Chapters (or their Chaptered turned their backs on them).  For Primaris, it is more likely to represent he never had a Chapter to begin with, that he was an unassigned Unnumbered Son, like he was practically an "orphan" until the Inquisition adopted him.

 

Thanks! Does that mean they were assigned to the Watch directly? Like in the same way that others were assigned to chapters?

 

I wonder how suspicious the Deathwatch would be of some random Primaris Marine who was previously hitched to an Inquisitor, and never had a chapter of their own.

[Raven1]

I have a couple greyshields among my Primaris deathwatch interceptors. A dark gray and light gray Chevron symbol, and being American my chevrons are point up.

[Quantum]

It could also be a sign of shame or survivor's guilt of the Primaris Marine. He lived where all his brothers have died, and the chapter died with them. He may feel he does not deserve to wear its colors anymore.

[N1SB]

 

Thanks! Does that mean they were assigned to the Watch directly? Like in the same way that others were assigned to chapters?

 

I wonder how suspicious the Deathwatch would be of some random Primaris Marine who was previously hitched to an Inquisitor, and never had a chapter of their own.

 

 

Sorry for the late reply, I wanted to double-check this.  In the case of the Deathwatch, there's a tiny blurb in the Codex that actually mentions, suggests Primaris would be sent to directly the Watch Fortresses by Guilliman's orders, I guess it kinda makes sense with Marines managing Marines.

 

An interesting sidenote in that same passage, that all Watch Captains took the Primaris in the desperate "hour of need" between 7th and 8th ed, even though these Primaris were "untested".  That was a beautiful little drop-in imho, as it acknowledges the skepticism Deathwatch Veterans probably may have.

 

Btw I really like the idea Brother Boytoy suggested, for a bitter Blackshield to no fault of his own.  He's like, "I know you sent me to die...I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I yet stand."  Great stuff.

[RolandTHTG]

Aren't the unassigned Unnumbered sons technically Grey-shields? (With that little chevron they have, like Raven1 mentioned)

 

I do agree with some of the other posters that in the ~100 years fluff advanced that a primaris blackshield is possible, from primaris rejected by their chapter or a chapter that was otherwise wiped out. 

 

I think it might be interesting to have both shown in a squad. Several members are grey shields, directly assigned to reinforce the deathwatch, but then there are 1-2 blackshields that have forsaken the chapter they were assigned to. What tension is there among the primaris? Would the grey be jealous of the black, for the membership they had and gave up? or would it be more like contempt? 

[Master Sheol]

I agree that Primaris Greyshields assigned to DW became Primaris "Blackshields" and they Will be Forever into Watch cause they have no Chapter to return

 

Instead of giving them the usual scrapped black shoulder pad i would leave them with the Greyshields pad ofc

 

Pity we don't have rules for Greyshields in Deathwatch Primaris Killteams