Darrell

You should be careful about dropping names like that. You never know who might come out of the woodwork! I was browsing through for some Executioners-related posts, as I do from time to time, and stumbled across this thread. I was quite surprised to see my name being mentioned, especially regarding something I had written what feels like ages ago. I'm honored that it inspired you, and I'm humbled that I was able to express the feelings of many people regarding the Imperial Fists. I haven't kept up with lore in quite a while, so I don't know how much of what I wrote it is still applicable, but I hope the Fists haven't changed too much from the way I envisioned them at the time. It has always been a dream of mine to write things that other people felt inspired by, and wanted to be a part of. Thank you for letting me live that dream last night. As for me, I cast my vote for the Executioners. I don't play them or paint them, but they are my favorite Chapter and one I would like to sit down and try my hand at writing about one day. I have a few pages in a notebook with ideas, as well as some scattered notes on my phone. A combination of the Imperial Fists with flavors of Solomon Kane and Conan the Cimmerian mixed in is just too much for me to turn down. It's nice to see the other Chapters represented--Celestial Lions, for instance, and to see at least six other people who share my appreciation for the Laughing Axemen. The VII will always be my Legion, though. I'm beyond touched that so many people enjoyed that novella I wrote about how I saw the Imperial Fists. It took me quite a while typing it up on a smart phone in the middle of the night and, while I would never suggest that my vision is the only vision, it's a great feeling that other people read it and took inspiration from it. I hope you are all doing well. May your shoulders forever be broad, and never know the defeat of a duty unfulfilled.

I imagine him coming out of his transport like that and saying, "You heretics done goofed."

Your Fists are looking great! And it looks like they're packing a lot of heavy firepower, as is fitting. What are the models in black armor?

Since your Chapter doesn't take well to spirituality, does this mean they no longer have Chaplains? If that is the case, then I could see them having a problem with the Ecclesiarchy since the Chaplains are the diplomatic nod from the Astartes, with the Ecclesiarchy offering the rosarius as a sign of good will. If your Chapter has neglected the practice, I could see tensions arising. Your article mentions that recruits are taken during "early childhood"; how early? If your Astartes can't be bothered to take time away from training to pray, I seriously doubt they'd be interested in taking time away to raise children. Planetary culture could easily be drilled out of the neophytes during their training period, so I don't really see the need to make your Chapter a group of foster parents for their recruits until they're finally ready for implants and early Scout training. The Mechanicus would probably be interested to know how such degradation of their geneseed has occurred so quickly. If the Raven Guard mutation "only" takes years to develop, while the Falcons are turning white in hours, that creates a concern. Why has their geneseed further mutated?

The Chapter's theme is interesting and pretty solid. The article is a bit on the short side but, as my own preference, I have no issues with an IA that is short while also conveying the concept of the Chapter. I'd much rather have an interesting article with 1,000 words over an article with 10,000 words that I have to slog through in order to finish. I'd much rather leave people wanting more than tire my reader out on the first go; if people want to know more, you can always write stories or create sidebars or manufacture addendum articles on more specific topics related to the Chapter. However, I do find the article lacking a certain something. As I said, the theme is good but as a whole it's lacking a feeling of "oomph". There's nothing that really grabs me about the Infinity Knights. I think the core could use a bit of a workout in order to satiate that need. Let me begin by discussing a few concerns I have with the basic idea of organ swapping. It seems that it would create a lot of problems, and would be an extremely difficult process. Today, medical science struggles to implant organs between closely-related family members. I can't imagine how hard it would be to transplant an entire limb into another person whose only relation is that they grew up on the same planet. Also, consider that the Space Marine physique is extremely adept at eliminating contaminants; these include things like poisons and disease, but new organs and limbs would also be considered an invading entity and an Astartes' immune system would do everything it could to fight it. Granted, science in the 41st millennium is more advanced than our own. However, if transplants such as this could take place then I wonder why the surgery wouldn't be used with greater frequency over artificial implants. To me, this would be a much better way instead of mechanical alternatives since you wouldn't have to worry about things like constant maintenance, power failure or finding another way to keep the power armor sealed in a vacuum. Perhaps, instead of replacing every part you could focus more on transplanting Astartes organs (Second Heart, Third Lung, et cetera) which are designed to be grown and placed into different bodies. These are also what makes them Astartes to begin with, so they are trading off the strongest parts of themselves as opposed to just an arm or leg which any mortal can supply. I also question the concept of "Wandering Companies". If the Chapter feels a need to roam while also keeping an eye on their home territory, they could simply do what most Chapters would do in that situation; rotate Battle Companies between duties. Sometimes the Second and Third could be out running around, then they could switch off with the Fourth and Fifth while they replenish casualties and restock equipment. The concept of the Wandering Companies, as they stand now, seems unnecessarily complicated. The entire First Company has been disbanded for a reason that's not really explained, you end up taking the Fourth and Fifth anyway as Wanderers and you cut yourself down to only two Reserve companies. That means casualties are going to be much more difficult to replace, especially since Tactical Squads do the brunt of the fighting and now you only have half as many to back them up. If you switch to a more simple concept of just rotating standard Battle Companies, it removes a lot of the confusing explanation and justification you have now and you can focus more on why they use these Wandering Companies. At first, I didn't much like the idea of a general degradation in geneseed. It seemed thrown in at last minute and begs for more information. However, the more I think about the concept the more I like it. This is Roboute geneseed we're talking about and straight from the Ultramarines themselves; this is perhaps the most stable geneseed of all the Primarchs. Yet, here we see degradation across the board; not just the loss of one or two organs that don't really matter (If you believe the Imperial Fists) or just make your skin a funny color (Raven Guard and Salamanders). Every single one of the geneseed organs is losing stability, which would include things like the Black Carapace which, if it fails, means you don't have Space Marines. You have really ugly Storm Troopers. This, I feel, could go a long way to giving your Chapter more "oomph" and adding some character. Right now, I'm imagining a fission growing within the Infinity Knights. On the one side, I see the Chapter Master and Captains and Chaplains who are very concerned about the history of the Chapter, and their rituals and traditions. On the other side, I see the Apothecaries (and perhaps Techmarines, on behalf of the Mechanicus) who are very concerned about the future of the Chapter, and retaining practicality and ensuring the purity of the geneseed. As this degradation continues, the Apothecaries begin to speak against this tradition (Damning, since they are the ones required to do it). This is, of course, met with skepticism and a wave of the hand from command elements of the Chapter. Tensions are mounting and a storm of revolution is brewing on the horizon. Lines are becoming drawn, oaths are being made. Which is more important, the Chapter's future or the Chapter's past? Infinity extends in both directions, after all. This would make your article something of a snap-shot of your Chapter in the midst of change. Change is not something we see much in IAs, at least not in the present tense. Usually the Chapter is functioning the same way now as it has for centuries or millennia and, if change ever did occur then it happened a long, long time ago and no one worries about it now. You could give your article a bit more life in this regard, as opposed to the stagnant nature of most articles we see on the Liber. A poster before me mentioned something about a concept to Nurgle and, if you decided to pursue that, you would have a certain theme of stagnation versus change going on as well. Though, personally I don't think the Nurgle connection is necessary since the Imperium is perfectly capable of being stagnant and unchanging on its own. I think something along those lines would inject a lot of interest into your Infinity Knights, and really build your Chapter as a three-dimensional entity rather than "organ swappers" which is what most of the article deals with now. The facts are there and the concept is there. You just need the depth to give it life.

Here is the link to my Judicators.

I think it has a lot of potential. Showcasing a bit of the serfs shows how much work it takes to run a Chapter and, while too many details would bore just about anyone, it would hint at the empire within the Castigators that the serfs run. You could have a large administration of serfs running things, overseeing the needs of the Chapter and the needs of the serfs themselves. Serfs changing positions, new serfs needing to be appointed, handling the more mundane affairs of the Chapter as it goes on campaign. It's like a miniature version of the Imperium's bureaucracy; scaled down, but still dizzying in its complexity. I was wondering what the relationship between the Castigators and serfs may be like, but the idea of a serf-run empire within the Chapter might lead the Castigators to ignore the mortals amongst them for the most part. I'm sure most of the marines would get dizzy every time they think about the sheer amount of paperwork flying by. I like the concept of different groups of serfs handling different sections within the Chapter have varying types of rituals. It allows for a lot of potential superstitious, gothic ceremonies that are one of my favorite aspects of 40K fluff. Appeasing the spirits of the cafeteria machines looks completely different from appeasing the massive fleet guns, but both are equally complex and important to their respective guardians. If you go with a caste system, I could see some groups who have served the various Captains or Chapter Masters down through the centuries. Something like a family of butlers who have loyally served the office down through the ages. Just one more aspect of the Castigators background that gives them such feeling and depth. The Chapter itself, its history, the Losancan mutant hunters, the serfs and how all of them are tied together under one banner (Though, under that banner are many different groups with different ideals; zealots and moderates, hunters who cross to the day side and protectors of the settlements in the twilight, the different sections of the castes. It mimics the Imperium in a lot of ways, showing the face of a flawless monolith whose insides are riddled with cracks and divides).

By any means necessary, is probably the answer. How they are eliminated isn't particularly important; a psyker is taken away and never seen again. Maybe they put a bolt through his head, maybe they throw him in the power generator, maybe they put him an air lock and fire him out into space. All that matters is they are purged from the Chapter for their mutation.

I think there's a lot of healthy irony in the fact that, within the Castigators, the Librarium hunts down and eliminates psykers within their ranks. Remember, though, that it's not just a matter of hunting psykers; they also provide tactical advice, record histories and they can fight in warfare. They are still Battle Brothers, after all, just like Techmarines and Apothecaries. You can't expect a Chapter serf to fight like an Astartes, only an Astartes can fight like an Astartes. The Chaplain already has other duties like tending to the spiritual purity of their brethren in addition to running the Reclusiam and perhaps tending to certain rituals. Apothecaries must collect geneseed and watch over newly implanted organs. Why add responsibility to them when the Librarium still serves a valid purpose even without psykers. Remember there's also a school of thought within the Imperium that says power is better when distributed amongst seperate parties, instead of allowing one person to handle multiple duties. As for psykers being used by other Chapters, remember that the Emperor specifically spoke against the practice of sorcery and condemned Magnus and his Thousand Sons for it. There are exceptions, like Navigators, which the Emperor sanctioned but he was not as approving with Librarians. The Castigators are simply following the Emperor's advice. As for Codiciers being looked down upon, I believe Mol wrote a story a while back that focused on a Codicier with a Castigators attachment and he seemed to encounter a lot of hostility from certain individuals. The Castigators are extremely bigoted and opinionated, and even the title "Codicier" carries connotations of the witch that they abhor. Something akin to the stigma that is now attached to the title of "Warmaster".

Minor correction on behalf of the good Commissar; Ramus is Captain of the 6th Tactical Reserve, Tigris is Captain of the 8th Assault Reserve. There are a few people working on Castigator Companies, I believe. They've drawn a lot of attention recently and rightfully so!

Since making Tigris a zealot is the obvious choice, it may not be the best choice. I could see Tigris being a moderate simply because his tactics must be more refined in order to preserve the lives of his marines. He could be a level-headed, thorough tactician as Mol mentioned earlier. Just because he likes to punch a man's head off doesn't mean he have to froth at the mouth while he's doing it. Conversely, I could see Malus being a zealot since he has a bit more room for aggression in a more supportive environment. His armor or weaponry is covered in kill marks of vehicles from his latest trip to the field and he despises the tainted machine spirits that have been 'mutated' by servitude to traitors or xenos. Perhaps that's a bit too extreme and Techmarine-ish, but it's just a possibility to express a more zealous attitude. I don't like to think of any Castigator as being "Liberal", either. I would imagine that the most Liberal Castigator is akin to a more zealot-inclined Moderate of another Chapter. I think Moderate and Zealot work well enough and says a bit about the Chapter in that there are no Liberals. The difference between a moderate and a zealot is the former can work with other Chapters without letting their prejudices consume them entirely. There are no Castigators that say "Well, maybe those mutants and psykers aren't so bad...", which is part of why the Castigators are so fun to read about. As far as heraldry goes, I'm afraid I can't be of much use there. It's never really been one of the things I've tried to create for a Chapter.

I think it's a great mix between barbarian raider and modern rifleman. Looks awesome! Great job, Tib. :)

I hadn't meant assignment as literally something that was forced on someone. Position probably would have been a better term for it.

I assume that the militia is a relatively permanent assignment, but what about the ones who go hunting the mutants on their term? Do these men tend to only be one-timers? Or does the position tend to be more permanent, with the men essentially being "on leave" between hunts? I could see it working well either way; the terrible sacrifice of men who wander into the radioactive wastelands to hunt mutants, only to return tainted and have their people turn against them as mutations show themselves. Alternatively, you could have rough veterans with bronzed, baked skin who lead their communities with a steady hand and commanding voice that rises above the harsh winds of the endless deserts. A protective, white stripe across the face would work well. It's not barbaric to the point of overpowering but it does carry a certain sense of primitive warfare. Would the stripe be painted horizontally, vertically, or pretty much anywhere across the face? If it's a vertical white stripe, it would be a coincidental similarity to the white stripe that Veteran Sergeants carry on their helmets. I don't know if you'd want to make a relationship there or not, since you said the practice would probably be phased out by the time they became brethren.

I think it makes perfect sense for villages to be spaced apart, aside from the fact that Mol wishes it to be so, of course. :( Consider that Losanco's people are forced to live in what amounts to perpetual twilight, which means there's not going to be a lot of resources around to live on. I imagine that places suitable for farming (At least large enough to support a settlement) would be relatively rare and treasured. Spacing settlements out allows them to maximize their ability to find these places and utilize them effectively, probably rotating crops between fields to ensure they don't drain one area of soil completely. Spacing out also allows you to avoid being completely run over by any mutant attacks, diseases, crop shortages or any other kind of disaster that can run rampant through concentrated populations. It could also be a matter of circumstance. As I said earlier, fertile farming patches or hunting grounds may be days apart from each other which forces the communities to spread out in order to use them. The answer could be as simple as the natives of Losanco coming to the planet on different ships which all experienced some sort of failure and crashed in separate locations. Communities sprang up near those wrecks and the other ships were considered lost, or not worth the trouble to search for. Years later, they discover the existence of other communities but by this time suspicion has set in. They are naturally distrusting and, even after the other communities prove themselves, are inclined to stay amongst themselves. Eventually trade routes spring up and alliances are formed, but each is essentially its own isolated society. There are plenty of real examples around. Why didn't all the city-states of ancient Greece just gather in one spot and form a country right away? Why did the first pilgrims to America spread out along the coast instead of staying in one place? It's perfectly reasonable for the people on Losanco to form communities that are some distance away from each other. One thing about this is there are some potential rivalries that spring up amongst them. Those communities closest to the light-side see themselves as brave and warriors of the Emperor, while those communities closer to the dark are cowards or backwards barbarians. Those closer to the night-side see themselves as tougher and stronger than those communities closer to the light (Near-Night siders perhaps forming large, annual groups to venture towards the light to kill mutants while the Near-Light siders have smaller, more frequent parties), who perhaps are seen as being fattened by their more bountiful crops or are only a hair's breadth away from being mutants themselves. Of course, all of that is just detailed conjecture that isn't necessary. The most important thing we need to know about the people on Losanco is they manage to stay alive on a harsh world, and thus they make great candidates for the Castigators. How they travel amongst communities, or how those communities feel about each other, are just details that would belong more in a novel than an IA. While it may be fun to theorize about, it doesn't really say much about the Castigators themselves, and they're the focus of the article! I do have to say, though, it's hard to critique the Castigators. They've been refined over the years by someone who is very adept at the art of Chapter creation, and you could probably have an easier time critiquing the Ultramarines or the Salamanders than you could the Castigators. The hard work at refinement is obvious, but it also makes feedback hard to give.