Codex: Space Marines 6.0 - DIY successor chapters

[Truculent Sheep]

As the new Nilla Marines codex hits the streets (and our wallets), one change is a quick, simple and effective way of creating successor Codex chapters. Know who your primogenitor was? Congratulations - you've now got a unique ruleset that will no doubt be even more fleshed out when the supplement comes out.

So far, so good. So how do you come up with your own Chapter with these rules in mind? The easiest option is to pick an existing successor - such as the Sons of Medusa, the Storm Lords, the Crimson Fists and the Mortifactors. But wouldn't it be more fun to come up with your own? This does, of course, need some work, so might not be an option for the busy and people who just want to paint 'n play.

Yet Player Generated Chapters (PGCs) not only allow for creativity and imagination, without needing any homebrew rules, but are also tournament friendly and provide a living link back to the good old days when GW's games still had a dash of RPG and cottage industry DIY vibe about them. Also, 40k is nothing without its fluff, so the fluffier our armies, the better it is for the game as a whole.

So here's one I did earlier, based liberally on the 1d4 Chan chapter creation tables:

FROST BRINGERS

(Count as White Scars)

Founded in the 38th millenium in response to a benign augur, the Frost Bringers are derived from White Scar gene seed and retain close links - genetic and political - with their primogenitors.

Sworn enemies of mutation in all its forms, they often only fight alongside abhumans (or any human with unusual traits) with great reluctance. Some elements of the Frost Bringers go so far as to cast doubt on most other Chapters for one reason or another, but these views are held by only a few battle brothers. (At least openly.) Aspirants and initiate Librarians are, needless to say, put through many stringent tests before they can ascend to the Chapter, with a bolter shell to the head for those that are found wanting in some way, but especially in terms of the flesh and the soul.

The Frost Bringers' homeworld, Mgomo IV is a cold world caught in perpetual but stable winter. Much of its life originates from the tundra of Old Earth, introduced by the first colonists, but have been hardened by natural selection, and competition with other imported wildlife. While Mgomo IV has many urban settlements - and even cities - dotting its landscape, the areas beyond their walls are dangerous enough to make the planet a deathworld in all but name. Needless to say, the Mgomo people are a hardy and fierce people by nature, and so supply their Space Marine Lords with many good recruits. The Frost Bringers themselves take an active hand in ruling their world and are directly involved in all levels of society. Mgomo is, as a result, well run, orderly and prosperous; it is also monolithic, demanding and callous.

Keen but not fanatical exponents of the Codex Astartes, the Frost Bringers still retain great respect for the White Scars' approach to mobile warfare and have inherited much of their skill in this regard. Nonetheless, the Chapter specialises most of all in orbital strikes and drop pod warfare, being renowned for their success in deploying the often controversial 'Steel Rain' strategem.

While keen to prosecute (and indeed persecute) the abhuman, the Frost Bringers have recently found themselves ever more involved in war against the Orks, their hatred for the green tide now having eclipse (but only barely) their original crusade against mutation. Seasoned in battle and at near-full strength, the Chapter's recent deployment on Armageddon may be a turning point - or its greatest challenge.

In this war, the Frost Bringers follow the example set by their third and perhaps greatest Chapter Master, Jagama Sokoto. Having exposed a coven of mutants who had subverted a major Cathedral world, Sokoto was instrumental in locating its corrupt heart - a Daemon Prince of Tzeentch who had possessed the body of the world's heretical Arch Cardinal. Enraged by this physical embodiment of mutation and instability, Sokoto ripped the abomination apart with his bare hands, despite receiving terrible wounds in the process.

This proved to be a turning point in a war that was all but lost at that point, the Imperium's scattered forces rallied by Sokoto's heroism and crushing the rebellion once and for all. Sokoto, for his part, lived long enough to see his Chapter's greatest victory, before succumbing to his wounds. Since that day, his successors have worn his skull on the front of their helms and donned the gauntlets with which he rent the daemon asunder. In such a fashion, he continues to watch over his brothers and bring ruin to the Emperor's foes.

[Cap'nSmurfs]

That's really awesome. I love nicely thought out and written background (although I'm looking at you sternly for 'Steel Rain') - your colour scheme is great, too, and I'd love to see some of the finished models in it. Also, you don't need to say "count as" - they're White Scars successors! They don't "count as" White Scars; they *are* White Scars.

[ElectricPaladin]

At the moment, I'm still trying to decide how to represent my beloved Exorcists with the new codex. The best chapter trait comes from the Black Templars, but using a Black Templars trait would stop them from fielding librarians, which makes no sense as the Exorcists are supposed to have some powerful librarians. I may want to eventually create a homebrew trait for them to use in friendly or narrative games - my meta is almost entirely friendly and narrative games - but I'd still like to have one selected that I can use in games with strangers, and I'm stumped.

[nathaneal246]

quality background story, love the bit about them wearing the captains gauntlets and skull, that would be an awesome model if you could nail it! What made you choose white scars by the way?

ElectricPaladin I read somewhere that the Exorcists were Grey Knight successors, could be an idea to either use their current codex or wait for the new one, though how long that would be, God knows!

[ElectricPaladin]

ElectricPaladin I read somewhere that the Exorcists were Grey Knight successors, could be an idea to either use their current codex or wait for the new one, though how long that would be, God knows!

While I sometimes muck around with doing that for fun, it won't work in general. The Imperial Armor book explicitly described the Exorcists as a codex-compliant chapter - except for the unusually high number of scouts - who happen to be particularly good at fighting daemons. Unlike the Grey Knights, they also do other Space Marine stuff, like putting down rebellions. And they have ordinary Space Marine squads and gear.

[Truculent Sheep]

quality background story,

Thank you!

love the bit about them wearing the captains gauntlets and skull, that would be an awesome model if you could nail it!

I'm thinking about that. You could bodge something from the Vampire Counts range, or saw something off a Chaplain (especially this one), or do some sawing...

Representing the gauntlets would be easy. Just paint them and the vambraces gold or silver, to represent how they have been preserved and embellished. Adding a few gems wouldn't hurt.

Homebrew Rules would like be like so: The gauntlets grant Rending for both the Chapter Master and his HQ unit while the Skull Helm grants Preferred Enemy [Everyone] and Fear (again for the whole unit). The Special Character also wields a master-crafted power sword, a master-crafted Plasma Pistol, an Iron Halo and Artificier Armour.

What made you choose white scars by the way?

They've almost always been poorly served by GW (hopefully the supple-dex will remedy this), despite being one of the stand-out legions. And what better way to raise their profile than by giving them a great successor chapter?

[rusty84]

That s a cool chapter and love all the background stuff.

I can't wait to get hold of the new codex as i play a homebrew chapter 'Knights of the Emperor' but have never fully commited to a primoginator so am really keen to see the Chapter traits and decide which one to go for. I'd kind of narrowed it down to Imperial Fists or Ultramarines but I play a Character using the Kayvaan Shrike profile so might have to have a look at Raven Guard.



Part of the fluff i've come up with for the colour scheme is that it represents the three loyalist legions that fought on Terra!