-+++-+++-+++-
Racilia
-+++-+++-+++-
Alright, apologies for the delay, I kinda, uh. Had a visitor that I wasn't expecting. Sorry to hear the gladiatrix is giving it up but - I can understand why. That book on Orks and the section on the Nurgle cult were kinda fucked. Maybe it doesn't effect me as much cause it's the kinda thing you hear some regiments saying sometimes? You know, Astra pre-drop hoo-rah talk. Even a couple of brothers from other chapters. Uncomfortable to think I'm used to it.
Anyway, uh. Where were we…
Right! Just after the section on Chapters and foundings. Oh, a page break. Shit, that's actually some nice artwork, including a couple of actual picts - check out this guy's sleeve he's getting done, it's pretty sick - and actually a fair amount of non-Blues, praise Throne. Pauldrons still look like the artist saw ceremonial gear and tried to make it work in combat though.
Then we're talking about Chapter home worlds, I guess? Alright, guess it makes sense - they discussed Foundings, now we're zooming in on home worlds. Woulda worked better to have the stuff about training and implantation here then, but alright. They're also mentioning the Fleet Based Chapters as well.
Oh here's a weird fuckin line.
Only Terra will be of greater importance to a Space Marine Chapter, and only to the Emperor do the populace owe greater loyalty.
I mean. Maybe to
some but like. I know that's what the High Lords of Terra think but - for those of us with set recruitment worlds, those, uh. Are
way more important to us than distant Terra. Sorry.
The origin stories of a Chapter's dominion over their home world are as diverse as the Chapters themselves. For most of the First Founding Chapters, their home world is that which was their Primarch's. For those of later Foundings, some now rule worlds their Primarch seized in the Great Crusade. Others liberated their planets from tyranny, or captured them from heretics or xenos. Others still received them as gifts of gratitude or reward for heroic deeds. A great many Chapters cannot account for how their Chapter planet came to be, all records lost, forgotten, destroyed or even hidden. All they know is that their home world, and the mighty fortress monastery built there, is their realm and bastion, and they will defend it unto death.
There's some real loaded language here - 'dominion', describing the capture of planets during the Conquest so blandly - but it's a not bad summary of the variety of Chapter homeworlds. The implication that we only defend the fortress monastery's a bit silly though; like, generally any recruitment world's got a lot of infrastructure and people on it, defence of them is
way more important than a training building. Like - nah, maybe I'm
underselling how important the monastery is now. It's hard to explain?
Many Chapters maintain feral and death worlds possessed of tenacious and hardy populations, people who endure bitter struggles for survival on a daily basis. On these worlds, life itself is a near impossible test that only the toughest survive, and the Space Marines seek in their aspirants the qualities required to succeed in these conditions.
Oh boy howdy
where the fuck to begin.
So calling
any damn world a 'feral' world is kind of a
massive dick move.
Secondly, no, we don't maintain 'death worlds' what the shit. Chapters do generally respect the local culture of the world they draw from and don't fuck with it too much, so that means some are relatively low tech, but that's just
not being assholes about other cultures. It's not about some sort of
survival of the fittest bullshit to determine who's worthy of becoming a neophyte. Like,
fuck, this is a
second layer of that on top of the previous shit about the trials being some brutal macho wank!
Also
why the fuck is this the
only kind of world mentioned! Fuck, the Blues mostly recruit from like, big civic worlds! This is the one time I'd be okay with you mentioning them because at least that'd be
better than
this! Where's mentions of places like Archonia, Persepolis, Quicksilver II, Augustine - I could fucking go
on and on. What is with this - emphasis on boring only the strong survive wank?!
Whether they are forced to by high casualties or gene-depletion on their home world, or simply choose to, many Chapters recruit from more than one world. Some demand aspirants from a world they have saved from invasion. Others have ancient ties with neighbouring worlds which provide aspirants on a regular basis. Though some might call this a dilution of their recruitment pool, many Chapters that do this heavily indoctrinate their 'outsider' recruits so that soon they are virtually indistinguishable - culturally and in outlook - from a locally recruited aspirant.
That first sentence is true. Things kinda slip from there.
Some Chapters are bastards, but I can't think of any who
demand a tithe of aspirants from people they've saved. And certainly
none think of having more aspirants with different perspectives as a
dilution which is -
wow, what a loaded word in the context of them thinking of enhancement as genebased.
And of course, more of this stupidity about indoctrination.
Throne, I can't fucking believe - I get why you ditched these, gladiatrix.
Fucking hells.
The culture of many Chapters is thoroughly intertwined with their homeworld. The Salamanders embrace the way of the smith and the forge, just as their people mine and work the rich metals extracted from their planet's rock. The Space Wolves' feasting and drinking halls mirror those of the tribes they are recruited from, and their warriors bear hunting trophies just as do the tribal chieftains and heroes of Fenrisian myth.
This. This is actually a not bad summary of what sticks around into a Chapter's culture. It's two real obvious examples, but it's not bad.
Generally what sticks is, in order - stuff caused by organ mutations from parent Legions, simple, like, surface observations of homeworld's culture, and some I guess… battle tactics theming? I'm not saying it in the way this codex would, but if you're from a planet where everyone already knows how to use melee weapons, that's going to be part of how the Chapter likes to operate, because it's something familiar. Dunno if that makes sense.
Oh, fuck. Uh, mentioning stuff caused by organ mutations -
So I realised my first section was kinda dry. I was just talking about the codex and not much about myself. I'm… fairly
private, but I'll try and scatter stuff in here and there.
Still not saying which Chapter I'm from, but we're one whose original geneseed was cuttings from the Space Wolves. So we get some of the same changes - if you want to know why those changes happen, you need to be an Apothecary or have some pretty high clearance, but I reckon this is maybe where the misunderstanding last part about how organs and enhancements and stuff work came from. Anyway. Point is, because we got some of the same changes, we adopted some similar habits to the original Wolves in some ways, and not in others.
It was weird, having the changes. Kinda, uh. Dysphoric in some ways? In hindsight? And there'd be some usual superstitious bullshit, y'know. 'Oh, if the organs don't take it isn't just
normal organ rejection, you become a
wolf monster'. Campfire shit.
They made life harder later. Not my fangs, I'd not change them for as much money as a Rogue Trader, but something about the organs, how it effects the skin - we get kinda
leathery as we get older, in an unpleasant way.
Uh, anyway. That's enough about me.
Most Chapters have a sphere of influence that reaches beyond their home world, even if it is just to the boundaries of their home system, but a significant number have seen this increase. In these dark times, many areas of space have been given over to direct Space Marine control for security and stability. In the lmperium Nihilus especially, a growing number of worlds cede some or even all of their authority to Space Marine Chapters based nearby, or offer resources, aspirants and serfs to them in exchange for protection.
Mix of good and bad here. Not quite sure what this means by 'sphere of influence' beyond, like, recruitment and training grounds, but yeah, most Chapters have an area that's directly under their protection. That's always been true, it's not a new thing.
Imperium Nihilus… god what a pretentious term. And as for ceding direct, governmental control - I can't think of many Chapters who'd accept. We know what we are and what we're good at, and it's not bureaucracy.
Okay so if it was the choice between some dickhead noble and a Chapter running an interim thing, I could see it, maybe. But the protection racket shit - definitely not the case. It's our
job to keep them safe, we wouldn't ask for recruits. Resources - well, we do need to stay equipped, but it wouldn't be as
payment for doing our duty.
… though I suppose, a brusque request from an Astartes might be interpreted in that light. Shit. That'd be
dark. Fucking hell, if that's ever happened… fuck.
…
Okay I'm back after a night of drinking. Uh, shit, where were we.
A great many Chapter home worlds have been inundated with refugees as war drives many of the Imperium's teeming trillions to flight. In the case of some Chapters, such as the Ultramarines, their realms have the resources and means to absorb these great throngs to some degree. Others, who oversee inhospitable fiefs, have no means of accommodating these masses, often demanding they serve the Chapter directly in exchange for sanctuary, or leaving them to fight for themselves on their deadly worlds. For these unfortunate souls, life scarcely improves at all
I should've just read on. The rage would've helped me out.
Like I said. Protecting those 'teeming trillions' is our whole
purpose. I cannot see any Chapter
demanding fealty, or not in some way helping refugees. It's possible those accommodations won't be what they're
used to - we're not going to colonise and displace the cultures on already extant planets - but that's a different matter
entirely from how this is framed.
Like I said. Pretty sure this author hates Astartes.
Except the Ultramarines, I guess, though that might just be whoever's doing the editing making sure that Guilliman doesn't order them all to be executed for slander.
Now for the aside about fleet-based Chapters. It's… pretty generic? Not even going to quote it, to be frank. There's some
interesting takes on the Badab War sure to piss some people off. In general when it's not speculating weirdly, it's fairly accurate? Some Chapters don't have a set single home world, or choose to base themselves out of a bunch of ships. Some of the fleet-based have, like, a mobile fortress-monastery and some spread things out. Some do it because their homeworld got lost, or because being fleet based gives you more tactical mobility, which is what I think the writer rambling about the Templar's 'search for the enemy' means.
We then get another full page picture where I don't know what the fuck the artist was going for - it looks like the, uh, Storm Reapers - one of those all Primaris Chapters - fighting the Black Legion -
again - on the weirdest terrain known to man, all in ceremonial armour, including the Legion, with weird fuckin battle lines…
Like, look at that Legionary in the middle, you can
see his arm can't have got to that position with the way the artist painted the pauldron. I mean, maybe it's meant to be warp shit? Also where's the lightning coming from? The structure in the back is meant to be a fortress-monastery I think but - and everyone's packed so tight together no-one can shoot -
Ugh.
Anyway, the quote's interesting.
Every fortress monastery is unique. Every element of its design shaped by the Chapter's traditions, preferred methods of warfare and the topography of its home world, which itself shapes the Chapter's culture and values. All, too, are indomitable bastions with countless hangars, void shield generators, impregnable walls and thousands of fearsome defensive weapons.
I mean. That's just describing a normal fortress, the first few sentences. Of course you're going to design it to fit the topography of the landscape, if you didn't you'd be a fucking idiot. And design it to match how you prefer to fight. Like…
… do the authors of this wargame understand tactics? Or strategy? At all? I'd think that'd be important for designing a tactical wargame but.
It is kinda right about how the fortress monastery's design's a bit of a feedback loop though. The older ones, they're the way they are so you train people to fight in the best way to defend it and make use of it, and then new additions get made to match that and so on. I think most Chapters kinda end up hyperspecialising because of that? Like, that kinda vicious circle. It's not a
bad thing - but it does mean that when people interfere and send us to the wrong kind of battlefield, cock ups happen.
Not going to go into what the specs of fortress monasteries I know about are like in detail, but that pithy last sentence is undercutting it a bit.
Then it moves on to talk about chapter organisation but… half the bloody page is taken up by a greyscale image of the grodiest chaplain I've ever seen wandering through celebratory-parade rest Blues (again, groan). Like, at least the ceremonial armour's right this time, though we've also got the rankest three headed servitor I've ever seen around for some reason.
I just don't know what this art adds. It's not really accurate, and when it's not failing to understand how fighting works, it's throwing in weird manky shit like these servitors or censer-crotch from last time.
Uh, anyway.
The organisation of many Space Marine Chapters owes itself to the Codex Astartes, a masterwork of the Ultramarines Primarch Roboute Guilliman. First composed ten thousand years ago in some of the Imperium's darkest days, it is considered a holy book and is revered by many Chapters for its age, provenance and authorship.
… I mean. That's not completely
wrong but I don't like where this is going. S'not a holy book in the way this means it, I think. And its age? Is this the weird palaiophilia movement shit I've heard these codices are full of?
The Horus Heresy devastated the Imperium. The damage wrought by the Traitor Legions -
Okay, stop, stop.
I get that that's what a lot of people call those things but. Nomenclature moment. Like I said before, no Astartes I know calls them that. Like…
The Schism was awful. But it was awful because it was understandable? The Conquest was shit for everyone, as I understand it, and that some people broke, and found solace in Chaos isn't the problem with it. It was the fact that they were weapons and so they couldn't - we couldn't find it in ourselves to wield ourselves. It's
complicated, and I don't know if I could, or should explain it.
Point is, it feels
weird to be talking about them in this book like… like we just hate them like the normal populace do. We don't
hate the Defectors. We love them. They're
us. That doesn't mean what they end up doing, what they did, is okay if it hurts our charges.
The Horus Heresy devastated the Imperium. The damage wrought by the Traitor Legions was so severe that the Emperor's realm never fully recovered. The terrifying power of the Space Marines was shown more clearly than ever before, their fallibility tragically revealed.
Ignoring what I said a sec ago this is… pretty much bang on. I think because the Conquest was so fucking quick - like, the pace of it was
nuts, maybe too nuts, really, shoulda spent more time actually civic building - that reports of what Astartes were kinda weren't known by most people until, well, the Schism happened, and then everything went to shit. And obviously it's the worst way to find out what we're capable of, if we're running through the streets punching each other through buildings without giving a fuck about anything else but the fight.
The Schism was all of us at our worst. Don't think anyone would deny that. Honestly this… yeah. This half paragraph is. Good?
It was clear to Roboute Guilliman that the Primarchs held too much power, that the awesome might of the Legions was simply too dangerous to place under the control of so few
individuals. Thus he composed the Codex Astartes.
… this is a bit wonkier though.
Like, yeah. Primarchs had too much power in both statecraft and war, and the public
was baying for blood after the Schism. There needed to be some kind of system of checks and balances. But that was…
different from the idea behind the original Codex Astartes, as I understand it. I don't know, I've never spoken to Guilliman, never will. Wouldn't want to speak his mind for him.
Didn't stop this writer doing that, I note.
Also what happened to this being about Chapter Organisation? Unless -
Oh please tell me I'm fucking wrong.
Into it he poured every iota of his deep military and logistical knowledge. He transcribed strategies and tactics for every conceivable battlefield situation in utterly precise detail. No element of Space Marine warfare and organisation went without thorough examination and analysis, down to the exact wording of command protocols, squad size and the hue of myriad uniform markings. Finally, it included comprehensive detail of all wargear and technical equipment in the Space Marines' exhaustive and formidable armouries.
I mean.
Yes?
That's kind of the point. It was like, a military recipe book. Everything, every variation on every recipe that was around at the time went into it. But like any cookbook, if you're a good chef, you use the recipe as
guidelines, not hard and fast rules.
No detail in all of the Codex's many thousands of pages was more significant
than the decree that the awesome fighting forces of the Legiones Astartes - which at their height included many tens, or even hundreds of thousands of warriors - be broken down into much smaller brotherhoods called Chapters. Each of these fighting forces would be independent, with complete autonomy over their actions and recruitment, and have their own heraldry and colours.
Again, this - feels like it's leaving stuff out. The Codex was a
follow up to the decree, which was an earlier thing. It's also leaving out the number of Legions who, like, flat out
ignored the Decree, or the Chapters who did the same, cough cough the Templars. And the Legions could do all that independent shit too -
I dunno. Maybe I'm just being grumpy unnecessarily.
With the power of the Space Marines fragmented in such a way, never could treachery spread with the fury of a raging forest fire in the way it did when Horus turned against the Emperor and corrupted fully half of the Imperium with him.
OR NOT! More evidence for writer man hating us because apparently Astartes together strong is the only reason the Schism happened? Like we're some sorta historical strongmen and nothing gets done without us? And
corrupted half the Imperium?! That's a
huge exaggeration! Like - how are we counting half?
Is it just half because half the
Legions turned Defector? Emperor's sake, why does this writer keep forgetting other people exist?!
Not all welcomed these ideas. Rogal Dorn of the Imperial Fists and Vulkan of the
Salamanders argued the most vigorously against them, but all of the remaining loyal Primarchs eventually acquiesced. Thus the loyal Legions that had conquered the galaxy in the Emperor's
name were no more.
None of this history lesson is about organisation in Chapters!
Since the Codex's original composition, the great majority of Space Marine Chapters have attempted to follow it, though none but the most reverent have done so successfully.
Reverence has dick all to do with it! S'a fucking
recipe book, I keep saying -
Going to take a break to weed out the potato patch.
Fucking hells.
…
Alright, I'm back. Let's give this another go.
Over the millennia it has been amended and erroneous copies have circulated, meaning some Chapters may all swear to be Codex compliant, yet have noticeably different combat doctrines and even organisational structures.
The erroneous copies thing sounds like bullshit, but yeah, it gets updated every century or so
because it's like a recipe book, and Guilliman couldn't see the future. New shit that we've faced gets put in, old equipment that doesn't work or just isn't in high circulation any more - like Volkite Blasters - gets taken out. It's a living breathing thing. It's
not something that you hold to through 'reverence', and it's not a mystery why some Chapters follow it more than others; it's because straight from the recipe cooking isn't always as good as home cooking, or 'recipe with tweaks' cooking.
Fucking
finally we get an organisation chart about how, according to the Codex Astartes, Chapters should be organised. After
all that nonsense.
It's a not bad representation of the updated Codex Astartes recommendations that includes all the Primaris only special boy squads that exist for some reason, though I note someone's written Devastators twice. Look, I was one, I love them, but I don't think we need double the count. It's also weird that they keep listing Chapter serfs and Chapter owned servitors in, like, each separate category rather than having a general one for their assistance. I guess it's good their help is being so recognised though? It's also weird that normal ass Intercessor squads (groan) get to be listed as part of veteran commands AND normal battlelines. Also the way it's written seems to imply only Techmarines use the vehicles which - no? Like, the book itself contradicts that a second later when it says -
Just as every Chapter is a highly flexible fighting force, so each company within it is strategically viable in its own right. Each have their own command elements - including Captain, Chaplain, and command squad - as well as a pool of bikes and armoured transports.
Like - huh? Also it's weird as hell that having given the Codex Astartes' guidelines on company usage it then goes 'oh actually they're all tactically flexible'. Was this… was this bit written by someone else?
Additionally, Chapters may differ in organisation. The Salamanders have three Masters of the Forge and the Iron Hands have no central Armoury, their vehicles instead held by their companies. Other Chapters adapt the Codex to suit their needs in countless ways.
Oh my god it has to have been! Because that last sentence is what I've been saying! Yes! Good writer! Please don't leave me with asshole writer after this!
Now we're going through the things on the org chart one by one, I guess, starting with Chapter Command.
A Space Marine Chapter is a highly sophisticated and efficient fighting machine. The impossible demands that each has to face - gruelling attrition and numberless foes - make being this way nothing less than essential. To succeed, Chapters need impeccable leaders who breathe the arts of war and logistics.
Noooo the return of the bad writer, I recognise his writing style.
CHAPTER MASTERS
Chapter Masters command entire Chapters and are exemplary warriors. For centuries have they slain the foes of the Imperium, and countless campaign badges adorn their personal standards. They are some of Mankind's greatest heroes. They appraise entire war zones with the merest glance, understanding every threat and opportunity that presents itself. The arrival of a Chapter Master to a planet afire with battle can turn an imminent, crushing defeat into a resounding, glorious victory.
I mean you're not wrong, but damn, could you suck them off harder?
They're like any regimental commander. They're generally really good at logistics, yeah, and good leaders. Because we're us, they're generally tough fighters too. But they're not… whatever this weird slavish tone is. If a Chapter Master's showing up to do
in field command, it's generally actually a sign things have gone to
fuck because it means a lot of the Chapter's being deployed to this one place simultaneously. Which only happens if things are
really bad, strategically speaking. So I guess this is right that they tend to show up to things that look like they're about to be crushing defeats, but those rarely get turned into 'resounding, glorious victory' - generally having so many of us there, used to acting relatively independently normally turns things into a bit of a clusterfuck. I guess maybe from the outside it looks different?
Anyway, if the rest of this devolved into softcore erotica after sentence about the Chapter Master's 'merest glance' I wouldn't be surprised. It'd probably be more entertaining.
Few in the Imperium have as much personal authority as a Chapter Master. At full strength their Chapter and its fleet can lay waste to entire systems. Their home world, wittingly or otherwise, is theirs to command, and many enjoy the loyalty of planets and systems further afield.
'Wittingly or otherwise'? 'Personal authority'? Holy shit, they went from portraying Chapter Masters as ultimate warriors to super bureaucrats
right quick. The worst part is, this is
wrong. The whole fucking
point of the decrees is that Astartes aren't allowed that kind of private authority - we're respected but separate. The fleets of a Chapter aren't just going to bomb around creating the Chapter's own private sector, forcing obeissance. Fucking
Throne.
Chapter Masters answer to almost no one. They are petitioned for aid, rather than ordered to provide it, and of the many thousands of supplications a Chapter receives, it is the Chapter Master who decides which his warriors shall respond to. In this, he holds the power of life and death over entire systems. Even in a war zone where multiple Chapters are fighting, it is only by choice that those involved follow the leadership of another Chapter.
This is another bit that starts strong then falls apart as it goes on.
Yeah, Chapters get petitioned for aid, and those petitions go through the Chapter Master. That means he decides - generally - where the Chapter deploys, to which warzones, and with what strength. That's all true.
I
guess it's true that therefore in a sense a given Chapter Master is deciding who lives or dies by deciding where and what to deploy. But a) that's true of anyone with any level of military authority and b) the way this writer
frames it, like that's part of the appeal or horror of
being a Chapter Master in particular is
weird. Did his planet petition for aid and it didn't get sent? Is that why he hates us?
Anyway, even if they don't answer, generally Chapter Masters - unless they're assholes - will pass on things they're not suited for to people who are better suited. Like, say call comes down to a Chapter who's good at dealing with big, individual threats - Knight Titans, those
big 'Nids, that sorta thing - in small close knit squads, but the call's for dealing with repeated slaver pirate raids against an agri-planet. Chapter Master would probably look at how bad the raids were and depending either contact the Fists or a similar Chapter, or even the local Astra boys, and see if they could help.
I have literally no fucking clue what that last sentence is doing here, or what it means. Yeah? In a big field of battle where multiple Chapters are deployed, someone needs to be in senior command, generally? But that's true when we're working alongside the Astra as well, or even the PDF.
Chapter Masters have access to some of the very finest wargear in the Imperium; many don armour and bear weapons millennia old. These ancient relics are sources of immense pride to the Chapter to which they belong, and such is the honour in even touching them, only Chapter Masters are permitted to use them in battle.
Other than the weird ancient-stuff wanking, this isn't entirely wrong. Chapter Masters generally get access to the top gear, because if they die shit's kinda fucked. Often it's stuff they have strong personal ties with, have modified themselves with assistance from Techmarines, and it's
theirs, so they maintain it, no help from anyone else. It's a common joke about CMs, actually - 'how does a Chapter Master allot their time? 50% reading and writing reports, 45% gear maintenance, 5% fieldwork.' I do have to tell you though, you don't want to accidentally find yourself snickering to that one when the man himself stops by to do chapel-barracks inspections. I was under a century then, still a Scout - must have panicked so bad I almost upended an entire incense burner over the man's feet.
He was good about it. Gave me thirty thorns, which is fair enough, and that was that.
While most Chapters are led by a single individual serving as a Chapter Master - and many may refer to him by a different title - not all Chapters operate in this way. The Sons of Medusa are led by a triumvirate of lron Thanes. Conversely, the Iron Hands' Iron Council is its ultimate authority, with Kardan Stronos serving as Chapter Master only for as long as the Iron Council deem him fit for the honoured duty of being the voice of the Chapter. The Raven Guard have a clear Chapter Master figure in Kayvaan Shrike, but the Shadow Captains of the Chapter's companies have considerably more free rein to select which campaigns they fight, and how they do so, than their equivalents in many other Chapters.
Huh. I've heard about stuff like this, but it's not actually something I know much about personally. It seems relatively informatively written? Though it's namedropping something fierce - don't think Master Stronos would much appreciate a random civilian using his first name, for instance.
A Chapter Master's role is supplemented by other officers whose roles exist outside of the formal company structure. These vary from Chapter to Chapter, but include such positions as the Lord of the Household, Chapter Master's Secretarius, Securitas Primus and countless others.
Yeah, as always, higher up officers have a whole entourage of people to help them out. Nothing really new there. I wouldn't say they exist outside the formal structure though? It's just a lot of them tend not to be Astartes. Not that we couldn't do the job, it's just if you want someone to do the numbers on how much a campaign is going to cost, better to get someone from the Munitorum who's been training for that kind of thing for decades.
HONOUR GUARD
Most Chapters have an honour guard, an elite cadre of warriors who answer to no one but the Chapter Master himself and have a multitude of functions. They are the Chapter Master's protectors, responsible for his security at all times, whether in council on their home world or in the raging inferno of war. They also serve as advisors, drawing upon their combat experience and wisdom to provide their liege with informed guidance. In this capacity they may also serve as naysayers, their task to challenge the decisions of the Chapter Master to prevent the rot of arrogance and complacency from taking the slightest toehold. An honour guard might include a Chapter Champion - a superlative warrior and living embodiment of all his Chapter's ideals. Very often the honour guard are responsible for the Chapter's standards and banners. This task is a sacred one, borne with great gravitas.
This… isn't bad either. Honour Guard generally have a few more duties than that, and their jobs around the standards and reliquaries are
way more important than advising the Chapter Master, but yeah, this isn't… too bad a summary. They're his protectors and friends and allies in combat - they train around how he fights and fight in the way that best matches and helps. Champion's a tough gig too, kinda - to be named Champion means you've been the best example of the Chapter as you can be? It's normally
posthumous rather than a position you just
have in the Honour Guard, but living Champions do happen.
Generally, when it comes to fighting, it's the Honour Guard doing the grunt work while the Chapter Master does the grand strategy. The tactical level stuff, where there's a position that
has to be broken, or a line that
has to hold.
Oh, an aside about standards. Kinda relevant, yeah. And of course they're the Blues' ones, no idea if that's accurate or not. Really you shouldn't be - this might just be
my Chapter's beliefs, but the only image of the standard should be the standard itself. Having a picture of one, even just the artist's conception, feels kinda
wrong.
Many Space Marines across virtually all Chapters adorn their armour with heraldic symbols, laurels, trophies and iconography denoting their names, ancestry and battles they have fought. They also honour fallen heroes or celebrate the champions and leaders they follow into war. Such practices vary enormously, not just from Chapter to Chapter, company to company and squad to squad, but also among individuals. Some Space Marines use identical symbols in different ways, and many Chapters particularly favour practices inherited from their home world.
Ohhhh I get why they keep showing the ceremonial armour now.
Okay so. This isn't
wrong but it needs some corrections. We do across
all Chapters I know about decorate our
ceremonial armour
super fucking intensely. Like, sometimes the original Chapter colours are barely there under trophies and remembrances and such. Most Chapters I think do
some minor decorations on fighting armour - nothing too big or gaudy, though, not like the ceremonial stuff. It's the difference between public and personal. Like -
So when there's a local election, you might take a pict to remember it. But you also take personal picts of your friends, and those are more meaningful and fewer. Combat armour memorials are for the guy who died saving you, personally you, from an artillery shell. Ceremonial armour memorials are for the brother who died holding the hill the company was meant to hold.
Ihe banners that Space Marines boast are each masterworks crafted by the hands of the most skilled artisans - or even the Space Marines themselves - and blessed in long, sombre rituals. Some are made to commemorate legendary battles, or celebrate the heroics of the Chapter's battle-brothers. Others represent the Chapter as a whole, the companies, or certain bodies such as the Apothecarion or Armoury. They are richly decorated, and each symbol, icon, word, name and embellishment represents something of deep significance to the Chapter and its warriors.
Dunno how you define a 'masterwork' or 'most skilled artisan', but yeah. Think this is true of most military units though. Your banners
mean something.
Generally, each of the divisions on the big org chart we had before, if they exist, get their own standard. One for each company, one for the armoury, one for the apothecarion, one for the librarius - exception's
generally the Reclusiam, they're
living standards - but yeah.
It also talks about relics a bit. I know that it might… seem weird. To carry a friend, or a hero's bone into battle. But it means something. It's like - okay there's all the theological stuff, which I'm
not qualified to talk about, about how they're with the Emperor now and can talk to him and help his soul see you if you're in need, but it's also because it means they're there with you, one last time, one more time. I dunno if that makes sense.
Oh, there's also some text on its side in a weird fucking font for some reason. Uhhhh lemme tilt my head a bit…
"Our standards inspire courage in our warriors and fear in our foes. Our ancient weapons spill our enemies' blood as the sight of them stirs our hearts. Our reliquaries teach us the meaning of sacrifice, brotherhood and steadfastness - and these characteristics are the deadliest weapons in our arsenal."
…hmm.
So this sounds like part of a transcribed Chaplain's sermon. But I think it's either been edited
really heavily, or there's a lot of context missing. The last line's good, feels right, but the 'ancient weapons' thing - I'm
guessing this is either someone talking about, like, Dreadnoughts being deployed (maybe???) or one of those
really weirdly anal and traditional Chapters. And - fair enough, Dreads needing to be deployed is the kind of situation where someone would normally ask the Chaplain to say something, because it always
sucks having to put them through that. I think there
has to be some adjoining stuff between it and the comment on reliquaries though.
As for the standard bit - spliced in from a different speech I think.
No idea why this is in the margins, but uh. Back to the honour guard?
How an honour guard is formed varies from Chapter to Chapter. For some it is a standing institution, its membership only changing as its members fall in battle or volunteer to resign their duties to return to the companies. Such self demotion is a rare occurrence, but does happen in the event that a company suffers such severe casualties that it lacks experienced members. Some of these honour guard have felt compelled to join the Chaplaincy, or to serve as an officer in the Scout Company where they can pass their experience on to the next generation.
… Honour Guard's a specific job, you literally covered that earlier. It's not just where Chapters stick people with the most experience. Someone rotating out is generally because someone better suited to the Chapter Master is available, or because it's stopped being your calling, not some sort of weird experience hoarding that in disaster needs to be rationed out.
These honour guards provide a formal link between Chapter Masters new and old, ensuring a continuity in the Chapter leadership. In other Chapters the Chapter Master will select his own honour guard. These may be warriors he has fought alongside in battle after battle, or mentors whose knowledge and wisdom he greatly values. Some Chapters may have a combination of both, to best secure the advantages of each. Others will draw their honour guard from the 1st Company.
I feel like this is a bit of a non-sequitur after the last bit, but it's mostly right. How you pick varies Chapter to Chapter. Generally you want smart folks who can guide the Chapter Master in if he's new, and people who his command style best suits.
My Chapter - it was kind of halfway between a discussion and an election? You'd nominate someone, and they'd step forth in the hall and explain why they fit, maybe face a few trials, Captains and Master of Library and Master of Sanctity and Master of the Forge would all vote, with the CM having veto power if they just didn't click.
Thanks to their esteemed position, the honour guard have rare access to their Chapter Armoury, and will often bear formidable relic weapons and wear magnificent ornate armour. Such artefacts have been borne into battle by hundreds of Chapter heroes, and with their choice of weapons each warrior is perfectly equipped to deal death to all but the most dangerous of foes.
I mean, they're well equipped, but that's not just old shit. And the really ornate stuff is, again, ceremonial.
This is getting kinda long, so I'll stop here for now. Wrote this last bit out on my porch, thinking about the last time I saw my CM and the Honour Guard, that despite everything they were pretty good to me. Just patting Berta's head and watching the moons rise. Weird the ways the past can hit you all at once.
Racilia, signing off.
