Marine chapter fluff: Screaming eagles

[GMAleron]

-Chapter Name: Screaming Eagles

-Founding Chapter: Raven Guard

-Founding: 27th Founding (1st known Chapter)

-Chapter Master: Julius Talon

-Homeworld: One Fleet

-Fortress-Monastery: Unkown

-Main Colors: Bronze, Black & White

-Specialty: Blitzkrieg Assault

-Battle Cry: "Death"

-Estimated Strength: Less then 100 Marines

-Brief History: The Screaming Eagles Chapter like its founding chapter relies on lighting assaults to cripple their foes. However unlike the Raven Guard the Screaming Eagles rely on massive numbers of Razorbacks in battle to quickly strike and tear out the heart of their enemy before they knew what hit them. Though only being in service for a mere decade the Screaming Eagles have racked up an impressive number of battle honors and victories primarily against the Chaos Forces on Medusa V. However young a chapter they may be the Screaming Eagles already face annihilation.
During one of their many battles against Chaos on a planet known as Merradin XI, a forge world the chapter struggled to hold back a massive army dedicated to the blood god Khorne. Unable to meet the horde in a head on engagement the Screaming Eagles engaged the Chaos renegades in a running battle across the desolate ruins of cities, striking quickly before withdrawing in their Razorback transports. Believing the planet and its valuble resources lost an Inquisitor by the name of Barrabus ordered the destruction of the planet.
No one knows how the survivors, numbering around 5% of the origional one thousand marines of the Screaming Eagles chapter made it off world, however it is known that when encountering the inquisitor Julius Talon personally put his storm bolter to his head and executed him. To this day The Inqusition demands that Barrabus' murder be avenged leading to a very strained relationship between the Screaming Eagles and the Inquisition. Currently the Screaming Eagles are being deployed to Armageddon in hopes of helping to lift the planets siege.

Picture link:

The Bolter and Chainsword : Space Marine Display





Im planning on using the Raptor Chapter rhino doors on my razorbacks and also their white decal on the right and left shoulder pads, hope you all enjoy and please tell me what you think.

[rafis117]

Hmmm... Overall I'd have to say good work. Reasonably true to Raven Guard, further points to your book. The only founding inconsistency is you haven't mentioned Corax's Gamble, which is the primary reason that there aren't a berjillion little black, white and red chapters out there quoting "Nevermore".

I'm a little surprised that you chose a Rhino blitz as a RG-like tactic, though it is to an extent. However, I would classify it more as one of the White Scars. The difference between White Scars and Raven Guard can be summarized thus: White Scars (like their Mongolian template) are masters of 2D, conventional mobile warfare. Think like General Patton eating Sushi. They have lots of tanks and bikes and occasionally Land Speeders. Raven Guard fight a more vertical battle, or at least more airborne. They fight in 3D much more, a sort of combined-forces low-altitude air-support sort of roll. They have lots of Drop Pods, Land Speeders, Assault Marines, Termies, and Dreads. These, however, are just trends, most Chapters will have at least a few, more or less than other Chapters, of any given unit. Just because the Blood Ravens are assaulty doesn't mean that that they don't have any Tactical Marines or Devastators, just less than other Chapters.

*Note* White Scars have claustrophobia and as such do NOT use Dreads. Also, Salamanders don't have nice gravity so they don't use Land Speeders.

As far as the timeline is concerned, just a single decade? If only a handful got off the planet mid-purge, how did they re-grow their numbers enough to both be reaccepted as a full Chapter and have the staff, personnel, etc to maintain their normal structure? The Legion of the Damned had a similar experience, decided "to hell with it" (so to speak) and dropped their army composition all together. They used to be a full Chapter, now they are less than a single company, with no official leaders, and barely recognized by the Imperium.

Summary: Dress up the timeline (possibly change it to century instead decade), explain how the Chapter was reduced to a squad or two and survived (or explain that they lost a large portion of the Chapter but not 95%), and add a line or two mentioning Corax's Gamble. Those three small changes would make this a very solid (if a little short and sparse on the adjectives) piece.

[oniwakamaru]

Just so you know, the chapter master killing an Inquisitor wouldn't lead to "strained" relationships, it would lead to a dead chapter master.

The Celestial Lions is a good example of what happens when you irritate the Inquisition.

[Stradius]

Well, the Space Wolves have gotten away with outright attacking the Inquisition and Ecclesiarchy. Inquisitors investigating the Dark Angels also have a habit of going "missing" (as well as an entire Black Templars strike cruiser). Depending on how close the ties are between them and their progenitor chapter are, as well as various other Imperial institutions - and more importantly, their proof of it - could tie the Inquisition's hands.

[rafis117]

Well, the Space Wolves have gotten away with outright attacking the Inquisition and Ecclesiarchy. Inquisitors investigating the Dark Angels also have a habit of going "missing" (as well as an entire Black Templars strike cruiser). Depending on how close the ties are between them and their progenitor chapter are, as well as various other Imperial institutions - and more importantly, their proof of it - could tie the Inquisition's hands.

The 1st Founding is older than the Inquisition by a few decades, and as such won't be bullied around by the stuck-up, pompous heirs to the survivors of the Eisenstein incident. Other than that, even the =I= fears the Inquisition.

[oniwakamaru]

Well, the Space Wolves have gotten away with outright attacking the Inquisition and Ecclesiarchy. Inquisitors investigating the Dark Angels also have a habit of going "missing" (as well as an entire Black Templars strike cruiser). Depending on how close the ties are between them and their progenitor chapter are, as well as various other Imperial institutions - and more importantly, their proof of it - could tie the Inquisition's hands.

It does seem like First Founding chapters seem to get a bit of leeway with the Inquisition, but aside from them, you don't mess with the Inquisition.

[GMAleron]

Well we do, one of the Inquisitions members did wipe out most of our chapter after all!

[oniwakamaru]

Well we do, one of the Inquisitions members did wipe out most of our chapter after all!

If you have not, I would suggest reading the Lexicanum article on the Celestial Lions. Read exactly what happened to them. This is why I find it difficult to believe that blowing the head off an Inquisitor leads to just "strained" relations. Far be it from me to force this path on you, but keep in mind that having your chapter take the "Mess with the Inquisition" route would probably have fairly serious repercussions in the short term if you want this to remain workable in the fluff. There are other options you can take with this and remain fairly close to your original idea:

1. The Inquisitor "disappeared";
Essentially, the rest of the Inquisition does not know exactly what happened to the inquisitor. they may distrust your chapter extensively due to the situation surrounding his death, but is going to wait for more proof before they act. (Important to note that this seems to happen a fair amount with the Dark Angels, so this is a fluffy example).

2. Swap Cause and Effect;
Maybe your chapter master got into a fistfight with the aforementioned Inquisitor beforehand, and the exterminatus order was an "accident." Drop the Inquisitor's death, and view them in a similar light as the Crimson Fists. (If you go this route, probably increase the number of survivors, maybe the 8th-10th companies were offworld at the time.)

3. Nobody Liked Him Anyway;
The Inquisitor Lord in that segmentum had always thought Barabbus was an impulsive fool, and has no issue with his death. (Basically, you drop the "Inquisition wants retribution" section, or limit it to one or two low level Inquisitors, kept in check by the Inquisitor Lord.)

[GMAleron]

Im going for the story along the lines of that the other members of the Inquisition realized how he had messed up bigtime and nearly destroyed a whole space marine chapter, also that isnt our style. Our commander wanted to send a message that if you mess with us bad things are going to happen. The reason i said "strained" is because even though it doesnt sound bad, in reality from an warhammer 40k view that means its going to hit the fan