Heart Breakers - the origins

[The Captain]

Chapter Master -kisaan osallistuneella Heart Breakers -chapterilla oli vain yksi vahvuus muihin nähden - taustatarina. No, sitähän ei arvosteltu, joten sijoituksia ei nähty, eikä edes mainintaa WD:ssä. Tyhmää.

Kiusaanpahan kumminkin teitä julkaisemalla nyt fluffini täällä.
Vaihteeksi meikäläiseltäkin jotain omalla pääkielellä. (Selostukset esimerkkimodeleista voitte ignoroida, kunnes keksin laittaa niistä kuviakin nettiin.)


CHAPTER MASTER – HEART BREAKERS


Origin

After the Horus Heresy, the Space Marine Legions were split into smaller Chapters. Thus were born the Second Founding Chapters, and among those was the Heart Breakers Chapter – a Chapter that has since been damned to an eternity of redemption.
Created from the gene-seed of the Blood Angels, only a handful of the original Heart Breakers had been inducted into the Legiones Astartes before the Heresy and the death of Sanguinius; the vast majority of the new Chapter was created using the blood of the dead Primarch.
However, it soon became evident that the gene-seed extracted from the dead body of the winged Primarch was unstable. Many of the new Marines hallucinated, having visions of their Primarch and his last desperate battle against the traitor Horus. Then came the Black Rage. Many Marines were overcome with an unstoppable berserk rage, they would assault their enemies with reckless abandon, screaming and tearing their enemies apart. But the worst phenomenon was the Red Thirst, the thirst for blood. The Heart Breakers would not be satisfied with the death of their enemies; they would mutilate the bodies horrendously and quench their thirst with the lifeblood of their fallen foe.
As these symptoms were first witnessed, Imperial officials believed it to be a sign of a taint of Chaos. They could not tolerate it, the Imperium could not withstand another civil war so soon. The Inquisition ordered the Heart Breakers homeworld to be cleansed with Exterminatus, hoping to end the menace before it really began. The entire Chapter was destroyed in heavy orbital bombardment, or so it was thought.
Not long thereafter Blood Angels and all their Successor Chapters started showing similar symptoms and their Chaplains interpreted it as Sanguinius’s blessing from the beyond. The Inquisition could not refute their claims, and as long as the Blood Angels could keep themselves in check and remain loyal to the Imperium, they would be allowed to exist. The Inquisition would not, however, admit that their judgement of the Heart Breakers was erroneous, and thus all records of the Chapter were erased.


The survivors

Everybody thought that the Heart Breakers were no more. However, a task force of two reinforced companies had departed their homeworld not long before the ships of the Exterminatus arrived. The commander of the task force, Captain of the Second Company, was called Cardius Fractus. He had had a vision of Sanguinius calling him and quickly mobilised a fleet to take him and his troops to the place the Primarch had shown him.
Upon arriving at a lifeless, barren world, the Captain was blessed with another vision – that of a winged Angel ascending from the rocky wastes to meet his ship. The Angel told him of the demise of his Chapter but warned Cardius that to avenge the Imperium would be not only foolish but wrong. The Inquisition had acted in good faith, and to attack them would only prove them correct. No, the Heart Breakers would have to prove their loyalty the Imperium and re-earn their position among the Emperor’s warriors. They would have to fight back their burning rage, restrain themselves and resist the temptation to fall into mindless depravity, which would inevitably lead into the realms of Chaos.
Thus Captain Cardius Fractus took the remnants of his Chapter into the Warp, to hide from the ignorant hunters of the Imperium and to strike at the servants of the Dark gods, the alien menace and other enemies of the Imperium with such fervour and dedication that the Inquisition could no longer deny their right to return to the embrace of the Imperium.


The Chapter today

The Heart Breakers do not have a homeworld but reside on their fleet of ancient ships dating back to the Horus Heresy. They are forced to recruit new neophytes from random worlds they can find during their treks. Unfortunately their Insanguination methods are less developed than that of the original Legion, and combined with the uncontrollable variety of their recruits, Black Rage is becoming stronger with every new generation of Space Marines. However, the exceptional longevity of the Blood Angels gene-seed combined with the temporal distortion effects of the Warp mean that some original members of the Chapter, including Captain Cardius Fractus himself, are still alive. The Chapter’s Chaplains believe that this is a true sign that the Chapter is indeed blessed by Sanguinius himself.


Organisation

The Heart Breakers were formed according to Codex Astartes and divided into ten Companies of a hundred men each. The First Company, or the Veteran Company, adopted the habit of their mother Chapter of fielding their squads as assault squads when not wearing Terminator armour. Other Companies were organised as normal into six Tactical squads, two Assault squads and two Devastator squads.
This division remains today, although there are only two Companies and a handful of Veterans remaining. Because of the increased instability of the Chapter’s troops, Devastator squads tend to abandon their firing positions in their frenzy, and thus few are fielded with heavy weapons; fire support depends largely on the few armoured vehicles jury-rigged and field repaired by the Techmarines as well as the ancient and highly revered Dreadnoughts.
Squads are fielded ten men strong if possible, but many squads will lack one or two members, as some warriors lose their control completely before the battle and thus have to be restrained in the transport ship so as not to endanger their battle brothers.
Chaplains are highly revered among the Chapter, and they epitomise the discipline and self control that each battle brother strives for. Their task is to lead the Chapter’s daily rituals of meditation and prayer and to identify the signs of the Black Rage in each warrior as they kneel into prayer before a battle.
Lacking the necessary capabilities to train psykers properly, the Chapter no longer has any Librarians. During the millennia, the genetic deviancy that creates psykers has been almost completely removed from their gene-seed, so even if the Chapter could eventually return to the Imperium’s grace it is highly unlikely that they could ever again have powerful Librarians among their ranks.
The First Company is kept at a strength of ten per cent of the total manpower, as with a normal Codex Chapter. The twenty or so Veterans form the bodyguards of the Captains or operate independently, depending on situation.
Remarkably, while Captain Cardius Fractus is undeniably the leader of the Chapter, he has humbly rejected the title of Chapter Master and Imperial Commander for as long as they are not officially acknowledged by the Imperium, retaining his position as Captain of the Second Company.


Colours and heraldry

Honouring their Primogenitor Chapter, the Heart Breakers use red as their primary colour. Their armour is of a darker hue than the original blood red of the Blood Angels. Shoulder pads are rimmed with grey, and there is a grey stripe on their helmet as well. Sergeants have a grey helmet with a dark red stripe as their identification mark. Gun casings vary and can be black, red or grey, but are usually black.
The Chapter badge, a heart torn in two, is depicted on the left shoulder pad. The colour of this badge serves as a Company marking. The heart of the Second Company is black, the Third Company has a white heart. The First Company has reversed colours on their shoulder pads (i.e. red rims around grey shoulder pads), and their Chapter badge is red. Other Companies had the following Company colours: 4th Company: yellow; 5th Company: grey; 6th Company: left half black, right half white; 7th Company: left half black, right half yellow; 8th Company: left half white, right half grey; 9th Company: left half yellow, right half grey. The Scout Company had no Company colour.
Squad number is shown on the right shoulder. Heart Breakers do not have marks for each squad type and only use squad numbers to identify squads. Squad numbers I to VI are Tactical squads, VII and VIII are Assault squads, and IX and X are Devastator squads (although they tend to be armed with fewer heavy weapons than normally). Squad numbers are also the colour of their Company.
Captains wear their Company colours on their Chapter badge but display their personal heraldry on their right shoulder pad. For example, Arteritis Vein, Captain of the Third Company, has a black heart split by a white lightning as his personal symbol. The Captain’s heraldry is usually included in Company standards as well.
With so few men left, there is little need for separate army badges for the Heart Breakers. There is little sense in splitting the already diminished force into smaller detachments.
Another peculiar trait among the Heart Breakers is the almost extravagant use of purity seals. These are awarded to warriors who have been able to control their rage in battle, and thus most Marines of the Chapter wear at least one or two purity seals, while veterans may wear several. The oldest and highest-ranking officers would be literally covered in these honours, should they wear each and every seal they are awarded, but most tend to wear only a few on their battle gear, only displaying their full collection during festivities, especially the Sanguinala.


Wargear

Without the resources of an Imperial world or the authority of a true Space Marine Chapter, weapons, armour and equipment are hard to acquire. The Chapter’s suits of power armour are field repaired with pieces of armour taken from fallen enemies, thus making many Heart Breakers, especially the Veterans, look more like Chaos Space Marines. This has only increased the Inquisition’s suspicions of the Chapter’s true allegiance. Likewise, many of their weapons are taken from the lifeless hands of their foes. Any Chaos symbols are carefully removed by the Techmarines before accepting any piece of wargear into use, and litanies of atonement are recited by the Chaplains to purify the spirit of the weapons and armour of any taint. Many items are still rejected, the daemonic spirit possessing them being too strong.


Sample models

The HQ model depicts Captain Arteritis Vein of the Third Company. Wearing a heart symbol on his chest eagle and displaying his personal heraldry on his right shoulder pad, the Captain has led his Company for over a thousand years. He is armed with a combi-melta and a power fist, the latter taken from a Champion of the Dark gods after a deadly duel. His artificer-forged armour has a darker shade of red than normal troops, also emphasising the fact that Captains are allowed to personalise their colours. With the exception of the backpack with cloak, the whole model is constructed of plastic Space Marine, Chaos Space Marine and Space Wolf parts. The Chapter badge on all models is sculpted of modelling putty.
The Tactical model is from the Fourth Tactical Squad of the Second Company. As all Heart Breakers prefer close combat over firefights, the trooper carries a wicked chainsword for melee. (This has no game effect, but is purely for stylistic purposes.) His chest armour has been damaged and repaired with an extra plate, covering the Imperial Eagle. The model is a metal Legion of the Damned trooper with flame symbols filed off and plastic Space Marine arms, weapons and purity seals added.
The Assault model is a Veteran from the First Company. His weapons and helmet are salvaged from his enemies. The model has plastic Space Marine torso, shoulder pads and jump pack, with plastic Chaos Space Marine arms with plasma pistol and chainsword (which has been slightly converted to look a bit less Chaotic). Legs and helmet are from a plastic Khorne Berzerker with heavy alterations to reduce the traitorous look.

[Thelacan]

Hienoa tekstiä tosiaan, ja paljon. Ja tuskin onkaan epäilystä siitä, että olisi joitain kielioppivirheitä.
Yksi mikä kyllä vähensi Wow-fiilistä oli se saman asian kertaaminen, eli mm. Blood Rage, tosin se on melkein mahdottomuus välttää kun kertoo Blood Angel-successor chapteristä. Mutta on siinä kyllä aivan tarpeeksi omaa keksittyä massarevinnäistä. Enää puuttuu ne kuvat niin on bueno .

Mutta kokonaisuus on todella loistava, nyt tekisi kyllä mieli kuulla Chronon massarevinnäinen .

[The Captain]

Hienoa tekstiä tosiaan, ja paljon. Ja tuskin onkaan epäilystä siitä, että olisi joitain kielioppivirheitä.

No, enpä minäkään englantia täydellisesti osaa, joten siitä vain bongaamaan. Tarjoan seuraavassa turnauksessa porkkanan jokaiselle, joka löytää kielioppivirheen.

Yksi mikä kyllä vähensi Wow-fiilistä oli se saman asian kertaaminen, eli mm. Blood Rage, tosin se on melkein mahdottomuus välttää kun kertoo Blood Angel-successor chapteristä. Mutta on siinä kyllä aivan tarpeeksi omaa keksittyä massarevinnäistä. Enää puuttuu ne kuvat niin on bueno ;).

No, tekstihän on kirjoitettu kohdeyleisönä GW:n tontut, jotka voittaja-chapterin valitsivat, eli tietty määrä rautalankaa siihen on jouduttu kerimään ympärille. Ja kun armeija kumminkin toimii Khornen säännöillä, niin melko epävakaata henkisesti tuo porukka on.

Kuvia, joita voitte kommentoida tuohon Galleria-ketjuun, jos haluatte.

Tarkkaavaisimmat varmaan huomasivat, että tuo juttu on kirjoitettu 2. editionin marine-codexien formaattiin.