Saturday 16 May 2009

The Angels Exemplar - Background

The Angels Exemplar

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Angels Exemplar Marine (Pre-Fall)

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Angels Exemplar Marine (Post-Fall)

Origins

The Angels Exemplar chapter of Space Marines was a 26th Founding Chapter created 738.M41. The Angels Exemplar are descendents of Rogal Dorn although their Gene Seed is taken from the Dark Hands chapter. A elite cadre from the Dark Hands chapter trained the initial neophyte marines and made up the HQ for the Chapters first steps.

Homeworld

The Angels Exemplar were a fleet based chapter this enabled them to respond quickly to situations and helped them gain valuable combat experience in their early years despite the lack of trust the chapter was held in as they were able to react faster than other chapters due to their lack of size. The Chapter was based around the massive flagship His Holy Wrath which bore the lodgings of the Chapter Master and his staff. Since their fall the flagship bears little resemblance to the Imperial Vessel and has undergone a name change. Now known as The Wrath of Sikandar sightings of the vessel are a dark omen indeed.

Combat Doctrine

The Angels Exemplar proved themselves to be experts of medium to short range combat and in particular guerilla actions in urban environments. They quickly made themselves invaluable to the Ordo Hereticus in erradicating heretical cults. The ease with which the Angels Exemplar responded to the Ordo's requests and the zeal with which they put down the enemies of the Emperor led for them to become a much trusted resource of the Inquisition. The way that the Angels Exemplar make war since the Fall has changed little except they now readily work terror into their battle plans making extensive use of plasma weapons and flamers before they close for hand to hand combat where the full ferocity of their unbound personalities comes to the fore.

Organisation

The manner of the campaigns in which the Angels Exemplar were used primarily meant that the chapter was organised primarily into small combat squads and because of the close range style of fighting employed by them the chapter had a proportionally higher number of assault squads in comparison to other Codex chapters. Since the Fall there is a far less rigid organisation to the Angels Exemplar. The combat squads used by the chapter before are now very common with the most worthy fighter in a group leading it as its Champion. There is still a very clear Headquarters to the chapter and a number of subordinate warbands with their own internal hierarchies.

The Fall

It is unclear when exactly the seeds of the Angels Exemplar's fall were planted but what is known is that despite their close work with the Ordo Hereticus and their zeal in putting down powerful cults such a religious deviation began to occur within the chapter. Some Marines within the Chapter fell into the veneration of four animal aspects. These were the Eagle, the Serpent, the Dog and the Crow. This cult within the chapter slowly spread and it slowly became clear that the leaders of the cult were truly communing with the dark powers that reside within the warp. An internal conflict began within the chapter after the assassination of a number of Chaplains in 881.M41 brought knowledge of the cult's existence to the fore. After much brutal fighting those loyal to the cult (who were in the vast majority) wrestled control of the chapter fleet and systematically routed out those Battle Brothers that wouldn't side with them. The Headquarters of the Chapter was much changed within this time and Sikandar who had been a Veteran Sergeant before The Fall rose to become Master of the Angels Exemplar. His first act was to open fire on the Imperial Navy escorts that accompanied the chapter and then the chapter fleet made for the Eye of Terror heeding the call of their new gods.


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