[WH40K - Space Marine] Iron Watchmen

[Lord_Gareth]

"No oaths. No battlecries. No litanies of the Emperor's hate and fury. These xeno scum do not deserve the grace of His holy words."
- Chaplain Victor Irian, Iron Watchmen Chapter

Chapter Name: Iron Watchmen
Gene-Seed: [CLASSIFIED]
Chapter Homeworld: [CLASSIFIED]
Colors: Indigo and Gray; individual color application usually varies, depending on the amount of equipment any given Battle Brother is carrying.
Symbol: A clockwork angel
Combat Specialization: The Iron Watchmen are an extremely precise, infantry-oriented chapter; every Battle Brother has a partner, and individual squads move in lock-stepped formations in accordance to battle plans whose contingencies run from one alphabet straight into another. They field very few vehicles, but have plenty of specialized equipment; none of their Battle Brothers would be considered a "standard" Space Marine.
Description: Silent and seemingly prescient, the Iron Watchmen show up at the site of a battle with Xenos (no reports exist of them combating the forces of Chaos), destroy the enemy without a single spoken word, and leave after confiscating their technology. The few worlds aware of their existence either forget about them or worry about them. A Black Templar Crusade made the mistake of accusing them of being enemies of the Emperor; their Gene-Seed and a polite note of apology were delivered to Terra afterwards.
Goals: [CLASSIFIED]

The Classified Stuff - Word of Goded for your benefit
Gene-Seed: An offshoot of the Blood Ravens chapter, enhanced to increase potential Psykers.
Chapter Homeworld: Mars; the Iron Watchmen operate at the bidding of the Adeptus Mechanicus.
Goals: The Iron Watchmen were created with one thing in mind; reclaiming the Emperor's glorious technology in order to advance the Imperium. The ultimate goal is to repair the Golden Throne and bring the Emperor back to full life - or, at least, that's the stated goal. To that end, the Iron Watchmen deploy an immense number of Techmarines, as well as Apothecaries to study the human/superhuman form. Their Techmarines study xeno technology intensely, as well as examining the form and function of Imperial inventions. Several advances to older designs have already been made, and the Iron Watchmen are on the verge of unlocking the secrets of their Power Armor.

Thoughts? Ideas? Questions?

[Kittenofdeath]

why are they being all secretive with their purpose? many chapters apropreate both alien tech and devices from the Dark age of technology, entrusting them to their techmarines to use them in order to harnes their power. and what is the purpose of increaseing the number of psykers in a machine oriented chapter? if they are indeed under the controll of the adeptus mechanus their main spirtuality (apart from the emperor) would be the omnisiah, so they would be more like the iron hands, striving for the union of machine and man, not mastery of the immaterium, which is really better in the story cannon for combating chaos, which you say they tend to ignore

[WychWeird]

Just a quick comment - there was an official chapter called Angels of Iron and this Chapter sounds very similar to the Deathwatch of Ordo Xenos. (Warhammer Lexicanum (http://www.lexicanum.com/) is a useful resource)

[Kittenofdeath]

Just a quick comment - there was an official chapter called Angels of Iron and this Chapter sounds very similar to the Deathwatch of Ordo Xenos. (Warhammer Lexicanum (http://www.lexicanum.com/) is a useful resource)

um, apart from tactical similaritys and the zeno hunting action, the fluff is totaly diffrent, deathwatch isnt an actual founding chapter, its units culled from other chapters and used for a term of service (or whenever the inquisitor who requisitioned them has no more use for them)

[Lord_Gareth]

Technically (yay for having friends WAY into 40K!) studying Xeno technology with the intention of using/integrating it is heresy - indeed, so are the acts of Invention and Reverse-Engineering, as would be the alteration of sacred technology such as the Holy Bolter or their Power Armor; thus the secrecy. They only combat Xenos because Xenos have the technology they're after; peaceful negotiation is, of course, not an option.

Name is being changed to Iron Watchmen.

Oh, and the other thing is as follows: the Mechanicus isn't supposed to control a Space Marine chapter, so that part is supposed to be kept secret as well.

[WychWeird]

My apologies, my quick comment was genuinely due to rushing out the door at the time - I meant to say "Are you aware that....[rest of post]"

Anyhow, back to the Chapter - I prefer the 'Iron Watchmen' as I feel it reflects the fluff better, not only are they acting as guardians (against xeno) but the silent, lock-step suggests an automaton working in tick-tock style.

You have these working for the Adeptus Mechanicus but how does the Ordos Xenos fit in? Do the two organisations work together? Are there tensions between them? Do the Iron Watchmen work alongside the Deathwatch or do they attend seperate conflicts? Perhaps the Watchmen are sent to recover specific alien artifacts and may thus need to fight through to their goals? Do the Ordos Xenos provide Inquisitors to the Watchmen to ensure their loyalty?

I like the spin in the fluff that relates to the Golden Throne decaying - that, for me, gives the raison d'etre, the real drive behind the Chapter (that would suggest a Founding in M41) and ultimately underlines the secrecy behind them (the general populance might get a little worried!) It would also explain why, at first glance, the Watchmen and Deathwatch appear to be treading the same path. (Destroy Xenos versus repair the Golden Throne. (Save the Emperor, save the Empire - with apologies to Heroes!))

[Kittenofdeath]

Technically (yay for having friends WAY into 40K!) studying Xeno technology with the intention of using/integrating it is heresy - indeed, so are the acts of Invention and Reverse-Engineering, as would be the alteration of sacred technology such as the Holy Bolter or their Power Armor; thus the secrecy. They only combat Xenos because Xenos have the technology they're after; peaceful negotiation is, of course, not an option.

Name is being changed to Iron Watchmen.

Oh, and the other thing is as follows: the Mechanicus isn't supposed to control a Space Marine chapter, so that part is supposed to be kept secret as well.

im loving the new name, really, just dropping angel from it bumped it up 5 cool points.

as far as heresy goes, that ones a minor one (look up the relictors for an example of more hardcore examples of what your talking about) if an imperial guard army did it, they would be slaughtered, but space marines can get away with allot more thanks to their limited numbers. and modification upon technology isnt herasy, look at the land raider crusader, the latest armor version (mark 6 or 7 i think), personaly i dont know of any such instances where messing with technology was labeld as heresy

and the inquisition would catch on quick to the mechanus working behind their back, their annoying like that