Novamarines
| Novamarines | ||
|---|---|---|
| Founding | Second Founding | |
| Successors of | Ultramarines | |
| Homeworld | Honorum | |
| Strength | 1000 | |
| Specialty | Slaying Xenos,spamming terminators | |
| Allegiance | Imperium of Man | |
| Colours | Blue & White, quartered. | |
History
The Novamarines are, with one apparent exception, hardline followers of the Codex Astartes, the great organisational work of the Ultramarines Primarch Roboute Guilliman. Their adherence to most aspects of the Codex is so strong that they have drawn the blood of those who would scorn it, as well as being noted as exemplars of Guilliman's writ by other Imperial authorities. This hardline attitude extends to other facets of Imperial thought, with the Novamarines being notable proponents of the monodominant philosophy; deviation from Imperial norms is considered anathema, with a particular disgust saved for xenos life-forms.
Founding
The first Chapter Master of the Novamarines was Ultramarines Captain Lucretius Corvo, an officer who won great renown fighting the Word Bearers during the Horus Heresy. Corvo was decorated by Roboute Guilliman himself - this decoration is now a sacred relic to the Novamarines, and is kept in the Fortress-Monastery.
At their founding they were assigned the pre-Imperial world of Honourum by Guilliman, a world that marked the farthest point the Ultramarines had penetrated into the galactic north of Ultima Segmentum. Inhabited by a feral people, the only notable surface difference between a Novamarine and an Ultramarine is that the Novamarines retain the tribal practice of tattooing their skin, incorporating it into their beliefs as an Emperor-blessed way of armouring their souls, as well as recording their deeds upon their bodies.
Recent Years
The Novamarines have been notably involved with combating the emergent Tau life-form, though that does not mean they fight xenos exclusively: after two years of honourably participating in the Badab War the Novamarines forces withdrew in order to contest an Ork invasion that threatened their homeworld, although rumours suggest the Inquisition reassigned them in fear that they would not be enthusiastic enough to be 'in-at-the-kill' of the secessionist forces.
Since then they have deployed a large amount of their manpower to aid in defending against the Thirteenth Black Crusade.
Organisation
Often thought of as a fleet-based Chapter, the Novamarines still retain Honourum as their Homeworld, near the Halo Stars. Because of their homeworld's location, near a vast zone of unexplored space, the Novamarines fight a wide range of enemies, including isolationist lost human realms, nascent alien empires and ancient threats. As a result, the Novamarines spend most of their time ranging through Imperial space, watching over the territory they have chosen to safeguard and responding to any Imperial call for aid. Their quick reaction times and willingness to unquestioningly help defend the Imperium have resulted in the Novamarines developing a record of being one of the first forms of aid other Space Marine chapters receive should they ask for it.
The Chapter maintains close links to the Ultramarines and its fellow Successor Chapters, but the great distance between Honourum and Macragge means that the Chapter is unable to send representatives to the court of Marneus Calgar as often as other Chapters. Still, many Novamarines aspire to make a pilgrimage to the Shrine of the Primarch at least once in their lifetimes, with those that have done such pilgrimage adorning their battle helmets with the Laurels of Ultramar, a mark of honour that the Chapter's Scouts regard with awe and dream of one day gaining for themselves.
The Novamarines have been lucky enough to be able to maintain much of their original chapter armoury. As a result they are able to field their entire First Company as Terminators should they so wish.
Characters
They do have one special character of note from Forgeworld: Mordecai Blaylock, Captain of the Novamarines First Company.
He wears Terminator Armour, Iron Halo and has a Storm Bolter; (so far par for the course) but he also has a Master Crafted, Shredding, Armourbane Chainfist!
Also, he makes Terminator squads scoring (but not troops) though he does allow any unit he joins the ability to choose whether or not to pass morale checks, which is actually better than Fearless since you can't necessarily get tarpitted by things they can't hurt. But there isn't much that Chainfist can't hurt anyway. But you can also use it to fall back from shooting and claim a counter charge next turn.
Blaylock is also a badass, having earned the title "Stormbreaker" after defeating an Eldar Stormwind host, by trapping the Autarch's power sword in his ribs and then strangling the life out of him with his bare hands (though one must wonder why his hands were bare in the first place).