User talk:Merrill

Scales Shed

The Primarch of the XXV Legion landed on the primeval world of Solnhofen, a world of lush jungles, great saurian and tribes of humans who battled them, the elements and each other. Recovered by a Hunter, the young Primarch learned how to stalk, hunt and tame the great beasts of the Jungle, being never seen without his Sor companion, a great frilled beast named Keradops, or the "Hard-Headed One." The young Primarch began to make war on neighbouring tribes, conquering and adding each one to a Tribal Confederation under his rule. It was near the end of the campaign of conquest that the Emperor came to Solnhofen and revealed to the Primarch his true origins. Tiran Osoros bent the knee to his father and was rewarded with the command of the XXV Legion, at the time one of the smallest with only 60,000 Marines scattered across the Imperium. After completing the conquest of his world, during which time the Legion was gathered from all across the Imperium and for the first time since the Great Crusade left Terra was all in one place, he formally took command of his Legion.

The union of Terran and Solnhofen marines was among the least acrimonious of all the Legions. Tiran worked hard to ensure that despite his upbringing on Solnhofen the Terrans would not be marginalized and overlooked, even going so far as to adopt the fast moving ways of warfare of the Terrans as opposed to the slower methods of warfare he had practised on Solnhofen. However one of his very first campaigns was fraught with difficulty, as his lack of experience with mobile warfare saw his Legion suffer heavier than expected casualties when battling the Eldar in the Palia Ceen System. Osoros refused to let this setback defeat him, and he threw himself into mastering the art of mobile warfare, which would serve him well when his Legion reached the Meteon Sector, which was under the control of the Ork Empire of Waaagh! Sarkus. A two year campaign across the sector saw the Legion destroy the Waaagh in a triumph that even the Emperor Himself acknowledged as a mighty feat, and which the great master of Warfare Arelex Orannis of the War Scribes described as ‘A masterful example of using speed to overcome numbers.’ During that Campaoign Osoros, mounted on the back of his faithful companion Keradops battled Warlord Sarkus and his mighty Squiggoth in a clash that would be immortalized by the proto-Remembrancers that covered the battle.

The Scale Bearers once again began to subdivide forces to aid other Legions and Imperial Army forces, but no more than a quarter of the Legion was sent off in this way, the rest remaining as part of the Primarch’s 49th Expeditionary Fleet, acting as a high speed reaction force to any threat detected by the Rogue Traders pushing the boundaries of the Imperium, destroying it before it could threaten the galactic advance. By the time Hektor became Warmaster the Legion was near the Ultima fringes, pushing back the last few enclaves of Xenos when treachery came to the Imperium.

A Legion Broken

News of Aubrey’s Rebellion in the northern Marches reached the Scale Bearers as they were busy refitting at the Forgeworld of Tigris after a long campaign in the eastern fringes of the Imperium. The Legion mustered, and immediately sped for the region, Orosos livid that his deviant Brother had dared turn on the Imperium after the mercy given to him after his earlier sins. The Legion was tasked by Warmaster Hektor with the securing of the vital Forgeworld of Diamat, which Aubrey’s traitors had secured early in their rebellion. They would be assisted in this by the Iron Rangers, a Legion known for its unorthodox styles of warfare that had only rarely fought alongside the Scale Bearers.

However on the approaches to Diamat the Iron Rangers sprang a trap and savaged the Scale Bearer Fleet. Many ships were destroyed but the ZPrimarch was able to rally and escape the trap, noew incensed that his Warmaster had turned on him. Fearing the worst, he began to head towards Terra. However, the Legion while affixing temporary repairs over the forest moon now known as Sorfall was once again assaulted by the Iron Rangers, and Tiran was killed in single combat by his brother Merrill, the second Primarch to fall in the Heresy. The elderly, enraged Keradops, seeing his master and oldest friend fall, rushed at the enemy with reckless abandon, felling hundreds before finally being consumed in tank fire. His sacrifice, however, allowed some of the Scale Bearers to escape and lick their wounds. The Legion was now scattered and leaderless. Bands of Scale Bearers would continue to fight the traitors throughout the Heresy, but one by one they were caught up and extinguished. Lukas, the seniormost commander of the Legion left tried to rally as many of the bands of scattered Scale Bearers as possible and by Heresy’s end had rallied over a thousand Marines to his banner. While gene-seed was technically in good supply, the chaos of the Heresy and the low population of Solmhofen had left them with no real recruitment options but a slow and laborious process which saw the Legion unable to recover in numbers before the Chapter Edict ended the Legion for good.

Legion Colors

The colors of the Legion are a dark green (reflecting the color of the jungles of Solnhofen) with a gold trim. The pauldron on which the Legion's badge is painted, however, is a watery blue - perhaps reminiscent of Solnhofen's rivers.

Legion Tactics

While the Chapter of the 41st Millenium retains its use of Sors in combat, many Astartes of the Scale Bearers find themselves riding Sor-themed bikes instead. In either case, they are capable of reaching the enemy quickly and striking with great force. There are also records of them using biological warfare during the Great Crusade, but they are not on record as having done so since the Heresy.

Legion Organization

While the Scale Bearers differ little from the norm in their system of ranks, there are certain special positions that exist within the Legion to facilitate its way of life and style of operation.

Mayasaron - Drawn from the ranks of the Apothecaries, these veteran Marines serve as the biological equivalent of Techmarines, attending to the injuries and growth of the Legion's Sors. They are often assisted by specialized Chapter Clerks known as Veterinarii. This rank disappears some time in M35, after the Sor population drops low enough that it is little warranted.

Dainonikon - Drawn from the ranks of the Librarium, they use their psychic powers to bolster the combat effectiveness of Sors by driving them into violent frenzies or making their skin less penetrable by various weapons. Like the Mayasaron, these disappear sometime in M35, though the rank can still be found in the Violet Serpents successor Chapter.

Legion Equipment

By the 41st Millenium, Scale Bearers tend to be outfitted mostly in Mk. 6 power armor (or "Beakies," as their hated enemies the Orks have taken to calling them), and equipped with the Codex-standard assortment of weapons. When it comes to the use of the varied and mighty Sors, however, the creatures' own natural weapons are considered as much a part of the Chapter's armory as any Bolter or Chainsword. That said, they are far rarer than they once were, as few worlds to which the Scale Bearers have regular access boast environments conducive to their wellbeing any longer.

Legion Doctrine

The Scale Bearers' main focus, that of mounted warfare, is a tradition that began with the larger-than-usual contingent of bikes the Legion was granted from Terra, in the days when they were called the Imperial Riders. For a good portion of the Great Crusade, this carried on, until the fateful day when the Legion's Primarch was discovered on the primitive world of Solnhofen.

Tiran Osoros, along with the recruits from the tribal peoples of Solnhofen, brought with them not only the ubiquitous Sors, but a number of artefacts of the planet's culture. The smoking of various herbs endemic to Solnhofen itself was echoed in the Legion's use of Lho sticks when meeting with friends, and even offering them to comrades when meeting before battle - a practice not normally found amongst Astartes. From the village of Yrash Pak, they brought the idea of the Victory Totem - a wooden monument erected in a defeated enemy's capital after the fighting had ended. Over time, the Terrans among the Legion were worn down by attrition and vastly outnumbered by the sons of Solnhofen.

The result was a steady shift from more... pragmatic Terran methods, as it were, to the perhaps more boisterous warfare of the Solnhofens. Tiran himself introduced several maneuvers to his Marines that his old tribal army had applied during his youth, the most notable being the "Pouncing Ceeloh." In this formation, scouts, smaller Sors, or Imperial Army forces (depending on which is present) charge and shatter the unity of an enemy formation while a Scale Bearers bike squad approaches in a single-file line. As the enemy scatters or simply becomes confused, the line unfolds into an encirclement, which then peppers the enemy from without. Meanwhile, these opposing forces must also continue to fend off the Imperial elements that have already pushed into their lines. This tactic, obviously, proves more useful against tightly-packed and numerous armies - and against such tactless enemies as the Orks, the Legion has been more than willing to bring brute force to bear.

In addition, the Legion holds to a tradition of painting their close combat weapons before the battle - a sort of stylized "splatter" pattern is painted in red onto the part of the weapon that will face or strike the enemy. This is believed to prepare the weapon for the blood it will inevitably be covered in during the fighting. This paint is, of course, removed during the cleaning of weapons after the fighting, unless another battle is imminent (that is, within three days).

Notable Members

Astartes

Lukas Ilion - a Marine from Kras Xenkoh, notable mainly for sending his serpentine Sor Aleph to kill Warboss Sarkus on Henom IX, as well as taking charge of what remained of a contingent of the Legion after seeing his Primarch fall in battle against Merrill.

Olit Okirus - Chapter Master of the Scale Bearers as of 999.M41.

Rychad Owain - A member of Squad XXV of the Sacred Band, pledged from the Legion during their time as the Imperial Riders. The oldest member of the squad.

Karles Onatel - A member of Squad XXV of the Sacred Band, pledged from the Legion during their time as the Imperial Riders. Known for a rivalry with Adwaer Kopp.

Adwaer Kopp - A member of Squad XXV of the Sacred Band, pledged from the Legion during their time as the Imperial Riders. Known for a rivalry with Karles Onatel.

Josyf Hereran - A member of Squad XXV of the Sacred Band, pledged from the Legion during their time as the Imperial Riders.

Robyt Bakkir - A member of Squad XXV of the Sacred Band, pledged from the Legion during their time as the Imperial Riders. Known for being the most hot-blooded of the squad.

Dang Zhimin - A member of Squad XXV of the Sacred Band, pledged from the Legion during their time as the Imperial Riders.

Jan Ostram - A member of Squad XXV of the Sacred Band, pledged from the Legion during their time as the Imperial Riders.

Jak Horn - A member of Squad XXV of the Sacred Band, pledged from the Legion during their time as the Imperial Riders. Known for being the most unorthodox member of the squad.

Jorjes Cuvyer - A member of Squad XXV of the Sacred Band, pledged from the Legion during their time as the Imperial Riders. Known for a more gloomy outlook than that of the others.

Laran Lambe - A member of Squad XXV of the Sacred Band, pledged from the Legion during their time as the Imperial Riders.

Dreadnoughts

Garen Baryon - one of the few remaining Terrans in the Legion (and later, the Chapter), this ancient Astartes was present at Ullanor before his interment. After his grievous wounding during WAAAGH! The Beast, he was interred and has continued serving the Imperium. During his life, he was known to have red hair, which matched the head crest of his otherwise green Sor.

Dylo Phoso - like most members of the Scale Bearers, Dylo originates from the planet of Solnhofen, having been the great-grandson of a member of Tiran's tribal army before joining the Legion. He had not been present when Tiran and Keradops fell in battle, and did not take the news of their demise well. His interment took place after an engagement against Craftworld Biel-Tan sometime in M36, by which time he was already ancient.

Tarun Oden - an Assault Marine who joined the Scale Bearers in 948.M37. However, he was nearly killed in a pitched engagement against a Horns of Ruin warband in 113.M38. Now, with the skull of Aelman affixed to his chassis, he brings a quick death to the enemies of the Chapter.

Orjun Tenuso - born on Krate Shias, this Astartes was interred after perhaps the strangest of these incidents - during an engagement against an unnamed Ork WAAAGH, he repeatedly shielded his brothers from the shrapnel released by a number of Ork mines... using his own body. This culminated with him taking a shot from a Looted Tank directly to the chest - buying just enough time for his brothers to place an airstrike beacon.

Callus Dion - The youngest Dreadnought in the Chapter, he was critically injured in a campaign against the Dark Eldar in M40. He has often been seen fighting alongside Garen Baryon and Tarun Oden since then.

Sors

Keradops - The oldest, largest, and perhaps most well-remembered Sor ever to live, this white-scaled beast was Tiran Osoros' friend and ally from childhood. Living up to its name (meaning "hard-headed"), this stubborn creature used the great horns on its head to gore a great many enemies. By the time of its death during the battle against the Iron Rangers that cost Tiran his life, Keradops had grown so massive as to outsize a Gargantuan Squiggoth - no easy feat, to be sure. It would be entirely correct to assume that this beast was a closer friend, and perhaps a closer brother, to Tiran Osoros than even his fellow Primarchs. Its favorite food, apparently, was the leaves of a sort of large tree known only to grow on Solnhofen itself, but it would also gladly partake of Amasec or recaf.

Aleph - This quadrupedal, purple-scaled Sor belonged to Lukas Ilion before the Hektor Heresy, and had an odd love of honey. It was this creature that led the pack of Sors that vanquished Warboss Sarkus on Henom IX, and the beast took great pleasure in crushing the Warboss' skull in its jaws. Supposedly, it had a fondness for honey.

Aelman - This flying, lightly furred Sor belonged to Tarun Oden before his interment. Unfortunately, it was killed in the battle that led to Tarun's placement in the Dreadnought chassis.

WAAAGH! Sarkus Campaign
Date	901.M30-903.M30
Scale	Subsector
Theatre	Meteon, Henom IX
Status	Hard-won Imperial victory
Belligerents
WAAAGH! Sarkus	Scale Bearers
Commanders and Leaders
Warboss Sarkus	Tiran Osoros
Strength
Untold numbers of Orks, outnumbering the Scale Bearers ten to one by the battle's end	Possibly 8,000 members of the Scale Bearers Legion, other Imperial elements.
Losses
Unknown, but remnants numbering at least three thousand present at Ullanor, and remnants consisting of at least one thousand found during WAAAGH! The Beast	Over 3,000 Scale Bearers, unknown number of other Imperial elements
Outcome
Beginning of heightened animosity between Scale Bearers and all members of the Ork race - a Chapter ship was once observed in M38 breaking an orbital bombardment against a Chaos Warband to pursue a small Orkish fleet that appeared in the system. While the Orks were defeated, the cessation of the bombardment meant increased difficulty for the campaign's ground forces.

Palia Ceen Campaign

861.M30 - Having been given command over the Imperial 49th Expeditionary Fleet, Primarch Tiran began bringing human worlds into the imperial fold. After liberating several worlds and seeding Sors on those of them whose biospheres were capable of supporting such fauna, the Legion received news of Eldar raids in the nearby Palia Ceen star system. Eager to prove himself against the enemies of Man, Osoros led a full-half of his Legion into the region, dotted with several primitive human worlds.

The first planet, Aife, fell quickly, with no casualties among the Scale Bearers or their Imperial Army support forces. As the fleet began to move advance elements towards the second of the Palia Ceen worlds, the Eldar attacked from the void with no warning, cutting the forward elements off from the bulk of the Legion's forces. Simultaneously, Eldar Rangers began harrying the Imperials on the planet below from hidden webway portals.

With the Imperial Fleet engaging the Eldar in orbit, and Legion and Army forces planetside, the Scale Bearers leading the advance elements towards the second world, Tethra, were forced to close with the enemy and commence boarding actions. Taking light casualties, the Astartes were able to force the raiding Xenos to withdraw. Almost as quickly as they arrived, the Eldar departed back into the warp, and the Imperial forces began to consolidate their strength. It was a pattern that was to continue over the next several months.

The Eldar, striking from an as-yet-unseen Craftworld, saw the worlds of Palia Ceen as important to their inscrutable designs. The Imperial forces which landed on Tethra even found ancient evidence of Eldar activity, which seemed to confirm this theory. Undaunted by the raids, Osoros ordered the fleet to liberate the remaining worlds of Caer, Necthan, and Belor. The xenos forces remained infuriatingly out of reach, constantly probing the defences of the Fleet and the units deployed on each world. Slowly, they began whittling down the Imperials, while pursuing their mysterious goals.

On Aife, Marines and Army regiments alike began falling ill, with the latter dying and the former being weakened severely. It was discovered that the xenos, somehow aware of the Scale Bearers' flawed Preomnor organ, had infiltrated the garrison's supply train and poisoned its foodstuffs. Examination of the rest of the forces deployed throughout the system showed similarly poisoned supplies. As the Primarch began spreading what little untainted stocks remained amongst his fleets, the Eldar returned in greater force than before, massing around the world of Necthan. Enraged, Tiran took his Legion and deployed tens of thousands on the planet below to face the treacherous aliens. A pitched battle ensued, with the weakened Scale Bearers holding the line against the Eldar forces running interference for their Farseer. Tiran led the Astartes in a massive charge atop Keratops, causing the Eldar to scatter and flee, but by then the goal had been gained. Whatever the Eldar's purposes were in the Palia Ceen system, they had achieved it, and disappeared into the void along with their Craftworld.

WAAAGH! Sarkus

901.M30 - Refusing to let this setback deter him, Tiran took his Legion to world after world, bringing the myriad jungles of the stars into Imperial rule. However, on the dead world of Meteon, Tiran met his greatest rival - the Ork Warboss Sarkus. Sarkus had been leading a massive WAAAGH throughout the nearby systems, and he was especially fond of running roughshod through his opponents with Squiggoths. This parallel to the Scale Bearers' use of Sors was uncanny, and contributed to the deaths of over 3,000 Marines. Kratei Shias, Captain of Tiran's Personal Guard, came close to killing the Warboss himself, but Sarkus' Power Klaw and immense strength proved too much for the superhuman. The battle was ultimately lost, and even with the casualties on the Ork side, the WAAAGH now outnumbered the Legion ten to one. Now, however, the Legion had a target for revenge - as did Keradops, who had become an old and massive Sor by this point, and did not take being beaten and scarred by Sarkus' personal Squiggoth lightly.

As the WAAGH! advance through the subsector, the Scale Bearers used hit-and-run tactics to whittle down the enormous sea of Ork ships. Examining local star charts, the Imperial defenders chose a likely location to make a stand-- the agriworld of Henom IX. While the Imperial Army and Navy retreated to the Henom system to prepare defenses and evacuate the population, Primarch Tiran led his Legion in a delaying action, slowing down the shambling fleet of Xenos craft through pitched battles in the void and aboard Ork Kroozas and Hulks. Finally the Orks entered system space and,though the Imperial Navy pounded them mercilessly, made planetfall by the millions.

The Scale Bearers were more than ready for the foe. Marines atop their Sors charged the greenskins, in a seeming repeat of Meteon. As the Astartes clashed with the advance, the sky burned with drop pods. Two full companies of Assault Marines landed in the midst of the Orks, sowing death in every direction. Primarch Tiran, atop Keradops, led the mounted Scale Bearers in a second charge, cutting a deep swath in the greenskin horde. The saurian mounts of the Marines fought tooth and claw with their squiggoth opponents. Lukas Ilion, one of the Primarch's Blackboot Riders, found himself face-to-face with the terrible Warboss Sarkus, now missing his Squiggoth. Battle-Brother Lukas's Sor, a serpentine beast named Aleph, threw itself at the Ork Boss with a fury matched only by its masters'. Though wounded grievously, Aleph pinned Sarkus's Power Klaw in its mighty jaws, allowing Lukas to use his chainblade to sever the Warboss's head. Keradops, meanwhile, finally had his revenge against Sarkus' Squiggoth, defeating it in single combat and goring it on his horns. Deprived of a locus of leadership, the Orks quickly lost all cohesion, scattering into warbands and retreating back to the orbiting Kroozas. The exultant Scale Bearers cut them down as they fled and pursued the remnants of the WAAAGH! as far as the border with Ultima Segmentum.

Re

As far as your feedback goes, I'll look into it and make some changes, but keep in mind that a primarch isn't the only thing affecting his legion, rules wise. To use the example of Tiran, I didn't add anything to do with outflanking or scout move because for one, I'm willing to bet the the Scale bearers legion tactics already do that, and Tiran is more designed to be a beatstick (my design for him anyway, more on that below). Tiran doesn't have anything for scout moves and outflanking for the same reason Dorn doesn't make Fists better in fortifications, and Corax doesn't give anyone stealth or infiltrate: their legion tactics already do that. If you were to make a rule so fundamental to the entire legion (stealth for Raven guard, firepower for iron hands, etc) part of the primarch's rules rather than a legion tactic or a formation bonus, your legion can only really shine with their primarch. This isn't inherently a bad thing, but it's worth mentioning that most of the really competitive 30k lists don't have a primarch in them. Believe it or not I actually have put a lot of thought into them.

Second, as far as the character rules go, always feel free to hit me up with questions and concerns or comments, or just saying, "hey, I think this guy should be able to do this rather than this." I may be challenging myself to write their rules for my own amusement, but I still totally get that these aren't my characters or rules, so input is always welcome and appreciated. Likewise, if you're talking to the respective owners of other primarchs and they have comments about the rules for their characters, encourage them to hit up my talk page. Josman (talk) 04:13, 22 September 2016 (UTC)

Hey, no worries, and don't worry about changing it if you don't want to. I always figured Tiran would be much more fitting as a buff/debuff character who's impossible to kill or a one-man tarpit than as a straight beatstick.

I can certainly make him less killy and more buffy, but keep in mind that "Green armored-black skinned unkillable buff commander" already describes Vulkan. It's another reason I haven't made rules for Merrill yet, because given his fluff, his rules would almost certainly just be a blend of Conrad Curze's and Corax's. I'll innevitably think of a way, but copy pasting the rules of a primarch's equivalent canon primarch is something I'd like to avoid. Nonetheless, by the time you've read this I'll probably already have edited Tiran, so take a look when you get the time. Josman (talk) 15:59, 22 September 2016 (UTC)