WH40K Homebrew Space Marine Chapter: Stormwolves
I've posted about them before, but with the April 2024 Field Manual Points List v1.8 recently dropping, I'd gone back to make sure my army list for my Homebrew Chapter was still in compliance, or as close to it as I can get seeing as much of it is from Legends due to the nature of my Chapter's Backstory, and it felt like a good time to consolidate the Lore as well.
(Keep in mind I don't actually play this army, the last time I played 40k was when Clinton was in office, it's just an exercise in seeing how well I can apply the army building rules to my Homebrew's fluff.)
Stormwolves Lore
The story of my Homebrew Marine Chapter, the Stormwolves, starts with an Ordo Sicarius Inquisitor who had been embedded as a deep-cover operative in the Vanus Temple Assassin of the Officio Assassinorum -- Real name undisclosed, known only by her Inquisitorial Authorization Code for her Mission: 𝜮 — Niner . Septagraph \ Halley | ℚ [Rational] • Soul : Zed <𝑖> ∞ = Foxtrot ^ V̿ (This is often shortened to "Sigma Stroke Niner", and in rare cases to just Halley)
The combination of Inquisitorial zeal and the Data Gathering & Manipulation skills of an Unbound Infocyte is a potent mix, and Sigma Stroke Niner was able to deduce the existence of Cawl's Primaris project prior to it's official unveiling, including the initial reports (later proven wrong) that these new marines would be near-immune to the various chapters' gene-seed flaws.
She brought this finding back to her compartmentalized Inquisitorial Conclave, who decided that it warranted further investigation in the utmost secret. They also came to the verdict that if there were going to be a next generation of Marines, it was ill-advised to let them all be under the sole control of a lone member of the Mechanicus, no matter how intelligent and skilled. The Inquisitor Infocyte was authorized for a new assignment, to divert one of Cawl's secret remote caches of Primaris for study by an independent Mechanicus Arch-Genetor. This diverted batch of Primaris would also secretly serve as a fail-safe contingency for the eventuality of Cawl's project posing a threat to the Imperium, giving the Inquisition an independent stock of Primaris from which a counter-force could eventually be raised from.
A Vogelist Arch-Genetor, Kristiana Rozza, was chosen and allowed to review the collected research intercepted from Cawl. She hypothesized that the supposed flaw resistance may be possible to be backported to Firstborn Marines, especially if aspirants were screened for favorable genomes. A Rogue Trader, Jareth Keldon XXIV, was secretly commissioned to locate an obscure world to conduct experiments with this new "Marine Chapter", his payment being a full company's worth of these new marines being seconded to his flagship to assist with his explorations.
The planet that the Rogue Trader was able to locate for the project, Etherion IV, was a pre-Imperium Dark Age of Technology -Remnant human colony Industrial-Hive not on standard navigational charts due to surrounding warp-storms (these warp-storms would result in several temporal anomalies and the planetary system having an asteroid belt littered with Space Hulk wreckage from the past and even future).
Etherion IV's planetary culture consists of a Capitalist Corporate Oligarchy with proxy wars of genegineered Abhuman Hive-Gangs, called "Splicer Gangs". The wide variety of genegineering among segments of the native population gave Arch-Genetor Rozza a broad canvas of potential aspirants for her various experiments in Astartes creation.
In addition to the stasis Primaris extracted from Cawl's secret cache, a small amount of Astartes genetic tithings were diverted so that Firstborn Marines could also be made. The primary source was the Space Wolves, but some Blood Angels Progenoids were also in the mix of what could be illicitly redirected. While carrying the Geneseed mutations of these parent Chapters, the Marines created from this supply were entirely divorced from the homeworlds of Fenris and Baal, carrying no cultural context for any Chapter-specific flaws that develop.
The Stormwolves are not a full strength Chapter, and lack much of the heavier hardware. What vehicles and aircraft they do have are often archived museum pieces whose storage records were "misfiled" or unused prototype schematic designs pulled from mothballs at various Forge Worlds to then be manufactured locally on Etherion IV.
Due to their covert "founding", the Stormwolves are also at risk of being misidentified as a Renegade Chapter or even surviving Heresy-era Blackshields. Or they would be, if they hadn't been trapped by a severe time-distorting Warp Storm keeping them isolated while time ran at widely disparate rates inside and outside of the storm. This Storm lasted several centuries and did not fully dissipate until the middle of the Indomitus Crusade.
Due to the research-based charter that was their unofficial founding, the Stormwolves have a non-Codex structure.
Chapter Leadership is referred to as "Control" and consists of Firstborn Marines that have not been experimented on. They assist the Arch-Genetor with her experiments, and also lean hard into the monastic side of being an Astartes. Their unique power armor color scheme is often not fully visible due to cloaks, robes, tabards, capes, and hoods in black, red, and royal purple. Control also almost exclusively carries high-powered relic combi-weapons.
Then come the Bloodstorm Squadrons which are batches of Firstborn who have had their Geneseed experimented on. Their armor scheme is a variation of Control's colors, with more red. Conscripts from the Abhuman Splicer Gangs are also assigned to Bloodstorm as they wait to see if they get chosen for Marine implants.
Both these Firstborn sections are outnumbered by the Primaris Marines of the Stygian Wolves Division. Sporting a much darker paint scheme, the Stygian Wolves are a mostly Phobos-armored Vanguard Force and are typically grouped into 5 Marine squads, one of which is always a Helix Adept. These squads are either designated as Obscuratus Pack if they are equipped with Omni-Scramblers and Comms Arrays, or as Phantom Pack if they eschew this extra equipment in favor of mobility. The Helix Adepts in both types of Pack are charged with monitoring the genetic health of the rest of their squad in addition to all their other normal Helix Adept duties. Both Obscuratus and Phantom Packs wield the locally produced Etherion-Pattern Marksman Bolt Carbine, a design that takes cues from both the Instigator Bolt Carbine and the Stalker Pattern Bolter. Occasionaly, smaller fire teams armed with either Bolt Sniper Rifles or Las-Fusils are also employed.
Uncommonly, the Stygian Wolves also use Tacticus Configuration of Mk. X Power Armor, frequently in combination with Plasma Incinerators in a Hellblaster-style loadout, in squad formations lead by an Apothecary and known as Sterilization Detail. Very rarely will the Intercessor-syle loadout with the Cawl Pattern Bolt Rifle be used; this equipment profile is typically reserved for in boarding actions. Rarest of all are the Gravis-armored Multi-Melta wielders of the Extermination Crew.
The devotion to monitoring their own genetics in the pursuit of constant improvement is not just limited to the Stygian Wolves Division, as Control is also very Apothecary heavy, with many Apothecaries assigned to a leadership role by the title of Helix Keeper. Helix Keepers also frequently assume the command position over Bloodstorm Squads. The Helix Keepers, Apothecaries, and Helix Adepts of the Chapter take the place of Chaplins, as the Stormwolves have no Chapter Cult of their own, their worship is directed solely towards genetic experimentation. The quest for purity also has weeded out most all forms of random mutation, including the Psyker genes, so the Chapter also lacks Librarians. (The deliberate genengineering of potential aspirants is an exception to the purity mandate.)
The Stormwolves often fight alongside Auxiliaries draw from the troops assigned to Rogue trader Keldon's fleet. Keldon's Elite Personal Guard, the 1st Selene Contingent, is the most powerful of these. They provide an additional avenue for Arch-Genetor Rozza to experiment on enhancements that fall outside of the Inquisitorial charter to research Space Marine genetics and the Primaris Project. The true nature of these side experiments by the Arch-Genetor are shrouded in secrecy for unknown reasons. While there is always the possibility that the sub-project could be something considered to be Heretical by either the Mechanicus or the Imperium, Sigma Stroke Niner is aware of the details, and permits the work to continue. It is of note that the 1st Selene Contingent is an all-female unit.
