Raptors

"Before seeking victory, first make yourself invulnerable to defeat." - The Primarch Corax, Meditations Upon War and Shadow

The Raptors are a Loyalist Second Founding Successor Space Marine Chapter of the Raven Guard. They have been heavily involved in many of the most recent campaigns of the Imperium of Man, including the Badab War, the Third War for Armageddon and the Taros Campaign. The Raptors were originally and mistakenly recorded in Imperial records as a Chapter called the Raptor Legion with a very different colour scheme; this mistake has now been rectified.

Chapter History
The Raptors are a Successor Chapter of the Second Founding, the descendants of a handful of scions of the Raven Guard Legion who were created as a new Chapter after the dark days of the Horus Heresy. Apocryphal legend suggests that the Raptors were originally drawn from a company of new Initiates training on the Raven Guard homeworld of Deliverance at the time of the infamous Drop Site Massacre of Istvaan V that nearly wiped out the Raven Guard Legion, allowing only the Primarch Corax and several thousand of his Astartes to survive. These Initiates were also spared some of the darker events that befell their Legion as they attempted to rebuild. In the Heresy's aftermath, this Company went on to serve with distinction and was later granted the honour of Chapter status after Roboute Guilliman's reforms of the Codex Astartes were imposed. Fragmentary evidence suggests that the fledgling Raptors Chapter began their service as a Fleet-based Chapter in the 31st Millennium, engaging in the pursuit of the scattered Traitor Legions during the great Scouring that followed the end of the Heresy. Several standard centuries later, the Raptors were granted a world on the edge of the Eye of Terror in the Segmentum Obscurus to serve as guardians against Chaos incursions from that great Warp rift into Imperial space. The Chapter's history is then obscured by the passage of the ages, as it is believed that their first home world (whose name is now lost) was believed to have been destroyed sometime during either the 4th or 5th Black Crusades, and the Chapter is listed as either destroyed or missing in action in several records dating circa M.37. Nearly two millennia have passed when the Raptors are once again listed in the orders of battle at full strength during the great battles of the Caberiad Wars. The Raptors currently operate from a world variously named Numina, Ra or Badwater from deep within the dense stellar drifts of the Sutters Spiral Nebula on the northern border of the Segmentum Solar, although what exact world their base of operations is located has been kept deliberately obscured within Imperial records.

The Raptors Chapter prides itself on extreme zeal for the Emperor of Mankind, but "their reckless disregard for the Codex Astartes is legendary" according to Captain Ardias of the Ultramarines. The Raptors appeared in the background material surrounding the Third War for Armageddon worldwide campaign. The Chapter is featured in the PC game Fire Warrior.

Notable Campaigns

 * The Sancta Angelis Campaign (339-370.M39) - A Raptors taskforce is cut off utterly from the rest of the Imperium by warp storms in the galactic north west of the Ultima Segmentum, nevertheless they successfully conduct a thirty year campaign against the gathering power of Waaagh! Irongol in the Sanct Angelis Cluster. Bereft of outside aid or supply, the Raptors engage in a guerrilla war in the very heart of the Ork domains, striking against dozens of different Ork clans on scores of worlds. This culminates with the Chapter eventually slaying the Ork Warboss Irongol and his hundred-strong mega-armoured bodyguard in a grueling six-hour struggle. This causes the Cluster to quickly descend into a bloodbath of internecine warfare to establish dominance amongst the Orks. The threat effectively defeated, the Raptors withdraw to wait out the storms' passing before returning homeward.
 * The Sulsalid Campaign, Fourth Quadrant Rebellion (775-777.M41) - A full quarter of the Segmentum Solar and its outlaying systems are engulfed by a series of wars, revolts and secessionist outbreaks which set that part of the galaxy ablaze with civil strive. With the civil conflicts affecting most of the systems, renegades and Xenos forces take advantage of the widespread anarchy. More than a dozen Space Marine Chapters are caught up in the fighting, either aiding one faction or another or simply defending their own territories while others were brought in by the Imperium to pacify the quadrant and finally put an end to the fighting. Four Chapters - the Dark Angels, the Raptors, the Skull Bearers and the Red Wolves were instrumental in playing an important role in bringing the rebellion to an end.
 * The Badab War (906-908) - Responding to the Inquisitor Legate's call for aid against the Secessionist threat the Raptors, along with strong contingents from the Fire Angels, Salamanders and Red Scorpions Chapters arrive in the Maelstrom Zone in 906.M41. The Raptors deploy four companies to the war zone. This taskforce is led by the Raptor's Chapter Master Lias Issodon, a warrior of great experience and expert in the arts of covert and rapid-moving warfare in which his Chapter excelled. As a highly experienced Chapter Master, Lias Issodon offered himself for command of the combined Loyalist Space Marine forces but lost out to Carab Culln of the Red Scorpions. The Raptors gracefully deferred to the newly appointed Loyalist commander without hesitation or reservation. The Raptors maintained an excellent relationship with the Red Scorpions Chapter throughout the war, forming many lasting ties of blood and alliance with them; a perhaps surprising development given the almost diametrically opposite styles and beliefs of the two Astartes Chapters who in many ways could not have been more unalike in character. The Raptors engaged in frontline combat duties for the next year and a half of the war. They primarily operated as a mobile reserve for the main Loyalist battle lines, though well suited, these extensive commitments caused the Raptors to suffer substantial losses in some of the heaviest fighting of the war. Within two years of the arrival, the Chapter was no longer considered a combat-effective force and were given the withdrawal order from the war in late 908.M41.
 * Third War for Armageddon (998.M41) - The Raptors deploy a task force of five Companies from the Chapter throughout the equatorial jungles and vapour woods with the infamous Imperial Guard regiment the Armageddon Ork Hunters and the Catachan Jungle Fighters where their deadly jungle warfare skills and infiltration tactics are best suited.
 * The Taros Campaign (998.M41) - The Taros Campaign was an Imperial military campaign fought by the 4621st Imperial Guard Army and elements of the Adeptus Astartes to reclaim the Imperial desert mining world of Taros from the Tau Empire and its Kroot and human (Gue'vesa) allies of the Taros Planetary Defence Force. The Raptors deployed their 3rd and 6th Battle Companies in support of Imperial forces during the Taros Campaign.

Chapter Organisation
Like their genetic forebears, the Raptors adhere to the broad organisational patterns and provision laid down in the Codex Astartes, but as a Chapter, they see the Codex as a highly effective and proven set of strategic and operational guidelines rather than inviolable dogma to be obeyed without question. The Raptors maintain a high degree of flexibility in their deployments and structures, and in battle favour hit-and-run tactics over all else. The Chapter is also known for its precise marksmanship, which is legendary even amongst the Chapters of their fellow Astartes.

Combat Doctrine
The Raptors are known for shunning the glory of close quarter combat for the simple expediency of the clean kill from afar. Like their Progenitors, the Raven Guard, the Raptors make extensive use of their scouts dispersed throughout their taskforces, and maintain a sizable contingent of Land Speeders of all types as well as a core of diverse armoured vehicles. They prefer to employ these assets, along with their assault units, in precision strikes to overwhelm an enemy at a strategically crucial junctures in battle after determining the most effective pressure point at which to break the enemy.

Within the Chapter, independent thought is encouraged at all levels, and in particular, their Company Captains are known to be highly autonomous, both operationally and in terms of their methods of warfare. The Raptors are also known to actively embrace unorthodox tactics and actively seek unique solutions such as warzone specific camouflage patterns, infiltration, complex manoeuvre, guerrilla warfare and the use of ad hoc scratch units to fulfill particular missions.

Throughout the Raptors' recorded history, they have been shown to share close cooperation with other Imperial and even local militia forces, and where they have considered it strategically expedient, the assumption of direct command over them on an impromptu basis. Suspicion and wariness of the Raptors by other Astartes commanders and authorities is rife on this last break from the tenets of the Codex. These naysayers fear such assumed power might be exploited, although the Chapter's record shows no definitive evidence to support this.

The Raptors have been observed to operate very much independently as a Chapter, and have been encountered fighting in wars across the Imperium as the tide of events takes them, coming together only when dire need or the strength of an enemy is sufficient to warrant the entire Chapter's force joining in a conflict.

Chapter Beliefs
As a Chapter the Raptors have been brought to the brink of extinction several times, but yet have managed to endure and return to strength where other Chapters may have been destroyed. They have a remarkably grim determination to survive, one of the Chapter's hallmarks, being the ability to adapt to changing circumstances and respond swiftly to the fortunes (or misfortunes) of war. This has tempered their character with a general disregard and suspicion of the mere trappings of honour and glory, favouring results by any means necessary. When faced with insurmountable odds, the Raptors manifests the ability to bend rather than break, and to change their tactics and withdraw to fight again where more prideful Chapters would perhaps chosen to stand and die. The Raptors value the art of concealment, and utilise secrecy and surprise as paramount weapons in their arsenal. As a result they have always cultivated in themselves an ability to see clearly through the fog of war and strike at the hidden heart of the enemy, where they can inflict the most damage and achieve their objectives, undistracted by hubris or hidebound dogma.

Notable Raptors

 * Chapter Master Lias Issodon 'the Grim': The current Chapter Master of the Raptors, Issodon is a consummate strategist as well as being one of the finest marksman within the Chapter. He possesses an innate talent for ambush, infiltration and sabotage that borders on the supernatural, and care little for glory or regard, simply for victory.  An extremely taciturn and private individual, Issondon communicates little even with his own battle-brothers unless needed, which, coupled with his expressionless countenance and dark eyes, have earned him the nickname 'The Grim' within his Chapter.

Chapter Fleet

 * Arias Vex (Strike Cruisers) - Deployed in support of the Raptor task force during the Badab War, this strike cruiser was lost after it was gutted by a reactor breach during the fighting over Gargathea.
 * Shadow Stalker (Strike Cruisers) - Deployed in support of Loyalist forces during the Badab War. When the bulk of the Raptors taskforce withdrew from the war zone, the Shadow Stalker and a small chosen force remained for some time afterwards in the Maelstrom Zone.
 * War Talon (Battle-Barge) - Renowned battle-barge that deployed in support of Loyalist forces during the Badab War. The War Talon went on to become the terror of Secessionist raider forces who found the mighty vessel lying in wait for them on numerous occasions. The battle-barge was eventually badly damaged during Operation Sedna and in need of major repair, but still went on to fight in dozens of separate engagements before the end of the war.

Chapter Colours
The Chapter first appeared in the 1st Edition of Warhammer 40K as the "Raptor Legion," and wore blue Power Armour with a yellow face, shoulder plates, gloves, boots, and greaves. Their Chapter badge was a white hawk's head. When the Chapter was revisited during 3rd edition the "Legion" suffix was dropped from their name and they became specialists in jungle warfare. At this point their armor color changed to a dull green, with the white hawk's head badge retained, and this new colour was ideal for fighting within flora-dominated spaces. How To Paint Space Marines shows that during the 4th Edition release of Space Marine-related material, the colour scheme was reverted to blue and yellow, although material published by Forgeworld after this time retains the 3rd Edition dull green. It is possible the Raptors and the Raptor Legion are supposed to be two different Chapters, but no official statement on this can be found in any official sources. In one incident the entire Chapter became stranded on a jungle deathworld, leading to them repainting their armor green in order to better survive. However, as stated, the issue of the Chapter's color has not been cleared up by Games Workshop. In their online Space Marine Gallery the figure shown as a Raptor Space Marine has bronze-coloured Power Armour. The Raptor Chapter utilises a mind grey with white spot marking as a blizzard camouflage pattern in arctic environments.

Chapter Badge
The Raptors' Chapter badge is a white eagle's head on a dull green field.

Gallery
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