Scions of Iron

The Scions of Iron is a Codex Astartes-divergent Loyalist Space Marine Chapter of unknown Founding and origin. They are known for their high reverence for the Machine Spirit of their vehicles and equipment, therefore, they maintain higher quality gear than the standard Space Marine Chapter. Almost nothing is known about this Chapter in the Imperial records.

History
"Brothers. In the beginning we were forced to fight without the support of our Armoured columns. The Orks forced our hands but we endured the consequences. Never shall we forget that invasion and what was the result of it. Brothers, these vehicles are more than just pieces of plasteel and heavy weapons. These are our base and support. They are our transports and protectors. They are our brothers-in-spirit. Never shall we abandon them and never shall we be forced to fight without them again. Now pray with me and know that the machine spirit will always be there for us."

- Techmarine Puulaen, 3rd Company, Scions of Iron

Little is known about this obscure Chapter's origins or when they were exactly created. However, Imperial savants have taken notice of this Chapter's diversion from the tenants of the Codex Astartes. This most sacred of Space Marine doctrine is a massive tome that describes the organisation, tactical operation, and countless other aspects of Space Marine doctrine. Subjects as diverse as religious instruction and strategic supply are all covered in great detail within its thousands of holy pages. The Codex Astartes amounts to an authoritative guide to waging war in any number of ways on countless different types of world. The majority of Space Marine chapters follow its teachings as if they were holy writ.

The Scions of Iron are an exception to that majority. Due to the Ork invasion when the Chapters Fortress-Monastery was being built the Scions of Iron were forced to fight with very few transports and armour support. The losses incurred there caused the chapter to diverge from the Codex Astartes and create their own way of forming battle groups. Nowadays the Scions of Iron excel in armoured formations and are never without transports in almost any situation. Most battle formations are based on the vehicles and only in very rare situations do the Scions of Iron act without their vehicles.

Chapter Organisation
The Scions of Iron chapter organisation is based on the Codex Astartes, but it has been changed to suit the armour heavy mind of the chapter. It consists of the same 10 Companies that the Codex decrees. Also it has a 1st Company for veterans and a 10th Company for scouts. There is four battle companies (from 2nd to 5th) and four reserve companies (from 6th to 9th). The main differences to Codex-oriented chapters are found within the companies. Namely battle and reserve companies.

The 1st Company is very similar to any other Codex decreed veteran company. However the veterans, both terminator armoured and power armoured, use Land Raiders as transport. Thus the company has no Rhinos available to it. The second difference is the presence of Techmarines to maintain the vehicles.

The Chapter's 10th Company is their Scout Company. In most ways this is almost identical with the Codex-decreed Scout Company with exception of a Techmarine. However, the Scions of Iron's Scout Company also possesses more scout bikers than normal, due to the fact that all scouts are assigned to the combat roles as Assault Marines and need to learn the usage of bikes.

Battle Companies
A battle company has larger number of marines than the Codex decrees. Most of the marines are part of Tactical units. Devastators are drivers for the vehicles that the company uses from armoury. The last group is Assault troops mounted on bikes. The Battle Company is a bit larger than a Codex company in expense of support companies.

Also each battle company has their own Techmarines in addition to those that tend the Armoury of the chapter. This is because in any deployment there is automatically larger number of vehicles. Battle companies are always using several vehicles when deployed. A fully deployed battle company uses 8 vehicles which can be Predators, Vindicators or Land Raiders crewed by company devastators. Also all Rhino transports are taken from the Chapter Armoury when deployed.

Reserve Companies
The 6th and 7th companies are armour support companies. These consists only of armoured units and have no infantry of any kind. It's very rare that a support company would fight without any presence of a single battle company. As there are more vehicles, there are also more Techmarines due to the amount of vehicles within them. The 7th company has Predators of both types, while the 8th has Vindicators and Land Raiders.

The 8th Company is an assault support company as decreed in the Codex. For the Scions of Iron that means that the units are all mounted. However unlike battle companies which also have bikes the 9th company maintains it's own complement of Attack Bikes and Land Speeders to give the bike units some extra firepower. There is one Techmarine looking out for the vehicles of this company.

The 9th Company is a Custodian Company. Custodians are marines whose duty is to crew the vehicles of the armoury. There is no definite size for the company, but it usually stands between 50 and 100 marines. Custodian company marines are never deployed without vehicles.

The Chapter's armoury has it's own set of vehicles which are for the use of the companies. It has some amount of Predators, Vindicators and Land Raiders to support both veteran and battle companies in need. Also a second set of those vehicles reside in the 6th and 7th "armour support" companies. They handle the rest of the chapter's support vehicles such as Whirlwinds, Land Speeders and the Land Raider variants, as well as transports Rhinos and Razorbacks. The Armoury also takes care of the spacecraft of the chapter.

Armour & Vehicle Support Units

 * Land Raider Helios - The Land Raider Helios was first developed by the Red Scorpions Chapter. During the Siege of Helios the Red Scorpions found that they lacked artillery and consulted their Techmarines for help. They developed the Helios pattern Land Raider as a result. After the Siege the Helios got it's place in the Red Scorpions armoury and has then been replicated by other chapters as well. The Scions of Iron has always been interested in building new vehicles for themselves. The Helios found it's place in the chapter because of it's unusual dual role. It can take the place of Whirlwinds when the situation would be dangerous to deploy them. They can also be used in close-range support using the multi-launcher as a direct fire weapon supported by the lascannons.
 * Land Raider Prometheus - Rare amongst even the oldest of Chapters the origins of the Land Raider Prometheus are unknown. None have been sighted in traitor hands so it is possible they were discovered post Heresy, or perhaps simply the maintenance of such sacred vehicles is beyond the twisted workings of a Traitor's mind. Theorised to be created by the Salamanders, due to the number found within the Chapter, they do not have a monopoly on its use. Scions of Iron produce larger number of these vehicles to serve as forward command posts for it's commanders. In almost all campaigns a Prometheus is put out to lead the offensive.
 * Thunderhawk (Saturation Bombing Configuration) - While most Chapters use Thunderhawk as a primary air transport the Scions of Iron do not. Since regular Thunderhawk is not able to carry vehicles it is viewed as inferior transport. However Scions of Iron do use Thunderhawk as a Support Weapon. Saturation Bombing configuration is designed to bring additional firepower against masses of enemy infantry. It's wings are laden with bombs that give out maximal effects against troops and a Thunderhawk can carry fearsome amount of them. The effects of this craft has been noted as exceptional against the Orks in the wide open deserts of Armageddon.
 * Thunderhawk (Close Air Support Configuration) - While most Chapters use Thunderhawk as a primary air transport the Scions of Iron do not. Since regular Thunderhawk is not able to carry vehicles it is viewed as inferior transport. However Scions of Iron do use Thunderhawk as a Support Weapon. Close Air Support configuration is then used against armoured targets. The Battle Cannon is replaced with Turbo-Laser Destructor and bombs replaced with Hellfire Missiles to give out more fire power. This makes the Close Air Support configuration ideal for hunting enemy vehicles.
 * Thunderhawk Transporter - Thunderhawk Transport is the main workhorse of any chapter. They are used to ferry marine armour and other support equipment from the orbiting space crafts down to a planets surface. Normally they are not used on a hot landing zones as they lack heavier weaponry. The Scions of Iron however cannot afford to leave the Thansporter for only ferry duties. As they lack the Thunderhawks drop capability the Transporters have found themselves in the front with the Landing Craft. When the Scions of Iron land to a hot landing zone, there is usually several formations of Transporters in addition to Landing Craft to take hold of the zone and drop the heavy armour of the Chapter into the fray.

Chapter Beliefs
Similar to such Chapters as the venerable and stoic Iron Hands, the Scions of Iron regard the Machine Spirit as brothers-in-spirit. Rituals for machine repair and maintenance are more complex. But as a result the quality of gear and vehicles used by the chapter is noticeably better. Now days the Machine spirit is revered with nearly similar zeal as other chapters would regard a Primarch.

Chapter Colours
The Scions of Iron Chapter colours are not listed in current Imperial records.

Chapter Badge
The Scions of Iron Chapter is large white skull cut in half, the left side (facing the viewer) is a cog icon, reminiscent of the Cog Mechanicum, which most likely symbolises the Chapter's esoteric beliefs in the holiness of the Machine Spirit and their deep connection to the machine.