Editing Expanded Minor Chapters (section)

==Widowmakers==
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''"Beneath the might of the Emperor, of Man, of the Universe itself, we are mere dust along the road. Defend the weak, nurture the sick, beat back the wicked. These are the things that give you value. But do not delight in purpose. A man with purpose has everything--and a man with everything is nothing."'' - Third Company Chaplain Pilus

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{{Infobox Spess Mahreen Chapter
|Name = Widowmakers
|Heraldry = [[Image:Widowmakersfinal2.jpg|center|160px]]
|Battle Cry = You die in vain.
|Founding = M35
|Successors of = Unknown
|Chapter Master = Warden Caius Galvisius
|Homeworld = Istodard
|Strength = 1,115
|Allegiance = [[Imperium]]
|Colours = Blue, Silver and Teal}}

In the twilight years of M35, a small penal colony was established on the far edge of the Imperium's borders on a planet called Istodard: a lonely, rocky world in the Heath system, accompanied only by a tiny moon and two monstrous gas giants floating at the threshold of the star's gravity. The colony was delegated to work the sulfur and iridium mines of Istodard, prisoners being freed after a number of years of penance. Soon after the colony got on its feet, however, a combined Death Guard and Night Lords warband and their servants swept through the region after shutting down long-distance communications and corrupting Administratum records of the area in a deft attack. Istodard was presumed lost, but the Administratum was relatively unconcerned, as the entire subsector held relatively little value and the loss of a few criminals mattered little.

Fortunately for the colonists, the Imperium was wrong in assuming their demise. For one reason or another, the warband left Istodard alone, perhaps not considering the colony even worth their time.

A short while after the criminals and their overseers realized they would be without Imperial support, a bloodless revolt was staged. The minimal PDF would not be enough for Istodard's planetary warden to maintain control without serious bloodshed (likely costing his own life), so he relented and the colonists took control, establishing a modicum of democracy based around individual civil service and self-sacrifice. In exchange for not attempting to fight the rebels, they would maintain Imperial traditions  Istodard is still far from a republican utopia, however: the planet's biosphere is still in relatively poor condition, with farming limited to rocky mountain terraces. Pollution control was put into immediate effect to relegate the damage from the mines, but as those resources remain their primary export, the government still has trouble finding a balance.

The Widowmakers themselves came to Istodard twenty-odd years later, out of a nearby nebula that had hidden them for some time. The locals feared it was a return of the Chaos warband, and readied their poor militia as best they could with meager weapons they had bargained from xenos or fashioned on their own. However, the two Marine cruisers instead hailed the Senate chambers directly and struck some sort of deal that is still shrouded in mystery today. Not even the current generation of Widomakers know the full truth of the secrets shared that day, and the Senate kept no records whatsoever. What IS certain is that the Widomakers were bound in their secret treaty to serve Istodard and protect its subsector with all their might, drawing recruits from the able young men of the world.

The Imperium rediscovered Istodard in M40 when a voyaging Rogue Trader was picking through the area for valuables and data left behind by the Chaos Marines from their crusade millennia before. What he found was a strange sight indeed: a free (but struggling) planet trading its dangerous minerals with xenos, guarded by its very own Space Marine chapter, all while maintaining a majority of Imperial decrees and traditions since the time they lost contact. He quickly organized efforts to bring them back into the fold, and was rewarded handsomely by the Administratum.

Now to the truly curious matter: those Marines.

The Widowmakers are dour, not unlike the people of their world. They have no knowledge of their lineage, having passed through three generations of Marines without written records from before their arrival to Istodard. Their current Chapter Warden, Caius Galvisius, suspects that they were somehow descended from loyalist remnants of the Death Guard, though he shares this thought only to his closest confidants. Other veterans share similar theories, but likewise keep their ideas to themselves.

The chapter holds a disdain for the heraldry and pompousness of their cousin Marines, and indeed dislike most of the rest of the Imperium aside from its citizens. In turn, their brothers find their lack of respect offensive, and a few chapters outright refuse to work with the Widowmakers. 

They hold no illusions about their task, and do their best to kill cleanly and efficiently. They believe that hatred and excess bloodshed leads to more violence and war, and do not delight in their purpose. Strategically, they take a classical approach: move fast and hard. Cut the head from the snake and the rest will be no threat at all. Widomakers make it a point to move offensively when on defense, and use bait and misdirection on the offensive. Tactically, they avoid getting bogged down in melee unless they know they can win--and Widomakers do utilize the intimidation such strikes can cause. Otherwise, they fight quickly, yet not at range. Bike squads and Land Speeders crush flanks while Rhinos disgorge Marines into the heart of the foe, such that they may cut it out and disrupt the enemy. Such blitzkrieg tactics enable them to take a minimum of casualties for maximum damaging effect.

Recruits are drawn from the proven men of Istodard's PDF/Imperial Guard and Stormtrooper regiments. For them, though, it is not an honour to be elected for Scout candidacy: it is a curse. In the Guard, at least, one eventually returns to his family and his home. But becoming a Widomaker means your life is destined to end in battle, an unending existence of war and strife. This problem is somewhat unique to the Widowmakers: a strange flaw in the geneseed of the Widomakers prevents them from converting younger men, and also causes them to be more susceptible to disease than other chapters. Thus, it is more mentally strenuous for citizens of Istodard to leave their old lives behind, whereas other chapter recruits never know much of a life outside the folds of brotherhood. To counteract this, the chapter officers have drawn an idea from the Salamanders and permit Marines to live freely on Istodard, at least as much as they can afford to.

However, the idea that the Marines are prisoners reaching salvation through service in their own Chapter exists even in its organization. For example, the Chapter Master is called the Warden, and Captains are instead Guardians. Even Battle Brothers consider themselves lowly servants to the higher goal--that of peace and safety for humanity. The Chaplains impress upon the warriors that not only is faith THEIR shield, but THEY are the shield of faith, protectors who cannot live without being defended by that which they serve.

Today, the Widowmakers maintain a fortress monastery on Istodard's terraformed moon, with two rotating reserve companies and half of the 10th company training there and defending the region. The rest of the chapter lives aboard their fleet, strike cruisers splitting off as needed or requested by the Imperium. They still have the first two cruisers they arrived with, though their original names were scoured and they were renamed ''Archangel of Heath'' and ''Shadow Savior''. It is from the ''Savior'' that Caius guides his forces and vigilantly oversees the safety of the Imperium's human subjects.

'''Motto:''' Nulla Astartes (translates to "No Good Marine" in Low Gothic)

'''Symbol:''' The Widowmakers rarely wear heraldry or carry standards into battle, to the ire of more stringent Codex chapters. However, for official purposes their symbol is merely a hand, with the fingers formed from bolt-shells and the center a crucified and bleeding palm.

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