Raptors (Chapter)
| Raptors | ||
|---|---|---|
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| Battle Cry | Nothing. Wouldn't want those heretics to discover us prematurely, would we? | |
| Founding | Second Founding | |
| Successors of | Raven Guard | |
| Chapter Master | Lias Issodon | |
| Primarch | Corvus Corax | |
| Homeworld | Unknown (somewhere in the Sutter Spiral Nebula) | |
| Strength | 1000 Marines | |
| Specialty | Guerilla Warfare & Recon | |
| Allegiance | Imperium | |
| Colours | Olive (though they repaint their armour to suit the battlefield) | |
"Keep cool and you command everyone."
- Justinian I
"Stop blindly obeying the words of the book and look at the situation. You have completed your training, but you must now learn to apply it. Regurgitation is not the answer, simple analysis and thought must be used to solve the problem!"
- Captain Maodes Karib, Raptors 5th Company
Canon Reasonable Marines that have nothing to do with Chaos Raptors.
Raven Guard successors that use actual camouflage, sneaking, and tactics, rather than running at the enemy painted in bright colours. They're almost always deployed as individual task forces or kill teams, with a task force of them maybe maxing out at four companies. They're also known for getting fucked over numerous times and declared extinct just as many, including the destruction of their original homeworld and losing all of their ancient wargear. Indeed, for while many chapters in similar situations become extinct, the Raptors always manage to resurface after some time. Because of this, this makes them one of the few Forge World Chapters that doesn't use the fancy MKIV Armor or other Heresy-era gear. This automatically makes them the cheapest FW Chapter to play.
Basically, the Raptors fight like super soldiers instead of super warrior-monks. Take a thousand modern MARSOC marines, give them Astartes augmentations and powered armor. You now have the Raptors.
They made a brief appearance in Warhammer 40,000: Fire Warrior and the Imperial Armour Badab War books.
Fire Warrior
In one of its only known large actions, its 3rd and 6th companies participated in the Taros Campaign along with a bunch of Tallarn, Cadian, and Elysian regiments, to kick the Tau out of Taros. Needless to say, after two regiments were annihilated, half of the fleet was destroyed, and the Avenging Sons Chapter lost basically its whole task force, the Imperial forces retreated. Through all of this, after the initial assault on the anti-space missile silo, fully mechanized force of Raptors were mostly used in conjunction with Cadian armoured regiment as a quick response force, and as Tau went to great lengths to avoid them (which they did successfully being much quicker themselves) they suffered the least amount of casualties amongst the Imperium's ground forces. Later they were used in the operation Comet, once again with Cadians and some titans, and kicked major ass, although while they managed to repel all Tau forces thrown at them, it did slow them down a bit, and bough xenos enough time to eradicate Elysian drop troops and destroy the water processing plant (securing which was the main objective of the operation). Following this failure, and the clusterfuck that was an assassination of Aun'El, they've retreated to the LZ, robbing Tallarn desert raider of what left of their their fuel and leaving them to die in the desert from thirst and angry gunzerking Tau. In the end however, it was the Raptors who defended the LZ for long enough to let what left of imperial forces to evacuate, although both sides suffered big casualties in this fight, mostly 'cause the Tau were too mad-angry with vengeance and threw away any sense of tactics, going for a full frontal attack on a heavily fortified position.
Ironically in Fire Warrior they were portrayed as reckless assholes known for jumping into missions without any real planning. Which started the whole plot and the Ultramarines show up to fix their mess and beat them over the head with the codex; fun fact - these events take place before the Badab War meaning the Smurf may have in fact turned the Raptors into Reasonable Marines.
Or maybe because at the time they were a background chapter written by two different groups.
Probably the second one. Especially given that the Raptors in the game had olive drab armor, which is their base color scheme after they became Reasonable Marines. Then again their lore still states they used to be very different to what they are now and only change their ways after a disaster; working for a Chaos Worshiper resulting in a whole planet turning to chaos because you didn't bother to wonder why he needed an alien only to be saved by the Ultramarines sounds like a pretty good turning point. Of course, by "reasonable", we mean they think before they act. If you told them to parlay with xenos they'd fill you full of bolter rounds. Better still, the Raptors make a habit of taking command of Imperial Guard forces where they fight and distributing their marines amongst the Guard forces under their command. The result is the Guard kicking ass and taking minimal casualties while maximizing the enemies'. Who knows, maybe the Raptors will eventually take some Guard regiments under their wing and make them mini-me Reasonable Marines?
Daily routine
04:00-Morning Prayer: The Raptors are roused from their beds of camo cloaks. Many have to wake themselves up, as the servitors often fail to find the Raptors entirely. The chaplains assemble those who wake up for prayer.
05:00-Morning Firing Rites: The Raptors take to the firing ranges. Those who score well are lauded.
06:00-More firing rites: The Raptors are STILL at the firing ranges. The sternguard veterans have by now woken up and have started their daily attempts at Lias Issodon's personal record.
07:00-Still more firing rites: By now everyone but the veterans have stopped shooting, to watch the more advanced marksmen repeatedly attempt Lias Issodon's personal record. The less advanced members are currently giving shooting advice to initiates.
10:00-Again, more firing rites: Lias Issodon himself has woken up. He effortlessly sets his own record higher just to troll the more advanced marksmen.
12:00-Midday meal: A light meal is prepared by the chapter serfs. Some of the more advanced marksmen forgo this meal to get more time at attempting Lias Issodon's personal record.
12:30-Operator Training: The various captains gather their men together to try and infiltrate each other's facilities. Brother Captain Venom in particular makes it his goal to attach overly large balloons to his fellow captains, while Captains Liquid and Solid are at a constant rivalry with each other's companies.
14:30-Evening Firing Rites: The Raptors descend to their firing ranges for more shooting practice. This time live prey is released into the ranges for the initiates. This prey includes things like the various chapter serfs that Brother Captain Venom has "Fultoned" in the two hours he spent in Operator Training.
19:00-Evening Prayer: The chaplains put down their bolters and halt the firing rites to assemble the Raptors for prayer. Important prayer topics typically include beseeching the God Emperor for help with beating Lias Issodon's record.
20:00-Evening Meal: The chapter serfs deliver food directly to the firing ranges. In many cases, the food is ignored by the Sternguard veterans that are still attempting to best the record of their chapter master.
21:00-Weapons Maintenance: The Raptors lovingly maintain and oil their bolters. Special attention is paid towards keeping their scopes in flawless condition. Later, the Raptors will paint their power armour in Camo Patterns for upcoming missions.
22:00-Free Time: The Raptors are given free time. Most spend this either modifying their bolters, or at the firing range.
00:00-Rest: The Raptors retire for the evening.
Tactics.
The Raptors have been given unique chapter Special Rules by Forgeworld, and dammit if that doesn't turn them into the sneaky snipers they are made out to be in fluff. All non-Vehicle models not in transports on the first turn get Shrouded just like the Raven Guard, but the real beef lies within their Bolters: All Bolters and Bolt Pistols have the alternative profile of Heavy 1, Rending for no additional cost. This makes every Tactical Marine and especially their Sternguard into something akin to Tau Fire Warrior teams on pretty aggressive steroids. Find them a good place with cover and a good view of the battlefield and enjoy your S 4 AP 5 Rending Anti-everything infantry weaponry.
Forgeworld has also blessed us with the rules for the Raptors' Chapter Master Lias Issodon, who is quite a curious character in both fluff and crunch, and the rules reflect that fact. Lias has the stats of your standard Chapter Master, but with less focus on melee and more on shooting, boasting a high BS for a Marine. He lacks Orbital Bombardment and any kind of Invulnerability Save, but his gun and special rules make up for that: His personal bolter Malice is a Salvo 2/4 Range 30" Bolter with access to the same Special Ammunition as the Sternguard and is one of the better weapons in the game period, and his special rules make him into a highly strategic character, penalizing the enemy's reserve rolls while being able to re-roll his own and being able to cripple one MC or vehicle of the enemy's before the game has started. In short, Lias is exactly what you would expect a Raptors Chapter Master to be: Shooty, strategic, and reasonable.
Gallery
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Chapter Master Lias Issodon, posing with his sword
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A different take on Issodon. Looks more like a Space Marine Legion Reconnaissance Squad member.
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A kill-team of scouts getting ready to ambush some genestealers, all in true raptors fashion.
