Uh hi I’m Arthur and this is part 13 in a 20p part series I’m doing covering second founding Space Marine chapters in order of all the legions do you need to have seen the other videos to understand this one no but it would make me
Happy this was going to be a slam dunk no matter the choice unlike every other Space Marine Legion you are kind of spoiled for choice for the ultra Marines so it wasn’t so much I had an issue finding a chapter it was more what is
The one I could say the most about for this series I have a thing for esoteric Space Marine chapters it goes without saying but for the ultramarines specifically I do have a bit of a soft spot so instead of me choosing the obvious ones that are easy to understand
And recognize by the majority of the world as a pretty cool set of dudes I decided to choose a weird chapter one that I find should be discussed more the iron snakes a second founding ultramarine chapter that proves the Apple sometimes does fall pretty damn far from the tree they are non- codex
Compliant and have one of the most interesting set of tactics that you could probably imagine for an ultramarine successor so to understand them you have to understand the big thing with them that’s the thing with all these chapters they all have a big thing to their chapter that separates
Them from other chapters so what is the iron snake’s big thing well the original founding member MERS of the chapter are Beyond honored in the eyes of the chapter which has led to the formation of squads instead of adhering to the standard practice of companies and smaller groupings for combat deployments
The iron snakes have squads named after very important members of the chapter it could be a founding member or just a veteran who was very good at what they did these squads can number between about 10 to 20 usually and each Squad is sent on mostly individually istic
Deployments across the area that the iron snakes have been sent to safeguard The Reef stars that is a stormy and horrible set of planets that is filled to the brim with chaos Cults Dark Eldar and so on so squads are deployed to assist with every single planet as
Needed in these areas it can be a bit rough because it is quite a large span of area but from what I can tell the average level of aptitude of the Marines involved is a bit higher than your average tactical marine or intercessor Squad so when they do arrive to these
Planets after months they tend to deal with problems pretty quickly with each Marine being a specialist in melee ranged and defensive tactics the Marines in the squads are basically veterans in their own right by the time they get into a squad though not 100% now you might ask if they don’t have companies
How do they train the Marines and how do they keep Scouts they don’t well they don’t have Scouts as you’d understand them for other Space Marine chapters essentially they recruit from mainly their home world of Ithaca which is a stormy hole of a world and for people who survive to become what would
Rank as a scout they end up having to undergo traditional Space Marine trials and a few not so traditional ones the main one at the end of the road being that you have to kill one of the most dangerous predators on the planet of Ithaca the seaw worm basically a giant
Iron scaled sea snake that they have to hunt with a lance and kill before they can even be considered a full battle brother and even after said battle brother kills one of the worms he is considered what is called a partitioner where he will stay on Ithaca and train
Until a squad needs someone to tag in and from there he has to prove he is worthy of joining a squad that needs new members or if he’s a particularly exemplary member of the chapter from the outset squads can request them because their combat records are on full display
Upon returning to the planet of Ithaca it’s a pretty cute system they have going there it kind of reminds me of the black Templars Crusader squads where they train the lower class Marines instead of having a traditional Scout company and it leads to some interesting discourse where the brothers of each of
These squads can be a bit too close some chapters Pride themselves on fraternity and Brotherhood in such a way that it humanizes the Marines in question an army of Brothers as it were but the iron snakes it’s something different you are sent off for years at a time and only
Have a single connection which I will explain after this tangent to your home world and the only people you have to talk to are your squad’s brothers it can lead to Brotherhood but it can also lead to something more akin to a family likee feeling where every individual loss of a
Brother can cause the group to feel as if they lost someone very dear to them more so than any other traditional Space Marine chapter would feel if they lost a brother as for a long time you’re not going to talk to anyone else so losing a voice in the conversation is enough to
Make the months long trips Across The Reef stars to new deployments a lot more depressing stories of a single person’s surviving as the only remaining member to a squad is pretty uncommon but is still a present element to their chapter and because of that it makes them all
The more compelling I find Space Marine chapters are propped up more so on what they can do well rather than the false of the chapter black Templars are amazingly brutal combatants and fight in the name of the emperor but they often times have issues coping with emotions of grief and sadness
So it leads to them not being able to fully experience The Human Condition as it were which I think is very much a missed opportunity which is definitely explored with the iron snakes and when you take a closer look at the emotions of the iron snakes they seem like the
Least indoctrinated Space Marine chapter up there with like the emperor Spears to be honest if they ever work together I swear to that’d be the coolest book ever they have such similar traditions in a way of living I think it’s interesting to Theory craft from there
Though I digress to backpedal a bit more they have one connection to Ithaca I mentioned it a bit earlier but I wanted to save it as a bit of my closing element to discuss so what is it it is a small copper flask that contains a small
Amount of the sea Waters of Ithaca see it is part of their culture to anoint every Mission they conclude with a drop from their flask and it can be done in many ways marking Vehicles drinking the water itself or sharing the water with someone else it is a sacred right to
Them and I don’t know if it’s ever confirmed but I like to think that it is their personal timer in order to let them know when they need to come back to Ithaca if they run out of the waters or if they get close to it they need to
Return to their home to refuel restock and replace the Lost Brothers they had there is a final element to this ritual Upon returning to the shores of caribdis uh which is their chapter’s Monastery on itha they have to dump out the remaining water that they have in those flasks
Back to the oceans of itha as well as weirdly enough deposit the ashes of the cremated bodies of their fallen brothers from the sea they came and the Sea they shall return it’s interesting I feel a lot of novels don’t discuss where the bodies of Dead Space Marines go sure the
Apothecaries collect their Gene seed but what about the bodies some books I’ve read simply imply that there are Space Marine tombs specialized for holding the Fallen weirdly enough I remember the flesh Terrors have a spot for this which is interesting to think they can express grief in such a way but
The idea of depositing their ashes back into the ocean is very symbolic as well as a bit sad it’s very Bittersweet and that’s the way to see them they are a chapter steeped in their own mythology and very Bittersweet in their task if you wanted to run them on the tabletop
You could just run them as a death watch kill team and have various mixed squads to kind of fill out the way that their 10 man plus squads would run I think as a chapter the iron snakes are up there as some of the most underrated and more
People should play and talk about them but that’s just my opinion what about you guys let me know in the comments also remember to like And subscribe as it helps the channel out immensely lastly I want to thank my channel members for supporting me and if you
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