Crimson Robes

The Crimson Robes were a Loyalist Successor Chapter of the stoic Imperial Fists, raised in the 32nd Millennium during the 3rd Founding. Highly regarded for their siege capabilities and the arbiters of a number of impressive victories, this promising young Chapter was seemingly wiped out just a Millennia after its Founding.

Founding
The Crimson Robes were created during the 3rd Founding, drawn from the Gene stock of the Imperial Fists.

Loss
The Chapter was dispatched to reinforce the Cadian gate when Abbadon launched his 3rd Black Crusade. Chapter Master Ecclesium gathered all available Astartes and set off with 800 Battle Brothers. They never arrived. Presumed lost to the Warp, the remaining Astartes began to rebuild the Chapter but were ultimately destroyed during the Pale Wasting.

Return
In the waning years of M37 the fleet of the Crimson Robes emerged back into realspace in orbit of Chekhov VI, a planet in the Aeaean Cluster of Ultima Segmentum. The Chapter Master was horrified to realise that 4 millennia had passed. Several vessels were missing, still lost somewhere in the Warp.

Destruction
The bad luck of the Crimson Robes had not ended however. They had reemerged into the path of an Ork Waaagh, which mercilessly assaulted the disorganised Chapter fleet. Chapter Master Ecclesium put up a ferocious defence, cutting down scores of Ork vessels before realising that his warriors could not win in space and ordered all remaining Astartes to land on the planet below to fight on the ground. Some 500 Astartes made landfall and began entrenching into a ridgeline. The Orks were not far behind, blackening the skies with their craft. The orks died in their thousands as they hurled themselves against the hastily prepared defences, bloodlust driving them to attack before their armour and titans landed. Their numbers began to tell however and the Crimson Robes were steadily driven back, until only a small handful remained in a desperate last stand. These survivors clung on, driven by the knowledge that a Battlefleet was on route, pushing hard to reach them in time. Alas the Ork Warboss arrived with his retinue, cutting into the heart of the band, attacking the Chapter Master himself. The Chapter Master drove his sword into the Ork's heart as his dying act of defiance, taking this mighty foe with him as the last of his Chapter fell around him.

Legacy
Disorganised by the death of their leader and reeling from a ferocious assault into their flank by the arriving Battlefleet, the Ork Waaagh was shattered and the Greenskins routed with horrendous losses. Such a colossal victory came too late for the Crimson Robes, annihilated to a man in the churned mud of Chekhov VI. They would be remembered though, entering legend amongst the inhabitants of the Aeaean Cluster. Statues of Chapter Master Ecclesium were raised on a dozen worlds in gratitude for his sacrifice. The salvageable equipment from the Chapter would be given to the Nemean Lions after their founding in M38, gifting the Chapter with priceless relics from the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy eras.

Fortress-Monastery
The Battle Barge Coeptis Sapientiae served as the Fortress-Monastery of the Crimson Robes after the destruction of their Homeworld. The vessel was heavily modified to accommodate this new role.

Chapter Organisation
The Crimson Robes were strict adherents to the Codex Astartes.

Deathwatch Service
Several members of the Chapter were part of the original creation of the Deathwatch after the War of the Beast and the Crimson Robes provided a number of members before their disappearance. With the Chapter seemingly destroyed these Astartes became Blackshields in their grief.

Chapter Combat Doctrine
Like the Imperial Fists they descended from, the Crimson Robes were masters of siegecraft, excelling in defensive fortifications.

Chapter Fleet
As befitting a fleet based Chapter, the Crimson Robes had a large fleet with 4 Battle Barges and an extensive collection of Strike Cruisers and Escorts.
 * Coeptis Sapientiae - Flagship of the Crimson Robes' fleet

Chapter Appearance
The Majority of the Crimson Robes were equipped with Mk III Power Armour at the time of their destruction, a result of the liberation of the Forge World Chivenor and its stockpile of pre-Heresy wargear. They also possessed a few suits of Mk II armour which they revered as relics of the early Crusade.

Chapter Colours
Astartes of the Crimson Robes wore bisected red and black Power Armour with beige pauldrons, gauntlets and helmets.