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The Dune Stalkers are a Loyalist Successor Chapter forged in hardship and isolation, their existence a grim echo of the Imperium's suspicion toward the ill-fated 21st "Cursed" Founding. Though their blood is drawn from the stoic and unyielding gene-line of Rogal Dorn, the Dune Stalkers developed a markedly divergent character. Where their progenitors labored to build and endure through fortification, the Dune Stalkers came to embrace a harsher creed - an ethos of patient annihilation, born from endless wars of attrition against raiders and xenos predators. They became hunters of the void and wastelands alike, mastering survival in desolate places where Imperial order had long since withered. Their doctrines are marked by a slow, relentless methodology: they stalk their foes across dunes, asteroid wastes, and dead worlds, eroding their strength before the final strike.
Stationed in the Khemet System, the Chapter was effectively consigned to exile, expected either to perish or to prove their worth in one of the Imperium's most forsaken frontiers. Harried without end by Orks, Drukhari, and nameless horrors spilling from the outer rim, the Dune Stalkers endured, shaping themselves into a weapon suited to their crucible. What emerged was a Chapter of shadowed repute - dour, mistrusted, and feared, yet undeniably effective. Their legacy is one of attrition and survival against impossible odds, a Chapter bound to the bleak sands of Khemet, their very name a reminder of the silent, patient death that comes from the wasteland's edge.
Chapter History[]
The Cursed Founding (M36)[]
The Dune Stalkers trace their lineage to the ill-fated 21st Founding, remembered as the Cursed Founding. Officially logged as scions of the Imperial Fists, they inherited Dorn’s ironclad endurance, but none of his mastery of fortification. Their founding was viewed with suspicion from the start, for many Chapters of this Founding bore flaws both genetic and spiritual.
The High Lords of Terra dispatched the Chapter into the Halo Stars, a frontier marked by treachery, warp-anomalies, and xenos predators. There, they were ordered to establish dominion over the Khemet System, a desolate cluster of desert worlds. Many within the Administratum viewed this not as a gift but as an exile: should the Chapter falter, their loss would be unnoticed in the wild fringes of the galaxy.
The First Great Campaign – The Siege of Ashkar Plateau (Late M36)[]
The Dune Stalkers proved their worth in their first true trial: the Siege of Ashkar Plateau. A vast Ork warband had fortified itself within the basalt ridges of Ashkar, where tens of thousands of colonists remained besieged. Imperial Guard regiments had already failed, thrown back again and again by the Orks’ savage counter-attacks.
The Stalkers approached differently. For weeks, they vanished into sandstorms, striking only at supply routes, isolated Ork mobs, and convoys. The Orks grew restless and starved while the besieged colonists clung to survival. Finally, when the greenskins were at their weakest, the Stalkers struck. The Sandborn Terminators teleported directly into the Ork fortress, slaughtering the Warboss in single combat, while artillery buried beneath the dunes opened fire, collapsing the ridges and entombing the horde.
This first victory became their creed: endure, wait, strike like the storm.
The Dark Years (M37–M38)[]
In the centuries that followed, the Dune Stalkers were forged in hardship. The Halo Stars bred predators beyond mortal comprehension. They fought xenos phantoms called the Glass Wraiths, who turned entire oases into mirrored plains, and clashed constantly with piratical Drukhari raiders.
Their numbers dwindled, often mustering no more than 600–700 battle-brothers. During these years the Chapter turned increasingly inward, leaning on their tribal heritage and desert traditions to preserve morale. The Water-Bond ritual — in which warriors swore oaths with sacred drops of water — became essential to their cohesion, as faith and endurance were the only bulwarks against extinction.
The Tyranid Wars (Late M41)[]
The arrival of the Great Devourer nearly annihilated the Chapter. Splinter fleets of Hive Fleet Leviathan slipped into the Halo Stars, descending upon the Khemet System with hunger unending.
- The Battle of the Glass Plains: Tyranid bio-acid storms turned entire desert basins into fused crystal, erasing the landmarks the Stalkers had relied upon for generations. Entire companies were cut down as the sands beneath their feet liquefied into corrosive glass. Captain Kharos of the 3rd Company was mortally wounded here and interred within a Redemptor Dreadnought, his sacrifice buying the Chapter time to rally.
- The Sinking of Dunehaven: The Chapter’s primary recruitment settlement, Dunehaven, was devoured in a single night. Nearly 10,000 mortal tribesfolk perished, their screams carried on the wind as the Tyranids turned the settlement into a spawning pit. The Stalkers’ attempts at evacuation failed, and to this day, the memory fuels their hatred of the Tyranids.
- The Seven-Day March: Cut off and surrounded, the 5th Company endured a forced retreat across 400 miles of desert with no vehicles, harried day and night by winged Tyranid packs. Only 42 brothers survived, their armor scoured raw by sandstorms and acid. Their march is still recited as a saga of survival.
- The Glass Tomb: In the final stages of the war, the Chapter lured the Tyranids into the heart of the Khemet Dune Sea, where massive caches of buried promethium were detonated, incinerating hundreds of bioforms in a firestorm visible from orbit. Yet the cost was staggering: three entire companies were lost in the fighting, their remains buried beneath dunes of fused glass.
By the end of the campaign, nearly half of the Chapter was gone. Of the 1,000 warriors mustered at the start of the war, fewer than 500 remained fit for battle. The Tyranid Wars left scars deeper than flesh — the Stalkers became a Chapter haunted by failure, burdened with survivor’s guilt, and obsessed with ensuring such devastation never happened again.
The Age of Indomitus (M42)[]
When Roboute Guilliman’s Indomitus Crusade reached the Halo Stars, the Dune Stalkers were little more than a shadow of themselves. Though granted Primaris reinforcements, they refused to abandon their tribal traditions. Many within the Chapter saw the arrival of the Primaris as an intrusion, a dilution of the bonds that had carried them through the Tyranid onslaught.
In this age, the Dune Stalkers joined the Silent Horizon Crusade, hunting mysterious raiders that drained entire colonies into dust husks. Though victorious, the campaign only deepened their paranoia. Some claimed the xenos weapons aged their armor by centuries, rusting ceramite and corroding weapons with unnatural speed.
Legacy[]
The Dune Stalkers endure, but their history is a litany of scars: nearly destroyed by the Tyranids, mistrusted by the Imperium, and bound by the cursed legacy of their Founding. Their Chapter history is not one of triumph and conquest, but of survival and sacrifice.
They are patient as the dunes, relentless as the desert sun, and unyielding as stone — but each battle is fought with the memory of the millions they could not save.
Notable Campaigns[]
- The Battle of the Glass Plains (Unknown Date.M41) - When a Tyranid splinter fleet descended upon the barren wastes of Nahl’Tarr, vast swarms boiled across the crystalline desert known as the Glass Plains. The Dune Stalkers lured the xenos into pre-prepared kill-zones beneath the dunes, detonating buried promethium caches and collapsing chasms to engulf entire broods. It was during this campaign that Captain Kharos was mortally wounded and interred within a Redemptor Dreadnought.
- The Purge of the Broken Maw (Unknown Date.M41) - A vast Ork warband, led by the Warboss known as Grimskrag the Split-Jaw, attempted to fortify a captured mining moon in the Khemet System. The Dune Stalkers deployed their 1st Company ("Sandborn"), in full Terminator plate, spearheading breach after breach until the Ork stronghold was torn apart. Surviving tribes on Nahl’Tarr still sing of the battle, calling it "the night the stars burned green."
- The Silent Horizon Crusade (Unknown Date.M42) - Venturing deeper into the Halo Stars, the Chapter launched a campaign against enigmatic xenos raiders believed to be kin to the Hrud. Entire Imperial colonies were found desiccated, their populations reduced to dust. The Stalkers waged a shadow war across the void, ambushing the alien fleets and burning them in relentless hit-and-run strikes. Though the campaign was declared victorious, many Battle-Brothers returned haunted, their armor corroded as if aged by centuries.
Chapter Home World[]
At the heart of the Khemet System lies Nahl'Tarr, a brutal desert world where survival itself is a constant trial. The planet is wracked by furnace-heat days, freezing nights, and continent-spanning sandstorms filled with glass shards that strip flesh from bone. Natural water is nearly absent, and entire tribes wage endless wars over hidden reservoirs and ancient aquifers.
The world was chosen for colonization not because of its value, but because no other Imperial agency wanted it. Administratum records show that the Khemet System had once been a minor mining colony during the Dark Age of Technology. By the time the Imperium reclaimed it, only nomadic tribes remained, their culture shaped by thousands of years of enduring Nahl’Tarr’s merciless environment.
The Dune Stalkers chose Nahl'Tarr not out of preference, but because its people embodied the very qualities they sought in aspirants:
- Endurance: Those who could survive the desert could survive anything.
- Patience: In the wastes, rashness meant death.
- Resourcefulness: Scarcity forged cunning and self-reliance.
To the Dune Stalkers, Nahl’Tarr was not a curse but a crucible. The Chapter’s first Master declared:
"If we are to hold the Halo Stars, then let us be as unyielding as the dunes. Let us bury the enemies of Mankind as the sands bury all things."
Amun-Khet, the Capital of Nahl’Tarr
The capital city of Amun-Khet is the largest and most formidable of Nahl’Tarr’s Sun Havens. Rising from the shifting dunes like a colossal black fortress, it stands defiant against the endless sandstorms that scour the planet. To outsiders it is a bastion of survival; to the people of Nahl’Tarr it is a sacred symbol, proof that humanity can endure even the most merciless desert.
- Stormwalls: Towering bastions ring the city, their surfaces scorched and pitted by centuries of glass storms. Built from plasteel and adamantium, they are reinforced with ancient desert stone, giving them a blackened, weathered look. The walls are broad enough for armored convoys to patrol their tops.
- The Sun Citadel: At the heart of the city rises the pyramidal palace-fortress known as the Sun Citadel, a seat of governance, temple, and fortress. The highest spires are adorned with giant solar vanes that collect and store energy, glowing like fire against the desert sky.
- Storm Spires: Several needle-like towers protrude from the city, designed to dissipate lightning and redirect sandstorms. At their peaks burn eternal flame-beacons, guiding nomadic tribes to safety.
- The Vault of Waters: Beneath the city lies the greatest aquifer on Nahl’Tarr, encased in cathedral-like cisterns of stone. This reservoir sustains millions and is considered sacred; no drop of its water may be wasted.
Fortress-Monastery[]
The Dune Stalkers' fortress-monastery, known as The Sunspire, is a colossal orbital bastion that hangs in permanent geostationary orbit above Nahl'Tarr. Constructed from the remnants of an ancient Dark Age of Technology void-station uncovered in the system, it was reforged and consecrated into a bastion of the Emperor’s light.
- Structure: The Sunspire is a towering spire-shaped citadel, its exterior plated with scorched-gold adamantium and void-shielded walls. Its lower levels bristle with lance batteries and macro-cannon arrays, allowing it to dominate both orbit and the planetary surface.
- Symbolism: The structure mirrors a spear-point piercing the heavens, embodying the Chapter’s creed of endurance and precision strikes.
- Sanctums: The upper halls contain reliquaries dusted with sacred ochre from Nahl’Tarr’s dunes, while its central shrine houses the Oath Stone of Horizons, where every Battle-Brother swears their vows before deployment.
- Planetary Connection: Though the Chapter rules from orbit, The Sunspire maintains constant shuttles to the Sun Havens below, ensuring their recruits and traditions remain tied to the deserts
Chapter Organization[]
Officer Ranks[]
- Keeper of Horizons (Chapter Master): Title of the Chapter Master, reflecting his duty to oversee both the sands of Nahl’Tarr and the void of the Halo Stars.
- Horizon Wardens (Captain): Each company is commanded by a Captain, styled as Warden, responsible not only for his warriors but for the tribes from which they are recruited.
- Lieutenant: Second-in-command within each company, often leads strike forces when the Warden is elsewhere.
Specialist Ranks[]
- High Sun-Speaker (Reclusiarch): Spiritual leaders and guardians of desert rites. They bear the dual burden of maintaining Imperial Creed and tribal traditions.
- Sun-Speaker (Chaplain): Cloaked in ochre-dusted robes, they anoint warriors with sacred water before battle.
- High Storm-Seer (Chief Librarian): Keeper of the psychic legacy of the Chapter, said to divine omens in the shifting sands and solar winds.
- Storm-Seer (Librarian): Psykers who interpret omens in storm, dust, and void.
- High Apothecary (Chief Apothecary):
- Water-Bearer (Apothecary): Custodians of gene-seed and sacred life-blood, who anoint the dying with droplets of purified water.
- [Add Rank] (Master of the Forge):(Water-Bearer Prime): Chief Apothecary, guardian of the Chapter’s gene-seed and sacred life-blood.
- Stonebound (Techmarine): Guardians of relic armor and machines, often marked with arrowhead sigils engraved into their augmetics.
Line Ranks[]
- Sandborn (Veteran): The 1st Company Terminators, revered as living echoes of the desert’s stone.
- Dust Blade (Battleline): Core infantry, trained for patience and ambush.
- Sunfang (Close Support): Shock troops who strike with sudden fury, often compared to sandstorms.
- Stonebreaker (Fire Support): Heavy weapon specialists, masters of cracking fortifications.
- Ash Hunter (Scouts): Young recruits hardened through years of survival in the wastes before ascensio
Specialist Units & Formation[]
- The Sandborn (1st Company): Terminator veterans, revered as immovable as stone. Deployed as the hammer of the Chapter.
- The Ash Hunters (10th Company): Scouts trained in desert survival, ambush tactics, and infiltration. Known to fight with camo-cloaks and hunting blades.
- The Stonebreakers: Heavy weapon squads specializing in siege-breaking and artillery. They excel at collapsing bastions and fortresses.
- The Dust Strikers: Experimental squads armed with massive bow-launchers that fire tungsten rod-arrows. Silent, devastating, and used to eliminate heavy infantry or vehicles at range.
- The Water-Bonded: Small chaplain-led detachments that anoint every weapon with sacred water before battle. Considered spiritually unbreakable.
Order of Battle[]
The Dune Stalkers maintain roughly 900 battle-brothers, somewhat below Codex strength due to the losses suffered in the Halo Stars. Their fleet-based strength allows them to deploy across wide frontiers.
- Fortress-Monastery: The Sunspire, orbital bastion above Nahl’Tarr.
- Fleet Assets: 5 Strike Cruisers, 12 Rapid Strike Vessels, countless support craft.
- Companies: Ten companies, though their role and traditions diverge slightly from the Codex.
Headquarters[]
The Chapter Council convenes aboard the Sunspire. Composed of the Keeper of Horizons, Horizon Wardens, High Chaplains, Storm-Seers, and Stonebound Patriarch. The council guides the Chapter’s campaigns and mediates disputes between tribal traditions and Imperial decree.
Companies[]
- 1st Company ("The Sandborn"): Terminator veterans, deployed as the spearhead of campaigns.
- 2nd Company ("Wardens of Flame"): Strike force specialists, skilled in orbital and desert assaults.
- 3rd Company ("Wardens of Stone"): Masters of heavy weapons and siege-breaking.
- 4th Company ("Wardens of Dusk"): Recon and ambush specialists, often deployed ahead of campaigns.
- 5th–9th Companies: Codex line companies, each tied to specific desert tribes on Nahl’Tarr.
- 10th Company ("The Ash Hunters"): Scouts and initiates, deployed across the wastes for survival trials.
Chapter Beliefs[]
Sun-Speaker (Chaplain) of the Dune Stalkers
The Dune Stalkers’ creed is shaped by their desert heritage and the endless horizons of the Halo Stars.
- Water is Life: All water is sacred. Every campaign begins with the Water-Bond Oath.
- Ancestor Veneration: The honored dead are chanted before battle.
- Armor of the Dunes: Terminator plate is treated as a living relic, likened to the endurance of stone.
- The Oath of the Endless Horizon: Every warrior recites: "Like the sand, we endure. Like the sun, we burn. Like the stone, we do not break."
Gene-Seed[]
The Dune Stalkers bear the gene-seed of the Imperial Fists, and thus share both their strengths and their flaws.
- Stability: Their gene-seed is largely stable compared to other Cursed Founding Chapters.
Genetic Flaws[]
Known Flaws:
- Lack of Betcher’s Gland: Inherited from Dorn’s lineage, they cannot spit acid or neutralize toxins.
- Suspected Maladaptation: Apothecaries report unusual calcification in some recruits, their skin hardening into stone-like patches. Though rare, this trait is viewed not as a flaw but as a mark of divine endurance.
- Psychological Hardening: Many Stalkers are prone to long silences and obsessive ritual, interpreted as echoes of the desert’s solitude.
Combat Doctrine[]
- Ambush Warfare: The Chapter excels at vanishing into terrain, be it dunes, ruins, or asteroid fields, before erupting in sudden counter-assaults. This style reflects the survival tactics of Nahl’Tarr’s nomads, who learned that patience and preparation meant victory in the desert.
- Terminator Reverence: The "Sandborn," the 1st Company, form the Chapter’s honored spearhead. They are often deployed en masse, a rarity among Astartes. To the Stalkers, Terminator armor is a relic of endurance, mirroring the desert’s stone and permanence. Their assaults often begin with mass-teleport strikes, cracking enemy lines apart before mechanized waves pour through.
- Siege-Breakers: Unlike their progenitors, the Imperial Fists, the Stalkers do not emphasize fortress-building or static defense. Instead, they are destroyers of sieges — breaching walls, collapsing bastions, and reducing fortifications to rubble. Their heavy Devastator squads, known as the Stonebreakers, excel at precision bombardments to shatter defenses before the kill is delivered.
- Artillery & Mechanized Strikes: Borrowing from both desert hunting and Imperial military doctrine, the Stalkers combine concealed artillery batteries with fast-moving mechanized thrusts. Their tactics often involve baiting enemies into kill-zones where hidden artillery can devastate them, followed by sudden armored counter-attacks.
- Endurance in the Wastes: Dune Stalkers are trained to endure deprivation, heat, and isolation. They can operate with minimal supply lines for extended campaigns, making them ideal for frontier wars in the Halo Stars where resupply is scarce.
Deathwatch Service[]
The Dune Stalkers are frequent contributors to the Deathwatch, with their scouts and veterans highly valued for their patience, stealth, and mastery of ambush tactics. Their Ash Hunters in particular are often seconded to Watch Fortresses along the galactic rim, where their survivalist traditions make them well-suited to long-duration kill-missions against xenos.
However, their tendency towards silence and their intense desert-inspired rituals have caused friction with more orthodox Chapters. Some Watch Commanders describe them as “unsettlingly patient,” willing to remain motionless for hours before a strike.
Notable Space Marines[]
- Keeper of Horizons Amun-Raet (Chapter Master): Known for his patience and silence, Amun-Raet is said to stand for hours gazing toward the desert horizon before battle. He wears armor dusted permanently in sacred ochre.
- Chaplain Aseth the Sun-Speaker: Keeper of both Imperial Creed and desert lore. His sermons are half-prayer, half-ancestral chant. Feared and revered for his booming, storm-like voice.
- Captain Khouren, Warden of Dusk (4th Company): Master of ambush and void combat, famous for trapping Ork flotillas in asteroid kill-zones.
- High Apothecary Menakhet: Custodian of the Chapter’s gene-seed, he anoints recruits with droplets of sacred water. Known to brand aspirants with scars resembling arrowheads.
Chapter Fleet[]
The Dune Stalkers maintain a lean but highly mobile fleet, suited for fast redeployment across the Halo Stars.
- Scion of Dust (Strike Cruiser) – Flagship of the Chapter Master.
- Battle Barge – Sunspire’s Shadow: The flagship and mobile fortress, orbiting Nahl’Tarr when not on campaign.
- Strike Cruiser – Burning Dune: Specializes in rapid orbital deployment and artillery support.
- Strike Cruiser – Oath of the Horizon: Known for leading campaigns of endurance, often carrying the Ash Hunters.
- Strike Cruiser – Stonefang: Siege specialist vessel, fitted with extra bombardment cannons.
- Rapid Strike Craft – “Sandwinds”: Small patrol ships used to screen the fleet and ferry squads into ambush positions. .
Chapter Relics[]
- The Horizon Spear: A master-crafted relic spear once borne by the first Keeper of Horizons, symbol of Chapter command.
- The Sunshard Blade: A glowing power sword said to contain a fragment of crystallized desert glass from Nahl’Tarr’s Glass Plains.
- The Dustveil Cloak: A stasis-field woven with dust and ash, used by Chaplains to vanish into storms before reappearing among their foes.
- The Water of First Dawn: A reliquary phial of the first water consecrated on Nahl’Tarr, carried to every major campaign. A single drop is used to bless the Chapter before battle.
Chapter Appearance[]
Chapter Colours[]
Chapter Badge[]
The Dune Stalkers Chapter badge is reminiscent of the progenitor's, however, the Dune Stalkers' icon takes the form of an inverted black fist centered within a white circlet.
Relations[]
Allies[]
- Imperial Fists: The Dune Stalkers revere their progenitors, though the relationship is distant due to their isolation in the Halo Stars.
- Deathwatch: Frequently provide Kill-Team members, though their ways unsettle some Watch Commanders.
- Local Astra Militarum Regiments: Particularly the Khemet Dust Raiders, drawn from Nahl'Tarr's nomadic tribes. These regiments often fight alongside the Stalkers as auxiliaries.
Enemies[]
- Orks: Long-time foes in the Khemet System, especially Grimskrag’s warband.
- Drukhari: Persistent raiders in the Halo Stars, often preying on isolated colonies.
- Tyranids: Splinter fleets have clashed with the Chapter more than once, most infamously on the Glass Plains.
- Unidentified Xenos of the Halo Stars: The Stalkers have recorded conflicts with enigmatic alien fleets that seem to warp time itself, leaving warriors aged decades after brief encounters.
Notable Quotes[]
By: Dune Stalkers[]
About: Dune Stalkers[]
- "They stride like the noon sun across the killing sands, unseen until the horizon itself becomes their weapon. Their blades drink deeper than drought, their hearts beat to the chant of the honored dead. The Dune Stalkers are the mirage made flesh, patient as stone, merciless as the endless desert."
- —Centurion Stavros Kranthion of the Hammers of Antaeus and fellow Imperial Fists successor chapter
Gallery[]
