Board Thread:Questions and Answers/@comment-33970122-20171215043511/@comment-3055683-20171215172824

In the past, White Dwarf Magazine used to have a 'Create Your Own Chapter' competition. Usually, whoever was chosen as the winner, their Chapter would be added to the official canon. This is a very rare occurrence, however, and the only other way I've heard of a fanon Chapter being officially added, is if an author writes about them in one of the Black Library novels, as Aaron Dembiski-Bowden did for his wife about the Shadow Wolves Chapter (a destroyed Imperial Fists Successor Chapter). Sadly, GW hasn't done one of these competitions in quite a long while. But who knows, it could probably happen in the future.

As far as making a 'penitent Chapter'..this is not a new concept, but one that straddles the line of falling into the non-canon category. First of all, why would there be so many Astartes trying to redeem themselves? Usually, this is a rare occurrence. Unless the penitent Marine did something against the Codex Astartes, or some kind of crime against his Chapter, they might be sent on a Death Oath.

Circumstances
First of all, why would a battle-brother be 'penitent' Marine in the first place?

Death Oath
This is one of the most severe punishments that can be meted out to a battle-brother who has been found severely wanting, and forced to take an oath of moment to either fulfill a superhuman task or die trying, exiled from his Chapter.

Warrior's Pilgrimage
Another circumstance would be what's called a 'Warrior's Pilgrimage', an ancient tradition of the Adeptus Astartes, where a battle-brother feels that his honour has been irreparably compromised by a personal failure, and can request from the Chapter Master to be released on such a pilgrimate. If granted, he would then leave his Chapter behind and head for the nearest Imperial warzone, throwing himself into the thickest of the combat against one of the Imperium's many enemies, and will keep doing so until he finally dies. Amongst the superhuman defenders of the Imperium of Man, this amounts to honourable suicide, for the Astartes will go into battle seeking death instead of victory, but will not accept death willingly.

The tradition of the Warrior's Pilgrimage has been inherited from the ancient time of the Great Crusade, where both individual Space Marines and entire Space Marine Legions would make solemn Oaths of Moment to accomplish some glorious goal or die trying. Often, a dishonoured Space Marine would swear an Oath of Moment to accomplish a truly impossible thing even for a superhuman Astartes, and find redemption in death while trying to fulfill the oath. If by a miracle the Astartes managed to accomplish his heroic task, he would then be vindicated, and welcomed back amongst his Battle-Brothers as a hero.

In the modern era, a Warrior's Pilgrimage is rarely requested. Space Marines are psycho-indoctrinated from the moment they are accepted as Aspirants to their Chapter to deal emotionally with the bloodshed they will commit and the inevitable casualities that accompany a life of constant warfare. Also, whenever an Astartes feels an emotional burden, he will confess it to his company's Chaplain. These ancient warriors are masterful orators and keen students of the human psyche, and almost always find the right words to unburden their brethren and re-kindle the flame of their righteousness.

But it is not always so; terrible losses in battle, or the loss of a sacred artefact of their Chapter can unhinge the mental stability of a Space Marine beyond the ability of a Chaplain to set it right again. Such Astartes will often request to go on the Warrior's Pilgrimage, as a self-imposed punishment and a way to rid themselves of their guilt.

Some Pilgrims will manage to survive despite the odds; these Astartes are choice recruits for Inquisitors seeking to add a fearsome superhuman warrior to their retinue. Sadly, some of these rare survivors lose their sanity completely and ultimately turn Renegade. It is for this last reason that many Chapter Masters are loath to give their permission for a Warrior's Pilgrimage: the loss of a capable Battle-Brother and his wargear is grave but honourable, while the stain on the Chapter's honour of a Battle-Brother on a Pilgrimage who turns Renegade is unbearable.

Ideas
Now, with the onset of recent events during the 13th Black Crusade and the formation of the Great Rift, several Space Marine Chapters lost contact with the Imperium, and were more than likely destroyed with the great tear in reality. This could account for so many individuals or even whole squads or even companies, making such an Oath of Moment - to take the fight to the Forces of Chaos, and seek some kind of redemption for loss of so many of their fellow battle-brothers.

This might explain how, during the Indomitus Crusade, so many of these lone Astartes might be encountered throughout the galaxy, and gathered together, to form such an ad hoc Chapter. With the current state of the galaxy, anything is possible. Before the Great Rift and the galaxy being split in two, such a thing would probably never occur, but with the events of the wider galaxy happening (daemons everywhere, Chaos Space Marines and alien marauders) it could possibly happen.

If you would like to bounce around anymore ideas, just send me a message on my talk page Praelius. I like your concepts, they just need to be fleshed out a bit more. Hopefully, this answers your questions.

Regards,

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