Ronin

"Overkill? You just made that word up, didn't you?" -informal motto

The Ronin are a chapter of unknown origin and founding. These origins are unknown to all but the chapter command, which has led some to believe that this chapter was one of the Unforgiven successors of the Dark Angels who have since distanced themselves from their siblings. The chapter is known for producing marines with stoic temperaments and little morals, leading to some calling this chapter "the honorless." The Ronin employ a combination of recovered advanced mathematics and their Librarians to lead their chapter into battle, and tend not to visually enter the fray until conditions heavily favor them, which has not helped their reputation.

Specialists
While most chapters have eschewed the use of dedicated Destroyer Squads, the Ronin embrace such squads and tactics as quite useful.

Chapter Combat Doctrine
"No bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. You won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country." -ancient Terran proverb

The Ronin believe that through the use of calculated tactical assaults upon enemies weakness, they can get maximum victory for least loss. And with such reduced numbers, least loss is very much a driving factor. When it can be avoided, they steer away from complex and time-wasting maneuvers, preferring to spend time mow down enemies from relative safety. Despite this, they are known for great success once they enter the fray.

The chapter master veteran members who make up the chapter command only take to the field in the most dire circumstances, where victory just has to happen and no other method is possible. They prefer to stay in the chapter's flagship and run constant real-time calculations to adjust to changing battle conditions. Said information is then relayed to the veterans that run each battle company.

The Ronin, when at all possible, will seek total extermination of their enemies, even if it means weapons that stricter chapters shy away from. Chemical weapons are the weapons of choice for softening up enemy defenses before their assault. They are notorious for closely following behind the cloud of noxious gases, or even firing through it into the backs of the fleeing enemies.

They will fight to the last bullet, plasma blast and shell, orbital bombardment included, before entering melee combat, denouncing its use as old fashioned and just generally dangerous to the continued survival of its limited combat forces. Not to say they are cowards, which some believe, just that they know how to achieve their goals with the most people alive on their side afterwords.

Chapter Fleet
This chapter has always operated as a fleet-based chapter for all their known history. Towards this end, their fleet is often better coordinated, more heavily gunned and just generally used more than other chapters, who often prefer ground engagements. The chapter holds three capital ships in their fleet supported by a few cruisers and the necessary support crafts and escorts. Only the capital ships have known names. The Shinso (Gloriana-class Battleship) is the flagship of the chapter during campaigns and beyond. Kazeshini and Benihime are Battle Barges that provide heavy support for the rest of the fleet.

Inquisition
Since the Ronin spend most of their time operating outside the borders of the Imperium, the Inquisition are for the most part perfectly content to ignore any minor indiscretions and rarely bother dealing with the chapter at all.