Get your own Free Home PageTHE HISTORY OF THE BLACK HYDRAS
Founded during the seventeenth founding, they are formed from a joining of geneseed from the Whitescars and the Snake-eaters (who can trace they geneseed back to the Imperial Fists chapter). They share the Whitescars battle lust and ferocity.
Their home world is a Giant space craft they call The Fortress. The fortress is a giant ship that is never in a fixed location. The Black Hydras basically recruit from four worlds, [all hive worlds], Each world has a fortress-monastery on it.
The chapter has deviated from the Codex Astartes by a bit, notably by the design of the companies.
During crusades the whole fortress will move into the area of combat and the whole chapter will join in.
When the Black Hydras were founded they followed the Codex Astartes, but within 50 years of going into the combat line the first Primarch was dead and his successor Primarch Genalh' Rosebearer, a veteran from the Whitescars started ordering his marines into battle without Devastator squad support. Losses at first seemed high but within a few years the ex Devastators squad members had been retrained with the skills of the Assault squad, and success followed.
Whilst examining the battle report of the 4th companies action, Primarch Genalh' Rosebearer found that the captain of the company had equipped all his Assault squads with jump packs and had mounted all his Tactical squads in Rhinos to keep up with the Assault squads in the first to battles of the campaign, just like the other battle companies tactics. But had avoided the third battle for over three months. Genalh' was beginning to worry that the captain was avoiding battle through cowardice, as the Intel reports had shown more that a few opportunities to join battle and crush the enemy.
Genalh' was old, his hair had gone gray, and he could feel dull pain all the time, even in his superhuman body, to know he was soon to die, he hadn't picked a successor, as none of his captains had shown that extra something a Primarch would require, and how a captain could possibly be a coward. Genalh' left the report unfinished and wandered The Fortress, eventually arriving at the cell of Grand Master Chaplain Lazarus. Genalh' had been Primarch when Lazarus was a scout, and as the Master of Chaplains knew that talking about problems could often help. But when hearing Genalh' thoughts, Lazarus was at a lost, a Captain who was a coward, the shame, and possible heresy. Quickly he escorted Genalh' back to his cell to finish the report, as he had had no report of this, from the Chaplains who had escorted the expedition.
As Genalh' read, the relief was indescribable, the Captain was no coward, but would be the next Primarch. The plan was pure genius, no one would expect marines to do that. Every marine was equipped with a jump pack, the speed they could move about the battle field was brilliant, why had no one ever done it before!
Captain Grendel was made successor to Genalh' with whom he worked closely with until Genalh' death, whilst on a crusade against the Eldar (a warriors death, fighting against the enemies of the Emperor). During this crusade the Black Hydras sent most of their terminator armour suits back to Mars in return for more dreadnoughts, and the chapter settled into the way of combat that they now follow today.
Because the chapter recognises that heavy weapons are required for some jobs on the battle field, the Techmarines have always been searching for ways to make them more mobile. This has led to the attack bike carrying a wider range of weapons than normal attack bikes, and Rhinos normally having their twin bolters replaced by a heavy bolter (as the Dark Millennium rules allow) although some have other heavy weapons instead.
Organisation of the Black Hydra's
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