Hammers of the Emperor

The Emperors Hammers as they are sometimes known are a tenth founding successor chapter of the Mantis Warriors originally tasked with crusading and then defending the Eastern fringe.  Uniquely they were given a chapter barque which was designed to land on a planet and become a slightly more conventional fortress monastery on one of a dozen or so pre selected genetically approved planets in the Prodigum or Antona Australis sector.  This barque was eventually landed and deployed on Hoxnes II which became the homeworld for the Hammers in Prodigum Os.

The chapter is based in the neighbouring sector of Prodigum Os which is in the midst of a semi permanent stalled Waaagh.  It is a war ravaged, highly tribal sector avoided by most except those that make it their home.  The war is going  slowly but grimly in that sector and the chapter (relatively) recently lost its home system and world  to a huge and Pyrrhic renewed ork attack which was sucessful but stalled the Waagh.  Although it had not operated as a ship for centuries, a particularly canny master of the forge was able to reactivate the engines on the Barque and evacuate the Fortress Monastery itself preserving the chapter and its gene seed in the process and preventing both its doom and the likely doom of the whole sector.  This moment was the closest that the New Sarepta council came to closing the Hyperian warp corridor link between Antona and Prodigum.

The chapter structure is slightly unorthodox and highly decentralised although responsive to muster at scale as is often necessary.  It has ten Bandas (companies), each of its Bandas is similar including the reserve Bandas which are structured similarly to the battle companies.  At least 1 squad of the 1st and tenth Banada are semi-permanently assigned to each other Banda.  Reserve companies do however continue to operate in their more codex orientated structure in that they recruit heavily and replenish other Bandas.  The 6th Banda is semi-permanently assigned to Antona Australis with licence to recruit from New Sarepta.

The Emperors Hammers live dangerously due to the overwhelming odds they operate under in almost all parts of the Prodigum Os sector.  Sometimes a whole Banda or part of a Banda can get trapped or cut off only to miraculously emerge years or decades later fighting through a wall or orks.  Even when it is known when and where a Banda is operating it is sometimes impossible to support or even contact that Banda depending on how cut off it is and what its operating conditions are.  This has led to the recreation of Bandas thought to be wiped out only for them to emerge later.  It is not infrequent for there to be more than one of the same Banda operating.  Two 2nd Bandas operated for 57 years before both were suifficiently small and nearby enough to merge.  To avoid extinction the chapter has specilaised, much as their noble primarch would have wanted, in hit and run tactics in order to preserve their numbers and concentrate their strength.  This has manifested itself through a fast and well trained fleet and good logistics rather than a preference for bikes.

Notes:

The Chapter Master is known as the Brenhin.

The Chapter colour scheme is a deep purple with orange shoulder pads.  Notably for the 1st company veterens this is inversed with orange and purple shoulder pads.

The Emperor's Hammers have very close links with the Adeptus Mechanicus in Legio Peragito as well as Inquisitorial Agents such as Inquisitor Maltheus.