Adeptus Astartes: Crypt Angels

8th Ed battle reports:

• Supplies Supplies!: vs Tyranids
• Welcome to the Jungle: vs Tyranids
• Revenge of the Nerfbat: vs Tyranids
• When Doves Cry: Crypt Angels vs Dark Angels
• Deep Cleanse: Adeptus Astartes vs Chaos Daemons & Marines
• For the Greater Gangrene: T'au vs Nurgle Chaos Host
• To Punch an Alien: Adeptus Astartes vs T'au

9th Ed battle reports:

Founding Chapter: Uncertain; likely Blood Angels

Founding Number: 21st

Chapter Master: Kasfunatius

Homeworld: Rylstone I

Fortress Monastery: Sepulchre of Rest

Colours: Black and Red

Specialty: Terror Tactics

Battlecry: Death Bites!

History

Founded in M36, a part of the infamous 'Cursed Founding', much of the Crypt Angels history is currently uncertain or lost. Conjecture amongst those of the Inquisition currently investigating or operating with the chapter is that they are a successor either of the Blood Angels or one of that chapter's own successors, but this is more from certain similarities within the Crypt Angels iconography than any firm evidence.

Operating within the Uhulis Sector of the Segmentum Tempestus, the Crypt Angels fought several successful campaigns against Orks and Eldar within their early career. It wasn't until M38 that their ill fortune began.

Bogola Campaign - M38

En route to an engagement against Traitor Legionnaires encroaching on the Bogola System, eighty percent of the Crypt Angels' fleet was caught in a severe and localised warp storm. Only the first, second and tenth companies were left unscathed, dropping out of warpspace via emergency protocols. The vast majority of the remaining companies were destroyed, leaving the chapter severely under strength in the ensuing battle.

Chapter Master Kasfunatius didn't step back from his duty, however, and took his surviving marines into battle against what proved to be a much larger force of World Eater marines. Rather than the direct engagements the beserkers sought, Kasfunatius made good use of his scouts and the superior mobility of teleport-enabled terminator squads. Appearing seemingly from nowhere to destroy what limited command the psychotic World Eaters had, they left the foe dazed and spoiling for a fight. Indeed, the enraged legionnaires soon turned on themselves in frustration, at which point the second company deployed in force and mopped up the survivors.

T'Pau Sept - M39

The following year, a major Tau invasion attacked the Rylstone system. The Crypt Angels had barely managed to return to their Fortress when the brunt of the Tau forces struck. Although the remnants of the chapter were more than able to hold their ground on home turf, they were too depleted to keep the Tau from ravaging their homeworld. Kasfunatius watched in dismay as the cities of Rylstone were bombarded to dust by advanced plasma fusillades. The proud warrior culture from which the Crypt Angels recruited went to dust with them.

The T'Pau advance stumbled on Rylstone I, however, as more and more of their forces were sent against the Sepulchre of Rest in increasingly desperate attacks. The siege was finally broken when three badly damaged barges bearing the livery of the Crypt Angels emerged from warp and immediately attacked the main Tau fleet. The damage they inflicted was great enough that the Tau finally abandoned their assault, retreating to lick their wounds on their enclaves in the further reaches of the Rylstone system.

The three battle barges contained the remnants of the third, fourth and eighth companies. Or at least, so they claimed to be. Kasfunatius was appalled to see the extent of the warp corruption that all three vessels suffered, a taint that even went as far as visible warp-stigmata on some of the marine brothers. Yet they answered as loyal, and had attacked the Tau with suitably zealous vigour. Besides which, after the fifty-year campaign, the chapter was in no position to turn away reinforcements.

Kasfunatius was worried, however, and began plans to begin recruitment as soon as a suitable source of deadly warriors could be located.

Mombassa Superior - M40

Answering a call for help in the Mombassa asteroid cluster, the Crypt Angels found themselves battling against Necrons. Panicked imperial miners had discovered the mineral-rich belt they were extracting from was the rubble of a destroyed Necron planet, as hidden defence elements that were still somehow operational activated.

What had started as a routine mission quickly escalated into a major campaign. Necron citadels were discovered seeded into all the major planets nearby, and Planetary Defence Forces were swiftly overrun. The Crypt Angels stalled for time, terribly outmanned and outgunned, until nearby Balanthian Guard regiments could be mobilised via the Navy and brought to bear.

During the twelve year of the action, Kasfunatius stumbled across a Necron artefact that could solve his chapter's manpower problems.

In defeating a Necrotect, the Crypt Angels seized The Casket of Dust, a bizarre piece of archeotech that was an improbable meld of ancient Terran and Necron technologies. By inserting dead tissue into it, the Casket could spin out a living copy of the deceased creature, given a few weeks of operation. The appearance, the skills, the memories - all were miraculously preserved.

Unthinkably, Kasfunatius claimed this artefact for his chapter and immediately withdrew his forces from the system.

Subsequent analysis of the campaign revealed that presence of the Crypt Angels would have done little to affect the final result - a massive victory for the Necrons, pushing all Imperial troops back on all fronts for several light years from the system - as they were simply too few to hold back the Necrons for long enough. This had little influence on the Inquisitors sent to evaluate the Chapter's performance, of course.

Current Activity - M41

Following Mombassa, the Crypt Angels seemed to go rogue for a time. Their Battle Barges emerged from the warp to attack a variety of targets, from Renegade convoys to isolated Imperial installations. They seemed deaf to entreaties to help, but at least refrained from damaging loyalists. 

That changed after the Siege of Rylstone Keep. A warpstorm engulfed the planet shortly after it was liberated from the T'pau Sept, and whatever happened there during the ensuing battle caused a huge schism in the chapter. 

Loyalists broke away from the Chapter Master, Kasfunatius, who became increasingly destructive, embracing his developing renegade tendencies. These loyalists consist almost entirely of Primaris Marines, newcomers to the chapter sent after the formation of the Cicatrix Maledictum. Renaming themselves the Crypta Sanctorum or Crypt Saints, they joined forces with Inqusitor Mox Grande and have dedicated themselves to the apprehension of Kasfunatius. 

The veterans of the chapter, now known as the Crypta Lapsuerunt or Crypt Damned to Loyalist troops, have left Rylstone I in the grasp of the Crypt Saints and taken to roaming the system in the chapter's fleet. Their unpredictable and devastating strikes, deploying corrupted war machines to lethal effect, have ravaged both Imperial and Xenos forces in the area. 

Both sides still use their original names and heraldry, to universal confusion.

Geneseed

Pure. Little to no taint, and certainly none of the weaknesses of the Blood Angels, if they are indeed a successor chapter. If they are, this makes them of interest to Dante and his brethren, although it is more likely evidence that the two chapters are not related.

The Crypt Saints are all Primaris, their newer gene-seed hopefully pure of the increasing xenos taint corrupting their reanimated brethren amongst the Crypt Damned. 

Successor Chapters

None known.

Culture

Even before their losses in the previous few millenia, the Crypt Angels were obsessed by war and death.

Rylstone's warrior cult revered the dead, and huge necropoli dotted the surface of the planet. Only by perfectly emulating the legendary battle deeds of a long-dead hero such as Alexis Schattenjager could a citizen get the right to vote, for example.

This legacy has been embraced by the Crypt Saints, who hope to rebuild their devastated home world and restore it to a fraction of its morbid glory. Many of the Crypt Damned, on the other hand, are reincarnations of the legendary dead, brought back to existence by the Casket of Dust. 

Organisation

Amongst the Damned, many have formed a private sect of the chapter that has replaced the standard Chaplaincy. These select few are introduced to the arcane rites required to operate the Casket of Dust, and hold titles like Master of Cerements or Master of Ritual. Many of them now bear the marks of the Ruinous Powers, and it is feared that this Morbid Order, as it is called, is already little more than a chaos cult serving a darker power. 

Use of the Casket of Dust, whilst returning a lost marine from death, is not without side-effects. The precise nature of these is unconfirmed, but the chapter marks such 'reclaimed' brethren as Bluebloods. They often bear phials of bright blue liquid or have their armour marked with azure blood drops. Inquisitors have denounced these individuals as Hereticus Extremis. 

Both stripes of the chapter favour hit and run tactics, terror tactics, ambush and surprise. Squads are often deployed in small groups operating at distance from one another, and frequently departing from Codex-approved tactics. 

Recruitment

The Saints have a steady stream Primaris marines from Holy Mars, but not so many as they need or would like. Other, less suspect Chapters have a greater need of reinforcements, apart from anything else. 

The Damned merely recycle their casualties in the Casket of Dust, but as such are unusually driven to reclaim the bodies of the fallen from the battlefield. Where a battle has gone against them, they have been known to return and strike even harder at unexpected moments to do just this, something their loyalist brothers have gladly used against them when possible. 

Recent Developments

Mox Grande's final report was damning - the Crypta Lapsuerunt have been condemned as heretical, and must be hunted down and rooted out. This is proving no easy task, but the Crypt Saints have bent their will to its completion. First, however, they are still attempting to root the T'Pau Sept out of the Rylstone system, and they currently lack the troops to complete this task, let alone hunt down their renegade ancestors. 

Known Forces of the Crypta Lapsuerunt

Headquarters

Kasfunatius, Chapter Master of the Crypt Angels

Artificier Terminator Armour

Post-Awakening Armour

Honestly the last version, promise

Blueblood Lifeguard x5

Ascorax, Chief Librarian

Epistolary Rylius

Epistolary Naxramus

Epistolary Xyldario

Apothecary Phylactrus, Master Embalmer

Codicier Degrissi, Master of Memorials

Codicier Groud, Master of Relics

Codicier Tresius, Master of Cremation

Bascardio, Master of Cerements

Lexicanian Discotti, Master of Rituals

Lexicanian Testligia, Master of Reopening

Ajadax, Master Thurifer

1st Company Veterans

Squad Entenides, Terminators x 5

Squad Morox, Terminators x 6

Deathhound Assault Terminators x5

Tomb Warden Terminators x5

Squad Vaultus, Blueblood Veterans x5

Memento Mori, Dreadnought

Pacem Sepulchri, Dreadnought

Mordere Me, Hellbrute

Perferator Pavor, Hellbrute

Acceptionem Mortis, Land Raider

2nd Company

Captain Eox

Scythor, Chaplain of Rest

Apothecary Dandrian

Techmarine Sarxoph

Bearers of the Vestments, Veterans x5

Cerephas, Wearer of the Vestments

Sword Squad, Tactical Marines x10

Skull Squad, Tactical Marines x10

Squad Silentium, Devastator Squad x5

Squad Tranquillo, Devastator Squad x5

Rhino x3

Space Marine Bike Squad x5

Space Marine Attack Bike

Land Speeder

Ore Crypta, Dreadknight

Squad Pessimitus, Centurion Devastator Squad (pictured with Drop Pod)

3rd Company

Captain Coffix

Falchio, Chaplain of Repose

Shrine Squad, Tactical Marines x10

Stone Squad, Tactical Marines x5

Steel Squad, Tactical Marines x5

Loculo, Vindicator

Feretro, Predator

4th Company Remnants

Captain Raggitus

Raggitus Discordant

Firemon, Chaplain of Eulogies

Macion, Chaplain of Remembrance

Sarxoph, Master Nechanicus

Epistolary Cacchus, Chief Mourner

Fabius Bile

Derek

Squad Oblitus, Possessed x10

Squad Incolae, Possessed x10

Squad Vivacissimus, Berkserkers x5

Squad Ingratum, Tactical Marines x10

Squad Indictis, Tactical Marines x5

Squad Delitor

Squad Assecula, Specialists

Ferrumalitiae

Flammifer

8th Company

Haarden Planetstaker

Captain Oblato

Pacem Descendit, Assault Marines x5

Grave Tacita, Warp Talons x10

Somno Mors, Raptors x5

Tenebris Vindicta, Ravenwing Darkshroud/Landspeeder Vengeance

10th Company

Captain Falxis

Squad Mirum

Squad Scorpionem

Morituri, either 40 cultists or eight squads of Scouts x5, depending on your point of view

Taleus Nigris, Ravenwing Dark Talon/Nephilim Jetfighter

11th Company - The Noble Crypt Saints

Captain Carnevus Malwaur

Mouthguards

Archive Master Kasphisto, Returned Master of the Second Death

Captain Corleandro

Captain Jereann

Captain Dellerothron

Captain Madrakain

Gravis Captain Ulchimis

Terminator Captain Dartius

Chaplain Colx Mordis, Master of Rebirth

Chaplain Deremiah, Master of Resurgence

        Chaplain Exequia, Master of the Hearse

Techmarine Doxtopher, Master of Reparations

Codicier Ibrani, Master of Rehabilitation

Epistolary Vitreon, Master of Monuments

Vanguard Command

Left to right - Codicier Volorox, Master Concealer
Captain Cadarn
Lieutenant Helvetius

Lieutenant Gelorn

Lieutenant Segrasso

Lieutenant Paravolf

Lieutenant Cogreda

Apothecary Timblans, Master of Adaptation

Apothecary Rosangelus, Master of Collections

Brother Landire, Company Ancient

Brother Ancil, Company Ancient

Judiciar Fahrus, Master of the First Death

Squad Complevit, Terminators

Squad Funus, Bladeguard Veterans

Squad Acies, Bladeguard Veterans

Squad Tredecim, Intercessors

Squad Torquem, Assault Intercessors

Squad Lignator, Assault Intercessors

Squad Veterebarba, Veteran Intercessors

Squad Obiex, Heavy Intercessors

Squad Librator, Heavy Intercessors

Squad Acribus, Infernus Marines

Squad Siccatus, Plasma Inceptors

Squad Nix, Boltcaster Inceptors

Squad Quimetit, Reivers

Squad Quo Vadis, Infiltrators

Squad Senioris, Sternguard Veterans

Squad Intremisco, Sternguard Veterans

Squad Facilensores, Outriders

Squad Cursorinfernum, Outriders

Fireteam Funestus, Invader ATV Group

Gelus, Hailstrike Land Speeder

Squad Exustio, Flame Aggressors

Squad Iaculator, Bolt Aggressors

Squad Ambustum, Hellblasters

Squad Fluxus,  Heavy Hellblasters

Squad Suffitus, Assault Hellblasters

Squad Praeceptum, Suppressors

Squad Terunt, Suppressors

Squad Amoveo, Eliminators

Squad Percussi, Eliminators

Squad Rogus, Eradicators

Squad Fraxinus, Eradicators

Fireteam Devoratrix

Portat Mortuorum, Redemptor Dreadnought

Spatiator Sepulcrum, Redemptor Dreadnought

Urna Volans, Repulsor Grav Tank

Tredecimator, Impulsor Tank

Hammerfall Bunker

Inquisitor Mox Grande

"By Hammer and Bolt, I shall determine their guilt!"

Further History

The Siege of Rylstone Keep

Learning of the Rubicon Primaris, Kasfunatius decided that Guilliman would not be the only Chapter Master to discover new powers. Rather that trusting in the lore of the Mechanicus, however, he kept his own counsel.

Moving the Casket of Dust to the largest and strongest remaining stronghold on Rylstone, the Rylstone Keep, Kasfunatius sealed himself inside. The inner circle of chaplains then engaged the horrific energies of the Casket, trusting in Kasfunatius's instructions and the willpower of their leader.

What happened next was entirely unexpected.

Somehow, the Necron device activated a localised warpstorm. Horrified Blueblood and veteran Crypt Angels alike were immediately attacked by a colossal incursion of howling Daemons, led by champions of all four of the Ruinous Powers. Desperately trying to power up the Imperial Knights cradled in repair gantries along the front bridge to the fortress, the Marines fought as best they could to repel the Daemons.

Many fell. Captain Jereann of the 11th personally slew a Great Unclean One, Botchflay, in hand-to-hand combat as it attempted to breach the fortress, but perished under the collapse of its rotting bulk. The Redemptor Dreadnought Spatiator Sepulcrum managed to banish a Keeper of Secrets in melee, only to die later under a tide of Plaguebearers. Skull Squad racked up a tally of two Daemon Princes to their missile launcher. All three Knights were overrun and destroyed by a sea of Bloodletters and other lesser daemons.

Their heroic sacrifices were in vain. A lone daemon, the Tzeentchian champion Fateskimmer, breached the defences and engaged Kasfunatius as he emerged from the Casket. Unable to defend himself properly, the Chapter Master was possessed by the Horror, although this was not clear at the time. Instead, it became known through the terrible events of the coming years.

Redemption

Over the next decade or so, the Crypt Angels became known as raiders, and their red and black armour was on occasion mistaken for other, more infamous, traitors. Whether hitting Imperial supply depots or boarding and crippling naval convoys on route to warzones, Mox Grande was able to come to a clear decision swiftly. The Crypt Angels had fallen to Chaos, and would need to be destroyed. 

The Inquisitor was, however, trapped on Rylstone with the chapter. There were no transports leaving the planet other than the battle barges of the marines, and adept of cunning though he was, Grande was unable to find a berth on those vessels! 

Although the survivors of the Siege were mostly infected with the same madness as their master, Grande was able to discover a few, far-flung loyalists. 

Most of these were veterans of the Zamaroon campaign, where the Crypt Angels had helped another Inquisitor turn the tide against a Tyranid infestation. Returning late from this action, these marines under Captain Jereann were dismayed to find the further collapse of their chapter, and more than eager to aid the Inquisitor. 

It took years, but eventually they managed to set a trap. As Kasfunatius returned from a raiding mission, a small force of loyalist Vanguard marines infiltrated and took over one of the few still-functioning planetary defence silos at Rylstone Keep, and shot down the Chapter Master's lander as it returned from orbit. Although it managed to land relatively intact, even able to launch an armoured column in counterstrike against the ambushers, they were able to massacre Kasfunatius's bodyguard and mortally wound the Chapter Master himself. 

Alas, the warp wasn't about to give up what it had taken. Saved from death by the creature possessing him, Kasfunatius was whipped away from the Inquisitor's champions and apparently teleported back to his battle barge in high orbit above Rylstone. It departed shortly afterwards, taking around half the existing chapter's strength with it. 

Those that have remained on Rylstone are loyal once more, styling themselves the Crypta Sanctorum or 'Crypt Saints'. Working to repair and restore their homeworld, they have since been reinforced by Primaris Marines on the personal recommendation of Mox Grande. They are led by acting Chapter Master, Captain Cadarn, leader of the ambush force, who refuses to use the full title until Kasfunatius is redeemed in death. At present, they are hampered by the continuing actions of the T'Pau sept in their system, but making steady gains.

Kasfunatius himself has yet to be found, although it is certainly not going to be long before the dread troops of the Crypta Lapsuerunt (Crypt Fallen) show themselves again.