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Post by DesertGhostExarch on Jun 9, 2004 11:47:23 GMT -5
The closest thing to that I can think of is BT's with their neophytes. Chapter serfs have always been more "chapter property" than "individual property"....
And they'd probably wear jumpsuits, tighty-fitting robes (solidarity with space marines), or coveralls (ah, good ol' 1984) to emphasize a sense of uniformity and servitude. Probably even flak or carapace armor during space battles (yes they do serve as the "core crew" of space marine vessels, if I recall correctly), so they can have at least a little protection....
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Post by malika on Jun 11, 2004 2:57:44 GMT -5
They can be chapter property, but I think a chapter would have more than a 1000 serves, I can see each marine have a serve, and when the marine dies and the serve is still alive, he will work for another marine.
Maybe each battle a marine will have a different serve.
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Post by Destecado on Jun 11, 2004 5:00:47 GMT -5
I seem to also remember hearing of families of servants. Ones that had been in service to a particular Chapter for generations. Do they allow these servants to marry and have families then or could this depend on the chapter.
The way this are presented in the 40k universe, formalized education (in scholls) does not seem to be the standard throughout the Imperium. Some more "progressive" areas, like around Ultimar, would have a much higher educated populace than in other areas.
Could we therefore assume that most education might take place as an appreticeship process. Each servant learns his role or job from another servant. Maybe jobs are passed down from father to son in a family. This would instill a kind of conformity and also make it hard for an individual to do alot of harm. They only know their job instead of how the whole system works.
Another reasons behind this is the more you educate someone, the more they will begin to ask questions. They might also begin to see the inequities of Imperial society. To stave off rebelion, you keep the people down. This is also a good reason why there has been no significant cultural developement. The eclisiarchy and other organs of the Imperium purge the best and the brightest minds.
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Post by Lordof on Jun 11, 2004 16:55:03 GMT -5
The problem with having a strict order of who does what is that in any fighting unit if only one person knows how to do something and they die then the system starts to fail.
So a Serf within the chapter would be expected to know how to do a wide range of activities from general ships maintanance through to basic first aid.
So whilst they may specialise in one thing they will know how to do a wide variety of tasks.
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Post by Destecado on Jun 21, 2004 3:17:01 GMT -5
Do you feel that these tasks would extend beyond their primary work area or battle station? While I agree that rudimentary skills in such fields as first aid or fire fighting techniquies would be taught, as well as cross training within their specialty, but I do not feel that beyond this, they would have much training.
This is pretty much how it is in today's navy. take a submarine for example. A sailor who monitors sensor ops or is the sub driver has little to no experience with working on or maintaining the nuclear reactor or or other machinery in the engine room. Similarly the weapons specialists would probably not know how to maintain the air plant or replace CO2 scrubbers.
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Post by CELS on Jun 21, 2004 16:07:12 GMT -5
I agree with Destecado in that specialisation is high amongst Chapter serfs, especially on space ships. Sure, if there are low numbers (such as with Space Marines on the battlefields), high specialisation makes the fighting unit vulnerable. But serfs don't come in low numbers. While there are only a handful of Marines as crew on Strike cruisers, there are hundreds of serfs, IIRC.
I'm curious though, what jobs are done by the serfs, and what are done by servitors... I think the servitors operate the guns, and also any machinery that requires physical strength to operate. According to BFG: Armada (my latest acquisition), "almost all the ship's systems are run and monitored by servitors". Serfs are, apparently, only concerned with cooking, cleaning and maintenance, and are highly trained for boarding actions.
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Post by Minister on Jun 22, 2004 23:13:45 GMT -5
this is certainly the case throughout the Administratum, and I would think that it would spread to other Imperial organisations from there.
As for the serfs? Engineering crew, Boarding troops, gun captains (battery overseers, with the guns themselves being run by monotasks), bridge crew (except the captain and his exec, and possibly a few other command crew). Everything that requires independant thought but is not specialised to warant a Marine.
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Post by CELS on Jun 22, 2004 23:55:12 GMT -5
I rather prefer the image of Space Marine ships being mostly crewed by servitors, like the ship of Maxilla from the Eisenhorn novels. Instead of the teeming ships of the Imperial Navy, with lots of ratings pulling guns into position, petty officers screaming at the top of their lungs, preachers chanting liturgies, you'd have the Space Marine ships... dead quiet... with row upon row of servitors, watching their monitors and tending to their equipment with machine-like precision. Abnett also introduced the idea of servitors given mechanical augmentation to take special forms, like one servitor in the mechanical body of a griffon, and others covered with silver metal plating, with little or nothing of their human body actually showing. Something like this might be cool as well... servitors with ceramite masks grafted to their face, making them all identical, or each given the shape of a gargoyle or another mythical being, making the halls of the ships looking like a great mausoleum where unmoving statues look back at you as you walk past. Servitors would be more expensive than normal crew, and far more effective both in the role of gunnery and maintenance, and in a combat role as well. The serfs could be the inner guard of the ship, the squires following their knights to battle, while the bulk of the defending forces are actually hordes of combat servitors, led by tech marines. Sure, it would be expensive, but these are the Emperor's finest. They're supposed to get the best of the best equipment. (With the best of the best of the best being reserved for Grey Knights )
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