the Gene-seed tithe is also used for testing of said gene-seed for mutations and such. For as far as I recall anyhow.

 

And yes some of the tithe is used for founding new chapters IIRC.

 

Well, for the most obvious reason why: If they don't do so, they will receive punitive action by the Imperium-- likely in the form of loyalist marines.

For other reasons, as others have pointed out, they need to see if there are any oddities in their geneseed (mutations, chaos taint, xenos infection). Also it allows the Imperium to found more Chapters. It is a very high honor to have a successor Chapter created from one's geneseed.

Also, in times of need, tithes can be greatly reduced or even completely withheld (for a time). The Imperium is understanding enough that a Chapter that has received massive causalities may skip or send smaller tithes for a couple centuries or three.

 

Well, for the most obvious reason why: If they don't do so, they will receive punitive action by the Imperium-- likely in the form of loyalist marines.

See the Badab Wars for an example of this

 

Beyond the actual reasons, as noted by Hailene et al, there might also be the fact that it it the primary test of a Chapter's loyalty; the way that tithes have worked for a long time.
If the Chapter 'pays up', then it is showing that it knows who's Boss and who calls the shots. Should the tithe be witheld (again, going past what Hailene mentioned, when circumstances mean a tithe is too much strain on necessary geneseed stocks), then it is a first glimmer that there needs to be a closer look taken by the Adeptus Terra to see what the problem is. I'd say it's almost like a safety feature, an alarm that is tripped by the absence of an action: no traitor Chapter would continue paying the tithe to leaders is has thrown off and any sub-par stuff sent to 'make up the numbers' would also be inspected more closely.

GFP

 

Gene seed tithe is in place so that when a chapter has tithed enough a new successor chapter is created. Only terra has the power to create a new chapter. Its also a way to guarantee that if a chapter is destroyed it can be remade. SMs are in the habit of fighting unwinnable wars vs impossible odds.

 

Anybody else have a sperm bank in mind when thinking about this?

 

You mean a bunch of men providing "samples" for offspring they'll probably never meet....? :laugh:

 

The Black Dragons come to mind. The AdMech have been looking very carefully at their tithes, but they're coming up pure, which is rather odd since they do have a noticeable mutation in the form of bone spines and ridges.

 

not to mention you want to keep on the good side of the guys who make your guns,ammo and warmachines....

 

Most chapters follow the tithe rule without question or care. Then you have chapters like the Black Dragons who display a unique mutation and their gene-seed is some how unmutated. Interesting, certainly it has nothing to do with the fact the Black Dragons seem to intentionally trying to piss the Inquisition off all the time lol

 

In Death of Antagonis, it's explained that the Black Dragons have members with 0 mutations, some with the bone extensions that give their Chapter a bad reputation and some whose mutations have made them monsters. They send the gene-seed of the pure members to Terra for testing. A boring revelation indeed. I would prefer if they thought of some ingenious way of fooling the gene-seed biologists.

 

I've heard that they were under suspicion of stealing another chapter's gene-seed somehow and using that to fool them. Interesting to say the least.

 

It's no easy feat to steal gene-seed. Chaos Marines do it by annihilating a loyalist chapter. That would be noticed. And any other way would yield too little gene-seed for a tithe. Space Marines protect progenoids very well, even when on mission. In Deus Sanguinius, a Blood Angel ship is destroyed and another recovers the "black box" holding progenoids from marines who fell in battle earlier in the mission. You have to figure a container that can survive a Warp engine or plasma reactor exploding is carrying something very valuable.

 

I was wondering... what is stopping the Mechanicum from creating their pet Astartes chapters?

 

Probably the Inquisition and High Lords of Terra lol

 

I love it, even in WH40K with hyper-engineered Astares you have the specter of faked drug tests. "Your progenoid shows the same amounts of estrogen as a pregnant woman... is this gene tithe actually from you, or did you get it from the Sisters of Silence?"

 

"Your progenoid shows the same amounts of estrogen as a pregnant woman... is this gene tithe actually from you, or did you get it from the Sisters of Silence?"

Ha. lol I think it's mostly for chaotic or uncontrollable mutations

 

Lance armstrong is a space marine. A miracle of modern chemistry.

 

I looked through Dark Apostle. You were close.

About a third of the way through the book, the WBs fight some Mechancius troops. They tear through the shield servitors and then rip apart the skitarii. Though these skitarii are better armed than regular Guardsmen, they're no match for the Astartes.

Then more troops in the form of "Heavily armoured servitors" engaged the WBs. They were probably the troops you were thinking about. They were about the size of a Space Marine and well-armed and armored.

They were probably more heavily armed than regular, bolter-wielding Astartes, though whether they were "better" is debatable. They are, however, undoubtedly not Skitarii.

Later on, heavily-armed, centaur-like troops are brought up, but they aren't referred to as Skitarii either.

 

I looked through Dark Apostle. You were close.

Ah, my bad, I read that book a while ago so I guess the names and descriptions all kind of blurred together. As I said there doesn't really seem to be a hard and fast definition for what a 'Skittari' is, beyond something that's part human, part machine and a soldier of the Mechanicus (similarly Space Marine can cover everything from a Scout (which regular soldiers can be better than) to a Dreadnought). My point was that the Mechanicus doesn't need to steal gene-seed to make superior soldiers, and whatever they are called in the book (is it Praetorians? Or is that something else as well...) they are at least close to Tactical Marine-level killing power.

 

Can I ask what the main difference is between a Skitarri and Servitor?

 

Both are cyborgs. The skitarri are able to think, while the servitors are mindless robot slaves.