Second Founding

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The Second Founding is an event that occurred in the fictional Warhammer 40,000 universe, shortly after the Horus Heresy. This event was intended to reorganise the armed forces of the Imperium, preventing large forces from coming under the command of a single person.

Contents

[edit] Causes

The Horus Heresy was a time of strife, as the Imperium nearly tore itself apart in civil war. Large forces were corrupted by the powers of Chaos, including at least nine of the original twenty Space Marine Legions.

The heresy was ended after the Emperor of Mankind slew the leader of the traitors, Warmaster Horus, though he was mortally wounded by the Warmaster in the process.

Many weaknesses in the structure and organisation of the Imperium were exposed by these events. It was decided by the High Lords of Terra, twelve of the most powerful men in the Imperium, that mass reorganisation had to occur in order to prevent an event like the Horus Heresy from happening again.

[edit] The Codex Astartes

The task of reorganising the Imperium’s military might was undertaken by Roboute Guilliman, Primarch of the Ultramarines Legion. Almost single handedly, he codified the structure of the Imperial Guard, the Imperial Navy, and the Space Marines.

The Codex Astartes refers to the reorganisation of the Space Marine Legions, tens of thousands strong, into the more manageable and far less powerful thousand strong chapters, and laid down rules relating to the speed of genetic manipulation received by recruits. This document also laid down tactical doctrine, equipment specifications, and identification markings, and is regarded as a holy text by many Space Marines.

[edit] The Second Founding

The Second Founding occurred seven years after the death of Horus. The existing Space Marine Legions were broken up, and reorganised into the Chapters; smaller, more flexible formations.

One chapter was allowed to retain the original markings of the Legion, while the remainder, known as Successor Chapters, had to take on new names and heraldry. Most of the legions broke into less than five chapters, although the Ultramarines' huge numbers of Space Marines following the Horus Heresy allowed the creation of 23 Successor Chapters.

[edit] Second Founding Chapters

Name Primarch New Chapters Comments
Dark Angels Lion El'Jonson Angels of Absolution, Angels of Redemption, Angels of Vengeance The Dark Angels and their successor chapters refer to themselves as the Unforgiven.
White Scars Jaghatai Khan Marauders, Rampagers, Destroyers, Storm Lords None
Space Wolves Leman Russ Wolf Brothers See The Great Companies.
Imperial Fists Rogal Dorn Black Templars, Crimson Fists There is a third Second Founding Chapter of dubious canonicity, the Soul Drinkers.
Blood Angels Sanguinius Angels Encarmine, Angels Sanguine, Angels Vermillion, Blood Drinkers, Flesh Tearers The Successor Chapters suffer from the same gene-seed flaws as the Blood Angels themselves.
Iron Hands Ferrus Manus Red Talons, Brazen Claws None
Ultramarines Roboute Guilliman Novamarines, Patriarchs of Ulixis, White Consuls, Black Consuls, Libators, Inceptors, Praetors of Orpheus, Genesis Chapter It is said that there were 23 Successor Chapters involved in the Second Founding, but not all of them are named.
Salamanders Vulkan None known The Salamanders did not have sufficient numbers to necessitate splitting the Legion into Chapters, because of the few survivors of the Drop Site Massacre.
Raven Guard Corax Black Guard, Revilers, Raptors None

[edit] Chapter Organisation

Each Chapter divides their forces into ten Companies of a hundred Space Marines, based on specialisation and experience.

  • Second to Fifth Companies were considered to be the ‘battle companies’. These were experienced soldiers often deployed to the front lines, generally bearing the brunt of the fighting. These companies consisted of 6 Tactical, 2 Assault, and 2 Devastator squads. Attack bikes and Land Speeders were available for use by the Assault-trained Marines.
  • Sixth to Ninth Companies were the reserve companies. Sixth and Seventh Companies consist primarily of Tactical squads, while Eight was dedicated to assault, and Ninth to heavy support(Devastator squads).
  • The Tenth Company is the Scout company, in which new recruits must prove their worth before becoming inducted as full Space Marines.

[edit] Divergence

Many chapters do not follow the Codex Astartes as strictly as would be liked by the High Lords of Terra; due to homeworld environment, personality and beliefs of the Chapter, and the image of the founding leader.

Such chapters include, to varying degrees of divergence,

  • Blood Angels and their successors (with the notable exception of the Blood Drinkers).
  • Dark Angels, primarily in the Deathwing and Ravenwing companies.
  • Space Wolves disregard the Codex Astartes altogether, including not respecting the limit of one thousand Marines.
  • Iron Hands do not field terminator squads but instead give Tactical Dreadnought Armour only to certain individuals
  • Black Templars, like the Space Wolves, disregard the Codex altogether and allow for a potentially unlimited number of Marines, which is just barely tolerated by the Imperium because of the fractured nature of the chapter and the neverending crusade the chapter has been on since inception.

These divergences are permitted by the rulers of the Imperium, mainly because there is no feasible way of enforcing the Codex.

[edit] References

  • Chambers, Andy (1998). Warhammer 40,000 Codex: Space Marines. Nottingham: Games Workshop. ISBN 1-869893-28-X.
  • (January 2001) "Index Astartes – The Codex Astartes". White Dwarf: Australian Edition (253). ISSN 0265-8712.
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