Daemonhunters
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This WFB or WH40K-related article or section describes an aspect of the series in a primarily in-universe style. Please rewrite this article to explain the fiction more clearly and provide non-fictional perspective. |
In the fictional Warhammer 40,000 universe, the Daemonhunters (the Ordo Malleus or "Order of the Hammer") are a playable army in the tabletop wargame. Along with the Ordo Hereticus (Witch Hunters) and the Ordo Xenos (Alien Hunters) they make up the Inquisition. As of yet Alien Hunters are the only one of these three not to have an official army book or miniature range.
Aided by the Grey Knights Space Marine Chapter, it is the task of the Ordo Malleus to destroy the physical manifestation of Chaos, Daemons. Games Workshop only recently produced an official army book for the Daemonhunters, focusing its main attention on the Grey Knights space marines.
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[edit] Foundation and role
The Ordo Malleus was founded after the end of the Horus Heresy to prevent any further daemonic incursion or influence. It is one of the two original Ordos of the Inquisition, the other being the Ordo Xenos. The Ordo Malleus concerns itself with the daemonic threat that faces the Imperium and for thousands of years has waged a covert war for humanity's continued survival.
An Ordo Malleus Inquisitor is sanctioned to call on the aid of any organization of the Imperium. The greatest threat, that of daemonic invasion, can only be dealt with by the Grey Knights, the Ordo Malleus's own Chamber Militant. Grey Knights are an elite, specialised chapter of the Astartes, surpassing even normal Space Marines in skill and determination.
The Emperor has decided that secrecy and ignorance is the best defense against Chaos; the fewer who know of Chaos, the fewer who can be tempted. No one outside the Inquisition is allowed to know of the existence of Chaos; after a daemonic threat has been destroyed, non-Inquisitorial participants are executed. Those too valuable to execute are instead mind-scrubbed through hypnosis to forget; any other forces are destroyed with full honors[1].
Realm of Chaos: Slaves to Darkness describes the Ordo Malleus - besides being the Daemonhunters of the Imperium - as the secretive inner order of the Inquisition. Whereas the Inquisition as a whole roots out corruption within other organizations of the Imperium, the Ordo Malleus exists to ensure the Inquisition itself does not become corrupt. In contrast to the outer Inquisition, where all Inquisitors are peers acting only under the Master and the Emperor, the Malleus has a rigid and formalized hierarchy. It is controlled by a council of 169 Masters, whose authority extends even to the Master of the Inquisition. The Ordo's organization is divided into Chambers, each controlled by a Proctor. The number of Inquisitors in a Chamber can vary from a few score to hundreds[1].
[edit] Combat doctrine
A Daemonhunter army can consist of a variety of troops drawn from other Imperial forces. It may field Inquisitorial Storm Troopers, Inducted Imperial Guardsmen, Allied Space Marines using the "by the authority of the Immortal Emperor of Mankind" rule. They may also call upon the Vindicare, Callidus, Eversor and Culexus temples of the Officio Assassinorum.[2]
[edit] The Grey Knights
The Grey Knights are unique among the Astartes as the only chapter to have full knowledge of the dark secrets of Chaos. They are equipped with exotic weapons and armour to battle and defeat daemons. Their main armament is the Nemesis force weapon and Terminator Aegis armour. The most rare and exotic weapon is the Psycannon, carrying psychically-charged bolts, which are especially damaging to psychic creatures such as daemons. Each Knight fights with a copy of the Liber Daemonicus displayed in a beautifully decorated ceramite case fastened to his breastplate or hanging from a chain around his neck. Many also carry several additional litany scrolls encased in ceramite tubes attached to their waists.
The Chapter is spread across the Imperium to respond to a daemonic threat wherever it occurs. All Grey Knights are psykers, and each possesses the spiritual fortitude needed to resist temptation and possession by daemons.
The Grey Knight counterpart to the Chapter Masters of other chapters is the Grand Master, who also occupies a position within the Inner Conclave of the Inquisition. There can also be more than one Grand Master at the same time, even during a single mission as was the case when Grand Master Mandulis led a force of three hundred Grey Knights on Khorion IX to ban the daemon Ghargatuloth[3].
The devotion of the Grey Knights is beyond question; as of current background fiction, no Grey Knight has ever turned to Chaos or otherwise been declared Excommunicate Traitoris during the chapter's entire recorded history. The Daemonhunter Codex suggests the Chapter's gene-seed comes from the Emperor's own flesh. Following the Heresy, the Grey Knights were created specifically to stave off future daemonic corruption.
Some believe that the earliest Grey Knights were drawn from Loyalist survivors of the Astartes that turned Traitor during the Horus Heresy. Before the Emperor departs to confront Horus, Malcador the Sigilite presents him with six such Astartes to the Emperor, proclaiming that each has psyker abilities that will be sorely needed in the future.
[edit] Nemesis Force Weapons
The characteristic weapon of the Grey Knights is the Nemesis force-weapon. Many speculate that the halberds used by the Grey Knights are based on the design of the Guardian Spear used by the Adeptus Custodes. All Nemesis Force Weapons are crafted with the purest materials to the highest standards. Each weapon is also unique as it is tailored specifically to the individual wielder's psyche. Because of this, no one can use a Nemesis Force Weapon other than the owner. Nemesis Force Weapons normally take the shape of a sword or halberd but can also be an axe or any other melee weapon.
This, however, is in conflict with the novel Grey Knights where the Nemesis Sword of the late Grand Master Mandulis was used by a Grey Knight Terminator named Tancred to defeat the tainted corpse of St. Evisser as a prelude to the summoning of a lieutenant of Tzeentch. This may, however, simply be a rare exception to the rule, though the circumstances and conditions that would allow such a case are unknown.
[edit] Inquisitorial Storm Troopers
The Inquisition maintains a string of fortresses scattered throughout the galaxy, some hidden, some extremely well known and the object of numerous dark legends. Inquisitorial Storm Troopers are charged with the protection and security of the Inquisition fortresses and the infamous Black Ships as they make their purity checks throughout the Imperium. Recruited from the Schola Progenium, and certain families with a tradition of service to the Inquisition, these Stormtroopers are equipped and trained in a similar fashion to the elite Storm Troopers of the Imperial Guard. Storm Troopers undertake rigorous purity and incorruptibility tests before they are permitted to bear the Inquisitorial mark, making them preferable for use in the Daemonhunters forces where the number of Grey Knights available may be insufficient. Since they are normal human soldiers more comparable to Imperial guardsmen than to Space Marines (and much less Grey Knights) they field more common yet powerful weapons such as Hellguns instead of Assault Bolters, bayonets instead of Nemesis Force Weapons and caparace armour instead of the power armour or the Tactical Dreadnought Armour.
[edit] Notable Daemonhunters
Below are those notable for serving the Daemonhunters. For other Grey Knights that are notable for fighting Daemons (such as Grand Master Mandulis or Justicar Alaric), but not necessarily for fighting with the Daemonhunters, see Notable Members.
[edit] Brother-Captain Stern
Brother-Captain Stern is a character in the First Edition of the Daemonhunters Codex. He has served the Grey Knights and banished the Lord of Change M'kachen. This incident follows Stern every chance it can and is called the Strands of Fate and the Daemonic Nemesis (M'kachen's ability to appear in battle against Stern or intertwine their fates together)[4].
He is armed with Terminator Armour, a Nemesis Force weapon, a Storm Bolter, and a Grimoire of True Names (a book containing names of Daemons).
[edit] Inquisitor Lord Torquemada Coteaz
Inquisitor Lord Toquemada Coteaz is a character in the First Edition of the Daemonhunters Codex[2]. He gained his reputation for being a fearsome Daemonhunter through years of action against the Daemonic. One such incident early in his career was against Senior Inquisitor Laredian, who he declared "Extremis Diabolus" for Laredian's radical proposal to make use of Chaos-spawned artifacts. He proved this claim to the assemblage of Inquisitors within the span of an hourglass, then summarily executed the Senior Inquisitor on the spot. For his bold and righteous actions, he was proclaimed High Protector of the Formosa Sector- the late Inquisitor Laredian's former position.
He was given the title "Scourge of the Xethorites" after exterminating them during the Lorgamar Rebellions. After destroying the Medarean Nebula Daemon cults, he was made an Inquisitor Lord. He later destroyed the Plague Lord in the "Great Scourging of 957.M41" and cleansed the daemons tech engineers of Forge World Glovoda and was awarded a twin-headed psyber-eagle (the Glovodan Eagle). He is now known as the High Protector of the Formosa Sector[2].
With his power and popularity, he has a retinue of thousands, and he arms himself with rare weapons (like his Anointed Daemonhammer), Artificer Armour, his Glovodan Eagle, and Daemonhunter Relics[2].
Inquisitor Lord Torquemada Coteaz's name is a reference to Tomás de Torquemada, the first Inquisitor General of Spain, and possibly also a reference to the similarly-named villain from 2000 A.D..
[edit] Quotations
- "It is better that one hundred innocents fall before the wrath of the Emperor than one bows before the Daemon."
~First Book of Indoctrinations
- "Innocence proves nothing."
~Inquisitorial motto
- "Better crippled in body than corrupt in mind"
~Inquisitorial motto
[edit] References
- ^ a b Ansell, Bryan; Priestley, Rick, etc. (1988). Realm of Chaos: Slaves to Darkness. Nottingham: Games Workshop. ISBN 1-869893-51-4.
- ^ a b c d Andy Chambers, Phil Kelly and Graham McNeill (2003). Codex: Daemonhunters. Games Workshop. ISBN 1-84154-361-6.
- ^ Counter, Ben (2004). Grey Knights. Nottingham: Black Library. ISBN 1-84416-087-4.
- ^ McNeil, Graham; and Haines, Pete (2003). Warhammer 40,000 Codex: Daemonhunters. Nottingham: Games Workshop. ISBN 1-84154-361-6.
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