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 (formerly known as the Imperial Army), 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. However, some Chapters do not follow the Codex Astartes. These are referred to as Non-Codex Chapters.

Some of the key differences, according to the Codex Astartes, is that each Space Marine Chapter will only receive gene-seeds from their own Chapter. This ensures that there is no cross-contamination and exaggerates any genetic differences between the various Chapters. The gene-seeds of Chaos's followers were not destroyed, but isolated.

[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 Successor 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, Liberators, Inceptors, Praetors of Orpheus, Genesis Chapter, Eagle Warriors It is said that there were 23 Successor Chapters involved in the Second Founding, called the Progenitor chapters; not all of them have been 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 Codex Chapter divides its 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 being inducted as full Space Marines.

[edit] Divergence

Deviation from the letter of the Codex is not uncommon. According to the Index Astartes, "the Adeptus Terra has never felt it necessary to enforce the Codex absolutely. Indeed it is doubtful whether it could." This is 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 disregard the organization of Battle Companies and Reserve Companies and 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.

[edit] Chapters

 Imperial Fists, Blood Angels, Iron Hands, Ultramarines, Salamanders (Warhammer 40,000), Raven Guard are candidates to be copied to the Warhammer 40k Wiki using the Transwiki process established by the Warhammer 40,000 Wikiproject. In preparation for transwiki, Imperial Fists needs to be upmerged into this article.
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[edit] Dark Angels

Dark Angels
Primarch Lion El'Jonson
Chapter Master Azrael
Battlecry Repent! For tomorrow you die!
Colours Dark Green
White (Deathwing)
Black (original colours, Ravenwing)
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The Dark Angels are a fictional military unit in the Science Fantasy game Warhammer 40,000.

They were the first of the original twenty First Founding Legions of the Space Marines serving the Imperium of Man in the fictional future of the tabletop wargame Warhammer 40,000.

[edit] Organization

The organization of the Dark Angels differs from the Codex Astartes in the higher ranks, along with the layout of the First and Second Companies.

The First Company is known as the Deathwing, veterans who only take to the field of battle in bone-white Terminator Armour. This armour was originally black, but was repainted white to honour the valour of a group of 30 Terminators, who single-handedly halted a Genestealer invasion of Plain's World, one of the Dark Angels main recruiting worlds. The Deathwing is unique in that it has enough of the rare and precious Terminator suits to equip the entire company, in excess of 100 complete sets of armour; other Chapters have often requested the transfer, sale or loan of these suits, but The Deathwing will not part with them.

The second company is the Ravenwing. The members of the Ravenwing are chosen not only for their skill at fast assaults on bike and landspeeder but also for their resilience to the heretical rantings of members of the fallen. The Ravenwing wear jet-black armour and specialise in lightning fast assaults. All but highest members of the inner circle are oblivious to the true purpose of the Ravenwing, to hunt down and capture every last member of the fallen as only with the blood of the fallen can the dark angels' sins be washed away.

[edit] Headquarters

The ruins of Caliban are located in the Cadian sector, to the galactic north of the Eye of Terror. Prior to the Great Crusade and the Horus Heresy, the planet of Caliban was covered with lush forests, inhabited by creatures warped by Chaos. The humans of the planet were a proud, martial people, forced to live in great stone monasteries.

The Dark Angels rebuilt their fortress monastery on the asteroid that had borne the original fortress, drilling deep into the bedrock and rebuilding the ruins. The new fortress is known officially as The Tower of Angels, but is more commonly referred to as The Rock. The Rock has been equipped with warp engines, enabling faster-than-light transit through the Immaterium.

The warrens beneath The Rock are where the Dark Angels bring their fallen brethren to be redeemed by their Interrogator-Chaplains. It is believed by the Inquisition to hold many other secrets. One secret is known only to the Inner Circle: Luther is not only still alive, but imprisoned within the deepest cavern of The Rock. He is incurably insane, and to date has frustrated the attempts of every Supreme Grand Master to make him repent. Luther simply rants and raves that he has no need of confession or repentance, for one day Lion El'Jonson will return and forgive him for his sins. Only when a Dark Angel reaches the rank of Company Master does he truly learn all the secrets of the Dark Angels. There is one more secret known only to the God-Emperor himself. Lion El' Jonson during the siege of Caliban was carried away by the Watchers in the dark and lies entombed, unconscious but still alive in a sealed, unreachable chamber directly in the centre of the rock, until the final battle.

[edit] Recruitment

As the Dark Angels have no home world to speak of (since the destruction of Caliban), they draw their recruits from a variety of planets, mainly with a pre-industrial level of technology. Representatives of the Dark Angels visit each recruiting world once within a normal human's lifetime, and take the strongest juveniles from the population. Each recruit is thoroughly screened, and from the moment he is accepted into the Chapter as a Space Marine, his past becomes irrelevant. Once the recruit is accepted he will undergo the normal rites to become a Space Marine. However, should he fail, his mind will be wiped clean and his body converted into that of a servitor, mindless automations that carry out the labourous tasks of the Chapter.

After the Heresy, the Dark Angels recruited from a single planet (known as Plains World). Sometime before the 41st Millennium a group of returning Deathwing found that their planet had been overrun fifty years earlier by Genestealers, with only a few un-tainted humans remaining. The Terminators, whose duty and honor required the extermination of the genestealers, prepared themselves for battle. The odds of their success was nearly non-existent. And so, the Terminators engaged in their native death ritual. Instead of anointing their skin with white ash, they anointed their armor. The Terminators cleansed the world and rescued the enslaved populace, and in honor of those few Terminators, their armor was ever after white. The Dark Angels leadership, the inner circle, recognised the folly of relying upon one planet for manpower and so diversified their recruiting grounds (these events were chronicled in the short story Deathwing, which first appeared in the Space Hulk supplement of the same name).

(Note: there is no proof the Space Hulk Deathwing events happened before or after the heresy, as no reference to the Primarchs are made at all in the text.)

[edit] Combat Doctrine

The Dark Angels follow the standard doctrine of the Codex Astartes, but their dogged resistance against overwhelming odds is legendary. The Dark Angels will stubbornly stand their ground in combat, refusing to give ground to the enemy, even if tactically beneficial to do so.

The primary driving force of the Chapter is the hunt and capture of "The Fallen". Only by forcing every single one to repent do the Dark Angels believe they can restore their honour. If a member of "The Fallen", or someone who may know of the location of one, is present on the battlefield, the Dark Angels will ignore their objective and do all in their power to capture this individual. Everything else is second to the capture of a Fallen Angel, including any human life. It is not unknown for Dark Angels to fire upon friendly targets in order to prevent them from discovering the secret of the Fallen. Those friendly units that survive are often taken to The Rock to be turned into Servitors, to silence them forever.

The Dark Angels are also notoriously intolerant of non-humans and mutants, even those considered benevolent by the Imperium of Man. They are also highly mistrustful of the Imperial Inquisition, and will refuse to fight alongside any force that incorporates members of the Inquisition, or non-human soldiers except in the most dire of circumstances. This is due to the fact that they do not want the Inquisition investigating the Chapter.

[edit] Battlecry

"Repent! For tomorrow you die!"

[edit] Appearance

The symbol of the Chapter is a winged sword. Variants of this symbol exist for the Deathwing and Ravenwing, the former depicting the winged sword as broken, the latter a sword held by a single wing and raven's claw. The tenth Company, the Scouts, uses the Dark Angel Sword but without the wing device, to symbolise the fact that the Scout Company comprises Chapter recruits and trainees, who have yet to "earn their wings".

Prior to the Horus Heresy, the power armour of the Dark Angels Legion was jet-black. After the Heresy, the bulk of the Chapter began to appear in dark green armour, while the First and Second Companies' armour remained black. The Deathwing later changed their armour to bone-white.

[edit] Notable Dark Angels and Fallen

  • Supreme Grand Master Azrael - The Supreme Grand Master of the Dark Angels Chapter and the unofficial commander of all the Unforgiven Chapters during the 41st millennium.
  • Cypher - The most feared member of the Fallen whose true name is unknown. Wherever this phantasm of a man goes, other Fallen are not far behind. This name comes from ancient Caliban, where is was commonly known as Lord Cypher, a man who would renounce his name and become the keeper of the Order's traditions and ceremonies.
  • Master Belial - Master of the Deathwing[1]
  • Master Sammael - Master of the Ravenwing[1]
  • Master Gideon - Ex master of the Ravenwing, crushed to death by a titan.
  • Master Ezekiel - Grand Master of Librarians - Keeper of the Book of Salvation. This ancient tome contains the names of the Fallen that the Dark Angels have captured.
  • Master Sapphon - Present Grand Master of Chaplains. He received the post neither due to age or ability as an interrogator (Asmodai is his superior in both these things), but for his vast leadership skills.
  • Interrogator-Chaplain Asmodai - Oldest and most successful living Interrogator-Chaplain within the chapter today. Bearer of the fabled Blades of Reason. His rules were removed from the new Dark Angel Codex.
  • Interrogator-Chaplain Molochia - Greatest of the Dark Angels' Interrogator-Chaplains. Died after over 300 years' service to the Chapter, with 12 Black Pearls on his rosarius. To this day, no other Interrogator-Chaplain has emulated this achievement.
  • Brother Bethor - Bearer of the Sacred Standard. (The Dark Angels have three Sacred Standards, namely the Standards of Fortitude, Retribution and Devastation.)
  • Scout Sergeant Namaan - Legendary Sergeant who died, halting the Ork advance during the Piscina IV campaign.
  • Anaziel - Supreme Grand Master of the Dark Angels in the 37th Millennium. Requested the creation of the Disciples of Caliban chapter
  • Chaplain Boreas - Chaplain of the 3rd Company during the Battle of Piscina IV
  • Captain Ezekiel - leader of the Deathwing recruiting party which discovered the Genestealer infection of their homeworld. Realizing that they faced a potential suicide mission, the Marines reverted to their tribal names, and painted their armour death-white. Ezekiel became the warrior Cloudrunner once again, and fought alongside Weasel-Fierce, Bloody Moon, and the Librarian Lucius, known as Two Heads Talking.
  • Master Gabriel - Ex Master of the Deathwing. Was sent to find Captain Ezekiel and his men as they did not return from Totem. On finding Ezekiel the lone survivor, Gabriel discovered the fate of his brothers. Gabriel returned to his chapter and started the new Deathwing using his own badge, a broken sword mixed with the wings of the chapter badge, and kept the white in respect of his brothers. He was killed on the Space Hulk Charnel Shrine.
  • Chapter commander Merir Astelan - Ordered planetary defenses on Caliban to fire on Lion El'Jonson's fleet after they returned from the Horus Heresy.

[edit] Successor Chapters

After the Horus Heresy, the Dark Angels founded at least three chapters to track the Fallen, the known ones being the Angels of Absolution, the Angels of Redemption and the Angels of Vengeance. These successor chapters share in the secret of the Fallen, and collectively the Dark Angels and their successors refer to themselves as "The Unforgiven".

In addition several other chapters have since been created using the Dark Angels gene-seed. These successor chapters were introduced in the fourth edition Dark Angels codex released in 2007. The new chapters introduced were Guardians of the Covenant, the Consecrators and the Disciples of Caliban. The Disciples of Caliban are unusual in that Chapter Master Anaziel specifically requested their creation, the only known instance of a Chapter Master to make such a request, much less have it granted. The Consecrators are notorious for using lovingly preserved technology from the time of Lion El'Jonson himself, as such they bear a striking resemblance to the Dark Angels of pre-heresy days.[1]

Curiously, although Dark Angel gene-seed is every bit as pure and fully functional as that of the Ultramarines chapter, the seed of the Lion has rarely been used since the Horus Heresy.

[edit] Background Information

Prior to the Descent of Angels by Mitchel Scanlon (Black Library), the background of the Dark Angels, both in Games Workshop material and within the fictional Warhammer 40,000 universe was shrouded in mystery. Aspects of the Chapter's fall to Chaos bear similarities to the legends of King Arthur, in particular Arthur's/El'Jonson's eventual defeat, and Gawain's/Luther's fall from grace.

Also, the name of their Primarch, Lion El'Jonson, is inspired by the English poet Lionel Johnson, the author of "The Dark Angel". Originally the name was spelt Lyyn Elgonsen (Rogue Trader p.138); presumably to obscure the reference.

[edit] Conspiracy Theories

Games Workshop has in recent years restricted the information about the Dark Angels to emphasize the mystery surrounding the chapter. The fate of Lion El'Jonson had been purposefully left out of all texts since the early 1990s, and only re-emerged in the 2001 "Index Astartes" article published in White Dwarf Magazine. While the Inner Circle know of Luther's stasis cell, there is another chamber at the very heart of the Rock that is unknown to all but the Watchers in the Dark and the Emperor himself. This secret chamber contains the sleeping form of Lion 'El Jonson. Similarly, information regarding the Chaos Space Marines character Cypher, rumoured to be foremost of the Fallen, is kept vague to further fuel players' imaginations.

The novel Angels of Darkness (Thorpe, 2003), written by Games Workshop staff member and codex writer Gav Thorpe, provides an alternative account of the events that split the Chapter, and the primarchs' influence over their space marines. Despite the layers of learning and civilisation 'El Jonson acquired in later life, the time he spent in the forest marked him permanently, and he remained a brooding, paranoid, and secretive man. Jonson's experience taught him that exposure invited predators, that darkness was as welcoming as it was dangerous. Intrigue, half-truths, and suspicion became second nature to each new Dark Angel. Jonson mistrusted the Terran Dark Angels above all others. While these men formed a minority within the chapter, Jonson spent by far more time leading them than the Caliban Dark Angels. Jonson also systematically removed control from each chapter commander and held his Legion's reigns tightly. Each chapter posted to a warzone was shadowed by a younger chapter in secret to report on its men to the primarch.

As the Heresy erupted, the Dark Angels were operating on the Eastern Fringe. In the interim, warp storms cut Caliban off from reliable astrotelepathy, so that only garbled accounts of current events reached the planet. Some were true, some were half-true, some were outright fabrications. In their desperation, the elder Dark Angels tried to leave Caliban and confront Horus. They were prevented by their younger brethren in a battle that grounded the marines' vessels and despoiled Caliban. When the Lion returned, his fleet was fired on for fear that he had sided with Horus, and that the victors' version of the uprising had already damned them in Jonson's eyes. Jonson immediately ordered a full-scale bombardment, and the destruction of Caliban soon followed.

The canonicity of the novel is hotly debated. Although the Fallen character (Astelan) is a first hand witness to events, it is unclear which of his claims are true, which are deliberate misinformation, and which are bias. The author, Gav Thorpe, has stated in an interview on Dysartes[2] that the book is not an objective look at the events on Caliban, but a character study of one of the "Fallen".

[edit] Dark Angels as an Army

In early March 2007, the Dark Angels codex for the fourth edition of Warhammer 40,000 was released. Unlike the previous edition of the codex, this was a stand-alone sourcebook that did not require players to have a copy of Codex: Space Marines. This most recent 88-page codex contains extensive in-game history, new rules and special characters for the army. New additions (and re-additions) to this edition of the codex were the special characters Sammael and Belial, the Masters of the Ravenwing and Deathwing companies of the Dark Angels respectively.

Some changes in the codex included a throwback to the rules system during the second edition of Warhammer 40,000. In that edition, Space Marine squads were taken in fixed numbers of either five or ten marines. The fourth edition of the Dark Angels' codex applied this limitation to all of their infantry squads, with the exception of the Dark Angels Company Veterans, a new unit introduced in the codex. Another change from the previous edition and also the normal Space Marine codex is the inclusion of Scout Marines as an Elites choice instead of a Troops choice. This change was also added to the latest Blood Angels codex.[1]

The Deathwing and Ravenwing also have been changed. No longer are Deathwing limited to Terminator-only armies. They now have more choices than just the Dreadnought and Land Raider. Ravenwing, likewise, also have more options than before. Sammael, the Master of Ravenwing, also has the ability to take to the skies in either a Land Speeder or a unique Jetbike (the former is as strong as a Land Raider in Armour while the latter is as strong as a Devastator in range combat). Deathwing armies also now have access to Terminator Apothecaries and Company Banners. However, due to restricted squad size, Deathwing Terminators are severely limited (even with Belial the total count of terminators can never go beyond 47, just below half of a full company of Space Marines).

An advantage from a wargamer's point of view is that Successor Chapters can be painted and named as liked. Some examples are given in the Codex but players can devise their own colour scheme. So there is no longer any need to paint terminators bone white. The Codex does suggest that these successor chapters would have dark, brooding colours. There are also Dark Angels specific box sets and characters.

[edit] Bibliography

[edit] White Scars

The White Scars were one of the First Founding Legions of Space Marines in the fictional universe of Warhammer 40,000. They are inspired by the real-life Mongolian army. Known and feared throughout the Imperium for their highly mobile way of war, the White Scars are considered the masters of the lightning strike and hit-and-run attacks.

[edit] History

[edit] Jaghatai Khan

Scattered across the galaxy along with the 20 other Primarchs, the child known as Jaghatai Khan was deposited on the fertile world of Chogoris. The inhabitants of Chogoris had achieved a blackpowder level of technology as of the Great Crusade, and most of the planet was under the rule of an organized aristocracy, led by a ruler known as the Palatine.

Jaghatai was discovered by Ong Khan, the leader of a small tribe known as the Talskars, who adopted the infant into his family, foreseeing that he would become a great warrior. Jaghatai’s adoptive family was later killed by another of the tribes inhabiting the steppes, the Kurayed. Already the greatest warrior in the Talskar tribe, despite his young age, Jaghatai led many warriors in vengeance. He razed the enemy village to the ground, killing every inhabitant, and took the chieftain’s head to mount above his tent.

Following this victory, Jaghatai became Khan of the Talskars, swearing to unite the tribes of the steppes and bring an end to the internecine war. Each tribe he defeated was integrated into the Talskar tribe, utilizing his military talents and the sheer force of his personality to win himself many followers. He made military service with his army mandatory, and combined warriors of various tribes into mixed units, to break up previous associations and to create a common loyalty.

Jaghatai's abilities enabled him to wield together a coalition of tribes to battle a Chaos cult whose power was spreading throughout the continent. In the final battle, he led ten thousand warriors on horseback in a gallant charge against the cultists and their crude cannons. Despite horrendous losses, the charge smashed the enemy. The tribesmen pursued the cultists, butchering every one of them as they tried to flee. Jaghatai went on to conquer most of the continent.

Ten years later, after having united the tribes of the region known as the ‘Empty Quarter’, Jaghatai was caught in an avalanche. He was discovered by the son of the Palatine, who like many nobles had taken to the sport of capturing a tribesman and hunting him through the mountains. The exact course of events is unknown, but it was said that a single man of the hunting party returned, bearing the head of the Palatine’s son along with a message. “The people of the steppes are yours no longer.”

The enraged Palatine gathered his army and marched west, to engage the wild tribesmen in combat, but was soundly defeated in a battle that lasted a day and a night. Heavily armored, and accustomed to decisive hand to hand combat, the Palatine’s army was no match for the light cavalry and relentless bowfire of Jaghatai’s forces. The Palatine barely escaped, but was eventually killed as Jaghatai’s army flowed into the lands once held by the aristocracy, either conquering or destroying everything in their path. Jaghatai’s power now encompassed the planet’s lone continent, an empire forged in less than twenty years.

[edit] The Coming of the Emperor

Jaghatai’s campaign ended less than six months before the Emperor of Mankind came to Chogoris. Recognizing the Emperor as a man who embodied his ideal of unity, the Primarch swore his fealty to his father, and was granted leadership of the Fifth Space Marine Legion in return.

The Legion was quick to adopt the long honor scars of the Talskar tribesmen, and renamed themselves the White Scars. Many of Jaghatai’s army chose to follow their leader, becoming the first generation of Space Marines recruited from their new homeworld.

[edit] Crusade and Heresy

The lightning fast style of warfare that served Jaghatai Khan so well on the steppes of his homeworld proved to be equally effective on the many battlefields of the Great Crusade; the White Scars becoming involved in some of the bloodiest battles of the time. Khan and Russ were said to be the best of brothers and when these two Primarchs joined forces they were unstoppable.

Their legend grew with the events of the Horus Heresy, the White Scars fighting on hundreds of worlds against the traitorous forces of Chaos. It is known that much of the Legion, including its Primarch, was present during the siege of the Emperor’s Palace on Terra.

Jaghatai fought alongside his brethren for another seventy years, eventually disappearing into a region of space known as the Maelstrom. He is believed to have been in pursuit of the Dark Eldar responsible for attacking his home world during the Great Crusade, and has not been seen since.

[edit] Homeworld

Chogoris is a fertile world that still exists in a semi-feudal state. When Jaghatai Khan departed the unified nation he created dissolved back into the feuding tribes that had existed before his arrival. This was believed by some to be the intention of the Primarch, ensuring that his Legion would have a supply of strong recruits in the future.

The White Scars Chapter is based in the palace of Quan Zhou, which is located at the peak of the highest mountain on the planet. The Stormseers of the White Scars venture down to the steppes every ten local years, observing the tribes at combat, and taking the best of the young warriors to become Space Marines.

[edit] Inspiration

Jaghatai Khan is inspired by the actual historical character of Genghis Khan (Temüjin). Rather than the western portrayal of the Khan as a bloodthirsty conqueror, he is more in line with how he is seen in Mongolia - a benevolent leader and master tactician.

[edit] Organization

The predominant unit of organization among the people of the steppes is the tribe, a fact reflected in the organization of the White Scars Chapter. Once a young warrior is selected from the feuding tribes of the steppes, loyalty to his tribe is replaced by loyalty to the Chapter and the Emperor.

As their Primarch did during his campaign to unite the steppes, recruits from different tribes are mixed together in squads. Each Squad becomes part of a Brotherhood, roughly equivalent to a standard Company.

The remainder of the Chapter is organized differently from most Codex Astartes chapters, due to the style of warfare favored by the Chapter.

[edit] Combat Doctrine

The method of war taught to the tribes by Jaghatai Khan has served the White Scars well in the following millennia. Their modus operandi consists of lightning fast hit and run attacks by highly mobile forces, destroying the enemy piece by piece and never allowing the enemy to force a decisive engagement. In Epic 40,000, GW games designer Gav Thorpe gave them an experimental rule allowing them to make a retreat move at any time, which would enable them to make hit-and-run attacks.

The White Scars make heavy use of attack bikes, Land Speeders, and jump pack equipped Assault Squads to harass the enemy, and hit them when they are weakest. Although preferring to keep the foe at arms length, they are fully capable of engaging in bloody assaults, and are rightly feared by the enemies of the Imperium.

Being a very mobile force, they have a higher proportion of Bike squads and Land Speeder squadrons than other Chapters. Known as the "born in a saddle" rule, that means that every White Scars marine will not take to battle on foot and must have some mechanized deployment to the battlefield, either by Jump Packs (for their Assault Marines), Bike, Rhino, Razorback, Land Raider, Thunderhawk Gunship, or Drop Pods.[1] Their combat doctrine is to deliver their forces with a single swift blow against the enemy; thus if drop pods are used in Epic Armageddon, the entire army must deploy in them in order to avoid the possibility of parts of the force arriving in reserves.

Also, the majority of heavy weapons are frowned upon, and any tank that cannot keep up with the rest of the army is avoided. For instance, they have no Devastator squads, and their Predators may not carry sponson weapons. The White Scars also do not field any Dreadnoughts, not only because of the slowness of these vehicles, but also because each Marine does not want to remain past the point of being mortally wounded to be entombed in a Dreadnought sarcophagus. White Dwarf editor Paul "Fat Bloke" Sawyer did use two dreadnoughts in a White Scars versus Chaos battle in a 1998 Warhammer 40,000 battle report, at the time when the army list was not as well-developed, but later admitted that they were out of place. A 1993 Games Workshop brochure for the Space Marines showcased a 1000 point White Scars force (Marine Commander, 10 Assault Marines with jump packs, 10 Devastators with 2 heavy bolters and 2 missile launchers, and 5 scouts). With the Scouts due past to report on a possible Genestealer infestation in the town, their Assault Marines using their jump packs to quickly move into close combat with Genestealers and buy time for the Scouts to escape. The Assault Marines did not stay in melee too long, as they quickly whirled away just as a volley of frag missiles from the Devastators exploded into the tightly packed Genestealers.

Overall, White Scars are considered powerful in assaults, but lacking units with staying power such as heavy weapons and Dreadnoughts means that their detachments are more fragile if not used at an appropriate moment.

[edit] Battlecry

"For the Khan and the Emperor!"

[edit] Appearance

White Scars power amour is predominantly white, with red trim. This has only varied slightly since the Pre-Heresy days of the Legion. The White Scars chapter symbol is a stylized red thunderbolt with a horizontal yellow bar behind it, exemplifying their style of combat and echoing the honour scars all members of this Chapter bear.

Members of the scout company are permitted to wear the thunderbolt on their shoulder pads, but an obscure piece of Chapter law states they may not have the horizontal bar, an honour only given to full Marines.

[edit] References

  • Cook, Chris & Haines, Pete (2002). Index Astartes, Lightning Attack, pgs 40-47, Games Workshop. ISBN 1-84154-180-X.

[edit] Space Wolves

Space Wolves
Primarch Leman Russ
Battlecry Varies between Great Companies; all make a bloodcurdling howl when the assault is launched. A commonly used warcry "For the Russ and the Wolftime!" is also often used.
Colours Blue-Grey and Yellow
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The Space Wolves are one of the twenty First Founding Legions of Space Marines serving the Imperium of Man in the fictional future of the tabletop wargame Warhammer 40,000. They are considered experts at close-quarters fighting, and their warriors compete keenly for glory on the battlefield. Their homeworld is the Ice World of Fenris, (named after the Fenris wolf of Norse mythology).

As their culture and aesthetic designs are based on that of Viking warriors, the Space Wolves place great emphasis on strength and honor. Although they have sworn to protect and serve the Emperor, they have a deep-seated hatred of the Administratum and the Inquisition, as the Codex puts it: "As many administrations have found to their cost, the one way you can guarantee to get the Space Wolves to do something is to order them not to do it." Along with their hatred of the Administratum and the Inquisition, their beliefs and legends of heroes battling monsters are deemed pagan, and "these beliefs are looked upon with scorn by the Ecclesiarchy."

[edit] History

[edit] Leman Russ

The Space Wolves Primarch Leman Russ, like all twenty Primarchs, mysteriously vanished from the Emperor's laboratories in his infancy. Of the eighteen recorded in Imperial records, he was the sixth to be rediscovered by the Emperor. He turned up on the distant planet of Fenris, a snow-covered world inhabited by fairly primitive, warlike tribes of humans. He was raised by a pack of the massive Fenrisian Wolves that prowl the snowy lands. Among them, he grew to adulthood in only a few short years.

He was eventually discovered by a man named Thengir, King of the Russ. Thengir had organized a party of hunters to clear the wolf packs from his lands. Most of the wolves were slaughtered, and the young man was captured and brought to Thengir. Thengir took the man into his care, giving him the name ‘Leman of the Russ’. Leman learned the ways of man quickly, and many legends sprung up about him, such as how he could defeat a hundred men in only three minutes, or consume an entire aurochs. Upon his adopted father's death, the leadership of the Russ passed to Leman. Leman became a mighty leader, winning many victories, often fighting alongside packs of Fenrisian Wolves, led by Freki and Geri (named after Odin's wolves), two of his Wolf-brothers who escaped Thengir's hunters.

Eventually, word of his exploits reached beyond Fenris, and to the ears of the Emperor. He traveled to Fenris, realizing that the exploits could only be the work of a Primarch. Travelling in disguise, he approached Leman's court during a feast, and challenged the Primarch to three contests of Leman’s choice.

Leman Russ, not recognizing the Emperor due to runes of concealment, boasted that he was far greater than any man, proceeding to win his first two contests (an eating and a drinking competition) by consuming three whole aurochs, then draining the royal cellars dry. Disappointed, the Emperor derided Leman Russ, calling him nothing more than a drunkard and glutton. Insulted, Leman Russ then challenged the Emperor to a fight.

After a ferocious duel in which neither warrior had the upper hand, the Emperor became convinced that Leman Russ was indeed one of his children. The Emperor took off his cloak of deception and showed the room his glory. Struck by the Emperor's immense power, none could look upon him, save Leman. So the duel continued; however, even with Leman's incredible strength and speed he could not best the true might of the Emperor. After many long hours of fighting, the Emperor found a gap within Leman's defenses and hit Leman square in the face, knocking him out with a single blow that would have killed a lesser man. After coming to consciousness with an incredible headache (which he blamed upon the alcohol), Russ admitted defeat and swore fealty to the Emperor.

[edit] The Great Crusade

Leman Russ was granted command over the VI Space Marine Legion, which he renamed the Space Wolves. The Primarch and his legion fought well during the Great Crusade, gaining a reputation as cunning and fierce, as well as slightly unstable, warriors. Only El'Jonson and Horus had earned a higher tally of victories than Russ, although some of his brother Primarchs believed that his tally would have been higher had Russ not been sent further afield by Horus to conquer far off worlds. Russ was happy enough knowing that he alone was the only Primarch out of his brothers to defeat the Emperor in two separate challenges and the only Primarch to have bested Horus in single combat during their frequent training sessions and never once lost to any other Primarch.

It was during the pacification of Dulan that the millennia-long rivalry with the Dark Angels began. The planetary governor, Durath, had turned to the worship of Chaos and insulted Russ, calling him the Emperor's lap-dog and saying that he would feed Russ's heart to his pet Grox. Enraged, Russ vowed to kill Durath himself, and hurled his warriors into the teeth of the enemy's guns. Unknown to Russ, Lion El'Jonson, who had spent days scouting the citadel's weak points and drawing up battle plans, had taken slight at his brother's rashness, and had already launched an assault on the citadel. Russ could only watch at the citadel's base and bellow his frustration as El'Jonson stormed the citadel's upper levels, and slew Durath in single combat costing the lives of hundreds of Space Wolves as their flank was unprotected. After the battle, Russ strode up to El'Jonson and struck him across the room with a thundering uppercut. A fight ensued that lasted almost a full Terran day. Russ eventually ceased and started laughing, realizing how foolish their fight was. El'jonson, who thought that Russ was mocking him, knocked Russ out cold with a single blow. By the time Russ regained consciousness, the Dark Angels had departed for new battlefields. Russ and El'jonson attempted to kill one another on every occasion they met thereafter, and forged an unlikely friendship. It is customary for selected champions from both chapters to engage in a duel whenever they meet so that honour may be satisfied. Ragnar Blackmane, one of the chapter's Wolf Lords, was the winner of the last duel.

[edit] Horus Heresy

At the beginning of the Horus Heresy, the Space Wolves conflicted with their brother Marines once more. The Primarch of the Thousand Sons Space Marines, Magnus the Red, had ignored the Emperor's ban on sorcery. Magnus tried to warn the Emperor of Horus's treachery by sending a sorcerous message to Terra. The Emperor ignored the message's contents, and saw Magnus as the traitor, not Horus. Leman Russ was promptly ordered to apprehend Magnus and take as many sorcerers as possible into custody. He was assisted by the Adeptus Custodes and the Silent Sisterhood. En route, Horus countermanded this instruction, and ordered Russ to destroy the Thousand Sons utterly (McNeill, 2006). Ironically the Burning of Prospero took the Thousand Sons by total surprise. The Space Wolves razed the capital city of Itzca and with it the Thousand Sons' hard-won knowledge. In the close-quarter melee that followed, Magnus and Russ met in single combat. It was a battle of titanic proportion, a contest of might between two god-like beings. At the battle's climax, Magnus shattered Russ's breastplate, puncturing one of his hearts. Russ countered by bloodying Magnus's single eye, releasing him from the Cyclops' grip. Russ then seized Magnus and lifted him into the air before bringing him down over a bent knee, breaking Magnus's back. To save himself, his Legion, his world, and all the knowledge he had accumulated, Magnus pledged himself to the Chaos God Tzeentch. His new patron's response was immediate. The City of Light was transported into the Eye of Terror. While Prospero was destroyed that day, Magnus and his Legion survived. By the time the Thousand Sons reappeared they were allied to Horus, and Magnus had become the most powerful of all Tzeentch's daemonic servants: The Prince of Change. A raging feud endures between the Space Wolves and the Thousand Sons to this day.

After the Burning, the Space Wolves prepared to rendezvous with the nearby White Scars legion in the Chondax system. Before Russ and Khan could formally exchange greetings, the fleet of the Alpha Legion exited the warp, and began to ravage Leman's fleet. The traitors' superior numbers forced the Space Wolf fleet to resort to hit-and-run tactics. As the White Scars began to maneuver to assist them, they received strict orders to return to the Imperial Palace. With great reluctance, Khan forwarded the edict to Russ, adding his apologies, and left for Terra. Russ and his legion stood alone against the traitor fleet, bloodied but unbowed.

Eventually, after aid from an 'unexpected quarter,'[citation needed] the Space Wolves turned the tables on the Alpha Legion, and warp-jumped to Terra to reinforce the Emperor. Also on the way to Terra were the Ultramarines and Dark Angels legions. It was the knowledge of their impending arrival that pushed Horus into making the mistake that cost him the heresy: the decision to shut down his vessel's shields and challenge the Emperor to single combat.

[edit] After the Heresy

Leman Russ was devastated by his inability to save the Emperor, and threw himself into a series of campaigns to stabilise the Imperium. During this time Roboute Guilliman, Primarch of the Ultramarines, was finalising the Codex Astartes, and made ready to incept the Second Founding. The old legions were to be divided into a series of smaller, more flexible formations known as chapters. At first the Space Wolves refused to comply with the order, and neither would Rogal Dorn of the Imperial Fists, or Vulkan of the Salamanders. With the threat of war between the new chapters and the old legions looming, however, eventually Russ, along with his brother primarchs, conceded to a few of Guilliman's demands, and allowed one chapter to be created from the old Space Wolves legion, the ill-fated Wolf Brothers chapter.

One hundred and ninety-seven years after the Emperor ascended to the Golden Throne, Leman Russ vanished. He was last seen during the Feast of the Emperor's Ascension, where, it is said, Russ climbed onto the oak table on which he had first dueled the Emperor, to give a speech, but then inexplicably froze. After a long silence, where it appeared that he was overcome with a vision, Leman Russ fell to his knees, then turned and issued hushed instructions to his most trusted retainers. He announced to his loyal brothers that he was leaving, but would return "for the final battle, for the Wolftime."

Russ vanished, taking all but one of his retinue with him. It is rumoured that they had made for the Eye of Terror to continue hunting down the traitorous Marines who had turned against the Emperor. A more fanciful tale claims that they ventured into the Eye of Terror to search for the Tree of Life, whose seed would revive the Emperor.

For seven years, Russ's place was set at the banquet table, as his Legion eagerly awaited his return. It never came. The Wolf Lords of the Space Wolves elected the remaining member of Russ' retinue, Bjorn the Fell-Handed, as their leader, or Great Wolf. Bjorn decided that if Russ was not going to return, then his sons would seek him out, so beginning the first of many Great Hunts. These hunts have recovered many relics, including the Primarch’s suit of armour, but none have succeeded in finding their lost father. Whether or not the mighty Primarch still lives remains a mystery.

In his honor, the Imperial Guard named its main battle tank after him. Just as its namesake did, the Leman Russ main battle tank defends the Imperium from its enemies with steadfast loyalty and courage. Because of this honor, the Space Wolves are given a number of the Exterminator pattern of this tank.

[edit] Organisation

The Space Wolves are known for their fiercely anti-authoritarian behaviour. They strongly resist the central command structure of the Imperium, (organising themselves into packs instead of the normal tactical squad) and refuse the dictates of the Codex Astartes, the standardised guide to Space Marine tactics only accepting some tactics that were considered useful for their style of warfare. As such, they have a reputation for being as ill-disciplined as they are fearless. It is often said that the best way to get a Space Wolf to do something is to tell him not to do it.

[edit] The Great Companies

Instead of dividing into Chapters as per the Codex Astartes, the Space Wolves Legion continued to split itself into twelve Great Companies, with a thirteenth named in honour of a large group of Space Wolves who had disappeared after the Great Crusade, and has come to represent all the Great Companies in the Space Wolves history that have been destroyed, lost on campaign or have recanted their oath of loyalty to the Great Wolf. Each of these is led by a Wolf Lord, who answers to the Chapter Master, the Great Wolf.

Each Great Company is a free-standing body of troops in almost all respects; occupying its own territory in the massive fortress-monastery known as The Fang, possessing its own equipment, forges and spacecraft, and following its own customs and heroes.

Each Great Company takes its name from its current Wolf Lord, and also take the mythological Fenrisian symbol the new Lord associates with. When a Wolf Lord dies, another is chosen to replace him from the slain leader's Wolf Guard, causing the Great Company to reinvent itself. Thus unlike Companies in other Space Marine Chapters, the Great Companies of the Space Wolves do not have fixed heraldry, but change through the ages.

[edit] The Great Wolf

The current Great Wolf (Chapter Master) of the Space Wolves is Logan Grimnar. Along with his own Great Company, the Great Wolf has direct command of the Chapter’s most venerable heroes: the Rune Priests (psychic shamans and seers), Iron Priests (engineers or techmarines), Wolf Priests (medics and religious leaders or apothecary/chaplain) and Venerable Dreadnoughts. The Great Wolf also has overall control of the Chapter's Thralls, its fleet and the Fang.

[edit] Progression of a Space Wolf

Most Space Wolves, after receiving the canis helix and the implants necessary to become a Space Marine and completing several trials, are accepted into the Chapter as Blood Claws, hot-headed warriors who cannot wait to prove themselves, and are still struggling to control the beast within which is unleashed by the canis helix. Blood Claws are the close combat troops of the Space Wolves, spearheading the majority of assaults with a joyous ferocity. They are usually equipped with bolt pistols and chainswords, similar to Assault Marines of other standard chapters though Blood Claws do not necessarily have jump packs as standard equipment. Blood Claws also take to battle upon Marine bikes, usually wielding close combat weapons.

If they survive long enough to mature, they are promoted to the ranks of the Grey Hunters, tempered by battle, but always ready to do what is necessary for the Chapter and the Imperium of Man. Grey Hunters serve as the tactical backbone of a Space Wolf force, as they are equipped to serve in a variety of battle scenarios.

When a Space Wolf is fully mature, "their hair grey and canines pronounced", they are inducted into the Long Fangs, veteran soldiers with a reputation for being disciplined and cool-headed in the heat of battle. They are entrusted with the heavy weaponry possessed by their Great Company, watching over and providing fire support for their younger brethren. Long Fang squad members are disciplined enough to choose their own targets individually (they are one of the only units that can shoot at multiple targets).

Some Space Wolves, having achieved feats of exceptional valour and martial prowess, may become Wolf Guards. These mighty warriors lead small forces of Space Wolves, provide a retinue for the most experienced warrior in the force or lead squads. Besides the standard Power Armour, Wolf Guards also earn the right to don Tactical Dreadnought armour. From here, one may rise to the position of Wolf Lord, mighty leaders who command one of the twelve great companies that comprise the full Space Wolf military force. A Wolf Lord may be accompanied by Fenrisian Wolves.

For some, the close knit and boisterous brotherhood of the pack (squad) is not well suited to their personality, yearning for open spaces and isolation. These lone wolves are selected to become part of a Great Company's Scout force, providing reconnaissance and disrupting enemy movements. These Space Marines are often already veterans, as opposed to the raw recruits used in other Chapters.

Furthermore, some Space Wolves are sent to Terra to become Wolfblades. Wolfblades are an honour guard that protect the ancient Navigator House of Belisarius, long-time allies of the chapter. This pact's origins are lost to legend, but the most commonly accepted version of the story dates it from the Great Crusade and the friendship between Leman Russ and Alexander Belisarius. Belisarius was a Navigator of genius, who aided Russ on many of his adventures. On the day of the Feast of the Founding they are said to have sworn a pact of eternal friendship. As a sign of this friendship, the Belisarians agreed to provide Navigators for the Chapter in perpetuam, in return for the Space Wolves' martial aid. An entire pack of Space Wolves would accompany the Celestarch as his bodyguard. Given the fractious nature of the Navigator Houses, and a commercial rivalry which, at that time, could result in conflicts as large as wars, this was an alliance of vast importance.

The Space Wolves still enjoy a close bond to house Belisarius, a trait shared only by the Blood Ravens, White Scars, and Blood Angels Chapters.

[edit] The Thirteenth Company

13th Company Space Wolves
Primarch Leman Russ
Battlecry An ancient and feral howl.
Colours Grey
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Space Wolf legend states that the group that came to be known as Thirteenth Company was sent by Leman Russ to pursue the Thousand Sons legion, after the failed attempt to eliminate the Chaos-supporting legion. They vanished from Imperial records, and their loss is honoured by a black stone in the Grand Annulus (the record of Space Wolf Great Companies).

'Magnus through his arts, scryed the future, and seeing the treachery of Horus, used his sorcerous arts to send a message to his liege. The Emperor, however, did not believe that his son Horus who was much beloved could betray him, and instead sent Leman Russ, Primarch of the Space Wolves to bring the Thousand Sons to account of their actions, now suspected of attempting to spread discord and sedition between the Emperor and his sons. Russ took his Legion, and with all the Great Companies of the Space Wolves, fell upon the World of the Thousand Sons, Prospero, with the vengeful force of a mighty shower of comets.

Space Wolves attacked the Thousand Sons without provocation and on the field of battle, at its forefront was the Thirteenth company who with incredible ferocity fell upon their erstwhile brethren the Thousand Sons. The Thousand Sons could not stand against the righteous force of the Space Wolves, and inch by inch grudgingly gave ground, until they were surrounded in their own Fortress Monastery, and determined to stand to the last man.

Meanwhile Magnus, Giant Cyclops lord of the Thousand sons knelt in his tower and wept as his sons were ripped away from him. In his anger and sorrow he called to all who would listen and one voice answered. Tzeentch the Manipulator, at the moment Magnus gave his soul Tzeentch granted the traitorous Mutant full mastery of the vagaries of sorcery, and Magnus with his new found power took the battle back to the Wolves of Russ.

Appearing amongst the lines of the Space Wolves, Magnus was unstoppable, even the Feral brotherhood of the Wulfen were unable to stand before the heretical might of the Daemonically-infused Magnus. All fell before him until the great Primarch of the Space Wolves, Leman Russ, advanced upon his Brother. The battle between these two titans was fierce, and would fill several tomes. Magnus pierced the heart of Leman Russ and gouged a mighty rend in his flank but, Magnus's forte was not in battle but in wit and intellect, something that Leman Russ lacked and after two days and two nights of combat Russ took the battered body of Magnus, and raising him to the storm wracked skies, brought him down upon his knee.

With a mighty crack, Russ broke the back of his foe, and the heart of his enemy. Magnus sunk to the floor, and as Russ raised his fiery sword Mjalnar to strike his enemy's heart, Magnus whispered a single word of Power and sunk into the earth's dark embrace.

As Leman Russ howled his fury to the packs of the Space Wolves, the sorcerous-librarians of the Thousand Sons opened a vast maelstrom of energy, through which their forces fled. The Wolfkin, the Thirteenth Company of the Space Wolves, at a gesture from their Primarch, gave tongue to the chase and followed their foes into the very eye of the Warp. With a blinding flash, the swirling maelstrom of energy collapsed and the Thirteenth Company, passed from this plane and from Imperial history.'

Their reappearance at the beginning of Abaddon the Despoiler’s Thirteenth Black Crusade has brought them back into the spotlight. They appear to still be in pursuit of the goal Leman Russ set for them, and it was believed that Leman Russ himself was their leader, although this was never proven.

The Thirteenth Company's organization departs heavily from Space Wolf norms, due to the lack of reinforcements and 'fresh blood' supplying the Company, the inability to train members in specialist roles, the lack of heavy equipment, and the effect of having to exist within the Eye of Terror for ten thousand years.

The core of a 13th Company warband are the Grey Slayers. Similar to Grey Hunters but far beyond them in skill, they fulfil the same roles in battle.

Because of the impossibility of recruiting new brethren, there are no Blood Claws in the 13th Company. Each and every Blood Claw has long since advanced to a higher stage. The Company's assault specialists are the Storm Claws. They are equally experienced, but still more hot-headed and aggressive than the Grey Slayers.

The key to the 13th Company's movement through the Warp are the Rune Priests. Because the Eye of Terror has unlocked hidden psychic powers in many recruits, the Company has no shortage of these highly gifted individuals.

The Wulfen are the most drastic departure from a normal Space Wolf. The Space Marines who mutate into Wulfen bear resemblance to werewolves in the same way as Blood Angels suffering the Red Thirst resemble vampires. Any marine to suffer as a Wulfen becomes a half man, half wolf creature with a feral mind. The mutation normally manifests itself in the neophyte stage and Space Wolves must spend time in their training in a scenario designed to out those who have become Wulfen.

Though normal Space Wolves sometimes use individual Wulfen in battle, the 13th Company use entire packs. Each and every member of the 13th Company carries the Curse, and it manifests itself in the Space Wolves at different times. Thus even the Wulfen packs do not stay the same. It has manifested itself so strongly and so late because it reacts to the influence of Chaos; because of this side of their nature acting as a kind of spiritual defence mechanism, Space Wolves are exceptionally resistant to the malign influence of Chaos. It is believed that the 13th Company have only been able to survive living as loyalist marines in the Eye of terror so long precisely because of this trait.

The 13th company was introduced into play in the Eye of Terror Campaign. The 13th Company cannot be used with the normal Wolves, but this is only a balance issue. The story "Engage the Enemy" shows the Space Wolves going so far as to lie to the Imperial Guard to protect the 13th Company.

They are said to be lead by a Wolf Priest nicknamed the Sternhammer who can control the Wulfen Guard Packs but only barely.[citation needed]

[edit] Appearance

Prior to the Horus Heresy, the Space Wolves Legion wore grey power armour, with a red snarling wolf as the Legion symbol.

In the 41st millennium, Space Wolves power armour is a blue-grey, with other colours as highlights, most commonly red and yellow. The armour is often adorned with tokens taken from wolves, such as pelts, tails and teeth. Great Company symbols vary, but are taken from Fenrisian mythology and are always related in some way to the wolf. 13th Company retain the old, darker grey and red legion symbols, although the different warbands vary their precise markings along (albeit similar) red wolf themes.

[edit] Notable Space Wolves

  • Logan Grimnar - Chapter Master for the better part of the 41st millennium.
  • Ragnar Blackmane - Youngest Wolf Lord in the Space Wolves history and protagonist of the Space Wolf novel series. He is the only Space Wolf to become a Wolf Lord without becoming a Grey Hunter. Current champion of the Wolf Helm of Russ, which he presented to Ulrik as a sign of respect. Prevented the return of the Thousand Sons Legion by casting the Spear of Russ into the warp gate. Ragnar Blackmane is the Character in the book Space Wolf
  • Ulrik the Slayer - The Space Wolves' oldest Wolf Priest, and mentor to many of their greatest heroes. Ulrik has had a hand in training both Ragnar Blackmane and (allegedly) Logan Grimnar; however the chronology of the 40k universe actually makes this impossible with regards to Logan, not least because Logan reached the position of Great Wolf (leader of the Space Wolves chapter) before Ulrik was even promoted to Wolf Priest. This rather large inconsistency may be resolved in a future Space Wolves Codex book.
  • Bjorn the Fell-Handed - The oldest Venerable Dreadnought in the Imperium. He fought alongside Leman Russ during the Horus Heresy and was the only member of Russ' retinue left behind by the primarch. He predicted that Russ will come again. There are currently no official rules for fielding him in battle, although he is mentioned in the current codex (and could conceivably be represented as a 'regular' Venerable Dreadnought).
  • Njal Stormcaller - The Space Wolves' Rune Priest, accompanied by Nightwing the Psyber raven. There are currently no rules for fielding him on the tabletop, and the current codex does not even mention him.

[edit] Background Inspiration

The most recent incarnation of the Space Wolves is described as "a fantasy-style army in a science fiction universe". The backstory and 'character' of the army is inspired by Viking mythology.

They are reluctant to use some forms of 'advanced' technology in a desire to fight in the style of their Primarch and homeworld. This is, of course, reflected in the army list and specialist rules used by Space Wolf players. They are often (mistakenly) perceived to be an all-out assault army, like Blood Angels or Black Templars; this is however erroneous, for they have a much more flexible and balanced play style and a greater behavioural reliability than either of the above mentioned chapters. They do favour shorter-ranged confrontation than the traditional 'shooty' Codex chapters however.

[edit] Salamanders

The Salamanders are considered to be hardy warriors; strong of constitution and single-minded in purpose. They were founded by their Primarch Vulkan on the volcanic planet Nocturne.

[edit] Black Templars

Black Templars are a chapter derived from the Imperial Fists and their Primarch, Rogal Dorn. Their origin can be traced back to the Imperial Fists’ defence of Holy Terra. They wear black armor, with white accents and use a Maltese Cross as their emblem. The Black Templars favor close-quarters combat, drop pods and Thunderhawks for orbital insertion, and do not use Librarians because they distrust anything associated with the warp.

The Black Templars have been on the longest crusade the Imperium has ever known to prove their loyalty to the Emperor. Unlike other chapters, the Black Templars have no home world, instead opting to live in their Crusade fleets. The Black Templars are the only chapter to have no standard recording of their total number spread across the stars. Only the High Marshal has any idea how many Templars there are at any given time.

Since the Black Templars have no homeworld, all of their recruiting is done via the Chapter Keeps. New recruits are 'apprenticed' to a full Battle Brother (known as an Initiate), under whom they complete their training.

The Black Templars have a few unique units, including Sword Brethren who use Tactical Dreadnought armour,[3] the Land Raider Crusader, and the Emperor's Champion — a lone marine who seeks out the enemy's champions and leaders and defeats them in single combat.

The Black Templar abhor anyone or anything that hints at being able to wield psychic powers. Due to this Black Templar fighting companies refuse to fight alongside any ally that uses psychic powers (the only exception being the Grey Knights). Such is their hatred for psychic powers they have been seen charging towards units with psychic abilities even if it means leaving an advantageous position.

[edit] Notable Black Templars

High Marshal Helbrecht
High Marshal Helbrecht

[edit] High Marshal Helbrecht

Current High Marshal. Helbrecht wields the Sword of the High Marshals, which was forged from the remnants of the sword of Rogal Dorn. According to legend, Dorn broke the sword across his knee after the Horus Heresy for failing to defend the Emperor.[4] In addition to being High Marshal, Helbrecht is the greatest naval commander in the Adeptus Astartes, and assumed command of all Space Marine warships during the Third War for Armageddon. Together with Admiral Parol of the Imperial Navy, Helbrecht held and eventually repulsed the numerically superior Ork fleet. Helbrecht was last seen departing Armageddon with Commissar Yarrick, hunting down the hulk thought to be commanded by the Beast of Armageddon, Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka.[5]

Helbretch is equipped with Artificer armour, the Sword of the High Marshals (which is a special master-crafted power sword), a combi-meltagun (bolter with underslung meltagun), and an Iron Halo. He uses these weapons to aid his command and further his Crusades against the Orks.

[edit] Castellan Draco

Draco first rose to prominence as part of Marshal Ludolddus' Sword Brethren during the bitter Vinculus Crusade in which he fought a renegade Inquisitor Lord Vinculus. He was badly wounded after the battle and his body was reconstructed with bionics. He was awarded the rank of Castellan and was given a relic suit of the Chapter's finest armour for his valour. Draco was further recognised when he was presented with the former Inquisitor's blade as a mark of gratitude from the Ordo Hereticus. Draco is a special edition miniature available for the Black Templars. Rules for Castellan Draco can be found in White Dwarf (US) 313.

Chaplain Grimaldus and Retinue
Chaplain Grimaldus and Retinue

[edit] Chaplain Grimaldus, Hero of Helsreach

Veteran of the Third Armageddon War. During the Battle for Hive Helsreach, Grimaldus led the defense of the Temple of the Emperor Ascendant, which had stood since Armageddon's colonization. The battle became so heated that the building itself collapsed around them. It was believed that all had perished in the building until Grimaldus, bloody but unbroken, climbed out of the rubble bearing three of the temple's artifacts - a column from its Major Altar, the Banner of the Emperor Victorious, and holy water from the Stoup of Elucidation. Apothecaries who examined him later were amazed that Grimaldus had survived, much less found the strength to climb from the ruins. When the war ended, the citizens of Hive Helsreach honored him with the title of "Hero of Helsreach".[4]

[edit] In Game Terms

The 'character' of the Black Templars is drawn from the medieval Crusades of the 11th to 13th centuries, and the history concerning the Order of the Knights Templar. One of their special weapons, the Holy Orb of Antioch, is a reference to Monty Python's Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch, which itself is a reference to items discovered by real crusaders at Antioch (such as the "Holy Spear of Antioch").

Codex: Black Templars was also a unique codex in its own right. Unlike its predecessors (Codex: Blood Angels, Codex: Dark Angels [3rd edition] and Codex: Space Wolves), Codex: Black Templars is not a supplement book for Codex: Space Marines but a stand alone codex. This meant that one could play the game without the need to actually purchase the original Codex: Space Marines. The same has been done for the new Codex: Dark Angels which was released on 3rd March 2007, and the Codex: Blood Angels published in the White Dwarf magazine.(Specifically issue 330 and 331, June and July 2007)

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d Johnson, Jervis; and Hoare, Andy (2007). Codex: Dark Angels, 4th, Nottingham: Games Workshop. ISBN 1-84154-807-3. 
  2. ^ The Gav Thorpe Interview Continued. Dysartes.com. Retrieved on 2007-05-06. “Gav thorpe on Black Library”
  3. ^ Chambers, Andy; Haines, Pete and Kelly, Phil and McNeill,Graham and Reynolds,Anthony (2003). Index Astartes II, 1st Edition, Nottingham: Games Workshop. ISBN 1-84154-345-4. 
  4. ^ a b McNeil, Graham; Thorpe, Gav, and Haines, Pete (2005). Warhammer 40,000 Codex: Black Templars, 1st Edition, Nottingham: Games Workshop. ISBN 1-84154-685-2. 
  5. ^ Chambers, Andy; Johnson, Jervis, and Thorpe, Gav (2000). Warhammer 40,000 Codex: Armageddon, 1st Edition, Nottingham: Games Workshop. ISBN 1-84154-045-5. 
  • Chambers, Andy (1998). Warhammer 40,000 Codex: Space Marines. Nottingham: Games Workshop. ISBN 1-869893-28-X. 
  • "Index Astartes – The Codex Astartes" (January 2001). White Dwarf: Australian Edition (253). ISSN 0265-8712. 
  • Cook, Chris; Haines, Pete and Johnson, Jervis and McNeill, Graham and Reynolds, Anthony and Sprange, Matthew and Thorpe, Gav (2002). Index Astartes. Nottingham: Games Workshop. ISBN 1-84154-180-X. 
  • Johnson, Jervis; Chambers, Andy, and Thorpe, Gav (2000). Warhammer 40,000 Codex: Space Wolves. Nottingham: Games Workshop. ISBN 1-84154-010-2. 
  • The Space Wolf series of novels:
  • McNeill, Graham (2006). False Gods. Nottingham: Black Library. ISBN 1-84416-370-9. 
  • "Sons of Russ" (May 2000). White Dwarf: Australian Edition (245). ISSN 0265-8712. 
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