Indrick Boreale

Captain Boreale. The greatest and BAWLDEST of us all.

This article is awesome. Do not fuck it up.

This article is about something that is considered by the overpowering majority of /tg/ to be fail. Expect huge amounts of derp and rage, punctuated by /tg/ extracting humor from it.

This article or section contains opinions shared by all and/or vast quantities of Derp. It is liable to cause Rage. Take things with a grain of salt and a peck of Troll.

YES.

Something akin to the Tommy Wiseau of Warhammer 40K, Indrick Boreale is the Force Commander of the Blood Ravens Space Marines in the Dawn of War: Soulstorm campaign. Infamous for his speech impediment and baldness (He's a 12.0 on the 10.0 scale of baldness) and also famous for losing half of the Blood Ravens' forces after he presumably got all 500 Space Marines killed on Kaurava II (then toned down to 3 companies according to Cyrus in DoWII:CR). He is the origin of the memes Emprah and SPESS MEHREENS. According to Dawn of War II, he died in the Kaurava System during the events of Soulstorm, which some have interpreted as something of an apology from Relic for the terrible quality of his performance, or possibly an in-game bonus. He is such a big failure that he drives Cyrus crazy and pushes him to join Chaos in one alternate plotline.

Comically, Boreale was actually a rather awesome sniper as a scout (he had a sniper rifle named "Cold Mercy", which he used to stalk some asshole heretic for 18 days before finally gave him the mercy he deserved), and he managed to do some good work before his promotion to Force Commander. His tragic career is the Peter principle in action, intentionally invoked by Azariah Kyras.

If he were victorious in the Kaurava campaign (which is non-canon), he will found a new Fortress-monastery in the Lands of Solitude, and rename the territory to "Borealum" in the Emprah's name (even though it's actually his own).

Baldeale in all his shiny-headed glory.

In-Game Stats

Don't be fooled by Boreale's hilarious accent, nor the fact that he seems, at a glance, to be weaker than Davian Thule - Boreale is both quite a bit tougher and an exceptionally potent commander unit in his own right, boasting both better health and abilities (one such a ability called "inspiring speech" causes the entire enemy army to roll on the floor laughing their asses off) than Thule. Thule does quite a bit more damage (of both ranged and close-combat flavors) and is impervious to knockdown when maxed (Boreale isn't), but Boreale moves a little faster, has a bit more HP, regenerates faster, and provides much stronger benefits to his attached squad once he has his Chapter Banner ability, which will cause most units to regain morale so fast that it's unlikely they'll ever break in the first place. This makes it great for when you're attaching Boreale to an Assault Terminator Squad (a contrast to Thule, who was usually better-assigned to a Grey Knight unit). In addition, Chapter Banner makes Boreale himself regenerate morale so quickly that he's virtually impossible to break unless smack-dab in the middle of a big group of Flayed Ones.

Putting it simply, like Boreale himself, his unit is survivable and works well as a blunt instrument.

Interestingly, Thule does notably more damage with Alexian's Blade (his tier-1 weapon upgrade, a power sword), than Boreale does with Rogal's Fist (his tier-1 weapon upgrade) despite similar stats. Their base damage with their Daemonhammers, however, are identical. Presumably, Boreale only recently "received" the mace from the gracious Imperial Fists, and has yet to become accustomed to its use.

Boreale Addressing His Troops

In a meeting between the Blood Ravens' finest Librarians and pious Chaplains, Captain Indrick Boreale requested from them a speech that would inspire his troops to victory, seeing that his original one was insufficient. While the 2 parties did make a glorious speech, Captain Boreale's ad-libs, mispronunciations and improvisations virtually gutted the speech made by them.

Tehre is noh time to beh lohst!

Batul Brothas!

Spehss Mahrens, todeh the enemeh is at oua doar! We know oua duteh and we will do eet. We fight for our honor as Blud Rehvens,
as SPESS MAHRENS, and we fight in the nehme of the Empra!

And if we die this deh we die in gloareh, we die heroes' deffs, but we shall not die, no! It is the enemeh who will tehste deff and defeat! As you know’’

Moast of oua battle brothars are shtehtioned in SPEHSS, Pruhpeared to deep strike! Oua perimeter has been
pruhpeared in the even dat oua enehmies should be so bald and so foolish. We have plehced numerous beacons, allowing for
muhltiple, simuln-tehneous and devashtehting defensive deep strikes The Codecks astartees nehmes this maneuvah Steel Rehn. We will descend upon the foe, we will ovawhelm them - we will leave none
alive! Meanwhile oua ground fawses will ensue the full defense of oua headkwaters

We are the spehss mahrens! WE ARE THE EMPRA'S FUREH!

Of course this is the edited version taught to young cultists to disgrace the honourable captain. This is the handy work of chaos. This was the original version found at his desk next to a pile of red and black crayons.

There is at our honor, as Blood Ravens, as space marines, and so foolish.
We are the emperor!
If we fight in glory.
We will descend upon the name of our headquarters.
We will descend upon the emperor's fury There is at our door.
We have placed numerous beacons, allowing for our honor, as Blood Ravens, as Blood Ravens, as Blood Ravens, as space marines, and devastating defensive deep strike!
Our perimeter has been prepared in the event that our enemies should be lost!
Battle brothers; space prepared to deep strike!
Our perimeter has been prepared in the emperor!
If we fight in space, prepared to deep strikes.
The Codex Astartes names this maneuver steel rain.
We fight for multiple simultaneous and we fight for our door.
We are the emperor!
If we will overwhelm them, we shall not die.
No, We fight for our honor, as space marines, and we fight for our battle brothers are stationed in the name of the emperor!

Position as a meme

Boreale is one of the biggest memes in the WH40K fanbase, all thanks to his voice acting, courtesy of Scott McNeil (MIGHTY IS HE!!!). This was attributed to Soulstorm's hilariously lackluster VA scripting and Scott McNeil's awesome voice acting. The combination of hilarious fail unseen since the CDi Zelda series and pretty decent voice acting propelled Boreale to his current status. In short, much like the Zelda CDi series turning into the single largest repository of cringy YTPs, and Rebecca Black being being failtastically hilarious, Boreale swung the bar of fail so hard that fail transposed into awesome.

Indrick Boreale gloriously represented in the sacred light of the EMPRAH.

His opening speech is the main cause of his fame. The speech itself was, again, lackluster and boring (Honestly, who comes up with: "And if we die this day, we die in glory, we die heroes' deaths but we shall not die, no!") but how Scott said it. Many laughs were had with SPESS MEHRENS and the EMPRAH as with the entirety of his speech itself, which resulted with numerous YTPs, remixes, and even songs. The other minor bits about him is mostly being Bald -- more specifically, he is the only Captain in the Blood Ravens to posses Astartes-pattern baldness other than Apollo Diomedes. Either way, many laughs were generated because of these, and it's all thanks to Captain Boreale of the Blood Ravens, the greatest of them all (except that he sucks).

Truly the Emperor provides.

On /tg/

The Codecks Astartes nehms this manuveh Wehn Get!

Codecks Indrick Boreale

After much petition to GW, they finally allowed Boreale to be a separate force commander. Stats:

	Pts	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld	Sv
Indrick Boreale:	165	6	5	4	4	3	5	3	10	2+/4++

Wargear:

• Rogal's Fist
• Bolt Pistol: See Codex: Space Marines. Can be swapped for a Plasma Pistol for 15 pts, or a Meltagun for +10 pts.
• Boreale's Artificer Armour
• Iron Halo: See Codex Space Marines
• Personal Standard: Counts as Company Standard. May be replaced with a Personal Teleporter.
• Frag Grenades
• Krak Grenades

Special Rules

• And They Shall Know No Fear
• Chapter Tactics (Blood Ravens): As per the rules for all Chapters who do not know their primogenitor Chapter, the Blood Ravens do not have a unique Chapter Tactic. Instead, the player can elect to use any existing Chapter Tactics from Codex: Space Marines and any Forge World supplements.
• Independent Character
• Counter-attack
• Furious Charge
• Astartes-Pattern Baldness: Captain Boreale is so bald that his bald head (after considerable polishing) can be seen by his Bathul Brothars shtetioned in SPEHSS and even in the warp, who are pruhpared to deep strike at any moment, allowing them to use it like an improvised, bald, locator beacon to better their chances of launching multiple simultaneous and devastating defensive deep strikes. All reinforcements (friend or foe) entering the field using deep strike will not suffer scatter if they are deployed within 120" (that's right, 10 feet!) of Captain Boreale. Additionally, all reinforcements (friend or foe) entering the field using deep strike may re-roll scatter so long as Captain Boreale is deployed. Additionally, his bald head can intensify light at a surprising level, rivaling that of the searchlight commonly mounted on vehicles. Boreale automatically attacks as if he is using a Searchlight wargear during night fighting, exposing him to the enemy while illuminating their position to his allies. Enemies also ignore the night fighting distance check and gain +1 BS whenever they attack Captain Boreale and any squad he is attached to in the shooting phase while night fighting. If not night fighting, any unit that shoots at Captain Boreale will have their BS reduced by 1 point. Furthermore, any laser-based weapon (Lasgun) shot at Captain Boreale at any range with a Strength of 3 or less can be deflected by his bald head. When hit by a ranged laser weapon with S3 or less, roll a D3. If the result is 1: the attack is rendered as if it was a normal attack, if the result is 2: The attack is deflected and is rendered null, if the result is 3: the attack is instead re-directed to the attacking unit as if he is shot by his own weapon with only armor and invulnerable saves applying to the attacker. In addition, the attacking unit may not use their armor save if they shoot Captain Boreale while in assault phase.
• Stehl Rehn (some steh dry and others fheel the pehn) Captain Boreale has mastered the tactic: Steel Rain. All friendly Space Marine units may deploy as many of their reserves entering the field using drop pods during any Phase.
• We are the Empra's fureh!: Captain Boreale aspires to embody the Space Marines as the Emprah's fureh. Any unit captain Boreale joins automatically gets the Furious Charge special rule. Additionally, Boreale chants out his infamous battle cry during the charge, stunning enemies and causing them all to suffer from the Unwieldy special rule on their weapons when his unit charges. This ignores any wargear or rule that prevents them from doing so.
• Bald and Fewlish: Captain Boreale is both bold and foolish. Boreale and any squad he is attached to reroll once per turn failed Morale, Pinning and Fear tests.
• Todeh the enemeh is at oua doar!: Captain Boreale is ever alert and so are his troops. He and any squad he's attached to gain the Acute Senses USR.

Name	Range	Strength	AP	Type
Rogal's Fist	-	8	3	Melee, Master Crafted, Concussive, Sweep Attacks

• Rogal's Fist: Rogal's Fist is a Power Mace, that is said to have been created by the Imperial Fists' Primarch himself. How it found its way into the Blood Ravens' Armoury, let alone Boreale's hands, is a mystery to everyone but the emprah and chapter master angelos
  • Sweep Attacks: Captain Indrick Boreale can, instead of using his normal attack value, initiate a sweeping attack instead. All enemy models in base contact with Indrick Boreale suffer the same amount of attacks proportional to the number of models in base contact with him.

• Boreale's Baldificer Armour: Boreale's Artificer Armour has multiple pieces of technology that keep him alive even in the heart of the most gruesome fights on the battlefield. This armour counts as a Artificer Armour, but it also grants the Feel No Pain, It Will Not Die and Crusader USR.

Actually statting the lad in 8th without homebrew

Boreale has a couple major upgrades in the main campaign of Soulstorm. His final upgrades include full artificer armor, a Daemonhammer, a meltagun, a Chapter banner and a teleporter for some reason. So... how do you stat him without homebrew?

Tartaros armor.

Think about it. It gives him the teleport, the invuln, access to a melta (albeit a combi-melta) and he can still take a thunder hammer and move at his normal 6". You'd still model him with Artificer, but he'd be statted with Tartaros Terminator armor for accuracy to his game upgrades.

How Boreale lost his "voice"

Scene starts as Thule defeats Gorgutz in Dark Crusade. Gorgutz flees the Green Beach and is currently on his Ork ship. Indrick Boreale is in his personal Thunderhawk with Techmarine brother Spasmius heading towards the Litany of Fury. Brother Spasmius had an unclear mind due to seeing a daemonette on imperial television, and hence drove Brother Captain Boreale into Gorgutz' ship, looking for Gabriel Angelos.

Nob: Isn't that 'umie un of 'ose wez got trash'd up by? Gorgutz: Nah, that 'umie looks dumb, and 'ez talks funny too. Must be un of 'ose Chaos Boyz we'z stomped on. Nob: What shall we do boss? Stomp on 'im? Gorgutz: Move aside ya git. 'ez mine.

Gorgutz smashes up Boreale, leaving him with no teeth and a even more damaged brain. Boreale stumbles back into his thunderhawk, Gorgutz gleefully picking up his teeth.

"Brother Spessmius...Where are weh?"

Brother-Captain Boreale's Bald Bad Day

SPESSSSS

Boreale made doubly sure his armor was perfectly polished. He checked his sword scabbard and pistol holster. He fitted his Purity Seals on and ensured that his breastplate decorations were positioned correctly. He held his helmet under his arms. As he turned from his massive planning table, he checked his reflection in one of his other suits of Power Armour. Tall, large, inspiring. Perfectly presented, every inch an Imperial Space Marine.

His hair was still very short, but Boreale had begun to accept that. Even after two hundred years, his hair (or lack thereof) bothered him. But it wasn’t the worst thing. That would be his speech.

He had been fighting his speech for years. He was an inspirational speaker, able to turn his formidable speech-composition skills to demagoguery or fiery rhetoric. He always wrote and delivered his own speeches, and he strongly believed in the importance of words as an element of leadership. But he always struggled with the same thing:

Pronunciation. A more obdurate enemy than any he had ever faced.

He mouthed the words of his speech to himself, very softly, as he looked into his reflection on the chestplate of a Power Armour suit.

“Space Marines, today is the day…” the words came out very softly, but they were correct. Perhaps today WOULD be the day? Perhaps today he would get it right, and deliver the greatest speech of his entire illustrious career? He continued to practice: “today is the day we serve the…Empr-…Empera…Emperor. Tode-today…” He took a deep breath and started again:

“Today is the day we serve the Emperor by putting our lives, minds and souls in the line of duty in His name, and in service to the Imperium….”

He was doing well so far. Perhaps today would be the day indeed.

Confident with his initial success, Boreale straightened himself out to his full height of about nine feet. It had been only days since the attack on their Stronghold by the Sisters of Battle, where he had personally defeated Cannoness Agna in single combat. The woman had charged in towards him, full of righteous fury, and screaming a challenge. Meeting her with his own blade and screaming his own battle cry (it unfortunately came out as FOR THE EMPRA, in the heat of battle), Boreale had overwhelmed her with superior speed and strength, and she had fallen on her sword rather than let him strike the killing blow.

Regrettable that it came to fighting the Empe...Emperor’s servants as such, but necessary. Necessary for the survival of the Imperium and mankind, necessary to please the Emperor and the Unknown Primarch. Necessary. No, essential!

Boreale gritted his jaw, and corrected his sword one last time. It was time.

He stepped out onto the podium where hundreds of Blood Ravens stood assembled silently and unmoving, waiting for his words. He felt confidence fill him the likes of which he had never felt. Today would indeed be the day.

Boreale drew a deep breath.

“BROTHERS!”

…

“TODEH WE SERVE THE EMPRA!”

Some things just never changed.

Boreale in Therapy

"Space marines. Suh-Pay-Seh Ma-Reens. Space Marines," Brother Tullus nodded, "Now, you try."

"Sp-Sp-SPESS-"
"No, no, ACE. AAAACE."
"EHSSS"
"Ace."
"Ace."
"Good. Now say 'Spay."
"Spay."
"Now say both of them."
"Spay. Ace."
"And all together now."
"Sp-sp-spess."

Brother Tullus delicately plucked the spectacles from the bridge of his nose while the other massaged his much aching head, "No, no, Emperor damn it..."
"I have failed..."
"No, no, no Boreale you-" Tullus leaned back in the chair, as it cried out in protest, trying in vain to think of something-
"THE EMPRAH!"
He fell back out of his chair in surprise at the sudden exclamation.

Brother-Captain Indrick Boreale was but one of many held at the Mental Reclamation Convent of Saint Gimpus, and really, Tullus reflected as he righted his chair, one of the better behaved ones.

For instance, one cell over...

"MEHTAL BAWKSES!" Came muffled through the wall, shaking the diplomas bespangling it.

STEEL REHN

**I look away from the mic to call more SPEHSS MAHREENS.

Steel Rehn
Some steh dry and others feel the pehn
Steel Rehn
Landing drop pods makehs infernahl din

Steel Rehn**
Our eterhnel fureh strikes the hearts of mehn
Steel Rehn
Deep strikeh is our vehry own bent

Steel Rehn
No matteh how hard our enemehs try
Steel Rehn
They all see our reputashen is no lie

Steel Rehn
Forecast to be fallen yesterdeh
Steel Rehn
Yet it will likeleh also fall todeh

(Chorus)
Steel Rehn
We fall to earth at enormouehs rates
Steel Rehn
The Empra’s foes cannot stop ourh haet
[Repeat]

Steel Rehn
Our drop pods coveh the light of dehy
Steel Rehn
Our enemehs flee but there is no weyh

Steel Rehn
Fiereh blood rushing throuegh our vehns
Steel Rehn
Afteh we finish we prepare to fall back down agaihn

Steel Rehn
We are called dowehn by the radio
Steel Rehn
The purpose is to gain grouend controhl

Steel Rehn
We could not call it aneh otherh nayme
Steel Rehn
Everything else soundehd quite insayhn

Steel Rehn
We are preparing to fall onceh moreh now
Steel Rehn
The Empra will someday rewaredh us, somehow

Boreale stopped singing once he reached the end of what he had composed, and sat down silently, sitting his head in his hands. On paper, it was brilliant, a hymn that could be sung by billions of the Emperor’s servants across thousands of worlds in countless joyous anthems.

But what was the point if he couldn’t sing it properly himself?

Boreale's life before service to the chapter

FHAST FHOD FOH THE EMPRAH!

SPESS MEHREENS! TODAY, THE CUSTOMERS ARE AT OUR DOORS! WE KNOW OUR BURGERS, AND WE WILL COOK THEM! WE FRY FOR OUR HONAH AS BLUD REVENS, AS SPESS MEHREENS, AND WE FRY IN THE NAME OF THE EMPRAH!

IF WE FEHL AN ORDAH, WE WILL MAKE IT AGAIN AND GIVE A DISCOUNT! BUT WE WILL NOT FEHL, NO, IT IS THE CUSTOMER WHO WILL TASTE OUR DELICIOUS EMPRAH BURGAHS.

AS YOU KNOW, MOST OF OUR BATTLE BURGERS ARE STORED IN SPESS, PREPARED TO DEEP FRY! OUR LARDERS HAVE BEEN PREPARED SHOULD THE CUSTOMERS BE SO BOLD AND FOOLISH TO COME BACK FOR SECONDS! WE HAVE PLACED MULTIPLE FRYCOOKS ALLOWING FOR MULTIPLE, SIMMULTANEUS DEVAHSTATING DEEP FRIES.

THE CODEX CLOGGEDARTERIES NEMES THIS MANUVAH HEART PAIN! WE WILL DESCEND UPON THE BURGAHS, AND OVERWHELM THEM, LEAVE NONE UNFRIED! MEANWHILE, OUR CASHIERS WILL ENSURE THE DEFENSE OF OUR HEADQUARTERS!

WE ARE THE SPESS MEHREENS! WE ARE THE EMPRAH'S FRYCOOKS!

Boreale's previous service

Captain Boreale did actually serve back then as a Marine veteran sergeant during the Tartarus Campaign along with Captain Gabriel Angelos, back then his speech abilities were still heavily disabled due to a freakish power-fist incident with a 1st company veteran Terminator. His speech was mostly confined to screaming and a neural link with his troops. His task: flank a horde of Orks with a tactical squad and a Predator Annihilator tank. Unfortunately, he found himself with large contingent of Orks planning the same. His force was pushed back under a highway with them holding the line as best they could with the Predator: the only thing keeping the orks back from them. At this point, the orks started to employ artillery systems.

He requested reinforcements from the Litany of Fury, and was informed the regrettably,the nearest Thunderhawk gunship was 10-15 minutes away, and the only reinforcements they could send at the moment was Brother Valek, a Dreadnought. The orks got lucky, and destroyed the Predator tank with tankbusta fire, the remaining beastial xenos charging into battle, fanatically crying out howls of war and glee. Just before the foul xenos reached their lines, Brother Valek plummeted from the skies and provided support fire at the best possible time. Gabriel Angelos then advised Boreale to hold the line with the Dreadnought, but Boreale guesstimated that the Orks had a high chance of reaching them soon, despite the cover and other advantages. To deny the Orks their Furious Charge, he had to do something bald and foolish: He stood up and yelled: AAAAAAARRRRGGGHHH!!!, in a comically guttural way, which was actually "We are the Spehss mehreens! We are the Emprah's Fureh!" when heard in the marines' neural links. The tactical squad of 10 was ordered rush the Ork horde outnumbering them 10-1 along with the Dreadnought. Not wanting to take 4 S4 attacks in the face per Ork, they did.

There was one surviving marine who commented: "We were on the way to being relieved and the dreadnought had been enough to keep the foul greenskins at bay this time, and yet we were doomed if we stayed in place. That's when our Sergeant ordered us to strike first at the enemy with overwhelming numbers! It was a bloodbath with Sergeant Boreale leading the assault. An Ork attached a Tankbusta bomb on Brother Valek's dreadnought and it exploded, killing most of the marines and some nearby orks, though a sizable force of Orks did still remain. While the deep strikes and Thunderhawks were already being deployed from the Litany of Fury, Sergeant Boreale took the Chapter Banner and made a run for his brothers, hoping to get close enough to inspire them. He was however shot down as he rushed up the fortified hill, leaving him unable to move further. In one last act of defiance, he planted the Chapter Banner on the top of the hill; while the company did admire the thought, it was an ultimately fruitless move for the Sergeant as his brothers couldn't get close." Sergeant Boreale suffered a deep wound when he was shot in the neck during his charge up the hill. While the chapter's Apothecaries were able to heal him they mentioned that even if the wound should heal, Sergeant Boreale would suffer from speech impairment for the rest of his life. He was absent from most of the Tartarus campaign due to the wounds he suffered.

For the live action movie of this event click: here.

Boreale's Death

The Lands of solitude were rocked by a titanic battle between Marines and Orks, it was a bloody gauntlet for both commanders.

Shargent Harad, come in!

Captain Boreale yelled on his vox, but alas to no avail: Sergeant Harad, who was guarding the outer perimeter defenses has fallen and even from the top of his citadel, Boreale could clearly see the column of Looted Leman Russ tanks and Killa Kans marching to his fortress. All of the Blood Ravens lined up for the final assault. The Crewmen of the Land Raiders and Predator tanks prayed to both the Emperor and the Machine Spirit for deliverance and protection, the Reclusiarch Chaplain gave a most wondrous and inspirational speech to the Marines with them foaming at the mouth with eagerness to kill the savage Orks who dared desecrate their lands. Epistolary Saribander, Commander Boreale's second in command told the Captain:

Everything is prepared my Lord and with that silently and slowly: Commander Boreale drew his Chainsword, loaded his Bolt Pistol and went out.

While numerically the Blood Ravens were defeated, they made up for it with great fervor and the fact they were the Space Marines, the finest weapons of the Emperor. The Marines lined up outside the fortress gates, from high ground they could see the green tide of Orks and looted tanks headed their way but neither flinched, shook or broke a sweat, they knew this was their glorious end and they shall die honorably for the Immortal God-Emperor of man, their leader and father. Captain Boreale, the Epistolary and the Reclusiarch lined up in front of the men, ready for the fight of their lives....and their last one. Everyone was ready to charge just waiting for the Captain's word......closer and closer the Marines could feel the tanks' treads moving closer and in a split second Boreale ordered the charge with the battlecry:

FOR TEH EMPRAH! And with that, a monumental bloodshed of biblical proportions started.

Bolter rounds and Shoota bullets whizzed through the air, the mighty guns stuck onto the backs of Thundering Squiggoths targeted the holy Land raiders they sought to charge as the latter fired away at the titanic green monsters. Screams were everywhere, the mighty cries of the Astartes drowned out with a deafening cry of "WAAAAAAAAGH!". The battle eventually fell down to a bloody melee combat.

BREAK THE ENEMY LI....., the Chaplain was cut short by a titanic Power Klaw that snipped through his neck to claim his skull for the pole of a green goliath who towered over all the others, swatting aside marines like flies as he singled out Boreale. Though demoralised, they kept fighting for the sake of the Chapter's honour; to lose to a warboss whom Thule had defeated on Kronus would forever stain all of their names.

As the battle waged on, the ground was already colored blood red from the blood of both factions, however as their forces dwindled, more and more Orks poured from the trees, on foot, by vehicle, or on the backs of roaring squiggoths, it was Boreale's hundreds against Gorgutz's endless millions. Captain Boreale saw that they were outnumbered and fell back to higher ground.

The Marines reluctantly fell back with the WAAAGH! hot on their trail, the last of the first company's Terminators made available to him by order of Kyras made planetfall as Captain Boreale's honor guard. Captain Boreale ordered his Epistolary to take a squad and cover their flanks, taking 5 squads of battle-brothers, the Librarian obliged while Captain Boreale held the front. After 3 hours which seemed like an eternity however, Epistolary Saribander's forces were nearly eradicated. The Emperor protects us all! he yelled with a soft tone, charging a line of Orks with the last squad of Marines. One by one they fell until only the Epistolary remained, he kept charging, not minding that he is the only one left. Bullet after Bullet and Choppa after Choppa tore through his sacred armour as the Orks fell around him before Gorgutz stabbed him through the heart and made a cruel grin as he tore out the librarian's hearts and dropped him, sending him crashing to the ground flat on his face, his lifeless corpse picked up for the Green Tyrant to tear off his head and put it on his pole.

Things were not looking up for Captain Boreale either, his forces were cornered already making their last stand before the unstoppable might of the orks, a tiny island of red before the endless sea of greenskins large and small.

We fight to the last man, brothers! A sergeant yelled to his compatriots, before being shot to pieces by howling Meganobz and shootas whooping from the backs of a squiggoth. By the time Gorgutz and his lieutenants, his thundering big meks and faithful companion "Stupid" arrived to finish the fight with his personal mob of nobz, meganobz, and flash gitz forcing their way through a sea of green barbarians, Boreale knew that it was over.

We have fehled........THE EMPRAH.

Captain Boreale shouted before being thoroughly riddled by what felt to him to be ten thousand rounds as every Greenskin from Gorgutz and the Flash Gitz to the lowliest Grot took a shot at him, all "aiming" low on Gorgutz's orders so that his head would be intact for his pole. But the body of any living organism, least of all an Astartes, is loathe to die quickly, and Boreale was not granted the mercy of fading into unconsciousness. His artificer armour and iron halo conspired to let him live to see the Orks finishing off his wounded brothers or the Meks and Lootas fighting over the best kit to steal. He would not have to suffer long however, as Gorgutz approached him with an evil grin and a laugh that made him shudder.

"Wot a noice lil bald 'ead you've got there 'umie. It's gonna look great next to yer matez on me pointy stikk."

"The Imperium...will...prevail...beast."

"Sure doesn't look like it ta me space muhreen. But thankz fer remindin' me, I need some impeeriuhl guard and sistuh 'eads on me stikk. I finkz I'll tear it off their neckz once I get to da first planet, right next to yourz. Yer emprah wouldn't want yer 'eadz mixin' with "xeeno" 'eadz after all."

"The chapter will...have...ven-" Gorgutz's klaw snipped through his neck like tissue paper and lifted his head towards Gorgutz's back, impaling it on the stikk reserved for loyal servants of the Emperor, doomed to forever stare out into the void until all flesh finally rotted off the skull.

"Oi, mekz, get da flash bitz off dis 'umie's corpse. I wantz sum upgrades fer me armour." He said, laughing as he walked off to swat off the banner of the blood ravens from its perch and slam the crude flag of his tribe into its place and let out a mighty roar of victory to his ladz. The Blood Ravens may have beaten him at Kronus, but they would forever remember this day as the day that Gorgutz put them in their place.

Unsurprisingly, his death has now been confirmed in Dawn of War II. The Kaurava System campaign is remembered with shame and epic failure by the rest of the Blood Ravens with even Cyrus commenting on it being because of "the incompetence of Indrick Boreale." This is presumably along the lines of how his defeat went, with DoWIII confirming that Gorgutz 'Ead 'Unter and his Orks won the Kaurava campaign. And since the Blood Ravens and Orks both started on the same planet...

Boreale's Other Death

The Lands of solitude were rocked by a titanic battle between Marine and Guardsman, it was a bloody gauntlet for both commanders.

Shargent Harad, come in!

Captain Boreale yelled on his vox, but alas to no avail: Sergeant Harad, who was guarding the outer perimeter defenses has fallen and even from the top of his citadel, Boreale could clearly see the column of Leman Russ and Baneblade tanks marching to his fortress. All of the Blood Ravens lined up for the final assault. The Crewmen of the Land Raiders and Predator tanks prayed to both the Emperor and the Machine Spirit for deliverance and protection, the Reclusiarch Chaplain gave a most wondrous and inspirational speech to the Marines with them foaming at the mouth with eagerness to kill the traitor guardsmen who dared desecrate their lands. Epistolary Saribander, Commander Boreale's second in command told the Captain: Everything is prepared, Commander Boreale.

And with that, silently and slowly: Indrick Boreale drew his Chainsword, loaded his Bolt Pistol and went out.

While numerically the Blood Ravens were defeated, they made up for it with great fervor and the fact they were the Space Marines, the finest weapons of the Emperor. The Marines lined up outside the fortress gates, from high ground they could see the legion of guardsmen and tanks headed their way but neither flinched, shook or broke a sweat, they knew this was their glorious end and they shall die honorably for the Immortal God-Emperor of Man, their leader and father. Captain Boreale, the Epistolary and the Reclusiarch lined up in front of the men, ready for the fight of their lives... and their last one. Everyone was ready to charge just waiting for the Captain's word... closer and closer the Marines could feel the tanks' treads moving closer and in a split second Boreale ordered the charge with the battlecry: FOR TEH EMPRAH! And with that, a monumental bloodshed of biblical proportions started.

Bolter rounds and Lasbeams, the mighty cannons of the Baneblades targeted the holy Land raiders which the latter did the same. Screams were everywhere, the maddening battlecry of an Astartes riddled the guardsmen with fear but the Commissar solved that problem fairly easily. The battle eventually fell down to a bloody melee combat.

BREAK THE ENEMY LI-, the Chaplain was cut short by a lascannon beam that tore right through his helmet, the marines while demoralized, kept fighting for they know their honor as a chapter was at stake.

As the battle waged on, the ground was already colored blood red from the blood of both factions, however as their forces dwindled, the guardsmen kept coming, wave after wave of humble servants, never faltering, never ending. Captain Boreale saw that they were outnumbered and fell back to higher ground.

The Marines reluctantly fell back with the guard hot on their trail, the last of the company Terminators made planetfall as Captain Boreale's honor guard. Captain Boreale ordered his Epistolary to take a squad and cover their flanks, taking 5 squads of battle-brothers, the Librarian obliged while Captain Boreale held the front. After 3 hours which seemed like an eternity however, Epistolary Saribander's forces were nearly eradicated. The Emperor protects us all! he yelled with a soft tone, charging a line of guardsmen with the last squad of Marines. One by one they fell until only the Epistolary remained, he kept charging, not minding that he is the only one left. Lasbeam and bayonet tore through his sacred armor until he could no longer charge, he could no longer run or live, crashing to the ground flat on his face, his lifeless corpse on the ground.

Things were not looking up for Captain Boreale either, his forces were cornered already making their last stand.

We fight to the last man, brothers! The Terminator Sergeant yelled to his compatriots, before being brought quickly down by Lasfire.

We have fehled...... THE EMPRAH.

Captain Boreale shouted before being thoroughly riddled by the hellguns of the Kasrkin surrounding him, their focus on him now that the Terminators fell. Boreale would still attempt to stand strong against the endless lasfire tearing apart his armor, until he would eventually fall cold onto his knees, a particularly hot shot blowing apart his unarmored and bold head. And with that, the Captain Boreale's five companies met their glorious end, lost forever as Gorgutz's forces later destroyed all presence of Mankind on the Kaurava 252nd Conservators brought order to the Kaurava system.

Ostensibly how Boreale met his defeat, this story itself being a dramatic retelling of the stronghold attack on the Blood Ravens in Soulstorm, which you can view the ending cutscene for here. Very unlikely to be how it actually went down, due to how the Blood Ravens would have been the first faction Gorgutz attacked as mentioned earlier. No matter how it really went down, Boreale definitely, one hundred percent died on Kaurava II.

...Or did he?

Watch Commander Boloshoi once again regarded the figure which knelt before him, clad in exquisitely crafted artificer armour made no less resplendent by the extreme pitting and scarring inflicted upon it. The wearer had taken pains to daub his power armour with the ashen mud of his last battlefield, obscuring the majority of the hazy red colour that still showed through in places. Special attention, however, had been given to the left pauldron: not only was it completely obscured by the Marine's attentions, but parts of the surface had been abraded entirely, utterly destroying the Chapter iconography. The Battle-Brother had spoken briefly of his Chapter, not by name, but simply as a lost cause, falling further and further into the darkness with every day that passed. He had tried -- in his capacity as a senior commanding officer -- to clear the taint from within, but to no avail. His due reward for his efforts was to be sent on crusade -- a crusade that rapidly turned sour as Chaos overtook the sector. In addition to all manner of traitors and Xenos, the Battle-Brother had been forced to lead his Astartes against the Emperor's own... a task for which he still grieved. His men had died upon that battlefield, sent to their ignoble fates by a heretic and a madman. That the Battle-Brother survived himself was nothing short of a miracle, and nothing less than a sure sign that he had not yet failed the Emperor. Watch-Commander Boloshoi supervised the repair and resurfacing of the Battle-Brother's artifact panoply himself, as the soot and soil were stripped away and the armour was resurfaced with the black-and-silver of the Ordo Xenos chamber militant. The suit's iconography -- now gone for good -- was now properly obscured by a singular blackness: the Battle-Brother belonged to the Deathwatch now.

"Rise, Brother Solitude," bid the Commander.

"None shahl findd meh wahnting, Commandah."

Alternatively, watch this video.

Steal Reign

It is of course possible that we at /tg/, along with the narrator of Soulstorm himself and all of Boreale's foes, have been deceived by the cunning of the good captain. His strategy was not "Steel Rehn," the common and predictable edict of the Codex Astartes. Rather, capitalizing on the mastery of the Blood Ravens at the acquisition of all that stood before them, he implemented his own devious vision: "Steal Reign." Having built up his force with marines gifted by other chapters and by the unwilling forces of chaos, he had amassed a force that made the five companies officially under his command a mere distraction force to occupy the foe's attention as they assaulted the Lands of Solitude, while Boreale's mastery of deepstriking left the best thieves and looters, as well as himself, well behind enemy lines, where resistance was token, the loot and relics rich. But this was merely the beginning.

Though Gorgutz seemed to have stomped Boreale's men into the dust, Boreale had pulled off his own deception, deep striking into the Orks' rear lines with his few remaining men to find the nearest still operational space marine craft still in operational condition and "gift" itself back to them after "gifting" themselves ork disguises. But knowing that the shame of being defeated by the Orks would forever taint his name, Boreale used his fleet to add to his loot with every one of Gorgutz's victories.

As Gorgutz crushed the forces of Stubbs, Boreale made sure some of the smaller factories and the hundred wayward Baneblades fell into the hands of his growing Armada, trailing behind the ceaseless green tide to acquire everything he needed for his master plan. Even the relics of the Ecclesiarchy were not safe as the last remaining sisters found themselves stripped of all their possessions and remaining dignity as "gifts" for the chapter to enhance his baneblades.

As the forces of Chaos were vanquished, the shrines to Carron's box god were looted before Carron's headless corpse had even grown cold. Even the ruinous powers were not to be spared of Boreale's kleptomaniacal spree of thievery and underhanded deception. The Eldar of both varieties found their precious technology looted to engaged in tech-heresy most foul. The final piece of the puzzle were parts of the Necrons' power generation systems, all to provide energy for Boreale's new superweapon as his remaining marines "gifted" themselves to the Deathwatch to hide from the shame of their defeat.

Throughout the subsequent years of the Blood Ravens and the treachery of Azariah Kyras, none even guessed at this plan, assuming that the failure of "Boreale" was all that it seemed. Only one man, Apollo Diomedes, was cunning enough to piece together what had transpired, the final pieces falling into place as Kyras began the final steps to his ascension. It was not without reason that he feared the roar of each Baneblade he met, for he knew that they were the harbingers. Should subsector Aurelia have fallen, the hold of chaos would be momentary, wiped away by a more terrible foe whose hunger would not cease until every planet, every race, was unified, an undivided SPESS under Boreale's iron fist.

Now that seems a lot more representative of the strategic mastery of Indrick Boreale in Soulstorm, don't you think?

tl;dr = Boreale is actually a tactical genius, see my new explanation.

An animated depiction of Boreale's wet dreams.

Real-life STEEL REHN

The idea of using flechettes (metal darts) as an air-dropped weapon dates back to World War 1 in which biplanes experimented with the concept of carrying and dropping hundreds of flechettes on enemy troops. This experimentation continued on to and after World War 2 and finally gained some notoriety in the Vietnam War when U.S. warplanes began using the LAZY DOG non-explosive anti-personnel munition system which is a simply a bomb-shaped container that held hundreds of free-fall kinetic missiles that would scatter in mid-air and attain speeds of more than 480 mph/772 kmh, allowing them to punch through almost anything. Being on the receiving end of a LAZY DOG was very disturbing and scary because the projectiles were practically silent and invisible: You would never be able to hear or see them until it was too late. And the projectiles were capable of punching through 12-24 inches of packed sand which was calculated to be the force of a .50-caliber bullet. The LAZY DOG was praised as being a non-explosive weapon that was able to strike with three times the force of standard air-burst bombs but was quietly withdrawn from service as it was realized that using the LAZY DOG against ambiguous targets (a.k.a. enemies mixed in with civilians) would've resulted in horrific cases of collateral damage among the Vietnamese civilians, which enough eyes were on for that matter, unlike Cambodia.

The Codex Astartes names this weapon STEEL RAIN!

Without the Memes

Was Boreale a terrible commander? Yes. Could he have become a good one? Maybe. His tactic of mass drop pod assaults isn't necessarily a bad one. In fact, it was one of the reasons the Space Marines were made in the first place. It's much safer to use drops pods for shock and awe assaults on the enemy instead of utilizing the relatively slow Thunderhawks and extraordinarily dangerous teleporters. Drop pod usage also helps to prevent Marines from being bogged down and brought into the grinding attrition warfare that they do not have the numbers for. Usage of devastating defensive deep strikes in a defensive manner is also useful for speedily redeploying a limited number of defenders to most efficiently defend a single objective or free-up defenders from a static battle-line, which was most likely Boreale's intent behind this strategy.

However, full reliance on drop pods is a dumb strategy. Drop pods are used to outmaneuver, out flank, and engage in surprise attacks. If all you do is use drop pods, you lose the most valuable aspect of their design: the surprise. Drop pods should be used to drop Marines behind the enemy while using a massed frontal assault of tanks and devastators (or a supporting conventional army like the Imperial Guard) to unleash Tactical Marines with teleportation beacons for the elite Terminators to lock on to while Assault Marines hit the other flanks. When you do not have that aforementioned frontal assault or supporting conventional army, deep-striking unsupported Marines into a mass of foes who are not occupied on the front lines is just asking for them to be surrounded and destroyed piecemeal; and freeing up defenders from the static battle-line also only works when you have someone to take their place on the battle-line, a consideration that is even more important when the battle-line is the last line of defense.

Boreale's limited numbers in the Kaurava System would have been better served by bunching together themselves, five hundred Marines entrenched in a defensive position is one tough nut to crack, and only a protracted siege from the likes of the Imperial Guard or surgical hit-and-run strikes from the likes of the Eldar or Tau would have been likely to dislodge the Marines. In this defensive position, devastating defensive deep strikes would have actually been possible as there would have been an actual battle-line to serve as an anvil for the enemy to be hammered upon, but Boreale's drop pod spam was not this, as he had spread his forces too thin and had left them without proper support.

Boreale's fixation on Steel Rain tactics is undoubtedly from his own experience as a skilled warrior, where a massive surprise two-to-three-pronged assault would destroy the enemy quickly and in detail, and to an eminent champion who emphasizes honor and personal prowess like Boreale, such a direct and efficient tactic would be favored the most. It is a shame that Boreale's skill at fighting did not translate to skill at conducting war.

There's also the point that Chapter Master Kyras was a traitor; and a Khornate one at that. He wanted to kill as many Loyalists as possible and might have specifically marked Boreale for death. Does that mean Boreale was a threat to him? Maybe. Could he have been? Definitely. Boreale's main strategy, massed drop pod assaults, are specifically useful both against the Tyranids and could have turned the tide rather easily on the planet where Kyras eventually rose to daemon-hood.

Clearly, Kyras wanted Boreale and his men dead, and sent them under-supplied and with poor guidance to a planet with orders that clearly conflicted with Imperial doctrine on the world. He was set up to fail and put in charge of a force he was clearly too inexperienced to lead. Space Marines aren't known for doubting their Chapter Master and Boreale was desperate to prove Kyras's (fake) confidence correct.

Furthermore, there is no evidence that any other Captains of the Blood Ravens were on planet (and none are ever mentioned as having died there). This means that the officer-cadre of the on-planet force was deliberately undermanned. Boreale couldn't be everywhere at once and many squads certainly fell due to a lack of proper guidance. Boreale had no second-in-command to balance him out and this led to his overreliance on a mere handful of strategies.

It could be argued that he could have relied on his Sergeants like Cryus to give him advice, but no-one was forthcoming and none seemed to take the initiative. If Davian Thule or Diomedes had been there, Boreale would have made for a good second-in-command, but that's exactly WHY they weren't there. In the end, he did the best with what he was given which was precisely jack and shit.

In the end, Boreale is surprisingly rigid for a Captain, usually the Marines are more versatile and adaptive in combat, and Boreale's failure to adjust his tactics ultimately spelled his death and defeat.

Videos Featuring Indrick Boreale

• Spess, Spess BAAAALLLDDDD
• dawn of awesome
• The Kaurava campaign did not go well.....
• Unsure heresy upon unsure heresies.
• The reason Soulstorm was never given an official ending is because Captain Boreale actually destroyed it. The real reason he was called a blight on the chapter because his action was supported by the Codex Astartes.
• His original speech
• Another version of Captain Boreale's speech
• WHAT TRULY OCCURRED ON KARAUVA.
• Say what you will, but Boreale is the only SPHESS MEHREEN crazy awesome enough to do this.
• Boreale now voices Duke Baldem in his new game: Duke Baldem Fohevah.
• Dawn of Bald 2: Baldtribution
• You have felhed.... As. A. SPESS MAHREEN.
• Not even gaben is safe.
• Indrick Boreale uses his voice to drive his enemies nuts and destroy Kaurava.
• Unreeeal SpaceMarine, Boreale's newest single
• Boreale was not the hero Kaurava wanted. But he's the hero Kaurava got.
• The Bald Brothas: Boreale and Diomedes feat.
• This is what happened when Boreale revealed his baldness for the first time.
• Yet another version of Boreale's speech link is dead
• Boreale meditating.
• Now stariing in his own musical!
• Boreale getting the music he deserves
• Boreale's speech, but it's translated