Salamanders (Chapter)

Salamanders
Battle Cry	"Into the fires of battle, unto the anvil of war!" and "For the Emperor and His people!"
Number	XVIII
Founding	First Founding
Successors of	N/A
Successor Chapters	Storm Giants and Black Dragons are suspected
Chapter Master	Tu'Shan
Primarch	Vulkan
Homeworld	Nocturne
Strength	940 (1 Veteran Company, 6 Battle Companies, 1 Scout Company)* confirmed in novel "Rebirth"
Specialty	Flamers and Meltas
Allegiance	Imperium of Man
Colours	Green, black, gold

"I define manhood simply: Men should be tough, fair and courageous, never petty. Never looking for a fight but never backing from one either."
—John Wayne

"The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him."
—GK. Chesterton

The Salamanders are one of the First Founding Space Marine Chapters in Warhammer 40,000. They are known for their love of flamer and melta weapons, preference for close-quarters combat, complete unwillingness to retreat or surrender and being fairly nice guys by space marine standards. They are also arguably the most shit-upon Chapter fluff-wise, besides the Lamenters, Raven Guard, and Iron Hands. The chapter is named after the mythological fire-lizard of the same name.

Salamanders in WH40K

The Salamanders are a Space Marine chapter based on the Death World Nocturne. Nocturne is a volcanic planet with some truly ridiculous shifting gravity. As such, its people developed a slow, methodical approach to life, coupled with a healthy fetish respect for fire. Salamanders have somewhat slower reaction time compared to other Astartes (but still blindingly fast compared to humans). In the fluff, this is said to be a result of Salamanders being almost universally cautious and methodical in their thinking, rather than a geneseed malfunction (or laziness, despite what the Krusty Kaos Klan might say). The planet's only other reason for continued settlement is its rich mineral deposits, making metalworking an important profession to the point of bordering on a priesthood. These traits carried over to the Salamanders, who are known amongst other things for fielding tough, hard-to-break units and for giving every man and his servo-skull a flamer or melta gun.(Put a couple of C'tan with the Lord of Fire power in your necron army for the lulz.) They are also well known for making almost all of their own equipment personally, with each man held responsible for making and maintaining his own wargear. They import the few things they cannot manufacture on their home world directly from the Adeptus Mechanicus, who likes them more than the ungrateful dicks who keep using up all their ammunition on drills and "practice fights". The rest of their wargear is made by the Chapter artificers and Techmarines and they produce some of the best armor and weapons of any marine chapter, because they're not busy repairing every scratch on the armor of the other 940 (1 Veteran Company, 6 Battle Companies, 1 Scout Company). The result is that each marine is equipped with practically master-crafted weapons and wears near-artificer level armor. For comparison, Artificer armor is basically equal to terminator armor in capabilities. Their entire chapter is like that.

Despite the relative stability and purity of their gene-seed the Salamanders have no confirmed Successors. Two Chapters - the Storm Giants and Black Dragons - are rumoured to be descendants, but these are merely rumours. For their part the Salamanders claim kinship with no other Chapter, likely because they wish to avoid payin' dat muhfuggen chile suppBLAM! Krusty Kaos Klan infiltration detected!

The Salamanders

A fetish for fire

The Salamanders themselves are perhaps the most bro-tier of all Space Marine chapters, the Lamenters coming in a close second. Unlike most other chapters, Salamanders maintain close ties with their original families, giving them a very human connection with the non-augmented people they are charged with protecting. They regularly act in thankless rearguard or civilian defense actions, as seen on Armageddon, and rather than spend their free time in their super-awesome orbital fortress monastery, they hang out on the planet's surface chilling with the locals, many actually living normal lives among the people as chieftains, teachers, guardians, or simply wandering the planet as hermits when not on active combat duty.

In terms of tactics, the Salamanders are one of the simpler chapters; "Wait for it...", "Burn that shit", and "Never say die" are about the sum of their tactics. The number of heat-based weapons they can field is truly alarming, as is a certain special character of theirs who can make them all twin-linked. The fact that each man repairs and maintains his own armor ensures that their chapter Artificers can be free to make truly awesome stuff. They field almost exclusively treaded vehicles, as the gravitic antics of Nocturne's moon Prometheus (really more of a planet) tend to cause anti-grav plating to freak the fuck out.

Of course, if you ask a fa/tg/uy what comes to mind first when they hear the word "Salamanders," you're likely to be answered with a racial slur (such as "we wuz Space Marines, 'n shiet"), gangsta rap and/or a number of pictures showing fried chicken. These ogryns deserve a *BLAM!*, DISCRIMINATION AND STEREOTYPING AGAINST THE EMPEROR'S DEFENDERS OF HUMANITY BECAUSE OF THEIR SKIN COLOR IS HERESY!. This is because, due to their Melanchromic Organ becoming hyperactive in response to the ludicrous amounts of background radiation on Nocturne, all Salamanders are black. We're not talking coal black or African-descent black (though before receiving their geneseed the warriors of Nocturne are dark-skinned), we're talking blackhole pitch black, hexadecimal code #000000, the missing word in the phrase "...as the void of space." That kind of black. With glowing red eyes. Their depiction has been inconsistent at times. During the Eye of Terror campaign, they were instead painted with an African-descent flesh tone, allegedly due to the painter mistaking GW's instructions of "black" for that kind of black. In Codex:Armageddon, meanwhile, there are multiple depictions of them in a variety of ethnicities including African and Caucasian, in spite of how the codex explicitly mentions the charcoal black being so scary that it scared the Salamanders' enemies. GW has gotten a bit more consistent with the charcoal depictions in official sources after that, such as the 5th Edition codex where the helmetless Librarian now has the official charcoal black skin. The inconsistencies and misinterpretations lead certain people to mistake them for African-descent black and some break out the racial slurs in spite of how all the official fluff regarding the Salamanders from their personalities to their naming conventions to their traditions have nothing to do with any African stereotype, in large part because unlike certain other chapters, they weren't intended to have any cultural motifs in the first place (besides possibly Greek ones). It took until the Horus Heresy books to finally confirm that the citizens of Nocturne, and thus by extension the Salamanders (before having their skin change colour), were indeed of the actual African skin tone. It probably doesn't help that they paint their armour the colour of watermelon rind, and when you open one up you find nothing but black and red.....

In addition to those mutations their geneseed also gives them an abnormally hardy constitution, even for a space marine. The Salamanders are much more resistant to radiation and cellular damage than other space marine chapters. This is likely a perk of having a perpetual primarch, though it may just be one of the quirks coded into their geneseed by the Emperor.

And if that wasn't enough, the ally matrix in ForgeWorld's Horus Heresy spinoff demonstrates that the Salamanders were the most liked of all the legions. Seriously, the only factions rivaling them for good ties are the Imperial army and the Mechanicum (who everyone kisses up to anyway). Hilariously, one of the 3 chapters they dislike (though not enough to put them on red terms with anyone) are the Ultramarines. They weren't fans of the Word Bearers either, even before the whole Heresy and ritual murder-torture thing.

Vulkan's Legacy

According to the Salamander's legends, Vulkan left legendary loot nine relics scattered across the galaxy as a sort of scavenger hunt for his sons. If you believe the stories, when the Salamanders find all nine relics, their primarch will return to lead them into a glorious future, the enemies of Mankind will be slain, the children of Noctourne will find flamers and meltas under their pillows, the Imperium will return to glory, blah blah, we've all heard the "Primarch Returns to Kick Ass" story. Of the nine relics, the Salamanders have found five. The first three are carried into battle by the Forgefather: the Spear of Vulkan (a master crafted relic flaming spear that can burn through ceramite or adamantium), Kesare's Mantle (a cloak of adamantium and scales that offers the same protection as a storm shield), the Gauntlet of the Forge (a bitchin glove that can spew fire better than a heavy flamer). The last two stay at home: the Eye of Vulcan, an almost comically large laser defense array that can one shot a battle barge, and the Forge Ship Chalice of Fire whose industrial output can supply the Salamander's entire chapter(!) and then some. The remaining four relics are only named, not described, and they are: the Engine of Woes; the Obsidian Chariot; the Unbound Flame (Which some believe to be Vulkan himself); and the Song of Entropy.

Organization

Unlike many followers of the Codex Astartes, the Salamanders have actually adopted a different organization for their army: the Salamanders organize themselves in Great Companies rather than the typical codex companies, with 6 companies of 120+ warriors each in addition to a smaller scout "company" of roughly 60 men and their officers. Of the six companies, the first is a veteran company, the second through fourth are battle companies, and the fifth and sixth are reserve companies.

Daily Rituals of a Salamander

The daily rituals of the Salamanders take noticeably longer than other Chapters due to Nocturnean pragmatism...and the times are due to...well...you know...

• 12:00: "Morning" Prayer: The Salamanders are roused to begin the day with a few litanies from the Promethean Cult.
• 13:00: "Morning" Firing Rituals: The Salamanders practice their firing skills. Usually using flamers or meltaguns instead of bolters.
• 15:00: Battle practice: The Salamanders descend to the practice cages. Cages have usually been repaired from all the burn damage from the previous day by that point.
• 18:00: Hammer time: The Salamanders take to the maintenance of their wargear while also forging new weapons and armor.
• 20:00: "Midday" meal: A light meal prepared by the chapter serfs is consumed. Carolina Reaper peppers are usually a component of this,Ghost peppers are employed for occasions when the Salamanders might prefer something on the milder side (which is never).
• 21:00: Pimping of the Rides: The Rhinos, Land Raiders, and Predators are pimped out with sufficient bling.
• 22:00: "Afternoon" Firing Rituals: The Salamanders again take to practicing their firing skills. Again using flamers and meltaguns instead of bolters.
• 00:00: "Evening" meal: A feast prepared by the Chapter serfs is consumed. The meal usually consists of an ancient Terran fruit called a "Watermelon" and a helping of a certain flightless, avian animal, fried to a crisp. Beverages usually consist of a ancient Terran form of malt liquor called "Old English" or just "Ol' E". On special occasions they may even break out an ancient carbonated drink referred to "Cristal".
• 01:00: Free time: The Salamanders are given free time from their duties. Some reflect on their duty to the Emperor. Others go and chill with the folks in the Sanctuary Cities on Nocturne, often partaking in an ancient Terran game commonly referred to as "hoops", or compulsively forge new suits of artificer armor.
• 04:00: Lights out: The Salamanders retire for the "evening".

Gallery

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  Sorry Sarge, but your Thunderhammer is Epic Fail.

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  If at first you don't succeed. Twin-linked goodness.

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  Kill it with FIRE! Always!

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  The tenth Relic of Vulkan.

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  Even in death, I still Burn Shit Up!

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  In all honesty though, they're pretty nice guys...

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  They're even great with children!

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  When not not embattled or training Salamanders fraternize with the citizens of the Imperium.

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  You done came to da wrong neighborhood muddafucker.

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  Vulkan He'stan's artificer suit; note the "inverted watermelon" colour scheme

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  You know they're African stereotypes because of their dark brown skin.

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  Salamanders' arch nemesis, the Krusty Kaos Klan member. Infiltrated this page to preach that the Salamanders are various African stereotypes, despite how they aren't.

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  Oooh lawd, is dat sum HERESY?!