White Scars
| White Scars | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
||
| Battle Cry | "For the Khan and the Emperor!" | |
| Number | V | |
| Founding | First Founding | |
| Successors of | N/A | |
| Successor Chapters | Destroyers, Iron Talons, Marauders, Mantis Warriors, Storm Lords, Rampagers | |
| Chapter Master | Jubal Khan | |
| Primarch | Jaghatai Khan | |
| Homeworld | Chogoris | |
| Strength | 1,000 | |
| Specialty | Fast Attack, Bikes, and Librarians | |
| Allegiance | Imperium of Man | |
| Colours | White and red | |
The White Scars are a Chapter of Space Marines that are basically Mongols in Power Armor and on bikes, in contrast to the Space Vikings of the Space Wolves and Space Vampires of the Blood Angels. Their Primarch was known as Jaghatai Khan. Their requisite one-trick-pony is hit-and-run attacks, which they do on those sweet bikes of theirs.
Organization
They are also known for their sweet mustaches and the Scars they make on their faces upon induction into the Chapter. Which is introduced into the chapter after Jaghatai was reunited with the 5th Legion, (i.e. his legion) as he had recently united the fierce tribes of the Talksar tribesmen. Never mind that many Talksar did join the legion due to their loyalty to Jaghatai. Also, they only recruit from Jaghatai's adopted homeworld: Mundus Planus (known as Chogoris to the natives). Up until the Horus Heresy there was a mix of Terran and Chogorian legionaries, but the Terrans often struggled with the Scars' way of doing things, especially their ethos of "retreat, then return" after years of learning the standard "no step back" and linguistic differences.
While Jaghatai Khan and his legion willingly embraced the Codex Astartes (up until the Ullanor Crusade, they hardly ever operated as a full Legion so splitting into Chapters wasn't much of an issue) they do still followed their own traditions and so have a few changes to the codex. Namely their Stormseers a mix between Librarians and Chaplains who also pick the Chapter's Khans. Another thing of note is their dislike of Dreadnoughts, much like the Grey Knight chapter they would rather let the fallen have their rest (that, the whole speed thing- it's like a Formula 1 driver being condemned to eternity in a milk float- and claustrophobia). Rumours abound of attempts at creating fast Dreadnoughts, which ended very messily.
And of course the whole biker thing, making slower moving tanks and troops (like Devastators) rare, in their place they have a large amount of drop pods, Land Speeders and Rhinos. Plus bikes, lots and lots of bikes. Plus space bikes.
They have an incredibly deep, abiding rivalry with the Raven Guard because of their conflicting general tactical doctrines--and according to Deathwatch a failure to cooperate in an old war campaign destroyed any chances of fostering ties they might've had. While the Raven Guard prefers to lie in wait and plan out their attacks down to the letter to ensure the most efficient results are achieved when they finally start their attacks, the White Scars pretty much does the opposite and just rush in chainswords drawn and use their fast-attack specialty to overwhelm their opponents with sheer speed and force. Despite the animosity the two forces have fought alongside one another on multiple occasions, and it's worth noting it's more of a competitive rivalry in any case. Plus lately the Ravens rode shotgun on a Great Hunt, which made for a great bonding exercise.
Despite their savage image, they're actually one of the most cultured legions in the Imperium, with aspirants having to take up pursuits like poetry (often about their battles), painting and calligraphy, and wearing silks in their downtime. As a result they don't like hanging around with the mad drunk Vikings who treat the whole barbarian thing like a badge of honour (Space Wolves). The only cultural traits they share are hunting (though it's hinted at that the Scars are more into falconry) really enjoying their job, frequently admonishing recruits to laugh and smile when fighting. Unfortunately they don't hang out with anyone apart from their successors, so the rest of the Imperium has kept this misconception for millennia.
They used to get on well with the Luna Wolves- particularly the Terran portion of the Legion, many of whose members had aspired to join the other Legion only to find themselves seconded to the Scars (the Scars seem to have ranked just below the Space Wolves and World Eaters as the Legion aspirants most dreaded being assigned to). As a result of this, the Terran Khans tended to favour a mix of White Scars and Luna Wolves organisation and doctrine, to the point that they resented Jaghatai's leadership for being "flighty" compared to Horus' fully committed, crushing attacks. Their relationship with the sons of Horus brought the Warrior Lodges into the White Scars. This was fairly harmless at first, and might have helped bring the Terran and Chogorian Astartes together in time, but then the Horus Heresy happened. The Lodge members were duped (being kept in the dark about the whole Chaos and rebellion thing- as far as they were aware the only act of rebellion was the Space Wolves' smashing the Thousand Sons) into rebelling against their Primarch and trying to force the Scars into declaring for Horus.
Their current Chapter Master, or rather, 'Great Khan' is Jubal Khan. Legends are told of his sweet mustache across the entire length and breadth of the Imperium, which the mustache also spans. The Khan's bodyguard, the Keshig, are the only White Scars known to use Terminator Armour.
They probably get along well with the Attilan Rough Riders.