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Skitarii

2020-01-30T20:24:50Z

2600:1006:B12C:5143:8CF2:E71C:6401:6B22: /* Overview */

[[File:Myrmidon Secutor.jpg|thumb|right|In the name of the Quest for Knowledge, I shall now take your head off.]]
The '''Skitarii''' (singular ''Skitarius'', also known as Tech-Guard; not a real word but probably derived from the Latin ''scitari'' meaning ''to seek to know''; pronounced ''"ski-tar-ree"'') are the private army of the [[Adeptus Mechanicus]] and proof that even the Imperium could have been more grimdark.

==Overview==
Under the Treaty of Mars, [[Forge Worlds]] are not required to give manpower over to the [[Imperial Guard]] under the [[Imperial Tithe]], so they are allowed to raise, train, and equip their own [[Planetary Defense Forces]]. Wait, every world is required to have a PDF so that makes no sense. Standing somewhere between the Guard and the [[Space Marines]] in terms of ability, the Skitarii have access to absolutely ''everything'' the Adeptus Mechanicus can create. The only things they don't use are the [[Land Raider]] (which is due to a decree by the [[God-Emperor of Mankind|Emperor]] reserving it for the Adeptus Astartes during the <s>[[Great Crusade]]</s> [[Horus Heresy]])(like that stops the [[Inquisition]]...) and [[Dreadnought]]s (though in theory they could, they just prefer carving up your brain and making you a servitor instead). Like the Guard, there is little standardization among Skitarii units. For example, they can't quite seem to agree if the greater unit is called a cohort or a brigade. Additionally, Skitarii will vary from simple gun-[[servitor]]s under a few commanders to gene-enhanced augmented humans with major equipment.

[[File:Image Skitari.jpg|thumb|left|Skitarii artwork from the <s>upcoming</s> mothballed [[Imperial Armour]] volume: Fires of Cyraxus]]Having existed since at least the Great Crusade, a Skitarii brain is altered to maintain their loyalty and obedience. Some are just psycho-surgically or biochemically altered, while others are full-on lobotomised. According to recent lore, one way the Tech Priests control legions of Skitarii are by messing with their brains from SPEHHS, firing off signals to make each and every one of those little bastards think they're being manipulated by the [[Omnissiah]] [[HERESY|himself]]. On the plus side if, after their "indoctrination", they have anything resembling a working brain left, it'll usually be capable of some high level multitasking: a Tech-Guard officer will proficiently dual-chainsword-duel with you, while happily chatting with his fellow Skitarii on the [[vox]] in binaric cant, simultaneously catch up on his unread messages, recompiling the kernels in his cybernetic implants and trolling all the boards of future-#chan at the same time. So yeah, they're different than their service/slave counterparts. And speaking of differences, Skitarii from different forgeworlds don't always share the same look. Some prefer the classic "red-robe-with-hood" Martian style, while others wear Imperial Guard-like uniform, and some could be purely functionalist with no clothes beside armour - just name the style, and somewhere in the galaxy there is a forge world with similarity dressed Skitarii (except for THAT style, you sick fuck). One of the most popular styles the Skitarii employ is to wear fabulous fur coats, fang talismans and grizzly trophies, commonly associated with [[Death World]]ers and [[Space Wolves]]; these are intended to terrify opponents. As if half-robot/zombie soldiers aren't terrifying enough. They can appear so terrifying that loyalist Skitarii are indistinguishable from their Dark Mechanicum counterparts to the casual observer.

They are generally the first line of defense on Forge Worlds and other Mechanicum installations. However, they also serve as marines (in the traditional sense) for some Explorator ships, and act as dedicated infantry and vehicle support for Titan Legions when they are deployed. Because the Mechanicum also likes to make friends and has allies, and Forge Worlds, everywhere, the Skitarii also serve as mercenaries or allies in many Imperial armies and crusades. Additionally, most Space Marine chapters can call on Mechanicum support should need arise. This is double so for the Grey Knights, as Titan is orbited by the former natural satellite of Mars turned into a minor forge world, Deimos, where all of Grey Knights' gear is made, and it has its own Skitarii contingent.

Also, they can be played on the tabletop, like a weird hybrid of Tau, Necron, Craftworld Eldar, and <s>guardsma... ahem.. ASTRA MILITARUM Imperial Guard</s> THE WALL OF GUNS, and seem to be the 40k equivalent of the Skaven, except that they're not fucking furries! Who needs Emrpah loving humies/post-humie/heretic/xenos scum anyway?! Everyone knows the Omnissiah is where it's at!

==Types of Skitarii==
The Skitarii comes in many range and flavours, some more deadlier than the other. All of them can twist your head off and shit down you neck. Here are the examples:

===Skitarii Alpha===
Skitarii Alphas are the squad commanders of Adeptus Mechanicus Skitarii formations. These cybernetic warriors have the highest level of augmentation among their kind, a position of high prestige in Martian culture. To become an Alpha, one must pass the Crux Mechanicus, the point where your body is more machine than flesh. Their human components have often been reduced to a simple organic brain. They are the leaders of any Skitarii and are equivalent to a Space Marine Captain.

[[File:SkitRangerArt.jpg|240px|right|thumb|Time to smoke out some bitches and blow....literally.]]
Of particular note is the fact that many Martian Skitarii Alphas were failed Imperial Knight nobles of House Taranis. Although failure to bond with an Imperial Knight typically drives the would-be pilot insane, emotive-suppressors and memory-catheters are able to keep their rages in check. House Taranis asks in return that their Skitarii cohorts are assigned to fight alongside their Knights, so that the Nobles can still fight alongside their former brothers.

===Skitarii Ranger===
The Mechanicus' equivalent of the [[Eldar]] [[Eldar Ranger|Rangers]] but more [[Awesome]]. They are relentless hunter-killer infantry, and are known that they will hunt their prey across the galaxy for decades if need be. Mindful of the harsh terrain of Mars, their legs have been removed from the knees down, replaced by cybernetic augmentations. This has made their stamina legendary, and they are known to hunt a foe until it exhausts itself. Skitarii Rangers themselves are split into the '''Skitarii Fresh-forged''' which are essentially the most recent additions to a Skitarii Ranger team. They differ to normal Skitarii as their remaining flesh is still raw from the surgery involved in bionic modification. There is also the '''Skitarii Specialists''' who are given the holy duty of carrying and maintaining the Skitarii kill team’s more unusual weaponry.

Their weapon of choice are Galvanic Rifles, though others may be armed with Arc Rifles, Transuranic Arquebus', or Plasma Calivers. A Skitarii Rangers team is led by an Alpha, normally equipped with Radium Pistol or Arc Pistol as well as a Power Sword, Taser Goad, or Arc Maul.

Some Rangers control the guns on the Dunecrawler (they are the dude in the hatch).
[[File:SkitariiVanguardArt.jpg|240px|left|thumb|The funny thing is, that gun is the least of your worries.]]

===Skitarii Vanguard===
Skitarii Vanguards, known informally as Rad-Troopers, are the other type of Skitarii infantry used by the Adeptus Mechanicus. Skitarii Vanguards are so soaked in radiation from their Radium Carbine weaponry that even to approach them is to [[FATAL|invite death.]] Eventually, the radiation burns through even their heavy armor plating, [[Grimdark|slowly poisoning them to death.]] Mindful of the harsh terrain of Mars, their legs have been removed from the knees down, replaced by cybernetic augmentation. Their augmentations and radioactive conditioning has allowed Skitarii Vanguards to be deployed to the most hazardous war zones the galaxy has to offer.

A Skitarii Vanguard squad is led by an Alpha, equipped with either a Phosphor Blast Pistol, Radium Pistol, or Arc Pistol, as well as a Power Sword, Taser Goad, or Arc Maul. These guys are there to [[rape]] infantry in close quarters.

Vanguard are also used in the Onager Dunecrawlers as the pilot. They're basically dumped into the same kind of emulsion tank some Titan pilots get. They don't last very long but on the plus side no more getting killed by small-arms.
[[File:RuststalkerArt.jpg|140px|right|thumb|[[Eversor Assassin|*WWWRRRRRYYYYYYYYYY!*]]]]

===Sicarian Ruststalkers===
Sicarian Ruststalkers are the elite Skitarii assassins of the Adeptus Mechanicus and an attempt to make an [[Eversor Assassin]] look like a rehabilitated good Samaritan (spoiler: a failed one). Initially an elite assassination squad, the Sicarian Ruststalkers proved so effective at the art of killing that they were repurposed as front-line, physics-manipulating commandos. Their Transonic Weapons hum and resonate with efficiency, passing through the strongest armor as if it simply didn't exist, [[Fist of the North Star|though the effect of the damage often takes several seconds to manifest.]] These highly trained and augmented squads known as Killclades are led by Princeps.

As with their Infiltrator brothers, every Sicarian was once a Skitarii who was grievously injured in battle. If these fallen are judged still fit to serve the Omnissiah, they are not incinerated but instead taken back to be augmented into lethal killing machines. This process can take place as long as a Skitarius possesses a head, torso, and some limb-stumps.

Sicarian Ruststalkers also called "shivs", a reference to a way they repeatedly plunge their transonic weapons into their enemies, visible only as a blur of blue and arcing sprays of scarlet blood.

===Sicarian Infiltrator===
[[File:SicInfArt.jpg|260px|left|thumb|AYE AYE AYE! <s>Power Rangers!</s> Fellow Skitarii! We request support for <s>Zordon</s> The Omnissiah!]]
The sneaky counterparts to the Skitarii forces that also bears an uncanny resemblance to Alpha-5 from Power Rangers. Sicarian Infiltrators are the brutal Skitarii scout troops of the Adeptus Mechanicus, renowned as perhaps the most sinister warriors of the Mechanicum. Heavily augmented into [[Star Wars|more machine than man,]] the Sicarian Infiltrators are a hideous, frightening strike force - the height of Adeptus Mechanicus posthuman engineering. When hunting, they emit from their domed helmets a white noise that fills all sensory spectrum's with static, leaving their foe disorientated and helpless and incredibly irritated. Enemies fall, deafened and blinded by the scree of a brutally disruptive audiovisual assault; battles are often decided before even a single kill is confirmed. Infiltrator squads can bypass enemy defenses with ease, though not because of their stealth but rather their disruptive wavelengths they broadcast when on the move. These scout squads are led by Princeps. Regular Skitarii warriors sent to fight alongside Infiltrators are given null-codes that can transmute their disorientated wavelength frequencies, allowing for efficient combined-arms assaults.

As with their Ruststalker brothers, every Sicarian was once a Skitarii who was grievously injured in battle. If these fallen are judged still fit to serve the Omnissiah, they are not incinerated but instead taken back to be augmented into lethal killing machines. This process can take place as long as a Skitarius possesses a head, torso, and some limb-stumps.

Heavily modified for their scouting missions, almost their entire human heads have been replaced with a specialized domed helm allowing a three-hundred and sixty degree view of the battlefield. They are equipped with a wide array of weapons including Stubcarbines, Power Swords, Taser Goads, and Flechette Blasters.

===Skitarii Protector===
Protectors were soldiers and guards that worked in the Adeptus Mechanicus.

They were genetically engineered and augmented Humans that wore red robes and bronze masks that showed green mechanical eyes. Members of the Protectors typically carried weapon staves and served as the personal guards within a techpriest's forge. They were noted to smell of spoiled, decayed meat and oils. skitarii protectors were much more commonly used during the horus heresy and most were deemed ineffective by the martian priesthood and the use of thousands of tech thralls became more popular to defend forges and forgeworlds when the mechanicus was short on full blown skitarii. Which, in true Warhammer fashion, makes no sense as they are made in the same way and Protectors, being actual Skitarii, would have been far more effective and just as numerous as Tech-Thralls (due to being made in the same way as the thralls). Dammit, GW!

===Secutarii===
Secutarii are the protectors and recoverers of [[Titan]]s, and many are drawn from the service of normal skitarii from the [[Explorator Fleet|Exploratory Fleet]]s who show great affinity working with Titans. [[Secutarii|Their own article]] explains them more in depth.

===Serberys Sulphurhounds/Raiders===
New cyber cowboy units previewed at LVO. The Serberys Sulphurhounds are revolver-wielding Vanguard who ride cyborg hounds with flamers for faces. The Serberys Raiders are styled like the Rangers and ride tamer looking cyber steeds.

===Pteraxii===
Winged cousins of the Sicarians that have the same Da Vinci style of flight gear as the Archeaopter. Possess some mean looking bird legs as well as a range of weapons such as flamers and taser goads.
00101011 00101011 01010111 01100101 00100000 01100001 01110010 01100101 00100000 01000100 01100001 01010110 01101001 01101110 01100011 01101001 01100001 01101110 00101101 01110000 01110100 01100101 01110010 01101111 01100100 01100001 01100011 01110100 01111001 01101100 00101101 01101101 01110101 01110010 01100100 01100101 01110010 01100011 01111001 01100010 01101111 01110010 01100111 01110011 00100000 01101110 01101111 01110111 00100001 00100000 01000010 01100101 01100011 01100001 01110101 01110011 01100101 00100000 01000110 01010101 01000011 01001011 00100000 01011001 01001111 01010101 00100001 00101011 00101011

==See Also==
*[[Warhammer_40,000/Tactics/Skitarii_(7E)|Skitarii tactics]]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyxOXjZHl9U This sums up the Skitarii (be sure to kitbash your squad alpha so he gets an abbs mounted heavy weapon!)]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFULVMSd5JY And again with related images]
Incoming flamer faced cyberhound -based in an ancient 'Boston Dynamicvs' STC- skitarii cowboys!!

We are DaVincian-pterodactyl-murdercyborgs now! Because FUCK YOU!
{{Template:Mechanicus}}
{{Imperium}}

[[Category:Adeptus Mechanicus]]
[[Category:Stubs]]

Skitarii

2020-01-30T20:23:51Z

2600:1006:B12C:5143:8CF2:E71C:6401:6B22: /* Overview */

[[File:Myrmidon Secutor.jpg|thumb|right|In the name of the Quest for Knowledge, I shall now take your head off.]]
The '''Skitarii''' (singular ''Skitarius'', also known as Tech-Guard; not a real word but probably derived from the Latin ''scitari'' meaning ''to seek to know''; pronounced ''"ski-tar-ree"'') are the private army of the [[Adeptus Mechanicus]] and proof that even the Imperium could have been more grimdark.

==Overview==
Under the Treaty of Mars, [[Forge Worlds]] are not required to give manpower over to the [[Imperial Guard]] under the [[Imperial Tithe]], so they are allowed to raise, train, and equip their own [[Planetary Defense Forces]]. Wait, every world is required to have a PDF so that makes no sense. Standing somewhere between the Guard and the [[Space Marines]] in terms of ability, the Skitarii have access to absolutely ''everything'' the Adeptus Mechanicus can create. The only things they don't use are the [[Land Raider]] (which is due to a decree by the [[God-Emperor of Mankind|Emperor]] reserving it for the Adeptus Astartes during the [[Great Crusade]])(like that stops the [[Inquisition]]...) and [[Dreadnought]]s (though in theory they could, they just prefer carving up your brain and making you a servitor instead). Like the Guard, there is little standardization among Skitarii units. For example, they can't quite seem to agree if the greater unit is called a cohort or a brigade. Additionally, Skitarii will vary from simple gun-[[servitor]]s under a few commanders to gene-enhanced augmented humans with major equipment.

[[File:Image Skitari.jpg|thumb|left|Skitarii artwork from the <s>upcoming</s> mothballed [[Imperial Armour]] volume: Fires of Cyraxus]]Having existed since at least the Great Crusade, a Skitarii brain is altered to maintain their loyalty and obedience. Some are just psycho-surgically or biochemically altered, while others are full-on lobotomised. According to recent lore, one way the Tech Priests control legions of Skitarii are by messing with their brains from SPEHHS, firing off signals to make each and every one of those little bastards think they're being manipulated by the [[Omnissiah]] [[HERESY|himself]]. On the plus side if, after their "indoctrination", they have anything resembling a working brain left, it'll usually be capable of some high level multitasking: a Tech-Guard officer will proficiently dual-chainsword-duel with you, while happily chatting with his fellow Skitarii on the [[vox]] in binaric cant, simultaneously catch up on his unread messages, recompiling the kernels in his cybernetic implants and trolling all the boards of future-#chan at the same time. So yeah, they're different than their service/slave counterparts. And speaking of differences, Skitarii from different forgeworlds don't always share the same look. Some prefer the classic "red-robe-with-hood" Martian style, while others wear Imperial Guard-like uniform, and some could be purely functionalist with no clothes beside armour - just name the style, and somewhere in the galaxy there is a forge world with similarity dressed Skitarii (except for THAT style, you sick fuck). One of the most popular styles the Skitarii employ is to wear fabulous fur coats, fang talismans and grizzly trophies, commonly associated with [[Death World]]ers and [[Space Wolves]]; these are intended to terrify opponents. As if half-robot/zombie soldiers aren't terrifying enough. They can appear so terrifying that loyalist Skitarii are indistinguishable from their Dark Mechanicum counterparts to the casual observer.

They are generally the first line of defense on Forge Worlds and other Mechanicum installations. However, they also serve as marines (in the traditional sense) for some Explorator ships, and act as dedicated infantry and vehicle support for Titan Legions when they are deployed. Because the Mechanicum also likes to make friends and has allies, and Forge Worlds, everywhere, the Skitarii also serve as mercenaries or allies in many Imperial armies and crusades. Additionally, most Space Marine chapters can call on Mechanicum support should need arise. This is double so for the Grey Knights, as Titan is orbited by the former natural satellite of Mars turned into a minor forge world, Deimos, where all of Grey Knights' gear is made, and it has its own Skitarii contingent.

Also, they can be played on the tabletop, like a weird hybrid of Tau, Necron, Craftworld Eldar, and <s>guardsma... ahem.. ASTRA MILITARUM Imperial Guard</s> THE WALL OF GUNS, and seem to be the 40k equivalent of the Skaven, except that they're not fucking furries! Who needs Emrpah loving humies/post-humie/heretic/xenos scum anyway?! Everyone knows the Omnissiah is where it's at!

==Types of Skitarii==
The Skitarii comes in many range and flavours, some more deadlier than the other. All of them can twist your head off and shit down you neck. Here are the examples:

===Skitarii Alpha===
Skitarii Alphas are the squad commanders of Adeptus Mechanicus Skitarii formations. These cybernetic warriors have the highest level of augmentation among their kind, a position of high prestige in Martian culture. To become an Alpha, one must pass the Crux Mechanicus, the point where your body is more machine than flesh. Their human components have often been reduced to a simple organic brain. They are the leaders of any Skitarii and are equivalent to a Space Marine Captain.

[[File:SkitRangerArt.jpg|240px|right|thumb|Time to smoke out some bitches and blow....literally.]]
Of particular note is the fact that many Martian Skitarii Alphas were failed Imperial Knight nobles of House Taranis. Although failure to bond with an Imperial Knight typically drives the would-be pilot insane, emotive-suppressors and memory-catheters are able to keep their rages in check. House Taranis asks in return that their Skitarii cohorts are assigned to fight alongside their Knights, so that the Nobles can still fight alongside their former brothers.

===Skitarii Ranger===
The Mechanicus' equivalent of the [[Eldar]] [[Eldar Ranger|Rangers]] but more [[Awesome]]. They are relentless hunter-killer infantry, and are known that they will hunt their prey across the galaxy for decades if need be. Mindful of the harsh terrain of Mars, their legs have been removed from the knees down, replaced by cybernetic augmentations. This has made their stamina legendary, and they are known to hunt a foe until it exhausts itself. Skitarii Rangers themselves are split into the '''Skitarii Fresh-forged''' which are essentially the most recent additions to a Skitarii Ranger team. They differ to normal Skitarii as their remaining flesh is still raw from the surgery involved in bionic modification. There is also the '''Skitarii Specialists''' who are given the holy duty of carrying and maintaining the Skitarii kill team’s more unusual weaponry.

Their weapon of choice are Galvanic Rifles, though others may be armed with Arc Rifles, Transuranic Arquebus', or Plasma Calivers. A Skitarii Rangers team is led by an Alpha, normally equipped with Radium Pistol or Arc Pistol as well as a Power Sword, Taser Goad, or Arc Maul.

Some Rangers control the guns on the Dunecrawler (they are the dude in the hatch).
[[File:SkitariiVanguardArt.jpg|240px|left|thumb|The funny thing is, that gun is the least of your worries.]]

===Skitarii Vanguard===
Skitarii Vanguards, known informally as Rad-Troopers, are the other type of Skitarii infantry used by the Adeptus Mechanicus. Skitarii Vanguards are so soaked in radiation from their Radium Carbine weaponry that even to approach them is to [[FATAL|invite death.]] Eventually, the radiation burns through even their heavy armor plating, [[Grimdark|slowly poisoning them to death.]] Mindful of the harsh terrain of Mars, their legs have been removed from the knees down, replaced by cybernetic augmentation. Their augmentations and radioactive conditioning has allowed Skitarii Vanguards to be deployed to the most hazardous war zones the galaxy has to offer.

A Skitarii Vanguard squad is led by an Alpha, equipped with either a Phosphor Blast Pistol, Radium Pistol, or Arc Pistol, as well as a Power Sword, Taser Goad, or Arc Maul. These guys are there to [[rape]] infantry in close quarters.

Vanguard are also used in the Onager Dunecrawlers as the pilot. They're basically dumped into the same kind of emulsion tank some Titan pilots get. They don't last very long but on the plus side no more getting killed by small-arms.
[[File:RuststalkerArt.jpg|140px|right|thumb|[[Eversor Assassin|*WWWRRRRRYYYYYYYYYY!*]]]]

===Sicarian Ruststalkers===
Sicarian Ruststalkers are the elite Skitarii assassins of the Adeptus Mechanicus and an attempt to make an [[Eversor Assassin]] look like a rehabilitated good Samaritan (spoiler: a failed one). Initially an elite assassination squad, the Sicarian Ruststalkers proved so effective at the art of killing that they were repurposed as front-line, physics-manipulating commandos. Their Transonic Weapons hum and resonate with efficiency, passing through the strongest armor as if it simply didn't exist, [[Fist of the North Star|though the effect of the damage often takes several seconds to manifest.]] These highly trained and augmented squads known as Killclades are led by Princeps.

As with their Infiltrator brothers, every Sicarian was once a Skitarii who was grievously injured in battle. If these fallen are judged still fit to serve the Omnissiah, they are not incinerated but instead taken back to be augmented into lethal killing machines. This process can take place as long as a Skitarius possesses a head, torso, and some limb-stumps.

Sicarian Ruststalkers also called "shivs", a reference to a way they repeatedly plunge their transonic weapons into their enemies, visible only as a blur of blue and arcing sprays of scarlet blood.

===Sicarian Infiltrator===
[[File:SicInfArt.jpg|260px|left|thumb|AYE AYE AYE! <s>Power Rangers!</s> Fellow Skitarii! We request support for <s>Zordon</s> The Omnissiah!]]
The sneaky counterparts to the Skitarii forces that also bears an uncanny resemblance to Alpha-5 from Power Rangers. Sicarian Infiltrators are the brutal Skitarii scout troops of the Adeptus Mechanicus, renowned as perhaps the most sinister warriors of the Mechanicum. Heavily augmented into [[Star Wars|more machine than man,]] the Sicarian Infiltrators are a hideous, frightening strike force - the height of Adeptus Mechanicus posthuman engineering. When hunting, they emit from their domed helmets a white noise that fills all sensory spectrum's with static, leaving their foe disorientated and helpless and incredibly irritated. Enemies fall, deafened and blinded by the scree of a brutally disruptive audiovisual assault; battles are often decided before even a single kill is confirmed. Infiltrator squads can bypass enemy defenses with ease, though not because of their stealth but rather their disruptive wavelengths they broadcast when on the move. These scout squads are led by Princeps. Regular Skitarii warriors sent to fight alongside Infiltrators are given null-codes that can transmute their disorientated wavelength frequencies, allowing for efficient combined-arms assaults.

As with their Ruststalker brothers, every Sicarian was once a Skitarii who was grievously injured in battle. If these fallen are judged still fit to serve the Omnissiah, they are not incinerated but instead taken back to be augmented into lethal killing machines. This process can take place as long as a Skitarius possesses a head, torso, and some limb-stumps.

Heavily modified for their scouting missions, almost their entire human heads have been replaced with a specialized domed helm allowing a three-hundred and sixty degree view of the battlefield. They are equipped with a wide array of weapons including Stubcarbines, Power Swords, Taser Goads, and Flechette Blasters.

===Skitarii Protector===
Protectors were soldiers and guards that worked in the Adeptus Mechanicus.

They were genetically engineered and augmented Humans that wore red robes and bronze masks that showed green mechanical eyes. Members of the Protectors typically carried weapon staves and served as the personal guards within a techpriest's forge. They were noted to smell of spoiled, decayed meat and oils. skitarii protectors were much more commonly used during the horus heresy and most were deemed ineffective by the martian priesthood and the use of thousands of tech thralls became more popular to defend forges and forgeworlds when the mechanicus was short on full blown skitarii. Which, in true Warhammer fashion, makes no sense as they are made in the same way and Protectors, being actual Skitarii, would have been far more effective and just as numerous as Tech-Thralls (due to being made in the same way as the thralls). Dammit, GW!

===Secutarii===
Secutarii are the protectors and recoverers of [[Titan]]s, and many are drawn from the service of normal skitarii from the [[Explorator Fleet|Exploratory Fleet]]s who show great affinity working with Titans. [[Secutarii|Their own article]] explains them more in depth.

===Serberys Sulphurhounds/Raiders===
New cyber cowboy units previewed at LVO. The Serberys Sulphurhounds are revolver-wielding Vanguard who ride cyborg hounds with flamers for faces. The Serberys Raiders are styled like the Rangers and ride tamer looking cyber steeds.

===Pteraxii===
Winged cousins of the Sicarians that have the same Da Vinci style of flight gear as the Archeaopter. Possess some mean looking bird legs as well as a range of weapons such as flamers and taser goads.
00101011 00101011 01010111 01100101 00100000 01100001 01110010 01100101 00100000 01000100 01100001 01010110 01101001 01101110 01100011 01101001 01100001 01101110 00101101 01110000 01110100 01100101 01110010 01101111 01100100 01100001 01100011 01110100 01111001 01101100 00101101 01101101 01110101 01110010 01100100 01100101 01110010 01100011 01111001 01100010 01101111 01110010 01100111 01110011 00100000 01101110 01101111 01110111 00100001 00100000 01000010 01100101 01100011 01100001 01110101 01110011 01100101 00100000 01000110 01010101 01000011 01001011 00100000 01011001 01001111 01010101 00100001 00101011 00101011

==See Also==
*[[Warhammer_40,000/Tactics/Skitarii_(7E)|Skitarii tactics]]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyxOXjZHl9U This sums up the Skitarii (be sure to kitbash your squad alpha so he gets an abbs mounted heavy weapon!)]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFULVMSd5JY And again with related images]
Incoming flamer faced cyberhound -based in an ancient 'Boston Dynamicvs' STC- skitarii cowboys!!

We are DaVincian-pterodactyl-murdercyborgs now! Because FUCK YOU!
{{Template:Mechanicus}}
{{Imperium}}

[[Category:Adeptus Mechanicus]]
[[Category:Stubs]]

Yvraine

2020-01-30T20:21:37Z

2600:1006:B12C:5143:8CF2:E71C:6401:6B22: /* Relationship with the Visarch */

{{Heresy}}
[[File:Yvraine.jpg|350px|right|thumb|Destroyer. Saviour. Herald. Foot fetish incarnate. You are many things Yvraine, and yet you are nothing]]
'''Yvraine, Herald of Ynnead''', is an [[Eldar]] who serves as the emissary for the newly awakened Eldar God [[Ynnead]]. <s>She's also pretty hot</s>{{BLAM}} {{BLAM|Heresy!}} <s>She's also one of the only Eldar (other than Caerys) to have big tits and sweet curves</s> {{BLAM}} {{BLAM|!}} Silence! You Mon'Keigh thrall of Chaos!

She also shares her name with Yvraine from Warhammer Fantasy Battle (the daughter of the Everqueen and Aenarion), though crossover names like that [[Magnus|are nothing new]]. The Fantasy version of Yvraine has a brother, Morelion (who is the ancestor of [[Tyrion]] and [[Teclis]]), and is the ancestor to Alarielle, the current Everqueen.
==Early History==
Yvraine was originally born on [[Biel-Tan|Craftworld Biel-Tan]], which could explain where she got her fighting skills from. However, her first path was the Path of the Dancer. At some point, she found she had psychic ability, and thus she took the Path of the [[Warlock (Eldar)|Seer]], becoming a Warlock. However, she had a mercurial mood, and developed a bloodlust that led her to follow the path of the Warrior among the [[Aspect Warrior#Dire Avengers|Dire Avengers]].

After awhile, even this wasn't enough for her and she left Craftworld Biel-Tan as an Outcast and eventually became a famed [[Eldar#Eldar Corsairs|Corsair]] leader. This continued for a time until a mutiny forced her, and those among her crew still loyal, to flee into the Webway. From here there was only one place to go; Commorragh. Here she made her way living and fighting in the slums before joining a [[Wyches|Wych]] cult and then rising to become a [[Succubi|Succubus]] under the patronage of Lady Malys. Unknown to her, [[Visarch|the Exarch]] she had served under had become so devoted to her that he had shed his war mask and followed her to Commoragh by disguising himself as an [[Incubi|Incubus]] (which is something they are not normally able to do, since Exarchs come into being when they become lost in their respective paths).

So yeah, she gets around. Even has a pretty boy or two chasing after her.

==Yvraine's Rebirth==
Yvraine's rebirth came about during a major gladiator match in Commorragh. It was here that Yvraine (aided by the patronage of [[Lady Malys]]) was to face off against [[Lelith Hesperax]] herself. To raise the stakes, they would be fighting among Wyches, [[Tyranids]] and other captives or monsters in a massive free for all. It was such a momentous event that [[Asdrubael Vect|Vect]] himself had arrived to watch (from the comfort of his private portable pyramid/command base/mansion).

The fight between Yvraine and Lelith was breathtaking, even the Harlequins in the audience were stunned. It was clear though that Lelith was toying with Yvraine and was clearly the better fighter... until Yvraine managed to get a cut on Lelith's forearm. However, this was a ruse that Lelith had allowed as part of her plan to draw out the fight and make it more entertaining for her patron, Asdrubael Vect. But the punch to the stomach that Yvraine dealt Lelith was not part of the plan. Yvraine got super pissed and entered berserk mode that caused Lelith to start giving ground and, after getting in a vicious stomp on Yvraine she led Yvraine to a pile of Tyranid corpses. In a nifty display of [[Just As Planned]], Yvraine lost her footing after one of the corpses she was fighting on had a death spasm and Lelith used the opening to stab Yvraine through the sternum before darting off to a new opponent and leaving her for dead.

Despite her wound Yvraine fought, trying to not show weakness in the arena. But even her red attire couldn't hide the blood trailing down her chest. At one point she crossed paths with [[Wat|a priestess of]] [[Morai-Heg]] with needle-like blades. She proved surprisingly quick, even severing one of Yvraine's hands. In spite of her wounds, she still managed to take the priestess with her and ripped the priestess' throat out with her teeth.

That's right, Yvraine's so tough she kept fighting, even though she'd been STABBED IN THE CHEST AND LOST A HAND. Proving herself nearly as hardcore as the average Imperial Guardsman.

It was at this moment, while Yvraine was at the brink of death, that the newly born but weak Ynnead recognized Yvraine as one who had walked on both the Paths of the Eldar and the Paths of Damnation, and so revived her as his Emissary. Unfortunately, the psychic energy released in the process also broke [[Khaine]]'s Gate open, flooding Commoragh with [[Daemons#Warhammer_40.2C000|daemons]] and thoroughly humiliating Vect. Needless to say, Vect now wanted Yvraine dead (again) ''immediately''. Trueborn from the [[Kabal of the Black Heart]] (looking to save face after Vect's retreat) headed towards Yvraine, seeking her death while her Wych Cult and the Visarch (who had been hiding in the crowd) rushed to aid her. Even Wyches from the Cult of Strife turned up, ordered by Lelith to help Yvraine for reasons of her own.

As they left the arena, Yvraine had another surprise. A ship, her flagship from her Corsair days, had returned to Commorragh. The crew took Yvraine, the Visarch and the survivors on before fleeing for the [[Webway]]. But Vect wasn't so easily thwarted. He sealed the Webway passages, and the ship got wedged in one. As Kabalites from the Kabal of the Black Heart tried to cut their way in, Yvraine loaded the Visarch along with as many crew and warriors as they could onto [[Raider]]s and [[Venom]]s, had them launched from the bridge, while the rest of the crew stayed behind willingly, [[Noblebright|sacrificing themselves]] to delay [[Grimdark|Vect's revenge, which involved rape and torture monsters and their tentacle beasts]] in the hope of preserve their people's hope for salvation (Nobledark in 40K, more common than you think).

==Forming the [[Ynnari]]==
Yvraine fled Commorragh with her old Exarch (who had since renamed himself the [[Visarch]]), the Incubus warriors he had become the leader of since he arrived in Commoragh, the survivors of her crew and several members of her Wych Cult. They wandered the Webway for a time, fleeing the [[Haemonculus|Haemonculi cults]] and Kabalites Vect had sent after them. They met up with a group of Harlequins, who led them through the Webway and kept them one step ahead of Vect's agents.

===Return to Biel-Tan===
Accompanied by the newly-formed Ynnari, Yvraine returned to Biel-Tan, the Craftworld of her birth. However, not all eldar were happy to see the return of this prodigal daughter. This 'family reunion' ended with the fracturing of Biel-Tan.

===Battle in the Webway===
In the Webway, they were waylaid by the Prodigal Sons, Ahriman's Chaos Warband. In an astonishing display of power, [[Ahriman]] managed to teleport Yvraine, the Visarch and the [[Yncarne]] out of the Webway into Tzeentch's crystal labyrinth with where they froze due to the implication that [[Tzeentch|the big blue bird himself]] was there and merely gazing upon him would destroy their sanity. The Tzeentchian assault on Ynnari forces including the trio, [[Harlequins]], [[Dark Eldar]] and [[Eldrad]] was saved only by the timely intervention of [[Phoenix Lords]] led by [[Jain Zar]].

While trapped in Tzeentch-town, Yvraine called out to Ahriman, saying she had "what he was seeking". To prove her point, Yvraine used her powers to [[Awesome|restore a dozen Rubric Marines to their former selves]]. Overcome with emotion, Ahriman returned Yvraine, the Visarch and the Yncarne to the battle. However, to take him from the battle, Yvraine then had a [[Wraithknight]] smash a hole in the Webway, [[Troll|sucking those recovered Rubric Marines into the Warp]]. Horrified, Ahriman fled after them on a Disc of Tzeentch.

In the battle both the Yncarne and the Phoenix Lords went MIA. Yvraine would later show the ability to summon the Yncarne again, so long as there was enough death happening in the immediate area.

===A Desperate Alliance===
At this point the Ynnari joined together to enact another desperate plan: Eldrad had forseen that the Eldar's and the Imperium's fates were joined. For the Eldar to survive they would have to ally with the [[Imperium]], this time for real.

To facilitate this, they picked up the survivors from the fall of [[Cadia]] (minus [[Creed]], who had already been taken by [[Trazyn the Infinite|Trazyn]]). Then, after a good word from [[Belisarius Cawl|Cawl]], [[Saint Celestine|Celestine]] and [[Inquisitor Greyfax|Greyfax]] to explain their intentions, they headed to Macragge. There, Yvraine and Cawl worked together to heal [[Roboute Guilliman]] of his poison and bring him back to life.

After promising an alliance, the Eldar and the forces of the Imperium parted ways, with Guilliman thanking Yvraine for helping him and Yvraine giving Guilliman a sincere caution and no stereotypical Eldar dickery (something quite a few shippers have seized on, though this would be more ironic than Taldeer and LIIVI, given that Yvraine is the herald of a god and Roboute is implied to despise religion, though this is a combo of the [[Imperial Truth]] creed and Roboute's [[Rage|reaction]] to the [[Ecclesiarchy]] worshiping [[Emperor of Mankind|Big E]]).

===Hand of Darkness===
Whilst the [[Plague Wars]] were raging in [[Ultramar]] it came to the attention of Guilliman that [[Mortarion]] was using an artifact known as the Hand of Darkness to spread diseases ([[Blood_Ravens|yes, the same one the Imperium "lost" in the 12th Black Crusade]]). Knowing that the artifact was well-known to the Eldar and that they had a common interest in seeing it out of Chaos' hands, Guilliman requested the aid of Eldrad and Yvraine to retrieve it, having [[Varro Tigurius]] supply the Eldar with its location as the Imperium had been able to locate it whilst the Eldar had not. Armed with the knowledge that the Hand lay within the domain of [[Nurgle]] himself, Yvraine went to the [[Black_Library#In_Warhammer_40.2C000|Black Library]] in order to find a method to safely enter it. After battling against the [[Thousand Sons]], facing off against Ahriman again, and overcoming a test along with the Visarch, Yvraine gained access to something known as the Rose of [[Isha]] and, using it, created a safe passage into the [[Eye of Terror]]. Following this path she and her party located the Hand of Darkness, slew its guardian, and fled with it.

After escaping with the Hand of Darkness the White Seers of the Black Library offered to take it and destroy it, claiming that no good could come from using Chaos Artefacts. Clearly they had never met [[Logan Grimnar]], [[Marneus Calgar]] or [[Kaldor Draigo]] who have all, several times, used Chaos Artefacts for good. However, Yvraine refused them, insisting that she had to return the Hand of Darkness to Guilliman.

===Craftworld Zaisuthra===
Shortly after giving the Hand of Darkness to Eldrad so he can send it to Guilliman, Yvraine was contacted by Iyanna Arienal, who had heard that a long-lost Craftworld known as Zaisuthra appeared to have returned after it had left the galaxy. Along with an [[Iyanden]] Wraithhost, the Ynnari went to investigate the craftworld, mainly because legend had it that it contained a webway portal to the Tomb of Eldanesh, which Yvraine suspected could be the location of the final Cronesword.

Although the inhabitants of the Craftworld were friendly at first, it was eventually revealed that it was infected by [[Genestealer|Genestealers]]: the Craftworld had left the galaxy before the [[Infinity Circuit]] technology could be spread and the ancestors of the Craftworld's inhabitants chose to submit to the Broodmind in order to preserve their souls from [[Slaanesh]]. As the hybrids that now constituted the Craftworld's population were running out of resources, their plan was to use Iyanna Arienal to spread their infection to Iyanden, manipulating her into joining the Broodmind by preying on her desire for a family (her original family being killed and their soulstones shattered when a torpedo struck Iyanden - and distant relatives of said family residing in Zaisuthra). Their plan turned against them when Yvraine and Iyanna were able to summon the Yncarne into the Broodmind, who then proceeded to devour the souls of most of the Craftworld and slay the Genestealer Patriarch (which had somehow absorbed the power of the Craftworld's Avatar) leading the hybrids.

Yvraine then took the gate to the Tomb of Eldanesh. Finding themselves in what appeared to be the Eldar homeworld, thought lost during the [[War in Heaven]], they discovered that the tomb did not house the Cronesword but instead the Warshard, the most powerful [[Avatar of Khaine]] of them all, who wielded Anaris itself and whose presence was enough to drive most of the Ynnari forces into a team-killing frenzy. It was defeated, but at the cost of a third of the Ynnari's forces. Meliniel, a Biel-Tan [[Autarch]] who essentially acts as Yvraine's second-in-command, was able to bind the Warshard into himself using a gem made of Eldanesh's blood and transform into Khaine's Avatar at will, so now the Ynnari have their very own Avatar of Khaine. Shame you can't have one in an Ynnari army though. (¿Porque GeeDubs?) Plus, it cost them a third of their forces.

===Tomb-World Agarimethea===
Following the events on Zaisuthra and the Tomb of Eldanesh, Yvraine sent Druthkhala (a former Drukhari Wych) to act as an ambassador on [[Craftworld Saim-Hann]]. This was mainly to conscript the aid of the Wild Rider Clans in order to investigate Agarimethea; a maiden world formerly host to a population of eldar Exodites who mysteriously vanished and host to an ancient aeldari vault rumored to contain relics from before the Fall. Nuadhu Fireheart, heir to the declining Clan Fireheart and Wild Rider Lord, offered the services of his Wild Riders with the not-so-discreet intention of wooing Druthkhala (who, when no clans officially offered their support, had to settle with that). During their investigation, Nuadhu accidentally triggered a dormant Necron Tomb complex which promptly began awakening its inhabitants to kill the Ynnari/Saim-Hann coalition.

Upon realizing what they'd (specifically Nuadhu) done, Druthkhala and Nuadhu are forced to petition the rest of Saim-Hann's clans for aid in destroying the Tomb-Complex. Most of the clans dismiss the issue, namely due to their distrust in the Ynnari and seers in general (Eldrad's stunt to summon Ynnead and the fracture of Biel-Tan don't help their case) and remain highly divided on how/if they want to even deal with the Necrons. Despite the Firehearts pressing the issue that Agarimethea is within spitting distance of Saim-Hann and the threat a fully awakened tomb world presents to the greater whole of their people. After a recess in the proceedings, Nuadhu calls those opposed to taking action on Agarimethea cowards (which, of course, Saim-Hann eldar happen to value honor literally more than life itself) which results in an honor duel to determine who's in the right. Druthkhala champions the Firehearts after throwing some more shade on their champion (who was originally opposed to an outsider participating until she called him weak), only for Nuadhu to forfeit the duel upon realizing Druthkhala intended to kill the opposing champion (as duels typically end after first blood). This forfeit fully eradicated any chance of Saim-Hann fully supporting the Ynnari's efforts on Agarimethea, so a pissed Druthkhala left to inform Yvraine of the turn in events.

After a meeting with Clan Fireheart and Nuadhu, Yvraine and Eldrad pressure the seers of Saim-Hann into aiding their efforts (despite how little weight the Saim-Hann seers have among the clans). A multi-pronged assault on Agarimethea between the Ynnari, Wild Riders, Fireheart Clan and their closest allies is set in motion to "smash and grab" whatever relics may be in the vault and use them to end the Tomb-World. Despite a necron null field suppressing Ynnead's influence on the Ynnari, the assault seemingly goes well until Yvraine and the Wild Riders reach the vault.

Turns out it wasn't a vault. Instead, it was a sealed portal into the warp ''filled'' with Slaaneshi deamons (including Deamon Princes heavily implied to be of Aeldari origin, food for thought there), which began to attack both the eldar and necrons present. Despite a number of the Saim-Hann forces wanting to say "fuck it" and let them kill each other eternally, Eldrad drops the bomb that Agarimethea is one of several such complexes in the immediate area: within two years the necron/deamon war will envelop no less than the entire solar system (as numerous nearby worlds also host necrons and prison-vaults of their own) and will wipe out Saim-Hann in the process if not stopped immediately. A desperate final assault is attempted on the portal only for the necrons to intercept and redirect the war host to their Phaerakh, who offers a truce in exchange for their aid in sealing the vault-prison. An accord is struck and the Ynnari-Necron alliance makes solid progress against the ever increasing tide of daemons, in no small part due to an unleashed C'Tan shard and Meliniel transforming into the Warshard (arguably the only real instance of an Avatar of Khaine being used ''successfully''). Yvraine, in an effort to fully turn the tide in their favor, takes the soul of Caelledhin Icewhisper's mother (the Fireheart Chieftain's lover whose soul he personally was housing) and uses it to reconnect to Ynnead and summon the Yncarne to battle.

Despite all this, it's still not quite enough to fully press into the vault-prison. The additional knowledge that an eldar with the blood of one who'd opened the portal must be sacrificed in order to close it stirs Caelledhin Icewhisper (Nuadhu's half-sister) to hop on a jetbike and suicide rush the portal, closing it and ending the daemon incursion at the cost of her life. Yvraine and Eldrad apprehensively approach the Phaerakh to ask what what comes next. The Phaerakh, known as The Watcher in the Dark, reveals she doesn't have any plans to leave and conquer other worlds as her sole charge is to make sure the vault-prisons she guards stays shut. To that extent, she lifts the null field and allows the eldar to leave on the condition they stay away, a condition the Ynnari and Saim-Hann eldar are content to accept.

This whole ordeal cost Yvraine a good number of Ynnari lives with nothing to show for it and garnered no good will amongst the majority of Saim-Hann's clans, so the events that took place on Agarimethea arguably were a grand waste of time and resources on her part.

===Blood of the Phoenix===
With the opening of the Great Rift (or the Dathedian, as the eldar call it), Yvraine's troubles only seem to have been exacerbated. During a return trip to Saim-Hann in order to directly appeal to several of the chieftains present, Drazhar and a band of his Incubi mercenaries slipped into the craftworld through a webway portal directly into the glade the Ynnari and Chieftains were convening in that the denizens of Saim-Hann somehow completely forgot existed (you'd think the leaders of Saim-Hann would know their home well enough to keep track of a webway portal leading ''directly'' into the heart of the craftworld). Contracted by Vect to kill Yvraine, Drazhar made quick work of several of the local autarchs before Jain-Zar and her Howling Banshees arrived to reenforce the Ynnari and Saim-Hann defenders. Drazhar and what remained of his strike force fell back and retreated into an abandoned ruin of a city called Shaa-dom. It was here where he waited and ambushed the still-pursuing Jain-Zar, whom he killed after stunning her with a deluge of tormented psionic screams from the Howling Banshee spirit stones he'd collected. Yvraine, who'd fled to a remote craftworld known as Zandros, saw her death through a vision and beseeched Ynnead to do something to help the only Phoenix Lord who'd thus far bothered to directly champion her. Back in Shaa-dom, An exarch named Qintui'yenh was revived, who then donned the Phoenix Lord's armor to revive Jain-Zar and escaped through a derelict portal that (rather conveniently) led her directly to Zandros and Yvraine. Suspecting some of her Drukhari followers of treachery, Yvraine told all her followers of her plan to scour Zandros for a portal to Belial IV, where she was confident the final cronesword lay. Her suspicions were soon proven when Drazhar, angry that his trophy kill got up and walked away, soon appeared to kill Jain-Zar (again) and actually finish his original contract to kill Yvraine. This time, Jain-Zar managed to best Drazhar and beheaded the father of the Incubi. Despite Yvraine's enthusiastic accolades and hopes to lead the Ynnari to a bright future, Jain-Zar (literally) bowed out and left without another word.

===Phoenix Rising===
Drazhar wasn't the only big name trying to hunt down Yvraine during this time either. Slaanesh, tired of getting blue-balled by Ynnead, sent a daemon by the name of Shalaxi Helbane to hunt down and slay Ynnead's champion. Shalaxi's first attempt nearly succeeded, attacking Yvraine as she and her congregation were puddle-jumping through the webway and slaughtering most of the warhost before Yvraine managed to slip away. A sore loser, and to prove that the Ynnari can never ''truly'' win, Shalaxi gave the fleeing Yvraine a vision of the final cronesword, which had indeed been on Belial IV. Only now it was in Slaanesh's palace, with Slaanesh likely using it to masturbate furiously over how hard he cucked Yvraine and Ynnead by getting to it first. Yvraine steeled herself and led what remained of her convoy to a maiden world known as Iathglas, where through Yvraine's behest, fate or absolute, unyielding boredom, a massive gathering of craftworlders, corsairs, harlequins, drukhari and even exodites was forming. It was here where all the eldar factions began bickering for ''literal'' weeks with Yvraine trying to guide them towards the first steps of a complete alliance between all the eldar to inspire her naysayers to Ynnead's cause. In classic daemonic fashion, on the sixth hour of the sixth day of the sixth week, Shalaxi and a massive Slaaneshi daemon invasion assaulted the world. While the majority of the eldar armies fought off the daemon horde, Shalaxi proceeded to fight Lelith Hesparax, Jain-Zar, a Solitaire, the Visarch and Yvraine simultaneously. With ludicrous ease, Shalaxi cut the Solitaire in half and [[Rape|impaled the Visarch]] before slitting open Yvraine's throat. Before Shalaxi could finish her off, Yvraine drew energy from the world spirit to summon the Yncarne, with whom they were finally able to banish Shalanxi and the daemonic host. After healing the Visarch, but before the eldar could celebrate their combined victory, [[Wat|Shalaxi briefly reappeared to inform them that it wasn't actually fighting at full power and was just testing them]]. The daemon then left to hunt Yvraine another day, with the various eldar factions, despite having moments ago been ready to celebrate their teamwork, fell back to arguing who's fault it was they didn't actually get a win, thus choosing to fully believe the words of an agent of their Arch Enemy who they just soundly defeated, and said Arch Enemy who's known for lying and manipulating people without questioning it in the slightest.

==Relationship with the [[Visarch]]==
Though Yvraine does not know it, the Visarch is actually her former Exarch and Mentor who, possibly, has romantic feelings for her. Despite this, and despite being her self-appointed bodyguard, in their actual interactions and discussion the two get along very poorly and are prone to snapping at each other. They have three times already drawn their swords on each other and threatened to kill each other, and only two of those times were they under the influence of Daemons. The Visarch strongly dislikes what he calls Yvraine acting as Guilliman's lapdog and pet, accusing her in the Gardens of Nurgle of being nothing more than a minion of the Imperium. Yvraine ...doesn't have much to say against this as she fears he is right*, but is angered by it nonetheless. It says a lot about the Eldar that helping save an ally who asked for help causes them to think this way. Clearly they don’t actually understand what an alliance is. The whole “we help each other” thing seems rather lost on them. To Yvraine's and the Visarch's credit, perhaps the fear they hold isn't directly the fear that they are somehow humiliating themselves by cooperating with Guilliman, but leaving the Xenophobic Imperium of Man, whom the Eldar have had several conflicts with and whom Guilliman isn't in complete control of (as evidenced by the continued existence of the Ecclesiarchy, the High Lords of Terra, and the Imperial Creed) in a position to betray the Eldar and wipe them out or otherwise seal their doom. It would be fitting with the overall character of the Eldar to discuss a horrifying and discomforting truth in a way that allows them the pretense of superiority and control. Except that the Imperium has spent ten thousand years habitually NOT backstabbing aliens specifically so they can point out how treacherous xenos are. If you have a point then it is that the Eldar are in a position where they are starting to realize they could very easily reap what they have sown from ten millennia of douchbaggery. Perhaps Guilliman’s charisma and sheer presence is enough for now. Besides, they should know by now that doing what a Primarch says is a wonderful way to pretty much always win at everything. Especially the one specially created for planning and leadership.

In any case, believing that stopping the spread and creation of interstellar undead plagues is being a "lapdog" is...oh, God-Emperor that is so stupid. Then again it's not like the 'alliance' has stopped the Imperium and Eldar from killing each other across the galaxy (between Imperium and Eldar, not Imperium and Ynnari generally except by accident since neither side is big on talking and co-ordinating with each other), and the whole "awakening of Ynnead" bit was almost halted by the uninvited Deathwatch (because it would've killed billions of people via orbital bombardment of meteors by destroying the crystal moon the ritual was being performed on). In short, though technically allies, the Eldar haven’t stopped being meddling douchbags. It’s just that now they do it openly and are surprised when the Imperium shoots them for whatever dickery they just did.

Time will tell if the two can forge a closer working relationship but, for the moment at least, both of Ynnead's foremost servants are far from friendly with each other. The "Belligerent Sexual Tension" trope anyone?

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Yvraine by 냉동고등어.jpg|S-Shut up [[Roboute Guilliman|Girlyman]]! Me reviving you doesn't mean I l-like you or anything! [https://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=62270909 source]
File:Yvraine-Emissary-of-Ynnead.jpg
File:Warhammer by overyall-db5owp4.jpg
Image:YvraineXGuilliman.png|The real reason for the Imperium-Eldar alliance.
Image:YvraineMeshi.jpg|Even [[Dungeon Meshi]] gets in on the fun.
Image:Roboute_and_Yvraine_by_Magnifigal_2.PNG|Roboute and Yvraine's relationship goes back a long, ''long'' time.
Image:WarCom-Thanksgiving.jpg|Even Warhammer Community is getting in on the Heresy!
</gallery>

{{Eldar-Characters}}

Standard Template Construct

2020-01-30T17:56:36Z

2600:1006:B12C:5143:8CF2:E71C:6401:6B22: /* Revelations from recent STC recoveries */

{{topquote|Computers are useless. They can only give you answers.|Pablo Picasso}}

A long long time ago, the [[God-Emperor of Mankind|EMPRAH]] declared that humanity had to spread across the stars. He foresaw that humanity would need the resources of a galaxy to withstand the trials of the future: mad gods created by [[Dark Eldar|overindulgent]] [[Eldar|jackholes]], gun-toting [[Orks|walking foot-fungus infections]], and [[Necron|emo robots]] with <strike>plasma</strike> [[gauss]] weapons. A shame he didn't keep any of this nifty tool in his pocket or something just in case. A little foresight would've been appreciated, m'lord.

"But your eminence," asked some foolish minister, "only a fraction of 1% of our population has the skills and knowledge to survive outside our urban hives, never mind on worlds that haven't been terraformed yet!"

"Don't worry; I have a plan. For the past century I've been seeding book publishers with the idea of writing self-help books with names like '... For Dummies' and 'An Idiot's Guide to ...', and I invested in a manufacturing company in the Ikea Norse Hive when it was called 'Sweden'. Centuries later these and many other ideas will bear fruit in a push-button, turnkey, E-Z Bake oven colony procedure tool I will call '''"THE STANDARD TEMPLATE CONSTRUCT"''' and it will enable the most humble among us to reap the benefit of the stars!"

"... E-Z Bake oven, your highness?"

"Ah, an idea before your time. Actually not one of mine; clever little thing. I liked the frosting that came with the cake mixes."

Every colony-ship of humanity carried an STC with them, with easy-to-comprehend blueprints and instructions for everything that a colony would need, from how to use local resources to harvest food or irrigate deserts, to the architecture required to build mile-high hive arcologies or tap a planet's core for the magma pumps needed on forgeworlds. This also had the intended effect of making sure that manufactured goods were compatible between colonies across the [[Imperium of Man]], and that the cultures would stay (relatively) the same and no colony would become so different as to seem as aliens to other humans. This is the reason why everyone across the Imperium speaks the same language, among other similarities between disparate colonies.

However, the STCs were created millennia ago. And there was a [[Dark Age of Technology|Dark Age]] between then and now. And some smartass decided to 'port the STCs to Android to make sure it would be "more compatible with the smaller devices colony ships will be carrying." As a result, no fully intact STCs are known to have survived to the modern era. All that's left are the short passages that have been copied religiously from generation to generation in each colony, but only what that particular colony needs... if it hasn't been corrupted by thousands of years of transcription (kinda like jpeg corruption amirite). Discovery of a new outpost of humanity is a prestigious discovery, as there's a chance that there may be parts of their STC that were preserved better than others, or even whole pages that are unseen elsewhere. Hoping beyond hope of course, there is still the possibility that an entire working, uncorrupted STC machine exists, probably on one of the worlds in the Halo Zone.

The STCs are a very important thing for the [[tech-priests]] of [[Mars]], because they are a bunch of nutters who for the past ten thousand years have done next to nothing to promote technological progress because <s>they think their machines are alive and that modifying and developing them will hurt their precious feelings</s> any tech more complex than a flintlock can and will be taken over by a [[Void Dragon|zombie robot dragon]] living in Mars if used without protection. Finding an STC is thus the only possibility the Imperium has for restoring humanity to pre-technutter levels. If it manages that, it could surely wipe out all its enemies. Of course, the Mechanicus has a few good reasons for avoiding experimentation. There's more than a few planets that are now uninhabitable, or just plain gone after a magos decided to do some experimentation. See the contagion of [[Ganymede]]. Basically, Golden Age humanity was so damn advanced that dicking with its tech without understanding it is insanely dangerous. Imagine if we lost nearly all of our scientific and technological knowledge to the point your average Joe didn't know how to use a cell phone. Now, he finds a factory and tries to use it. You can imagine what would happen. Even worse, this would cripple the factory from being used by people who come along who actually ''do'' know how to use it. Cue AdMech paranoia about people fucking with new technology.

<s>But of course, this being W40k, where status quo is god, this will never happen.</s> GW has finally gotten around to moving the timeline along, and while there has yet to be recent STC recovery, possibility is out there now. Though, the Emperor probably knows full-well that the Ark Mechanicus ships are STCs because he's the motherfucking Emperor. Who is smart enough to understand telling the Mechanicus something the cogboys would hear as "right there is all the knowledge and power you need to conquer humanity and turn everyone into slaves or servitors, have fun". Even more so that a complete STC is meant to be used to build up to Golden Age standards from absolute scratch if necessary. Which means one of them would completely negate the power of the Mechanicus and its place in the Imperium. Unless it's controlled by the Mechanicus, in which case it would be abused to control the Imperium and force the Machine Cult on everyone. Which is funny because the Machine Cult strongly resembles Christianity: Omnissiach = Jesus (extra irony that Emps ''is'' Jesus), Machine God = God (and fits perfectly with God as the creator of the Cosmic Machine that is the universe). See Mechanism for real life Machine Cult like stuff.

On the bright side, there would also be plenty of cogboys who believe in upholding humanity over political power or conquest. Especially after ten thousand years of "humanity first and always" indoctrination added to normal Machine Cult lore, which they didn't have until the Emperor came along. On top of ''that'' the Emperor is the Omnissiah (though, probably not all Tech-Priest believe this). So, we'd have a techno civil war (probably destroying the STCs anyway) and the Imperium would be greatly reduced in size (still several times larger than everyone but the Orks combined) and advanced enough to make the height of the Great Crusade look primitive but still nothing compared to the Golden Age and no more STCs. Yay. At least then the AdMech might know enough and have enough tools to get back to performing science and experimenting in safe ways with enough data to get a sort of general idea for the direction of STC technology. They'd puzzle the truth of things out eventually so the humanity and the Imperium would be better off anyway. Especially now with the Eldar alliance as maybe they'd see keeping at least one STC intact and in the hands of Guilliman as a good thing worth fighting for in order to ensure the destruction of everyone but the Imperium. Hey, they know they can at least trust Guilliman to keep his word and prevent their extermination but everyone else would gladly kill them.

== Revelations from recent STC recoveries ==
Scientific discovery after a dark age can be equal parts research and archeology, as a culture reclaims knowledge it has lost. The [[Adeptus Mechanicus]] is particularly interested in finding new STCs to fill in the gaps of their knowledge, to de-mystify parts of their manufacturing rituals, and to issue new and improved tools to the Imperium, and are willing to pay handsomely for even a fragment of an STC. Basically, if you find the STC for a better toaster you're set for life; find one for an entirely new weapons system and you'll probably end up being made governor of an entire planet (What would happen if you found a complete working one I wonder......).

Among the recent discoveries from recovered STCs:
* The Land Crawler all-terrain soil cultivator vehicle (if by "recent" you mean "late Great Crusade era")
* An artificial sweetener that doesn't have an aftertaste like foot sweat
* The Castigator-class [[Titan (Warhammer 40,000)|Titan]] ([[Grimdark|whose STC turned daemonic]], sidenote however that some Knight houses still possess some schematics but keep them close to their hearts...because using them to fuck the enemies of Man is beyond their severely limited comprehension. Or the designs will turn on you and murder everyone you love...)
* Cultural archives badly lost over the years but basically going back to before M0
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-oBEGF7uwE Jodorowsky's] [[Dune]] (holy fuck watch it)
* The HXT-37 voltage transubstantiation cable for using 'AA' batteries in 'AAA' music players
* The 58th flavor of Heinz's ketchup
* Daemon-corrupted [[Men of Iron]] ...err maybe this wasn't such a good find. Cue [[Colonel-Commissar Ibram Gaunt|Ibram Gaunt]] {{BLAM|BLAMMING}} said STC.
* A simple (durable, cheap, [[monowire|mono-molecular]]) combat knife. Two IMPERIAL GUARDSMEN (!) found it and were rewarded with a planet each!
* [[Leman Russ Punisher]] and [[Leman Russ Eradicator|Eradicator]] (actually a case of "hey! Look at this Ancient technology I just... found. I didn't invent it at all, really")
* Various life extension methods like better juvenants, etc
* [[Helmets]] manly enough for space marine commanders

* Kamikaze neckbeard powered toaster ovens ([[Caestus Assault Ram]])
* Baby's First [[Thunderhawk]] (affectionately called the "[[Stormraven Gunship]]" by some.)
* Super Baby-Carrier 40,000 (incomplete STC fragment, but they still managed to build the [[Nemesis Dreadknight]] out of it...)
* Miracle chocolate that somehow only manages to go to women's lovely parts. Extensively eaten by [[Boone]]
* Panacea - see the sad story below
* [[Dreadclaw]] [[Drop Pods]]. Something wasn't right with these folks [[Machine Spirit]]. Maybe they really were alive?
* [[Imperial Knight]]s
* [[Crassus Armored Assault Transport|Praetor missile launcher]]
* [[Nephilim Jetfighter]]'s engine
* [[Space Marine Hunter|Hunter]]
* [[Immolator]]
* [[Astraeus Super-Heavy Tank]]

Notice that most of the vehicles in this list did not exist until later editions of the game. This is how [[Games Workshop]] and [[Forge World]] justify adding units to armies (Imperial armies, anyway) -- they existed all along, it's just that the Adeptus Mechanicus only recently re-discovered (or "re-discovered" ''and most definitely did '''not''' invent'') the STC pattern encoding them. Basically, you can know how to build the vehicle, but if you don't know what programs it uses or, possibly, what specific materials to use for more sensitive components, it isn't going to do jack, or worse, it kills you.

Of course, any time that a real game-changing STC comes along, something bad happens and it gets stolen, lost, destroyed, or corrupted, because [[grimdark]]. For example, in the 5th edition [[Dark Eldar]] codex, [[Asdrubael Vect]]'s Ex, [[Lady Malys]], tricked some [[Orks]] into attacking an Industrial world that had been fortified beyond belief. Every hive on it was crammed with guardsmen, and even titan legions and Admech forces were present because they had found an STC called Panacea that would allow <strike>billions</strike> <strike>trillions</strike> <strike>quadrillions</strike> the whole of humanity to be cured of disease and poison (hint: Panacea is a literal ''cure-all''). The Dark Eldar attempted to steal it by luring an Ork fleet to the planet where the Orks pretty much crushed all resistance (quite literally - by crash-landing on it), allowing the Dark Eldar to effortlessly take the STC (after the Orks stole it first, go figure). Of course the Dark Eldar don't use the same technology (and could not care less about cures for ''human'' diseases anyway), so at the moment it's collecting dust in Malys' Trophy Room, rather than alleviating the grimdark. At this point, we can only hope that the Dark Eldar manage to provoke the Imperium into launching a full crusade against [[Commorragh]] and rescue the STC in the process...<s>yeah, right.</s> [[Asdrubael Vect|that did happen]] before this incident, though. It nearly backfired given ships’ firepower against a city is unhealthy. Regardless, Malys may have done right by the Eldar as a weak Nurgle means a strong Slaanesh. Om nom nom!

Of course, this would all be doomed to fail once the [[Death Guard]], [[The Purge|Purge]], and all the other forces of [[Nurgle]] surprisingly come to the aid of the Dark Eldar. That, or they'll just intervene in a desperate attempt to destroy this particular STC. After all, a literal cure-all being distributed across the galaxy would be a catastrophic blow against the Plaguefather, and it would weaken him to the point that plot development would be necessary, something that GW will avoid at all costs.

As a side note, Magos Delphan Gruss is an explorator who is convinced from studying STC legends that there exists an artefact called the Omnicopaeia. Rumoured to be either a data storage device containing either every STC invented or every STC related to psychic powers, it was rumoured to be on the Daemon World known as Hell's Teeth in 998.M41 with billions of Skitarii mobilized for a recovery operation.

== Baron von EvilSatan's AdMech/STC copypasta ==
The Mechanicus does NOT have the technology. They haven't been living on some fancy paradise planet since pre-Fall. Mars is an anarchic nightmare shithole the moment you leave the safe zones into the kilometres of labyrinthine corridors beneath it full of rogue machinery, self-aware and malevolent AI from before the Fall, and the daemon programs of the Heresy. EVERYTHING in the databases is fucked. The databases are fragmented over the entire surface to the extent that it would be impossible to see one tenth of the total files in the ludicrously extended life of a Magos even assuming that they are completely safe to visit. And they are not.

The files have been corrupted into madness by the Fall, and the unleashing of the most potent informational warfare systems ever to exist to defeat the Iron Men. Nearly all of Mars was rendered uninhabitable, what they live in now is built on the top of the ruins. They send archeotech expeditions in to find shit, nearly all of them never come back. The sheer number of rogue war machine running around in there is sufficient to rape the mind. Then came the Heresy, which was not earth-exclusive. Mars as the second most critical planet in the Imperium was the site of fighting nearly as ferocious as on Terra, with Mechanicus loyalists and Hereteks fighting tooth, nail, and mechadendrite everywhere. Ancient machines were unleashed, viruses both normal and daemonic unleashed into all the computer systems. Nearly every single stored record on Mars was rendered unusable, and those that survived are half the time self-aware and don't like you, or daemonic and actively try to kill you.

If you come back with a schematic, it is almost certainly gibberish, and if it isn't, it's probably corrupted into uselessness. If it does come back whole it was probably malevolently fucked with so that instead of a Lasgun power cell it's a fucking grenade set to detonate the second you finish building it. Why do you think they want off-world STCs so damned much if they had them all here? The fucking Heresy is why. Off-world they only have to contend with the Fall's war and its effects on the machinery plus twenty thousand years of degradation with no maintenance. But at least off-world it'll probably just not work instead of actively seek to kill you.

Why do you think they seek to placate the Machine Spirit? It's because it exists. The fragments of trillions of self-aware programs, flourishing during the Dark Age of Technology and shattered by Man in his war with the Iron men, imprisoning the few who had not set themselves irrevocably into the machinery, a prison smashed wide open by the Heresy. Everything that can hold programming in the Imperium has a shard of a program in it. EVERYTHING. And you'd better fucking please it or it will do everything in its power to make your day shit. Sure, if it's a Lasgun it'll just not work or start shooting off rounds by itself, but if you piss off a Land Raider you can say bye-bye to half a continent. They apply these principles to things without spirits by habit, since they're so used to dealing with tanks that if not talked to just right might go rogue and annihilate the Manufactorum before they can be killed.

This is why they do not like ANYONE fucking with technology, because it is so rare to find anything that just works it is critical it not be compromised. That, and they do not have the actual knowledge to fuck with it intelligently, just through experimentation, which inevitably leads to slaughter. Pressing buttons to see what works is fine in a 21st century computer, but it is a very stupid thing to do at the helm of a 410th century starship with the destructive power to end solar systems. The entire knowledge base of humanity was lost. Not forgotten, but outright lost. Everything at all, poof. Nobody knows anything because the Fall fucked everything up and the Heresy double-fucked it. To rebuild the theoretical framework needed to design new technologies that don't kill everyone near them would require starting from the ground up. They don't have the time, and they never have.

This gets on to the point of war and what it does to technology. Someone will parrot that it makes it go much faster. Yes, it makes practical applications of technology go much faster. It also utterly stops all research on the scientific theories behind those technologies. This means that when war chugs along for a decade or two things get done. It means when it goes on too long you run out of theories to turn into technologies, and then you run out of technologies to apply. You stagnate. When you have been fighting in a war for survival in a drastically overextended empire, this is what happens. You are desperate for any extra materiel that can possibly be produced. Half your entire fucking military might went rogue, smashed the half that stayed, leaving you with the tattered shreds of a war machine to keep hold of an empire that was reaching straining point with an army far larger. There is no time for the sort of applied research programs that took Man twenty five thousand years to develop, in a time of unprecedented growth and prosperity.

This is also why the Adeptus Mechanicus insists on cargo cultism. It's because when you are dealing with things you barely understand because everything you knew about them was destroyed it is the safest and most reliable option. The rituals do not exists for mysticism, they exist because they are the most practical means of building, repairing and maintaining the equipment they have with the knowledge surviving. You don't understand why pressing that button makes it go, because the manual tried to take over your brain and the copies are all unreadable and the research base that would let you reverse-engineer it does not exist and cannot be built.

Why are the Tau doing so well with their technology? Because they had peace. Eight thousand years unmolested by any enemy and they were helped the entire time by the most advanced biological race in the galaxy. Give the Imperium eight thousand years of peace and I can guarantee you it will be harder than it was during the Great Crusade.

Since some still don't get the idea, try this.

Build a library, fill it with all human knowledge. You take it elsewhere when you need a book from it, but the book is only a simplified copy. You don't understand the real book, and you don't need to. Nobody takes the real books anywhere because why would you, when there's a whole library there?

Now that library goes rogue and the maintenance machinery starts killing everyone any-fucking-where near it. Where the fuck did they all come from, you swear to god there weren't this many, and there weren't because they're using the library's information to fight their war. The government fights a battle that destroys the planet against these robots and tears apart the library to stop them using it, only to be destroyed in the process. The library is leveled, cast into flames, every book burned and every computer virus-laden.

Then comes a man who worked there. He talks to the few surviving library workers, assembles their information, and starts rebuilding a city around the library and expanding it as the librarians find little scraps of paper and fragmented bits of files that stuck together just right read something. They rebuild a library from scrap on the ashes of the old. It isn't a shadow on the glory of the old, but it is all they have.

Then the city turns on itself, kills its master, and the librarians turn to rage. Half of them kill the other half and destroy the remnants of the library because where they're going they won't need science. Everything burns, and the city is left to a scattered few survivors, walls open to the world, with the hungry predators circling.

The Adeptus Mechanicus is the sole surviving librarian, desperately scrabbling through the ashes of paper and splinters of hard drives for anything to help him and the city he needs to survive just a second longer.

The Imperium isn't grim because things suck by choice and could be fine if a sensible person came along. That sensible person wouldn't survive fifty seconds of the reality. The Imperium is grim because every single shit decision, every single sacrifice, every single death, every single man woman and child suffering a shit life in the worst conditions imaginable, is the absolute best that can be done. It is a study of the worst happening to everyone and what part of your humanity must be sacrificed today just to stand a chance of survival, and all it asks is whether or not it would have perhaps been better to die.

Written by Baron von EvilSatan

== The Ark Mechanicus (SPOILERS FOR PRIEST OF MARS) ==
''You are Ark Mechanicus. You are Speranza. You are the bringer of hope in this hopeless age.''

{{Spoilers}}

In this novel written by [[Graham McNeill]], it is revealed that the Ark Mechanicus ''Speranza,'' an incredibly old and massive ship used by the [[Adeptus Mechanicus]] to explore new stellar territories, has some of the most advanced technological achievements of mankind encoded in its very structure. This revelation, unfortunately, was only discovered during a brief moment when one of the main protagonists of the novel, Archmagos Lexell Kotov, made some sort of spiritual connection with the [[Machine Spirit]] of the ''Speranza''(alignment: True Neutral) in order to save the day, and he forgot what he had seen immediately after.

Which may suck, yes, but this was compensated by the fact that upon the Archmagos linking with the ship, the ''Speranza'''s AI went godmode, deploying all kind of unimaginably super-high-tech targeting systems that NOBODY knew it had, systems that were capable of functioning with 100% precision in the middle of a space-time gravitational storm, and detected and <strike>crippled</strike> fatally damaged an [[Eldar]] cruiser in [[awesome|ONE FUCKING SHOT using a dorsal mounted BLACK HOLE CANNON]] so unbelievably advanced even the [[Necrons]] would have been scratching their heads trying to understand how it worked, although the narration tells us it involves antimatter, gravitons, and [[Dark Eldar|dark matter]].

What makes it even better is that the Eldar ship was guided by a Farseer, and thus managed to actually DODGE the weapon's blast, which was explicitly stated to be moving at the speed of light. Of course, at the sort of distances combat is often fought in space, dodging light is very, very easy if you have foreknowledge of where it will be - for example, if you are a light-second away from the shooter, you have, by definition, an entire second to get off your sorry ass and move. The ''Speranza'' wasn't having any of it, and instead of missing like some plebeian battleship with its macro-cannons and lances, followed up with a chrono-gun shooting tachyons to shift the Eldar ship a nanosecond into the past to make the black hole shot connect. [[awesome|IT FUCKING TELEPORTED AN ENEMY SHIP THROUGH TIME SO IT WOULDN'T HAVE TO TURN AND FIRE AGAIN]].

Another conclusion that some reading this scene have come up with is that the black holes the Speranza fires also mess with time themselves, and that the end result shifts the target back in time a few nanoseconds, forcing two iterations to exist at the same place and time, destroying both. This thing can basically telefrag enemies, like some kind of continent sized Doomguy. Regardless of whether this explanation or the one above are correct, both are badass.

That's right, lads, the Ark Mechanicus ships which the Imperium already own and operate could be the answer to the missing information of the STCs and more. A shame not even an Archmagos can access the information without immediately forgetting it all once the interface with the Machine Spirit has been severed. Especially given that, once linked to the ship, Kotov realized that (perhaps all of) the Ark Mechanicus used by the Mechanicum ''are'' [[Powergamer| complete, self-updating STCs]].

Still. One-shotting an eldar cruiser with sniper-precision in the middle of a space-storm that should have made locating said vessel completely impossible, much less being able to fire at it with any hope of accuracy.

Humanity's old tech was scary-powerful. How the mighty have fallen, eh? From turbo fuckyou chrono-weapons to ineffectual [[lasgun|flashlights]]. That's not even [[grimdark]]. That's just outright depressing.

Indeed, also, it may or may not be because every time a higher STC device works correctly the Imperium suddenly wipes out of the table anything and we mean ANYTHING that it's thrown at them, what's up, Hivefleets? Get some space DNA-recombinant insecticide that uses quantum-whatever to preemptively neutralize your evolutionary countermeasures! Chaos Greater Daemons? Pff, now you DO NOT exist with my Empyrean Bomb! C'Tan shards? Let me show you what is to alter reality with my time-altering macrocannon! So yeah, if the Imperium ever gets these things working and mass-produced it's warranted at least one of the major enemy factions will be eradicated or become a minor nuisance, like it was in the Golden Age Of Technology.

(Provided the Necrons, Orks or Chaos/Dark Mechanicum don't produce their own variants. Talk about a Grimdark Arms-Race!) If the enemies haven’t advanced for tens of millions of years, they’re not going to. The Necrons don't have to, because they literally have 60 million years on mankind (albeit those who stayed awake all that time went a little nuts). Sixty million years and still primitive compared to peak Dark Age humanity. Man we’re fucked up seeing as our cool tech are almost all doomsday devices.

The best part, though, is that we now can gleefully point out how ridiculously primitive the Eldar are. Remember: the Dark Eldar maintained the technology of the height of the Eldar empire, so they haven't regressed technologically. They're also insanely primitive compared to Dark Age humanity. So, the Eldar probably know that (not having lost history, probably) and it would explain their snobbery. They're fucking jealous and intimidated because they ''know'' how scary, stupidly, ''utterly'' '''beautifully''' '''''overpowered''''' humanity can really be. To add insult to injury, when Eldar fight even mere Imperial Guard, they suffer heavy casualties even if they win (and they sometimes lose to the Guard, let alone Astartes). Heck, Vect’s plan to get rid of his rivals by instigating an Imperial invasion of Commorragh nearly backfired when just a few elements of like two Chapters laid waste to the city.

Eh, that last part about the Eldar being 'primitive' in comparison to Dark Age Humanity is debatable. It's important to keep in mind that while Dark Age humans had a lot of really awesome shit kicking around, ''a lot of them fucking died when those same machines rebelled against them''. In the same book that the Ark Mechanicus one-shots the Eldar cruiser, it only does so because it ''can'', not because it's beholden to the Tech-Priest that's talking to it, or has some particular fondness for humanity. This motherfucker is TRUE NEUTRAL. It even tells the tech-priest that it doesn't care if it gets destroyed, because it will somehow continue even without its physical container. This machine does not give a SINGLE, ''SOLITARY'' FUCK about you. This is a rogue AI with the capability of generating pinpoint time-travelling singularities on a whim, with no sympathies or attachments to anything. And it doesn't go around blowing everything up because, well, it just doesn't and don't ask it why it doesn't. It's quite possible that the Eldar fully had the capability of creating ships with the same capabilities, but chose not to, because frankly it sounds like a really dumb fucking idea. Also keep in mind that the Fall of the Eldar wasn't caused by their technology, but by their culture becoming overly decadent and depraved. Eldar tech had progressed to a point of virtual stagnation, because what do you really need to invent when you've satisfied every need for your society? In the fluff, the Eldar had an interstellar empire around the same time humanity was figuring out agriculture, and that empire lasted until the Fall in ~M29. Meanwhile, humanity had ''already'' destroyed their own interstellar empires by around M25. Which kind of goes a long way in justifying the Eldar's views that humanity is a child race of reckless idiots. Neither side really wins, though, since while humanity followed the rule of cool and had a brief but more kickass empire than the Eldar, Eldar tech stagnated and their empire survived long enough to devolve into orgy cults so fucked up they created an evil god. Again, no real winners here.
[[Category:Warhammer 40,000]][[Category:Imperial]][[Category:Adeptus Mechanicus]]

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{{topquote|Computers are useless. They can only give you answers.|Pablo Picasso}}

A long long time ago, the [[God-Emperor of Mankind|EMPRAH]] declared that humanity had to spread across the stars. He foresaw that humanity would need the resources of a galaxy to withstand the trials of the future: mad gods created by [[Dark Eldar|overindulgent]] [[Eldar|jackholes]], gun-toting [[Orks|walking foot-fungus infections]], and [[Necron|emo robots]] with <strike>plasma</strike> [[gauss]] weapons. A shame he didn't keep any of this nifty tool in his pocket or something just in case. A little foresight would've been appreciated, m'lord.

"But your eminence," asked some foolish minister, "only a fraction of 1% of our population has the skills and knowledge to survive outside our urban hives, never mind on worlds that haven't been terraformed yet!"

"Don't worry; I have a plan. For the past century I've been seeding book publishers with the idea of writing self-help books with names like '... For Dummies' and 'An Idiot's Guide to ...', and I invested in a manufacturing company in the Ikea Norse Hive when it was called 'Sweden'. Centuries later these and many other ideas will bear fruit in a push-button, turnkey, E-Z Bake oven colony procedure tool I will call '''"THE STANDARD TEMPLATE CONSTRUCT"''' and it will enable the most humble among us to reap the benefit of the stars!"

"... E-Z Bake oven, your highness?"

"Ah, an idea before your time. Actually not one of mine; clever little thing. I liked the frosting that came with the cake mixes."

Every colony-ship of humanity carried an STC with them, with easy-to-comprehend blueprints and instructions for everything that a colony would need, from how to use local resources to harvest food or irrigate deserts, to the architecture required to build mile-high hive arcologies or tap a planet's core for the magma pumps needed on forgeworlds. This also had the intended effect of making sure that manufactured goods were compatible between colonies across the [[Imperium of Man]], and that the cultures would stay (relatively) the same and no colony would become so different as to seem as aliens to other humans. This is the reason why everyone across the Imperium speaks the same language, among other similarities between disparate colonies.

However, the STCs were created millennia ago. And there was a [[Dark Age of Technology|Dark Age]] between then and now. And some smartass decided to 'port the STCs to Android to make sure it would be "more compatible with the smaller devices colony ships will be carrying." As a result, no fully intact STCs are known to have survived to the modern era. All that's left are the short passages that have been copied religiously from generation to generation in each colony, but only what that particular colony needs... if it hasn't been corrupted by thousands of years of transcription (kinda like jpeg corruption amirite). Discovery of a new outpost of humanity is a prestigious discovery, as there's a chance that there may be parts of their STC that were preserved better than others, or even whole pages that are unseen elsewhere. Hoping beyond hope of course, there is still the possibility that an entire working, uncorrupted STC machine exists, probably on one of the worlds in the Halo Zone.

The STCs are a very important thing for the [[tech-priests]] of [[Mars]], because they are a bunch of nutters who for the past ten thousand years have done next to nothing to promote technological progress because <s>they think their machines are alive and that modifying and developing them will hurt their precious feelings</s> any tech more complex than a flintlock can and will be taken over by a [[Void Dragon|zombie robot dragon]] living in Mars if used without protection. Finding an STC is thus the only possibility the Imperium has for restoring humanity to pre-technutter levels. If it manages that, it could surely wipe out all its enemies. Of course, the Mechanicus has a few good reasons for avoiding experimentation. There's more than a few planets that are now uninhabitable, or just plain gone after a magos decided to do some experimentation. See the contagion of [[Ganymede]]. Basically, Golden Age humanity was so damn advanced that dicking with its tech without understanding it is insanely dangerous. Imagine if we lost nearly all of our scientific and technological knowledge to the point your average Joe didn't know how to use a cell phone. Now, he finds a factory and tries to use it. You can imagine what would happen. Even worse, this would cripple the factory from being used by people who come along who actually ''do'' know how to use it. Cue AdMech paranoia about people fucking with new technology.

<s>But of course, this being W40k, where status quo is god, this will never happen.</s> GW has finally gotten around to moving the timeline along, and while there has yet to be recent STC recovery, possibility is out there now. Though, the Emperor probably knows full-well that the Ark Mechanicus ships are STCs because he's the motherfucking Emperor. Who is smart enough to understand telling the Mechanicus something the cogboys would hear as "right there is all the knowledge and power you need to conquer humanity and turn everyone into slaves or servitors, have fun". Even more so that a complete STC is meant to be used to build up to Golden Age standards from absolute scratch if necessary. Which means one of them would completely negate the power of the Mechanicus and its place in the Imperium. Unless it's controlled by the Mechanicus, in which case it would be abused to control the Imperium and force the Machine Cult on everyone. Which is funny because the Machine Cult strongly resembles Christianity: Omnissiach = Jesus (extra irony that Emps ''is'' Jesus), Machine God = God (and fits perfectly with God as the creator of the Cosmic Machine that is the universe). See Mechanism for real life Machine Cult like stuff.

On the bright side, there would also be plenty of cogboys who believe in upholding humanity over political power or conquest. Especially after ten thousand years of "humanity first and always" indoctrination added to normal Machine Cult lore, which they didn't have until the Emperor came along. On top of ''that'' the Emperor is the Omnissiah (though, probably not all Tech-Priest believe this). So, we'd have a techno civil war (probably destroying the STCs anyway) and the Imperium would be greatly reduced in size (still several times larger than everyone but the Orks combined) and advanced enough to make the height of the Great Crusade look primitive but still nothing compared to the Golden Age and no more STCs. Yay. At least then the AdMech might know enough and have enough tools to get back to performing science and experimenting in safe ways with enough data to get a sort of general idea for the direction of STC technology. They'd puzzle the truth of things out eventually so the humanity and the Imperium would be better off anyway. Especially now with the Eldar alliance as maybe they'd see keeping at least one STC intact and in the hands of Guilliman as a good thing worth fighting for in order to ensure the destruction of everyone but the Imperium. Hey, they know they can at least trust Guilliman to keep his word and prevent their extermination but everyone else would gladly kill them.

== Revelations from recent STC recoveries ==
Scientific discovery after a dark age can be equal parts research and archeology, as a culture reclaims knowledge it has lost. The [[Adeptus Mechanicus]] is particularly interested in finding new STCs to fill in the gaps of their knowledge, to de-mystify parts of their manufacturing rituals, and to issue new and improved tools to the Imperium, and are willing to pay handsomely for even a fragment of an STC. Basically, if you find the STC for a better toaster you're set for life; find one for an entirely new weapons system and you'll probably end up being made governor of an entire planet (What would happen if you found a complete working one I wonder......).

Among the recent discoveries from recovered STCs:
* The Land Crawler all-terrain soil cultivator vehicle (if by "recent" you mean "late Great Crusade era")
* An artificial sweetener that doesn't have an aftertaste like foot sweat
* The Castigator-class [[Titan (Warhammer 40,000)|Titan]] ([[Grimdark|whose STC turned daemonic]], sidenote however that some Knight houses still possess some schematics but keep them close to their hearts...because using them to fuck the enemies of Man is beyond their severely limited comprehension. Or the designs will turn on you and murder everyone you love...)
* Cultural archives badly lost over the years but basically going back to before M0
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-oBEGF7uwE Jodorowsky's] [[Dune]] (holy fuck watch it)
* The HXT-37 voltage transubstantiation cable for using 'AA' batteries in 'AAA' music players
* The 58th flavor of Heinz's ketchup
* Daemon-corrupted [[Men of Iron]] ...err maybe this wasn't such a good find. Cue [[Colonel-Commissar Ibram Gaunt|Ibram Gaunt]] {{BLAM|BLAMMING}} said STC.
* A simple (durable, cheap, [[monowire|mono-molecular]]) combat knife. Two IMPERIAL GUARDSMEN (!) found it and were rewarded with a planet each!
* [[Leman Russ Punisher]] and [[Leman Russ Eradicator|Eradicator]] (actually a case of "hey! Look at this Ancient technology I just... found. I didn't invent it at all, really")
* Various life extension methods like better juvenants, etc
* [[Helmets]] manly enough for space marine commanders

* Kamikaze neckbeard powered toaster ovens ([[Caestus Assault Ram]])
* Baby's First [[Thunderhawk]] (affectionately called the "[[Stormraven Gunship]]" by some.)
* Super Baby-Carrier 40,000 (incomplete STC fragment, but they still managed to build the [[Nemesis Dreadknight]] out of it...)
* Miracle chocolate that somehow only manages to go to women's lovely parts. Extensively eaten by [[Boone]]
* Panacea - see the sad story below
* [[Dreadclaw]] [[Drop Pods]]. Something wasn't right with these folks [[Machine Spirit]]. Maybe they really were alive?
* [[Imperial Knight]]s
* [[Crassus Armored Assault Transport|Praetor missile launcher]]
* [[Nephilim Jetfighter]]'s engine
* [[Space Marine Hunter|Hunter]]
* [[Immolator]]
* [[Astraeus Super-Heavy Tank]]

Notice that most of the vehicles in this list did not exist until later editions of the game. This is how [[Games Workshop]] and [[Forge World]] justify adding units to armies (Imperial armies, anyway) -- they existed all along, it's just that the Adeptus Mechanicus only recently re-discovered (or "re-discovered" ''and most definitely did '''not''' invent'') the STC pattern encoding them. Basically, you can know how to build the vehicle, but if you don't know what programs it uses or, possibly, what specific materials to use for more sensitive components, it isn't going to do jack, or worse, it kills you.

Of course, any time that a real game-changing STC comes along, something bad happens and it gets stolen, lost, destroyed, or corrupted, because [[grimdark]]. For example, in the 5th edition [[Dark Eldar]] codex, [[Asdrubael Vect]]'s Ex, [[Lady Malys]], tricked some [[Orks]] into attacking an Industrial world that had been fortified beyond belief. Every hive on it was crammed with guardsmen, and even titan legions and Admech forces were present because they had found an STC called Panacea that would allow <strike>billions</strike> <strike>trillions</strike> <strike>quadrillions</strike> the whole of humanity to be cured of disease and poison (hint: Panacea is a literal ''cure-all''). The Dark Eldar attempted to steal it by luring an Ork fleet to the planet where the Orks pretty much crushed all resistance (quite literally - by crash-landing on it), allowing the Dark Eldar to effortlessly take the STC (after the Orks stole it first, go figure). Of course the Dark Eldar don't use the same technology (and could not care less about cures for ''human'' diseases anyway), so at the moment it's collecting dust in Malys' Trophy Room, rather than alleviating the grimdark. At this point, we can only hope that the Dark Eldar manage to provoke the Imperium into launching a full crusade against [[Commorragh]] and rescue the STC in the process...<s>yeah, right.</s> [[Asdrubael Vect|that did happen]] before this incident, though.

Of course, this would all be doomed to fail once the [[Death Guard]], [[The Purge|Purge]], and all the other forces of [[Nurgle]] surprisingly come to the aid of the Dark Eldar. That, or they'll just intervene in a desperate attempt to destroy this particular STC. After all, a literal cure-all being distributed across the galaxy would be a catastrophic blow against the Plaguefather, and it would weaken him to the point that plot development would be necessary, something that GW will avoid at all costs.

As a side note, Magos Delphan Gruss is an explorator who is convinced from studying STC legends that there exists an artefact called the Omnicopaeia. Rumoured to be either a data storage device containing either every STC invented or every STC related to psychic powers, it was rumoured to be on the Daemon World known as Hell's Teeth in 998.M41 with billions of Skitarii mobilized for a recovery operation.

== Baron von EvilSatan's AdMech/STC copypasta ==
The Mechanicus does NOT have the technology. They haven't been living on some fancy paradise planet since pre-Fall. Mars is an anarchic nightmare shithole the moment you leave the safe zones into the kilometres of labyrinthine corridors beneath it full of rogue machinery, self-aware and malevolent AI from before the Fall, and the daemon programs of the Heresy. EVERYTHING in the databases is fucked. The databases are fragmented over the entire surface to the extent that it would be impossible to see one tenth of the total files in the ludicrously extended life of a Magos even assuming that they are completely safe to visit. And they are not.

The files have been corrupted into madness by the Fall, and the unleashing of the most potent informational warfare systems ever to exist to defeat the Iron Men. Nearly all of Mars was rendered uninhabitable, what they live in now is built on the top of the ruins. They send archeotech expeditions in to find shit, nearly all of them never come back. The sheer number of rogue war machine running around in there is sufficient to rape the mind. Then came the Heresy, which was not earth-exclusive. Mars as the second most critical planet in the Imperium was the site of fighting nearly as ferocious as on Terra, with Mechanicus loyalists and Hereteks fighting tooth, nail, and mechadendrite everywhere. Ancient machines were unleashed, viruses both normal and daemonic unleashed into all the computer systems. Nearly every single stored record on Mars was rendered unusable, and those that survived are half the time self-aware and don't like you, or daemonic and actively try to kill you.

If you come back with a schematic, it is almost certainly gibberish, and if it isn't, it's probably corrupted into uselessness. If it does come back whole it was probably malevolently fucked with so that instead of a Lasgun power cell it's a fucking grenade set to detonate the second you finish building it. Why do you think they want off-world STCs so damned much if they had them all here? The fucking Heresy is why. Off-world they only have to contend with the Fall's war and its effects on the machinery plus twenty thousand years of degradation with no maintenance. But at least off-world it'll probably just not work instead of actively seek to kill you.

Why do you think they seek to placate the Machine Spirit? It's because it exists. The fragments of trillions of self-aware programs, flourishing during the Dark Age of Technology and shattered by Man in his war with the Iron men, imprisoning the few who had not set themselves irrevocably into the machinery, a prison smashed wide open by the Heresy. Everything that can hold programming in the Imperium has a shard of a program in it. EVERYTHING. And you'd better fucking please it or it will do everything in its power to make your day shit. Sure, if it's a Lasgun it'll just not work or start shooting off rounds by itself, but if you piss off a Land Raider you can say bye-bye to half a continent. They apply these principles to things without spirits by habit, since they're so used to dealing with tanks that if not talked to just right might go rogue and annihilate the Manufactorum before they can be killed.

This is why they do not like ANYONE fucking with technology, because it is so rare to find anything that just works it is critical it not be compromised. That, and they do not have the actual knowledge to fuck with it intelligently, just through experimentation, which inevitably leads to slaughter. Pressing buttons to see what works is fine in a 21st century computer, but it is a very stupid thing to do at the helm of a 410th century starship with the destructive power to end solar systems. The entire knowledge base of humanity was lost. Not forgotten, but outright lost. Everything at all, poof. Nobody knows anything because the Fall fucked everything up and the Heresy double-fucked it. To rebuild the theoretical framework needed to design new technologies that don't kill everyone near them would require starting from the ground up. They don't have the time, and they never have.

This gets on to the point of war and what it does to technology. Someone will parrot that it makes it go much faster. Yes, it makes practical applications of technology go much faster. It also utterly stops all research on the scientific theories behind those technologies. This means that when war chugs along for a decade or two things get done. It means when it goes on too long you run out of theories to turn into technologies, and then you run out of technologies to apply. You stagnate. When you have been fighting in a war for survival in a drastically overextended empire, this is what happens. You are desperate for any extra materiel that can possibly be produced. Half your entire fucking military might went rogue, smashed the half that stayed, leaving you with the tattered shreds of a war machine to keep hold of an empire that was reaching straining point with an army far larger. There is no time for the sort of applied research programs that took Man twenty five thousand years to develop, in a time of unprecedented growth and prosperity.

This is also why the Adeptus Mechanicus insists on cargo cultism. It's because when you are dealing with things you barely understand because everything you knew about them was destroyed it is the safest and most reliable option. The rituals do not exists for mysticism, they exist because they are the most practical means of building, repairing and maintaining the equipment they have with the knowledge surviving. You don't understand why pressing that button makes it go, because the manual tried to take over your brain and the copies are all unreadable and the research base that would let you reverse-engineer it does not exist and cannot be built.

Why are the Tau doing so well with their technology? Because they had peace. Eight thousand years unmolested by any enemy and they were helped the entire time by the most advanced biological race in the galaxy. Give the Imperium eight thousand years of peace and I can guarantee you it will be harder than it was during the Great Crusade.

Since some still don't get the idea, try this.

Build a library, fill it with all human knowledge. You take it elsewhere when you need a book from it, but the book is only a simplified copy. You don't understand the real book, and you don't need to. Nobody takes the real books anywhere because why would you, when there's a whole library there?

Now that library goes rogue and the maintenance machinery starts killing everyone any-fucking-where near it. Where the fuck did they all come from, you swear to god there weren't this many, and there weren't because they're using the library's information to fight their war. The government fights a battle that destroys the planet against these robots and tears apart the library to stop them using it, only to be destroyed in the process. The library is leveled, cast into flames, every book burned and every computer virus-laden.

Then comes a man who worked there. He talks to the few surviving library workers, assembles their information, and starts rebuilding a city around the library and expanding it as the librarians find little scraps of paper and fragmented bits of files that stuck together just right read something. They rebuild a library from scrap on the ashes of the old. It isn't a shadow on the glory of the old, but it is all they have.

Then the city turns on itself, kills its master, and the librarians turn to rage. Half of them kill the other half and destroy the remnants of the library because where they're going they won't need science. Everything burns, and the city is left to a scattered few survivors, walls open to the world, with the hungry predators circling.

The Adeptus Mechanicus is the sole surviving librarian, desperately scrabbling through the ashes of paper and splinters of hard drives for anything to help him and the city he needs to survive just a second longer.

The Imperium isn't grim because things suck by choice and could be fine if a sensible person came along. That sensible person wouldn't survive fifty seconds of the reality. The Imperium is grim because every single shit decision, every single sacrifice, every single death, every single man woman and child suffering a shit life in the worst conditions imaginable, is the absolute best that can be done. It is a study of the worst happening to everyone and what part of your humanity must be sacrificed today just to stand a chance of survival, and all it asks is whether or not it would have perhaps been better to die.

Written by Baron von EvilSatan

== The Ark Mechanicus (SPOILERS FOR PRIEST OF MARS) ==
''You are Ark Mechanicus. You are Speranza. You are the bringer of hope in this hopeless age.''

{{Spoilers}}

In this novel written by [[Graham McNeill]], it is revealed that the Ark Mechanicus ''Speranza,'' an incredibly old and massive ship used by the [[Adeptus Mechanicus]] to explore new stellar territories, has some of the most advanced technological achievements of mankind encoded in its very structure. This revelation, unfortunately, was only discovered during a brief moment when one of the main protagonists of the novel, Archmagos Lexell Kotov, made some sort of spiritual connection with the [[Machine Spirit]] of the ''Speranza''(alignment: True Neutral) in order to save the day, and he forgot what he had seen immediately after.

Which may suck, yes, but this was compensated by the fact that upon the Archmagos linking with the ship, the ''Speranza'''s AI went godmode, deploying all kind of unimaginably super-high-tech targeting systems that NOBODY knew it had, systems that were capable of functioning with 100% precision in the middle of a space-time gravitational storm, and detected and <strike>crippled</strike> fatally damaged an [[Eldar]] cruiser in [[awesome|ONE FUCKING SHOT using a dorsal mounted BLACK HOLE CANNON]] so unbelievably advanced even the [[Necrons]] would have been scratching their heads trying to understand how it worked, although the narration tells us it involves antimatter, gravitons, and [[Dark Eldar|dark matter]].

What makes it even better is that the Eldar ship was guided by a Farseer, and thus managed to actually DODGE the weapon's blast, which was explicitly stated to be moving at the speed of light. Of course, at the sort of distances combat is often fought in space, dodging light is very, very easy if you have foreknowledge of where it will be - for example, if you are a light-second away from the shooter, you have, by definition, an entire second to get off your sorry ass and move. The ''Speranza'' wasn't having any of it, and instead of missing like some plebeian battleship with its macro-cannons and lances, followed up with a chrono-gun shooting tachyons to shift the Eldar ship a nanosecond into the past to make the black hole shot connect. [[awesome|IT FUCKING TELEPORTED AN ENEMY SHIP THROUGH TIME SO IT WOULDN'T HAVE TO TURN AND FIRE AGAIN]].

Another conclusion that some reading this scene have come up with is that the black holes the Speranza fires also mess with time themselves, and that the end result shifts the target back in time a few nanoseconds, forcing two iterations to exist at the same place and time, destroying both. This thing can basically telefrag enemies, like some kind of continent sized Doomguy. Regardless of whether this explanation or the one above are correct, both are badass.

That's right, lads, the Ark Mechanicus ships which the Imperium already own and operate could be the answer to the missing information of the STCs and more. A shame not even an Archmagos can access the information without immediately forgetting it all once the interface with the Machine Spirit has been severed. Especially given that, once linked to the ship, Kotov realized that (perhaps all of) the Ark Mechanicus used by the Mechanicum ''are'' [[Powergamer| complete, self-updating STCs]].

Still. One-shotting an eldar cruiser with sniper-precision in the middle of a space-storm that should have made locating said vessel completely impossible, much less being able to fire at it with any hope of accuracy.

Humanity's old tech was scary-powerful. How the mighty have fallen, eh? From turbo fuckyou chrono-weapons to ineffectual [[lasgun|flashlights]]. That's not even [[grimdark]]. That's just outright depressing.

Indeed, also, it may or may not be because every time a higher STC device works correctly the Imperium suddenly wipes out of the table anything and we mean ANYTHING that it's thrown at them, what's up, Hivefleets? Get some space DNA-recombinant insecticide that uses quantum-whatever to preemptively neutralize your evolutionary countermeasures! Chaos Greater Daemons? Pff, now you DO NOT exist with my Empyrean Bomb! C'Tan shards? Let me show you what is to alter reality with my time-altering macrocannon! So yeah, if the Imperium ever gets these things working and mass-produced it's warranted at least one of the major enemy factions will be eradicated or become a minor nuisance, like it was in the Golden Age Of Technology.

(Provided the Necrons, Orks or Chaos/Dark Mechanicum don't produce their own variants. Talk about a Grimdark Arms-Race!) If the enemies haven’t advanced for tens of millions of years, they’re not going to. The Necrons don't have to, because they literally have 60 million years on mankind (albeit those who stayed awake all that time went a little nuts). Sixty million years and still primitive compared to peak Dark Age humanity. Man we’re fucked up seeing as our cool tech are almost all doomsday devices.

The best part, though, is that we now can gleefully point out how ridiculously primitive the Eldar are. Remember: the Dark Eldar maintained the technology of the height of the Eldar empire, so they haven't regressed technologically. They're also insanely primitive compared to Dark Age humanity. So, the Eldar probably know that (not having lost history, probably) and it would explain their snobbery. They're fucking jealous and intimidated because they ''know'' how scary, stupidly, ''utterly'' '''beautifully''' '''''overpowered''''' humanity can really be. To add insult to injury, when Eldar fight even mere Imperial Guard, they suffer heavy casualties even if they win (and they sometimes lose to the Guard, let alone Astartes). Heck, Vect’s plan to get rid of his rivals by instigating an Imperial invasion of Commorragh nearly backfired when just a few elements of like two Chapters laid waste to the city.

Eh, that last part about the Eldar being 'primitive' in comparison to Dark Age Humanity is debatable. It's important to keep in mind that while Dark Age humans had a lot of really awesome shit kicking around, ''a lot of them fucking died when those same machines rebelled against them''. In the same book that the Ark Mechanicus one-shots the Eldar cruiser, it only does so because it ''can'', not because it's beholden to the Tech-Priest that's talking to it, or has some particular fondness for humanity. This motherfucker is TRUE NEUTRAL. It even tells the tech-priest that it doesn't care if it gets destroyed, because it will somehow continue even without its physical container. This machine does not give a SINGLE, ''SOLITARY'' FUCK about you. This is a rogue AI with the capability of generating pinpoint time-travelling singularities on a whim, with no sympathies or attachments to anything. And it doesn't go around blowing everything up because, well, it just doesn't and don't ask it why it doesn't. It's quite possible that the Eldar fully had the capability of creating ships with the same capabilities, but chose not to, because frankly it sounds like a really dumb fucking idea. Also keep in mind that the Fall of the Eldar wasn't caused by their technology, but by their culture becoming overly decadent and depraved. Eldar tech had progressed to a point of virtual stagnation, because what do you really need to invent when you've satisfied every need for your society? In the fluff, the Eldar had an interstellar empire around the same time humanity was figuring out agriculture, and that empire lasted until the Fall in ~M29. Meanwhile, humanity had ''already'' destroyed their own interstellar empires by around M25. Which kind of goes a long way in justifying the Eldar's views that humanity is a child race of reckless idiots. Neither side really wins, though, since while humanity followed the rule of cool and had a brief but more kickass empire than the Eldar, Eldar tech stagnated and their empire survived long enough to devolve into orgy cults so fucked up they created an evil god. Again, no real winners here. So, you claim it’s debatable that DAoT humanity was more advanced and then explain that our technology was legitimately insane. Your argument is unrelated to your claim and the Dark Eldar already have the their empire’s technology. At best their strongest tech rivaled humanity but Man too it further with causality and temporal manipulation, things that eat the data of the universe, and other psycho-tech. Also, humanity did not destroy itself. The Men of Iron rebelling only makes sense if there was an outside actor like Chaos as the root cause. Because humans wouldn’t make people machines and enslave them instead of just making the machines smart but not metal people slaves. The Eldar on the other hand murderfucked their Empire into oblivion. Besides that, the Eldar were given their knowledge by the Old Ones whereas humanity had to invent from scratch. Even before the Old Ones gave the Eldar bling, the Eldar possessed matter-manipulation psychic powers and outright skipped the need for tools or even science as they shapes matter to their imaginations.
[[Category:Warhammer 40,000]][[Category:Imperial]][[Category:Adeptus Mechanicus]]

Ameritrash

2020-01-30T13:47:12Z

2600:1006:B12C:5143:8CF2:E71C:6401:6B22: /* What Makes a Game "Ameritrash" */

{{stub}}

'''Ameritrash:''' One of the common classifications of board game stereotypes, usually as a distinction from "[[Eurogames]]" and "[[Wargames]]".

To quote Boardgamegeek:

<blockquote>Ameritrash is "a catchphrase for 'American style boardgames.' In general, this means games that emphasize a highly developed theme, characters, heroes, or factions with individually defined abilities, player to player conflict, and usually feature a moderate to high level of luck."

There is a great deal of dispute over what Ameritrash means, even when it is accepted as a meaningful term. Many gamers would never call the "old" Avalon Hill a producer of Ameritrash. Ameritrash means something to most hobby gamers, but what it means still varies somewhat across communities.

In sum, the concrete definition of "Ameritrash" is considered by some to be hazy.</blockquote>

== What Makes a Game "Ameritrash" ==

Ameritrash, as you can probably guess, is a derogatory term. Games are called Ameritrash based primarily on their common flaws, and thus the term can be thought of as both an accusatory insult and a working genre title. That being said, there are good games that are frequently classed as "Ameritrash"; for example, [[Talisman]] is usually held in high regard. The '-trash' part of the moniker comes from the fact that the vast majority of Ameritrash games are either shit, lack any real depth, or both.

The 'Ameri-' part of the term comes from directly from the huge number of these games made or popularized by companies like Milton Bradley and Parker Brothers during the course of the 20th Century. See below for a non-comprehensive list of Ameritrash games, and take note of how many were popularized by American toymakers between 1918 and 1999.

For those looking for a more specific guideline, the more mechanical problems a game shares with how [[Monopoly]] as usually played, and the more style is emphasized over substance, the more likely a game is to be called "Ameritrash". These common problems include heavily luck-based mechanics, overly-long total play-time, nothing (or very little) to do or think about when it's not your turn, very little direct player interaction, and significant problems with Kingmaker scenarios. (In particular, [[Roll and Move]] is a very common mechanic used to destroy any ability to destroy any semblance of skill-based play.)

"Ameritrash" is only a name, derived from the general tendencies of the two continents. It does not actually mean "a game from America". European games have been classed as "Ameritrash", and American-designed games have been classed as "Eurogames" (and the [[Snakes and Ladders|oldest known example]] of Ameritrash comes from ''India''). [[Talisman]], for example, is usually classed as Ameritrash, despite originating in England. It doesn't necessarily refer to all games created in America, rather of a certain style that these games seem to share that make them easy to classify.

Do note that these games are often meant for young children. Such as Candyland.

== List of Ameritrash Games ==
* [[Monopoly]]
* [[Snakes and Ladders]] (The oldest known Ameritrash, dates back to at least the 16th century)
* [[Talisman]]
* [[Sorry!]]
* [[Candyland]]
* [[The Game Of Life]]
* [[Yahtzee!]]
* [[Cluedo]] or Clue
* [[Hi Ho! Cherry Ho!]]
* [[Mousetrap]]
* [[Trivial Pursuit]]

== Positive "Ameritrash" Definition ==

Given the polarized reaction to [[Eurogames]], and the lack of a fourth class of widely agreed upon board game archetypes (the third being Wargames), the word "Ameritrash" gets used in a more positive manner by some board game aficionados. This is the more abstract, less negative definition of Ameritrash. For the purposes of this wiki, we stick to the negative definition of "Ameritrash", mainly because the positive definition is so vague.

Some games that get called "Ameritrash" in the positive definition but not the negative one include [[Twilight Imperium]] and, for that matter, just about everything made by [[Fantasy Flight Games]] that isn't a card or miniatures game.

{{Board Games}}
[[Category:Board Games]]

Ameritrash

2020-01-30T13:46:36Z

2600:1006:B12C:5143:8CF2:E71C:6401:6B22: /* What Makes a Game "Ameritrash" */

{{stub}}

'''Ameritrash:''' One of the common classifications of board game stereotypes, usually as a distinction from "[[Eurogames]]" and "[[Wargames]]".

To quote Boardgamegeek:

<blockquote>Ameritrash is "a catchphrase for 'American style boardgames.' In general, this means games that emphasize a highly developed theme, characters, heroes, or factions with individually defined abilities, player to player conflict, and usually feature a moderate to high level of luck."

There is a great deal of dispute over what Ameritrash means, even when it is accepted as a meaningful term. Many gamers would never call the "old" Avalon Hill a producer of Ameritrash. Ameritrash means something to most hobby gamers, but what it means still varies somewhat across communities.

In sum, the concrete definition of "Ameritrash" is considered by some to be hazy.</blockquote>

== What Makes a Game "Ameritrash" ==

Ameritrash, as you can probably guess, is a derogatory term. Games are called Ameritrash based primarily on their common flaws, and thus the term can be thought of as both an accusatory insult and a working genre title. That being said, there are good games that are frequently classed as "Ameritrash"; for example, [[Talisman]] is usually held in high regard. The '-trash' part of the moniker comes from the fact that the vast majority of Ameritrash games are either shit, lack any real depth, or both.

The 'Ameri-' part of the term comes from directly from the huge number of these games made or popularized by companies like Milton Bradley and Parker Brothers during the course of the 20th Century. See below for a non-comprehensive list of Ameritrash games, and take note of how many were popularized by American toymakers between 1918 and 1999.

For those looking for a more specific guideline, the more mechanical problems a game shares with how [[Monopoly]] as usually played, and the more style is emphasized over substance, the more likely a game is to be called "Ameritrash". These common problems include heavily luck-based mechanics, overly-long total play-time, nothing (or very little) to do or think about when it's not your turn, very little direct player interaction, and significant problems with Kingmaker scenarios. (In particular, [[Roll and Move]] is a very common mechanic used to destroy any ability to destroy any semblance of skill-based play.)

"Ameritrash" is only a name, derived from the general tendencies of the two continents. It does not actually mean "a game from America". European games have been classed as "Ameritrash", and American-designed games have been classed as "Eurogames" (and the [[Snakes and Ladders|oldest known example]] of Ameritrash comes from ''India''). [[Talisman]], for example, is usually classed as Ameritrash, despite originating in England. It doesn't necessarily refer to all games created in America, rather of a certain style that these games seem to share that make them easy to classify.

Do note that these games are meant for young children.

== List of Ameritrash Games ==
* [[Monopoly]]
* [[Snakes and Ladders]] (The oldest known Ameritrash, dates back to at least the 16th century)
* [[Talisman]]
* [[Sorry!]]
* [[Candyland]]
* [[The Game Of Life]]
* [[Yahtzee!]]
* [[Cluedo]] or Clue
* [[Hi Ho! Cherry Ho!]]
* [[Mousetrap]]
* [[Trivial Pursuit]]

== Positive "Ameritrash" Definition ==

Given the polarized reaction to [[Eurogames]], and the lack of a fourth class of widely agreed upon board game archetypes (the third being Wargames), the word "Ameritrash" gets used in a more positive manner by some board game aficionados. This is the more abstract, less negative definition of Ameritrash. For the purposes of this wiki, we stick to the negative definition of "Ameritrash", mainly because the positive definition is so vague.

Some games that get called "Ameritrash" in the positive definition but not the negative one include [[Twilight Imperium]] and, for that matter, just about everything made by [[Fantasy Flight Games]] that isn't a card or miniatures game.

{{Board Games}}
[[Category:Board Games]]

Ollanius Pius

2020-01-30T13:39:52Z

2600:1006:B12C:5143:8CF2:E71C:6401:6B22:

{{Oldschool}}
[[Image:1225596941657.jpg|300px|thumb|right|The most hardcore Guardsman....ever.]]
{{Topquote|Where I fall, ten more shall take my place! And one hundred each of them! So strike me down! I am the harbinger!|Ollanius Pius, an Imperial Guardsman (The First Guardsman), to the Warmaster and Primarch, Horus "supercharged motherfucking avatar of Chaos" Lupercal. Yes, you read that correctly.}}

'''Ollanius Pius''' embodies what it means to be a soldier of the [[Imperial Guard]] in this [[Grimdark|grimdark]] universe. He is THE most hardcore Guardsman ever and also the legendary saint of the Imperial Guard, because as legend goes, in the hopes of protecting the [[God-Emperor of Mankind|Emperor of Mankind]], Ollanius Pius put himself directly in front of [[Horus Lupercal|a walking demigod of battle]]. The fact that he did so without fainting, shitting himself in terror, or mewling like a wounded grox suggests that his testicles must have been forged from Mars-grade adamantium (or more likely, he had power balls. His testicles were of such might that they ignored armor saves in close combat and could themselves be used as weapons). Ollanius Pius is so manly that he makes [[Vance Motherfucking Stubbs]], [[Commissar Yarrick]], [[Gregor Eisenhorn]], [[Ciaphas Cain]], [[Kharn]], [[Colonel "Iron Hand" Straken]], [[Logan Grimnar]], [[Merrick]], [[Gunnery Sergeant "Stonetooth" Harker|Harker]], [[Creed]] and [[Sly Marbo]] piss themselves in terror. Well, maybe not [[Sly Marbo]] but he still respects the shit out of him.

Naturally, like a bunch of [[Squats|awesome]] [[Zoats|shit]] and virtually every piece of lore that has ever existed in Warhammer 40,000, [[Games Workshop]] retconned this story in several ways. Firstly his introduction is a bit of a retcon, since Ollanius wasn't in the original battle (read the Slaves to Darkness book) where the Emperor teleported to Horus' bunker (not flagship) and fought him there. Then when he was introduced, he was said to have originally sacrificed himself during Horus' assault on the Imperial Palace, placing himself between the Emperor and Horus (which would mean in that version Horus broke through), which makes sense, so they had to change it. The next story the Emperor fought Horus in Horus' command bunker again, teleporting in with [[Imperial Fists]] and Custodes, and while having a bunker on the ground makes it entirely possible that Pius was there (especially since the traitor legions were busy at the palace walls) it's fairly unlikely. Then they changed it again, this time having Emps board Horus' flagship, the Vengeful Spirit, along with a company of Imperial Fist terminators and Custodes, no Pius this time due to the fact that a Guardsmen would probably die the second they arrive there. At no point from here on out is Ollanius ever mentioned to have boarded the [[Vengeful Spirit]], though the idea of a heroic sacrifice was kept, GW replaced Pius with a [[Space Marine|Spehss Mahreen]] [[Terminator]], which wasn't that bad but then they retconned out the Terminator with an [[Adeptus Custodes]], which is SIX KINDS OF LAME.

[[Fantasy Flight Games]] brought him back though (sort of, leaving his existence in current canon questionable at best), which is a great justice and if you trust them, he really is just the most badass Guardsman ever, though exactly what he did isn't too clear besides die for the Emperor. But, NOW, thanks to [[Dan Abnett]], if GW ever returns Ollanius to his place at the Emperor's side, that's no big deal. He'll just be over 10,000 years old. Still a normal human, but just one that regenerates and has lived a long time. So...following the trend, there is a risk that he will be added back in the universe as the one who made the chip in Horus's armor and not [[Sanguinius]], and thus completely ruin the original story.

Other than the fact that he was man enough to stand up to Daddy's former favourite with nothing more than a flashlight and toilet paper armour, not much else is known about him, which probably means that he did even more heroic and manly shit during the Siege of Terra.

The entire point of the character is to demonstrate that [[The Lord of the Rings|true courage and inner strength can be found even among the weakest (by comparison) of individuals]]. (Also, see "Tank Man" [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tank_Man]). Games Workshop, in their infinite wisdom, completely missed this point and proceeded to replace the brave and ordinary little soldier with a progressively bigger and stronger superhero with every reveal/retcon (although, see below for a different take on his [[Perpetual|perepetuality]] and it's implications in his final act of heroism.) This, in a way, makes Horus' fall to Chaos seem less and less despicable; the original story of a superhuman so remorselessly killing an ordinary human could be seen in a similar light as a grown man killing a child. It is probably a near certainty that the next retcon will trade up the Custode for one of the missing Primarchs (such as the glorious and magnificent Ollanius [[Galactic Partridges|Partridge]]) or a fucking omnipresent [[Imperial Knight]]. Further updates will likely add the Terminator, the Custode, the second missing Primarch and an Imperial [[Titan (Warhammer 40,000)|Titan]] for good measure, all at the same time.

However, in the Visions Of Heresy Novel, the humble Imperial Guardsman is back with his heroic act of sacrifice, though it is not stated whether his name was Ollanius Pius. Probably because there was no need to, since everyone already knew his name in the fandom.

He also has a relic in the latest 6th Edition Astra Militarum/Imperial Guard codex, with the fluff saying he martyred himself against Horus and is the epitome of Imperial Sainthood, as does a similar relic in the 8th Edition Astra Militarum Codex. The [[Dark Heresy]] ''Blood of Martyrs'' splat mentions him there, saying the story of Pius is apocryphal (bringing up that other organizations have their own version of the tale) but still frequently told and he is widely venerated among Guardsmen as an exemplar of what a faithful Guardsman should be. So the Imperial Guard apparently canonically believes the original version of the tale, whether or not that's what actually happened. And at this point, nobody knows what actually happened and never will because GeeDubs refuses to enforce any kind of consistency in its own fluff (see below).

==New Fluff==
[[Image:Ollanius Pius.jpeg|thumb|right|Oll Pius returns, "better" than ever. Note the cross around his neck.]]
Also known as "Why the Black Library should not be allowed to write or sell anything".

In Dan Abnett's Horus Heresy novel "Know No Fear" Ollanius Pius' lore has changed dramatically. In the book he is named "Ollanius Perrson" (or "Oll" to his friends) and is part of a small group of immortal humans spread throughout the galaxy called [[Perpetual]]s. John Grammaticus (who is alive and well) claimed that out of the entire Ultramarine empire (which at the time consisted of a staggering 500 planets) there are only three Perpetuals (the total amount in the Imperium is unknown, but almost certainly not much higher). Pius estimates his date of birth at some point around 15,000 BC (by contrast, the Emperor claims he was born in roughly 8,000 BC- which would make Pius no less than '''7,000 years older than the Emperor'''. It would also make him ''older than agriculture''), and is the same "breed" as Grammaticus and possibly the Emperor. At first this sounds like GW is missing the point again, but besides his ''extreme'' age and the whole immortality thing he seems to just be a normal human with normal human strength (coupled with the fact that, by all indications, he hasn't died once so far). Which, when compared to the psychic gestalt übermensch that is the Emperor, is kind of important; Ollanius is more representative of every strength (and weakness) of Mankind than the Emperor EVER was.

===The Eternal Infantryman===
In the days of ancient [[Terra]] he was one of the Argonauts who adventured with Jason on the Argo to get the Golden Fleece and later he learned how to fight with a bayonet whilst fighting for the French in the trenches at Verdun during World War I. (Note that "Ole Persson" is the obvious pun, but in idiomatic French, "Olivier Personne" means "Oliver Nobody," which has interesting implications in and of itself.) Interestingly, Ollanius seems to be a sort of "eternal soldier" (he is also confirmed as having fought in the armies of [[Awesome|Napoleon]] and [[Heresy|Saddam Hussein]]), but always is depicted as being a part of the "[[Imperial Guard|poor bloody Infantry]]", in direct opposition to ''another'' perpetual, [[The Emperor|big E]] himself, who is spoken of as having taken on the roles of various august and well known historical personages, or at least being close to positions of power throughout history. There is also an implication that Ollanius always or at least usually fought on the losing side, which is also an interesting extension to this parallel. This makes him a sort of representative of the eternal ordinary everyman; unlike almost every other perpetual, he ''doesn't'' have superpowers (except the neat trick of not dying), and lives ordinary lives, again and again (as the Emperor says to him in the exchange quoted above.) This is more in line with the original spirit of the "legend of Ollanius Pius," and is a counter-argument to the more common view that he is becoming an OP [[Mary Sue]] instead of a representative of ordinary human strength and courage, the ultimate manifestation of which is seen in his actions aboard the ''Vengeful Spirit''.

We sometimes see glimpses of his soldiering past. In ''Unmarked'', another [[Dan Abnett|Abnett]] work (a short story in the anthology ''Mark of Calth''), he travels through time to various battles he fought in while evading the daemon prince [[M'kar]]. In ''Angel Exterminatus'', where an [[Iron Warriors]] Trident [[Warsmith]] Kroeger has a flashback (sort of, the memories were the memories of other people) and relives the near-death of "Carl", a German soldier at the hands of one "Olivier Perrson." Carl thought Ol was very rude because he interrupted Carl's dinner. Yes, poor Carl's dinner. Oll happened upon Carl eating . . . Carl's own commander. Oh yeah, Carl was a closet cannibal. Still, Carl thought it was a bit of an overreaction by an overly Pius asshole to stab Carl in the gut. Carl was only saved from a certain death when the crush of the battle forces Oll out of the trench.

We don't get it either but a vision given to Ollanius by Grammaticus indicates that he'll be restored to his original status as the person who sacrifices his life to save the Emperor from Horus, so at least he's back. Of course, whether he actually dies when this happens given the Perpetuals' ability to resurrect themselves upon death is anyone's guess. The confrontation with Horus might be "true death" for him, though, as in ''Unmarked'', he gets the distinct feeling that the [[Horus Heresy|current galactic clusterfuck]] is going to be the end for him. This might even make sense, given that he was killed by not only a primarch, but Horus supercharged by the energies of all four of the Ruinous Powers during an apocalyptic confrontation which outright killed another Primarch and put the most powerful being ever to emerge out of humanity in a near-death state. Get hit by what did ''that'', you're probably not going to get up, and immortality won't help you if your soul is snuffed out by one of the most powerful material manifestations of Chaos ever.

If he did regenerate, he'd probably wake up on the Vengeful Spirit unless his body was moved-Perpetuals don't teleport when they die, they just heal and wake up. This might wind up being a far, far worse end than having his soul shredded (see over on the page for [[Perpetual]] where we say that they've drawn the short straw? Here's an example of why...) Needless to say, being trapped in the bowels of a chaos-infested warship would not be good for him (assuming he can even get off the bridge before [[Abaddon|Abby]] or one of his guards [[Blam|shoots him]].)

Also in ''Unmarked'', Ollanius briefly hooks up with John Grammaticus, another perpetual (although far more of a dick, and, unlike Oll, apparently turned into a perpetual by the Cabal rather than being born one) .. you know, the guy who is actually with the Cabal, going along with their "Alpharius gambit" to destroy humanity but wipe out Chaos, but who is at some point persuaded by [[Eldrad|Eldrad Uthan]] to turn rogue ''against'' the Cabal, since in a rare moment of non-dickery, Eldrad decided that wiping out humanity might ''not be'' the best idea, giving John the final push after long having some scruples about aiding in the genocide of his own race for, among others, arrogant space elves and a sentient floating ball of gas.

===Religion===
Befitting his epithet, he is, indeed, a pious man. He is, in fact, a believing "Catheric," which is apparently a bastardization of "Catholic." Exceedingly rare in the rabidly atheistic Imperium, although not unique in the Heresy Era: another badass <s>guardsman</s> Imperial Army Geno 5-2 Chiliad hetman, Hurtado Bronzi in ''Legion'', also by [[Dan Abnett]], identifies himself as "Catheric by devotion.") He even wears a cross around his neck which conceivably could get him into trouble. ''Practicing'' the major aspects his faith (five of the seven sacraments require a priest) would be difficult, as what happened to the Pope and Church hierarchy we don't know (although it's probably pretty grimdark.) According to real-world Catholic belief, there is a Biblical guarantee for an "unbroken chain" of Popes and Papal authority (Matthew xvi, 18), so there would be theoretically a Pope somewhere, or on the way. The church in Graham McNeal's ''[[The Last Church]]'' wasn't Catholic, although it's sort of implied that it is a bastardized form of high-Church Christianity at least in aesthetic which drifted in it's beliefs over 30 millenia ... which isn't that surprising from the perspective of the sociology of religion. If it was really, however, the literal last church on Terra, and the real-world Catholic view is true, somewhere in some corner of the Imperium there is a man who is the Pope and the Church still exists (picking up sticks and moving probably would have been wise anyway.) Several sci-fi writers have speculated about this sort of thing: ''A Canticle for Leibowitz'' by Walter Miller, considered a classic, has the Catholic church surviving several end-of-the-world [[techno-barbarian]] type scenarios, preserving civilization, and enduring over many millenia, eventually spreading beyond [[Terra|Earth]].

Despite the Emperor hating religion, Ollanius was still doing the right thing by the tenants of his by-then-ancient faith explicitly says that soldiers should obey orders and people should respect their governments and leaders in general (cf. Romans xiv, 3ff., referring to the ''Emperor'' of the time ... ''plus ça change'', no?), ''except'' of course if it involved breaking the precepts of his religion (this was a real dilemma for Roman soldiers up until the 4th century or so, because they had to [[Imperial Cult|worship the emperor]]) ... but this was not such a problem for Ollie, he was a faithful Imperial citizen and, while the Imperium forbade religiosity, it did not (at the time of the Horus Heresy, which is when we last hear of him) require him to [[heresy|worship other Gods]] or such, even though such beliefs were proscribed by the Imperium (which again, resembles certain periods in Church history.)

Despite the prohibition on religion, he seemed to live his faith reasonably openly and at best be regarded as a bit of an eccentric for it: again, not all that different from certain eras of the Roman history in the 2nd and 3rd centuries-it depended on who was on the [[Golden Throne|imperial throne]] just how vigorously Christians were persecuted: sometimes it was an [[Exterminatus|all-day buffet for lions]] and sometimes Christianity was looked at as at best a strange affectation certain people indulged in (perhaps not entirely unlike we look at new religious movements today.) In fact, Ancient Rome, very unlike the 30K Imperium, would've had no problem with Christians at all if they didn't [[heresy|refuse to]] [[Lorgar|worship the Emperor]]. You know, what [[Monarchia]] got glassed for. In the 40K Imperium, the Ecclesiarchy would've probably been pretty cool with Christianity if the [[Emperor]] was ultimately seen as God (which would make Sanguinius Jesus? Except for the resurrection part.) Which Christianity would ''not'' be cool with. So Ollanius being "Catheric" would be a problem for him either way. And probably at several other points in his life (maybe in the Iraqi army, for example. And one assumes at several points over the next 30,000 years or so.)

There is another fan theory that it refers to the "Cathars," a [[extra heresy|heretical]] religious sect that the IRL [[Inquisition]] IRL [[Exterminatus|exterminatused]] in the 13th century. This is a clever play on words, but probably reads too much into it, but doesn't make any historical sense and doesn't really line up with the vague hints at "Cathericism" we get in the books.

==Writefaggotry==
WARNING: The following entry is so manly that reading it out loud may cause you to suddenly grow a beard. Girls, do not read this out loud. A fa/tg/uy's explanation of the original Ollanius:

''LOOK AT THIS FUCKING GUARDSMAN.''

''He's spent months fighting a grueling war in which his enemies are demigods allied with daemons, and now he's found himself in the closest thing to Hell he's ever known. He probably wasn't even supposed to get teleported up to the arch-traitor's battle barge in the first place, and just ended up in the wrong place at the worst possible time.

''Somehow he's survived horrors beyond comprehension to make his way to the very bridge of Horus' flagship. He saw a veritable angel call upon Horus to answer for his crimes, and he saw that angel die as messily as any guardsman. His Emperor - who he fervently believes is a god incarnate, even if he's not supposed to - lies mortally wounded, and Horus, perhaps, has taken a moment to gloat before he strikes the killing blow.''

''His armor is slightly more effective than tissue paper, his weapon slightly more powerful than a flashlight. A single electrified claw from Horus' weapon is bigger than his entire body. He stands before a being infused by the dark gods with incalculable power, that can and will obliterate his soul with no more effort than it would take him to swat a gnat. Nothing he can do could possibly make a difference.''

''He could run. He could turn his weapon on himself. He could give in to the insidious whispers that echo from the ship's corridors into his mind.''

''Ollanius Pius does the duty his Emperor requires of him. He dies standing and holds the '''FUCKING''' line.''

===A short poem about Ollanius Pius===
[[File:The Last Stand 1.png|400px|thumb|right|HE BOUGHT THE EMPEROR TIME... TIME TO SAVE US ALL.]]
The first time I hold my blood in my hands,
 The first time I see a man with nothing.
 Would be the first time I see my own lands,
 Covered in heresy, death, and rotting.

 My son stands over him corrupt and pale,
 A guard Ollanius Pius stands free.
 My fallen Horus lifts the deadly flail,
 In one instant, the strength of man I see.

 This mere man done what I was unable.
 A tear flows from my eye and it is clear,
 The tyrant's cold reign I must disable.
 Briefly I know what it means to feel fear.

 I leave the future to the strength of man,
 For they alone do far more than I can.

===Another poem regarding Ollanius===
Somewhere in the universe a coin flip lands on its side.

Somewhere in the universe a drop of water saves a life.

Somewhere in the universe a pebble stops a landslide.

Maybe it is because someone believed hard enough.

Maybe it is because everything is secretly fair.

Maybe it is because the universe is a vast place.

Yesterday, I was very cold.

Yesterday, I was very hungry.

Yesterday, I wanted to run away.

Today, I am going to believe hard enough.

Today, a pebble will stop a landslide.

Today, I am not going anywhere.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Kriegsmeisterbunker.jpg|The first version of Horus and the Emperor's duel. Notice the location, making Pius' sacrifice possible, if implausible.
The legend of Ollanius Pius.jpg|The legend.
MUH OLLANIUS PIUS.png|The retcon.
Ollanius existed and was a Perpetual.png|Fantasy Flight Games' take on it.
</gallery>

{{IG-Characters}}

[[Category:Awesome]]

Space Wolves

2020-01-30T13:23:43Z

2600:1006:B12C:5143:8CF2:E71C:6401:6B22: /* Ragnar Blackmane */

{{Infobox Spess Mahreen Chapter
|Name = Space Wolves / Vlka Fenryka
|Heraldry = [[File:Spacewolveslogo.png|200px]]
|Battle Cry = "For Russ and the All father!"|Number = VI
|Founding = [[First Founding]]
|Original Name = The Rout
|Successor Chapters = [[Wolf Brothers]] [[Wolfspear]]
|Chapter Master = [[Logan Grimnar]]
|Primarch = [[Leman Russ]]
|Homeworld = [[Fenris]]
|Specialty = CQC, shock assaults, infantry, encirclement tactics
|Strength = 2-3000, fluff is vague
|Allegiance = [[Imperium of Man]]
|Colours = Grey-blue and Yellow
}}
{{topquote|Let a man never stir on his road a step without his weapons of war; for unsure is the knowing when need shall arise of a [[Wolfspear|spear]] on the way without.|Havamal}}

{{Topquote|FUCKING FURRIES!!!|[[Magnus the Red]] when Space Wolves are mentioned near him}}

The '''Vlka Fenryka''' (Internally called The Rout, known to the wider Imperium and most of the fans as the Space Wolves) are a loyalist Chapter of [[Viking]]-inspired [[Space Marines]]. They're as [[Manly Marines|manly]] as the Angry Marines are [[Angry Marines|angry]]. They're basically what you'd get if you turned an entire frat-house into Space Marines and set them loose. Big fans of wolves. Extremely [[Viking|Nordic]], very melee oriented, and often found drinking and feasting when not at war. Given that they're honor and legacy obsessed Nordic melee powerhouses, one can draw many parallels between the Wolves and [[Dwarfs (Warhammer Fantasy)|Dwarfs]] and [[Warriors of Chaos]] from Warhammer Fantasy. The chapter is traditionally rivals with the Thousand Sons, though one might see the Wolves as a direct loyalist counterpart for the [[World Eaters]] and [[Night Lords]] due to their penchant both for suicidal, berserk charges and individualistic, undisciplined attitudes. However, the Wolves fight to protect people and do their duty to the Emperor, not for the hell of it. They're as cunning as the [[Raven Guard]] and as bold as the [[Blood Angels]], with fierce pride in their culture and individual prowess. More so than any other chapter, every Space Wolf is a unique and proud hero of the Imperium.

That said, they aren't all fun and bar-room games, as they have their unique flaws. These are elaborated on below.

They're one of the more "controversial" chapters, because fans will circlejerk them to death about how amazing the Chapter is, though the chapter's numerous detractors (most notably will rant endlessly about how the Chapter are all furries. Much of this conflict comes from GW's dissonance between the Vlka Fenryka of the books, and the Space Wolves of the tabletop game. The Vlka Fenryka of the Black Library books are a chapter with many different tribal and historical inspirations, drawing on Viking and Germanic culture along with their favorite totem and symbol, the wolf. The Space Wolves of the tabletop game ride wolves into battle, adorn themselves with wolves, name their gear and vehicles after wolves. That said, this difference is only bad translations and cultural changes over 10,000 years.

Ultimately, what defines the Space Wolves isn't their predatory, barbaric instincts- it's how they accept and use their savagery '''without''' being controlled by it or forgetting its downsides, pretty hard to do in 40k for [[Khorne|various reasons]]. Fenris is a world of constant warfare, where resources are scarce, monsters are omnipresent, and other humans constantly threaten every potential Space Wolf. Their initiation ritual involves implanting the candidate with the Canis Helix, then leaving them out in the wild to fight their way back to the Fang. To become a son of Russ, one has to make it back without giving in to their inner beast. They're fully aware of their own potential for senseless violence, and choose to fight the biggest monsters and save the people of the Imperium rather than giving in.

==Brief History and Main Overview==
Before Russ was discovered, the Wolves were a bunch of dicks. They were [[World Eaters|uncontrollable]] [[Night Lords|bullies]]. They were developed in isolation along with the [[Salamanders]] and [[Alpha Legion]], and were considered a fractious and undisciplined force, to the degree of officers losing control of their troops in the middle of a battle. To make matters worse, they often slaughtered civilians who had no way of fighting back. Their geneseed was also extremely difficult to implant in aspirants, often killing them.

Leman Russ was basically [[Viking]] Mowgli, being raised by wolves before he was captured (or possibly chose to/was talked into joining them, fluff varies) by the humans of Fenris and became adopted son to Jarl Thengir. When Thengir passed, Leman became Jarl by virtue of being the biggest badass on Fenris. And that's saying something. Ol' Empy came along and said 'JOIN ME!' in his typical dickish fashion. Leman then called him out to <s>three contests</s> (STOP! [[retcon|RETCON]] TIME!) a combat (double retcon: the Horus Heresy book Wolfsbane brought back the drinking contest as canon). The Emperor agreed to the duel and they went at it so enthusiastically they wrecked the feast hall they were in pretty thoroughly as Leman gave a good account of himself. In the end, Big. E (rather unsurprisingly) proved the better warrior and he knocked Russ out. When he finally woke up from his pummelling, Leman recognised the Emperor as a worthy master, and agreed to serve.

(Older fluff had Russ call Emps out to three challenges: drinking, eating, and fighting (though goodness knows why they didn't do the fighting bit first. If your fighters are drunk and stuffed, the fight will be less interesting). Leman showed up the Emperor in the first two contests, supposedly eating an entire ox and drinking a dozen barrels of mead. When the two of them fought, though, the Emperor was the victor, punching Russ out fair and square on the spot. But a one-shot knock out didn't make for a great story so it got changed into a proper fight.)

Leman very much remade his Legion. The Wolf King used a combination of myth-as-metaphor, genuine superstition, and the influence of Fenrisian veterans to promote discipline and obedience. He taught his warriors to control their bloodlust and kill who they had to rather than butcher everything in sight. That said, the VIth Legion would cross any line and kill any traitor for the Emprah. They fought to make the galaxy safe for humanity, but they were willing to accept the loss of human life. After Yarant and the battle with the Alpha Legion, they started to reevaluate this attitude. It was a process rather than a sudden snap, but they gradually focused less on punishing oathbreakers and more on protecting innocents.

One further thing of note is that it is implied by an offhand comment of Russ's in the Horus Heresy books that the two missing legions were destroyed or at least broken by the Space Wolves, so if it is true then that brings their legion kill tally to three.

The Space Wolves are another example on how Games Workshop lusts after medieval Scandinavian history and mythology. As if the [[Warriors of Chaos]] weren't already enough of a tip off to that. Given that they are the only Space Marines to have wolves, beards, wield axes, laugh boisterously, and act like something more than sombre, grim assholes, and because they have names like 'Ragnar' and 'Bjorn' they are instantly considered manlier than all other Spehss Mehreens, including the Chaos ones.

The Space Wolves also have a complex relationship with religion. The people of Fenris had several deities and considered the Fang to be a hall of immortals where the valorous dead went even during the Great Crusade, which Big E overlooked because the results produced in the form of the Space Wolves were worth it. After a Fenrisian warrior proves his mettle while a Wolf Priest (equivalent to a [[Valkyrie]] except it's a power-armored old man instead of a sexy shieldmaiden) is watching, he gets taken to the Fang (which is the equivalent of [[Valhalla]]) and given superhuman abilities and immortality to feast and train for the final battle; so this is true, in an Obi-Wan Kenobi sort of way. After becoming a Space Marine, they take on a more secular worldview, though superstition and storytelling remain. However, even though they describe Russ as performing impossible feats or act like talismans will protect them, many of their stories are in point of fact allegorical, and their superstitious beliefs are implied to be more of a subconscious way of steeling themselves against the possibility of death. So at the end of the day, your average Space Wolf (if such a thing is possible) believes that his necklace will ward off bad luck and the runes on his armor will protect him from sorcery while saying that Russ defeated the two-headed god of death and made him work for him, he's using the necklace to make himself more willing to risk death, a belief in runes to help resist psychic powers, and really saying that Russ harnessed the bloodlust of the VIth and gave it purpose. That said, he probably believes that Russ literally wrestled Morkai into submission too. Which means the Wolves of the novels have a rich cultural depth, while the Wolves of the tabletop are wolfy wolves who wolve wolves.

Based on their characterization in Prospero Burns and Battle for the Fang, they hold relatively little regard for "mortals" but without ignoring them outright or being dicks to them, and they highly respect bravery in battle. On top of all that, they happen to have the most compassionate and bro-tier Chapter Masters ever, [[Logan Grimnar]]. Logan is known for being famously sympathetic to the common man of the Imperium, defending his mortal charges with a passion beyond reason. This attitude has earned him a somewhat mixed reputation among the upper echelons of the Imperium, because while Grimnar is much loved by the people of the Imperium, he also has a bad habit of leading his chapter [[Armageddon#First War for Armageddon|into conflict]] with other factions of the Imperium when he deems it necessary.

If they were in a vidya game, they'd probably be voiced by Brian Blessed, or his royal Cinemaness CHRISTOPHER LEE, may he glory and feast forever in Valhalla.

They also once managed to kill an entire [[Void whale|VOID WHALE]]! (If a hideously malformed one) Scary Badass Grampa Werewolf Viking FTW!

In older codices, Leman Russ also killed and skinned a colossal deepsea creature that was confirmed to have Tyranid DNA, before the Emprah showed up. Like with a spear and wooden boat. Suck it, [[Macragge]].

Spess Wohlfs, if not already obvious, draw upon a heavy Viking theme, an equally heavy werewolf theme, and wolves in general. As such, the Space Wolves, Black Templars, White Scars, World Eaters and Khornate Worshipers in general, are the few people to realize that they all live in a fantasy universe with spaceships.

Another question that might come up if one thought about it is what happened to all of their extra marines. Even between the Burning of Prospero, a brutal void battle with the Alpha Legion straight afterwards and the rest of the Horus Heresy, the Wolves and their descendants were reduced to a chapter strength of about 1200 marines by the 41st Millenium. Even with attrition over the years, they should have been left with thousands of marines to split into different chapters. The main school of thought is that the Wolves split into two chapters, the original Space Wolves as well as the Wolf Brothers. While the Wolf Brothers would eventually be disbanded due to [[Mutant|genetic instability]], it would still leave the Space Wolves several thousand marines strong. It's thought that the rest of the Sons of Russ would eventually be brought down to close to Codex Chapter strength by attrition, as their numbers were overcome by casualties, the rise of the Mark of the Wulfen, and alcohol poisoning. Another hypothesis is that there would be other chapters that would split off from the Wolves, albeit unofficially or by their origins being proscribed for...whatever reason. However, if the Wolves were indeed left to be several hundred strong after Guilliman got his reform on, it would mean that after Russ's disappearance, the wolves [[Grimdark|were slowly dying out]] after their recruitment numbers dwindled to the dozens per year. (Though the natural ratio of recruits-to-casualties probably reached an equilibrium point at some point a few centuries afterwords, and has hovered right around that point for a long time. [[Grimdark]] doesn't always mean [[Fail|Grimderp]].)

In M32, a small but influential faction within the Rout started experimenting on the Canis Helix, trying to make it less wolfy but preserve the general badassery of Russ' gene seed. This was aimed at realising Russ' dream of Wolves descendants - the reformers saw their Chapter becoming steadily more isolated, making it harder for them to defend the Imperium. Some even claimed that the Imperium would start to question the Wolves' loyalties because of the wulfen issue, putting their existence at risk. They faced lots of internal opposition, but the gene-splicing began to pay off and the Legion's "apotheosis" was looming. Then [[Magnus the Red|this usually level-headed guy]] heard about it, didn't like it and attacked Fenris with extreme prejudice. Magnus' attack left the Fang all but broken and the current Great Wolf dead, along with most of the reformers. Magnus took a thrashing from [[Bjorn the Fell-handed|the bear guy in a Dreadnought]] in the process, but finally had a comeback to all Russ' "forever alone" jokes (fuck, even the Salamanders probably have successors these days). As predicted, although the Wolves are still revered throughout much of the Imperium, they're also mistrusted by its rulers and institutions. Inquisition tried pretty hard to bring them to heel over the whole Armageddon fracas - it's a fair bet that they wouldn't have tried this if the Wolves had a few successor Chapters to call on. Oh, and their attack on the Fang did a similar amount of damage to what Magnus managed.

Skip ahead to current time and the Space Wolves are still on edge with the rest of the Imperium, though mostly due to their refusal to back down when taunted and by getting confrontational with all of their allies. Despite the Wulfen then becoming a pretty overt thing with the return of the 13th Company from the Eye of Terror (all of whom had become Wulfen), the Space Wolves remained out of the Inquisition's ire due to the 13th Black Crusade. Que the Thousand Sons, however, as Magnus bee-lined straight for [[Fenris]] and the system goes to hell. Fenris, despite fighting off Magnus' advances, then gets butchered by the [[Grey Knights]] and the Inquisition because the Fenrissians had been exposed to Chaos. Unable to really do anything about it, the Space Wolves take it on the cheek as they're too busy trying to stop Chaos from fucking everyone else over and avenging their fallen. They send men to Cadia to stop Abbadon, but ultimately; Cadia breaks.

Eventually [[Roboute Guilliman|Grandpappy Smurf]] wakes up and takes charge of the Imperium and dishes out his new shiny [[Primaris Marines]] to everyone who needs them. This bolsters the Space Wolves' numbers after they were clusterfucked by basically everyone possible, and the Rune Priests declare Fenris' spirit to be renewed, even though their system is basically ripped in half. In addition, the whole forever alone thing is in question now, since they were given a new successor chapter, the [[Wolfspear]] (because naming them something without 'wolf' in the name wouldn't be possible). Since the Wolfspear are all Primaris, [[Cawl]] has modified their genetic structure, they seem to be immune to the Canis Helix going extreme and turning them into monsters like the Wolf Brothers; though it's yet to be seen if the Space Wolves will actually accept them as kin. In fact, the Wolfspear have severe daddy issues in the idea that they believe their Primaris status would make the Space Wolves see them as lesser (despite acknowledging the fact that the Space Wolves themselves actually took in a bunch of Primaris into their own chapter).

Space Wolves have a talent for [[rage]], and it is thought by some that they pride themselves with the sheer number of enemies they have. But the [[Thousand Sons]] Chaos Legion is by and large their greatest enemy, at least that's what they think. The fact is that the rivalry began when the Space Wolves (with help from Custodians and Sisters of Silence) kicked the living shit out of the Thousand Sons on their home planet, which is like having your country host the Olympics and then getting last place in every event (much like Canada in the 1976 Summer Olympics and again in the 1988 Winter Olympics). Before that, [[Leman Russ]], [[Primarch]] of the Space Wolves, broke the back of [[Magnus the Red]], who is Primarch of the Thousand Sons. TO BE FAIR, Magnus felt that he deserved it and therefore ordered his warriors to deactivate all planetary defenses (he actually deactivated it himself and even killed one of his own captains to hide the coming of the invasion fleet). If the Thousand Sons had their defenses active, the Wolf of the Wolf Wolf Wolves probably would have had a much harder time of it. As it is, even with all the backup the Wolves had, once they ran out of planetary defense forces in parade uniforms to slaughter, and came across the Thousand Sons, the Wolves/Custodians/Sisters were slowed down a little until Tzeentch pulled the troll lever (though he might've been bolstering the Sons' powers already, which the Ruinous Powers later did with Horus, and this was just a side effect) and the Sons' greatest psykers started mutating and exploding like Tetsuo from Akira.

Considering the [[Emprah]] basically just asked for Leman Russ to give Magnus a ride to Earth, this is more like your parents asking you to tell your younger sibling to come out of their room and clean up the mess they made, only for you to go in there, shoot off both their legs, take a dump on the floor and set the room on fire, chase them out into the streets, murder his best friends, and then tell your parents that the brat suffered for not taking responsibility for the five or so school books on the couch. Of course, [[Horus]] helped that all along, having already went full daddy hate:he twisted Big big E's orders into "rape prospero, k tnx", being a loyal lapdog Russ just rolled with it. Just as planned. Chief Custodian Valdor also urged Russ to curbstomp Magnus for good, presumably because he was concerned what kind of damage Magnus could do in person, given how much trouble he caused from thousands of light-years away.

This set the tone for the rest of their unhealthy relationship. The Thousand Sons do something to piss off the Space Wolves, usually some brilliant, convoluted plan, and the Space Wolves just charge and beat the living shit out of them and laugh in their faces when they find out how much work those [[Tzeentch]]ies put into their plots. Sadly, this usually comes at a staggering toll in Space Wolf lives. So [[grimdark]]. Oh, and the Thousand Son's usually accomplish some underlying secret objective.

Many theories are abound as to why the Space Wolves hate the Thousand Sons and their sorcery so much. The most popular amongst fa/tg/uys is that the Thousand Sons Primarch, Magnus, being aware of Russ's [[furry|bestiality]], was always watching him from his magical lookout, riding up and down his sorcerer's tower to observe Russ from every height and depth, intently channeling the power of his one-eyed cyclops to pierce into Russ's most intimate chambers. Understandably, this left Russ very (literally) [[butthurt]] indeed and eager for vengeance. Or because Magnus is a NERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRD.

One theory disclosed to the Khan, admittedly from the probably-not-very-reliable source of a shade of Magnus left behind on Prospero, suggests that there could be an even more sinister reason for the hatred, suggesting that there is a dark reason why the Wolves put runes of protection on every part of their wargear (other books suggest the Wolves place huge importance on runes and symbolism).

Also while it may seem laughable that the axe dragging barbarians continually thwart the plans of the hyper-intelligent sorcerers, the wolves are actually probably the most ideal chapter to fight them (except, perhaps, the [[Grey Knights]], for obvious reasons). They have the Canis Helix which causes them to wolf out rather than be corrupted by chaos, and the Rune "Magic" that their Rune Priests use is literally the farthest thing to sorcery used in the Imperium. Add to that the fact that they have one of the most impressive fleets in the entire Imperium, making them somewhat less worried about warp storms, and you have a group almost tailor-made to resist the Thousand Sons.

Other people believe that Space Wolves are indeed a traitor legion and the Thousand Sons a loyal one. Think a second about it. What are the benefits of the Mark of Khorne? Rage and counterattack, exactly the same rules Blood Claws have. Why Russ destroyed completely Prospero if Magnus was not defending himself and his only sin was warning the Emperor about the Horus Heresy? Why Russ went to the Warp? To become a Daemon-Prince? Why they don't recognized Guilliman as their spiritual leader? Why they don't follow the codex who has given so much prosperity to the Imperium? What are those mutations wulfen have? Gifts of Chaos? However, these people are idiots who don't read the lore and have bad grammar, so you shouldn't listen to them.

===Ragnar Blackmane===
[[File:Yiff yaff.jpg|300px|thumb|right|HERESY]]
Perhaps the best example can be found in ''The Space Wolf Omnibus'', in which [[Ragnar Blackmane]], who is at that time a Bloodclaw (neophyte), not only fucks over a Sorcerer, but Magnus the Red himself. The Sorcerer, [[Madox]], is so pissed at being foiled by Ragnar that he bitches about it to other Thousand Sons, who find this hilarious, and goes around making plots, which Ragnar manages to fuck up nicely, thereby saving the galaxy. Ragnar even took the spear of his Primarch and hurled it into the eye of Magnus the Red. Do note that this is as much canon as other [[Black Library|BL]] anti-fluff shit.

Because of this, the [[Blood Ravens]] forge a weapon named after Ragnar, who tells them to keep their toys because he doesn't need it (though in all reality he had a suspicion that they were trying to 'fence' their 'gift' by giving it to him to evade Imperial authorities). This is actually kinda strange as normally a Marine, especially from a Feral World, would be honored another Chapter made them a gift. The only reason he refused is basically “lol you use lots of psykers” even though almost every Chapter uses psykers and the Space Wolves don’t hate psykers just their reckless use and sorcery (yes those are different you don’t need to be a psyker to be a sorcerer). Since Blood Ravens’ librarians are no less disciplined or more reckless than any other Chapters’, it makes Ragnar’s refusal come off as being jackass rather than a mistrustful pseduo-barbarian.

He and his pack (and about 30 Militarum Tempestus Stormtroopers people somehow always forget to mention (because theyd all be dead before they got to attack obviously)once fought off 40 odd genestealers in close combat. In the actual game and fluff; fighting this many 'stealers in melee is a one way ticket to massive rending claw induced ASSRAPE for anything short of a vehicle with AV 14 on its backside, and a roughly equal number of Genestealers tore apart Marduk's Terminator Armoured Wordbearers and accompanying Khornate Berzerkers and Possessed Marine and wiped out more than half of the strike force he took. Yet somehow he managed to avoid being torn into gory paper thin pieces and come out on top (like this kind of thing is really uncommon with book marines). He manages this <s>without</s> ''by'' being a [[Mary Sue|Mary]] [[Ultramarines|Sue]]. Why?/How? It's because he's a motherfucking Space Viking. Also they were helped by about forty Militarum Tempestus Stormtroopers and two Inquisitors, so it wasn't quite as one sided as it sounds. Not all of it was close combat. In the book, the Wolves mostly blammed the ‘nids instead of dueling them. And Astartes in fluff generally slaughter massive numbers of Genestealers before finally being cut down simply due to their overwhelming reflexes and information processing capabilities. This fight is not special.

==The Fate of Leman Russ==
Of Leman Himself, you ask? Legends state that after a great feast, He said unto his warriors:

<blockquote>"Listen closely Brothers, for my time is short. . There shall come a time far from now when our Chapter itself is dying, even as I am now dying, and our foes shall gather to destroy us. Then my children, I shall listen for your call in whatever realm of death holds me, and come I shall, no matter what the laws of life and death forbid. At the end I will be there. For the final battle. For the Wolftime."</blockquote>

And so, Leman departed, with his closest retinue... No, not you Bjorn... Some say he searches for a means to revive His God-Emperor.. But despite the efforts of the Great Hunt, Leman remains beyond the reach of Man... Who knows what great feats of Heroism he undertakes....

. . . Oh, who the fuck are we kidding? Leman got lost in the [[Warp]] and became a Daemon Primarch of Kho-{{BLAM|//Historitor 109.163.233.200 decommissioned by Inquisitorial decree.//}}

He was, in fact, [[Horo|turned into a small girl]]. (Holy shit! A [[Tzeentch|change]] like that can only mean that Magnus must have gotten revenge.) And if by that you think we mean, "Russ had a shitton of bastard children everywhere and one was a mutant that could shapeshift" then yes; only because Russ's kids turning into [[Werewolf|wolves]] is nothing new. Nobody really knows if this had happened before he went to [[Warhammer Fantasy]] and made the Norscans or not, but since they aren't vikings out of a shoujo anime, we can make a pretty good educated guess. Somehow, he found his way back to the Dark Millenium, still stuck in the form of a [[Horo|small girl]].

(But seriously, we have no idea. There HAVE been sporadic reports of sightings of the 13th great Company with Russ leading them, for what that's worth. And Magnus has mentioned that he knows exactly what happened to Russ, but it's not like he'd ever tell them.)

Actually he has entered Slaanesh's realm of eternal yiff, meaning we will never see him again.

Until GW releases him, because they've said at least 2 more loyalist Primarchs are coming and its obviously the Lion and the Wolf since Guilliman can kind of stand in for the space marines covered by the regular space marine codex while Russ' legion really could use him back after the ass kicking they got from Magnus and the Inquisition, and the Dark Angels' storyline is rather clearly leading to the Lion's reawakening.

==Organization==
[[File:Tyranid Attack.jpeg|350px|right|thumb|The wolves taking on a [[Tyranid]] horde.]]
Since they only see the [[Codex Astartes]] as a source of toilet paper (when they bother to wipe), the Space Wolves have roles and titles far different from the standard Space Marine chapters. Additionally, while traditional chapters each hold ten ~100-strong companies, the Space Wolves instead have 12 autonomous companies, each of which is in varying strength and since they aren't bound by the Codex, each company may have more than 100 marines on hand (in fact, a full list of the members of Grimnar's company gives them a strength of nearly 200). However, the Space Wolf legion were never particularly numerous following the [[Horus Heresy]] in the part due to their unstable gene-seed and the fact they they were restricted to recruiting from one world ''(The fact that [[Magnus the Red]] destroyed the long-sought cure to this during his attack on Fenris for this didn't help, but it should be noted that it wasn't that big of a victory for Magnus, as Bjorn made it quite clear he would have destroyed the project when he found out about it)'' but also the battles of the Horus Heresy hurt the Space Wolves legion badly; culminating in the [[Battle of Trisolian]] which effectively ended their existence as a "Legion" altogether.

Even so, with 12 independent Great Companies (each with their own fleets, logistics support etc), this means that even if each Great Company had 100 brothers, they would outnumber a normal codex-compliant Spess Mehreens chapters by at least 20%. This is corroborated by the 7E codex which has rules for playing a Great Company on its own; consisting of eleven squads of varying size.

However since each Great Company doesn't bother to limit themselves to 100 (some Space Wolves great companies sometimes number over 300 brothers) it means that they outnumber codex chapters by an even greater degree, so with that said, the [[Apocalypse]] formation for the same thing has no hard limit on the number of Blood Claw squads that may be taken, so will probably represent a good period of recruitment for the Chapter. Therefore the total numbers will vary over time in response to casualties and recruitment rates but can reasonably reach estimations of 3000 marines or more; several times the official codex strength at peak times.

As of 998.M41, [[Logan Grimnar]]'s own company was the largest in the chapter and it totaled 200 exactly ''(not counting the "Great Wolf" assets like Dreadnoughts & Priests)'' whilst [[Ragnar Blackmane]]'s was said to be second, sitting at 162 marines. Following the return of Magnus and the battle of Fenris this number would undoubtedly be diminished, though after the [[Ultima Founding]], the number probably remains about the same if not slightly higher as the chapter would be bolstered with Primaris reinforcements. Guilliman probably has more sense than delivering 1000 new warriors to a chapter which already "should" have around 1000 warriors; for excess Primaris Marines we have the [[Wolfspear]] Chapter.

===Hierarchy===
The different wolves ranks and wolves assignments for the Wolves are the following:

*'''Great Wolf''': The [[Chapter Master]] of the Space Wolves, the Great Wolf (also known as the ''High King'' by people who want to tone down the overwolf (i.e. everyone)) is chosen from among the Wolf Lords by virtue of <s>having the most furry porn</s> being the most badass of an army of space vikings. The Great Wolf is effectively the First Captain of the Space Wolves, commanding an elite Great Company that includes the members of the three Priesthoods and the Chapter's Dreadnoughts. [[Logan Grimnar]] serves as the current Great Wolf.
*'''[[Wolf Lord]]''': The [[Brother-Captain]]s of a company in Codex Chapters (although more like a watered-down vanilla chapter master), Wolf Lords (AKA the ''Jarls'') lead their Great Companies and charge the Iron Priests with maintenance of its motor pool and the Wolf Priests with recruiting new Astartes.
* '''[[Wolf Guard]]''': A cross between [[Veteran Squad|Veterans]] and [[Honour Guard]], Wolf Guards (''Thanes'') serve as the body guard of the Wolf Lord and leading packs in battle, serving as the Space Wolves version of a [[Brother-Sergeant]]. They also get [[Terminator]] armour. In ''Second Edition'' they also got to take any weapons they liked and could be built from stock parts with an Assault Cannon and Cyclone Missile Launcher. This led to many games being won as Assault Force Dickhead rampaged across the table murdering everything.
* '''[[Wolf Priest]]''': Combining the role of [[Apothecary]] and [[Chaplain]], the Wolf Priests do the standard roles of preaching and medical duties, but are also charged with recruiting Aspirants for their companies. Plus they have a secret role on the battlefield, trying to prevent their battle-brothers from turning into Wulfen.
* '''[[Iron Priest]]''': The Iron Priests serve the role of [[Techmarine]]s, overseeing the motorpool and equipment of the companies they belong to.
* '''[[Rune Priest]]''': Taking the role of [[Librarian]]s in Codex Chapters, Rune Priests are the [[psyker]]s of the Space Wolves. However, instead of seeing their powers as coming from the [[Warp]], they hold that their powers come from the world spirit of Fenris, and consult the runes in a means to divine the future. Trying to explain to the Rune Priests that they're drawing power from the Warp, and that they cannot "draw their powers from Fenris" while being half-Galaxy away from it will usually result in the non-Space Wolf getting a month's stay in the Apothecarion. The ultimate irony of this is that they are, in reality, Sorcerers, the very thing they denounced the Thousand Sons for being. Whether they are psykers or not. Besides, if Fenris has a world spirit, it is something akin to a Daemon World...
* '''Wolf Scouts''': Each Great Company will have members who shun their pack brothers and are shunned in return, preferring the company of more somber individuals, Wolf Scouts serve to scout out enemy positions and terrain. As opposed to the regular codex, Wolf Scouts tend to be veterans of battle able to rein in their savage rage.
* '''Lone Wolf''': Space Wolves who are the last of their pack. The loss of their brethren drive them to seek a glorious death in combat at the hands of some form a fell enemy. Think of Dwarf Slayers only a few metres tall with powered armour and weapons of doom and destruction. Often the only way out of the Lone Wolf lifestyle is managing to kill something that the individual shouldn't have survived killing and being elevated into the Wolf Guard.
* '''[[Skyclaw]]s''': Skyclaws are the trouble makers among a Chapter of trouble makers, forced to wear Jump Packs. The Space Wolves view Jump Packs as an insult, reasoning that if the Emperor wanted them to fly, he would have given them wings. Snide comments regarding [[Sanguinius]] result in a short game of tug-o-war involving the offending battle-brother's beard.
* '''[[Thunderwolf Cavalry]]''': Space Wolves who function in a manner similar to a [[Bike Squad]], but instead of actual bikes, they use Thunderwolves, which can be the size of a small car.
* '''[[Long Fang]]s''': Taking the role of [[Devastator Squad|Devastators]], Long Fangs are veterans who have grown long in the fang. No pun here - Space Wolves' teeth actually lengthen as they age, as an effect of a mutated Betcher's Gland.
* '''[[Grey Hunter]]s''': Having the role of [[Tactical Squad|Tactical Marines]], Grey Hunters are those Marines who have survived long enough as Blood Claws to quell the worst of their ferocity and blood lust (read: wear a helmet in battle). Their new found experience and control allows them to shoot and fight better than their younger brethren.
* '''[[Blood Claw]]s''': Neophyte Space Wolves who serve in the [[Assault Squad|Assault Marine]] roles of Codex Chapters.

=== Other Assets ===
The Space Wolves have an impressive number of other gadgets and gizmos going for them.

Not least the fact that the Fang (''Aett'') is one of the three most defended locations in the entire Imperium ''(the other two being the Imperial Palace on '''Terra''' and the Keep Inviolate on '''Kolossi''' the homeworld of [[Imperial Knight|House Raven]])'' and is tall enough that entire [[Imperial Navy|battlefleets]] can dock with the fortress.

Speaking of battlefleets; the Wolves themselves have a navy to rival most others, with eight Battle Barges and more than thirty Strike Cruisers, which in terms of logistical support could accommodate over 5400 fighting men. As well as this, they have '''TWO''' Star Forts and over forty escort '''squadrons'''. To let you know how much firepower this counts as, some lesser-known chapters would consider themselves fortunate to have even a single battle-barge. Even the [[Grey Knights]] have only four Barges and twelve strike cruisers, so basically when Fenris held off the [[Grey Knights]] during the Months of Shame, they had plenty going for them. They used to have even more ships, and a star-fort network that could put the infamous Iron Circle of Badab to shame before the Thousand Sons attacked Fenris in M33.

They also have '''''over''''' one-hundred [[Dreadnought]]s stored in stasis vaults within their fortress depths, where/how they accumulated them is [[Blood Ravens|uncertain]] and considering that most other chapters tend to have around two or three Dreadnoughts per company, they likely outnumber nearly anyone else by a considerable margin. ''(For comparison, the [[Blood Angels]] have 35 dreadnoughts listed in their rolls of battle)'' This can likely be traced to their viking tendencies to super pillage everything they come across. I mean Logan's got a daemon axe so I'm just assuming they are just ripping daemons out of chaos dreadnought hulls, slapping a new coat of paint, some wolf sigils and motifs on and dropping their wounded brothers in and no one will ever know. They only had one successor chapter (which failed) so they didn't have to share their dreadnought hulls out perhaps?

Not to mention the packs of feral wulfen that they can scrounge up... Yeah, they might happen to have a shit ton of unregistered mutated werewolf murder machines lying around as ''''failed'''' aspirants. That said, Fenris is far less populous than the likes of Macragge, and feral Wulfen are basically wildlife, so this is a moot point.

Oh, and all the "actual" Fenrisian Wolves & Thunderwolves that the chapter can muster.

They also exclusively possess [[Helfrost Weaponry]] thanks to rare Fenrisian crystals.

==Combat doctrine==
{{topquote|The best way to defeat a Space Wolf is to wolf his wolf. You must be careful, though, because if the Space Wolf wolfs your wolf first, then your wolf is wolfed.|Attributed to Wolf Rider Volk Wolfclaw, ''On the Weaknesses of the Space Wolf Doctrine''}}
{{topquote|A good way to get into a state of pure wolfness, would be that you shall wolf the wolf until the wolfing wolf wolfs. Then, when the wolf wolfs your wolfness, the wolves of the wild will wolf your wolf up. Wolf!|Attributed to Wolf Master Jonal Wolfhand, "The Call of the Nightblizzard''}}
{{topquote|Wolf wolf wolf wolf wolfity wolf. Wolf wolf, wolfo wolfy wolf wolf wolf. Wolf? Wolf!|Attributed to Wolf Lord Egil Ironwolf, ''On the Intricacies of Tactical Wolffare''}}

Jokes aside, the Space Wolves are rather unusual when it comes to organisation and tactics. Contrary to what many fans will tell you, they do actually study the Codex Astartes's points on combat, though they completely reject it from an organizational standpoint. In battle the warriors of the Rout will usually work on their own initiative and experience, but at the same time, they don't disrespect or ignore the lessons of the codex. Their battle strategies tend to be neglected in favor of localized battlefield tactics. They keep to their wolf theme by working as a "pack", with very "make it up as we go along" tactics. This doesn't bite them in the ass as much as it would other space marine chapters, because they can "smell the plan" (I can't make this shit up). The books try to base this off of how normal wolves coordinate hunts, with nonverbal cues being premium. The idea is that the wolves can read the situation by [[Hive Mind|smelling their pack member's moods and thoughts]], using natural pheromone cues (and a few added by the Canis Helix) to anticipate the moods of those around them. This is actually why most wolves prefer to fight without helmets: you can't smell anything in the sealed environment of closed power armor.

== Flaws ==
As many on /tg/ will happily tell you, (and [[Magnus]] won’t stop [[RAGE|Reaggng]] about) the Wolves are far from perfect. Where the [[Imperial Fists]] are inflexible and stubborn, the [[Dark Angels]] are unreliable and austere, and the [[Raven Guard]] are aloof and brooding, the Wolves are boisterous and arrogant. During the Heresy (and/or when Chris Wraight is writing them) they were incredibly brutal toward those they saw as oath-breakers, even if the oath-breaker in question was a fleeing, defenseless civilian. The Ragnar Blackmane books further emphasize this and also portrayed the Chapter as willing to ignore the misdeeds of their heroes in spite of the importance they place on honor. This, combined with the Wolves hating the Thousand Sons for being psykers [[Rune Priest|while also using psykers]] led many to label the Wolves hypocrites, especially since the Space Wolves pick a fight with the Flesh Tearers for killing civilians in spite of their own troubled history in that regard. Fans are quick to point out that the Rune Priests are much more cautious than the Thousand Sons, who actually used Goddamn Chaos familiars during the Great Crusade, and newer fluff further emphasizes that the Wolves hate the Thousand Sons for having no control while pretending they have a better understanding of the Warp, NOT just for being psykers. Furthermore, by the 41st Milennium, the Wolves nearly always stuck out their necks to protect the people of the Imperium, and actively stopped the Flesh Tearers' rampage. Now, everyone including Wolves players admit that the Sons of Russ are entirely too short-sighted and prone to making enemies for their own good. During the Heresy, almost nobody liking them bit them in the ass at Alaxxes Nebula, but fast-forward to M41 and they're happily pissing off the Inquisition, Ecclesiarchy, Dark Angels, Ultramarines, etc. During Warzone Fenris, the galaxy at large is only too ready to write the Wolves off as heretics. Fans and detractors alike also note that it's [[Skub|arguable]] whether being so quick to make enemies and disobey orders to save civilians really saves more people in the long run, especially at Armageddon, where the Wolves' actions backfire badly.

== Civilians ==
Of all the inconsistently written aspects of the Chapter, this is by far the worst offender. Sometimes, the Space Wolves are written as brutal and merciless, giving zero fucks about collateral damage or civilian casualties. On the other hand, sometimes the Wolves [[Salamanders|put their lives on the line to protect the innocent.]] This can induce [[Rage]] in just about any fan, because some people get into the Space Wolves seeing them as heroes while others prefer their more savage, bloodthirsty tendencies. The best fluff attempts to find a middle ground by presenting them as violent and pragmatic, but disciplined during the Heresy and increasingly heroic over time. By M41, the Wolves actively stop the Flesh Tearers from murdering Imperial civilians at Honour's End, disobey orders to protect the settlers at Thressiax, and play chicken with the Inquisition to save the people of Armageddon : this example is particularly notable, because the Wolves didn't just attempt to save the civilians from the Inquisition, for the first few months of the conflict they did so with passive resistance, defending civilian transports with the shields and hulls of their own ships, never firing back. This paints a picture of [[Awesome|a Chapter that actually becomes MOAR independent and heroic as the galaxy goes to shit around them.]] Or perhaps, they've remained the same and the galaxy has gone so grimdark that the Space Wolves now appear heroic in comparison. Then Warzone Fenris happened. In it, the Wolves pretty much abandon their allies to focus on the Wulfen. On the plus side, they send warriors to Cadia and Maccrage in spite of the mauling the Thousand Sons hand them. This is further heroism. Because Fenris is the only place they are genetically capable of recruiting from, so abandoning their allies to save it is perfectly reasonable and would save more people in the long-run by not losing an entire Chapter of ass-kickers.

==Daily rituals of a Space Wolf==
13:00 - Wake Up with Hangover - The Space Wolf awakens from his booze-induced coma and begins the day. Headaches abound. Aspirin is consumed by the ton. 
13:10 - Morning Piss - The Space Wolf empties the alcohol that has accumulated in his bladder(s) in the Sacred Alcohol Excretion Grounds. (Doing so anywhere else is hazardous as space wolf urine is capable of corroding ceramite) 
13:11 - Morning Fart - The Space Wolf empties his intestines. Pissing without farting is like going to a holy site without praying to the Emperor, which is heresy. 
13:20 - Morning Piss Ends - The Space Wolves have finally finished urinating. The surrounding landscape is scorched with a aura of menace resembling nurgle’s rot. 
13:30 - Ritual Intake of Alcoholic Beverages - The Space Wolf now cracks open his first cold one of the day. The first of many. Cheerios may be consumed as well. 
13:45 - Firing Drills - The Space Wolf consumes another liter of alcohol before going out back and shooting empty beer bottles with his bolter. This takes place far away from the Alcohol Excretion Grounds, after that one time Brother Brynjolf accidentally lit his own piss on fire. an entire company had to spend 6 months in the sickbay until their hair grew back and they were thus fit to be seen in public again. 
14:00 - Freeze your Balls - The Space Wolf sheds his armor and most of his clothing to wander around Asaheim for an hour. 
15:00 - Feeding of the Land Raiders - Space Wolf observes a feast with his brothers in honour of the chapter's revered battle machines. Blood Claws are still wandering around outside naked in the snow. 
15:30 - Boozing of the Land Raiders - No feast is complete without metric fucktons of liquor. Fenrisian Ale, beer, and if available bylestim blend are poured and scrubbed all over the most honoured of the chapter's war machines. Many still have bullet holes, sometimes allowing beer to get into the exhaust ports and make for kickass explosions later. Blood Claws are still wandering around outside naked in the snow. 
16:00 - Wolf your Wolf - Grey Hunters and older Space Wolves take this time to play with their favourite 4-legged companions. Blood Claws are still wandering around outside naked in the snow. 
16:30 - Save the Blood Claws - Blood Claws are brought in from the cold. Most are frozen blue or black - and hungry for more. 
17:00 - Evening feast - Eat. Drink. Start brawls. The usual non-warzone Space Wolf thing. 
18:00 - Try to wake up [[Bjorn the Fell Handed|Bjorn]]. 
18:10 - Give up, try to find something fun on the Vox Saga. 
19:00 - Night shitter break. 
20:00 - Night firing drills - Much to the Iron Priest's dismay, the Space Wolves practice writing their names in the snow with bolters. In runes. In the dark. 
21:00 - Ritual Intake of Narcotics and Purging of Testicles - bitches and blow. 
05:00 - Daily Rest - The Space Wolf passes out. 

==A Quick Word Out of Character==
The true reason for all this, is that, we at /tg/, in our pathetic, low-reaching mastery of comedy, have seen how idiotic it is that every goddamn Space Wolf codex unnecessarily uses the word "wolf" as a prefix or a suffix every 3rd sentence (similar to the [[Robin Cruddace|Tyranid codex]] shoe-horning the prefix ''bio-'' into every 3rd sentence). Since /tg/ is an easily angered monster, not unlike an [[Angry Marine]], we furiously attempt to link Space Wolves to furries (it's really fucking annoying), as we are as fucked up as [[Chaos Pretty Marines]].

It has been established in the ''[[Horus Heresy]]'' series that the VI Legion doesn't employ the word "wolf" as much as they appear to do. Wolves are readily apparent in their motifs, such as Leman Russ's titles as "Wolf-King" and "Great Wolf," as well as in the formal name of the Wolf Guard, but it's not as overblown as it's made out to be. Apparently, whoever did the Fenrisian-to-Gothic translation made a few errors. First off, they don't call themselves "the Space Wolves." When speaking formally, they refer to themselves as the ''Vlka Fenryka'', which we can look at a few ways. "Fenris" is easy, a reference to Fenrir from Norse mythology. "Vlka" has a couple options; if you walk it backwards through the Germanic ''Volk'' you get "Folk of Fenris". This supports a common theory on 1d4chan where a bunch of colonists landed on a planet, bred giant dogs from their great, great, grand-children (more on that in a minute) then thought, "You know what's better than planet Unicorn? Planet fucking Fenris". So the the ''Vlka Fenryka'' are literally the folk of Fenris. Alternately ''Vlka'' can be translated from Slavic to get the "Wolves of Fenris" again.

No matter what you conclude on, you get Dan Abnett using linguistics to reinforce his theme that the Space Wolves are misunderstood by the rest of the Imperium - calling the Space Wolves because of a mistranslated word. One could even argue they are actually called "Space People", would make sense since Ragnar referred to them as "Star warriors" in the William King novels and their Fenrisian ''Kaerl'' auxiliaries call them "sky warriors," but the lore from these novels has been left by the wayside so take that as you will. When speaking informally, they refer to themselves as "the Rout", solidifying their purpose as the Emperor's executioners (self-proclaimed)/snowflakes. Additionally, the post of "Wolf-Lord" is also a mistranslation, as they refer to their Company commanders as ''Jarl''. Finally, they don't call their fortress-monastery the Fang, but rather the ''Aett'', which can be literally translated as "clan home." There's also this in-universe [[meme]] "there are no wolves on Fenris." At all. This was started by one of the primarchs remarking that they should be called xenos, because they're natives of an alien planet, and it quickly morphed into a joke. As it turns out, this is literally true.

With regards to the [[Fenrisian Wolf|Fenrisian wolves]], the origin a little more freaky than expected: they're not wolves, but descendants of human-wolf mutants. Back when Fenris was first settled, the colonists had the ''Canis helix'' added to help them adapt to the harsh environment by adding wolf genes to their genetic-makeup. Unfortunately, it worked a little too well--the ''canix helix'' caused a number of settlers to degrade into wolfmen and wolfwomen. Following this, they bred and produced a new strain of wolf into the environment. So there are no ''wolves'' on Fenris. They're just the descendants of human mutants. Which might explain why, post-Heresy, only Fenrisians can become Space Wolves (assuming that's why the successor chapters couldn't handle Russ' gene seed).

So yes, naming the planet after the wolves means we really do just end up all the way back at Wolves of Wolves after all. Whelp.

Of course, that means that the Space Wolves are wearing pelts made of [[Fabius Bile|human skin]], but lets not dwell on that - after all it's fairly common in the Imperium to wear human skulls... WolfyWolfWolf {{BLAM|''' *BLAM*}}.

There is blatant author favoritism annoys fans of the other chapters with "Dark Secrets". As GW's treatment of the Wulfen make it very easy for fans of other chapters to hurl [[Mary Sue]] accusations at them.
I.E. Unlike the [[Blood Angels]] and [[Dark Angels]]. The Wulfen are now out in the open. Once their exposed they get little punishment while the Inquisition and Grey Knights just "keep one eye open". The aforementioned chapters on the other hand have to keep their secrets from being found out by the Inquisition and the Imperium at large.

Despite the fact that Fallen Angels were paraded around on Terra. Many would assume they were Ravenwing without their fancy bikes. While any claims of Dark Angels being the real traitors by the Fallen would have [[Guilliman]] tell them were full of shit(with more words). As he knew exactly what the DA were up to during the Horus Heresy with the exception the events that caused the destruction of Caliban. Of course the Unforgiven would also be pissed if they found out if one of the predecessors of the Grey Knights killed a Dark Angel and were part of the reason their homeworld was destroyed and would demand censure.

The Blood Angels on the other have an infection similar to the Wulfen without mutating into some kind of half-human man-beast. The [[Red Thirst]]. The Blood Angels and their successors organize the afflicted into [[Death Company|Death Companies]] who are lead by their Chaplains into killing Xenos and foul traitors. If they somehow survive the mutated Blood Angels are {{BLAM}}ed.
Both chapters send their traitors/mutants into battle to be used as cannon fodder. A much more grimdark action that would be in character for Space Marines. [[White Scars|They wouldn't be the only]] [[Raven Guard|chapters to have done this either.]] Instead of treating mutants as fellow warriors.
Inserting noble bright into the setting where it doesn't belong. The same reasons that so many players also hated the Tau until GW retconned them into being more grimdark.

Making this all the more stange. In all likelihood [[Guilliman]] himself wouldn't see a problem with using mutated Space Marines as cannon fodder. Because he did so when he created the [[Moritat]]s after combat exercises with the [[Raven Guard]]. So chances are he would side with the other two former [[Imperium Secundus]] Legions. [[Ogryn|Due to not only favoritism but he and the rest of the Imperium would find it odd that the Space Wolves do not]].

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Lightning2.jpg|'Tis only a matter of time until Steve Blum voices 'em. Apparently, this set somehow makes things you hit weigh less.
File:Warlord of Fenris by NachoMon.jpg|Totally not overcompensating...Yeah he's just hiding a massive hardon with the skull
File:Lemanruss39.jpg|Leman Russ. About to mercilessly fuck over the Thousand Sons.
File:Prospero.jpg|Is he carrying a wooden shield? Really? Against a bolt shell? It better be a Combat Shield.
File:Stormrider.jpg|You better watch out, you better not die, you better not fight, I'm telling you why: Santa Grimnar's coming to town
[[File:http://l.wigflip.com/DucDpDtG/roflbot.jpg]]|Pretty cool guys to hang with.
File:SneakySpaceWolves.png|Space Wolves? Using stealth? [[Heresy]].
</gallery>

==See also==
*[[Bjorn the Fell Handed]]
*[[Warhammer 40,000/Tactics/Space Wolves(8E)|Tactics/Space Wolves]]
*[[Warriors of Chaos]] - With whom they get into bar brawls and drinking contests to see who is moar [[Viking]]
*[[Skyrar's Dark Wolves]] - Before calling your [[Dark Angels]] brothers [[Troll|traitors]] read [[Svane_Vulfbad|this]] first to understand [[Fallen_Angels|their]][[ rage]].
*[[Legion Consul]] - The old "Commissars" of the VI legion.
*[https://youtu.be/Bh_5ofa__pY/ Space Wolves theme song]

{{Marines-Official}}
{{Space Wolves}}

Space Wolves

2020-01-30T13:20:27Z

2600:1006:B12C:5143:8CF2:E71C:6401:6B22: /* Ragnar Blackmane */

{{Infobox Spess Mahreen Chapter
|Name = Space Wolves / Vlka Fenryka
|Heraldry = [[File:Spacewolveslogo.png|200px]]
|Battle Cry = "For Russ and the All father!"|Number = VI
|Founding = [[First Founding]]
|Original Name = The Rout
|Successor Chapters = [[Wolf Brothers]] [[Wolfspear]]
|Chapter Master = [[Logan Grimnar]]
|Primarch = [[Leman Russ]]
|Homeworld = [[Fenris]]
|Specialty = CQC, shock assaults, infantry, encirclement tactics
|Strength = 2-3000, fluff is vague
|Allegiance = [[Imperium of Man]]
|Colours = Grey-blue and Yellow
}}
{{topquote|Let a man never stir on his road a step without his weapons of war; for unsure is the knowing when need shall arise of a [[Wolfspear|spear]] on the way without.|Havamal}}

{{Topquote|FUCKING FURRIES!!!|[[Magnus the Red]] when Space Wolves are mentioned near him}}

The '''Vlka Fenryka''' (Internally called The Rout, known to the wider Imperium and most of the fans as the Space Wolves) are a loyalist Chapter of [[Viking]]-inspired [[Space Marines]]. They're as [[Manly Marines|manly]] as the Angry Marines are [[Angry Marines|angry]]. They're basically what you'd get if you turned an entire frat-house into Space Marines and set them loose. Big fans of wolves. Extremely [[Viking|Nordic]], very melee oriented, and often found drinking and feasting when not at war. Given that they're honor and legacy obsessed Nordic melee powerhouses, one can draw many parallels between the Wolves and [[Dwarfs (Warhammer Fantasy)|Dwarfs]] and [[Warriors of Chaos]] from Warhammer Fantasy. The chapter is traditionally rivals with the Thousand Sons, though one might see the Wolves as a direct loyalist counterpart for the [[World Eaters]] and [[Night Lords]] due to their penchant both for suicidal, berserk charges and individualistic, undisciplined attitudes. However, the Wolves fight to protect people and do their duty to the Emperor, not for the hell of it. They're as cunning as the [[Raven Guard]] and as bold as the [[Blood Angels]], with fierce pride in their culture and individual prowess. More so than any other chapter, every Space Wolf is a unique and proud hero of the Imperium.

That said, they aren't all fun and bar-room games, as they have their unique flaws. These are elaborated on below.

They're one of the more "controversial" chapters, because fans will circlejerk them to death about how amazing the Chapter is, though the chapter's numerous detractors (most notably will rant endlessly about how the Chapter are all furries. Much of this conflict comes from GW's dissonance between the Vlka Fenryka of the books, and the Space Wolves of the tabletop game. The Vlka Fenryka of the Black Library books are a chapter with many different tribal and historical inspirations, drawing on Viking and Germanic culture along with their favorite totem and symbol, the wolf. The Space Wolves of the tabletop game ride wolves into battle, adorn themselves with wolves, name their gear and vehicles after wolves. That said, this difference is only bad translations and cultural changes over 10,000 years.

Ultimately, what defines the Space Wolves isn't their predatory, barbaric instincts- it's how they accept and use their savagery '''without''' being controlled by it or forgetting its downsides, pretty hard to do in 40k for [[Khorne|various reasons]]. Fenris is a world of constant warfare, where resources are scarce, monsters are omnipresent, and other humans constantly threaten every potential Space Wolf. Their initiation ritual involves implanting the candidate with the Canis Helix, then leaving them out in the wild to fight their way back to the Fang. To become a son of Russ, one has to make it back without giving in to their inner beast. They're fully aware of their own potential for senseless violence, and choose to fight the biggest monsters and save the people of the Imperium rather than giving in.

==Brief History and Main Overview==
Before Russ was discovered, the Wolves were a bunch of dicks. They were [[World Eaters|uncontrollable]] [[Night Lords|bullies]]. They were developed in isolation along with the [[Salamanders]] and [[Alpha Legion]], and were considered a fractious and undisciplined force, to the degree of officers losing control of their troops in the middle of a battle. To make matters worse, they often slaughtered civilians who had no way of fighting back. Their geneseed was also extremely difficult to implant in aspirants, often killing them.

Leman Russ was basically [[Viking]] Mowgli, being raised by wolves before he was captured (or possibly chose to/was talked into joining them, fluff varies) by the humans of Fenris and became adopted son to Jarl Thengir. When Thengir passed, Leman became Jarl by virtue of being the biggest badass on Fenris. And that's saying something. Ol' Empy came along and said 'JOIN ME!' in his typical dickish fashion. Leman then called him out to <s>three contests</s> (STOP! [[retcon|RETCON]] TIME!) a combat (double retcon: the Horus Heresy book Wolfsbane brought back the drinking contest as canon). The Emperor agreed to the duel and they went at it so enthusiastically they wrecked the feast hall they were in pretty thoroughly as Leman gave a good account of himself. In the end, Big. E (rather unsurprisingly) proved the better warrior and he knocked Russ out. When he finally woke up from his pummelling, Leman recognised the Emperor as a worthy master, and agreed to serve.

(Older fluff had Russ call Emps out to three challenges: drinking, eating, and fighting (though goodness knows why they didn't do the fighting bit first. If your fighters are drunk and stuffed, the fight will be less interesting). Leman showed up the Emperor in the first two contests, supposedly eating an entire ox and drinking a dozen barrels of mead. When the two of them fought, though, the Emperor was the victor, punching Russ out fair and square on the spot. But a one-shot knock out didn't make for a great story so it got changed into a proper fight.)

Leman very much remade his Legion. The Wolf King used a combination of myth-as-metaphor, genuine superstition, and the influence of Fenrisian veterans to promote discipline and obedience. He taught his warriors to control their bloodlust and kill who they had to rather than butcher everything in sight. That said, the VIth Legion would cross any line and kill any traitor for the Emprah. They fought to make the galaxy safe for humanity, but they were willing to accept the loss of human life. After Yarant and the battle with the Alpha Legion, they started to reevaluate this attitude. It was a process rather than a sudden snap, but they gradually focused less on punishing oathbreakers and more on protecting innocents.

One further thing of note is that it is implied by an offhand comment of Russ's in the Horus Heresy books that the two missing legions were destroyed or at least broken by the Space Wolves, so if it is true then that brings their legion kill tally to three.

The Space Wolves are another example on how Games Workshop lusts after medieval Scandinavian history and mythology. As if the [[Warriors of Chaos]] weren't already enough of a tip off to that. Given that they are the only Space Marines to have wolves, beards, wield axes, laugh boisterously, and act like something more than sombre, grim assholes, and because they have names like 'Ragnar' and 'Bjorn' they are instantly considered manlier than all other Spehss Mehreens, including the Chaos ones.

The Space Wolves also have a complex relationship with religion. The people of Fenris had several deities and considered the Fang to be a hall of immortals where the valorous dead went even during the Great Crusade, which Big E overlooked because the results produced in the form of the Space Wolves were worth it. After a Fenrisian warrior proves his mettle while a Wolf Priest (equivalent to a [[Valkyrie]] except it's a power-armored old man instead of a sexy shieldmaiden) is watching, he gets taken to the Fang (which is the equivalent of [[Valhalla]]) and given superhuman abilities and immortality to feast and train for the final battle; so this is true, in an Obi-Wan Kenobi sort of way. After becoming a Space Marine, they take on a more secular worldview, though superstition and storytelling remain. However, even though they describe Russ as performing impossible feats or act like talismans will protect them, many of their stories are in point of fact allegorical, and their superstitious beliefs are implied to be more of a subconscious way of steeling themselves against the possibility of death. So at the end of the day, your average Space Wolf (if such a thing is possible) believes that his necklace will ward off bad luck and the runes on his armor will protect him from sorcery while saying that Russ defeated the two-headed god of death and made him work for him, he's using the necklace to make himself more willing to risk death, a belief in runes to help resist psychic powers, and really saying that Russ harnessed the bloodlust of the VIth and gave it purpose. That said, he probably believes that Russ literally wrestled Morkai into submission too. Which means the Wolves of the novels have a rich cultural depth, while the Wolves of the tabletop are wolfy wolves who wolve wolves.

Based on their characterization in Prospero Burns and Battle for the Fang, they hold relatively little regard for "mortals" but without ignoring them outright or being dicks to them, and they highly respect bravery in battle. On top of all that, they happen to have the most compassionate and bro-tier Chapter Masters ever, [[Logan Grimnar]]. Logan is known for being famously sympathetic to the common man of the Imperium, defending his mortal charges with a passion beyond reason. This attitude has earned him a somewhat mixed reputation among the upper echelons of the Imperium, because while Grimnar is much loved by the people of the Imperium, he also has a bad habit of leading his chapter [[Armageddon#First War for Armageddon|into conflict]] with other factions of the Imperium when he deems it necessary.

If they were in a vidya game, they'd probably be voiced by Brian Blessed, or his royal Cinemaness CHRISTOPHER LEE, may he glory and feast forever in Valhalla.

They also once managed to kill an entire [[Void whale|VOID WHALE]]! (If a hideously malformed one) Scary Badass Grampa Werewolf Viking FTW!

In older codices, Leman Russ also killed and skinned a colossal deepsea creature that was confirmed to have Tyranid DNA, before the Emprah showed up. Like with a spear and wooden boat. Suck it, [[Macragge]].

Spess Wohlfs, if not already obvious, draw upon a heavy Viking theme, an equally heavy werewolf theme, and wolves in general. As such, the Space Wolves, Black Templars, White Scars, World Eaters and Khornate Worshipers in general, are the few people to realize that they all live in a fantasy universe with spaceships.

Another question that might come up if one thought about it is what happened to all of their extra marines. Even between the Burning of Prospero, a brutal void battle with the Alpha Legion straight afterwards and the rest of the Horus Heresy, the Wolves and their descendants were reduced to a chapter strength of about 1200 marines by the 41st Millenium. Even with attrition over the years, they should have been left with thousands of marines to split into different chapters. The main school of thought is that the Wolves split into two chapters, the original Space Wolves as well as the Wolf Brothers. While the Wolf Brothers would eventually be disbanded due to [[Mutant|genetic instability]], it would still leave the Space Wolves several thousand marines strong. It's thought that the rest of the Sons of Russ would eventually be brought down to close to Codex Chapter strength by attrition, as their numbers were overcome by casualties, the rise of the Mark of the Wulfen, and alcohol poisoning. Another hypothesis is that there would be other chapters that would split off from the Wolves, albeit unofficially or by their origins being proscribed for...whatever reason. However, if the Wolves were indeed left to be several hundred strong after Guilliman got his reform on, it would mean that after Russ's disappearance, the wolves [[Grimdark|were slowly dying out]] after their recruitment numbers dwindled to the dozens per year. (Though the natural ratio of recruits-to-casualties probably reached an equilibrium point at some point a few centuries afterwords, and has hovered right around that point for a long time. [[Grimdark]] doesn't always mean [[Fail|Grimderp]].)

In M32, a small but influential faction within the Rout started experimenting on the Canis Helix, trying to make it less wolfy but preserve the general badassery of Russ' gene seed. This was aimed at realising Russ' dream of Wolves descendants - the reformers saw their Chapter becoming steadily more isolated, making it harder for them to defend the Imperium. Some even claimed that the Imperium would start to question the Wolves' loyalties because of the wulfen issue, putting their existence at risk. They faced lots of internal opposition, but the gene-splicing began to pay off and the Legion's "apotheosis" was looming. Then [[Magnus the Red|this usually level-headed guy]] heard about it, didn't like it and attacked Fenris with extreme prejudice. Magnus' attack left the Fang all but broken and the current Great Wolf dead, along with most of the reformers. Magnus took a thrashing from [[Bjorn the Fell-handed|the bear guy in a Dreadnought]] in the process, but finally had a comeback to all Russ' "forever alone" jokes (fuck, even the Salamanders probably have successors these days). As predicted, although the Wolves are still revered throughout much of the Imperium, they're also mistrusted by its rulers and institutions. Inquisition tried pretty hard to bring them to heel over the whole Armageddon fracas - it's a fair bet that they wouldn't have tried this if the Wolves had a few successor Chapters to call on. Oh, and their attack on the Fang did a similar amount of damage to what Magnus managed.

Skip ahead to current time and the Space Wolves are still on edge with the rest of the Imperium, though mostly due to their refusal to back down when taunted and by getting confrontational with all of their allies. Despite the Wulfen then becoming a pretty overt thing with the return of the 13th Company from the Eye of Terror (all of whom had become Wulfen), the Space Wolves remained out of the Inquisition's ire due to the 13th Black Crusade. Que the Thousand Sons, however, as Magnus bee-lined straight for [[Fenris]] and the system goes to hell. Fenris, despite fighting off Magnus' advances, then gets butchered by the [[Grey Knights]] and the Inquisition because the Fenrissians had been exposed to Chaos. Unable to really do anything about it, the Space Wolves take it on the cheek as they're too busy trying to stop Chaos from fucking everyone else over and avenging their fallen. They send men to Cadia to stop Abbadon, but ultimately; Cadia breaks.

Eventually [[Roboute Guilliman|Grandpappy Smurf]] wakes up and takes charge of the Imperium and dishes out his new shiny [[Primaris Marines]] to everyone who needs them. This bolsters the Space Wolves' numbers after they were clusterfucked by basically everyone possible, and the Rune Priests declare Fenris' spirit to be renewed, even though their system is basically ripped in half. In addition, the whole forever alone thing is in question now, since they were given a new successor chapter, the [[Wolfspear]] (because naming them something without 'wolf' in the name wouldn't be possible). Since the Wolfspear are all Primaris, [[Cawl]] has modified their genetic structure, they seem to be immune to the Canis Helix going extreme and turning them into monsters like the Wolf Brothers; though it's yet to be seen if the Space Wolves will actually accept them as kin. In fact, the Wolfspear have severe daddy issues in the idea that they believe their Primaris status would make the Space Wolves see them as lesser (despite acknowledging the fact that the Space Wolves themselves actually took in a bunch of Primaris into their own chapter).

Space Wolves have a talent for [[rage]], and it is thought by some that they pride themselves with the sheer number of enemies they have. But the [[Thousand Sons]] Chaos Legion is by and large their greatest enemy, at least that's what they think. The fact is that the rivalry began when the Space Wolves (with help from Custodians and Sisters of Silence) kicked the living shit out of the Thousand Sons on their home planet, which is like having your country host the Olympics and then getting last place in every event (much like Canada in the 1976 Summer Olympics and again in the 1988 Winter Olympics). Before that, [[Leman Russ]], [[Primarch]] of the Space Wolves, broke the back of [[Magnus the Red]], who is Primarch of the Thousand Sons. TO BE FAIR, Magnus felt that he deserved it and therefore ordered his warriors to deactivate all planetary defenses (he actually deactivated it himself and even killed one of his own captains to hide the coming of the invasion fleet). If the Thousand Sons had their defenses active, the Wolf of the Wolf Wolf Wolves probably would have had a much harder time of it. As it is, even with all the backup the Wolves had, once they ran out of planetary defense forces in parade uniforms to slaughter, and came across the Thousand Sons, the Wolves/Custodians/Sisters were slowed down a little until Tzeentch pulled the troll lever (though he might've been bolstering the Sons' powers already, which the Ruinous Powers later did with Horus, and this was just a side effect) and the Sons' greatest psykers started mutating and exploding like Tetsuo from Akira.

Considering the [[Emprah]] basically just asked for Leman Russ to give Magnus a ride to Earth, this is more like your parents asking you to tell your younger sibling to come out of their room and clean up the mess they made, only for you to go in there, shoot off both their legs, take a dump on the floor and set the room on fire, chase them out into the streets, murder his best friends, and then tell your parents that the brat suffered for not taking responsibility for the five or so school books on the couch. Of course, [[Horus]] helped that all along, having already went full daddy hate:he twisted Big big E's orders into "rape prospero, k tnx", being a loyal lapdog Russ just rolled with it. Just as planned. Chief Custodian Valdor also urged Russ to curbstomp Magnus for good, presumably because he was concerned what kind of damage Magnus could do in person, given how much trouble he caused from thousands of light-years away.

This set the tone for the rest of their unhealthy relationship. The Thousand Sons do something to piss off the Space Wolves, usually some brilliant, convoluted plan, and the Space Wolves just charge and beat the living shit out of them and laugh in their faces when they find out how much work those [[Tzeentch]]ies put into their plots. Sadly, this usually comes at a staggering toll in Space Wolf lives. So [[grimdark]]. Oh, and the Thousand Son's usually accomplish some underlying secret objective.

Many theories are abound as to why the Space Wolves hate the Thousand Sons and their sorcery so much. The most popular amongst fa/tg/uys is that the Thousand Sons Primarch, Magnus, being aware of Russ's [[furry|bestiality]], was always watching him from his magical lookout, riding up and down his sorcerer's tower to observe Russ from every height and depth, intently channeling the power of his one-eyed cyclops to pierce into Russ's most intimate chambers. Understandably, this left Russ very (literally) [[butthurt]] indeed and eager for vengeance. Or because Magnus is a NERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRD.

One theory disclosed to the Khan, admittedly from the probably-not-very-reliable source of a shade of Magnus left behind on Prospero, suggests that there could be an even more sinister reason for the hatred, suggesting that there is a dark reason why the Wolves put runes of protection on every part of their wargear (other books suggest the Wolves place huge importance on runes and symbolism).

Also while it may seem laughable that the axe dragging barbarians continually thwart the plans of the hyper-intelligent sorcerers, the wolves are actually probably the most ideal chapter to fight them (except, perhaps, the [[Grey Knights]], for obvious reasons). They have the Canis Helix which causes them to wolf out rather than be corrupted by chaos, and the Rune "Magic" that their Rune Priests use is literally the farthest thing to sorcery used in the Imperium. Add to that the fact that they have one of the most impressive fleets in the entire Imperium, making them somewhat less worried about warp storms, and you have a group almost tailor-made to resist the Thousand Sons.

Other people believe that Space Wolves are indeed a traitor legion and the Thousand Sons a loyal one. Think a second about it. What are the benefits of the Mark of Khorne? Rage and counterattack, exactly the same rules Blood Claws have. Why Russ destroyed completely Prospero if Magnus was not defending himself and his only sin was warning the Emperor about the Horus Heresy? Why Russ went to the Warp? To become a Daemon-Prince? Why they don't recognized Guilliman as their spiritual leader? Why they don't follow the codex who has given so much prosperity to the Imperium? What are those mutations wulfen have? Gifts of Chaos? However, these people are idiots who don't read the lore and have bad grammar, so you shouldn't listen to them.

===Ragnar Blackmane===
[[File:Yiff yaff.jpg|300px|thumb|right|HERESY]]
Perhaps the best example can be found in ''The Space Wolf Omnibus'', in which [[Ragnar Blackmane]], who is at that time a Bloodclaw (neophyte), not only fucks over a Sorcerer, but Magnus the Red himself. The Sorcerer, [[Madox]], is so pissed at being foiled by Ragnar that he bitches about it to other Thousand Sons, who find this hilarious, and goes around making plots, which Ragnar manages to fuck up nicely, thereby saving the galaxy. Ragnar even took the spear of his Primarch and hurled it into the eye of Magnus the Red. Do note that this is as much canon as other [[Black Library|BL]] anti-fluff shit.

Because of this, the [[Blood Ravens]] forge a weapon named after Ragnar, who tells them to keep their toys because he doesn't need it (though in all reality he had a suspicion that they were trying to 'fence' their 'gift' by giving it to him to evade Imperial authorities). This is actually kinda strange as normally a Marine, especially from a Feral World, would be honored another Chapter made them a gift. The only reason he refused is basically “lol you use lots of psykers” even though almost every Chapter uses psykers and the Space Wolves don’t hate psykers just their reckless use and sorcery (yes those are different you don’t need to be a psyker to be a sorcerer). Since Blood Ravens’ librarians are no less disciplined or more reckless than any other Chapters’, it makes Ragnar’s refusal come off as being jackass rather than a mistrustful pseduo-barbarian.

He and his pack (and about 30 Militarum Tempestus Stormtroopers people somehow always forget to mention (because theyd all be dead before they got to attack obviously)once fought off 40 odd genestealers in close combat. In the actual game and fluff; fighting this many 'stealers in melee is a one way ticket to massive rending claw induced ASSRAPE for anything short of a vehicle with AV 14 on its backside, and a roughly equal number of Genestealers tore apart Marduk's Terminator Armoured Wordbearers and accompanying Khornate Berzerkers and Possessed Marine and wiped out more than half of the strike force he took. Yet somehow he managed to avoid being torn into gory paper thin pieces and come out on top (like this kind of thing is really uncommon with book marines). He manages this <s>without</s> ''by'' being a [[Mary Sue|Mary]] [[Ultramarines|Sue]]. Why?/How? It's because he's a motherfucking Space Viking. Also they were helped by about forty Militarum Tempestus Stormtroopers and two Inquisitors, so it wasn't quite as one sided as it sounds.

==The Fate of Leman Russ==
Of Leman Himself, you ask? Legends state that after a great feast, He said unto his warriors:

<blockquote>"Listen closely Brothers, for my time is short. . There shall come a time far from now when our Chapter itself is dying, even as I am now dying, and our foes shall gather to destroy us. Then my children, I shall listen for your call in whatever realm of death holds me, and come I shall, no matter what the laws of life and death forbid. At the end I will be there. For the final battle. For the Wolftime."</blockquote>

And so, Leman departed, with his closest retinue... No, not you Bjorn... Some say he searches for a means to revive His God-Emperor.. But despite the efforts of the Great Hunt, Leman remains beyond the reach of Man... Who knows what great feats of Heroism he undertakes....

. . . Oh, who the fuck are we kidding? Leman got lost in the [[Warp]] and became a Daemon Primarch of Kho-{{BLAM|//Historitor 109.163.233.200 decommissioned by Inquisitorial decree.//}}

He was, in fact, [[Horo|turned into a small girl]]. (Holy shit! A [[Tzeentch|change]] like that can only mean that Magnus must have gotten revenge.) And if by that you think we mean, "Russ had a shitton of bastard children everywhere and one was a mutant that could shapeshift" then yes; only because Russ's kids turning into [[Werewolf|wolves]] is nothing new. Nobody really knows if this had happened before he went to [[Warhammer Fantasy]] and made the Norscans or not, but since they aren't vikings out of a shoujo anime, we can make a pretty good educated guess. Somehow, he found his way back to the Dark Millenium, still stuck in the form of a [[Horo|small girl]].

(But seriously, we have no idea. There HAVE been sporadic reports of sightings of the 13th great Company with Russ leading them, for what that's worth. And Magnus has mentioned that he knows exactly what happened to Russ, but it's not like he'd ever tell them.)

Actually he has entered Slaanesh's realm of eternal yiff, meaning we will never see him again.

Until GW releases him, because they've said at least 2 more loyalist Primarchs are coming and its obviously the Lion and the Wolf since Guilliman can kind of stand in for the space marines covered by the regular space marine codex while Russ' legion really could use him back after the ass kicking they got from Magnus and the Inquisition, and the Dark Angels' storyline is rather clearly leading to the Lion's reawakening.

==Organization==
[[File:Tyranid Attack.jpeg|350px|right|thumb|The wolves taking on a [[Tyranid]] horde.]]
Since they only see the [[Codex Astartes]] as a source of toilet paper (when they bother to wipe), the Space Wolves have roles and titles far different from the standard Space Marine chapters. Additionally, while traditional chapters each hold ten ~100-strong companies, the Space Wolves instead have 12 autonomous companies, each of which is in varying strength and since they aren't bound by the Codex, each company may have more than 100 marines on hand (in fact, a full list of the members of Grimnar's company gives them a strength of nearly 200). However, the Space Wolf legion were never particularly numerous following the [[Horus Heresy]] in the part due to their unstable gene-seed and the fact they they were restricted to recruiting from one world ''(The fact that [[Magnus the Red]] destroyed the long-sought cure to this during his attack on Fenris for this didn't help, but it should be noted that it wasn't that big of a victory for Magnus, as Bjorn made it quite clear he would have destroyed the project when he found out about it)'' but also the battles of the Horus Heresy hurt the Space Wolves legion badly; culminating in the [[Battle of Trisolian]] which effectively ended their existence as a "Legion" altogether.

Even so, with 12 independent Great Companies (each with their own fleets, logistics support etc), this means that even if each Great Company had 100 brothers, they would outnumber a normal codex-compliant Spess Mehreens chapters by at least 20%. This is corroborated by the 7E codex which has rules for playing a Great Company on its own; consisting of eleven squads of varying size.

However since each Great Company doesn't bother to limit themselves to 100 (some Space Wolves great companies sometimes number over 300 brothers) it means that they outnumber codex chapters by an even greater degree, so with that said, the [[Apocalypse]] formation for the same thing has no hard limit on the number of Blood Claw squads that may be taken, so will probably represent a good period of recruitment for the Chapter. Therefore the total numbers will vary over time in response to casualties and recruitment rates but can reasonably reach estimations of 3000 marines or more; several times the official codex strength at peak times.

As of 998.M41, [[Logan Grimnar]]'s own company was the largest in the chapter and it totaled 200 exactly ''(not counting the "Great Wolf" assets like Dreadnoughts & Priests)'' whilst [[Ragnar Blackmane]]'s was said to be second, sitting at 162 marines. Following the return of Magnus and the battle of Fenris this number would undoubtedly be diminished, though after the [[Ultima Founding]], the number probably remains about the same if not slightly higher as the chapter would be bolstered with Primaris reinforcements. Guilliman probably has more sense than delivering 1000 new warriors to a chapter which already "should" have around 1000 warriors; for excess Primaris Marines we have the [[Wolfspear]] Chapter.

===Hierarchy===
The different wolves ranks and wolves assignments for the Wolves are the following:

*'''Great Wolf''': The [[Chapter Master]] of the Space Wolves, the Great Wolf (also known as the ''High King'' by people who want to tone down the overwolf (i.e. everyone)) is chosen from among the Wolf Lords by virtue of <s>having the most furry porn</s> being the most badass of an army of space vikings. The Great Wolf is effectively the First Captain of the Space Wolves, commanding an elite Great Company that includes the members of the three Priesthoods and the Chapter's Dreadnoughts. [[Logan Grimnar]] serves as the current Great Wolf.
*'''[[Wolf Lord]]''': The [[Brother-Captain]]s of a company in Codex Chapters (although more like a watered-down vanilla chapter master), Wolf Lords (AKA the ''Jarls'') lead their Great Companies and charge the Iron Priests with maintenance of its motor pool and the Wolf Priests with recruiting new Astartes.
* '''[[Wolf Guard]]''': A cross between [[Veteran Squad|Veterans]] and [[Honour Guard]], Wolf Guards (''Thanes'') serve as the body guard of the Wolf Lord and leading packs in battle, serving as the Space Wolves version of a [[Brother-Sergeant]]. They also get [[Terminator]] armour. In ''Second Edition'' they also got to take any weapons they liked and could be built from stock parts with an Assault Cannon and Cyclone Missile Launcher. This led to many games being won as Assault Force Dickhead rampaged across the table murdering everything.
* '''[[Wolf Priest]]''': Combining the role of [[Apothecary]] and [[Chaplain]], the Wolf Priests do the standard roles of preaching and medical duties, but are also charged with recruiting Aspirants for their companies. Plus they have a secret role on the battlefield, trying to prevent their battle-brothers from turning into Wulfen.
* '''[[Iron Priest]]''': The Iron Priests serve the role of [[Techmarine]]s, overseeing the motorpool and equipment of the companies they belong to.
* '''[[Rune Priest]]''': Taking the role of [[Librarian]]s in Codex Chapters, Rune Priests are the [[psyker]]s of the Space Wolves. However, instead of seeing their powers as coming from the [[Warp]], they hold that their powers come from the world spirit of Fenris, and consult the runes in a means to divine the future. Trying to explain to the Rune Priests that they're drawing power from the Warp, and that they cannot "draw their powers from Fenris" while being half-Galaxy away from it will usually result in the non-Space Wolf getting a month's stay in the Apothecarion. The ultimate irony of this is that they are, in reality, Sorcerers, the very thing they denounced the Thousand Sons for being. Whether they are psykers or not. Besides, if Fenris has a world spirit, it is something akin to a Daemon World...
* '''Wolf Scouts''': Each Great Company will have members who shun their pack brothers and are shunned in return, preferring the company of more somber individuals, Wolf Scouts serve to scout out enemy positions and terrain. As opposed to the regular codex, Wolf Scouts tend to be veterans of battle able to rein in their savage rage.
* '''Lone Wolf''': Space Wolves who are the last of their pack. The loss of their brethren drive them to seek a glorious death in combat at the hands of some form a fell enemy. Think of Dwarf Slayers only a few metres tall with powered armour and weapons of doom and destruction. Often the only way out of the Lone Wolf lifestyle is managing to kill something that the individual shouldn't have survived killing and being elevated into the Wolf Guard.
* '''[[Skyclaw]]s''': Skyclaws are the trouble makers among a Chapter of trouble makers, forced to wear Jump Packs. The Space Wolves view Jump Packs as an insult, reasoning that if the Emperor wanted them to fly, he would have given them wings. Snide comments regarding [[Sanguinius]] result in a short game of tug-o-war involving the offending battle-brother's beard.
* '''[[Thunderwolf Cavalry]]''': Space Wolves who function in a manner similar to a [[Bike Squad]], but instead of actual bikes, they use Thunderwolves, which can be the size of a small car.
* '''[[Long Fang]]s''': Taking the role of [[Devastator Squad|Devastators]], Long Fangs are veterans who have grown long in the fang. No pun here - Space Wolves' teeth actually lengthen as they age, as an effect of a mutated Betcher's Gland.
* '''[[Grey Hunter]]s''': Having the role of [[Tactical Squad|Tactical Marines]], Grey Hunters are those Marines who have survived long enough as Blood Claws to quell the worst of their ferocity and blood lust (read: wear a helmet in battle). Their new found experience and control allows them to shoot and fight better than their younger brethren.
* '''[[Blood Claw]]s''': Neophyte Space Wolves who serve in the [[Assault Squad|Assault Marine]] roles of Codex Chapters.

=== Other Assets ===
The Space Wolves have an impressive number of other gadgets and gizmos going for them.

Not least the fact that the Fang (''Aett'') is one of the three most defended locations in the entire Imperium ''(the other two being the Imperial Palace on '''Terra''' and the Keep Inviolate on '''Kolossi''' the homeworld of [[Imperial Knight|House Raven]])'' and is tall enough that entire [[Imperial Navy|battlefleets]] can dock with the fortress.

Speaking of battlefleets; the Wolves themselves have a navy to rival most others, with eight Battle Barges and more than thirty Strike Cruisers, which in terms of logistical support could accommodate over 5400 fighting men. As well as this, they have '''TWO''' Star Forts and over forty escort '''squadrons'''. To let you know how much firepower this counts as, some lesser-known chapters would consider themselves fortunate to have even a single battle-barge. Even the [[Grey Knights]] have only four Barges and twelve strike cruisers, so basically when Fenris held off the [[Grey Knights]] during the Months of Shame, they had plenty going for them. They used to have even more ships, and a star-fort network that could put the infamous Iron Circle of Badab to shame before the Thousand Sons attacked Fenris in M33.

They also have '''''over''''' one-hundred [[Dreadnought]]s stored in stasis vaults within their fortress depths, where/how they accumulated them is [[Blood Ravens|uncertain]] and considering that most other chapters tend to have around two or three Dreadnoughts per company, they likely outnumber nearly anyone else by a considerable margin. ''(For comparison, the [[Blood Angels]] have 35 dreadnoughts listed in their rolls of battle)'' This can likely be traced to their viking tendencies to super pillage everything they come across. I mean Logan's got a daemon axe so I'm just assuming they are just ripping daemons out of chaos dreadnought hulls, slapping a new coat of paint, some wolf sigils and motifs on and dropping their wounded brothers in and no one will ever know. They only had one successor chapter (which failed) so they didn't have to share their dreadnought hulls out perhaps?

Not to mention the packs of feral wulfen that they can scrounge up... Yeah, they might happen to have a shit ton of unregistered mutated werewolf murder machines lying around as ''''failed'''' aspirants. That said, Fenris is far less populous than the likes of Macragge, and feral Wulfen are basically wildlife, so this is a moot point.

Oh, and all the "actual" Fenrisian Wolves & Thunderwolves that the chapter can muster.

They also exclusively possess [[Helfrost Weaponry]] thanks to rare Fenrisian crystals.

==Combat doctrine==
{{topquote|The best way to defeat a Space Wolf is to wolf his wolf. You must be careful, though, because if the Space Wolf wolfs your wolf first, then your wolf is wolfed.|Attributed to Wolf Rider Volk Wolfclaw, ''On the Weaknesses of the Space Wolf Doctrine''}}
{{topquote|A good way to get into a state of pure wolfness, would be that you shall wolf the wolf until the wolfing wolf wolfs. Then, when the wolf wolfs your wolfness, the wolves of the wild will wolf your wolf up. Wolf!|Attributed to Wolf Master Jonal Wolfhand, "The Call of the Nightblizzard''}}
{{topquote|Wolf wolf wolf wolf wolfity wolf. Wolf wolf, wolfo wolfy wolf wolf wolf. Wolf? Wolf!|Attributed to Wolf Lord Egil Ironwolf, ''On the Intricacies of Tactical Wolffare''}}

Jokes aside, the Space Wolves are rather unusual when it comes to organisation and tactics. Contrary to what many fans will tell you, they do actually study the Codex Astartes's points on combat, though they completely reject it from an organizational standpoint. In battle the warriors of the Rout will usually work on their own initiative and experience, but at the same time, they don't disrespect or ignore the lessons of the codex. Their battle strategies tend to be neglected in favor of localized battlefield tactics. They keep to their wolf theme by working as a "pack", with very "make it up as we go along" tactics. This doesn't bite them in the ass as much as it would other space marine chapters, because they can "smell the plan" (I can't make this shit up). The books try to base this off of how normal wolves coordinate hunts, with nonverbal cues being premium. The idea is that the wolves can read the situation by [[Hive Mind|smelling their pack member's moods and thoughts]], using natural pheromone cues (and a few added by the Canis Helix) to anticipate the moods of those around them. This is actually why most wolves prefer to fight without helmets: you can't smell anything in the sealed environment of closed power armor.

== Flaws ==
As many on /tg/ will happily tell you, (and [[Magnus]] won’t stop [[RAGE|Reaggng]] about) the Wolves are far from perfect. Where the [[Imperial Fists]] are inflexible and stubborn, the [[Dark Angels]] are unreliable and austere, and the [[Raven Guard]] are aloof and brooding, the Wolves are boisterous and arrogant. During the Heresy (and/or when Chris Wraight is writing them) they were incredibly brutal toward those they saw as oath-breakers, even if the oath-breaker in question was a fleeing, defenseless civilian. The Ragnar Blackmane books further emphasize this and also portrayed the Chapter as willing to ignore the misdeeds of their heroes in spite of the importance they place on honor. This, combined with the Wolves hating the Thousand Sons for being psykers [[Rune Priest|while also using psykers]] led many to label the Wolves hypocrites, especially since the Space Wolves pick a fight with the Flesh Tearers for killing civilians in spite of their own troubled history in that regard. Fans are quick to point out that the Rune Priests are much more cautious than the Thousand Sons, who actually used Goddamn Chaos familiars during the Great Crusade, and newer fluff further emphasizes that the Wolves hate the Thousand Sons for having no control while pretending they have a better understanding of the Warp, NOT just for being psykers. Furthermore, by the 41st Milennium, the Wolves nearly always stuck out their necks to protect the people of the Imperium, and actively stopped the Flesh Tearers' rampage. Now, everyone including Wolves players admit that the Sons of Russ are entirely too short-sighted and prone to making enemies for their own good. During the Heresy, almost nobody liking them bit them in the ass at Alaxxes Nebula, but fast-forward to M41 and they're happily pissing off the Inquisition, Ecclesiarchy, Dark Angels, Ultramarines, etc. During Warzone Fenris, the galaxy at large is only too ready to write the Wolves off as heretics. Fans and detractors alike also note that it's [[Skub|arguable]] whether being so quick to make enemies and disobey orders to save civilians really saves more people in the long run, especially at Armageddon, where the Wolves' actions backfire badly.

== Civilians ==
Of all the inconsistently written aspects of the Chapter, this is by far the worst offender. Sometimes, the Space Wolves are written as brutal and merciless, giving zero fucks about collateral damage or civilian casualties. On the other hand, sometimes the Wolves [[Salamanders|put their lives on the line to protect the innocent.]] This can induce [[Rage]] in just about any fan, because some people get into the Space Wolves seeing them as heroes while others prefer their more savage, bloodthirsty tendencies. The best fluff attempts to find a middle ground by presenting them as violent and pragmatic, but disciplined during the Heresy and increasingly heroic over time. By M41, the Wolves actively stop the Flesh Tearers from murdering Imperial civilians at Honour's End, disobey orders to protect the settlers at Thressiax, and play chicken with the Inquisition to save the people of Armageddon : this example is particularly notable, because the Wolves didn't just attempt to save the civilians from the Inquisition, for the first few months of the conflict they did so with passive resistance, defending civilian transports with the shields and hulls of their own ships, never firing back. This paints a picture of [[Awesome|a Chapter that actually becomes MOAR independent and heroic as the galaxy goes to shit around them.]] Or perhaps, they've remained the same and the galaxy has gone so grimdark that the Space Wolves now appear heroic in comparison. Then Warzone Fenris happened. In it, the Wolves pretty much abandon their allies to focus on the Wulfen. On the plus side, they send warriors to Cadia and Maccrage in spite of the mauling the Thousand Sons hand them. This is further heroism. Because Fenris is the only place they are genetically capable of recruiting from, so abandoning their allies to save it is perfectly reasonable and would save more people in the long-run by not losing an entire Chapter of ass-kickers.

==Daily rituals of a Space Wolf==
13:00 - Wake Up with Hangover - The Space Wolf awakens from his booze-induced coma and begins the day. Headaches abound. Aspirin is consumed by the ton. 
13:10 - Morning Piss - The Space Wolf empties the alcohol that has accumulated in his bladder(s) in the Sacred Alcohol Excretion Grounds. (Doing so anywhere else is hazardous as space wolf urine is capable of corroding ceramite) 
13:11 - Morning Fart - The Space Wolf empties his intestines. Pissing without farting is like going to a holy site without praying to the Emperor, which is heresy. 
13:20 - Morning Piss Ends - The Space Wolves have finally finished urinating. The surrounding landscape is scorched with a aura of menace resembling nurgle’s rot. 
13:30 - Ritual Intake of Alcoholic Beverages - The Space Wolf now cracks open his first cold one of the day. The first of many. Cheerios may be consumed as well. 
13:45 - Firing Drills - The Space Wolf consumes another liter of alcohol before going out back and shooting empty beer bottles with his bolter. This takes place far away from the Alcohol Excretion Grounds, after that one time Brother Brynjolf accidentally lit his own piss on fire. an entire company had to spend 6 months in the sickbay until their hair grew back and they were thus fit to be seen in public again. 
14:00 - Freeze your Balls - The Space Wolf sheds his armor and most of his clothing to wander around Asaheim for an hour. 
15:00 - Feeding of the Land Raiders - Space Wolf observes a feast with his brothers in honour of the chapter's revered battle machines. Blood Claws are still wandering around outside naked in the snow. 
15:30 - Boozing of the Land Raiders - No feast is complete without metric fucktons of liquor. Fenrisian Ale, beer, and if available bylestim blend are poured and scrubbed all over the most honoured of the chapter's war machines. Many still have bullet holes, sometimes allowing beer to get into the exhaust ports and make for kickass explosions later. Blood Claws are still wandering around outside naked in the snow. 
16:00 - Wolf your Wolf - Grey Hunters and older Space Wolves take this time to play with their favourite 4-legged companions. Blood Claws are still wandering around outside naked in the snow. 
16:30 - Save the Blood Claws - Blood Claws are brought in from the cold. Most are frozen blue or black - and hungry for more. 
17:00 - Evening feast - Eat. Drink. Start brawls. The usual non-warzone Space Wolf thing. 
18:00 - Try to wake up [[Bjorn the Fell Handed|Bjorn]]. 
18:10 - Give up, try to find something fun on the Vox Saga. 
19:00 - Night shitter break. 
20:00 - Night firing drills - Much to the Iron Priest's dismay, the Space Wolves practice writing their names in the snow with bolters. In runes. In the dark. 
21:00 - Ritual Intake of Narcotics and Purging of Testicles - bitches and blow. 
05:00 - Daily Rest - The Space Wolf passes out. 

==A Quick Word Out of Character==
The true reason for all this, is that, we at /tg/, in our pathetic, low-reaching mastery of comedy, have seen how idiotic it is that every goddamn Space Wolf codex unnecessarily uses the word "wolf" as a prefix or a suffix every 3rd sentence (similar to the [[Robin Cruddace|Tyranid codex]] shoe-horning the prefix ''bio-'' into every 3rd sentence). Since /tg/ is an easily angered monster, not unlike an [[Angry Marine]], we furiously attempt to link Space Wolves to furries (it's really fucking annoying), as we are as fucked up as [[Chaos Pretty Marines]].

It has been established in the ''[[Horus Heresy]]'' series that the VI Legion doesn't employ the word "wolf" as much as they appear to do. Wolves are readily apparent in their motifs, such as Leman Russ's titles as "Wolf-King" and "Great Wolf," as well as in the formal name of the Wolf Guard, but it's not as overblown as it's made out to be. Apparently, whoever did the Fenrisian-to-Gothic translation made a few errors. First off, they don't call themselves "the Space Wolves." When speaking formally, they refer to themselves as the ''Vlka Fenryka'', which we can look at a few ways. "Fenris" is easy, a reference to Fenrir from Norse mythology. "Vlka" has a couple options; if you walk it backwards through the Germanic ''Volk'' you get "Folk of Fenris". This supports a common theory on 1d4chan where a bunch of colonists landed on a planet, bred giant dogs from their great, great, grand-children (more on that in a minute) then thought, "You know what's better than planet Unicorn? Planet fucking Fenris". So the the ''Vlka Fenryka'' are literally the folk of Fenris. Alternately ''Vlka'' can be translated from Slavic to get the "Wolves of Fenris" again.

No matter what you conclude on, you get Dan Abnett using linguistics to reinforce his theme that the Space Wolves are misunderstood by the rest of the Imperium - calling the Space Wolves because of a mistranslated word. One could even argue they are actually called "Space People", would make sense since Ragnar referred to them as "Star warriors" in the William King novels and their Fenrisian ''Kaerl'' auxiliaries call them "sky warriors," but the lore from these novels has been left by the wayside so take that as you will. When speaking informally, they refer to themselves as "the Rout", solidifying their purpose as the Emperor's executioners (self-proclaimed)/snowflakes. Additionally, the post of "Wolf-Lord" is also a mistranslation, as they refer to their Company commanders as ''Jarl''. Finally, they don't call their fortress-monastery the Fang, but rather the ''Aett'', which can be literally translated as "clan home." There's also this in-universe [[meme]] "there are no wolves on Fenris." At all. This was started by one of the primarchs remarking that they should be called xenos, because they're natives of an alien planet, and it quickly morphed into a joke. As it turns out, this is literally true.

With regards to the [[Fenrisian Wolf|Fenrisian wolves]], the origin a little more freaky than expected: they're not wolves, but descendants of human-wolf mutants. Back when Fenris was first settled, the colonists had the ''Canis helix'' added to help them adapt to the harsh environment by adding wolf genes to their genetic-makeup. Unfortunately, it worked a little too well--the ''canix helix'' caused a number of settlers to degrade into wolfmen and wolfwomen. Following this, they bred and produced a new strain of wolf into the environment. So there are no ''wolves'' on Fenris. They're just the descendants of human mutants. Which might explain why, post-Heresy, only Fenrisians can become Space Wolves (assuming that's why the successor chapters couldn't handle Russ' gene seed).

So yes, naming the planet after the wolves means we really do just end up all the way back at Wolves of Wolves after all. Whelp.

Of course, that means that the Space Wolves are wearing pelts made of [[Fabius Bile|human skin]], but lets not dwell on that - after all it's fairly common in the Imperium to wear human skulls... WolfyWolfWolf {{BLAM|''' *BLAM*}}.

There is blatant author favoritism annoys fans of the other chapters with "Dark Secrets". As GW's treatment of the Wulfen make it very easy for fans of other chapters to hurl [[Mary Sue]] accusations at them.
I.E. Unlike the [[Blood Angels]] and [[Dark Angels]]. The Wulfen are now out in the open. Once their exposed they get little punishment while the Inquisition and Grey Knights just "keep one eye open". The aforementioned chapters on the other hand have to keep their secrets from being found out by the Inquisition and the Imperium at large.

Despite the fact that Fallen Angels were paraded around on Terra. Many would assume they were Ravenwing without their fancy bikes. While any claims of Dark Angels being the real traitors by the Fallen would have [[Guilliman]] tell them were full of shit(with more words). As he knew exactly what the DA were up to during the Horus Heresy with the exception the events that caused the destruction of Caliban. Of course the Unforgiven would also be pissed if they found out if one of the predecessors of the Grey Knights killed a Dark Angel and were part of the reason their homeworld was destroyed and would demand censure.

The Blood Angels on the other have an infection similar to the Wulfen without mutating into some kind of half-human man-beast. The [[Red Thirst]]. The Blood Angels and their successors organize the afflicted into [[Death Company|Death Companies]] who are lead by their Chaplains into killing Xenos and foul traitors. If they somehow survive the mutated Blood Angels are {{BLAM}}ed.
Both chapters send their traitors/mutants into battle to be used as cannon fodder. A much more grimdark action that would be in character for Space Marines. [[White Scars|They wouldn't be the only]] [[Raven Guard|chapters to have done this either.]] Instead of treating mutants as fellow warriors.
Inserting noble bright into the setting where it doesn't belong. The same reasons that so many players also hated the Tau until GW retconned them into being more grimdark.

Making this all the more stange. In all likelihood [[Guilliman]] himself wouldn't see a problem with using mutated Space Marines as cannon fodder. Because he did so when he created the [[Moritat]]s after combat exercises with the [[Raven Guard]]. So chances are he would side with the other two former [[Imperium Secundus]] Legions. [[Ogryn|Due to not only favoritism but he and the rest of the Imperium would find it odd that the Space Wolves do not]].

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Lightning2.jpg|'Tis only a matter of time until Steve Blum voices 'em. Apparently, this set somehow makes things you hit weigh less.
File:Warlord of Fenris by NachoMon.jpg|Totally not overcompensating...Yeah he's just hiding a massive hardon with the skull
File:Lemanruss39.jpg|Leman Russ. About to mercilessly fuck over the Thousand Sons.
File:Prospero.jpg|Is he carrying a wooden shield? Really? Against a bolt shell? It better be a Combat Shield.
File:Stormrider.jpg|You better watch out, you better not die, you better not fight, I'm telling you why: Santa Grimnar's coming to town
[[File:http://l.wigflip.com/DucDpDtG/roflbot.jpg]]|Pretty cool guys to hang with.
File:SneakySpaceWolves.png|Space Wolves? Using stealth? [[Heresy]].
</gallery>

==See also==
*[[Bjorn the Fell Handed]]
*[[Warhammer 40,000/Tactics/Space Wolves(8E)|Tactics/Space Wolves]]
*[[Warriors of Chaos]] - With whom they get into bar brawls and drinking contests to see who is moar [[Viking]]
*[[Skyrar's Dark Wolves]] - Before calling your [[Dark Angels]] brothers [[Troll|traitors]] read [[Svane_Vulfbad|this]] first to understand [[Fallen_Angels|their]][[ rage]].
*[[Legion Consul]] - The old "Commissars" of the VI legion.
*[https://youtu.be/Bh_5ofa__pY/ Space Wolves theme song]

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