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Warship

2019-11-22T13:06:08Z

2601:1C0:5C00:C130:B41D:95A0:1810:CC98: /* Modern */

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Unlike [[Tank]]s or [[Combat Aircraft]], warships have been around forever. Great naval battles are remembered throughout history books as far back as boats bigger than a canoe existed. This article covers the types of ships and their strategies throughout the ages.

==Ancient Times==
Ships at this time were restricted to rivers or coastlines, partly because they could not endure rough conditions on ocean seas, but also because primitive navigation techniques restricted ships to remain in sight of land. As a result, most battles wouldn't take place far from major ports or routes. Before the invention of the cannon, there were really only a few ways for ships to fight each other:
*Boarding: getting onboard the enemy ship to take it by force, killing or capturing it's existing crew and passengers. This was usually the preferred method of combat because A: those ground troops you were carrying were useful for more than just ballast, B: it used mostly the same skill set that you used for ground and city fighting and C: if you won, you got a new ship for your fleet and some captives.
*Firing various missiles at the enemy (arrows, javelins, catapults, ballista): usually this was done to kill enemy soldiers and crew rather than to damage the ship. Arrows and Javelins can't do much damage to ships and Siege weapons which could were inaccurate and cumbersome.
*Ramming, a hundred tonnes of wood has a good deal of kinetic energy. If nothing else this can make boarding easier and disorient the rammed ship.
*Setting them on fire

The last two in particular had a high probability of getting your own ships destroyed, so naval combat was kind of a crapshoot.

===Ship Types===
*'''Galley''': Sailships that came with long rows of oarsmen to help give the ship an extra boost of speed. Very useful for maneuvering against the wind, or gaining speed to ram the enemy. The most common ones used two rows of oars (known as the bireme), but some of the larger warships could have as many as five, and some sources claim that some flagships had as many as ''ten''. The Romans had a special version that used a spike to lock ships and allow their marines to board, as they found that if they fought better on land than on sea, then they'll just apply the same tactics onto boats. Because of the extra manpower needed to operate them, galleys had a grim reputation for needing large numbers of slaves (though this only actually applied to galleys from the 16th century and after). They were still in use until the 19th century by the Barbary pirates, when they were finally defeated for good by more modern navies. Latter galleys had cannons, but given the need for rowers you could only put a few guns onboard the front of one.
*'''Fire Ships''': Usually made from suprlus ships or even rafts, sometimes one navy would try to set the enemy on fire by setting one of their own boats on fire, and hope that it drifts into their ships. At the very least, it could create panic, as the enemy would try to steer the hell away from them.
*'''Longship''': A Viking galley that was long and narrow, allowing it to enter shallow waters for amphibious deployment. They had a characteristic large square sail and the sides were typically lined with shields.

==Age of Sail==
Advances in shipbuilding technology allowed ships to be able to maneuver against the wind without needing rows of oarsmen, allowing ships navigate the open ocean. As a result they became formidable powerhouses, especially when armed with a long row of guns. Broadside barrages were now the dominant tactic, as a ship would attempt to strafe the enemy within range of the side-mounted cannons. This is the type of warfare you normally think of whenever you think of pirates. And with newly developing sea trade routes appearing around the world, the importance of a powerful navy became a key factor in empire-building. The British Royal Navy began categorizing warships on the Rating System, which was defined by size and number of guns (hence where we get the term "first-rate")

===Ship Types===
*'''Carrack''': The first ocean-going large (by-then standards) ship capable of long voyages. The Carrack had "castles," or raised decks for archers to shoot from, until they eventually started carrying cannons.
*'''Galleon''': Evolved from the carrack, galleons were armed merchant ships that acted as auxiliaries to the navy. The high castles of the medieval Carrack were no longer needed, but the same general shape was kept. Even after Ships of the Line were introduced, galleons were still the primary merchant vessel used until the 19th century. And because of that, they were also the ship type most commonly used by [[pirate]]s.
*'''Ship of the Line''': A ship that belong to the first three rates. These ships had three decks (two for third rate) full of guns, and got their name as they formed the main offensive line in battle, much like a line of riflemen in terrestrial battles. The winner was typically whoever brought the most cannons to the fight, hence they could go upwards of 90 cannons on the largest ships. The 74 gun ship was the most common, as it had the right balance of speed and power. Ships of the line continued to be built in steamboat versions until Ironclads took over.
*'''Frigate''': A ship of the fifth or sixth rates. A Great Frigate belonged to the fourth rate. These smaller ships were not part of the line, but could be used as scouts, convoy escorts, or to protect the flanks from other such ships.
*'''Sloop of War''': A ship below the 20-gun threshold, and was thus "unrated."
*'''Junk''': In the Far East, the Junk was the most popular type of ship for both warships and treasure fleets. They came in a very large variety of sizes, but all used square sails that folded accordion-style. The most famous example is the fleet of Chinese Admiral-Explorer Zheng He, who sailed a massive treasure fleet with many specialized junks, including water tankers, supply and repair ships, etc.

==Modern==
When ships became self-powered, they also could become armored and better armed as well. New strategies began to emerge, especially now that navies could fight below the water with submarines, or above them with naval aircraft. But even after the steam engine was invented, arguably the modern warship didn’t come about until the invention of the steam turbine. Before that, steam engines were very inefficient and ships could only carry enough coal to push out of the harbour and maneuver during battle. For long-range travel, they were still dependent on sails. But when sails were no longer necessary, that extra deck space could now be taken up by massive gun batteries or other such weapons.

Some ship designs adopted an "All or Nothing" approach when it came to armor. Because excessive armor would slow down a ship and make it less able to maneuver in combat, it was decided that certain parts would be more armored than others, until they eventually decided to dispense with armor except on the most critical parts (I.e. Engine room, ammunition stores, etc). This allowed ships to stay fast and mobile while avoiding sinkage.

===Ship Types===
*'''Ironclad''': The first modern ship that one would recognize as being distinct from Age of Sail ships; Ironclads were steamboats that were covered in a layer of iron that could block most cannonballs. They were invented during the early 19th century with England and France locked (as ever) in a dick measuring contest over who had the best fleet. The french were losing so they created the first ocean going ironclad: ''Gloire''. But it was during the American Civil War that Ironclads had some of there first 'field tests'.' experiments against another full industrial nation (during the first Opium war the British Ironclad ''Nemesis'' went to down on the Qing dynasty navy). Iron Clads were used extensively during the American Civil War and it had the first battle between two Ironclad ships: the Confederate CSS Virginia, which was a conversion of a pre-existing ship (the frigate USS Merrimack) that had been converted simply by adding some metal armor with a sloped dome over the deck, and the Monitor, which was a purpose-built design featuring a rotating turret with two guns rather than the standard broadside gun arrangement. The clash between two at the Battle of Hampton Roads war showed something two things that interested naval designer: namely that the two ships could not hurt each other as they mostly just bounced shells off each other's armor and secondly that the Virginia (Merrimack but there is some skub about the names) rammed and sunk another ship USS Cumberland. The end result was that it was though that armor had exceeded guns and that the best way to destroy another ironclad was to ram it, almost upto world war one battleships had rams on them, though as gun improved the rams were obvious dropped as a weapon, though as the Occasional U-boat learned, a few thousand tons of ship can do a lot of damage on impact!
**'''Moniter''': on the subject of the Monitor, Monitor class warships are somewhat lightly armored ships but with really big guns. First used in the US Civil war, monitor class warships were a type of ships built for coastal waters, often with one or two rotating turrets.
*'''Torpedo Ram''': the torpedo ram dates from an odd part of naval history when Torpedos were first invented, were powerful, but were very short ranged. The ram's job was to use high speed and it's low profile to get up to a target and jam a torpedo down it's throat, while they were still in the harbor. To do so it had to first ram through harbor defense, hence the name. Needless to say, Torpedo Rams were not even all that well liked even when they were being built and so no designs survived past the 19th century. The most famous Torpedo ram is the Fictional "HMS Thunder Child" which fought the Martians in the War of the Worlds.
*'''Fast Attack Craft''': Small warships that mostly fight in coastal waters. This typically includes Patrol boats, Gunboats, Missile Boats, or Torpedo boats.
*'''Corvette''': The smallest "proper" warship, as in, being able to survive combat in open water. They are used as convoy escorts, or light Helicopter carriers.
*'''Frigate''': Better armed than a corvette, Frigates are escort ships designed mainly for protecting convoys in heavy combat. Most modern navies use mostly frigates, especially if they lack aircraft carriers. The term "frigate" is sometimes used as a catch-all term for Destroyers, Corvettes, and Cruisers, to differentiate them from "Capital" ships such as battleships and aircraft carriers.
*'''Destroyer''': A fast escort ship designed to intercept Torpedo boats, there original name was 'torpedo boat destroyer' and was just shortened to 'destroyer'. Nowadays as light ships they also get anti submarine dutys. If the [[wikipedia:Zumwalt-class_destroyer|USS Zumwalt]] is anything to go by, they may be the first ships armed with functional rail gun technology. They are also one of the few ship classes outfitted with stealth technology (aside from the smaller Corvettes).
*'''Cruiser''': Smaller than a battleship, the cruiser is used mainly for air defense and shore bombardment. After the (mostly) retirement of the battleship, the Cruiser is the largest warship still in use (not counting Supercarriers). In the form of Guided Missile Cruisers. As there is still no better way to deal with targets on land, sea or in the air by firing a crap-ton of rocket propelled explosive ordinance at them.
*'''Q-Ship''': A warship disguised as a merchant vessel in order to lure enemy submarines.
*'''Battleship''': The typical gun-armed capital ship of a navy. Battleships declined in use as aircraft carriers became more feasible, and with smaller ships taking their place as the main source of artillery. Still, they are far from useless and they were dragged of retirement and upgraded during the late stages of the Cold War, as a counter to the Kirov-class battlecruisers (more on them later). The Iowa was the last to see action during the Gulf War to destroy Iraqi missile and anti air encampments on the Gulf Coast. [[/pol/|There is also a minority of morons who want to bring them back again]], despite the fact that their guns would have no ammo and would be useless in modern surface combat, given that missiles can strike far, far beyond the range of even the largest naval gun. Replacing the guns with [[wikipedia:Vertical launching system|VLS]] is in theory possible (at least if we talk about building new ships, retrofitting existing vessels would likely be more expensive then building a whole new aircraft carrier), it's even already been tried in real life with the Soviet/Russian Kirov-class battlecruiser. But it is open question on if putting all your missiles in one big ship is superior to spreading those missiles out among a number of smaller ships. Additional a hypothetical 'missle-batlteship' would be at risk at being devastated by anti-ship missiles from aircraft, large improvised weapons such as the bomb that damaged the USS Cole, and submarine torpedoes while being more expensive to replace then a destroyer. The only thing a gun-battleship does better (though they do it much better) is shore bombardment, which comes up so infrequently that it's not worth bring them back just for that: at least either naval railguns become a thing or near perfect enough point defense to ward off missiles. As for a mythical missile-Battleship, the Kirov is the closest example of the concept and (thankfully) the Soviets never got into a shooting war with another major naval power, so the concept is unproven. On paper the amount of missile dakka a Kirov can out put is daunting to both ships and aircraft, but even ignoring the technology gap that has appeared since the fall of the Union, it's unclear if the 'all eggs in one basket' approach to missiles on ships is even a good idea, so the concept remains unproven, and frankly uninteresting when the US can fart out dozens of missile destroyers in the time it takes to make one bigger ship.

*'''Battlecruiser''': A halfway step between battleships and cruisers. They were of similar size to battleships, but made design tradeoffs that battleships didn't. Typically this meant carrying similar guns and having equal or greater speed at the cost of armor, however many WW1 German ships carried battleship grade guns and armor at the expense of speed. Their traditional role was to outrun and destroy enemy frigates and older battleships, while the actual battleships did the bulk of fighting. Had a tendency to explode in line battles, which they were not meant to be in.
*'''Dreadnought''': A large battleship where all of its guns are at maximum caliber. This not only increased its firepower, but also simplified both logistics and firing solution complexity, as all guns would have the same range and angle of fire. These were popular in WWI as many navies competed on who could build the biggest dreadnought. They were eventually made obsolete as they were massively expensive and could be blown to bits by aircraft. Replaced by the "fast battleships" which are Interwar to WW2 designs.
*'''Aircraft Carrier''': A giant floating aircraft strip, the very best in force projection. These ships need to be massive to give fighters enough runway space, even with specialized launching systems such as the CATOBAR catapult system. By no accident, these ships are often called "floating cities." Besides their physical size and large crew, they are high-endurance self-sufficient ships; many aircraft carriers are nuclear-powered, allowing them to endure long deployment without refueling. Their aircraft also provide them with all they support assets they need, between strike capabilities and early warning craft to cargo transports and refueling craft. Supercarriers are even more massive, carrying a plethora of aircraft. The carrier itself has little weapons outfitted, mostly point-defense guns and AA missiles. But when one can get a dozen or even a hundred combat aircraft (for the very big ones) in the air quickly, a couple of big guns wouldn't change much. Death from above!
*'''Amphibious Assault Ship''': These look like small aircraft carriers, but realistically they can only deploy helicopters and VTOL fighter jets. However, they can also deploy boats and amphibious craft, as they can include a sea deck below. Just like their bigger sisters they carry little weapons, but it is their payload in helo's or smaller boats that does the job indirectly.
*'''Attack Submarine''': Submarines designed specifically to attack enemy ships and subs using torpedoes, though they may also be used as covert escort vessels or blockade runners. These optimize speed and stealth, and are among the smallest subs. The first submarines, such as the German U-Boat, were diesel-electric and this could not spend much time underwater due to the need for fresh oxygen to power their engines. Nuclear power solved this problem, allowing submarines to spend far more time underwater, limited only by food storage/crew sanity.
*'''Cruise Missile Submarine''': Submarines designed mainly to fire long-range cruise missiles. The Ohio class has 154 Tomahawks per vessel. [[Dakka|More_Dakka]] in the form missiles.
*'''Ballistic Missile Submarine''': Submarines used in strategic nuclear warfare rather than direct combat. Think of "The Hunt for Red October" on why this is a big deal. These subs are some times also called "Boomers", and since they’re armed with nukes the reason should be self apparent.

{{Vehicle Warfare}}

Blood Ravens

2019-11-22T12:29:49Z

2601:1C0:5C00:C130:B41D:95A0:1810:CC98: /* Blood Ravens Paint Scheme */

{{Infobox Spess Mahreen Chapter
|Name = Blood Ravens
|Heraldry = [[Image:Bloodravenslogo.jpg|250px]]
|Battle Cry = '''Pre-Retribution:''' "Knowledge is power. Guard it well."<br>'''Post-Retribution:''' "None shall find us wanting." <br> '''Unofficial:''' <br> "STEAL IT!! MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE"
|Number = Unknown
|Founding = Unknown
|Successors of = Unknown, hinted to be [[Thousand Sons]]
|Successor Chapters = N/A
|Chapter Master = [[Gabriel Angelos]]
|Primarch = Unknown, possibly [[Magnus the Red]]
|Homeworld = Fleet-based
|Specialty = [[Psyker]]s, collecting "lost" relics, plot armor,[[Reasonable Marines| Attacking in key positions]]
|Strength = as little as 250 after Retribution, currently at 1000 following Primaris reinforcements
|Allegiance = <s>[[Ork#Ork Klanz|Deathskullz]]</s> [[Imperium of Man]]
|Colours = Red, bone white pauldrons
}}
{{topquote|I am a thief of knowledge, and in a survival way, I had to solve all the problems around me.|Philippe Petit}}
{{topquote|My Preciousssssss...|<s>Gollum</s> Every Blood Raven ever, after setting eyes on something shiny.}}
{{topquote|1=Blood Ravens? Go lock the reliquary.|2=[https://youtu.be/mabM64rAd4k?t=14m13s Calato, Deathwatch Champion, to a random Stormtrooper upon encountering a Blood Ravens force... and pretty much any other loyalist chapter working with them.]}}

The '''Bluhd Rehvehns''' are one of the better-known background Chapters, primarily from their starring role in the [[Dawn of War]] vidya series. They have ''waaaaaaaay'' too many psykers and are obsessed with <s>stealing</s> <s>finding</s> <s>reclaiming</s> <s>stealing</s> <s>finding</s> <s>reclaiming </s> <s>stealing</s> <s>finding</s> <s>reclaiming</s> <s>stealing</s> <s>finding</s> <s>reclaiming</s> <s>stealing</s> <s>MINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINE</s> <s>STEAL RAIN</s> recovering lost relics, mostly because they don't know anything about their history. They have no records dating before the [[Age of Apostasy]]. This has led some to theorize that they are actually [[Traitor Legion Loyalists|loyalist descendants]] of the [[Thousand Sons]], which according to fluff, <s>may be canon</s> <s>it's not canon</s> is intentionally left in the grey area and even GW likes to tease us about this (like they did in the Prospero White Dwarf).

==History==
[[File:Indrick Boreale.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Indrick Baldeale, a Blud Rehvens Captain: Teh greahtehst hero of teh chaphter and mastur of STEEL REHN.]]
This chapter existed, but was very obscure before the Dawn of War vidya gaems. This would remain their only claim to fame if Dawn of War hadn't spawned dozens of [[meme]]s. Perhaps the most famous example of these memes is the voice acting of the Captain Indrick Boreale, who is the origin of the terms [[Emprah]] and [[Space Marine|Spehss mahreens]]. They are also infamous on /tg/ for losing half their chapter in a single campaign, also thanks to Brother-Captain Boreale, who got himself krumped by the Ork Warboss [[Gorgutz 'Ead 'Unter]].

The Blood Ravens are also famous for their '''raven'''ous kleptomania, discussed in greater depth below, as well as an infamous reputation for STEALING. SCREW YOU GABE ITS TRUE.

One of the few canonically confirmed, let alone interesting, things about their history is the possibility that they are descendants of a [[Thousand Sons]] schism cult or possibly (but significantly less likely) a breakaway from the Word Bearers. The short story "Rebirth" in ''Age of Darkness'' shows what might be the foundation of the Chapter, as hinted before in ''A Thousand Sons'' Horus Heresy book. That story shows that most of the Corvidae (as in the genus of birds to which the raven belongs) Fellowship of the Legion was sent away by [[Magnus]] during the Burning of [[Prospero]]. The leader of this Fellowship, Revuel '''Arvida''', has a name very similar to Azari'''ah Vidya''', the legendary hero of the Blood Ravens, who utters "Knowledge is Power, Guard It Well", the motto of the Blood Ravens. However, Arvida would later separate from any other surviving Thousand Sons and join with the [[White Scars]] on their way back to Terra, where he was merged with a fragment of [[Magnus the Red]] and became an altogether new entity named '''Ianius''', who would later lead the [[Grey Knights]] as one of their eight founding Grand Masters.

Still, Thousand Sons are known to have fought on both sides of the conflict, and any loyalist Thousand Sons force would have had to do a certain amount of foraging to remain a viable force. So the theory remains valid if you "neglect" asking the compelling question how they possibly might have managed to evade the flesh change, which undoubtedly would also have afflicted any "splinter sects" after Tzeentch basically told Magnus that Magnus that the deal was off an that he would now pay the price for dealing with CHAOS during the battle of Prospero (meaning that his sons would now be prone to the flesh change again, turning them into CHAO NONONOahvajldazbvzaj). To continue where my predecessor left off, the question remains how a possibly loyal Thousand Sons off-shoot could have avoided the flesh change for 10.000 years as they would have had the same unstable gene seed just like any other Thousand Son (which made Magnus make a bargain with CHAOS in the first place). And the only real evidence for the Word Bearer theory is interpreting Eliphas' taunts in Dark Crusade in a certain way, and Eliphas is very much someone who will take great joy in lying if it means messing with someone's head. It is worth noting as a counterpoint, that the [[Lamenters]], a particularly unfortunate offshoot of the [[Blood Angels]], managed to (ostensibly) rid themselves of their gene-seed flaw...(Not anymore, it returned because they're unlucky bastards I guess)

On the other hand though, they have an unusually high number of unusually powerful psykers, with two full squads of Librarians in the First Company and were (at least until the events of [[Dawn of War 2#Retribution|Retribution]]) lead by a combination of [[Chapter Master]]s and [[Librarian]]s. Finally, their obsession with lost knowledge and mystic relics mirrors pre-Heresy Thousand Sons. Hell, even their ''color scheme'' is suspiciously close to the one used by the pre-Heresy Thousand Sons. Also, if you want to read ''way'' too much into it, it should be noted that almost every other Traitor Legion has known, named Loyalist members, most of whom aided [[Malcador]] with the creation of the [[Inquisition]].

However, given the ambiguous and circumstantial nature of what little evidence exists, we may never know if this is true. For a time, there was a rumor of a Blood Ravens Codex produced by Games Workshop, which would probably expand on the theory. However, the codex never came out, the rumors quietly died out and do not look likely to be revived anytime soon. There's also [[Aaron Dembski-Bowden]] revealing GW's official stance against the [[Silver Skulls|Traitor Loyalist theory]]. (Not that anyone with any sense cares 1 whit about what ADB has to say about canon, especially in regards to his widdle pwecious chaos space marines that are totally his and no one else is allowed to touch them ever ever only his spacemans can be kool ORIGINAL CHARACTER DOUGHNUT STEEL.)

Others posit that the Blood Ravens are possibly descendants of the Dark Angels though not among the Unforgiven due to their similarly secretive nature, others point to the Raven Guard for a similarity in name, and some people have raised the possibility of descent from the rather psyker heavy White Scars. Some boring people look to the Ultramarines instead, but this is rather uninteresting. The issue with all the theories of loyalist descent is that whatever the Blood Ravens' actual origins are, it's worth being ashamed of and the truth of their parentage is something Thule himself refused to tell anyone. Finding out they were descended from the Blood or Dark Angels or the Raven Guard, nevermind mutation free legions like the White Scars or Ultramarines wouldn't be worth getting angry about. Even having a modified but still purely monolineage geneseed from a loyalist chapter is not really anything to be ashamed of, as all the twenty first founding chapters with known loyalist legion parentage show no inclination to hide it from anyone. And before you say "if they were sons of the Lion with descent from the Fallen Angels wouldn't that be shame worthy?" if that were true, the Unforgiven would have probably "disappeared" the Blood Ravens a long time ago when they inevitably found out in an attempt to find more of the Fallen. Then again, if the Blood Ravens are Dark Angels successors and aren't descended from the Fallen (which is extremely unlikely, as discussed above), they might still have something to be ashamed of - they almost certainly aren't members of the Unforgiven, which would indicate that they were actually exiled from the Unforgiven due to some sin or mistake committed, which would be valid reason for shame of one's origins. Coincidentally, such a fate could be described as being found "wanting", and given the chapter's motto after Gabe's ascension to Chapter Master...

However, a dark horse theory is that they're actually a chimeric chapter with multiple lines of descent; which would explain away the flesh change and also explain their seemingly supernaturally terrible luck. This theory posits that the chapter was made from the Adeptus Mechanicus' tinkerings with geneseed, quite likely including the geneseed of the Thousand Sons and possibly the Word Bearers along with those of loyalist legions in an attempt to create a more stable form of psychic space marine. This theory certainly would make their origins something worth hiding from others, as even insinuating that a Chapter is born of chimeric geneseed is almost universally considered a grievous insult and is never something any chapter known in 40k openly admits. Now add the shame of being bastards to including the genetics of one, two, or more traitor legions and you'd have a very serious reason for Davian Thule to deem that the truth of the Chapter's origins is too monstrous for anyone else to ever learn. It's certainly a theory that can neatly explain any of the holes in the other theories and it would explain why they're said to have not appeared until the age of apostasy when the twenty first founding occurred. Also, lines up well with how they learnt more about their origin by studying the Primaris.

The Blood Ravens have only two recorded mutations in their [[gene seed]]. The first one affects their Catalepsean Node, the Implant that allows a Space Marine to need less sleep and resist the effects of sleep deprivation. In the Blood Ravens, this node malfunctions, preventing them from entering R.E.M. sleep, a real and terminal condition called Fatal insomnia, but the Catalepsean Node keeps them alive despite this, and has the side effect of giving the Blood Ravens perfect memory. The second mutation, if it can be counted as one, is the chapter's unusually high frequency of producing or activating latent psychic power, with the chapter having an extremely high number of librarians.

Other, less documented (as in fan-developed) characteristics include a massive tendency to develop kleptomania, generate a gelatinous substance in their scalps to allow for the creation of hairetical hair, and something known as "unavailable original voice acting" which causes some members' voices to change periodically.

They are also notable for having [[C.S. Goto|a Librarian Chapter Master who dedicates himself to Khorne]]. Normally this would be a case of extreme bullshit writing, <s>but appears to make some degree of sense in that the Chapter Master/Head Librarian in question is never seen using sorcerous powers after revealing his new loyalty</s> He psykically projects himself onto Typhon, in order to trick the protagonists onto the planet to cause the Exterminatus. But after that, Daemon Princes, even of Khorne (which he ultimately transforms into), actually have massive psychic potential.

The [[Dawn of War III]] initial reveal page shows that good ol' Gabe is in fact alive, meaning that the Space Marine ending in Dawn of War II was in fact completely canon. Unfortunately, Gabe is no longer mostly bionic so [[Derp|who knows what's canon]].

Anyways, the Blood Raven's new motto under Gabriel Angelos was "None Shall Find Us Wanting", which is the saying they use in Space Marine, unlike their old "Knowledge is Power, Guard it Well" schtick, indicating that the events of Space Marine occurred after DoW:Retribution. In any event, whether Space Marine itself is actually canon or not is up for debate, though GW's official stance is that most of it is not, which would mean that there is no evidence at all about what actually happens. You'll have to [[Matt Ward|decide for yourself]].

Interestingly, seen as a whole, this also means that Graham McNeill's incorrect statement that Gabe was the Chapter Master at the time he wrote the WD Blood Ravens Index Astartes article (published Nov 2004), is now retroactively correct, as Gabe does indeed become Chapter Master in the Space Marine ending of Retribution (released in Mar 2011)... unless this was [[JUST AS PLANNED|already the intended direction of Relic/Games Workshop's plot arc from the beginning]].

[[Wat|Knowing Games Workshop though]], Eliphas is probably still alive. Probably a Daemon Prince, too. Because, as with all secondary 40K media: "Fuck coherency in the name of storytelling!".

===Post-[[Cicatrix Maledictum]]===

In the White Dwarf of July 2019 we discovered [[Advancing the Storyline|what happened after Acheron]].

After the clusterfuck that was Acheron and the chapter reduced to half-strength, the Blood Ravens returned to Subsector Aurelia in force to a large-scale regroup and rebuild (which means that they didn't pursue [[Gorgutz]] and his no-longer-majikal pointy stikk) with the hope of putting the chapter back in full strength. [[Not as Planned|However]], a few weeks later the Great Rift opened and Subsector Aurelia is on the bad side of the rift. Barely managing to make contact with the groups doing the recruitment, losing ships with aspirants in the warp, weird shit happening all across the subsector and mutation and heresy spreading to the point of Daemonic incursions (Fortunately, Ulkair didn't break out, but not for lack of trying). Angelos, being awesome if sentimental, dispatched help whenever needed and tried to contact the Imperium, and sent ships to find out what happened, with [[Fail|predictable results]].

It was in this situation that the Custodes made contact with the Blood Ravens and informed them of [[Indomitus Crusade|all]] [[Roboute Guilliman|that]] [[Cicatrix Maledictum|happened]] on the Terran side. They also "brought" with them Primaris gene-seed to help rebuild their chapter. When the Custodes made it clear that they would not take "no" for an answer, the Blood Ravens accepted and started creating Primaris Marines, and eventually this saw them back to fighting status.

Some highlights include:
* All the ass-pullery, terminator flips and Inquisitorial idiocy (which to be fair is par for the course) of [[Dawn of War III]] was [[Wat|tabletop-canon]]! Clearly, Gabriel's armor must be some Dark-Age super-relic.
* The Blood Ravens have been investigating the gene-seed and tools gifted by the Custodes and [[Belisarius Cawl|Papa Cawl]]. They apparently made significant insights into their origins, but it was determined that nobody outside of the chapter must ever know about their primogenitors and only the most senior officers of the Blood Ravens have actually been entrusted with that information. Draw your own conclusions.
* The Custodes are really pushy bastards, but they didn't ask for their "gifted" equipment back. Either they don't know of their presence or they don't care; given that the Custodes' standard wargear is far more potent than even the best bolters, the latter is slightly more probable. Or maybe the writers just forgot that the Magpies had Custodes gear, we don't know.
* [[Davian Thule]]'s fate after the Third Aurelian Crusade (a.k.a. Dawn of War 2: Retribution) is unknown. Which means that he may be alive after all!
* The planet Aurelia is officially recognized as the former homeworld of the Chapter, their late Chapter Monastery being Selenon.
* Related to the above: Ulkair is still imprisoned in Aurelia for now, but the opening of the Great Rift stirred him up A LOT.
* Being a chapter with so many psykers also means that many aspirants end up mad because of their powers, while others end up like Isador Akios and go too deep in their studies of Chaos. These poor bastards are kept in the Librarius Sanatorum before being put to use one last time before execution. What that final use is isn't mentioned, but it's probably related as to where things went to hell with them. Chief Librarian Jonah Orion is being extra cautious with these Librarians after the Cicatrix popped up.
*New Lore is added where failed Psyker Aspirants are either Shot to prevent Daemonic Corruption, die due to their uncontrolled powers or mutated by the warp and to be used as experiments by the chapter's [[Librarians]] inside the Omnis Arcanum jail called "The Tower" where they find ways to cure/prevent such anomalies present within the chapter's geneseed flaw. Rumor has it that sometimes [[Librarians]] have to banish warp entities that manifested themselves within the failed Aspirants, but nobody can confirm if that's true.
*Sometime later the Blood Ravens joined in with [[Roboute Guilliman]]'s Indomitus Crusade and help liberate thousands of worlds in the Dark Imperium side of the Galaxy and possibly acquire more "Gifts" for the Reliquary.

== On the Tabletop ==

Thanks to Dawn of War, Blood Ravens now receive at least passing mention in each Space Marine codex -- including, as mentioned above, a lot of fluff and rules updates in July 2019's White Dwarf.

Canonically they lost a good amount of their number due to being trapped in the Dark Imperium, but were gifted -- no, seriously this time -- Primaris geneseed and tech by the Emissaries Imperatus of the Custodes. According to the fluff the Blood Ravens have a not insignificant number of Librarians, as befitting a possible Thousand Sons successor chapter.

In the Index Astartes update in WD July 2019, a specific Chapter Tactic was provided -- '''Relentless Seekers''', which forces any unmodified rolls to wound of 1 or 2 to always fail, as well as giving them the ability to reroll 1s for any Psychic test or Deny the Witch. They also have a special Stratagem which for 1CP, allows them to make one of their librarians a '''Chief Librarian''', which has 1 more power and can deny the witch 1 more time per turn.

In perhaps a nod to what the Bloody Magpies are best known for, '''Purgatorus''', a special bolt pistol that they just happened to end up with is also listed as a wargear option.

The release of the 2019 Space Marines codex, however, made it clear that Magpies still steal everything, including chapter tactics — as theirs is a pick of two options from the make-your-own-successor-tactic list, and Purgatorus is a generic relic available to anyone.

=== Blood Ravens Paint Scheme ===
[[File:RikTurnerBloodRavens.png|200px|thumb|right|They were gifted Primaris Gene Seed from the Custodes. No, literally.]]

From the old 2E codex, the official paint scheme for Blood Ravens is: Khorne Red Armor, a Black Imperial Aquila, and Ushabti Bone pauldrons with Black trim. The kneepad shows the company colors. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4nCScpgDhA Warhammer TV] shows them being painted similarly, although the Ushabti Bone pauldrons are now Zandri Dust (partially because Ushabti Bone is a layer paint, and painting it on top of a non-Zandri Dust undercoat is a pain in the ass). Forge World (on their Gabriel Angelos page) alongside some newer WTV videos suggest Mephiston Red with 100% Carroburg Crimson shade instead, which is almost the same as Khorne Red with a more gradual shading.

What isn't covered in any detail is how, exactly, Sergeants / Veterans / Veteran Sergeant / Lieutenants are handled. In typical Codex chapters these are handled by Red / White / Red + White Stripe / White Stripe + Red Stripe, but this falls apart when the armor color is red to begin with, and the video game dodged the issue by not giving any officers helmets and only including terminators as Veterans.

Paul Norton from the GW Heavy Metal Team [https://twitter.com/ajuntapaulpal/status/876099214513770496?lang=en painted a Primaris Lieutenant], and used a bone colored helmet with a black stripe, which implies: Sergeant: Black, Vet: Bone, Vet Sergeant: Black with Bone Stripes, Lieutenant: Bone with Black Stripes or Red with Black stripe and bone inner stripe.

Rik Turner's army in the 2019 White Dwarf article on Blood Ravens, on the other hand, had a Sergeant with a bone helm, and a Primaris Ancient + Lieutenant with a black helmet and bone face mask -- with the Aquilla being bone instead of black, and the kneepads not painted in any longer. The Captain seems to have a gold helmet, as well.

==The Hats==
The dust settled and the Ork horde lay dead at her feet. But with such a victory came sacrifice. The good General lay dead, his final words asking "Who wants to live FOREVEEER?" (Seeing as he's Freddie Fuckin Mercury in Space) with a wry smile on his face. The Imperial Guard had either died to a man or retreated when the Commissar LORD fell in battle. But it did not matter, her hat and her popped collar would hide any tears that she may have shed for them.

And then suddenly, there was a thumping. It couldn't be! She had bombed the area! She had drowned the orks in the bodies of the devoted guardsmen! She had evaporated the green tide with faith and fire! And yet... he still stomped through the ashes.

"ALRITE YA SQUISHY! I WANTZ DAT HAT!". He was as determined as he was arrogant, but even with his stubbornness, she could see something change in his face. Confusion had entered his small little brain. Perhaps it was because he was shocked that naught but a "pitiful" human could stand tall against the full force of a WAAAGGHHH. What was more amusing was that the Warboss had lost his patented pirate hat. She reached for her own hat, to tip it in torment at the Ork's incompetence... only to find nothing but hair in it's place. "WHERE IZ IT!? WHERE'Z DA HAT?!" the Ork roared in fury before noticing his own unprotected head. Shock turned to anger as both reached the same conclusion.

"DIOMEDES!" She screamed in unison to the Ork's own war-cries for "DEM'Z BLUDY MAGPIES HEADZ!". The eternal war made for some strange alliances, but none as strange as the Inquisitor and the Warboss hunting down the Thieves of Thieves, in retribution for their loss.

Diomedes sat with his new pirate hat. He thought it fitting for his position in a Chapter as renowned as his for "acquiring" gifts.
"We Shahl Coll this maneuvah Stehl Stehl!" - The Ancient announced, as he disregarded his tattered old helmet for the Witch Hunter's headpiece.

==Famous Blud Rehvens==
[[File:60177 md-Blood Ravens, Space Marines, Tactical Squad.JPG|300px|thumb|right|A squad of ravens out on the hunt for loot.]]
*Chapter Master [[Gabriel Angelos]] - Original Badass and current Chapter Master of the Blod Rehvens, at least in the SM and IG endings of Retribution (the SM ending is canon, but he dies in every other ending). He is the first Blood Raven Chapter Master in recorded history to not at the same time be the Chief Librarian, probably because they finally realized that having a Chief Librarian/Chapter Master is a Bad Idea™. Gabe was the first Blood Raven character we were ever introduced to and has the most fully-formed character of anyone else. Known for his catch phrase "Walk softly and carry a big gun", which translates to "Steal the biggest thing and don't get noticed". He sentenced his own homeworld of Cyrene to [[Exterminatus]] after discovering extensively deep [[heresy]] on it (which he's still hurting over) and accidentally set the events of most of the series in motion by destroying a daemonic artifact known as the Maledictum and thus setting a Greater Daemon of Khorne loose. He still did his damndest to make up for it and succeeded.
**Comes back in Dawn of War III wearing an impressive looking suit of Tartaros Terminator Armour, as well as making ridiculous [[C.S. Goto|front 360 flips in it]].
*Chief Librarian Azariah Vidya (get it? cuz they are in a vidya gaem?) - Led the chapter soon after their founding in a campaign against Alpha Legion (who have slain their Chapter Master) with most of the 1st Company and most of their previous command structure. Vidya made use of some kind of [[Creed|Tactical Genius]], and his already large experience battling Chaos forces, made him naturally "understand" where the enemy was, so that his Rehvens perfectly striked where needed. He essentially found the "I WIN" button for that campaign and pressed it while engaging his inner troll-face. Vidya was hinted to actually be 'Arvida', a 'Corvidae' or seer, from the Thousand Sons Legion before GW decided to have Arvida merge with a shard of Magnus to become a being called Janus, later the first Supreme Grand Master of the [[Grey Knights]].
*[[Isador Akios]] - Gabe's Librarian buddy. Was successfully tempted by [[Sindri Myr|Ssssiiiiindriiiiii]] into betraying the Blood Ravens, and was eventually killed by Gabe himself for that heresy (thus also enabling Gabe to spout an awesome one-liner while pulling the trigger).
*Captain [[Davian Thule|Davian Thule]] - The only force commander to get 2 sexy voices in both games he appears in.....well that was until he got ripped by a [[Tyranid]] Warrior and interred into a Dreadnought, where he sounds just as scary as any near-psychotic Dread. Gets rekt by Eliphas in the first Chaos mission in Retribution, though. Way to punch the players in the gut, Relic.... We like to pretend that the Venerable Dreadnought honor guard in Retribution is Davian Thule, to soothe our deep emotional trauma. While the Space Marine ending to Retribution is canon, his character is never really addressed after Chaos Rising, other than the aforementioned humiliating annihilation, and could well be dead. It is still hinted that he and the 4th company fought during the 13th Black Crusade.
*Captain [[Indrick Boreale|Indrick Baldeale]] - A master of [[meme|STEEL REHN]]. He is quite dead at the moment. Unlike Davian though, nobody is in the least broken down about him. It is suggested that he was promoted too early and put into a campaign way above his current pay grade to get most of the loyal Blud Rahvens killed as a ploy by Kyras.
*[[Blood Ravens Force Commander|Force Commander Hair Gel]] - Though he is given the name Aramus in a [[C.S.Goto|novel]], the game and the novels contradict each other so we'll never know what is what. Usually called Force Commander Vanilla Ice or Hair Gel for his hair-esy, he's also the youngest Blood Raven Force Commander ever. In Retribution, he's mentioned in the "Hammer of the Nameless" wargear, stating that the hammer went missing after he was branded renegade by Kyras. It is slightly possible that Vanilla Ice might return in the series one day since it's never implied that he was executed by Gabe or defected to the Black Legion. Retribution hints that the "slightly tainted" ending of Chaos Rising is canon (ending #3 out of '''five''' possible endings), and in that ending he was sent to the Eye of Terror on a 100 year penitent crusade. Dialogue indicates that Thaddeus was sent along with Hair Gel.
*[[Avitus]] - A Devastator Sergeant, who's so angry that he hates everything. On top of that hate list are Imperial Guardsmen; when he was a regular human they were jerks who oppressed his neighborhood, and on Kronus he lost several battle brothers to the Guardsmen that stood against the Blood Ravens' cleaning up their Chapter's dark secret. Is an all-around badass who can fire plasma cannons and heavy bolters without needing to set up, given the proper upgrades. Has the same voice as the unknown heretic in Chaos Rising. In Retribution, he is stated to canonically be the heretic (who betrays the player and joins Eliphas' Black Legion warband) in the player's forces during Chaos Rising, as if him being fucking angry all the time wasn't enough of a dead-giveaway. He then gets killed by his ex-BFF Tarkus later on.
*[[Cyrus|Cyrus/Spike Spiegel/also Wolverine]] - A Scout Sergeant, who's so grimdark that he hates everything. He's also voiced by [[Steve Blum]], which makes him awesome. Cyrus literally hates everything, short of the [[Emprah]], and constantly bitches about how fucked up everything is during every briefing in the game. The whole "Spike Spiegel/Wolverine" name comes from his rather prolific VA's most famous characters, one from the anime Cowboy Bebop, the other from the X-Men cartoons and assorted games. Prefers to wear scout armor instead of tactical armor to show off he's that badass. He served in the Death Watch, explaining why he knows so much about the Tyranids.
*[[Jonah Orion]] - Gabe's new Librarian buddy after Isador got executed on Tartarus. He played a rousing game of mindfuck with the Tyranid Hivemind to allow Angelos' fleet to enter the system during the first DoWII. He won in the end, the only remaining sane & alive Librarian on Gabe's ship. And he becomes playable in Chaos Rising. Died in all endings of Retribution at the hands of DOM-Kyras as Relic likes to keep up with the tradition that the black guy has a 99% chance of being killed in the end. He's also the first confirmed black Space Marine who isn't from the [[Salamanders]], which is [[Awesome]]. Well, there was also that one [[Black Templar]] guy in [[Damnation Crusade]]. Later turned out to be not quite dead, and appears as the new Chief Librarian in Dawn of War 3.
*[[Martellus]] - A [[Techmarine]], also voiced by [[Steve Blum]]. His job is to inform you of bad news all the time while chilling on the strike cruiser. Survived getting his Thunderhawk shot down and stranded on Typhon for months, canonically wasn't the traitor in Chaos Rising, and became a playable character in DoWII: Retribution. If he becomes a traitor due to the player's use of artifacts, he will attack you in a Chaos Predator, fucking your shit up. (Despite not being the canonical traitor, he is nonetheless selected as the default traitor if none of the squads have been corrupted.)
*[[Tarkus]] - A Tactical squad Sergeant, who is bald and also the Ancient in Retribution. Noted for being surprisingly kind-hearted and dutiful for a Marine, Tarkus ever takes the role of a mentor and is a strict adherent to the Codex Astartes. Unusual in that if he falls to Chaos through artifacts, he does so with the express intention of using the daemonic weaponry to fuck over the Black Legion and Eliphas and bring Kyras to justice by his own hands. If turned to Chaos, he attacks with a [[Awesome|daemonically possessed bolter]] that fucks things up with retardedly strong bolts of warpfire.
*[[Thaddeus]] - An Assault Marine Sergeant, the youngest and least grimdark of the gang. Is also a hair-etic and unsurprisingly joined Force Commander Hair Gel on his heresy during Chaos Rising. Canonically gets sent away on the penitent crusade alongside Commander Hair Gel after Chaos Rising, explaining his absence in Retribution.
*Apothecary Gordian - the man responsible for bringing Davian Thule back from the brink of death and overseeing his internment in a dreadnought. It's a pity that he gets virtually no screen time and gets killed when the Tyranids destroy your strike cruiser, since his few appearances mark him as a useful and generally cool character.
*[[Apollo Diomedes|Captain Apollo Diomedes]]- Captain of the veteran First Company and Honor Guard, and said to be the "greatest" warrior of the Blood Ravens history. He used to be a helmet-wearing jerkass of awesomeness until Retribution, where he is revealed to be bald. As such, this fa/tg/uy dubs him Abaldo Diomedes. Looks (and sounds) suspiciously like Indrick Boreale... "BRRUUUHVVAA I AM HITTT!" "IT IS DE BEEEIHNNNNBLEEEEHD!" As second in command to Kyras, he is suitably ashamed when the Chapter Master is revealed to have been a traitor for centuries. He steps down as First Captain and takes up the mantle of Chaplain to pay amends.
*[[Azariah Kyras]] - A [[C.S.Goto|Space Marine Librarian who falls to Chaos and dedicates himself to Khorne]]. In his early days he was stuck in a Spacey Hulk with a couple of marines, and after fighting in it for Emperor knows how long, he was corrupted by the Nurgle demon Ulkair. Was also Chapter Master of the Blood Ravens up until Retribution. Has a kickass VA ("Let the galaxy BURN!"). He looks like he hasn't slept since the time of the Ancient Sumerians (just look at those eye rings, someone give this man a tempur-pedic and some clonodine). He also happens to be one of the few psykers to gain the favor of Khorne in the history of 40k (apparently good enough to be granted daemonhood on top of all that too). This is largely due him kicking Ulkair to the curb after he got owned by Commander Hair Gel, and decided to cater to the daemon of Khorne Gabriel released.
*Apothecary Galan - A traitor apothecary with a great voice, possessed by a daemon of Nurgle, trying to corrupt Abaldo Diomedes. Was part of the expedition that found Kyras aboard the Judgment of Carrion. Notable for bucking the "apothecaries aren't badass"-trend by carrying a chainsword that hits like a goddamn truck and having a bodyguard of assault terminators. If defeated in battle in Chaos Rising (optional objective), the daemon gets exorcised, and the actually repentant Galan (who was possessed against his will) gives you information that saves Diomedes' life... and then dies. Since Diomedes is alive in Retribution, that means canonically, Galan is dead.
*Scout Sergeant Priam - Got all his scouts kidnapped by a Sorcerer on Calderis, with the rest of them holed up in shitty clay structures against Chaos Dreadnoughts, havocs, and missile-carrying plague marines. Suffice to say, if Hairgel doesn't deploy every shred of tactical genius he has, everyone gets [[rape|properly fucked.]]
*Sergeant <s>Lysandros</s> MEHTULBAWKSES - shows up on Calderis to destroy an empty town in the ass end of nowhere on orders of Kyras. Notable for being the eternal nemesis of [[Firaeveus Carron]] by spamming not just Rhinos, but Razorbacks. Tells Diomedes (the player) to fuck off and stop being a buzzkilling asshole. The player then proceeds to kill him. Obviously.
*Dreadnought - A random hero of the chapter. The Blood Ravens must have a bunch, since they're more spammable than Predators. Most players pretend (in vain) that the Venerable version you can sub out Martellus for in Retribution is Thule, and weep quietly as it instagibs infantry in the background with assault cannon sweeps.
*Unnamed Traitor - Siding with Kyras and Chaos, he shows up in the later stages of Retribution, becoming the greatest exemplar of the thieving might of the chapter by stealing a Land Raider Redeemer from the Blood Ravens themselves. Is also a teamkilling fucktard who fires off the Land Raider's frag assault launchers directly into a huge mass of cultists (on the same side as him) worshiping Khorne, resulting in ludicrous gibs.
*Squad [[Beakie|Corvus]] Marines - Shows up in Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine during the Chaos Invasion. Noticing a group of Black Templars traveling to join the Liberation Fleet heading for Forge World Graia, Squad Corvus attached themselves to the strike force in order to "acquire" more gifts for the chapter (specifically, more Titans). They show up during the Chaos invasion and kick major ass, despite there being only like four of them. Just goes to show how fucking strong Blood Raven plot armor is... or how strong their dedication to "acquire" relics for their chapter can be.
*Rhamah - [[C.S. Goto|The blackest of Irish lepers]] graced us with this librarian, who got pulled into the warp while fighting off a Gellar field breach on the Litany of Fury. He ended up on a [[Harlequin]] library planet with amnesia, where he met [[Ahzek Ahriman]]. Getting convinced that they were battle brothers, he wandered around the library while [[Gabriel Angelos]] and company were looking for him. The moment Rhamah was found, he got a [[Ferrus Manus|viking haircut]] courtesy of a space elf clown's power sword. The moral of the story is to avoid heresy. And also fuck C.S. Goto.
*Jensus Natorian - In the Deathwatch Overkill boxed game, Jensus is the librarian in Kill Team Cassius. Back when Jensus was a regular old human, his parents got killed by orks. That made Jensus angry. [[Angry Marines|Really REALLY angry]]. He raged so hard he developed psychic powers, [[Rip and tear|started tearing hordes of orks into hamburger with his bare hands]], and made Khorne himself raise his fiery eyebrows and say “…{{BLAM|DAMN}}.” So yeah, he kinda went <s>super saiyan</s> Angry Librarian. After Jensus ran out of greenskins to render down to their component parts, he was right about to be taken by the Black Ships when a chap by the name of Inquisitor Belicor decided that Jensus’ rage could be put to better use, shipped him off to the Blood Ravens, and later oversaw his induction into the Deathwatch, where his psychic contributions are less about mind bullets and more about mind [[RIP AND TEAR]]. Jensus also makes the Blood Ravens the only non-First Founding Chapter represented in the Deathwatch Overkill box, much to the disappointment of Black Templar players.
*Captain Arthrus Godfrey - The Captain of 4th Company that fought Hivefleet Behemoth with Inquisitor Kryptman in the series made by [[If the Emperor had a Text-to-Speech Device|Eliphas the Inheritor.]] Scares the crap out of the Death Watch members who know that the Blud Rehvens are thieving bastards.

==The Lazy Fuckwits of 4th Company==
The Blood Ravens 4th Company is recognized as the laziest sons of bitches in the entire goddamn sector. For all of Dawn of War 2, these bastards sat around on Calderis, only to show up when [[Davian Thule]] gets KO'd by a Tyranid ''Warrior''. Their battle strategy basically involves "let the Force Commander do all the work". So only about twenty marines and the rest of the Blood Raven scouts actually do shit, while the rest of these fat bastards sit around on Calderis getting chewed up by gribblies. Where the fuck are they when the Force Commander needs them!? Probably "discovering and obtaining" more artifacts.

The Force Commander never actually needs them on the battlefield though: he, Thule, Tarkus, Cyrus, and/or Jonah alone are perfectly capable of blasting the stuffing from Cannon Fodder, Tyrants and Fatty Daemon Princess (if they are properly equipped and employing hit-run-cheat-hit tactic). Friendly Cannon Fodder is useless in hard battles anyway. Better let them loot friends and foes.

If you wanted to split hairs, you could argue that the rest of the 4th Company is the reinforcements you call in when your squads get KO'd and you run back to a satellite dish/strategic point to heal up. This begs the question to why they don't just deploy full-sized squads to begin with and overwhelm the enemy from the start.

The rest of the company are probably deployed to other theatres, performing side objectives on the same planet, presumably launched from the Strike Cruiser Armageddon/Retribution's thunderhawk gunships and minimizing the number of reinforcements that jump in front of Thule's assault cannon or Multimelta or getting too close to Tarkus using his face as an orbital strike beacon because he gives zero fucks about being hit with lance batteries.

==Bloody Magpies==
[[File:Magpie Missle.jpg|200px|right|thumb|The Blood Ravens "acquiring" a master-crafted artillery shell from a Forgeworld. The next day, the Magos simply said: ''"THEY TOOK WHAT?!"'' after hearing the report that their entire artillery battery was reported missing.]]
[[File:Warhammer_40k_blood_ravens_magpies_comic_bolt_down_everything_1335786405659.jpg|200px|left|thumb|Don't bother, they'll just "acquire" the bolts too.]]

Throughout the Dawn of War II trilogy, the Blood Ravens have numerous opportunities to receive wargear for them to use in battle. When you read the flavor text, a good number of them are obtained through vague circumstances or described as "gifts", either implying that they were salvaged from the dead who aren't Blood Ravens or were downright stolen from both loyal and traitor marine chapters and other Imperial organizations. How they got away with that is something only the Emperor would know. Seeing as their battle gear includes (and is not limited to) scraps from Ultramarines, Space Wolves, Imperial Fists, Salamanders, Dark Angels, Iron Snakes, Blood Angels, Black Templars, Iron Hands, Grey Knights, even the Adeptus Custodes and at least one Primarch, the Emperor probably is the only one that could know.

''Why'' they do this is a much more obvious matter, and doesn't even need old memes to justify it: they are not an official chapter and must make do with what they find. In case you haven't noticed thus far: they are named after an intelligent bird known for feasting on the dead, which makes them value the spoils of war more than any other chapter. In addition, they are always on the move, implying heavily that they are the Space Gypsies of the Warhammer 40k. This makes further sense when you consider that "Gypsies" is derived from "Egyptian", and the Thousand Sons are Egyptian-themed (although gypsies are actually ethnically Indian). Maybe the White Scars like them, but they only hang out with their successors anyway.

So [[Bjorn_the_Fell_Handed#Bjorn.27s_Happy_End|how will this end?]] I don't know...But I'm pretty sure they are a textbook case of mass kleptomania, which could be explained as an unnoticed gene-seed corruption (because when you're checking for thing like growing the wrong number of limbs, a compulsion to steal is going to be a lot less visible).

Of course, will you question the Omnissiah and the Machine Cult when it comes to handling artifacts?

<gallery>
File:StealingBastards.jpeg| We came here to do two things: purge heretics and stehl property, and we already stole your property!
Image:Baalpistol.png|Also known as the Bloody Magpies.
File:BloodRavensBook.jpeg| A Blood Raven, 'protecting' a first edition crisp condition Codex Astartes fromt the Ultrasmurfs first company...
File:BA Flamer.jpg|When the Bloody Magpies were victimizing the Blood Angels, they didn't just settle for the Pistol of Baal.
Image:Inquisitorpistol.png|Weight on the word "discovered".
File:DoomEagle.jpg|This is primarily because the Doom Eagles didn't think to look at their own Chapter armory.
File:Benediction.jpg|Even the Inquisition is not safe.
File:Custodes bolter.jpg|HOW THE FUCK DO YOU STEAL CUSTODES EQUIPMENT?!
File:Jump Pack.jpg|Even the lost and dead are not safe.
File:Heretical Shotgun.jpg|Even the ruinous powers are not safe.
File:Alpha legion armor.jpg|When we said Chaos wasn't safe, we weren't kidding.
File:Termi tele.jpg|Techmarines from different chapters swear to the Emperor that they've seen this before in another chapter's armory.
File:Artificer termi.jpg|Refusal is futile.
File:Nova Termi.jpg|The Novamarines were puzzled to see the Terminator armor gone from their honored battle brother's body after he fell against the Tau... 30 seconds later when they glanced aside.
Image:evenyoumartellus.png|Curiously, the Techpriests of Mars refused to recruit any more potential Techmarines from the Blood Ravens after Martellus' release.
Image:bloodmagpies.png|Spoiler: They don't.
File:Snakes banner.jpg|Emphasis on "recovered".
File:CustodesArmor.jpg|This really puts the achievements of all other chapters to shame.
File:Forgebreaker.png|Not even the Primarchs are safe.
File:SkarbrandMaul.jpg|[[Skarbrand|Skarbrand’s]] weapon is pretty cool too, I guess.
File:BTThunderHammer.jpg|If you steal, might as well do it from the best.
File:Ancient Bolter.gif|Even [[Matthew_Ward| Matt Ward's]] beloved [[Ultramarines|Ultrasmurfs]] aren't safe...
File:GKArmor.jpg| And neither are his other beloved [[Grey_Knights|Special Snowflakes]].
File:Dawn_of_stubbornness.png| Even the fan chapters have witnessed this.
File:Blood_Raven_1.JPG|"[[Roboute_Guilliman|Lord Commander]], a batch of [[Primaris Marines]] went missing just after the visit of-" "I know."
File:PrimarisAngelos.png|Well, we know where at least some of that missing Primaris geneseed went...
File:20180902093627 1.jpg|Not even the xenos are safe...no, really. How do you steal a Wraithlord?
File:Dd6.gif|A Blood Raven Space Marine in their natural habitat.
File:Blood Ravens Shao Kahn.jpg|Shao Kahn should have lurked moar.
File:Blood Ravens Meme.png|Memes were never save.
</gallery>

===Rumors===
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3uEf8sJt1s&feature=g-all-lik A Blood Raven marine sneaking off with an Ultramarine Land Raider with incomprehensible stealth.]
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4om7AuID6BY&feature=related It is worse than we imagined.]
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Enua52rXfmQ Much worse.]
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tavp0vrBOLA So bad, they would steal from each other (Though why would they want THAT particular relic is anybody's guess).]
*Stole not one, but two whole [[Primarch]]s before they were even found.

==Fanboy Ravens==
The Blod Rehvens have also been known for their excessively fangirl-esque behavior, including forging weapons for other chapters and declaring them relics after the receiving chapter rejected them, and naming wargear after off-hand comments by famous chapters, though by now they themselves are a very famous chapter.

Alternatively, they may just enjoy trolling the hell out of other chapters. For a chapter that gives all of zero fucks about slaughtering the Sisters of Battle and Imperial Guard, it could really go either way. Either this, or Relic are massive trolls themselves and all of the Space Gypsy stuff is [[Just as planned|just as planned]].

An alternative alternative is that Tzeentch is actually seeing how much he has to piss off other chapters in the Blood Ravens name in order to get them to turn completely traitor. He may even be pretending to be Khorne, since that's the only god anyone is apparently willing to worship anymore. Hey, it's better than being completely forgotten like a certain Slaanesh...

A third alternative is that, given how many relics they <s>steal</s> acquire, they may be trying to come to good terms with other chapters by spreading their loot around. That said, it is also entirely possible that it serves as a way of fencing stolen goods: take stuff, disguise true origins, and then offer the things back to their original owners with the certainty that they will reject it as an inferior copy of something they think they still have in their armory.

<gallery>
Image:trinkets.jpg|Ragnar Blackmane was suppose to be given a Power Axe by the Blood Raven artificers. He told them to screw off. <s>Probably lost his wolf mantle afterwards too</s>
File:Gift.jpg|Said Power Axe.
File:Fist's Hammer.jpg|[[Darnath Lysander]] is not amused.
File:Russ Axe.jpg|The Space Wolves can't resist trolling the Blood Ravens. They were less amused when they discovered a similar axe disappeared from their arsenal.
File:DA Plasma gun.jpg|[[Troll|Problem]], [[Dark Angels]]?
File:AzraelsSecond.png|"He mad?" "Pretty sure he mad."
</gallery>

== Daily Rituals ==
04:00 - Rousing from slumber. The Ravens get up from their beds, which they got as a "gift".

05:00 - Morning Prayer. The Blood Ravens pray to the Emperor to grant them the right to "borrow" chaos, xenos and Imperial relics.

06:00 - Morning Firing Rites. The Blood Ravens hone their skills with the ammunition "graciously gifted" by fellow Astartes chapters.

07:00 - Battle Practice. The Blood Ravens practice heists and tactical pick pocketing on Imperial worlds.

11:00 - Psychic checkup. The Blood Ravens do their daily psychic checkup on who can be a Librarian that will help the Blood Ravens locate the best loot to 'borrow' from.

12:00 - Midday Prayer. The Blood Ravens pray to the Emperor for fortune for more "gifts". The chapter's chapels has grown noticeably more gaudy.

13:00 - Midday Meal. The Blood Ravens eat some food they got from other chapters or civilians. As such, food varies daily.

13:15 - Tactical Indoctrination. Blood Ravens are informed on which items to "borrow". Anything from a crate of boltguns to a [[Land Raider]] can and will be subjected to involuntary renting.

15:00 - "Battle" Practice. The Blood Ravens now put their practice session to the test on any number of worlds. It is rumored that they can "borrow" anywhere from an entire Armory World's worth of weapons, to a Paradise World's worth of thrones, in a single night of galactic-wide thievery.

20:00 - Evening Prayer. The Blood Ravens thank the Emperor for their new-found "gifts". Bit by bit, the chapter's chapels strangely start to resemble the intricate chapels found only on the richest of Cardinal Worlds.

21:00 - Evening Meal. A feast is provided by the Chapter serfs, who got them as "presents".

21:45 - Night Firing Exercises. The Blood Ravens practice formations in the dark to further hone in their "skills". Any marine who end up trying to steal another Blood Raven's wargear for "Extra ammunition" is disciplined.

23:00 - Maintenance Rituals. The marines maintain their equipment. The techmarines and chaplains busy themselves removing any incriminating marks and icons on their new-found "gifts". It is also at this time every librarian on the fleet monastery are led by Chief Librarian (Jonah Orion) as well as their Chapter Master (Gabriel Angelos) to skim through every documents, scrolls, and data that was "gifted" today for the clues about their [[primarch|father]]. If lucky, librarian may find hints about new "gifts" which they will then inform higher up to send the marines acquired the gifts, tomorrow.

00:00 - Rest Period. The Ravens return to 'their' beds.

==The (Incomplete) Loot List==
* [http://lparchive.org/Dawn-of-War-II/Update%2042/ Many of the weapons and armor the Magpies have been "gifted"]
* [http://lparchive.org/Dawn-of-War-II/Update%2043/ More items. Curiously, none of them are gifts.]
* The [[Squats]].
* The hands of the [[Iron Hands]].
* [[Matt Ward]]’s dignity.
* The Emperor's discarded toilet paper.
* All decent rules for playing a [[carnifex]].
* Common sense.
* [[Trazyn the Infinite|Trayzn the Infinite's]] coffee cup.
* Female Orcs.
* A [[titan]]'s battle cannon.
* [[Heresy|A female space marine]].
* A clean [[Luke]].
* The manliness in [[Cato Sicarius]]'s voice.
* Trazyn's outfit during first contact.

{{Marines-Official}}

[[Category:Thousand Sons]]