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Ynnead

2018-05-26T20:48:21Z

2A02:587:3A03:4900:A4E9:33F6:3E0:6391:

{{stub}}

[[File:Ynnead2.PNG|400px|thumb|right|Yncarne, the Avatar of Ynnead looking like he's about to wreck [[Slaanesh]]'s shit.]]
<div style="font-size:1.10em;font-weight:bold;font-style:italic;font-family:MS Gothic;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:1em"> I am Death and Resurrection born anew! - Ynnead's motto in the 41st Millennium'''</div>

{{topquote|To the last, I grapple with thee; from hell's heart, I stab at thee; for hate's sake, I spit my last breath at thee.|Captain Ahab, ''Moby Dick''}}

'''Ynnead''' is the [[Eldar]] God of the Dead. Or at least he will be, as he is currently being created. He is in godly limbo at the moment as the Eldar try to amass enough pure souls, or at least souls that have overcome petty desires, in the various [[Craftworld]]s' [[Infinity Circuit]]s which are bonded together by the Eternal Matrix that links all the Infinity circuits and World Spirits together through the Webway, to give him enough mojo to become a proper god.

With the release of the Gathering Storm, it turns out that the Ynnead is a [[Emprah|Anathema]] to the Chaos Gods and they are actually afraid of it - yeah, and Khorne wears high heels. On the other hand Slaanesh has already been put on a bus in Age of Sigmar and Ynnead is a pretty good way to put Slaanesh on a bus in 40k too.

== Overview ==
Basically, Ynnead is the Eldar's last hope against [[Slaanesh]]. When the bitch-goddess was born, she devoured most of the Eldar race, and their souls, and most of their gods, and basically caused a lot of things to get badly screwed up, making a terrible mess in the toilet afterwards that the Eldar were forced to mop up. The crap on the wall that won't scrub off was that the surviving Eldar found Slaanesh was constantly hungering for their souls, laying in wait for the moment when any member of their race died to completely consume them. In the past the Eldar believed that when they died, their soul would be reincarnated. With Slaanesh's coming though, the Eldar's ability to reincarnate disappeared.

To save themselves from this fate, the Craftworld Eldar use [[spiritstone]]s to trap their souls upon death. The spiritstone is then used to inter the soul within the infinity circuit of a craftworld, next to a carefully placed egg timer, where the soul is free to roam around and commingle with the other Eldar souls of the craftworld.

As more souls over time have been added to the infinity circuits, the Eldar [[Farseer]]s have perceived something stirring from this collection of souls; this is Ynnead, a god formed from untainted Eldar souls and the power of [[Asuryan]], the king of the Eldar gods, who passed on his power to the Farseers of the Eldar before he was devoured by Slaanesh. The Farseers believe that when the last Craftworld Eldar dies, Ynnead will be fully born and will rise up to cast down Slaanesh, destroying him/her/it forever.

It's unknown whether this is feasible or not considering Slaanesh's immense power, but Ynnead is the Eldar race's last, best hope for a better future, and so all their efforts go towards making him as strong as possible.

Slaanesh was born out of unbridled hedonism, giving him/her/it/xe the theme of extreme pleasure. Ynnead is born out of the dead post-fall Eldar who are vengeful but still optimistic stuck-ups, so Ynnead would theoretically be born out of the Eldar's vengeance and hopes for a better tomorrow. Assuming it follows the same process as Slaanesh; Ynnead probably won't go rogue and will follow the main purpose of its creation. Probably.

Could the Eldar have simply had a bunch of Farseers, Warlocks, and Exarchs of each Path commit ritual suicide to reincarnate as an Eldar-Emperor being like the ancient human shaman did? Probably, but these are Eldar. Their whole schtick is being cowardly pussy-tards. They would probably be too afraid of failing and being eaten to take such a chance. Or worse, it succeeds inside Slaanesh, further strengthening the abomination. That sounds about right for 40K.

==The Gathering Storm==
Ynnead is prematurely "born" during the 13th Black Crusade following the fall of [[Cadia]]. [[Eldrad|Eldrad Ulthran]] attempts to summon him early by stealing the fossilized bodies of all the dead Farseers of all the craftworlds and conducting an elaborate ritual on a crystal moon. It gets fucked up by the [[Deathwatch]] and only a tiny fraction of Ynnead enters the Materium.

After searching through space, this fragment discovers [[Yvraine]]. Due to her history she was considered the ultimate expression of being Eldar because apparently the true Eldar are supposed to travel all the paths of life, even the dark ones. With her is the [[Visarch]], a former [[Exarch]] of the Dire Avengers who trained Yvraine and had his heart broken when she chose to leave rather than succeed him. He ended up sneaking into Comorragh, pretended to be an [[Incubi|Incubus]], and fought his way to Yvraine after she unlocked the power of '''The Sword of Sorrows''' actually had one of the severed fingers of [[Morai-Heg]] forged into a sword by [[Vaul]]. The Visarch would later get his own sweet croneblade '''The Sword of Silence''' when it was pulled from the heart of Craftworld Biel-Tan.

Together, Yvraine and the Visarch become the prophets of Ynnead, preaching that not ALL the Eldar have to die for Ynnead to be born. This ends up fracturing Eldar society at all levels, and Biel-Tan ends up tearing itself apart over whether or not this is actually Eldar [[heresy]]. The destruction of Biel-Tan causes all kinds of Warp holes to tear themselves into existence around the ruins, and Ynnead births an Avatar through them known as the Yncarne (get the pun?), the one-horned ghost-fire model that's been making the rounds in photos of the latest White Dwarf.

Yvraine, Visarch, and Yncarne are now gathering an army of all the branches of the Eldar race who believe they can fight Chaos without all having to hara-kiri, while those who don't believe in Ynnead are preparing to kill all the heretics for daring to alter the fate of the Eldar. Eldrad is himself imprisoned and placed on trial by the Eldar Inquisition, because he's not Eldar enough, and proposed, after his failure to birth Ynnead, allying with the [[Imperium of Man]] to defeat Chaos once and for all. Even if the other Eldar don't like the idea of becoming best buddies with the Imperium they still reluctantly agreed that they are still the best of a bad bunch, what with the other options being either the [[Orks]] or [[Tau]] both of who are either too "young" (translated as to naïve and inexperienced to face the forces of Chaos and lack the incredible power of any major faction) or simply too uncooperative and uncouth to be allied with (basically ever alien that isn’t a devoted Imperial citizen ordered to cooperate), that didn't stop Yvraine from helping to resurrect [[Roboute Guilliman]], so perhaps an actual alliance may be possible.

It may also be that Ynnead simply disagrees with the stupidity of not allying with the only faction both willing and able and actively doing something against chaos. It could also be possible that once Guilliman gets in charge the Imperium will stop killing everything that isn't human and start killing everything that is a demon with them.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Name
!Class
!Value
!Wargear
!Quantity
!References
|-
|Guardian
|Troops (Aeldari)
|9 Points
|Mesh Armour, Shuriken Catapult and Plasma Grenades
|60
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Guardian]
|-
|Neophyte
|Troops (Imperium)
|14 Points
|Boltgun, Bolt Pistol, Frag and Krak Grenades
|21
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Tactical_Marine]
|-
|Spider
|Fast Attack (Aeldari)
|18 Points
|Heavy Aspect Armour, Death Spinner and Warp Jump Generator
|162
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Warp_Spiders]
|-
|Devastator
|Troops (Imperium)
|24 Points
|Heavy Bolter, Bolt Pistol, Frag and Krak Grenades
|3
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Devastator_Marine]
|-
|Templar
|Troops (Imperium)
|29 Points
|Plasma Gun, Bolt Pistol, Frag and Krak Grenades
|3
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Veteran_Marines]
|-
|Bazooka
|Troops (Aeldari)
|30 Points (No cost for 3 due to Guardian Battlehost)
|Heavy Weapon Platform with Eldar Missile Launcher
|6
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Craftworld]
|-
|Culverin
|Heavy Support (Aeldari)
|30 Points
|Support Weapon with Pair of Guardians and Shadow Weaver
|3
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Vaul]
|-
|Blademaster
|Elites (Imperium)
|35 Points
|Terminator Armour, Storm Bolter and Power Sword
|5
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Darnath_Lysander]
|-
|Warlock
|HQ (Aeldari)
|40 Points
|Rune Armour, Shuriken Pistol and Singing Spear
|14
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Warlock]
|-
|Terminator
|Elites (Imperium)
|40 Points
|Terminator Armour, Storm Bolter and Chainfist
|35
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Terminators]
|-
|Exarch
|Fast Attack (Aeldari)
|58 Points
|Heavy Aspect Armour, Death Spinner, Pair of Powerblades and Warp Jump Generator
|18
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Exarch]
|-
|Centurion
|Elites (Imperium)
|60 Points (70 Points for leader of every 6)
|Twin-Linked Melagun, Hurricane Bolter and Dual Siege Drills
|30
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Centurion]
|-
|Cataphract
|Elites (Imperium)
|60 Points
|Terminator Armour, Assault Cannon and Chainfist
|10
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Assault_Cannon]
|-
|Sergeant
|Troops (Imperium)
|64 Points
|Plasma Pistol, Power Fist, Frag and Krak Grenades
|3
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Sergeant_(Space_Marine)]
|-
|Lancer
|Elites (Imperium)
|70 Points (80 Points for leader of every 6)
|Twin-Linked Lascannon and Hurricane Bolter
|6
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Lascannon]
|-
|War Walker
|Heavy Support (Aeldari)
|75 Points
|Shuriken Cannon, Starcannon, Power Field and Spirit Stones
|3
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/War_Walker]
|-
|Vyper
|Fast Attack (Aeldari)
|85 Points
|Shuriken Cannon, Starcannon, Holo-Field and Spirit Stones
|6
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Vyper]
|-
|Farseer
|HQ (Aeldari)
|105 Points
|Rune Armour, Shuriken Pistol, Singing Spear and Ghosthelm
|1
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Farseer]
|-
|Dreadnought
|Elites (Imperium)
|135 Points
|Seismic Hammers with Built-in Meltaguns, Hurricane Bolters, Searchlight, Smoke Launchers and Extra Armour
|3
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Ironclad_Dreadnought]
|-
|Champion
|HQ (Imperium)
|140 Points
|Armour of Faith, Black Sword, Bolt Pistol, Frag and Krak Grenades
|1
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Emperor's_Champion]
|-
|Chaplain
|HQ (Imperium)
|150 Points
|Master-Crafted Plasma Pistol, Crozius Arcanum, Rosarius, Frag and Krak Grenades
|1
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Merek_Grimaldus]
|-
|Fire Prism
|Heavy Support (Aeldari)
|160 Points
|Prism Cannon, Shuriken Cannon, Holo-Field and Spirit Stones
|15
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Fire_Prism]
|-
|Marshall
|HQ (Imperium)
|180 Points
|Sword of the High Marshalls, Combi-Melta, Iron Halo, Frag and Krak Grenades
|1
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Helbrecht]
|-
|Avatar
|Lords of War (Aeldari)
|195 Points
|Wailing Doom
|1
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Avatar]
|-
|Raider
|Heavy Support (Imperium)
|275 Points
|Twin-Linked Heavy Bolter, Dual Twin-Linked Lascannons, Storm Bolter, Multi-Melta, Searchlight, Smoke Launchers and Extra Armour
|11
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Land_Raider]
|-
|Wraithknight
|Lords of War (Aeldari)
|325 Points
|Dual Heavy Wraithcannons and Dual Shuriken Cannons
|1
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Wraithknight]
|}

[[File:Guardians.jpg|800px]]
[[File:Neophytes.jpg|800px]]
[[File:Spiders.jpg|800px]]
[[File:Terminators.jpg|800px]]
[[File:Battery.jpg|800px]]
[[File:Centurions.jpg|800px]]
[[File:Warlocks.jpg|800px]]
[[File:Devastators.jpg|800px]]
[[File:WarWalker.jpg|800px]]
[[File:DreadnoughtNEW01.jpg|800px]]
[[File:Vyper.jpg|800px]]
[[File:Blademaster.jpg|800px]]
[[File:Prism.jpg|800px]]
[[File:Grimaldus.jpg|800px]]
[[File:Khaine.jpg|800px]]
[[File:Marshall.jpg|800px]]
[[File:Wraithtitan.jpg|800px]]
[[File:Phobos.jpg|800px]]

==The Croneswords==
The five Croneswords are legendary shapeshifting blades said to have been formed from the five broken fingers of the severed hand of [[Morai-Heg]]. According to legend, the five blades are imbued with a connection to Ynnead, and will reveal themselves when the unborn god begins to stir, where the blades will find their way into the right hands and lead to the eventual salvation of the Eldar race.

The blades are as follows:
*'''Kha-vir, the Sword of Sorrows''' - The first awakened blade, appeared to [[Yvraine]] while in the fighting pits of Commoragh
*'''Asu-var, the Sword of Silent Screams''' - Was pulled out of the Biel-Tan Infinity Circuit before the craftworld broke apart, is now held by the [[Visarch]]
*'''Vilith-zhar, the Sword of Souls''' - Currently wielded by the [[Yncarne]], was recovered from Belial IV.
*'''The Spear of Twilight''' - Relic weapon of the [[Iyanden]] [[Craftworld]], said to drain the life of its wielder. Had been wielded by Prince [[Yriel]] since the invasion of [[Hive Fleet Kraken]], it's power awakened after Yriel fell to [[Nurgle]] daemons and resurrected him.
*The fifth blade has not been found, but is currently being sought on the [[Necron]] infested [[Exodite World]] of Agarimethea by '''Nuadhu Fireheart''' of Craftworld [[Saim-Hann]]. ''(potentially a returned special character for the next codex?)''

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Ynnead-rebirth.PNG|
File:Harlequins-ynnead.jpeg|
File:Craftworlders-ynnead.jpeg|
File:Dark eldar-ynnead.jpeg|
File:Warhammer-Ynnead-what we know.jpeg|
File:Prophecy of the hidden path.jpg|

</gallery>

{{Template:Eldar-Gods}}

Commorragh

2018-05-26T20:41:51Z

2A02:587:3A03:4900:A4E9:33F6:3E0:6391:

{{Infobox 40k Nations
|name=Commorragh
|image=[[Image:Dark Eldar Lexicon Flag.PNG|230px|center]]
|bgcolor=
|fgcolor=
|Capital= [[Commorragh]]
|Official Languages=Eldar Lexicon
|Power=Great Power
|Size=Unknown, presumed Galactic
|Head of State=(Incumbent) [[Asdrubael Vect]]
|Head of Government=Ythillian Dynasty, Kraillach Dynasty, Xelian Dynasty (prior to Vect), Various [[Archon|Archons]] (current)
|Governmental Structure=Authoritarian Aristocracy (M30-M35) Libertarian Meritocracy (M35-current)
|State Religion/Ideology=State Atheism (''Post-Fall of the Eldar'') Temple of Khaine, Dark Muses, Secularism (''32nd Millennium onward'')
|Demographic= [[Eldar]], [[Mandrakes]], [[Sslyth]], [[Humans]], various [[Xenos]], various slaves
|Military Force= Kabals, Wych Cults, Haemonculi Covens, [[Eldar]] [[Corsairs]] and Mercenaries.
}}

{{Topquote|Is an Eldar not entitled to the sweat of his brow? 'No!' says the Eldar in the Exodite Worlds, 'it belongs to the land.' 'No!' says the Harlequin, 'it belongs to Cegorach.' 'No!' says the Eldar in the Craftworld, 'it belongs to everyone.' I rejected those answers; instead, I chose something different. I chose the impossible. I chose... Commorragh. A city where the artist would not fear the censor; where the Haemonculus would not be bound by petty morality; where the Archon would not be constrained by the slave! And with the sweat of your brow, Commorragh can become your city as well.|<s>Andrew Ryan</s> Asdrubael Vect on Commorragh}}

{{Topquote|If the galaxy was a giant rundown town, Commorragh would be the local nightclub-turned-insane asylum.|[[If the Emperor had a Text-to-Speech Device|Big E making his opinion on the city clear]]
}}

'''Commorragh''' is the main realm (there really is no better word for it) of the [[Dark Eldar]]. It sits at the heart of the [[Webway]]. Games Workshop named them after/based them on the Camorra clans of Naples and the Biblical city Gommorrah.

Sounding like something that would be named by an [[Ork|Mon-Keigh]], it started out during the days of the [[Eldar]] Empire as a bunch of private realms where bored Eldar could do perverse things in privacy -- or in large groups, if that floated their boats. These realms' relative isolation from reality partially shielded those within from the birth of [[Slaanesh]], preventing them from being outright sucked into the [[Warp]], though they quickly realized that they were still in danger as their souls began to erode from within their bodies.

Then, they discovered that [[Grimdark|causing pain to other creatures allowed them to top up their souls and stay youthful and energetic]]. These realms slowly coalesced as their occupants found common purpose in raiding realspace for victims, and then bringing them home to torture them. Eventually, some of these raiders banded together under the banners of the old noble houses, and the alliances and mergers brought about the Dark City we all know and love.

Because [[Dark Eldar]] have no need for foolish things like supports or foundations, structures get built at all sorts of crazy angles, which makes things that much more entertaining for the residents; from jet-bike races among the rooftops to gladiatorial challenges in the arenas to the [[Rape|therapist's office]], Commorragh has it all!

Despite it being hidden in the Webway and being crazy heavily defended Commorragh was invaded multiple times: often by [[Orks]], one time by [[Space Marines]] ([[Salamanders]] and their successors, fittingly) or [[Chaos Space Marines]] ([[Death Guard]] of all people), but mostly by Daemons. Almost '''all''' of these invasions were engineered by the Dark Eldar themselves to deal with their rivals in the ensuring chaos of battle. Denizens don't even consider these incidents threatening anymore. If anything your average Cabalite sees it as an upgraded version of a realspace raid - you get the joy of the hunt without leaving the Dark City and subjecting yourself to a withering influence of materium sucking half of the energy you take from torturing your quarry, AND you can backstab your competitors, superiors or aspiring underlings as there's no realspace raid truce to stop you. Sure, some would die in the fighting, but most invaders don't have annihilating weapons and the nearest Haemunculi resurrection chambers that could regenerate you from a single finger phalanx are right next doors. Anyone who gets "accidentally" vaporized by "friendly" darklight fire certainly ''deserves'' to stay dead for not looking at his back.

However, in at least three instances the forces of the [[Imperium]] have displayed that they can locate, enter and exit Commorragh, with both the [[Deathwatch]] and [[Space Wolves]] having done so and the forces of the [[Forge World]] Stygies also having marched an army right into the city before.

==The History of the Dark City==

Commorragh's history begins with the rise of the Eldar Empire, a stellar nation which straddled the galaxy for countless millennia and was the dominant force in the galaxy until the Fall which saw their almost total collapse. One of the key advantages which allowed the Eldar Empire to grow so powerful was their ability to use the Webway, a form of movement left to them by their creators; the [[Old Ones]]. The Webway was the principle mode of transportation for the Eldar during the tenure of their Empire and, as a result, numerous port cities were constructed within it. Greatest of these was the city of Commorragh itself.

However, when the spiritual malaise and decay that would doom their species set in, places like Commorragh were not exempt, with the inhabitants becoming cruel and capricious creatures, seeking ever more decadent, and often violent, forms of self-gratification. When [[The Fall]] occured and [[Slaanesh]] was birthed into the galaxy in an orgy of...well just about everything, the Eldar Empire practically ceased over night, with countless Eldar simply falling dead.

The Eldar within the Webway, however, were shielded from this effect. Although Slaanesh had purchase on their souls, the Young God could not simply extract it at will, instead slowly draining the soul away. As a result the Webway, like the [[Craftworlds]], [[Cegorach]] or the World Spirits of the [[Exodites]], became a form of refuge for the surviving Eldar. Commorragh, as the greatest of these Webway Cities, became a hub for surviving Eldar to gather and exist in relative safety.

Unlike their Craftworld, Exodite and Harlequin cousins, however, the Eldar of Commorragh chose not to give up their old ways, even though it had now literally damned their souls to an eternity of torment. Instead they devised a method by which they could sustain and feed themselves off the misery and suffering of others, ensuring they could live and escape Slaanesh as long as they could get access to adequate amounts of pain, sort of like garmonbozia. Indeed the Dark Eldar are, effectively, pain [[vampires]].

In the initial history of Commorragh it was ruled by dynastic noble families and clans, feuding with each other, and leaving it a rather anarchic place. Their rule was, however, eventually overturned by a former slave known as [[Asdrubael Vect]] who was smart enough to realize that there wasn't anything that couldn't be solved by a Space Marine and, so, managed to lure the heads of the major noble families into fights with some Salamander Chapter Space Marines which saw them all promptly killed. In the aftermath Asdrubael took over and instituted a new system based off Kabals, and became the top authority within the Dark City. Of note the term 'Dark Eldar' only came to be used by the inhabitants of Commorragh to describe themselves following Asdrubael's rise to power.

During the [[Great Crusade]] the Dark Eldar were not heard from much, but continued to be the sadistic freaks that we know and loath today, but with one new addition to their gruesome to do list. In order to hold off Slaanesh from devouring their souls they needed slaves (lots of them) to take their place. The Dark Eldar proceeded to launch raids across the galaxy where they plundered countless defenceless worlds including [[Vulkan]]s adopted home world which certainly didn't help to convince the Imperium to drop its xenophobic views. In the aftermath of the Great Crusade the Dark Eldar were involved in one incident; it is believed that the [[Primarch]] of the [[White Scars]] went missing pursuing Dark Eldar into the Webway. What exactly happened is unknown though, but it is unlikely he ever was taken to Commorragh or found by any of the leadership of the Dark City as the Dark Eldar would most likely all be dead in that case.

After the Horus Heresy the next major event to occur to the Dark City was when the Champion of Slaanesh, [[Lucius the Eternal]] was briefly detained along with [[Fabius Bile]] within an outer satellite of Commorragh. The capture was revealed to be a ruse, however, by the [[Emperor's Children]] who proceeded to release Daemons to feast upon the souls of the Dark Eldar present. It was noted as being the largest single loss of Eldar life in ages, with the Daemons of Slaanesh so overjoyed that the entire Dark City was briefly cowed from action as they looked to their own defences.

Despite these incidents the reign of Asdrubael Vect only saw one serious challenge, from the domain of Shaa-dom, a powerful holdout of the former nobility. Although they proved a worthy adversary for a while the master of the Dark City eventually doomed the domain to a Daemon infestation, removing that threat. Although the leader of Shaa-dom was briefly restored to life by descendants of the nobility, and plunged Commorragh into war, this threat too was halted eventually at great cost. Only much later would another, more serious, competitor for power emerge in the form of a jilted former consort of his; Lady Malys.

Lady Malys became a powerful Archon with connections to the Harlequins, who seemed set to guide her on a path perhaps connected to the [[Ynnari]] as they helped bring [[Yvraine]], future Herald of [[Ynnead]] to her attention. For a while the Dark City began to devolve into tension from the rising enmity between Lady Malys and Asdrubael...as well as the ominous collapsing of the defences around a part of Commorragh named 'Khaine's Gate'.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Name
!Class
!Value
!Wargear
!Quantity
!References
|-
|Guardian
|Troops (Aeldari)
|9 Points
|Mesh Armour, Shuriken Catapult and Plasma Grenades
|60
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Guardian]
|-
|Neophyte
|Troops (Imperium)
|14 Points
|Boltgun, Bolt Pistol, Frag and Krak Grenades
|21
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Tactical_Marine]
|-
|Spider
|Fast Attack (Aeldari)
|18 Points
|Heavy Aspect Armour, Death Spinner and Warp Jump Generator
|162
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Warp_Spiders]
|-
|Devastator
|Troops (Imperium)
|24 Points
|Heavy Bolter, Bolt Pistol, Frag and Krak Grenades
|3
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Devastator_Marine]
|-
|Templar
|Troops (Imperium)
|29 Points
|Plasma Gun, Bolt Pistol, Frag and Krak Grenades
|3
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Veteran_Marines]
|-
|Bazooka
|Troops (Aeldari)
|30 Points (No cost for 3 due to Guardian Battlehost)
|Heavy Weapon Platform with Eldar Missile Launcher
|6
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Craftworld]
|-
|Culverin
|Heavy Support (Aeldari)
|30 Points
|Support Weapon with Pair of Guardians and Shadow Weaver
|3
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Vaul]
|-
|Blademaster
|Elites (Imperium)
|35 Points
|Terminator Armour, Storm Bolter and Power Sword
|5
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Darnath_Lysander]
|-
|Warlock
|HQ (Aeldari)
|40 Points
|Rune Armour, Shuriken Pistol and Singing Spear
|14
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Warlock]
|-
|Terminator
|Elites (Imperium)
|40 Points
|Terminator Armour, Storm Bolter and Chainfist
|35
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Terminators]
|-
|Exarch
|Fast Attack (Aeldari)
|58 Points
|Heavy Aspect Armour, Death Spinner, Pair of Powerblades and Warp Jump Generator
|18
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Exarch]
|-
|Centurion
|Elites (Imperium)
|60 Points (70 Points for leader of every 6)
|Twin-Linked Melagun, Hurricane Bolter and Dual Siege Drills
|30
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Centurion]
|-
|Cataphract
|Elites (Imperium)
|60 Points
|Terminator Armour, Assault Cannon and Chainfist
|10
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Assault_Cannon]
|-
|Sergeant
|Troops (Imperium)
|64 Points
|Plasma Pistol, Power Fist, Frag and Krak Grenades
|3
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Sergeant_(Space_Marine)]
|-
|Lancer
|Elites (Imperium)
|70 Points (80 Points for leader of every 6)
|Twin-Linked Lascannon and Hurricane Bolter
|6
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Lascannon]
|-
|War Walker
|Heavy Support (Aeldari)
|75 Points
|Shuriken Cannon, Starcannon, Power Field and Spirit Stones
|3
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/War_Walker]
|-
|Vyper
|Fast Attack (Aeldari)
|85 Points
|Shuriken Cannon, Starcannon, Holo-Field and Spirit Stones
|6
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Vyper]
|-
|Farseer
|HQ (Aeldari)
|105 Points
|Rune Armour, Shuriken Pistol, Singing Spear and Ghosthelm
|1
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Farseer]
|-
|Dreadnought
|Elites (Imperium)
|135 Points
|Seismic Hammers with Built-in Meltaguns, Hurricane Bolters, Searchlight, Smoke Launchers and Extra Armour
|3
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Ironclad_Dreadnought]
|-
|Champion
|HQ (Imperium)
|140 Points
|Armour of Faith, Black Sword, Bolt Pistol, Frag and Krak Grenades
|1
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Emperor's_Champion]
|-
|Chaplain
|HQ (Imperium)
|150 Points
|Master-Crafted Plasma Pistol, Crozius Arcanum, Rosarius, Frag and Krak Grenades
|1
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Merek_Grimaldus]
|-
|Fire Prism
|Heavy Support (Aeldari)
|160 Points
|Prism Cannon, Shuriken Cannon, Holo-Field and Spirit Stones
|15
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Fire_Prism]
|-
|Marshall
|HQ (Imperium)
|180 Points
|Sword of the High Marshalls, Combi-Melta, Iron Halo, Frag and Krak Grenades
|1
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Helbrecht]
|-
|Avatar
|Lords of War (Aeldari)
|195 Points
|Wailing Doom
|1
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Avatar]
|-
|Raider
|Heavy Support (Imperium)
|275 Points
|Twin-Linked Heavy Bolter, Dual Twin-Linked Lascannons, Storm Bolter, Multi-Melta, Searchlight, Smoke Launchers and Extra Armour
|11
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Land_Raider]
|-
|Wraithknight
|Lords of War (Aeldari)
|325 Points
|Dual Heavy Wraithcannons and Dual Shuriken Cannons
|1
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Wraithknight]
|}

[[File:Guardians.jpg|800px]]
[[File:Neophytes.jpg|800px]]
[[File:Spiders.jpg|800px]]
[[File:Terminators.jpg|800px]]
[[File:Battery.jpg|800px]]
[[File:Centurions.jpg|800px]]
[[File:Warlocks.jpg|800px]]
[[File:Devastators.jpg|800px]]
[[File:WarWalker.jpg|800px]]
[[File:DreadnoughtNEW01.jpg|800px]]
[[File:Vyper.jpg|800px]]
[[File:Blademaster.jpg|800px]]
[[File:Prism.jpg|800px]]
[[File:Grimaldus.jpg|800px]]
[[File:Khaine.jpg|800px]]
[[File:Marshall.jpg|800px]]
[[File:Wraithtitan.jpg|800px]]
[[File:Phobos.jpg|800px]]

==Fracture of Biel-Tan==
Of late Commorragh has been rather turbulent. The emergence of [[Yvraine]] as the Herald of [[Ynnead]] saw the largest dysjunction in Commorragh's history, the infamous Khaine's Gate tearing open and allowing a veritable flood of Daemons to begin overwhelming the city. Although Vect had put counter-measures in place, and the Kabals did attempt to counter-attack, these did little to stop the invasion, with the Daemons continuously gaining ground and feasting on the souls of the slain Dark Eldar. Indeed the situation became so grim that many Dark Eldar began to talk openly of overthrowing Vect for allowing such an event to occur in the first place.

Certainly the Dark Eldar did not help themselves by continuing to fight against each other and by dispatching some of their own even in such a dire time to chase down and slay the Ynnari.

However, just as things began to look truly dire for the home of the Dark Eldar two things occurred; first the famed Decapitator of the Mandrakes completed his ritual, causing the Dark Dimension to flood out into Commorragh proper and a tidal wave of Mandrakes to counter-attack the Daemons, and secondly the Haemonculi decided the threat was at last dire enough that they opened up their abattoirs and released their most deranged and fearsome of beasts. Combined these two attacks finally quelled the Daemon invasion, saving Commorragh from destruction.

In the aftermath, though, the status quo had shifted. The city is damaged like never before, Asdrubael Vect's position is now shakier than ever and the effects of the Mandrake's dimension intruding on Commorragh is not yet fully known.

== Law and Order ==
Yes, there are LAWS in this god forsaken place. Like all laws, it is something that stops the society itself from collapsing. For a society that runs on debauchery, piracy and slavery however, it is without an exception.

The laws are:

*Do not bring psykers or use any psyker power. This one in general has to do with the frigging gates of Khaine that's blocking the daemons from entering the city, as well as not letting Slaanesh itself sense their presence and follow it to the city.

*Obey Vect. He is the top dog of the city. If he tells you to jump, you jump. If he tells you to get fucked by Haemonculi or go on a death match in the arena, you do it.

*Obey the Kabals, unless doing so involves disobeying Vect (even then one may still suffer for disobeying the Kabals).

That's pretty much it. However, since there are no police force in Commorragh, the city has a lot of personal freedom where you can murder people whenever you want, stealing shit and play grimdark cyberpunk grand theft auto. However, killing the wrong or important people like a member of a Kabal or a Haemonculus can grant yourself instant death sentence, where instead of people watch you gets publicly execute, you will find a mob of fully armed Commorrites on your asses. The same goes to messing with the fighting arena (dark elders needs their entertainment) and Haemonculi (dark elders needs their healing and resurrection).

Their religious situation in the Dark City has been complex. Given their tendency towards selfish hedonism, Commorites tended to play fast and loose with religion as a whole, some outright dismissing it and gods altogether for their own selfish desires. After the Fall of the Eldar, Slaanesh nommed all the Eldar gods save Khaine, Cegorach and Isha; coupled with their toxic culture, social Darwinist tendencies and selfishness many decided to just abandon religion altogether - although atheism was never officially enforced it was encouraged (this is commemorated in-universe with Iconoclast's Mound, a mountainous landfill of various religious icons from all different races, beginning with Eldar religious icons when the Commorites threw away their own beliefs). Later they learned that Khaine, Isha and Cegorach survived. Some Dark Eldar do revere Khaine and some occasionally join the ranks of the Harlequins, but most Dark Eldar are either non-religious or atheistic. Vect himself has some syncretized views on religion in Commorragh; he is self-serving and neither serves nor reveres any higher power, is ambivalent towards anti-religious sentiment or persecution, is dismissive of religiosity in all its forms unless he finds an adherent useful to him - or its towards Chaos - and brushed off Ynnead as a myth until Ynnead awakened his power in Yvraine in Commorragh where Vect's view on anything Ynnead changed from "it's a myth" to "destroy it all".

As of the Gathering Storm, Yvraine's action of sudden awaken her inner Ynnead blessed power has broken one of the above law to not use any psyker power. As a result, demon poured in and Vect had to deal with this shit himself. Welp surprisingly, he failed and now Commorragh is more chaotic than before, riots everywhere with Dark Elders join either Lady Malys or Vect for more misunderstood infighting.

So yeah, order for the sake of disorder, ironic huh?

==A Tour Guide of Commorragh==
[[File:Commorragh_Better.jpg|thumb|400px|The skyline of Commorragh. Can--and will--be viewed from any angle.|right]]

If you're not a Dark Eldar, Harlequin, or a badass mercenary, Commorragh can be difficult to get around in. It's a city that destroys the weak, torments the slow, and kills the stupid. Of course, all the previous three will die, it just varies on how and when. Despite popular theory, non-Eldar can prosper in Commorragh, since there are several parts where aliens live in towns and the most fearsome can be recruited into Dark Eldar Kabals, mostly because outsiders are at least familiar with the concepts of loyalty and honesty, unlike your average Dark Eldar, and those are often in demand in the Dark City.

A list of tips for newcomers.

* Head to the district called 'Null City' and become a badass alien mercenary (humans are aliens to Dark Eldar).
* Don't fuck with [[Asdrubael Vect]].

Otherwise.

* You were most likely brought back so Dark Eldar could feed off your pain so Slaanesh won't eat their souls/ sacrificed to Slaanesh in their place.
* You may have been brought back to be a [[Haemonculus|Haemonculi's]] guinea pig, snack, pet, a diversion so they won't get bored (which still involves unspeakable torture) or all of the above.
* You may be sent to the gladiator arenas of Commorragh to fight for your life against Wyches, dangerous beasts ranging from Razorwing flocks to captured Carnifexes, or both at the same time. This will last until you die.
* You can be killed simply for being in the wrong place at the wrong time (or even if you went where you're supposed to go).
* If you're a slave, you're expendable currency
* If you stare at Scourges for too long, they will fly down, pick you up and impale you on a spire.
* There's no night or day, just the dull, baleful glow of stolen stars. It also has many areas where light never reaches (Dark Eldar adapted by developing natural night vision).
* In the shadows you can encounter Mandrakes, who will kill and/or eat you.
* The unnatural geometry of Commmoragh can be extremely disorienting for visitors.

{{Template:40k-Governments}}
[[Category:Warhammer 40,000]]
[[Category:Dark Eldar]]

Black Templars

2018-05-26T20:36:37Z

2A02:587:3A03:4900:A4E9:33F6:3E0:6391:

{{Infobox Spess Mahreen Chapter
|Name = Black Templars
|Heraldry = [[File:Blacktemplarslogo.png|250px]]
|Battle Cry = "No pity! No remorse! No fear!"
|Number =
|Founding = [[Second Founding]]
|Successors of = [[Imperial Fists]]
|Successor Chapters =
|Chapter Master = [[Helbrecht]]
|Primarch = [[Rogal Dorn]]
|Homeworld = ''Eternal Crusader'' (fleet-based)
|Specialty = Assault, close combat, being massive try-hards
|Strength = Somewhere between one to six thousand
|Allegiance = [[Imperium of Man]]
|Colours = Black and white [[Pauldrons|shoulder pads]]
}}
{{awesome}}

{{Topquote|They are rage, brutal, without mercy. But you. You will be worse. Rip and Tear, until it is done.| Intro to Doom 2016}}

{{Topquote|I have dug my grave in this place and I will either triumph or I will die!|Chaplain Grimaldus, Hero of Helsreach}}

{{Topquote|To punish the oppressors of humanity is clemency; to forgive them is barbarity.|Maximilien Robespierre}}

The '''Black Templars''' are a [[Second Founding]] [[Space Marine Chapter]] of the [[Imperial Fists]]. These [[Space Marines|Space Marines]] are as manly as the [[Manly Marines]] and as angry as the [[Angry Marines]]. They make a hobby of dressing up as the Knights Hospitaller and trolling the inquisition with their larger-than-Codex-approved numbers. They're righteously angry for the [[God-Emperor of Mankind|Emperor]], they're usually close combat focussed and their idea of a charge is a giant zerg rush of a hundred angry crusaders who won't hesitate to skullfuck the nearest alien/mutant/heretic with their powersword just because they look funny. [[Rip and Tear|Although they don't need swords that much...]]

The Black Templars and their iconography are of a mixture of the Knights Templar, Teutonic Knights and the Knights Hospitaller. [[Awesome|(So pretty much ALL OF THE CRUSADES!)]]. Thankfully, unlike the real Crusades, they don't spend most of their time getting their shit kicked in by Muslims or raping other Christians, but instead UNLEASH RIGHTEOUS RETRIBUTION UPON THE ALIEN, MUTANT AND THE HERETIC!!!!!!
==About the Black Templars==
[[Image:Blacktempbeinbadass.jpg|thumb|left|"I came here to Purge Heretics and pray in chapels of the Emperor. And I don't see any Chapels."]]

The Black Templars have their origins in the [[Great Crusade]]-Era Imperial Fists, in a group originally known as the Templar Brethren. They wore all-black armor and had black crosses on their right pauldron and shields, and were sworn to protect the Temple of Oaths (OK, the reality is that [[Forge World]] wanted to justify including Black Templars into [[Horus Heresy]]. They're really more Templar than Imperial Fist at this point already). Their commander and First Captain of the Imperial Fists, [[Sigismund]], started the tradition of the Emperor's Champion, in which a Templar would challenge the enemy's champions to single combat. After the Heresy had ended and [[Roboute Guilliman]] called for the [[Second Founding]], Sigmisund took his Templar Brethren to found the Black Templars.

They express their [[Rage|fury]] through burning [[Codex Astartes|heretical texts]] (as kindling for the actual heretics), pwning [[furry|mutants]], [[Angry Marines|and skull fucking aliens]]. But you might say, "Isn't that what every other Spess Mehreen chapter does?" Well you'd be right, but they are the most pro-active about it, celebrations on finishing one crusade involve declaring a new crusade, recruits are taken from all the planets they've been on then sent to join the fighting so that they never have to slow down, and they usually fight by zerg rushing their enemies with hundreds (and sometimes thousands) of heavily power armoured super humans holding power weapons while screaming a litany of curses at the top of their superhuman lungs. Also unlike other Chapters, they don't have scout teams, as they think they're not righteously angry enough. Instead all new Neophytes (read: meatshields) are given some crap and schooled in the field by a fully appointed Marine (called an "Initiate").

The Black Templars are '''THE''' largest loyalist ([[derp|"codex following"]]) chapter, estimated to have 1000-6000 marines in their ranks. This is primarily because they're scattered throughout the galaxy so their approximate number is unknown. This means that their chapter alone could wipe out the [[Tau|weeaboo communists]] if they were drawn together in one place. Of course this would twist the nipples of the Inquisition and move the setting of 40k along, so don't expect it to happen anytime soon (read: ever). Unfortunately they're unwilling to fight beside psykers except for Grey Knights, they got all buddy-buddy with them fairly quickly, enough so that they willingly shared the STCs for the [[Land Raider|Land Raider Crusader]] with them, mind-wipes not withstanding of course. They are descended from the [[Imperial Fists]], but obviously got more of Dorn's angry [[Gene Seed|splooge]] than his [[Imperial Fists|patient splooge]]. They sometimes get to wear cool Crusader helms, which are at least ten times as [[Awesome|awesome]] as the [[beakie]]s' Corvus helms.

The new Space Marines codex has changed several things about the chapter. It now states they worship the Emperor as a God like the larger Imperium and they have close ties with the Ecclesiarchy. This also makes them good friends with the [[Sisters of Battle]], whom they regularly team up with and have several alliances with. Emperor pity the heretics who have to face both of these groups of zealous nutters at once.

Alternatively, you could choose to ignore the fluff in the new codex that says that they worship the Emperor, as it is wrong and demonstrates a clear Ward-like level of disregard for previous, and better, fluff as it also says that out of all Astartes chapters, only the Black Templars worship the Emperor. This contradicts several novels that say the chapters they revolve around worship him. The first that come to mind are James Swallows series on the Blood Angels. THEN there's the fact that Grimaldus, the Black Templars' High Chaplain (you know, guy who knows better than anyone else what they believe), said that they DO NOT worship him in ADB's sequel to Helsreach, Blood and Fire.

Shame the newer fluff decanonizes the old, but advancement is advancement.

As a curious aside, the chapter's "fuck the man" policy has lead them to collect some odd friends. They are the only known allies for a few chapters, including the [[Celestial Lions]], [[Libators]], and [[Star Phantoms]].

==Accomplishments==
*Vowing to go on an Eternal Crusade as part of their deal during the Second Founding and [[awesome|keeping it going non-stop for 10,000 years without getting killed or so diminished they had to settle down to rebuild!]] (Which is a really impressive feat even for superhuman Astartes.) Although the [[Horus Heresy]] novels have revealed that Sigismund didn't start this voluntarily, he was ''exiled'' by [[Rogal Dorn]], and a lot of their more notable traits - like their absolute hatred of psykers - stems from Sigismund's [[butthurt]] over how he got exiled in the first place.
*Not forgetting about the Chaos Space Marines who fled into the Eye of Terror. When Abaddon and company first busted back out of the Eye of Terror, Sigismund was up in their business within the hour. And he nearly killed Abaddon.
*Taking back a hundred planets that were stolen by the [[Tau|blue space socialists]] after the Ultramarines realized the Tyranids were heading their way and left.
*Killing an alien psyker and accidentally blowing out ten billion astropaths in the process, <del>[[DERP|oops]]</del> [[Just As Planned|just as planned]].
*Wiping out countless alien species and actually sparing one alien species that was worshipping "The Voice of the Emperor" when they got there. They only destroyed their temples just in case this voice wasn't [[Emperor|talking about who they thought it was.]]
*Successfully capturing [[Cypher]]! Then they were [[Fallen_Angels#Ophidium_Gulf_Crusade_incident|forced at gunpoint to hand him off]] to the Dark Angels chapter [[Just As Planned|where he almost immediately escapes.]]
*The Second Siege of Terra! When some crazy ass High Lord of Terra named Goge Vandire [[Age of Apostasy|usurped all power in Imperium]], thinking that he can do everything he wants, he wiped out some Templar fortresses with orbital strikes and when they found out they got all righteous angry! Assisting '''[[Sebastian Thor]]''', the Templars gather around a thousand Crusaders and along with some other chapters as well as the Martian techno-guard; the Black Templars, with all fury, wage a frakkin second siege of Terra! (The insignificant detail they did get fought to a stalemate by the [[Sisters of Battle|bolter bitches]] until [[Adeptus Custodes|Big E.'s guardians]] told the lasses Vandire was a heretic tends to get glossed over. IMPERATOR VULT!)

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Name
!Class
!Value
!Wargear
!Quantity
!References
|-
|Guardian
|Troops (Aeldari)
|9 Points
|Mesh Armour, Shuriken Catapult and Plasma Grenades
|60
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Guardian]
|-
|Neophyte
|Troops (Imperium)
|14 Points
|Boltgun, Bolt Pistol, Frag and Krak Grenades
|21
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Tactical_Marine]
|-
|Spider
|Fast Attack (Aeldari)
|18 Points
|Heavy Aspect Armour, Death Spinner and Warp Jump Generator
|162
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Warp_Spiders]
|-
|Devastator
|Troops (Imperium)
|24 Points
|Heavy Bolter, Bolt Pistol, Frag and Krak Grenades
|3
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Devastator_Marine]
|-
|Templar
|Troops (Imperium)
|29 Points
|Plasma Gun, Bolt Pistol, Frag and Krak Grenades
|3
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Veteran_Marines]
|-
|Bazooka
|Troops (Aeldari)
|30 Points (No cost for 3 due to Guardian Battlehost)
|Heavy Weapon Platform with Eldar Missile Launcher
|6
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Craftworld]
|-
|Culverin
|Heavy Support (Aeldari)
|30 Points
|Support Weapon with Pair of Guardians and Shadow Weaver
|3
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Vaul]
|-
|Blademaster
|Elites (Imperium)
|35 Points
|Terminator Armour, Storm Bolter and Power Sword
|5
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Darnath_Lysander]
|-
|Warlock
|HQ (Aeldari)
|40 Points
|Rune Armour, Shuriken Pistol and Singing Spear
|14
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Warlock]
|-
|Terminator
|Elites (Imperium)
|40 Points
|Terminator Armour, Storm Bolter and Chainfist
|35
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Terminators]
|-
|Exarch
|Fast Attack (Aeldari)
|58 Points
|Heavy Aspect Armour, Death Spinner, Pair of Powerblades and Warp Jump Generator
|18
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Exarch]
|-
|Centurion
|Elites (Imperium)
|60 Points (70 Points for leader of every 6)
|Twin-Linked Melagun, Hurricane Bolter and Dual Siege Drills
|30
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Centurion]
|-
|Cataphract
|Elites (Imperium)
|60 Points
|Terminator Armour, Assault Cannon and Chainfist
|10
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Assault_Cannon]
|-
|Sergeant
|Troops (Imperium)
|64 Points
|Plasma Pistol, Power Fist, Frag and Krak Grenades
|3
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Sergeant_(Space_Marine)]
|-
|Lancer
|Elites (Imperium)
|70 Points (80 Points for leader of every 6)
|Twin-Linked Lascannon and Hurricane Bolter
|6
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Lascannon]
|-
|War Walker
|Heavy Support (Aeldari)
|75 Points
|Shuriken Cannon, Starcannon, Power Field and Spirit Stones
|3
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/War_Walker]
|-
|Vyper
|Fast Attack (Aeldari)
|85 Points
|Shuriken Cannon, Starcannon, Holo-Field and Spirit Stones
|6
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Vyper]
|-
|Farseer
|HQ (Aeldari)
|105 Points
|Rune Armour, Shuriken Pistol, Singing Spear and Ghosthelm
|1
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Farseer]
|-
|Dreadnought
|Elites (Imperium)
|135 Points
|Seismic Hammers with Built-in Meltaguns, Hurricane Bolters, Searchlight, Smoke Launchers and Extra Armour
|3
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Ironclad_Dreadnought]
|-
|Champion
|HQ (Imperium)
|140 Points
|Armour of Faith, Black Sword, Bolt Pistol, Frag and Krak Grenades
|1
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Emperor's_Champion]
|-
|Chaplain
|HQ (Imperium)
|150 Points
|Master-Crafted Plasma Pistol, Crozius Arcanum, Rosarius, Frag and Krak Grenades
|1
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Merek_Grimaldus]
|-
|Fire Prism
|Heavy Support (Aeldari)
|160 Points
|Prism Cannon, Shuriken Cannon, Holo-Field and Spirit Stones
|15
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Fire_Prism]
|-
|Marshall
|HQ (Imperium)
|180 Points
|Sword of the High Marshalls, Combi-Melta, Iron Halo, Frag and Krak Grenades
|1
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Helbrecht]
|-
|Avatar
|Lords of War (Aeldari)
|195 Points
|Wailing Doom
|1
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Avatar]
|-
|Raider
|Heavy Support (Imperium)
|275 Points
|Twin-Linked Heavy Bolter, Dual Twin-Linked Lascannons, Storm Bolter, Multi-Melta, Searchlight, Smoke Launchers and Extra Armour
|11
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Land_Raider]
|-
|Wraithknight
|Lords of War (Aeldari)
|325 Points
|Dual Heavy Wraithcannons and Dual Shuriken Cannons
|1
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Wraithknight]
|}

[[File:Guardians.jpg|800px]]
[[File:Spiders.jpg|800px]]
[[File:Battery.jpg|800px]]
[[File:Warlocks.jpg|800px]]
[[File:WarWalker.jpg|800px]]
[[File:Vyper.jpg|800px]]
[[File:Prism.jpg|800px]]
[[File:Khaine.jpg|800px]]
[[File:Wraithtitan.jpg|800px]]
[[File:Neophytes.jpg|800px]]
[[File:Terminators.jpg|800px]]
[[File:Centurions.jpg|800px]]
[[File:Devastators.jpg|800px]]
[[File:DreadnoughtNEW01.jpg|800px]]
[[File:Blademaster.jpg|800px]]
[[File:Grimaldus.jpg|800px]]
[[File:Marshall.jpg|800px]]
[[File:Phobos.jpg|800px]]

==Organization==
Since the Imperial Fists told [[Roboute Guilliman]] to go fuck himself and his [[Codex Astartes|Codex]], the Black Templars have an organization different from Codex Chapters. They organize themselves into Fighting Companies, with much of it on the fly. Their ranks and positions include:

*'''High Marshal''': The Chapter Master of the Black Templars, who decides which crusades the Black Templars will participate in, without bothering for an okay from the [[High Lords of Terra]]. [[Helbrecht]] serves as the current High Marshal. Interestingly enough, in their original Codex the High Marshal and regular Marshals typically do not go face to face with the enemy (to the point where Helbrecht never actually touched down in the Third War for Armageddon, he stayed in space dictating the orbital battle), [[Reasonable Marines|Marshals and High Marshals prefer to stay back assessing the battlefield]] and advising the various squads through their communicators about where they should strike and shoot to make the most out of their troops.
*'''Marshal''': The commander of a crusade, a Marshal is equivalent to a Captain, they're the ones that lead the individual crusades. When a crusade is called and there is no Marshal to lead it a candidate is chosen from among the sword brethren and if the High Marshall thinks he is fit for the task appointed Marshal. There has only ever been one case of a candidate being rejected by the High Marshall. It is from the ranks of the Marshals that the new High Marshall is picked should he fall in battle.
*'''Emperor's Champion''': Before an undertaking usually during battle preparations, one of the Black Templars may have a vision granted by the Emperor. This knight will be declared by the [[Chaplain]]s to be the Emperor's Champion, as their founder Sigismund was ten millennia ago. He will be given the Black Sword and the Armour of Faith, and serve as an inspiration to the rest of the Crusading host. As with the first Emperor's Champion, Sigismund, it is the sole duty of those who bear the title to seek out and challenge any enemy champion the crusading force meets in battle. Things usually go badly if a crusade doesn't have an Emperor's Champion. If he is killed before his mission is complete it is considered an ill omen indeed. It is unknown what happens to the knight who is chosen after the completion of a crusade as none have been shown to survive long enough for it to matter. Other chapters, most usually Imperial Fist's successors, occasionally have an Emperor's Champion who serves a similar purpose but without the artifacts.
*'''Castellan''': The lieutenants of the Marshal, a temporary position chosen by the Marshals (one guy cannot be everywhere) and who is a Castellan can vary depending on the current crusade or even the current battle ([[Reasonable Marines|pick who's best to lead the current fight]]). The Castellans lead the Fighting Companies of a crusade, and they're also chosen from the Sword Brethren.
*'''Sergeant''': The only Codex rank the Black Templars employ. Also from the Sword Brethren (notice a pattern, yet?).
*'''Sword Brethren''': Roughly analogous to Veterans in Codex Chapters, Sword Brethren are the senior battle brothers of the Marshal. They also get to use [[Terminator]] armour.
*'''Initiates''': Rank and file battle-brothers. Marines (typically Neophytes) dying around them has a beneficial effect on Initiates, making them run harder into enemy gunfire for reasons unknown and oft-speculated upon.
*'''Neophytes''': While most Chapters have their neophytes serve in some sort of recon force, the Black Templars have their new Space Marines join the crusade at the front lines and hit the ground running. Given that this has worked for ten thousand years, they may be onto something. Every Neophyte is assigned to an Initiate who is to train and tutor them. The Neophyte serves as the apprentice to the Initiate, sort of like Jedi in [[Star Wars]] but the Neophyte gets smacked if they even dare bitch about sand. They are also quite useful to Initiates to use as shields (literally) in battle.

===Chapter Strength===
[[Image:Praykillburn.jpg|400px|thumb|right|It's a lot like this, really.]]
Despite being a Codex Chapter (well, they're a Codex Chapter as of the newest Codex), they basically just cherry pick whatever they want from it. In particular, they're exploiting a loophole in the Codex Astartes that says a crusading Chapter can go above the limit of 1,000 Marines, because they don't have a Fortress Monastery, a disastrous campaign or Warp mishap could destroy the entire Chapter if not for this stipulation. The Black Templars, however, take this to mean "have as many Marines as you want!"

However, it's not actually clear how many Marines they actually ''have.'' Some [[neckbeards]] (both fanboys and bitter opponents) exaggerate the actual numbers, referring to them as [[First Founding#Legions in 40k|legion strength]] and/or believing that their numbers are figuratively ''without limit'' and end up with ridiculously high guesses. Given the vagaries of in-universe time due to warp phenomena and the inevitable depletion of assets due to the nature of their work, as well as the fact that they have shit record keeping due to a complete lack of [[Librarian]]s, the actual number of active templars would be in constant flux.

In ''Blood and Fire,'' Grimaldus mentions that they typically have dozens of crusades going on at any point in time; [[Deathwatch (RPG)|other sources]] tell us that the Black Templars as an entire Chapter actually consist of a total of three '''"primary"''' crusade fleets from which all other fighting companies are split from and deployed on their own '''"secondary"''' crusades when necessary. This coincides with the original codex, which said that there were usually no more than three crusades at any given time but that they can stretch themselves according to necessity, and states that in one exceptional case there were up to fourteen crusades operating in the Segmentum Solar during the Treachery of Dalmark.

If we were to base the numbers off the estimate in the back of the 4th edition Codex: Black Templars, the deployment map totals greater than 6000 marines, with several of those crusades routinely exceeding 500 marines. But when you factor in normal redeployment over the years that number isn't very helpful as many of those crusades were finished by the time others arose. When you consider it like that, [[Blood Angels|many]] [[Minotaurs|other]] [[Dark Angels|chapters]] have deployed en masse over the years and would also generate a similar deployment map. Furthermore, only a handful of crusades numbered relatively close to one thousand, with only Armageddon passing it, with 1,232 Marines total and even that number was questioned (?) by the author; for this campaign, High Marshall [[Helbrecht]] was said to have mustered three crusades.

So we can either take it as written in the Order of Battle that the three crusades represent the "normal" three crusades and hence the entire chapter, giving us an absolute ''minimum'' of over 1000 marines, or we can assume that the three crusades are not the primary crusades at all, which still doesn't give us much of an indication of the chapter size, leaving us at square one.

To make things even more confusing, each crusade will be accompanied by a '''Black Sword''' and a set of the Armour of Faith, to be used by the Emperor's Champion. The 4E codex said that every crusade and fighting company would have its own champion, but the 6E Codex and the newer novels changed this older fluff and said that there could only be a ''single'' Champion in the entire chapter at any given time, and that only a handful arise every century. Plus, there are only ten Black Swords in the Chapter and they are held by the Chaplains, just in case they find the Champion within their crusade. This implies that there can only be ten crusades active at any one time; hence, if the three crusades at Armageddon, taken to be around 1,232, are three-tenths of the Chapter's overall size, the Black Templars have around 4,000 marines.

The old Codex also suggested somewhere between 5000-6000 ''"if certain accounts are to be believed"'' which places a level of uncertainty on the number, and if you consider the above statement would sound reasonable if you took Helbrecht at his word about the availability to Black Templar soldiers and could easily show how the Administratum has been misled into thinking the Templars are much larger than they actually are. [[Aaron Dembski-Bowden|A-D-B]] also suggested about 6000 in an offhand comment; therefore, it is currently our highest reasonable upper limit without resorting to guesses.

However, the novel ''Eternal Crusader'' flat-out says that the whole Chapter could gather together on the [[Battle-barge|Eternal Crusader]] itself and barely tax the capabilities of the vessel, and that ''"the mere'"'' 200 marines of Helbrecht's crusade, which constituted one fifth of the Black Templars' total forces, meant that the vessel was mostly empty, making them far more chapter sized. The book also shows High Marshal Helbrecht purposefully exaggerating the size of his contingent at Armageddon from 400 marines to 900 in order to gain overall command of the Astartes forces that had arrived ''(many chapters had brought a lot more men than the Templars, and would have had more right to overall command)''. Helbrecht would later leave Armageddon briefly to muster [[A Game of Pretend|"more"]] Black Templars ''(but only bringing the number up to what he promised)'', so it is easy to see how the size of his contingent would be misleading to an outside observer.
----
[https://guyhaley.wordpress.com/2014/07/11/im-baaaacccckkk/#comment-5779 The author of ''Eternal Crusader'' later acknowledged on his blog that the Black Templars could have maintained extreme numbers in the past, but that the overall strength of the Chapter was reduced to a thousand (more or less) as result of a corporate decision by GW, not just of the codex authors.] Heresy!

It is perhaps best to repeat the Black Library's own take on the fluff: 40k is in the fucking dark ages and everything written down could be a legend, propaganda, an event that happened, or a rumor based on a real event. Any guess as to the number of marines in the Black Templars is just that, a guess, and a book offers only the author's point of view, or what he wants you to think, or he himself is a fabrications.

8th Edition still maintains the information confusion over the Black Templar's actual numbers, just like before. While the Imperial Index states that ''"each Black Templars battle-fleet contains thousands of warriors."'' The actual Space Marine Codex states that "''the size of each can vary from several battle-brothers to several hundred"'' and though it says there is no fixed number of Crusades, they are still each accompanied by a Black Sword in case the Emperor's Champion arises, and there are still only nine swords (Guilliman destroyed one to defeat Skarbrand during the events of Rise of the Primarch). So all told, not much seems to have changed, fanboys and opponents can believe what they want.

==On Psykers==
For most of their history the Black Templars didn't have any Librarians. This was generally thought as a pretty simple fact, they hate all forms of witches. They even have a special rule call "Abhor the Witch". That was until 6th edition when it was more explicitly stated that they had no real compunction against Astropaths and Navigators, since they were the only people who knew how to drive the massive crusading fleets. Of course, this was always true since the BT always accepted those psykers that the Emperor himself had sanctioned (although they watched them closely ;) ), which includes Astropaths, Navigators and (surprise, surprise) the Grey Knights. Which invalidates the logic of the following paragraph.

According to the GW apologists, the major difference between their codex and 6E is their opinion on other psykers: In previous works, it was made pretty clear that they wouldn't suffer the witch no matter who they were (except for the aforementioned groups the Emperor sanctioned personally) , and as such literally couldn't ally with any other psyker-using force except for the Grey Knights (and even then, it was AoC (Note: "AoC" is a 6th Ed construct)). Come the 6E Codex however, suddenly all their hatred for every psyker was scaled back to merely just being a hatred to all enemy psykers. Some may call this fluff-rape and all that in their neckbearded [[RAGE]], but others realize that setting up tons of restrictions would ultimately serve to cripple the Templars and ultimately just kept things easier by just generalizing it, to say nothing of the fact that the Emperor himself was a psyker.

So it was changed. The Black Templars hatred is only towards alien and rogue psykers and that they have great respect for the ones in the fleet. So why no Librarians? There are three <s>theories</s> hypothesis in the codex:

*They still enforce the Edict of Nikaea.
*A gene-seed defect.
*They lost them during The Howling.

A small part of it likely has to do with their recruiting process. Since they recruit from the worlds they Crusade on, and they spend a decent amount of time purging renegade psykers, there probably aren't any psykers left for them to recruit and they're not likely to recruit Psykers found by somebody else. It still doesn't explain why they've never had a recorded incident of latent Psykers awakening once they've been recruited.

Rather hilariously, the Black Templars are not even certain why they don't have Librarians; because the Librarius usually maintains the records of the chapter, the Templars have allowed their understanding of history to fall into decay. For the time being, they have come to the conclusion that the loss of the Librarius is simply part of the Emperor's grand design, and should he see fit to bless them with Librarians again they would gladly use them.

==Notable members==
*''[[Sigismund]]'': First Chapter Master/Soul brother who made the chapter when Dorn broke the Legion up.
*''High Marshal [[Helbrecht]]'': Their current Chapter Master. Gets fucked up by Imotekh the Stormlord who proceeds to take his arm as a trophy. Helbrecht then manages to destroy his entire fucking flagship as retaliation. Currently on <s>a manhunt for [[Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka]] alongside [[Commissar Yarrick]]</s> Armageddon fighting the Ork forces, because the setting actually got dialed BACK to before Ghazghkull had to flee the planet.
*''Chaplain [[Grimaldus]]'': THE most badass [[Chaplain]] in the entire Godsdamn Imperium, with the possible exception of [[Lemartes]]. He fought the biggest Ork WAAAGH in history on a very old temple that had relics and artifacts that were sacred to the Imperium. The battle only ended after the temple collapsed and buried every Ork and Marine under the rubble. But since Grimaldus was too badass to die, he crawled out of the temple with a few relics he managed to save. And besides the guy has the word [[Grimdark|grim]] in his fucking name! How can he not be badass? The main caveat about his description is in his depiction in the book Helsreach, featuring Grimaldus' service in Armageddon leading up to his title as "Hero of Helsreach", where we learn he is equally skilled at tantrum-throwing/sulking, as he is kicking lots of ork ass. But to be fair, this isn't the Grimaldus we know and love as first. Helsreach is about him manning up under constant pressure, him finding he has to stop feeling like he has to be his old boss's bitch all the time and learning to be the butch. He does manage to man up and becomes the badass we all know and love (by the end of things, like, the very last second before a cathedral falls on him and knocks him out and not a second sooner). Plus, he had the stones to do it all WITHOUT A [[ROSARIUS]].
*''[[Tankred]]'': He who endures. Also is partial to bitches.
*''High Marshal Ludoldus'': A previous High Marshal notable for having led the Templars during two Crusades that were separated by over 2000 years, specifically the Vinculus Crusade (833.M41) and the Jerulas Crusade (645.M39). Considering that he was already High Marshall by the time of Vinculus, one can only conclude that Ludoldus was FUCKING OLD... and totally blows [[Dante]] out of the water as the guy even has ''old'' in his fucking name.
*''Castellan Draco'': notable role in the Vinculus crusade, notably in killing Inquisitor Lord Vinculus after he got possessed, but not after his own losses; that is, he got buried in rubble after lacing the cult's massive fortress with explosives. For his valiant efforts, he got his lost parts replaced with bionics, a relic suit of armour and Lord Vinculus' sword.
* ''Marshal Magneric'' See Tankred above imagine if he was in command of his own crusade. Unlike most dreadnoughts he still kept his name and rank and rarely slept which made him into a crazy fanatic (and implied to be the source of the religious zeal) spends most of his days hunting his old BFF Warsmith Kalkator until orks of The Beast showed up.

==Daily Rituals of a Black Templar==
Think [[Angry Marines]] but with less copious cursing.
* 03:50: Morning Call to Prayer: Initiates awaken their respective Neophytes from their comfortable slumber on bare stone floors. This often involves buckets of ice water, vox-casters playing hymns with the volume control knob broken off, or a power armor shod foot up the ass depending on the Initiate in question. Complaints that this awakening occurred ten minutes prior to scheduled reveille are met with readmistration of the waking aid.
* 04:00: Morning Prayer: Neophytes are berated for their perceived failings by their responsible Initiates, who are in turn berated by the Sword Brethren, the Sword Brethren by the Castellans, up to the Marshal who berates the entire Fleet then swears a solemn vow to an icon of the Emperor that they will do better and prove themselves worthy by stabbing heretics in the throat with their swords. Tactics may also be discussed and orders of battle issued, assuming they involve rushing headlong at the enemy.
* 05:00: Morning Firing Rites: The Initiates school their apprentices on the art of shooting xenos in the face while simultaneously swinging a chainsword. This shooting preferably occurs while rushing across the active firing range in order to close with the target and hit it with the bolt pistol if possible.
* 07:00: Morning Battle Practice: Initiates inform their neophytes that if they are done being cowardly whelps they may now avail themselves of a sword with which to stab shit.
* 11:55: Milk and cookies break. Any neophytes stupid enough to drink milk or eat cookies in front of their Initiate gets their meal pushed in their noses and eyeballs respectively. Things get interesting if they dipped their cookies in their milk.
* 12:00: Midday Prayer: Neophytes are told how poorly they did during the morning exercises, any sense of pride or joy is rooted out. The Marshal leads the Fleet in prayer and promises the Emperor they will kill more things even more righteously this afternoon.
* 13:00: Midday Meal: The chapter serfs provide cold cuts for the Brothers' enjoyment. Lunchmeat is usually collected by the serfs following each battle and stored in the ships' freezers. Naturally, Neophytes do not get something to eat yet as the Initiates insult them for even assuming they get to eat. The Neophytes soon learn that the Emperor has a sense of humor when the Initiates are informed that only Sword Brethren on up are allowed to eat.
* 13:15: Tactical Indoctrination: Locations of the vital organs and blood vessels of xenos species that may be encountered on the current Crusade and the weak spots of Daemons are reviewed, occasionally an Initiate will cuff his Neophyte on the back of the head and reiterate "Yes that, you stab that retard." Other tactics may also be discussed as long as they involve inserting blades into things.
* 14:00: Afternoon Battle Practice: Initiates attempt to kill their Neophyte with a power sword. If the Neophyte is not dead in four hours he passes muster.
* 18:00: Evening Firing Rites: Neophytes are instructed in how to operate heavy and specialty weaponry dropped by their responsible Initiate when he abandons it so that he may swing his sword with both hands to better kill shit or is eaten by a monstrous creature which he bravely <s>(read:stupidly)</s> (read:RIGHTEOUSLY) tried to skullfuck in CQC.
* 20:00: Evening Prayer: After short session of critique and berating, the Emperors' Champion leads a sermon about how awesome the [[God-Emperor of Mankind|Emprah]] is and how much He wants them to bifurcate/decapitate the current heretics/mutants/xenos they are fighting with power weapons.
* 21:00: Evening Meal: A feast is served by the chapter serfs. Alcohol and anything that has a pleasant taste will not be consumed as the Emperor looks down on those that enjoy life. No hamburger, no cheeseburgers, no french fries, no milkshakes, no potato chips; you will drink water distilled from the Fleet's waste/reactor AND LIKE IT!
* 21:30: Night-fighting/zero-gravity exercises: Initiates instruct their charges on stabbing things by the glow of a power sword and how to fight in a zero-gravity environment without jump packs (stab foe, use corpse as a springboard to assault another foe, repeat).
* 23:15: Wargear Maintenance: Initiates encourage Neophytes to keep weapons in proper working order with phrases like, "Sharpen your shit you incompetent bastard" as the Emperor reserves great disdain for those that kill heretics with dull blades.
* 23:45: Free time: The Initiate is free to challenge his Neophyte to a short duel. Wounds heal better during sleep anyway.
* 00:00 Rest period: The Initiate sees his Neophyte off to bed, with one last punch to the face to help him fall asleep. The Sword Brethren then punch the Initiates in the face before they retire for rest period.

Note that this constitutes a day off for a Black Templar. A working day will involve 23 hours of rushing monstrous creatures with melee weapons. Neophytes are expected to pull bullet sponge duty so the Initiate is not distracted by little things like enemy gunfire (and that their spilled blood will allow the Initiates to glide on the ground to their enemy faster) as seen here:

===Black Templar Combat Training===
Brother-Initiate Teuton McTemplar: "Neophyte, get your ass over here and hold my Lascannon while I charge that [[Carnifex]] with my Power Fist!"

Neophyte Random'O'Germansoundingname: "But sir I have not yet earned my power armour and a Lascannon weighs 100 kilos..."

Brother-Initiate Teuton McTemplar: "You are going to pick up that spotlight and burn some fucking xenos, and you are going to like it!"

Note: It would be nice if this could happen, but in reality, you can only arm Neophytes with shotguns or bolt pistols with CCWs, though you were able to arm an initiate with both a Lascannon and a Power Fist in their original codex. Hilariously too you could go completely overboard and have one marine armed with a Power fist, three bolt pistols (or two bolt pistols and a bolter), a Chainsword, a Power Weapon, a Heavy Bolter, a Missile Launcher (or a Multi-Melta), a Lascannon, and a Plasma Cannon [[Obliterators|ALL AT THE SAME TIME]] (though while funny is still a terrible thing to put on the battlefield as he can still only fire one per turn, pistols notwithstanding). Talk about a jack of all trades...

==See Also==
*[[Warhammer 40,000/Tactics/Black Templar|Tactics/Black Templar]]
*Their [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lrs9nIITQk| theme] by [[HMKids]].
*Also their [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0TzUNti3rY| theme] by Andrew W.K.
*An accurate representation of their daily lives https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaUi8Dv73hA

==No-Promotions Gallery==
<gallery>
Image:Templar Terminator.jpg|Actually pretty nice guys, once you get to know them.
Image:1206768954856.jpg|They also like to sing.
Image:howdoipurge.png
Image:bffs.jpg
Image:Imheretopurgehereticsandchewbubblegumandimalloutofbubblegum.jpg|Look at them hips.
</gallery>

==Promotions Gallery==
<gallery>
Image:A not so Little Sister by DeadXCross.jpg|They can even inspire zealots of their own.
</gallery>

{{Template:Marines-Official}}

Black Templars

2018-05-26T20:35:00Z

2A02:587:3A03:4900:A4E9:33F6:3E0:6391:

{{Infobox Spess Mahreen Chapter
|Name = Black Templars
|Heraldry = [[File:Blacktemplarslogo.png|250px]]
|Battle Cry = "No pity! No remorse! No fear!"
|Number =
|Founding = [[Second Founding]]
|Successors of = [[Imperial Fists]]
|Successor Chapters =
|Chapter Master = [[Helbrecht]]
|Primarch = [[Rogal Dorn]]
|Homeworld = ''Eternal Crusader'' (fleet-based)
|Specialty = Assault, close combat, being massive try-hards
|Strength = Somewhere between one to six thousand
|Allegiance = [[Imperium of Man]]
|Colours = Black and white [[Pauldrons|shoulder pads]]
}}
{{awesome}}

{{Topquote|They are rage, brutal, without mercy. But you. You will be worse. Rip and Tear, until it is done.| Intro to Doom 2016}}

{{Topquote|I have dug my grave in this place and I will either triumph or I will die!|Chaplain Grimaldus, Hero of Helsreach}}

{{Topquote|To punish the oppressors of humanity is clemency; to forgive them is barbarity.|Maximilien Robespierre}}

The '''Black Templars''' are a [[Second Founding]] [[Space Marine Chapter]] of the [[Imperial Fists]]. These [[Space Marines|Space Marines]] are as manly as the [[Manly Marines]] and as angry as the [[Angry Marines]]. They make a hobby of dressing up as the Knights Hospitaller and trolling the inquisition with their larger-than-Codex-approved numbers. They're righteously angry for the [[God-Emperor of Mankind|Emperor]], they're usually close combat focussed and their idea of a charge is a giant zerg rush of a hundred angry crusaders who won't hesitate to skullfuck the nearest alien/mutant/heretic with their powersword just because they look funny. [[Rip and Tear|Although they don't need swords that much...]]

The Black Templars and their iconography are of a mixture of the Knights Templar, Teutonic Knights and the Knights Hospitaller. [[Awesome|(So pretty much ALL OF THE CRUSADES!)]]. Thankfully, unlike the real Crusades, they don't spend most of their time getting their shit kicked in by Muslims or raping other Christians, but instead UNLEASH RIGHTEOUS RETRIBUTION UPON THE ALIEN, MUTANT AND THE HERETIC!!!!!!
==About the Black Templars==
[[Image:Blacktempbeinbadass.jpg|thumb|left|"I came here to Purge Heretics and pray in chapels of the Emperor. And I don't see any Chapels."]]

The Black Templars have their origins in the [[Great Crusade]]-Era Imperial Fists, in a group originally known as the Templar Brethren. They wore all-black armor and had black crosses on their right pauldron and shields, and were sworn to protect the Temple of Oaths (OK, the reality is that [[Forge World]] wanted to justify including Black Templars into [[Horus Heresy]]. They're really more Templar than Imperial Fist at this point already). Their commander and First Captain of the Imperial Fists, [[Sigismund]], started the tradition of the Emperor's Champion, in which a Templar would challenge the enemy's champions to single combat. After the Heresy had ended and [[Roboute Guilliman]] called for the [[Second Founding]], Sigmisund took his Templar Brethren to found the Black Templars.

They express their [[Rage|fury]] through burning [[Codex Astartes|heretical texts]] (as kindling for the actual heretics), pwning [[furry|mutants]], [[Angry Marines|and skull fucking aliens]]. But you might say, "Isn't that what every other Spess Mehreen chapter does?" Well you'd be right, but they are the most pro-active about it, celebrations on finishing one crusade involve declaring a new crusade, recruits are taken from all the planets they've been on then sent to join the fighting so that they never have to slow down, and they usually fight by zerg rushing their enemies with hundreds (and sometimes thousands) of heavily power armoured super humans holding power weapons while screaming a litany of curses at the top of their superhuman lungs. Also unlike other Chapters, they don't have scout teams, as they think they're not righteously angry enough. Instead all new Neophytes (read: meatshields) are given some crap and schooled in the field by a fully appointed Marine (called an "Initiate").

The Black Templars are '''THE''' largest loyalist ([[derp|"codex following"]]) chapter, estimated to have 1000-6000 marines in their ranks. This is primarily because they're scattered throughout the galaxy so their approximate number is unknown. This means that their chapter alone could wipe out the [[Tau|weeaboo communists]] if they were drawn together in one place. Of course this would twist the nipples of the Inquisition and move the setting of 40k along, so don't expect it to happen anytime soon (read: ever). Unfortunately they're unwilling to fight beside psykers except for Grey Knights, they got all buddy-buddy with them fairly quickly, enough so that they willingly shared the STCs for the [[Land Raider|Land Raider Crusader]] with them, mind-wipes not withstanding of course. They are descended from the [[Imperial Fists]], but obviously got more of Dorn's angry [[Gene Seed|splooge]] than his [[Imperial Fists|patient splooge]]. They sometimes get to wear cool Crusader helms, which are at least ten times as [[Awesome|awesome]] as the [[beakie]]s' Corvus helms.

The new Space Marines codex has changed several things about the chapter. It now states they worship the Emperor as a God like the larger Imperium and they have close ties with the Ecclesiarchy. This also makes them good friends with the [[Sisters of Battle]], whom they regularly team up with and have several alliances with. Emperor pity the heretics who have to face both of these groups of zealous nutters at once.

Alternatively, you could choose to ignore the fluff in the new codex that says that they worship the Emperor, as it is wrong and demonstrates a clear Ward-like level of disregard for previous, and better, fluff as it also says that out of all Astartes chapters, only the Black Templars worship the Emperor. This contradicts several novels that say the chapters they revolve around worship him. The first that come to mind are James Swallows series on the Blood Angels. THEN there's the fact that Grimaldus, the Black Templars' High Chaplain (you know, guy who knows better than anyone else what they believe), said that they DO NOT worship him in ADB's sequel to Helsreach, Blood and Fire.

Shame the newer fluff decanonizes the old, but advancement is advancement.

As a curious aside, the chapter's "fuck the man" policy has lead them to collect some odd friends. They are the only known allies for a few chapters, including the [[Celestial Lions]], [[Libators]], and [[Star Phantoms]].

==Accomplishments==
*Vowing to go on an Eternal Crusade as part of their deal during the Second Founding and [[awesome|keeping it going non-stop for 10,000 years without getting killed or so diminished they had to settle down to rebuild!]] (Which is a really impressive feat even for superhuman Astartes.) Although the [[Horus Heresy]] novels have revealed that Sigismund didn't start this voluntarily, he was ''exiled'' by [[Rogal Dorn]], and a lot of their more notable traits - like their absolute hatred of psykers - stems from Sigismund's [[butthurt]] over how he got exiled in the first place.
*Not forgetting about the Chaos Space Marines who fled into the Eye of Terror. When Abaddon and company first busted back out of the Eye of Terror, Sigismund was up in their business within the hour. And he nearly killed Abaddon.
*Taking back a hundred planets that were stolen by the [[Tau|blue space socialists]] after the Ultramarines realized the Tyranids were heading their way and left.
*Killing an alien psyker and accidentally blowing out ten billion astropaths in the process, <del>[[DERP|oops]]</del> [[Just As Planned|just as planned]].
*Wiping out countless alien species and actually sparing one alien species that was worshipping "The Voice of the Emperor" when they got there. They only destroyed their temples just in case this voice wasn't [[Emperor|talking about who they thought it was.]]
*Successfully capturing [[Cypher]]! Then they were [[Fallen_Angels#Ophidium_Gulf_Crusade_incident|forced at gunpoint to hand him off]] to the Dark Angels chapter [[Just As Planned|where he almost immediately escapes.]]
*The Second Siege of Terra! When some crazy ass High Lord of Terra named Goge Vandire [[Age of Apostasy|usurped all power in Imperium]], thinking that he can do everything he wants, he wiped out some Templar fortresses with orbital strikes and when they found out they got all righteous angry! Assisting '''[[Sebastian Thor]]''', the Templars gather around a thousand Crusaders and along with some other chapters as well as the Martian techno-guard; the Black Templars, with all fury, wage a frakkin second siege of Terra! (The insignificant detail they did get fought to a stalemate by the [[Sisters of Battle|bolter bitches]] until [[Adeptus Custodes|Big E.'s guardians]] told the lasses Vandire was a heretic tends to get glossed over. IMPERATOR VULT!)

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Name
!Class
!Value
!Wargear
!Quantity
!References
|-
|Guardian
|Troops (Aeldari)
|9 Points
|Mesh Armour, Shuriken Catapult and Plasma Grenades
|60
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Guardian]
|-
|Neophyte
|Troops (Imperium)
|14 Points
|Boltgun, Bolt Pistol, Frag and Krak Grenades
|21
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Tactical_Marine]
|-
|Spider
|Fast Attack (Aeldari)
|18 Points
|Heavy Aspect Armour, Death Spinner and Warp Jump Generator
|162
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Warp_Spiders]
|-
|Devastator
|Troops (Imperium)
|24 Points
|Heavy Bolter, Bolt Pistol, Frag and Krak Grenades
|3
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Devastator_Marine]
|-
|Templar
|Troops (Imperium)
|29 Points
|Plasma Gun, Bolt Pistol, Frag and Krak Grenades
|3
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Veteran_Marines]
|-
|Bazooka
|Troops (Aeldari)
|30 Points (No cost for 3 due to Guardian Battlehost)
|Heavy Weapon Platform with Eldar Missile Launcher
|6
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Craftworld]
|-
|Culverin
|Heavy Support (Aeldari)
|30 Points
|Support Weapon with Pair of Guardians and Shadow Weaver
|3
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Vaul]
|-
|Blademaster
|Elites (Imperium)
|35 Points
|Terminator Armour, Storm Bolter and Power Sword
|5
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Darnath_Lysander]
|-
|Warlock
|HQ (Aeldari)
|40 Points
|Rune Armour, Shuriken Pistol and Singing Spear
|14
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Warlock]
|-
|Terminator
|Elites (Imperium)
|40 Points
|Terminator Armour, Storm Bolter and Chainfist
|35
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Terminators]
|-
|Exarch
|Fast Attack (Aeldari)
|58 Points
|Heavy Aspect Armour, Death Spinner, Pair of Powerblades and Warp Jump Generator
|18
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Exarch]
|-
|Centurion
|Elites (Imperium)
|60 Points (70 Points for leader of every 6)
|Twin-Linked Melagun, Hurricane Bolter and Dual Siege Drills
|30
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Centurion]
|-
|Cataphract
|Elites (Imperium)
|60 Points
|Terminator Armour, Assault Cannon and Chainfist
|10
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Assault_Cannon]
|-
|Sergeant
|Troops (Imperium)
|64 Points
|Plasma Pistol, Power Fist, Frag and Krak Grenades
|3
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Sergeant_(Space_Marine)]
|-
|Lancer
|Elites (Imperium)
|70 Points (80 Points for leader of every 6)
|Twin-Linked Lascannon and Hurricane Bolter
|6
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Lascannon]
|-
|War Walker
|Heavy Support (Aeldari)
|75 Points
|Shuriken Cannon, Starcannon, Power Field and Spirit Stones
|3
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/War_Walker]
|-
|Vyper
|Fast Attack (Aeldari)
|85 Points
|Shuriken Cannon, Starcannon, Holo-Field and Spirit Stones
|6
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Vyper]
|-
|Farseer
|HQ (Aeldari)
|105 Points
|Rune Armour, Shuriken Pistol, Singing Spear and Ghosthelm
|1
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Farseer]
|-
|Dreadnought
|Elites (Imperium)
|135 Points
|Seismic Hammers with Built-in Meltaguns, Hurricane Bolters, Searchlight, Smoke Launchers and Extra Armour
|3
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Ironclad_Dreadnought]
|-
|Champion
|HQ (Imperium)
|140 Points
|Armour of Faith, Black Sword, Bolt Pistol, Frag and Krak Grenades
|1
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Emperor's_Champion]
|-
|Chaplain
|HQ (Imperium)
|150 Points
|Master-Crafted Plasma Pistol, Crozius Arcanum, Rosarius, Frag and Krak Grenades
|1
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Merek_Grimaldus]
|-
|Fire Prism
|Heavy Support (Aeldari)
|160 Points
|Prism Cannon, Shuriken Cannon, Holo-Field and Spirit Stones
|15
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Fire_Prism]
|-
|Marshall
|HQ (Imperium)
|180 Points
|Sword of the High Marshalls, Combi-Melta, Iron Halo, Frag and Krak Grenades
|1
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Helbrecht]
|-
|Avatar
|Lords of War (Aeldari)
|195 Points
|Wailing Doom
|1
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Avatar]
|-
|Raider
|Heavy Support (Imperium)
|275 Points
|Twin-Linked Heavy Bolter, Dual Twin-Linked Lascannons, Storm Bolter, Multi-Melta, Searchlight, Smoke Launchers and Extra Armour
|11
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Land_Raider]
|-
|Wraithknight
|Lords of War (Aeldari)
|325 Points
|Dual Heavy Wraithcannons and Dual Shuriken Cannons
|1
|[http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Wraithknight]
|}

[[File:Guardians.jpg|800px]]
[[File:Spiders.jpg|800px]]
[[File:Battery.jpg|800px]]
[[File:Warlocks.jpg|800px]]
[[File:WarWalker.jpg|800px]]
[[File:Vyper.jpg|800px]]
[[File:Prism.jpg|800px]]
[[File:Khaine.jpg|800px]]
[[File:Wraithtitan.jpg|800px]]
[[File:Neophytes.jpg|800px]]
[[File:Terminators.jpg|800px]]
[[File:Centurion.jpg|800px]]
[[File:Devastator.jpg|800px]]
[[File:Dreadnought.jpg|800px]]
[[File:Blademaster.jpg|800px]]
[[File:Grimaldus.jpg|800px]]
[[File:Helbrecht.jpg|800px]]
[[File:Phobos.jpg|800px]]

==Organization==
Since the Imperial Fists told [[Roboute Guilliman]] to go fuck himself and his [[Codex Astartes|Codex]], the Black Templars have an organization different from Codex Chapters. They organize themselves into Fighting Companies, with much of it on the fly. Their ranks and positions include:

*'''High Marshal''': The Chapter Master of the Black Templars, who decides which crusades the Black Templars will participate in, without bothering for an okay from the [[High Lords of Terra]]. [[Helbrecht]] serves as the current High Marshal. Interestingly enough, in their original Codex the High Marshal and regular Marshals typically do not go face to face with the enemy (to the point where Helbrecht never actually touched down in the Third War for Armageddon, he stayed in space dictating the orbital battle), [[Reasonable Marines|Marshals and High Marshals prefer to stay back assessing the battlefield]] and advising the various squads through their communicators about where they should strike and shoot to make the most out of their troops.
*'''Marshal''': The commander of a crusade, a Marshal is equivalent to a Captain, they're the ones that lead the individual crusades. When a crusade is called and there is no Marshal to lead it a candidate is chosen from among the sword brethren and if the High Marshall thinks he is fit for the task appointed Marshal. There has only ever been one case of a candidate being rejected by the High Marshall. It is from the ranks of the Marshals that the new High Marshall is picked should he fall in battle.
*'''Emperor's Champion''': Before an undertaking usually during battle preparations, one of the Black Templars may have a vision granted by the Emperor. This knight will be declared by the [[Chaplain]]s to be the Emperor's Champion, as their founder Sigismund was ten millennia ago. He will be given the Black Sword and the Armour of Faith, and serve as an inspiration to the rest of the Crusading host. As with the first Emperor's Champion, Sigismund, it is the sole duty of those who bear the title to seek out and challenge any enemy champion the crusading force meets in battle. Things usually go badly if a crusade doesn't have an Emperor's Champion. If he is killed before his mission is complete it is considered an ill omen indeed. It is unknown what happens to the knight who is chosen after the completion of a crusade as none have been shown to survive long enough for it to matter. Other chapters, most usually Imperial Fist's successors, occasionally have an Emperor's Champion who serves a similar purpose but without the artifacts.
*'''Castellan''': The lieutenants of the Marshal, a temporary position chosen by the Marshals (one guy cannot be everywhere) and who is a Castellan can vary depending on the current crusade or even the current battle ([[Reasonable Marines|pick who's best to lead the current fight]]). The Castellans lead the Fighting Companies of a crusade, and they're also chosen from the Sword Brethren.
*'''Sergeant''': The only Codex rank the Black Templars employ. Also from the Sword Brethren (notice a pattern, yet?).
*'''Sword Brethren''': Roughly analogous to Veterans in Codex Chapters, Sword Brethren are the senior battle brothers of the Marshal. They also get to use [[Terminator]] armour.
*'''Initiates''': Rank and file battle-brothers. Marines (typically Neophytes) dying around them has a beneficial effect on Initiates, making them run harder into enemy gunfire for reasons unknown and oft-speculated upon.
*'''Neophytes''': While most Chapters have their neophytes serve in some sort of recon force, the Black Templars have their new Space Marines join the crusade at the front lines and hit the ground running. Given that this has worked for ten thousand years, they may be onto something. Every Neophyte is assigned to an Initiate who is to train and tutor them. The Neophyte serves as the apprentice to the Initiate, sort of like Jedi in [[Star Wars]] but the Neophyte gets smacked if they even dare bitch about sand. They are also quite useful to Initiates to use as shields (literally) in battle.

===Chapter Strength===
[[Image:Praykillburn.jpg|400px|thumb|right|It's a lot like this, really.]]
Despite being a Codex Chapter (well, they're a Codex Chapter as of the newest Codex), they basically just cherry pick whatever they want from it. In particular, they're exploiting a loophole in the Codex Astartes that says a crusading Chapter can go above the limit of 1,000 Marines, because they don't have a Fortress Monastery, a disastrous campaign or Warp mishap could destroy the entire Chapter if not for this stipulation. The Black Templars, however, take this to mean "have as many Marines as you want!"

However, it's not actually clear how many Marines they actually ''have.'' Some [[neckbeards]] (both fanboys and bitter opponents) exaggerate the actual numbers, referring to them as [[First Founding#Legions in 40k|legion strength]] and/or believing that their numbers are figuratively ''without limit'' and end up with ridiculously high guesses. Given the vagaries of in-universe time due to warp phenomena and the inevitable depletion of assets due to the nature of their work, as well as the fact that they have shit record keeping due to a complete lack of [[Librarian]]s, the actual number of active templars would be in constant flux.

In ''Blood and Fire,'' Grimaldus mentions that they typically have dozens of crusades going on at any point in time; [[Deathwatch (RPG)|other sources]] tell us that the Black Templars as an entire Chapter actually consist of a total of three '''"primary"''' crusade fleets from which all other fighting companies are split from and deployed on their own '''"secondary"''' crusades when necessary. This coincides with the original codex, which said that there were usually no more than three crusades at any given time but that they can stretch themselves according to necessity, and states that in one exceptional case there were up to fourteen crusades operating in the Segmentum Solar during the Treachery of Dalmark.

If we were to base the numbers off the estimate in the back of the 4th edition Codex: Black Templars, the deployment map totals greater than 6000 marines, with several of those crusades routinely exceeding 500 marines. But when you factor in normal redeployment over the years that number isn't very helpful as many of those crusades were finished by the time others arose. When you consider it like that, [[Blood Angels|many]] [[Minotaurs|other]] [[Dark Angels|chapters]] have deployed en masse over the years and would also generate a similar deployment map. Furthermore, only a handful of crusades numbered relatively close to one thousand, with only Armageddon passing it, with 1,232 Marines total and even that number was questioned (?) by the author; for this campaign, High Marshall [[Helbrecht]] was said to have mustered three crusades.

So we can either take it as written in the Order of Battle that the three crusades represent the "normal" three crusades and hence the entire chapter, giving us an absolute ''minimum'' of over 1000 marines, or we can assume that the three crusades are not the primary crusades at all, which still doesn't give us much of an indication of the chapter size, leaving us at square one.

To make things even more confusing, each crusade will be accompanied by a '''Black Sword''' and a set of the Armour of Faith, to be used by the Emperor's Champion. The 4E codex said that every crusade and fighting company would have its own champion, but the 6E Codex and the newer novels changed this older fluff and said that there could only be a ''single'' Champion in the entire chapter at any given time, and that only a handful arise every century. Plus, there are only ten Black Swords in the Chapter and they are held by the Chaplains, just in case they find the Champion within their crusade. This implies that there can only be ten crusades active at any one time; hence, if the three crusades at Armageddon, taken to be around 1,232, are three-tenths of the Chapter's overall size, the Black Templars have around 4,000 marines.

The old Codex also suggested somewhere between 5000-6000 ''"if certain accounts are to be believed"'' which places a level of uncertainty on the number, and if you consider the above statement would sound reasonable if you took Helbrecht at his word about the availability to Black Templar soldiers and could easily show how the Administratum has been misled into thinking the Templars are much larger than they actually are. [[Aaron Dembski-Bowden|A-D-B]] also suggested about 6000 in an offhand comment; therefore, it is currently our highest reasonable upper limit without resorting to guesses.

However, the novel ''Eternal Crusader'' flat-out says that the whole Chapter could gather together on the [[Battle-barge|Eternal Crusader]] itself and barely tax the capabilities of the vessel, and that ''"the mere'"'' 200 marines of Helbrecht's crusade, which constituted one fifth of the Black Templars' total forces, meant that the vessel was mostly empty, making them far more chapter sized. The book also shows High Marshal Helbrecht purposefully exaggerating the size of his contingent at Armageddon from 400 marines to 900 in order to gain overall command of the Astartes forces that had arrived ''(many chapters had brought a lot more men than the Templars, and would have had more right to overall command)''. Helbrecht would later leave Armageddon briefly to muster [[A Game of Pretend|"more"]] Black Templars ''(but only bringing the number up to what he promised)'', so it is easy to see how the size of his contingent would be misleading to an outside observer.
----
[https://guyhaley.wordpress.com/2014/07/11/im-baaaacccckkk/#comment-5779 The author of ''Eternal Crusader'' later acknowledged on his blog that the Black Templars could have maintained extreme numbers in the past, but that the overall strength of the Chapter was reduced to a thousand (more or less) as result of a corporate decision by GW, not just of the codex authors.] Heresy!

It is perhaps best to repeat the Black Library's own take on the fluff: 40k is in the fucking dark ages and everything written down could be a legend, propaganda, an event that happened, or a rumor based on a real event. Any guess as to the number of marines in the Black Templars is just that, a guess, and a book offers only the author's point of view, or what he wants you to think, or he himself is a fabrications.

8th Edition still maintains the information confusion over the Black Templar's actual numbers, just like before. While the Imperial Index states that ''"each Black Templars battle-fleet contains thousands of warriors."'' The actual Space Marine Codex states that "''the size of each can vary from several battle-brothers to several hundred"'' and though it says there is no fixed number of Crusades, they are still each accompanied by a Black Sword in case the Emperor's Champion arises, and there are still only nine swords (Guilliman destroyed one to defeat Skarbrand during the events of Rise of the Primarch). So all told, not much seems to have changed, fanboys and opponents can believe what they want.

==On Psykers==
For most of their history the Black Templars didn't have any Librarians. This was generally thought as a pretty simple fact, they hate all forms of witches. They even have a special rule call "Abhor the Witch". That was until 6th edition when it was more explicitly stated that they had no real compunction against Astropaths and Navigators, since they were the only people who knew how to drive the massive crusading fleets. Of course, this was always true since the BT always accepted those psykers that the Emperor himself had sanctioned (although they watched them closely ;) ), which includes Astropaths, Navigators and (surprise, surprise) the Grey Knights. Which invalidates the logic of the following paragraph.

According to the GW apologists, the major difference between their codex and 6E is their opinion on other psykers: In previous works, it was made pretty clear that they wouldn't suffer the witch no matter who they were (except for the aforementioned groups the Emperor sanctioned personally) , and as such literally couldn't ally with any other psyker-using force except for the Grey Knights (and even then, it was AoC (Note: "AoC" is a 6th Ed construct)). Come the 6E Codex however, suddenly all their hatred for every psyker was scaled back to merely just being a hatred to all enemy psykers. Some may call this fluff-rape and all that in their neckbearded [[RAGE]], but others realize that setting up tons of restrictions would ultimately serve to cripple the Templars and ultimately just kept things easier by just generalizing it, to say nothing of the fact that the Emperor himself was a psyker.

So it was changed. The Black Templars hatred is only towards alien and rogue psykers and that they have great respect for the ones in the fleet. So why no Librarians? There are three <s>theories</s> hypothesis in the codex:

*They still enforce the Edict of Nikaea.
*A gene-seed defect.
*They lost them during The Howling.

A small part of it likely has to do with their recruiting process. Since they recruit from the worlds they Crusade on, and they spend a decent amount of time purging renegade psykers, there probably aren't any psykers left for them to recruit and they're not likely to recruit Psykers found by somebody else. It still doesn't explain why they've never had a recorded incident of latent Psykers awakening once they've been recruited.

Rather hilariously, the Black Templars are not even certain why they don't have Librarians; because the Librarius usually maintains the records of the chapter, the Templars have allowed their understanding of history to fall into decay. For the time being, they have come to the conclusion that the loss of the Librarius is simply part of the Emperor's grand design, and should he see fit to bless them with Librarians again they would gladly use them.

==Notable members==
*''[[Sigismund]]'': First Chapter Master/Soul brother who made the chapter when Dorn broke the Legion up.
*''High Marshal [[Helbrecht]]'': Their current Chapter Master. Gets fucked up by Imotekh the Stormlord who proceeds to take his arm as a trophy. Helbrecht then manages to destroy his entire fucking flagship as retaliation. Currently on <s>a manhunt for [[Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka]] alongside [[Commissar Yarrick]]</s> Armageddon fighting the Ork forces, because the setting actually got dialed BACK to before Ghazghkull had to flee the planet.
*''Chaplain [[Grimaldus]]'': THE most badass [[Chaplain]] in the entire Godsdamn Imperium, with the possible exception of [[Lemartes]]. He fought the biggest Ork WAAAGH in history on a very old temple that had relics and artifacts that were sacred to the Imperium. The battle only ended after the temple collapsed and buried every Ork and Marine under the rubble. But since Grimaldus was too badass to die, he crawled out of the temple with a few relics he managed to save. And besides the guy has the word [[Grimdark|grim]] in his fucking name! How can he not be badass? The main caveat about his description is in his depiction in the book Helsreach, featuring Grimaldus' service in Armageddon leading up to his title as "Hero of Helsreach", where we learn he is equally skilled at tantrum-throwing/sulking, as he is kicking lots of ork ass. But to be fair, this isn't the Grimaldus we know and love as first. Helsreach is about him manning up under constant pressure, him finding he has to stop feeling like he has to be his old boss's bitch all the time and learning to be the butch. He does manage to man up and becomes the badass we all know and love (by the end of things, like, the very last second before a cathedral falls on him and knocks him out and not a second sooner). Plus, he had the stones to do it all WITHOUT A [[ROSARIUS]].
*''[[Tankred]]'': He who endures. Also is partial to bitches.
*''High Marshal Ludoldus'': A previous High Marshal notable for having led the Templars during two Crusades that were separated by over 2000 years, specifically the Vinculus Crusade (833.M41) and the Jerulas Crusade (645.M39). Considering that he was already High Marshall by the time of Vinculus, one can only conclude that Ludoldus was FUCKING OLD... and totally blows [[Dante]] out of the water as the guy even has ''old'' in his fucking name.
*''Castellan Draco'': notable role in the Vinculus crusade, notably in killing Inquisitor Lord Vinculus after he got possessed, but not after his own losses; that is, he got buried in rubble after lacing the cult's massive fortress with explosives. For his valiant efforts, he got his lost parts replaced with bionics, a relic suit of armour and Lord Vinculus' sword.
* ''Marshal Magneric'' See Tankred above imagine if he was in command of his own crusade. Unlike most dreadnoughts he still kept his name and rank and rarely slept which made him into a crazy fanatic (and implied to be the source of the religious zeal) spends most of his days hunting his old BFF Warsmith Kalkator until orks of The Beast showed up.

==Daily Rituals of a Black Templar==
Think [[Angry Marines]] but with less copious cursing.
* 03:50: Morning Call to Prayer: Initiates awaken their respective Neophytes from their comfortable slumber on bare stone floors. This often involves buckets of ice water, vox-casters playing hymns with the volume control knob broken off, or a power armor shod foot up the ass depending on the Initiate in question. Complaints that this awakening occurred ten minutes prior to scheduled reveille are met with readmistration of the waking aid.
* 04:00: Morning Prayer: Neophytes are berated for their perceived failings by their responsible Initiates, who are in turn berated by the Sword Brethren, the Sword Brethren by the Castellans, up to the Marshal who berates the entire Fleet then swears a solemn vow to an icon of the Emperor that they will do better and prove themselves worthy by stabbing heretics in the throat with their swords. Tactics may also be discussed and orders of battle issued, assuming they involve rushing headlong at the enemy.
* 05:00: Morning Firing Rites: The Initiates school their apprentices on the art of shooting xenos in the face while simultaneously swinging a chainsword. This shooting preferably occurs while rushing across the active firing range in order to close with the target and hit it with the bolt pistol if possible.
* 07:00: Morning Battle Practice: Initiates inform their neophytes that if they are done being cowardly whelps they may now avail themselves of a sword with which to stab shit.
* 11:55: Milk and cookies break. Any neophytes stupid enough to drink milk or eat cookies in front of their Initiate gets their meal pushed in their noses and eyeballs respectively. Things get interesting if they dipped their cookies in their milk.
* 12:00: Midday Prayer: Neophytes are told how poorly they did during the morning exercises, any sense of pride or joy is rooted out. The Marshal leads the Fleet in prayer and promises the Emperor they will kill more things even more righteously this afternoon.
* 13:00: Midday Meal: The chapter serfs provide cold cuts for the Brothers' enjoyment. Lunchmeat is usually collected by the serfs following each battle and stored in the ships' freezers. Naturally, Neophytes do not get something to eat yet as the Initiates insult them for even assuming they get to eat. The Neophytes soon learn that the Emperor has a sense of humor when the Initiates are informed that only Sword Brethren on up are allowed to eat.
* 13:15: Tactical Indoctrination: Locations of the vital organs and blood vessels of xenos species that may be encountered on the current Crusade and the weak spots of Daemons are reviewed, occasionally an Initiate will cuff his Neophyte on the back of the head and reiterate "Yes that, you stab that retard." Other tactics may also be discussed as long as they involve inserting blades into things.
* 14:00: Afternoon Battle Practice: Initiates attempt to kill their Neophyte with a power sword. If the Neophyte is not dead in four hours he passes muster.
* 18:00: Evening Firing Rites: Neophytes are instructed in how to operate heavy and specialty weaponry dropped by their responsible Initiate when he abandons it so that he may swing his sword with both hands to better kill shit or is eaten by a monstrous creature which he bravely <s>(read:stupidly)</s> (read:RIGHTEOUSLY) tried to skullfuck in CQC.
* 20:00: Evening Prayer: After short session of critique and berating, the Emperors' Champion leads a sermon about how awesome the [[God-Emperor of Mankind|Emprah]] is and how much He wants them to bifurcate/decapitate the current heretics/mutants/xenos they are fighting with power weapons.
* 21:00: Evening Meal: A feast is served by the chapter serfs. Alcohol and anything that has a pleasant taste will not be consumed as the Emperor looks down on those that enjoy life. No hamburger, no cheeseburgers, no french fries, no milkshakes, no potato chips; you will drink water distilled from the Fleet's waste/reactor AND LIKE IT!
* 21:30: Night-fighting/zero-gravity exercises: Initiates instruct their charges on stabbing things by the glow of a power sword and how to fight in a zero-gravity environment without jump packs (stab foe, use corpse as a springboard to assault another foe, repeat).
* 23:15: Wargear Maintenance: Initiates encourage Neophytes to keep weapons in proper working order with phrases like, "Sharpen your shit you incompetent bastard" as the Emperor reserves great disdain for those that kill heretics with dull blades.
* 23:45: Free time: The Initiate is free to challenge his Neophyte to a short duel. Wounds heal better during sleep anyway.
* 00:00 Rest period: The Initiate sees his Neophyte off to bed, with one last punch to the face to help him fall asleep. The Sword Brethren then punch the Initiates in the face before they retire for rest period.

Note that this constitutes a day off for a Black Templar. A working day will involve 23 hours of rushing monstrous creatures with melee weapons. Neophytes are expected to pull bullet sponge duty so the Initiate is not distracted by little things like enemy gunfire (and that their spilled blood will allow the Initiates to glide on the ground to their enemy faster) as seen here:

===Black Templar Combat Training===
Brother-Initiate Teuton McTemplar: "Neophyte, get your ass over here and hold my Lascannon while I charge that [[Carnifex]] with my Power Fist!"

Neophyte Random'O'Germansoundingname: "But sir I have not yet earned my power armour and a Lascannon weighs 100 kilos..."

Brother-Initiate Teuton McTemplar: "You are going to pick up that spotlight and burn some fucking xenos, and you are going to like it!"

Note: It would be nice if this could happen, but in reality, you can only arm Neophytes with shotguns or bolt pistols with CCWs, though you were able to arm an initiate with both a Lascannon and a Power Fist in their original codex. Hilariously too you could go completely overboard and have one marine armed with a Power fist, three bolt pistols (or two bolt pistols and a bolter), a Chainsword, a Power Weapon, a Heavy Bolter, a Missile Launcher (or a Multi-Melta), a Lascannon, and a Plasma Cannon [[Obliterators|ALL AT THE SAME TIME]] (though while funny is still a terrible thing to put on the battlefield as he can still only fire one per turn, pistols notwithstanding). Talk about a jack of all trades...

==See Also==
*[[Warhammer 40,000/Tactics/Black Templar|Tactics/Black Templar]]
*Their [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lrs9nIITQk| theme] by [[HMKids]].
*Also their [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0TzUNti3rY| theme] by Andrew W.K.
*An accurate representation of their daily lives https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaUi8Dv73hA

==No-Promotions Gallery==
<gallery>
Image:Templar Terminator.jpg|Actually pretty nice guys, once you get to know them.
Image:1206768954856.jpg|They also like to sing.
Image:howdoipurge.png
Image:bffs.jpg
Image:Imheretopurgehereticsandchewbubblegumandimalloutofbubblegum.jpg|Look at them hips.
</gallery>

==Promotions Gallery==
<gallery>
Image:A not so Little Sister by DeadXCross.jpg|They can even inspire zealots of their own.
</gallery>

{{Template:Marines-Official}}

Leman Russ

2018-05-26T19:24:48Z

2A02:587:3A03:4900:A4E9:33F6:3E0:6391:

[[Image:LEMAN_RUSS.jpg|frame|My hand is fire, my hair is rage, my pauldrons are justice and my cock is wolf. Prepare to die!]]
{{Topquote|I am the punishment of God...If you had not committed great sins, God would not have sent a punishment like me upon you.|[[Genghis motherfucking Khan|Genghis Khan]]}}
{{Topquote|When he is nearly ten, his mother submits him to a first ordeal: she sews his shirt to his arms through the skin. Siggeir's sons, submitted to the same ordeal, [[Anal circumference|had howled with pain]], but Sinfjotli remains imperturbable. His mother then pulls off his shirt, tearing away the skin, and asks him if he feels anything. The boy answers that a [[Badasious|Volsung is not troubled by such a trifle]] (...) After this proof of courage Sigmund takes the boy into the forest with him. One day they find two wolfskins hanging from the wall of a hut. [[Horus|The two sons]] [[Emperor|of a king]] had been transformed into wolves and could only come out of the skins every tenth day. Sigmund and Sinfjotli put on the skins, but cannot get them off. They howl like wolves and understand the wolves' language.|Volsung Saga, summarized and commented by Mircea Eliade, ''Birth and Rebirth'' (New York: Harper & Row, 1958)}}

'''Leman Russ''', '''"The Great Wolf"''', not to be confused with the [[Leman Russ (tank)|tank bearing his name]], is the primarch of the [[Space Wolves]] legion. A superhuman nordic king with a warrior's crude humor and a stubborn streak a mile wide. He was such a hard headed son of a bitch, that he's survived extended fights with [[Angron]], [[Magnus]], [[Lion El'Jonson|The Lion]], and even the Emperor himself. General all-around badass deserving of much respect, but superstitious and flawed, with a serious problem valuing others' points of view, even if he understood them. He's blonde underneath [[Rip and Tear|all the blood.]]

==Origins==
When the Primarchs were lost, Leman's capsule landed on [[Fenris]], a harsh planet of insane violence that the Norse gods shit out after a three day meth fueled orgy with a tyranid hive fleet. The locals there enjoy a life of fishing, drinking, sailing, fucking, pillaging, and conquering other tribes of people for the modest little islands they all have to live on. Granted, it's also usually a very short life, because they're sharing the world with trolls, yetis, wolves the size of horses, wolves the size of battle tanks, bears the size of a house, whales that kill for fun, and krakens, which are to a squid as a [[Hierophant]] is to a [[Hormagaunt]].

So it was that little baby Russ left his capsule in the polar mountain region of Asaheim. There, some monstrous female wolf found him and said to herself "I WANT!". So Russ was raised by a dire wolf In Spess. A few years pass, Russ growing up big and strong and hairy, having a grand old time running around the mountains and killing the sheep and such of the humans there with his wolf brothers. Eventually a king named Thengir heard of the Wolf-man, and decreed he be captured and brought to his hall. The mist of ages (and retcons) have hidden the details of Thengir's first meeting with Russ. Some stories would say that Russ was bound and gagged and dragged into the hall of the King Thengir after his Wolf family was slain, others claim a hunting party stumbled across his cave and kicked off a bloody melee in which a dozen hunters were killed, along with Russ's mother, after which the hunters somehow convinced Russ to stand down and come with them, a conversation that may or may not have included copious amounts of alcohol and whores. Thengir took a wondrous interest in Russ and ordered he be educated. In a short time, Russ was trash-talking every short bastard who dared look at him the wrong way, and had become insanely good with weaponry. When Thengir finally died, all declared that Leman of the Russ become the new high King.

Also, remember that Volsung Saga quote regarding Warrior Initiations for [[Angron|Berserks]]? Considering that (according to old Fluff) Sanguinius looked like a young teen adult at 1 year old, Leman Russ passed this trial that when he was around 7-10 months old or so. No wonder he went on to be a [[Eldrad|dick]] [[Primarch#Douchebagginess|with]] [[Magnus|some]] [[Unknown Primarchs|of]] [[Lion El'Jonson|his brothers]] and his new recruits (first, the Space Wolves feed them like they arrived to Valhalla and [[Assholetep|then, when they fall asleep they abandon them in the cold wilderness of Fenris until they transform into Wulfen or return home by themselves]]...) and was easily manipulated by the Luna Wolf Primarch in tearing a new asshole to Magnus.

==GW origins==
He was just an ordinary commander who came with two wolves, Freki and Geri. This is them.

http://www.solegends.com/citrt2/rt070121LemanRuss/Wd117p80070121SWCommanderLemanRussx-01.htm

==The Next Step==
Russ conquered and took. He bartered and traded. He united the people of Asaheim under his rule. Somehow, the Emprah heard of it and realized it all had to be the work of a Primarch. So then he attended a royal banquet in the Hall of the Mountain Ki- I mean Leman Russ. The Emprah, taking a leaf out of Odin's book, disguised himself as some old geezer, then waited until the right moment to reveal his true identity. When he did Russ refused to bow down and challenged him to several contests, he ate so much the Emprah was forced to back down. Russ drank so much the Emprah was forced to back down. By now, the Emprah was fairly surprised at finally being out-done by someone else, Russ gazed upon the Emperor and challenged him in combat, and so did the Emprah raise his Power Glove into the air for all to see, and so did he then bring it down on Leman Russ's head, knocking him the fuck out in one solid hit.

Of course fluff changes and a 1-hit KO wasn't very fulfilling, so the new lore arrived: After the Emperor revealed himself Leman Russ skipped the eating and drinking contests and just challenged the Emperor to a fight. It is unknown whether the Emperor was in his full armour and actually had his Power Fist at the time, or whether he used his psychic powers; but the duel lasted for hours. (Presumably Russ did a lot better this time by virtue of not being drunk.) In the end, though the Emperor, presumably pissy that Leman was waving his cock in his face by just straight up fighting him, punched him square in the face and dropped him. When Russ awoke, he laughed it off and swore loyalty to the one who managed to beat him. Afterwards he ended up in command of the one Space Marine legion that knows how to eat, drink, brawl and make war upon any asshole that mocks their Thunderwolf.

Rumour has it that the Emp was so pleased with Russ' prowess, that he thereforth tasked him and the Space Wolves to be his executioners and it seems Russ is the reason the 2nd and 11th Legions no longer exist. So he has experience fucking up a Primarch, which is pretty goddamn manly. (Not confirmed by any sources and is not more than passing conversation in one Black Library novel, other than that, yeah totally definitely didn't kill the other legions. Also if you take how he acted with Angron and Magnus, he totally hated his job of being the executioner... and apparently thought Lorgar was a pretty cool guy).

(The novel "Betrayer" give's Angron's version of their run-in, where he tells to Lorgar what happened. Russ had taken it upon himself to school the World Eaters as he was disgusted by their behavior. Angron was having none of Russ' babbling and finally jumped him when he realized he hadn't been sent by Big.E. Angron eventually defeats Russ in single combat, but because only he was fighting to kill while Russ was trying to teach. It then ends with the Space Wolves entirely outmaneuvering the Eaters and winning a tactical victory by surrounding Angron, some more hissing vitriol between the two Primarchs and Angron leaving. The World Eaters believed they won due to a higher kill count and the Wolves leave disappointed that their legion brothers were too retarded to see the lesson Russ was teaching. It is pretty telling that even Lorgar replies to Angron that he was a complete tool on that night and would have been killed after hearing him boast of how he won against Russ.)

Apart from that, Russ and his Space Wolves had a goddamn good time during the Great Crusade, although it hasn't been written about so this is all we can guess. Until ''Inferno'' dropped. It turns out that Russ became the Emperor's executioner in the process of fighting the Rangdan Xenocides, which saw entire Army regiments, Titan Legions and somethings of Space Marine Legions (could be Chapters, could actually be entire Legions) wiped out. With the Luna Woves up to the eyes in glorious warfare in the Galactic East, Russ and the VI headed north along with the I Legion - this is the war that ended the I's time as the largest Legion. The end of the Xenocides entailed a series of bio-pogroms which left the Wolves with a very ugly reputation, and from then on Russ' role was the doer of necessary dirty deeds.

When that fag-ass [[Horus]] started whining and crying, Leman Russ and his Legion were on their way to Prospero to bring Magnus the Red to Terra for questioning. Horus intercepted the message and re-worded it to order Russ to destroy Magnus and his Thousand Sons. Russ and the Space Wolves carried out a class-10 clusterfucking on Prospero (aided along a bit by Magnus himself lowering his planet's defenses because he wanted to atone for his wrongdoings, but it merely cut to the inevitable chase). It should have ended with the glorious finale where Leman Russ himself lifted Magnus the Red over his shoulders and broke the sorcerer's back over his knee. But even so, the red bastard managed to utter one single word of power and escaped through the fucking ground ( [[If_the_Emperor_had_a_Text-to-Speech_Device|I punched his heart out! Why does nobody remember that!]] ) Russ was so enraged that he ordered the 13th company of Space Wolves to pursue the fleeing Thousand Sons through their pansy-ass portals.

This said, winning the Battle of Prospero left a bitter taste in Russ' mouth and complicated things for the Wolves in the long run. First of all, despite his reputation as the Emperor's Executioner, fighting Magnus took a serious toll on Russ. He probably knew that it was a "fair fight" only because Magnus was devastated and held back his power, with which he would have easily won, being at least the third most powerful psyker humanity, and possibly the galaxy, had ever known. Rumour has it, that during the battle between those two demigods Magnus, by psychic means, laid his heart and mind bare to Russ, revealing that he knew not only every blow that was coming from his brother, but everything that he had come to know, accepting his failure and his fate, which was defeat.

This shook the Wolf King deeply, but Russ decided to carry on and try to make the best of a real clusterfuck of a situation. (An Inquisitor once called it an "emo phase" in front of a Rune Priest, and was fed balls-first to a Thunderwolf.) Not long after that, the news of the Drop Site Massacre reached the Wolves; which was another blow for the Wolf King. In his own words, Russ felt he'd been "in the wrong place, doing the wrong thing", wasting his time and men fighting an eventually futile battle instead of standing with his brother Primarchs against the real threat. Just to make things worse, the [[Battle of the Alaxxes Nebula|Alpha Legion turned up to batter the Wolves]] and prevent them to move to Terra and help Big. E and (as cherry on top of an already really bad cake) the White Scars, who'd been bro' with Magnus and had no idea why Russ' just decided to fuck them up royally seemingly out of the blue, weren't going to help them after Prospero. But the [[Dark Angels]] of all people aided the Wolves in fighting off the Alpha Legion, letting the Wolves damage their fleet to an impressive degree. A plus here was that [[Bjorn the Fell-Handed]] came to his attention, setting the young warrior on the path to ironclad badassness. This said, when he went to Yarant to fight the main Traitor advance, Russ was badly injured, entering a coma and giving Bjorn temporary command of the Legion. He bought Dorn and the Emperor more time, but didn't make it back to Terra until it was too late.

Oh and Empy totally gave him a spear after most of the Terran members of his original legion depicted fighting various gribbly xenos. Including Tyranids. Yup. Said spear was tossed into a certain Daemon Primarchs single eye, thereby preventing him from manifesting in reality AND resurrecting his legion. Russ totally hated this spear btw. At one point Russ tried to hit a moon orbiting some planet (he was drunk, don't judge) and the spear was lost for months [[troll|but since it had been a gift from Big.E the Wolves did spend said months searching for it]]. In the new novel Wolfsbane, it's revealed he was fearful of the spear and purposefully avoided using it while "forgetting" it at conferences before people brought it back. He later uses it and became fond of it as a weapon. Later he uses said spear to fight chaos empowered Horus, after another try to get rid of it. He manages to stop the Warmaster with it. But then, when he thinks Horus will redeem himself he is nearly killed by the traitor, explaining his state in weregeld.

[[File:FacebookGiotaTsirou.jpg|620px|thumb|left|Panagiota Tsirou, a 200 pound girl of short stature with unnatural agility that is incompatible with the physical boundaries that her obese biological structure should obviously follow, proving that a twisted disfigurement of reality is already existent, unleashing the incomprehensible influence of the warp in ways too unimaginable for anyone to acquaint with its reflections in our ludicrous lives, redefined by overwhelmingly shocking surprises.]]

[[File:WOW.jpg|1200px|thumb|right|In the 8th game of the World of Warcraft series, which was the first since the current 8th editions of Warhammer Fantasy and 40K, they also advanced the storyline following the same trend, as we have an official Alliance-Horde war for the first time since Warcraft 3, in total coordination with the real world when long unsettled conflicts, such as the Arab-Israeli war, Grexit, Kim Jong-un, US-China trade war, Fascism emerging in Europe starting from Italy, Neo-ottomanism, American civil war, Monroe dogma over Nicolas Maduro and Lula and even a volcano in Hawaii erupting, are simultaneously all emerging as if we are truly living in a novel.]]

== Russ and his Brothers ==
In many ways Russ can be best understood by looking at the clashes between him and his brothers, butting heads with [[Angron]], [[Magnus]], and [[Lion El'Jonson]] over the years. All three of them had much in common with Russ, and there was potential for great brotherhood there, but in large part his lack of tact or understanding crushed whatever relationship might have been.

His fight with Angron was an attempt to teach his brother a lesson. Both of them were penultimate warriors, both relied on their amazing athleticism and berzerker rages to triumph in battle, both were known for losing their temper when challenged, but Russ saw weakness in his brother's lack of strategy. Leman tried to just talk to the World Eater's primarch, but Angron was so uncontrollably, incredibly, "calm down son", angry that he just attacked Russ. While Russ and Angron were dueling, their retinues kicked off an open war, and in the battle that followed Russ found himself defeated by Angron, but Angron was in turn outmaneuvered and surrounded by the Space Wolves, thus proving Russ's lesson that warrior prowess isn't enough. That said, no one learned '''anything'''. Angron thought himself the victor because he'd won the duel and his sons had inflicted greater casualties than the Wolves, but Russ thought himself the victor because he'd proven his point and "educated" his brother. On the flip side, arguments that Russ should have been more tactful ignore that he was trying to deal with a Space Marine Legion of questionable loyalty that could and had caused massive amounts of collateral damage. There's a time for caution; it's not when rampaging supersoldiers are threatening the Imperium and its people. Which is indeed a good point, but then he should have gone all the way and gotten Big.E's approval to deal with this shit once and for all if it came down to that instead of trying to do things on his own on the sly. No matter how you look at it, Russ' idea to "educate" his brother was one of good intent (no really, it's a genuine bro' move that the Primarchs rarely extended to another) but of poor execution. If Russ had paid more attention and thought things through rather than sticking to do things his way, he'd have used subtler methods of persuasion to calm Angron, as Fulgrim and especially Lorgar had done in the past. Russ would have had an easier time of persuading Angron than either of them, given that he and Angron had a similar sense of brutal honor and a great lust for war. But, ultimately, it didn't occur to Russ to slow down and think his idea though, so he failed that day.

Russ really, ''really'' didn't get along with Magnus, even before the burning of Prospero. He hated that his brother used sorcery and warpcraft, despite the fact that Russ's legion ALSO USED PSYKERS. However, there is a subtle distinction; the Rune Priests of the Space Wolves use their psychic abilities in a much more limited and controlled way than the Thousand Sons, and the Rout never used Chaos familiars. They also believed that they were using the spirits of Fenris, hence all the totems and runes. Nearly all fluff indicates that this is utter horseshit, the sort of beliefs the Rout inherits from the Fenrisians. Russ' superstition led him to feud with Magnus, but so did his concerns over the threat the XVth Legion posed to the Imperium and his frustration with Magnus' tendency to abandon his allies in favor of investigating some psychic artifact or slow down a conquest to avoid damaging some books. Russ never stopped to consider that Magnus' understanding of the Warp might have been better than his, or that the things Magnus preserved might have value for the humans Russ wanted to make the Galaxy safe for. Ridiculous theories that Russ was a psyker aside (ridicolous... why exactly? Firstly, all primarchs are infused with a measure of warp essenceand secondly, in "A Thousand Sons" scores of Thousand Sons die when Russ howls once he gets really angry.. Please do explain this without unconscious usage of psychic powers he simply never consciously tapped into?), another significant source of the feud between Magnus and Russ was The Crimson King's sheer arrogance. Leman Russ was rightly proud of his cunning battle tactics and personal ferocity, and was fully aware that he grew up on a savage death world where everything is constantly trying to kill you while Magnus had it comparatively easy on Prospero. The Wolf King and his Legion, from the Wheel of Fire to the Rangdan Xenocides, had proved its mettle, cunning, and devotion to the Emperor many times over, yet Magnus treated him like a dumb hick and acted as though his psychic powers made him the greatest primarch. It couldn't have helped matters that some of the threats the VIth had bested were psychic in nature. Yet Magnus knew none of this; only the Emperor and the Space Wolves understood the extent of the threats they had faced down. Russ never considered that Magnus had no knowledge of the terrible secrets that only he had been entrusted with; he expected Magnus to take the word of an "ignorant savage" that the abilities he defined himself by couldn't be trusted. Whether Magnus would have listened if he did explain all that on the other hand, is another story-recall that he didn't listen the first time the Emperor told him to stop.

Perhaps most famous and most tragic of Russ's feuds was his strife with [[Lion El'Jonson]]. Both men had very similar origins, but slight differences in their upbringings drove a wedge between them. The Wolf and the Lion were both raised by the wild: both of their pods had crashed in areas with no humans, and they had to learn to survive with no lessons from other men. Both were eventually taken in when they were discovered by the men of their world, but that's where their stories differ. Where Russ was raised in the friendly, bawdy brotherhood of Thengir's men, the Lion was trained and educated in the somber fraternity of the knightly Order. While Russ had been brawling and singing with his friends, leading great hunts to destroy monsters and enemy tribes, the Lion was mastering discipline and embarking on solemn quests to destroy the Great Beasts of the forest. The battle between the two came on the world of Dulan, where the VIth and Ist legion were fighting together to slay a tyrant who'd insulted Russ's honor. At the beginning of the conflict the two brothers had promised to work together, but as time went on the Lion grew tired of his brother's insistence on utterly smashing every pocket of resistance rather than taking a more efficient, direct method of ending the war. Eventually he just launched an assault on the tyrant's palace, and beheaded the man before Russ could reach them. In the heat of the moment, Russ was ''furious'' to hear that and immediately confronted his brother. Russ was an angry dickhead, the Lion was a snarky bastard, and before long blades were drawn and the two were trying to kill each other in a violent battle. After a long and bloody fight in which the two of them beat one another senseless and finally fell over the ramparts of the fortress to the ground below, Russ started laughing, the ridiculousness of what they were doing finally apparent. Here they were, two Primarchs of the Legiones Astartes, brawling like children instead of leading their men. The Lion, however, didn't laugh. Like, at all. He coldly asked if his brother would yield, a question that just confused Russ. ''His brother thought this was a real duel?'' Russ had thought of the fight as a brawl between angry brothers like would happen on Fenris: a quick spat that would end with both of them beaten and bloodied, a spur-of-the-moment thing to vent their anger they'd laugh about over a tankard of Mjod years later. The Lion however was taking it deadly seriously and while Russ was laughing he struck a final blow, shattering Russ's skull and ending the fight. Had Russ stopped to consider his brother's mentality, or listened more closely to the Lion's words, he would have realized that the Lion saw the conflict as something profoundly different from what Russ thought it was, taking the matter of honour as something deadly serious. Again, Russ's lack of consideration was his failing.

However, while certainly abrasive, arrogant, and brutal, Russ was also every bit as loyal as Sanguinius or Dorn. The other thing Magnus, Angron, and the Lion had in common? All three of them behaved like assholes in their way. The Lion had zero people skills, arrogantly considered himself the best of all Primarchs, acted like he was some prince-in-waiting and lorded it over his brothers. Magnus was much more enjoyable to be around but he arrogantly assumed he knew best because of his powers and blatantly favored psykers in his Legion. Angron's case is... [[Rage|self-explanatory]]. Bottom line, his brothers all put their own feelings/goals before those of the Emperor. Not to say that Russ was tactful, diplomatic, or understanding with these three - he certainly could have handled all of these conflicts better - but Russ was never a dick just for the sake of being a dick - he was a dick because someone had to keep his brothers in line.

His relationships with his brothers also highlight another one of his traits. Fans LOVE to call him a hypocrite, and this isn't far off the mark. However, it's not quite on target either. To elaborate, Russ did indeed criticize (and at times even physically attacked) his brothers for traits he or his Legion also had. On closer inspection, though, the way Russ dealt with his flaws was different from his brothers - and that's the best justification for his behavior:

*Russ and Angron both led Legions that were extremely violent, especially towards the defenseless. But Russ made a point from the very beginning to rein himself in and taught his Legion to temper their bloodlust and fight to make the galaxy safe for humans by example. Angron didn't care about either his Legion or the people of the Imperium, the only leadership and example he gave the World Eaters was to slaughter anything that dared stand in his way. Even worse, Angron jammed the Butcher's Nails in the brains of his War Hounds, taking their discipline and brotherhood away from them and leaving them to degenerate into blood-crazed psychopathic supersoldiers living only to kill without rhyme or reason. Russ gave massacres of friendly units as his main reason for intervening.

*As for Jonson, both Primarchs had an element of glory-seeking in their nature. Both were also very stubborn and combative, with an animalistic side. However, Russ wasn't ruled by his pride but his drive to serve the Emperor came from a different place: the Lion lectured Russ about wasting time destroying the Emperor's enemies, when winning wars is all that matters. ''(ironically a similar lesson that Russ tried to teach Angron)'', while Russ couldn't countenance leaving any enemies alive. During a dispute between the Space Wolves and the Dark Angels over a friendly fire incident, Russ personally apologized to the Lion in spite of the Dark Angels being the ones who knowingly fired on the Rout. Russ put aside his lust for glory and victory to save the lives of his men, then privately made it clear [[Rip and Tear|what would happen should the Dark Angels do something similar again.]] By contrast, the Lion's honour was everything to him, that the Dark Angels fired on the Rout because they had been fired on first ''(even after warnings were given)'' and that the Lion seemed fully prepared to kill his brother in the brawl over kill stealing, because Russ laid hands on him first. This distinction justifies Russ' initial hatred of Jonson though the two did come to an understanding later; that the reason for the Lion breaking his promise on Dulan was because Russ was putting off the final blow and allowing the battle to drag out, costing lives, which was pretty much the lesson Jonson was trying to point out earlier. All because Russ had wandered off the battle-plan to sort out the Wulfen issue within the 13th Company, something that Russ later realised that the Lion already knew and had quietly disposed of the evidence for his brother, even though he could have used the knowledge to break the Space Wolves Legion.

*With Magnus, the accusations of hypocrisy carry more weight. Russ' attempts to cover up the Curse of the Wulfen are uncomfortably similar to Magnus' treatment of the flesh change, and both Legions did use psykers. The real difference here is how they dealt with the situation. However, the Rune Priests were much more cautious than the sorcerers of the Thousand Sons in their dealings with the Empyrean and only ''"taking a sip of the cup when needed instead of drinking deep each time"'' as the Khan would put it. More importantly, the Space Wolves treat the degeneration of their gene-seed and the transformation into Wulfen as a curse, a failing to be contained and if possible eradicated. The Thousand Sons treat their psyker powers as a badge of superiority, taking any excuse to use them and revelling in what made them unique without considering its links with the flesh change. Russ did his best to control his secrets, he didn't glorify them or thought it made him and his Wolves better than the other Legions. Magnus was controlled by his secrets and saw them as strengths. It's also worth noting that as per ''Prospero Burns'' Tzeentchian dickery had led Russ and others to believe Magnus' equerry had planted a spy among the Wolves, with Amon apparently attacking Bjorn and a Custodian at Nikaea. It is a tragic turn of events in its own right that this "Amon" was in truth a daemon masquerading as the Amon (who had - matter of factly - faithfully stayed at Magnus' side which was generously entirely disregarded by both the Wolves and the Custodians for plot reasons), playing a pivotal role in tipping the balance towards the dissolution of the Librarius (which - ironically - would have been one of the greatest assets the Imperium/the Emperor would have been able to field against Chaos during the Heresy.. Just as planned!!!!).

TL;DR: Russ shared many flaws with his brothers, but he was defined by being in control rather than being thrall to his flaws. His bloodlust never overtook his discipline like it would Angron. His glory-seeking never overrode his sense of responsibility like it would Lion El'Jonson. He made sure his sons worked against their curse rather than have them embrace it like Magnus did. It comes to no surprise that someone who worked so hard for control resented people who thought they didn't need it, hence the accusations of hypocrisy, however ([[Lion El'Jonson|in]] [[Ferrus Manus|fairness]] [[Rogal Dorn|like]] [[Roboute Guilliman|many]] [[Angron|of]] [[Perturabo|his]] [[Mortarion|brothers]] [[Night Haunter|Primarchs]]), interpersonal skills weren't exactly his forte. Russ' real failing was not that he accused others for things he had to deal with himself, but rather that he was in an unique position where he could have been an example to his brothers ''because he shared and knew how to deal with said flaws'' but his brashness and agressivity drove them apart instead.

On a somewhat amusing tangent, one of the best relationships Russ had with his brothers was with Guilliman. Russ considered Guilliman a good choice for Warmaster, and in return Guilliman considered Russ and his legion part of his "Dauntless Few", meaning that Bobby G sincerely believed that alongside Russ and his Wolves, the Ultramarines could defeat any opponent. Rather amusingly, when he was struck down by Fulgrim, Guilliman's last thoughts were, in order, of his sons, of the Imperium, and then for his brothers, the first being Russ. While they weren't exactly [[Fulgrim|best]] of [[Ferrus Manus|buds]], they had a sincere respect for each other as warriors, contrary to what their sons (re: players) seem to think. The only thing they [[skub|had a bit of a pickle with]] was Rob's [[Codex Astartes]] thing; and Russ eventually [[Council of Nikaea|ostensibly acquiesced]] only to [[Thousand Sons|ignore it]] when G-man stopped breathing down his neck, kinda. The Space Wolves did try to form a successor Chapter, the [[Wolf Brothers]], but those very quickly devolved into Wulfen for whatever reason (it is suspected the planet Fenris has something to do with it). After that The Wolves simply gave up on the idea and Russ merely presented his Great Companies (that were around Chapter strength) as being completely independent from one another.

This begs the question how many Space Wolves there are in the 41st Millenium, as theoretically they would still be around Legion strength due to their inability to split up into successor Chapters and there still being 12 Great Companies; and a returned G-Man offered them some [[Primaris Marines]] to boot. On the other hand, they got pretty banged up defending Fenris from [[Magnus the Red]]'s latest attempt at revenge, so their exact actual number is unclear. (In the novel "The Emperor's gift" it is stated that there are only 1,000 Space Wolves, but this is [[skub|highly debatable]].)

== Post-Heresy ==
Although unable to return to aid the Imperium in the Battle for Terra, Russ and the Space Wolves threw themselves headfirst into the post-Heresy war efforts. Aside from spanking the traitors into the Eye of Terror, he came up with the concept for the Adeptus Praeses. Though he'd told Guilliman where he could shove his Codex, Russ liked the idea of successor chapters for the Wolves. To him (or the little reformist movement within the Legion later, the fluff isn't totally clear), they were a way of maintaining the Wolves' influence alongside that of Girlyman, Dorn and the rest. Unfortunately the Wolves' gene-seed proved too unstable to set up any viable successor chapters, and as a result while the Ultramarines, Imperial Fists and Dark Angels have shitloads of descendants, the Wolves are the sole embodiment of Russ' strength and drive. This hasn't helped their situation with Imperial institutions such as the Inquisition.

One-hundred years to the day after the Emperor's internment on the Golden Throne, during a feast in the halls of the Space Wolves fortress, Russ climbed upon a table to give a speech. He was stricken with a vision, and after standing there speechless for a few minutes, he fell to one knee, issued hushed orders to his retinue, and left. He left his sons with their first Wolf Lord; [[Bjorn the Fell Handed]], and a message.

"In the end, I will be there. For the final battle. For <s>the wolf</s> dinner time."

And then the winds of change blew over the fluff once again. In the audio play Parting of Ways we get a slightly different version of events. There was still an annual feast, though it wasn't just to celebrate the day the Emperor got the snot beaten out of him by Horus, but also to commemorate the Wolves that had died during the spring cleaning that followed the Heresy, plus the completion of the Aett - the giant [[fortress-monastery|fortress]] of the Space Wolves. Also instead of a hundred years, it was two hundred years since the siege of Terra, so unless Dorn was a really slow learner and not very bright and it took him over a hundred years to assemble the Golden Throne, that is a clear lore change. Then again, given how Perturabo thoroughly kicked Dorn's ass in the iron Cage, forcing Bobby.G and the Ultrasmurfs to come and save Dorn's sorry ass, it's a possibility that Dorn just wasn't very bright. It's also a possibility that the Emperor got the Golden Throne from an old IKEA warehouse, which would explain why even a Primarch would have had trouble in figuring out how to put it together in less than a hundred years.

Also Russ wasn't about to hold a speech, instead he had at first partaken in the festivities but as the party grew sullen, Russ retreated, sensing, as Bjorn put it, "a fell wind from beyond the mountains, bleeding through the cracks of the Fang". After clenching the table for a while, Russ clambered to his feet on the table, screaming ''“No More!”'' The shout silenced the Space Wolves in their brawling and made the flags of the smoke filled halls tremble, so Russ apparently also had a gift for speech, plus he had a gift for getting instantly sober as Bjorn described his face going from being ruddy flushed with Mjod to looking like an ice spectre. Russ then held the following [[awesome|kickass]] speech:

''“We come here to celebrate the All-father, we come here to remember his sacrifice and his ascension from the world of the senses and his victory over my brother the traitor.”
''“We remember the dead, who even now gather in the oververse, their blade sharp, their aim keen.”''
''“They are better than we are for they perished in the war to end all wars and their souls have been purified! And what of us those left behind, wallowing in the drinks the fallen gods have left us?”''
''“We have grown fat, we have the beast within us, but is has never yet been mastered.”''

Then Russ paused to grab his drinking horn and held it aloft and continued:
''“So let us celebrate my father's ascension, let us remember what he was able to accomplish, let us remember what he built and what he foresaw and then what he lost and how he failed.”''
''“Do not mourn the fact that he no longer walks among us, for the galaxy was too small to accommodate such a soul, he was of an age of '''gods!''' And we are slumped in an age of mortals.”''
''“The lights of the stars will fade, this place will grow old and the ice will crack it.”''
''“We will forget no matter how much the skalds tell the old tales, what battles are left for us like the ones before?”''
''“My fallen brothers are gone, Malcador is gone, the leeches cluster around the Golden Throne and whisper of deeds done before they were born as if it were '''they''' who achieved them.”''

At this point Russ looked unsteady on his feet and his eyes went glassy:
''“A doubt of all of this, one thing remains true we were not on Terra, we were not there when the palace fell and that shame will pursue us for eternity.”''

Then Russ dropped his drinking horn on the board and then started to speak not to his warriors, but to himself or to some presence that was unseen.
''“It remains unfinished… I have waited for too long, building this mountain, squabbling with Guilliman. I will not grow old, feeble, limping around a crumbling inheritance. I have an Oath to keep, there are beasts left to slay.”''

At this point Russ was fully immersed in his premonitions and he looked around the room, a smile dancing on his fanged face, seeing things from either long ago or yet to come.
''“Listen closely my brothers, there shall come a time far from now, when the chapter itself is dying and our foes shall gather to destroy us.”''
''“Then, my sons, I shall listen for your call, in whatever realm 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 WOLF TIME!”''

Then Russ gave the mustering signal and he and his retinue left, though as Bjorn made to follow only to have Russ turn towards him saying a single sentence: ''“Not you.”'' When Bjorn asked for an explanation all Russ did was repeat the words: ''“Not you.”'' [[Eldrad|Then he left.]]

It is theorized that Russ like Magnus had the gift of premonition and knew that Bjorn would be needed in the years to come as the first Great Wolf, as it is heavily implied that if Bjorn hadn't been persuaded to take the mantle of great wolf, the Chapter itself would have fallen apart in the absence of Russ.

More likely Russ just didn't want Bjorn's moodiness to poison what ever adventure he was on. His helmet eventually came to be in the possession of [[Ulrik the Slayer]].

As to where Russ went and what happened to him there's a few theories given:
*Russ sought the Lion out to make amends of their old feuding (if so they both forgot to tell both their chapters about it).
*That he fought in eternal combat with the resurrected cadaver of Horus (no that would be Abaddon's task and he completely owned that clone of Horus).
*That he searched for the tree of life to heal the Emperor's soul (if so it will be needed sorely needed, as Abaddon blasted a remnant of the Emperor's soul, watching it decay in front of him (which of course makes no sense as the Emperor's powers are innately anti-Chaos and so cannot be blasted by it)).
*That he is trapped within a hollow star and tormented by his old adversary Magnus (Since Tzeentch was able to trap Sigmar in another dimension, trapping Russ in a hollow star and have his star pupil Magnus use him as a punching bag makes as much sense as anything).
*That he is actually searching for Magnus, to finish the last task given to him by the Emperor and "arrest" his wayward brother.
*That he passed beyond the bounds of space and time and now roams among the gods, ready to return when needed accompanied by the fallen of his legion sundered in a paradise of warriors (so basically he's in the Age of Sigmar at this point? somebody put him out of his misery, that's not a paradise that's hell on earth).
*That he's simply lost in the galactic fjord known as the Warp and has been playing drunken pranks on daemonic villagers for 10,000 years.

/tg/ theorizes that Leman Russ may return as [[Horo]] (Implying Horo isn't just one of Leman's many, many bastard children growing up on some shithole Feudal world).

Magnus actually know where Russ is now, but he don't tell it even to his trusted sorcerer lords.

The 13th company, and a figure bearing the likeness of Russ, was spotted during the 13th crusade and the siege of the capital of Cadia.

==On The Tabletop==
{| class=wikitable
! || Pts || WS || BS || S || T || W || I || A || Ld || Sv
|-
| '''Leman Russ:''' || 455 || 9 || 6 || 6 || 6 || 6 || 7 || 6 || 10 || 2+/4++
|}

An impressive stat-line, even by the insane standards of Primarchs, is coupled with unbelievably powerful wargear:
*The '''Armour Elavagar''' starts as your bog-standard 2+/4++ which is increased to a 3++ against flamer (in case that Marksmen Veteran with a Combi-flamer or Heavy Flamer rolled a 6 wounding you), melta, and plasma weapons, but the truly <strike>awesome</strike> severely-overpowered-bullshit part is that it imposes -1 to hit on anyone in BtB with him, which is increased to a -2 after the first round of combat - combined with his insane WS this means nothing save [[Khaine|WS]][[Bloodthirster|10]] can hit him at better than 5+ on the first turn (Fulgrim wishes his shiny armour was as reliable) and [[Cheese|6+]] on the second. Anything that can't [[Corax|Hit]]'n'[[Konrad Curze|Run]] is gonna be stuck in CC with Russ with little to no chance of hurting him until he kills it. Do note however that it ''only'' works in BtB contact, so the models not directly in contact with Russ would still hit him as usual (likely on 5+ due to his insane WS). Basically, he's insanely tanky in protracted fights.
*The '''Axe of Helwinter''' is a ''+2 S master-crafted power axe with sunder and without unwieldy'' for your vehicle-wrecking needs and putting some more guaranteed wounds on high toughness opponents. Also useful for inflicting Instant Death on anything T4 or lower.
*The '''Sword of Balenight''' is a Shredding AP2 power sword; oh wait, it also has '''Sever Life'''. If Russ' prey suffers one or more wounds from the sword, roll a 2d6. If this result beats your target's toughness, add 1d3 additional wounds.
**Thanks to vague wording, when you must make the test for Sever Life is a subject of debate. Some say "suffering one or more wounds" means that the rule applies immediately before saves are made. HOWEVER, the rule clearly states that Sever Life is used only if the model "is not slain" by the initial attacks, and you HAVE to make your save rolls in order to know if they are slain or not, so one can lawfully argue that ''unsaved'' wounds are the real trigger. Keep calm and make it clear with your opponent until a FAQ is released.
*For ranged fights he has the [[Vulkan]]-remade bolter (mentioned to be regular one until Xzibit got his hands on it) turned into a pistol for Primarch's hand, called '''Scornspitter''' which is assault 3 AP3 rending, but with pitiful 12" range. Of course if you aren't within 12", then you can't charge, and if you can't charge you're running therefore even if it did have a greater than 12" range it wouldn't be used anyway.

His Wolf-Kin are deployed separately and he can't join them, but they're great harassing units and surprisingly brutal fighters.

Meanwhile, his Sire of the Space Wolves gives him Night Vision, Counter-Attack, Preternatural Senses, and Hunter's Gait: all Wolves get +1Ld and Russ gets to Howl once per game (letting everyone in his detachment reroll run and charge for said turn). Breaker of Shields, Bringer of Ruin gives weapon mastery (like Horus and Calgar). If he's Warlord, you can take Veteran Tacticals (who may run/shoot bolters then charge instead of regular Vet tactics) and Varagyr Terminators as troops.

If Horus plays like everything a Space Marine Chapter Master ought to be, Russ is best compared to an Ork Warboss. He isn't exactly "tactical" in the traditional sense of reserve dickery, but Howl of the Death Wolf combined with Warrior's Mettle Veterans can make your army a strong hunter-killer force, able to get in your enemy's face and fuck up his battle plans. This is an unpredictable force, able to catch most armies by surprise and keep them off balance. Freki and Geri are practically auto-takes, and Russ himself can and will fuck up everything from Leviathans to Thanatars to Land Raiders. Due to high strength, high initiative, and high weapon skill, even Imperial Knights aren't out of the question. Worth it.

==Leman Russ VS other Primarchs:==
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="100%">
Inferno is finally released and you came here to see how your favorite/most hated superhuman demi-god fares against the other Primarchs, because you love delicious Mathhammer trolling and cautious planning before battle.
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
'''<big>THEY ALL DIE. EVERY. LAST. ONE. OF. THEM.</big>'''

Sever Life on The Sword of Balenight is the real kicker here. Allowing him to potentially pile on more wounds than what would normally be possible for the amount of attacks he has. And since most primarchs only have a 4++, they tend to die in short order (with even the tougher ones eventually going down from sheer wound output). So if you want to add the damage for Sever Life, here's the results:

*Against T6 Sever Life will cause an additional 1.091 Wounds on average.
*Against T7 Sever Life will cause an additional 0.909 Wounds on average.
::Note that these are Wounds that can still be saved via Invulnerable saves.

This is made even crazier with his ability to split his attacks between his axe of awesome and his sword of cheese (Yes just like Horus). Since all it takes is one wound going through to trigger Sever Life thus he can lay on the hurt with his high strength axe while still getting some good jabs in with his sword. When combined with the additional wounds from sever life (assuming it goes off, which against most Primarchs it should since they are mostly in the T6 range) this guy can lay on more wounds on a single target than just about any other Primarch (except a fully buffed Angron, though to be fair that is really all Angron has got going in a fight).

Actually, far worse than Sever Life (which probably is intended to trigger after saves, hence the "Is not slain" part) is his armor, which cripples almost every Primarch's ability to damage him with the negatives to hit. Since thanks to his insane weapon skill almost all will be needing 6's or 5's at best to even hit him, and after taking wound rolls and saves into account he is basically taking almost no damage. Which really hurts alot of his opponents since most of their special rules in CC rely on doing damage (e.g. Horus disabling strike and Perturabo's fancy hammer with basically every CC special rule). Even the uber-tanks are left flailing at him, barely doing any damage, while he grinds them out.

The only ones who can even stand a snowballs chance are heavy-hitters in the range of Horus, Fulgrim, Angron with maximum attacks, Ferrus Manus, Perturabo and a fully buffed Magnus. In addition a Transfigured Lorgar might be able to tar pit him for awhile (though don't expect him to actually win). But I do mean snowball, even these guys barring some amazing rolls will probably lose virtually every fight (including Horus).

Vulkan holds out pretty well but only if Russ is just using the sword... against the axe... well lets hope the dice are on your side!

HOWEVER if you or your opponent plays him in a 40k list he can potentially be tar pitted with assault terminator with thunder hammers and storm shields. Russ is not immune to concussion and the invuln save is superior than Russ. This will bring him down to an equal playing field since while they will not be doing much damage to him (since needing 6s to hit) (actually, since they are WS 4 they will hit on 6's first turn and the next will be unable to hit him, as a 6 is not an autohit in 7th edition, he will probably not be able to rip throw them before the game ends (he is more a challenge monster than infantry wrecker, again that is Angrons job). Though don't rely on this as like all primarchs he is perfectly capable of wiping them out.
Such is the fickleness of the dice.
</div>
</div>

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Leman russ by alexboca-d7930sk.jpg|Leman Russ being the biggest pimp this side of Segmentum Solar.
File:Russ_Behind.jpg| RUN <s> FORREST </s> LEMAN, RUN!
File:Russ_Front.jpg| He's running so [[White Scars|fast]] because he saw someone throw a stick.
File:Russ_Side.jpg
File:Horus vs Leman.jpg|True Wolf vs Emperor's Puppy.
</gallery>

{{Primarchs}}

[[Category:Space Wolves]]

==See Also==
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0Q8uymv0vw&index=2&list=PLdPq6mYy-DRdA9aTRJghfDsQiyR5WLs7y/ Admit it, this is the only song that truly befits the glory of the Sons of Russ.]
* [https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mzkqA4-4jIM/ Not so fast.]

Space Wolves

2018-05-26T13:54:26Z

2A02:587:3A03:4900:A4E9:33F6:3E0:6391:

{{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]]
|Successors of = N/A
|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}}

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]]. 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 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. The Emperor agreed to the duel and they went at it so enthusiastically they wrecked the feast hall they were in pretty toroughly 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 is watching, he gets taken to the Fang and given superhuman abilities and immortality, 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.

Based on their characterization in Prospero Burns and Battle for the Fang, they hold little regard for "mortals", but 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!

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 heard about it and attacked Fenris, leaving the Fang all but broken and the current Great Wolf dead, along with most of the reformers. Magnus took a thrashing 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 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 take in a bunch of Primaris into their own chapter).

==Relationship with the Thousand Sons==
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(Magnus punched out one of Russ's hears WHY DOES NO ONE REMEMBER THAT‽). 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 Tzeench 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 millions 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 wolf-fucking 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 closest 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).

[[File:FacebookGiotaTsirou.jpg|620px|thumb|left|Panagiota Tsirou, a 200 pound girl of short stature with unnatural agility that is incompatible with the physical boundaries that her obese biological structure should obviously follow, proving that a twisted disfigurement of reality is already existent, unleashing the incomprehensible influence of the warp in ways too unimaginable for anyone to acquaint with its reflections in our ludicrous lives, redefined by overwhelmingly shocking surprises.]]

[[File:WOW.jpg|1200px|thumb|right|In the 8th game of the World of Warcraft series, which was the first since the current 8th editions of Warhammer Fantasy and 40K, they also advanced the storyline following the same trend, as we have an official Alliance-Horde war for the first time since Warcraft 3, in total coordination with the real world when long unsettled conflicts, such as the Arab-Israeli war, Grexit, Kim Jong-un, US-China trade war, Fascism emerging in Europe starting from Italy, Neo-ottomanism, American civil war, Monroe dogma over Nicolas Maduro and Lula and even a volcano in Hawaii erupting, are simultaneously all emerging as if we are truly living in a novel.]]

He and his pack (and about 30 Militarum Tempestus Stormtroopers people somehow always forget to mention) 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 it backside. 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 without 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.

==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 was never particularly numerous, pre-heresy, in the first place due to their unstable gene-seed (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). Thus while unbound by the Codex, Space Wolf companies are typically slow to reinforce their numbers due to said unstable gene-seed.

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 latest 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. But currently though, [[Logan Grimnar]]'s own company is the largest in the chapter and it totals 200 exactly by 998.M41 ''(not counting the "Great Wolf" assets like Dreadnoughts & Priests)'' whilst [[Ragnar Blackmane]]'s is said to be second, also currently sitting at 162 marines.

===Hierarchy===
The different ranks and 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]]''': 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 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.

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 uniquely 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, the Wolves are far from perfect. Where the [[Imperial Fists]] are inflexible and stubborn and the [[Dark Angels]] are unreliable and austere, 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.]] Then Warzone Fenris happened. In it, the Wolves pretty much abandon their allies to focus on the Wulfen. While it's not AS bad as the Dark Angels, it's out of character and frustrating. On the plus side, they send warriors to Cadia and Maccrage in spite of the mauling the Thousand Sons hand them.

==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. 
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. 
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, and ended up in sickbay until his beard grew back and he was thus fit to be seen in public again. 
14:00 - Freeze your Gonads - 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 shittons of liquor. Ale and beer 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 can be translated as "Wolves of Fenris"; since "Fenrir" is the name of a wolf in Norse myth this makes [[Skub|<s>it awesome</s> <s>pretentious as fuck.</s>]] Not if you realise that a bunch of colonists landed on a planet, bred giant dogs from their great, great, grand-children then thought, "You know what's better than planet Unicorn? Planet fucking Fenris") The term is more like "folk of Fenris" if ''Vlka'' is associated with the Germanic ''Volk''. However, if ''Vlka'' is translated as Slavic, then we get the "Wolves of Fenris." Hence, Dan Abnett is using linguistics to reinforce his theme that the Space Wolves are misunderstood by the rest of the Imperium - called the Space Wolves because of a mistranslated word. (So they are actually called "Space People"?) ( would make sense since ragnar refered 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/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. But it goes a little deeper than that, <s>presenting weird questions about where the whole wolf thing (and the actual wolves they ride/cuddle) come from. Long story short, they are furry cousins yee haah! Seriously</s> No, it highlights that there are no wolves on Fenris, because there are no wolves on Fenris. See below....keep up dammit.

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).

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*}}.

==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?
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}}

[[Category:Space Wolves]]
{{Space Wolves}}

Death Guard

2018-05-26T11:08:58Z

2A02:587:3A03:4900:A4E9:33F6:3E0:6391:

{{Infobox Traitor Legion
|Name = Death Guard
|Heraldry = [[File:Deathguardlogo.png|250px]]
|Battle Cry = None; the Death Guard fights in total silence
|Original Name = Dusk Raiders
|Number = XIV
|Primarch = [[Mortarion]]
|Original Homeworld = [[Barbarus]]
|Current Homeworld = [[Plague Planet]]
|Champion = [[Typhus]]
|Specialty = Attrition, close-range firefights, mass infantry, bio-warfare, and zombie-swoleness.
|Strength = 95,000 during the [[Great Crusade]], is said to have "swollen" since the [[Horus Heresy]]. Both figuratively and literally.
|Allegiance = [[Nurgle]]
|Colours = Formerly unpainted grey with deep crimson right gauntlet, vambrace, and pauldron; now green and brown, inevitably the most disgusting and nasty-looking shades of each.
}}
{{Topquote|Not a bad chap when you get to know him (and sooner or later, everyone gets to know him).|Terry Pratchett on Death (the character within the Discworld Novel Universe)}}
{{Topquote|Sometimes, when I'm alone, I like to cover myself in Vaseline and pretend I'm a slug.|Anonymous}}

The Death Guard are one of the nine [[Space Marine]] Legions who betrayed the [[Emperor]] during the [[Horus Heresy]], and became [[Chaos Space Marines]]. They worship the [[Chaos God]] [[Nurgle]] and in return he infests their armor with pestilence and disease. The Primarch of the Death Guard is [[Mortarion]], who has been elevated to [[Daemon Prince]] status. Their original homeworld of Barbarus was a septic tank disguised as a planet, entirely populated by country bumpkins (and a few Dark Eldar) and stank continuously of horseshit. Barbarus has since been destroyed (probably for the best). The new homeworld of the Death Guard is now the lazily named Plague Planet (<strike> it fucking rhymes too!</strike> Actually it's an alliteration, which is still awful) where all the Galaxy's diseases from meningitis to crotch rot collect.

==History==
Not many neckbeards dare to paint them up. Back during the Unification Wars of Terra, before the coming of Mortarion, they were known as the Dusk Raiders due to their early-evening assaults, using the confusion of the afternoon twilight to catch their enemies off-guard, during dinner. Because Mortarion had been endowed by the Emperor with the aspect of humanity's Teenage Edginess, he renamed his legion the Death Guard instead, and <s>had them repaint their armor to the charming colors of algae-green and mudslick brown white </s> their armor was unpainted, save for a snot green trim and the legions heraldry. They got dirty after they started swimming in the drops.

Due to living in the utter shithole (in their case, quite literally) that was Barbarus, where the local air was equivalent to huffing the engine exhaust from a Chinese cab, the Death Guard soon grew proud of their 'ridiculously tough beyond humanly possible' bodies, which made them resistant to almost all forms of poisons and diseases (didn't stop them from succumbing to Nurgle's Gift, hur hur!). Due to their affinity to biological and chemical elements (likely programed into their Geneseed as well), the Death Guard quickly became the Emperor's personal bio-chem experts. It wouldn't be a surprise if their main source of orbital bombardment was [[Exterminatus|Virus Bombs]]. In fact, they probably bathe in that shit on a daily basis. They also smoked A LOT of weed.

Before the Horus Heresy, the Death Guard differed from the other 17 known Legions in that they had only [[Nurgle|seven]] Great Companies, although these held far more men than those of other Legions such as the [[Ultramarines]] or [[Space Wolves]]. There were three privileged titles held by captains of the Death Guard. The captain of the First Company was known as the First Captain, the captain of the Second Company was known as Commander, and the captain of the Seventh Company was known as Battle-Captain.

The Death Guard tended to be organized into units of foot-slogging infantry, rather than mechanized squads (since the Death Guard themselves were already tough to the point they might as well have Hull Points). Mortarion ensured that his men were [[Ultramarines|well-equipped and highly-trained.]] He also ensured that they could fight in almost any kind of atmosphere, and placed little emphasis on specialized units using jump packs or bikes. The Death Guard did not have dedicated Assault and Tactical Squads. Every Marine was equipped with a bolter, bolt pistol and close combat weapon and told to fight with whatever weapon circumstance dictated. The Legion was also well known for its use of Terminator Armour. Possibly as a result of this, the Death Guard were highly successful at high-risk boarding and close-quarter operations such as [[space hulk]] clearance.

=== Horus Heresy ===

By the time of the Horus Heresy, the Death Guard was known to have had roughly 95,000 Space Marines. One of the most isolated Legions, they tended to take on the most inhospitable warzones of all. They developed a rivalry of sorts with the Iron Hands, priding themselves on their innate resistance whereas the Iron Tenth got theirs from intensive augmentation. Having found their Primarch relatively late, tensions persisted between the Barbaran "true" Death Guard and the old marines who remembered the Dusk Raider days. Barbarus brought other baggage, including a fanatical hatred of psykers which would lead to Mortarion calling for an end to the Space Marine Librarius.

During the [[Horus Heresy|Galaxy's Greatest Hangover since the]] [[Fall of the Eldar|Fall of the Eldar]], the Death Guard and Mortarion were one of the first traitor legions to rebel against [[Emperor|daddy]]. Within the Heresy, Mortarion's smaller fleet led a [[Fail|failed]] attempt on [[Prospero]] to convince [[Jaghatai Khan]] and the [[White Scars]] to join with them, only for <s>Genghis </s> Jaghatai to tell the psychic-hating bigot to fuck off and thus, the White Scars and Death Guard battled to a stalemate. Some fight scenes later, Mortarion meets up with Typhus (then Callas Typhon), who pulled a dick move and killed off the [[navigator]]s, but convinced Mortarion that he could lead them to Terra. As you might expect, entering the [[Warp]] without a Navigator's help is just asking for something bad to happen. [[Rape|Then came the Destroyer Plague, and their fate was sealed.]] Their superhuman constitution and grim determination proved worthless against the Destroyer, and so they embraced Papa Nurgle to be freed from the plague and relieved of their suffering, at the cost of, well.....

Mortarion also had a personal guard, the speechless and silent [[Deathshroud|Death Shroud]], who were known to be within 49 (Get it? Nurgle's holy number is seven and 49 is seven squared?) paces of their Primarch, Morty.
Oh, and they enjoyed drinking a cup of venomous, poison bile to commemorate victory. Mortarion drinks that stuff like water, though his captains have trouble holding their guts inside after drinking.

Once the Heresy was properly underway Mortarion rose quickly in Horus' esteem by not going bugfuck insane and/or turning (his brothers) into a daemon. A few years into the war, Horus charged him to wipe out the White Scars. Mortarion duly pursued them to the Catallus Rift, only to be thwarted by a Webway portal he had no reason to expect and a heroic last stand by the Scars' Sagyar Marzan kill-squads.

All in all, the Death Guard were stoic, poison-drinking, sour-faced martial warriors before [[Horus]] threw his [[Horus Heresy|surprise birthday bash]], and ended up rotting avatars of <s>[[AIDS]]</s>, Syphilis, and decay by the time the party was finished. Just like [[That Guy|that ONE GUY]] who always shows up.

=== Post-Heresy ===
[[File:Death Guard Assraping Tau.jpg|650px|right|thumb|After being repulsed by one kind of [[Ultramarines|Blueberries]], Mortarion and co decided to compensate the loss by [[Anal Circumference|venting]] [[rage|their frustration]] upon another pile of [[Tau|Blueberries.]]]]

[[File:FacebookGiotaTsirou.jpg|620px|thumb|left|Panagiota Tsirou, a 200 pound girl of short stature with unnatural agility that is incompatible with the physical boundaries that her obese biological structure should obviously follow, proving that a twisted disfigurement of reality is already existent, unleashing the incomprehensible influence of the warp in ways too unimaginable for anyone to acquaint with its reflections in our ludicrous lives, redefined by overwhelmingly shocking surprises.]]

[[File:WOW.jpg|1200px|thumb|right|In the 8th game of the World of Warcraft series, which was the first since the current 8th editions of Warhammer Fantasy and 40K, they also advanced the storyline following the same trend, as we have an official Alliance-Horde war for the first time since Warcraft 3, in total coordination with the real world when long unsettled conflicts, such as the Arab-Israeli war, Grexit, Kim Jong-un, US-China trade war, Fascism emerging in Europe starting from Italy, Neo-ottomanism, American civil war, Monroe dogma over Nicolas Maduro and Lula and even a volcano in Hawaii erupting, are simultaneously all emerging as if we are truly living in a novel.]]

So the Death Guard and the rest of the Traitor legions failed (what were they even trying to do again?) and were kicked to the [[Eye of Terror]] to do their daemonic stuff in private. The Death Guard, along with any non-[[Word Bearers]] or [[Black Legion]] factions, soon broke apart into splintering warbands. The split of the Death Guard can be contributed to [[Mortarion]] doing what's trendy when you become a Daemon-Primarch: do whatever the fuck you want and have nothing to do with your Legion FOR 10,000 YEARS. Typhus, who was always a dubious shit-nugget to his Primarch, decided to take as much of the legion into his own hands and go crazy with no intention of obeying Mortarion when he returns. What a douche. Though he did get some shit done.

Another Death Guard warleader by the name of Thagus Daravek got similar ideas, but on a bigger scale. Through sorcery he realized the destiny that Abaddon was on course for, and tried to claim it for himself. Rounding up massive warbands, he became the Lord of Hosts, doing everything he could to wipe out nascent Black Legion. He even went so far as to bind the daemon that had been Iskandar Khayon's tutelary to him, giving him power over Khayon, and used this to follow the Black Legion into realspace. With Abaddon already mired in battle with the Black Templars he would have wiped them out, cleaned up the remaining Templars and sailed off into history. Only Khayon ordered the Black Legion fleet to do a runner, engaged Daravek aboard the '''Vengeful Spirit'', and chopped his head off. Good effort, at least.

In theory the Death Guard, like the Word Bearers, are one of the few Traitor Legions that still have some sort of cohesive centralized command structure. Mortarion commands seven Plague Companies, each consisting of multiple Sepsis Cohorts, which are divided into two Maladictums which in turn consist of seven Colonies. In practice, Mortarion rarely commands his minions (especially Typhus), and the forces of the Death Guard are so scattered that they are mainly divided into informal warbands called Vectoriums, mostly consisting of Colonies or Maladictums from the same Plague Company.

As of the 42nd Millennium, Mortarion decided to stop playing X-Box and puffin' his "Barbaran gas" to make up with his old homie Big Blue. Suffice to say, the Death Guard saw what [[Magnus the Red|Magnus]] [[Thousand Sons|and friends]] did with [[Sortiarius]] and decide to do something similar. They carved out their own mini-empire called the [[Scourge Stars]] right to the north of [[Ultramar]], so they can annoy and pester [[Roboute Guilliman|Big Blue Wonder]] for as much as Morty pleases. This act has cemented the Death Guard as Ultramar's [[That Guy|worst neighbor]] since the first Tyrannic War. Thus Mortarion and the Death Guard launched the '''Plague Wars''' after [[Roboute Guilliman|Grandpa Smurf's]] resurrection and the breakout of the Indomitus Crusade.

During the [[Fate of Konor]], Mortarion and his bros decided to launch an assault on the star system. Whilst he had lost three of the planets (unsurprising since Imperial players outnumbered Chaos players to an obscene level), through sheer grit and resistance, the Death Guard mange to take over the planet of Vanitor. Although even then, it was a pyrrhic victory at best since the Death Guard had to lob a lot of resources to finally turn the tide of the battle. They did manage to also take another planet called Drenthal, but they ultimately they lost the final, decisive battle to the Ultramarines. This was due to Mortarion putting all of their hopes and resources in a former Eldar maiden-world turned into the Death Guard's very own gross-ass Death Star, strapping continent-sized Space Hulks to it and dumping whatever forces he had left in the system onto its surface. Much like the alluded super-space station, it got blown into smithereens during the loyalist assault when strike teams penetrated deep into its engine core and [[Awesome|manually detonated a cyclonic torpedo]]. After a few more battles things finally came to a head on Iax, where Guilliman and Mortarion duked it out amidst the ruins of the planet before Nurgle recalled Morty back to the Scourge Stars. Apparently the other Chaos Gods had gotten jealous and wanted to take the Plague God's recently acquired real estate for themselves. And so, amidst what is assumed to be the expletive-ridden ranting by Mortarion at the gods fucking him over again, the snide commentary of Typhus at yet another failure of his father and the hearty laughter of Ku'gath at the irony of it all, the Death Guard left Ultramar.

After the fiasco of the Plague Wars, the Death Guard was forced to go back to their little turf to fend off Tzeentchian and Khornate shenanigans over the Scourge Stars. At the same time, Mortarion and his Death Guard also manage to meet face to face with the remnants of the Tau's Fourth Sphere forces. [[FATAL|Turned out pretty great.]]

== Disposition ==

The Death Guard codex indicates that of all the Traitor Legions, they are one of the most ordered and coherent. Maintaining a sensible command structure and chain of command all the way from the top to the bottom similar to how it used to be structured all the way back during the Great Crusade:

At the top stands Mortarion himself, attended by the various officers of the legion and his [[Deathshroud]].

Below him there are seven '''Plague Companies''' commanded by a powerful Lord or Daemon Prince. Each company tends to have a preferred combat style as well as carrying a particular disease.
*'''1st Company - Harbingers:''' commanded by [[Typhus]], and includes the [[Plague Fleet]]. They carry hundreds of strains of [[Zombie Plague]].
*'''2nd Company:''' Has a huge number of battle tanks and obviously prefers mechanised assault. They carry the "Ferric Blight" which infects armour and vehicles with crawling rust.
*'''3rd Company - Mortarion's Anvil:''' Defensive siege specialists. Its warriors carry the "Gloaming Bloat" which infects them with sweaty fever that makes them speak in gurgles.
*'''4th Company:''' Commanded by a sentient plague made up of a gestalt daemonic consciousness called the "Eater of Lives." The 4th insists on having Sorcerers in command roles and incorporates daemonic summoning into its tactics. Its warriors carry the "Eater Plague".
*'''5th Company - Poxmongers:''' Use a lot of daemon engines. They carry the "Sangous Flux" which makes them leave blood clots and red trails wherever they go.
*'''6th Company - Ferrymen / Brethren of the Fly:''' command the Plague Fleets and acquire new ships for the Legion. They also have a large number of [[Blightlord Terminator]]s who carry a parasite called "the Droning".
*'''7th Company - Mortarion's Chosen Sons:''' They are the legion's alchemists and are blessed with "Crawling Pustulance".

The Plague Companies are made up of an unnumbered amount of '''Sepsis Cohorts''' which contain about 700 Plague Marines each. They probably function similar to loyalist [[Space Marine Chapter|Chapters]] in that they are a fully self contained fighting force, equipped with its own attendant officers, auxiliaries, vehicles and daemon engines. Each sepsis cohort also has command of its own fleet assets so it can move from place to place.

Each Sepsis Cohort is split into two '''Maladictums''' probably of around 350 warriors each, plus any assets that get assigned to it.

The Maladictums are sub-divided into seven '''Colonies''' which is similar in function to a loyalist Company. Each colony containing seven squads of variable strength, ''(350 into seven colonies leaves 50 men divided into seven squads of around seven men each)'' and can be equipped in whatever manner their commander deems appropriate. Although typically the 1st Colony of each maladictum will be exclusively made up of [[Blightlord Terminator]]s.

Though what this means in practice is debatable however, the Legion is broken up across the whole galaxy with maladictums and colonies from various plague companies fighting together in forces called '''Vectoriums''' whose uniform often manifests itself to a single identifiable scheme and take on a new name for themselves chosen by their leader, so identifying which Plague Company that an individual warrior or squad has come from based solely on his colour scheme would be a nightmare, it would be simpler to just identify him by what diseases he carries.

The organisation of the Legion probably gets further complicated by the fact that some vectoriums, such as the Favoured Sons and the Rotworm Brotherhood have gone double-renegade and actively rebelled against their Primarch, forming independent warbands of their own.

The Death Guard are said to be one of the few Traitor Legions to have actually grown since the Horus Heresy; and have fought entire wars over new Gene-Seed stocks or for control over recruits. Coupled with the sheer resilience of Plague Marines in general means that in comparison to before their corruption to Chaos their numbers have only increased more quickly since their damnation. In terms of actual numbers though, it can only be a matter of speculation. It is known that at the start of the Horus Heresy they had 95,000 warriors. Even though is reasonable to assume that number would have been heavily diminished by the conclusion of the Siege of Terra and the Scourging that followed; the implication is that the Death Guard are stronger than they have ever been, thus it can be comfortably guessed that the number has grown to equal or even exceed their former strength, which probably means that each Plague Company has ''more'' than nineteen Sepsis Cohorts of 700 warriors each.

==Daily Rituals of the Death Guard==
06:00 - The Death Guard awake in the hand-dug graves. Massive, 10,000 year hangovers and rotting ligaments make getting out of bed difficult, some are unable to be roused from their graves for hours and have to be dug/scraped out to perform their daily rituals.

08:00 - Morning Meal. A zombified serf prepares the meat of another rotting serf, alongside a bit of fungus. Marines who are unable to rise from their graves make due by eating the fungi that grow on their bodies, or sometimes their own limbs by mistake.

08:30 - Morning Prayers. A prayer is dedicated to Papa Nurgle. Each Death Guard secretly wishes a Nurgmas present from Nurgle himself. They all get presents, as every day is Nurgmas as long as you asked for more mutations or nurglings.

09:30 - Morning Firing Rites. The Death Guard proceed to have target practice upon captured Imperial citizens. Its a win-win situation as the citizens are revived as zombies and the Death Guard gets experience. Nobody loses, everyone wins. Such is life. Well that is unless said Death Guard is a horrible shot (and when your joints and eyes are rotting, steady aim isn't an easy proposition), in which case the citizen's terror and pain is prolonged.

11:00 - Battle Practice. The Death Guard engage in battle practice within the mud swamps of the Plague Planet. Unfortunately, the [[Slaanesh|Pleasure Pits of Pussy Planet]] were booked for the day. The stuck Death Guard are now able to climb out.

12:00 - Tactical Indoctrination. The Death Guard plan out their latest campaign to spread Papa Nurgle's Gifts. Unlike traditional legions; the planning phase looks and sounds more like preparations for a party, rather than a tactical debriefing.

13:00 - Evening Meal. A medium meal of Maggots, Dying flesh, and diseased organs is prepared by the zombified serfs. Most Death Guard prefer to order from [[Emprah Burgers|Chaos Burgers and McNurgle's]] as the food delivery is faster, and the quality is pretty much the same.

14:00 - Plague Checks. The Plague Surgeons now examine the Death Guard legion to see if any new diseases develop within their bodies. Typically nothing new happens, but they're always optimistic.

15:00 - Pet Training. The Death Guard now begin combat training with their daemonic beasts. Its mostly harmless (atleast for the marines), but will occasionally end up with a friendly "fatality" when said beast gets too enthusiastic.

16:00 - Evening Prayers. <s> This time Papa Nurgle has heeded the wishes of the Death Guard and has given them Nurgmas presents </s> NO PRESENTS! THEY GOT THEIR PRESENTS ONCE, NOW IT'S SOMEONE ELSE'S TURN!

17:00 - Pet a Nurgling Period. The Death Guard are allowed to pet some of Papa Nurgle's blobs of rotting cutsies. If they were gifted a nurgling then they can pet their own nurgling, who will then follow the marine around until they inevitably get stepped on.

18:00 - Daily Nurgle Wedding. A local wedding is held by two love birds in the Plague Planet. Celebrations are held as the Death Guard congratulate the groom and bride. Much confusion is had as to which is the groom and which is the bride. The Death Guard attempt to coax Mortarion into leading the procession, but typically gets silence in response. The Deathshroud are also visibly tense by this hour.

19:00 - Wedding Meal. A feast is held to congratulate the newly wed couple. Everyone is happy and the imperial citizens who were shot for target practice are now revived as zombies and are invited to see that not all things in Chaos are bad.

22:00 - Time with Daddy. Mortarion gathers whatever faithful Death Guardians he's commanding at the time and tells tales of the Heresy and how to serve Nurgle best. All the marines sit cross legged in a circle listening while petting any surviving nurglings.

23:00 - Free Time. The Death Guard have their free time where they pray to Nurgle, get as much disease as possible, help the locals, and be overall model citizens to those who inhabit the Plague Planet. Sometimes, the Death Guard congregate, and an ancient Terran plant species known as "The Weed" is ritually inhaled through an equally ancient tool known as "the Bong" in faint imitation of their Primarch's need for Barbaran gas. It has strange, pleasant effects, and Sometimes, Mortarion may share his "Barbaran gas" with his sons.
It's good stuff.

24:00 - Rest Time. The Death Guard go back to their graves and rest for a bit. Mortarion ponders where to spread Nurgle's gifts next. On rare occasions; Mortarion may leave his quarters during rest period. Reports of him playing with his own menagerie of pet daemonic beasts in the middle of the night are unsubstantiated and will result in horrible dismemberment if he ever hears you mention it.

== New models and Codex inbound ==
That's right heretics, new models coming out, including the Daemon [[Primarch]] [[Mortarion]] himself! You can see it [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BceinBiT9jQhere in this video by Warhammer TV]. A Death Guard codex is also coming. [[Warhammer 40,000/Tactics/Death Guard(8E)|They're here!]]

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Image:Plague-marines.jpg|Death Guard Plague Marines, [[Cegorach|moar like AIDStartes, amirite? (Ha-Ha!)]]
Image:PhDG.jpg‎|Not much difference...
Image:Plague Marine Face.jpg‎|This is the face of someone happy with their decisions. He has never felt more alive.
</gallery>

{{Death Guard}}
{{Chaos-Official}}

Shedding the Darkness

2018-05-26T07:15:11Z

2A02:587:3A03:4900:A4E9:33F6:3E0:6391:

{{Story}}
{{Monstergirls}}
{{Heresy}}

A fapfiction of a radical [[Inquisitor]]'s journey towards damnation with an atypical [[Daemonette]]. If you are scared of anything that resembles a [[Monstergirl]], or are a die-hard worshiper of canon, you might want to leave now. If you're not a fan of tentacles and/or transformation, you'll want to skip the fifth chapter. Otherwise, expect the standard NSFW gambit you might expect from a lamia cuddledomme.

== Corruption Within and Without ==

Blood seeped from the gash in Kraegus’ torso as he dragged himself into the waiting shuttlecraft. The freshly minted inquisitor had flown too high, too quickly, and now he was about to pay the ultimate price for it. Each step was pure agony, multiplied by the abominations writhing within his blood. It would not be long before the warp-infused boreworms consumed him from the inside out, and Kraegus was determined not to leave the Khornate Cult a body to defile and corrupt.

Still, as he finally reached the control console, his vision was already blurring. Each movement of the beasts inside of him could be felt, and it took the last of his strength to bring the Auto-Pilot online. Collapsing to the floor, Kraegus twitched senselessly as the shuttle began to rocket away from the accursed asteroid colony. Before the void took him, his one comforting thought was that he had at least taken a dozen of the cultists with him.

“My…My…what have we here?”

The Inquisitor opened his eyes, only to find pitch darkness surrounding him. He was suspended, floating as though immersed in a dark liquid that threatened to consume his senses. “Is this the afterlife?” he wondered, only to be surprised when the twilight responded.

“No, not quite. I managed to pluck your soul away before you reached the Formless Wastes,” whispered a voice. It was highly feminine in nature: sensual, yet somehow familiar. Try as he might to locate the source, Kraegus found himself unable to move his body – a prisoner in his own skin. His eyes roved madly over the dusk before him, mouth trying to form words through the terror.

“W…Who is there?! Where am I? What have you done to me?!”

A pair of hands wrapped around his torso, and something pressed itself against his back. The voice returned, seemingly from right next to Kraegus’ right ear. “All in due time, my dear Inquisitor, all in due time. First, I want you to see something…”

----

Alysia’oeyythl grinned as she sensed the mortal’s fear rising. Though she was newly formed, the daemonette had enough knowledge and experience to manipulate souls like the one before her. This was the first step on the path to entering the Materium, and in enacting zealous hatred against those who dared worship She-Who-Thirsts’ immortal enemy. The key would be in making this human her puppet…

----

Something small and red faded into existence before Kraegus, wriggling about repulsively. It was one of the tainted boreworms, a segmented, red worm with a gullet filled with teeth and hooks designed to tear into exposed flesh. Once inside a victim, they broke apart, multiplying rapidly while inflicting unimaginable pain as they ate the being from within. Those infected were lucky if they perished before the beasts burst from their ravaged forms, starting the cycle anew.

A favorite terror weapon of Khorne Cultists, it had been the Inquisitor’s duty to track down the source of an outbreak on the hive world of Rayna. His search had led him to an asteroid belt in a neighboring star system, where the cultists had a breeding ground of the creatures. There, Kraegus had been wounded by a sinister weapon: a hollow blade containing a few of the worms, designed to snap off once it had pierced flesh. He had been fortunate to make it to the shuttle and escape, but that did not explain his presence here.

Frowning, the dark-haired man watched as the worm began to grow in front of him. Shortly, it burst, erupting new worms in the space in front of him. “And to think…that could have been you, had I not come along,” said the voice, the spectral hands moving up and down his chest as it continued. “You must be grateful, to have been spared from such a fate…”

As if to punctuate this notion, the hands slid down to his stomach and gently pressed inward. Moments later, Kraegus felt the sensation of several worms tearing through his gut. But the pain didn’t stop there. Everywhere the hands traveled over his body, more of the tiny terrors emerged, bursting from his skin and adding to the collection around him.

“ALRIGHT! ALRIGHT!” he screamed, “I GET IT! JUST STOP!”

----

Laughing as she snapped her fingers, Alysia banished the creatures back into non-existence. As she allowed her prey a moment’s respite, she took an inventory of her form. Like most of her kind, Alysia’s form reflected that which the viewer found to be the perfect mate. This “perfection” was not without the taint of chaos, though the aura of which the daemonette exuded ensured that these would be accepted without question.

Still, the shape Alysia had taken momentarily confused her. Her lower body was that of a snake, a mass of coiled muscles covered by a scaled exterior. The upper half was humanoid in design, a mixture of dangerous curves contained by purplish skin that was accented by black scales which matched those below. Above the heavy breasts was a face marked by fangs and glowing, yellow eyes. A small hood, much like that of a cobra, contained her medium-length, blue hair, of which hid the pointed ears that jutted from her skull. It wasn’t the strangest form imaginable, but, to the greenhorn daemon, a puzzle all of its own. Clearly, her prize had interesting tastes…

----

As the pain subsided, Kraegus found himself filling with dread as realization struck him. He had died, or, been close to doing so. It was only by the “grace” of the daemon he had been spared, and, judging from the way it was lauding its control over his fate, he could easily be killed again. The Inquisitor had, at times, worked among his more radical peers, who employed such beings in the form of daemonhosts and vessels in the hopes that they would be useful tools against the chaos they sprung from. Though he had never been brave enough to “take the plunge” with a cell of his own acolytes, Kraegus could not argue with the results such heretical methods obtained. Still, the position he was in was not at all desirable.

“…Is this where you tell me that my soul is yours? That I’m to be your vessel until I am slain for being a blight on the shining Empire?” he muttered, trying to ignore the hands caressing his body.

“A bright one indeed, but no. I plan to only occupy your soul temporarily. It is my wish to gain a material form in your realm, and you are going to help me, one way or the other. Though…” Alysia’s hands moved down to the man’s thighs, gently stroking the interiors as she continued, “I think you’ll find it far more pleasant to do so willingly…”

The knowing touches of the daemon were not hindered by the body suit which adorned Kraegus’ entire body, much to his dismay. He had never experienced the pleasures of a woman before, but was determined to at least offer some resistance.

“And what if I refuse completely?” he spat, “No amount of Rosette flashing will be able to save me from my fate, which is death whether it be now or later.”

“True, but I think we *both* know you’d prefer it to be the latter…” Nipping the Inquisitor’s ear, Alysia moaned softly to accent her alluring words. “Besides, our goals are one in the same, if you would believe me. But…if you wish…”

Snapping her fingers once more, the worms began re-materializing, only to coalesce into a larger form that threatened to engulf Kraegus as its maw turned toward him.

“NO! JUST! No…I’ll do what you ask…” murmured the man, feeling utterly defeated. “Just…get on with it.”

The next thing he was aware of was being spun around, the naked form of the daemonette finally fully visible as she drew him into a wet embrace with her tongue. Little by little, she evaporated, pouring herself into his body with a warm sensation. When the last of her was inside his soul, the darkness around Kraegus disappeared, revealing the interior of the escape craft. His body was completely healed, and a sense of contentment resonated throughout it. “Maybe this won’t be all that bad,” he thought, the daemonette's soft laughter accompanying his musings.

== Through the Looking Glass ==
A week into his journey back to Rayna, Kraegus was beginning to wonder whether he had imagined the entire affair. Though there was no trace of the tear in his torso, the supposed daemonette had not made her presence known in any way, shape, or form. The daemons the Inquisitor had encountered thus far struck him as a more prideful and boastful sort of creature, one that did not hesitate to remind those they had power over of their position. Thus, he was rather confused by her lack of contact, especially given her “speech” about having similar goals to his. Still, as Kraegus shuffled towards the shuttle’s small bathroom, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was being watched.

----

Taking up residence in the man’s soul had taken more energy and effort than Alysia had expected. For what little she knew, such a task was supposed to be trivial, especially if the mortal in question willingly allowed entrance. Instead, she felt her powers weakened, and her thoughts seemed to slow to a crawl. Slowly drawing power from the soul she had curled herself around, the daemonette rested for a time.

When she awoke, Alysia was vaguely aware that the human was showering. Though the sensations she felt through him were muddled, reduced, they were strange and exciting. The way he experienced touch, smell, sight, all of it was different from her own. The warm water striking against his skin was delightful, but nothing compared to the feeling of air flowing in and out of Kraegus’ lungs. Was this what it was to have a shape in the Materium?

----

Slower than light travel had always been a tedious affair, and the shuttlecraft had little in the way of entertainment. As such, the Inquisitor took his time bathing and preparing for what felt like the fifth nap of the day. Shaving wasn’t necessary, but the mindless task brought him comfort. After running the crude razor through the cold water, Kraegus was surprised when his reflection in the mirror had shifted upon returning his gaze upwards.

The alluring, yellow eyes that stared back at him made his heart skip a beat. Alysia’s visage was beyond the term “beautiful,” despite the alien ears and odd, reptilian hood. Almost subconsciously, Kraegus’ hands wandered downwards to cover himself, which seemed to amuse the daemonette.

“Don’t bother. I’ve already seen your…what is that euphemism you’re so fond of…lascarbine?” she said, trying not to grin as the man blushed profusely.

“It’s not a…how did you…” stammered Kraegus as he reached for a towel to wrap himself with. “…not important. I was beginning to wonder whether you were just a figment of my near-death experience.”

Giggling, Alysia brought her hand up to her mouth. “Oh…I’m quite real, my *dearest* Inquisitor. The way you mortals get about is…boring, so I was off doing more important things.” That was a lie, but telling him the truth would only reveal just how vulnerable she was.

“…Right. Well I’m sorry my vessel isn’t capable of dipping into that hellhole you call home. We won’t arrive at Rayna for another few weeks. So congrats, you get to go off and do more ‘important things,” he quipped, turning away from the mirror. The concept that he was sharing his soul with a daemon still didn’t sit well with him, even if said daemon was rather bewitching.

A bluish, forked tongue emerged from the daemonette’s lips, far longer than any human’s as it wrapped around her index finger. Pulling said finger into her mouth, Alysia closed her eyes and tilted back her head with a slight moan. “Don’t be upset…I could always stay and play with you…” she whispered past the digit she was sucking absent-mindedly, “but I can see you’re not interested…”

Slowly turning in the mirror, she released the finger from her mouth and began to fade from view. “W…Wait!” shouted Kraegus, raising his hand as if to stop the mirror from walking away. “…What did you have in mind?”

The hood hiding the back of Alysia’s head tilted to the left as she turned back with a grin. “Eager, are we?”

“Maybe…I figure if I’m an abomination now, I might as well enjoy being one…” The Inquisitor’s hand lowered, his gaze falling from the reflective surface as he trailed off.

Nearly jumping in surprise as a hand brushed against his cheek, Kraegus’ eyes widened as he realized the daemonette had leaned out of the mirror. Most of her body was still inside: her arms, head, and torso being the only things exposed to the air. The intersection between her abdomen and the mirror was surrounded by a faint glow, waving and shimmering as it distorted the light. Yet, this would go unnoticed by Kraegus, his eyes drawn to the mammaries swaying gently beneath her arched back.

“See something you like?” Alysia purred, taking his hands by the wrists and moving them to her breasts. “Go on…I know how much you’ve always wanted to play with some…”

It was true, and Kraegus forgot to be angry at the fact she had read his mind as he began squeezing her mounds gently. They were heavenly soft, just large enough to be eye-catching, yet small enough not to detract from the daemonette’s other features. Much to his delight and amazement, the groping was met with soft moans and heavy breathing. Changing tact, he began swirling his thumbs over her areolas, teasing her nipples as Alysia bit her lower lip.

The mortal was clumsy, inadequate, but somehow the most pleasurable being to ever caress her skin. Perhaps it was because she had spent such little time in Slaanesh’s realm before capturing his wayward soul. Maybe it was because of the added sensation of having a semi-material form. Either way, Alysia couldn’t resist the delight working its way to her brain. Even better, she experienced both of their senses simultaneously, and the Inquisitor excitement was contagious.

“Do…Do you have a hand mirror?” she gasped, pulling his hands away so as not to become completely overwhelmed.

“Uhh…” The Inquisitor scrambled about the bathroom searching for one. Not finding the item of his quest, he leapt from the room to search the rest of the shuttle. Much to the daemonette’s delight, Kraegus’ haste had stripped his towel from him, revealing a rather eager manhood. She supposed he had other qualities of an “attractive” human: a semi-toned body and tanned skin, topped with blue eyes and ashen hair. Still, it wasn’t until she caught sight of his throbbing cock that she truly began to feel a sense of enticement towards her host.

Minutes later, Kraegus returned to the bathroom, panting as he held up a small mirror that he had found in the emergency locker’s supplies. “Found…Found this…”

“It will have to do…” mused Alysia, slipping from the main mirror into the one in the Inquisitor’s hands between blinks. Until the ritual, in which her charge would sacrifice a body to her and thusly give her a form to corrupt as she saw fit, she could only manifest partially in this realm. Still, it was enough for her to be able to extract some much needed energy and food.

Licking her lips, she instructed Kraegus to return to his bedroom, and to place the mirror at the foot of the bed. As she pulled herself from the small window into the Immaterium, the daemonette couldn’t help but giggle once more as an image of her coiling around him flashed acrossed the Inquisitor’s mind.

“My my…someone seems to have forgotten I can read his mind,” murmured Alysia sensually. She was now most of the way out of the mirror, only the lower half of her tail keeping her connection to the surface. Fully uncoiled, she towered over the man below her on the bed. Yet, as she wound her way down to scrape her nipples across his chest, she felt his sense of thrill grow.

“Now… where to begin…”

[[File:FacebookGiotaTsirou.jpg|620px|thumb|left|Panagiota Tsirou, a 200 pound girl of short stature with unnatural agility that is incompatible with the physical boundaries that her obese biological structure should obviously follow, proving that a twisted disfigurement of reality is already existent, unleashing the incomprehensible influence of the warp in ways too unimaginable for anyone to acquaint with its reflections in our ludicrous lives, redefined by overwhelmingly shocking surprises.]]

[[File:WOW.jpg|1200px|thumb|right|In the 8th game of the World of Warcraft series, which was the first since the current 8th editions of Warhammer Fantasy and 40K, they also advanced the storyline following the same trend, as we have an official Alliance-Horde war for the first time since Warcraft 3, in total coordination with the real world when long unsettled conflicts, such as the Arab-Israeli war, Grexit, Kim Jong-un, US-China trade war, Fascism emerging in Europe starting from Italy, Neo-ottomanism, American civil war, Monroe dogma over Nicolas Maduro and Lula and even a volcano in Hawaii erupting, are simultaneously all emerging as if we are truly living in a novel.]]

==Binding a Snake==

Kraegus’ heart felt as though it was about to burst from his chest, the excitement of the scene before him almost too much to bear. His daemonette “companion” had brought her upper half down to his, pressing it against him. The feel of her silken skin was surreal, as if an attempt to characterize true softness. Even more stimulating for the Inquisitor was the breasts sandwiched between their bodies, the bags of flesh gently scrapping against his chest as Alysia wiggled slightly.

Sticking out her tongue, Alysia began licking small, concentric circles about Krageus’ neck. “You see, my *dearest* Inquisitor, I am rather hungry…”

The quick nibble of the skin on the right side of his neck that followed this caught him offguard, and a flash of concern crossed his mind. “Oh, no…” whispered the daemonette, lapping at the holes her fangs had left in his flesh, “It’s not like that…”

“Then…what is it like?” Krageus asked, his hands slowly raising to caress her sides.

“I am not one of your…what do you mortals call them…cannibals. Your flesh is safe, parts of it anyways…”

“I’m not sure I follow…”

Sighing, Alysia withdrew her wet assault on his neck. After brushing the hair that had fallen across her face from her eyes, she shifted up to stare directly into the human’s eyes. “I need your essence, your energy. While your soul constantly puts out a minute amount, it’s not enough to sate my appetite.”

Krageus thought this over, pausing his half-hearted massage. Daemons certainly needed energy to flourish, doubly so outside their twisted realm. The more you gave one, the stronger it became. Was she being honest when she had claimed the residence in his soul was only to be temporary? Lies and word games were said to be the mainstay of dealing with such creatures, and the concept of some writhing beast bursting out of his chest was less than appealing.

His revere was broken by a nip at his left ear lobe, followed by a sensual sigh. “I don’t enjoy being confined to your soul any more than you do. But, it has its…advantages…” whispered Alysia. After spending a few more seconds of attention on the mortal’s ear with her tongue, she started a trail of saliva down his body as she pulled back. Coming to the man’s crotch, the daemonette slipped her mammaries about the full length of his throbbing rod with a soft, “Oh…”

Feeling delighted with the warm cock nested snuggly between her breasts, Alysia allowed a grin to spread across her face. Her connection to Kraegus allowed her to feel what he did, albeit slightly dampened. Thus, she felt the pleasure from both her own skin and his, something the daemonette took a few moments to enjoy before continuing her task.

Once again letting loose her forked tongue, she slipped it between her mounds to curl around the tip of Kraegus’ cock. The groan that accompanied this served to increase her arousal, only to become slightly annoyed when the man placed his hand on the top of her head. Smacking it away, Alysia held his arms at his side.

“No. You get to sit there and enjoy with my *loving* care.”

Her head began to bob, driving her tongue and mouth against the Inquisitor’s member with a the diligence usually attributed to a loving girlfriend. Each slurp, suck, kiss, and moan served to bring Kraegus wave after wave of ecstasy. His breathing grew heavy, hands struggling to break free of the daemonette’s hold.

Much to his surprise, he found the ligaments freed, only to realize that Alysia had taken up her mounds instead. The combined assault was pushing the man towards the edge, but the daemonette didn’t seem to mind. Rather, as if sensing the oncoming wave, her efforts doubled, drool and precum completely lathering both his rod and her breasts.

“I can’t…hold it…” Arching his back, Kraegus dug his fingers into the daemonette’s shoulders as he began to climax. Each throb shot a generous amount of cum into the air, which came splattering back down across Alysia’s face and mammaries. Six in all, she continued her work until the man was a gibbering mess, his body jerking and twitching with the overstimulation. Finally, she stopped, moaning as she began lapping up the seed on her skin.

Each swallow brought the daemonette a rush of both energy and pleasure. She also noted, rather bemused, that seeing her do this made Kraegus’ mind fill will countless, depraved scenarios. “All in due time…” she murmured, now cleaning his shaft. “...just think of it as… motivation…to get me a body…”

Once finished, Alysia pulled the man onto his side, slithering up to cuddle against him. “Now that I can think clearly, let us discuss matters.” Still lost in the afterglow of the experience, the mortal simply nodded. Tracing his biceps, she continued. “I do believe, my *dear* inquisitor, that you will be a rather capable tool in ending the blight against my Mistress.”

“Your…your Mistress?”

“Indeed, but let us not worry about her for the time being. Instead, what do you know of those who wounded you?”

“They were followers of the Blood God, a cult designed to spread strife and war across this sector.”

“Very good, but do you know how they formed in the first place?”

Kraegus paused, eyes occasionally drifting across her face as often as they did her body. Such information was outside his knowledge, and he found himself at a loss.

“No, I cannot say that I do.”

Giggling, Alysia tapped him on the nose. “What if I told you there was something far greater than a group of insane mortals behind this cult? Something that threatens not only your realm, but the balance of power in mine.”

“…Go on.”

“Well…” she said, drawing him closer as her lower body coiled slightly around his legs. “One of the Blood God’s followers is pulling the strings in a gambit to become a Daemon Prince. Trouble is, he reached too high, too fast, and now he’s possessed by one of those foul Bloodletters.”

“That sounds…lovely. I wonder how those blowjobs go…”

This earned Kraegus a loving smack on the top of his head. “Funny. But I know you understand the need to remove this individual, for both our sakes.”

Frowning slightly, the Inquisitor’s gaze locked onto hers. Her words, mired in deceit or not, were of grave concern. Such a powerful being in charge of such an expansive organization meant that it was highly possible that others below him were also merely shells for those from beyond. Finally, he found his tongue, “Yes. Yes I do.”

At this, Alysia bent in to kiss him once more. However, unlike the last time she had done so, she drew back almost immediately and looked away. “G…Good,” she muttered, practically diving back into the mirror and leaving Kraegus stunned.

==The Needs of the One==

The rest of the journey to Rayna was uneventful. Each time Kraegus caught something moving at the edges of his vision, his heart would leap, only to be disappointed when it wasn’t Alysia. The daemonette had not shown herself since feeding from him, much to his dismay. Still, the peace and quiet had given him time to mull over what she had said, and to come up with a plan moving forward. Eliminating the cult was certainly a priority, but freeing his soul had…other perks.

Meanwhile, Alysia had spent her time working on the specifics of the ritual that would give her a mortal form to inhabit. Though the generalities came with those memories and experiences given to her at “birth,” it was vital that the ritual be tailored to her needs. Without doing so, the human body she would corrupt might destabilize once the greater changes to it were affected. In addition, it was important that some link to Kraegus remain. Though it wasn’t necessary, the daemonette felt a perverse need to preserve their connection, if only to keep the mortal around for more “feedings.”

Gaining a private berth in the lower hive was a fairly simple affair. After all, when an Inquisitor demands a discrete landing location, they tend to get what they want. Once the shuttle had come to rest, Kraegus popped the hatch and stepped out into the musky air. Adorned in street clothes, he looked more like a ganger than one who wielded the power of the Inquisition. Earlier that day, he had awoken to find a simple note on his chest reading, “Find a woman who will not be missed, then return.” By his reasoning, any scum from the cesspit of the lower hive would do.

Still, the manner in which the abduction occurred needed to be handled delicately in order to avoid lingering questions. Casting a hood over his head, the inquisitor departed from the landing bay and entered the lower hive proper. The soupy air pooled around him, and it wasn’t long before the hustle and bustle of those poor souls living in the squalor met his ears. He had several choices to scout for prey, ranging from simple pleasure cults to the overcrowded jail cells of the precinct’s Arbitrator building. All it would take was a quick flash of his rosette, or a little sweet talking, and soon he would have a vessel for his “companion.”

Alysia watched with amusement as the man negotiated his way into what the mortals called a “pleasure cult.” Though the concept was highly Slanneshian in nature, they hardly even compared to those within She-Who-Thirst’s realm. Such knowledge was second-hand, but the view from Kraegus’ eyes was still rather unimpressive. A swath of drug addicts, whores of both genders, slavers, and otherwise dubious characters were throughout spotted the dim interior. It was a rather understandable choice of places to search for a female, but the daemonette still found herself wishing her host would have chosen a more “clean” source. She was not a daemon of Nurgle, after all.

It took only a few minutes of bargaining for Kraegus to leave with a prize in tow. The slave in question was already humbled, having been through several “masters” already. Making a mental note to inform the Arbitrators later, the inquisitor trudged back to the shuttle’s birth. Once inside, he led the woman he had bought into his quarters, leaving her there as he prepared the vessel for launch. While he was no expert in the affairs of the daemonic, Kraegus had enough knowledge to know that any ritual would probably be noticed by any psykers in the immediate area. Thus, by returning to orbit, his advancement down the path of damnation would hopefully go unnoticed. For the time being, anyways.

“Course…I won’t be able to hide a bloody daemon-in-the-flesh once this is done, no matter how much Polymorphine I acquire from Callidus,” the Inquisitor grumbled as the shuttle took them into the upper atmosphere. A soft laugh rang in his ears in response, causing Kraegus to jump slightly.

“Don’t…oh what’s the use…” he mumbled, pulling out the pocket mirror and gazing into it. “Alright, I got you a vessel, now what?”

Another giggle, followed by, “Well… first you’re going to draw a very specific set of symbols on her. Then…you’re going to ‘’fuck’’ her…”

==Corrupted Geneseed==
''(SKIP THIS PART IF YOU'RE UNCOMFORTABLE WITH [[/d/]] MATERIAL)''

“Sloooowweerrr…That’s it…good…”

Kraegus sighed as his shaft began what must have been the fortieth, achingly-slow journey into the slave-woman’s folds. Alysia had been extremely insistent about this point, but something told him it was more about her twisted sense of pleasure than the ritual itself.

After chaining the woman he had acquired down to a table, the Inquisitor had gaged her before copying the symbols displayed by the daemonette in the mirror. The locations of the symbols were rather strange, ranging from the crux of the elbow to the underside of the kneecap. Once the slave-woman was properly prepared, Alysia had instructed him to begin pleasuring her, directing from the hand mirror placed on a nearby counter.

Her instructions grew shorter and more sensual with each thrust from the human. Alysia could sense how close both of the mortals were, having been forced to edge for close to an hour now. Their mixture of frustration and need for release was simply palatable, not to mention the sensations emanating from Kraegus’ cock. She might not have had one of her own, but the slave-woman’s folds caress was enough to make her savor the thought.

In any case, the daemonette soon grew to the point where she could no longer direct properly. “N…Now,” she ordered, to which Kraegus gladly complied.

His hips began rapidly thrusting, shoving his member in and out of the slave-woman’s channel. By now, her juices had all but coated the lower part of the table, as well as his crotch, leading to an extremely wet noise being produced from where their genitals met. Kraegus’ orgasm came within moments, but, rather than his seed, something else began erupting from his tip.

The slave-woman’s eyes went wide as a writhing mass formed within her. She had suffered many things under many masters, but this was something entirely new. The mass began to pulsate, sending electric shocks up her spine in conjunction with her cumming. In addition, the man who had bought her had grown silent, staring down at his manhood with a look of terror as he withdrew it from her slot. Had it not been for the ball-gag, the slave-woman would have screamed.

Tentacles, tens of them, had seemingly replaced the Inquisitor’s piece. Each was growing at a remarkably rapid pace, soon more than a few feet long. Wriggling about, they began plunging into the symbols on her skin, tearing the skin, muscle, and bones apart as they began spreading their vile corruption. Some even snaked their way back into all three of her holes, going so far as to tear off the ball-gag in their eagerness to violate the slave-woman.

While the affair was beyond pleasurable for Kraegus, he could not help but feel revolted. The woman before him was being transformed by the daemonic energy surging through the tentacles that now comprised his cock. Her legs began to fuse together, lengthening and growing to become a proper snake’s tail. Beneath her skin, a larger body was struggling to break through, the purplish skin tearing through the woman’s pink. As a hood grew out of the woman’s skull with a sickening crack, her hair turned blue and lengthened before ears jutted out from beneath it.

Much to the Inquisitor’s relief, he began noticing that the tentacles were detaching themselves from his cock and further digging into what was left of the slave-woman. His original member seemed to be intact underneath, but that was the least of his concerns. Exploding in a bloody mess, the remnants of the slave-woman were shed from the daemonette as black scales began popping from her skin.

Moaning, Alysia came to rest on the table before Kraegus, the bindings that had been holding her vessel down torn clean from their holds. She was at least a half larger than the human was, not even including her tail. Bemused, the daemonette began surveying her form, making sure that the ritual had been completed properly. Her increased size and glistening, diamond-like scales must have been the result of having the mortal edge, leading to more of his energy being poured into the ritual. Still, as she confirmed everything was in place, she came to regard the rather shocked and tired looking man standing a little ways away from the table.

“Awwww…you’re afraid of me, aren’t you?” Alysia purred, slithering off the table and through the macabre leftovers of the slave-woman. “You don’t need to be. I’m '''your''' daemonette, after all.”

Stammering, Kraegus backed up against the wall, “That…That doesn’t make this any better. You just made me watch…Oh Emperor…”

He leaned over, losing his stomach’s contents all over the shuttle’s floor. The entire incident had been a grim reminder of the fate that might have awaited him had he not accepted her deal, and now it was all he could think of. “I just…I can’t…”

As he hurled again, a soft hand came to rest on his back. “Shhhh…let it '''all''' out. Alysia is here for you.”

“But…” he coughed, wiping his mouth, “W…Why? You got what you want, so just kill me and get it over with. That’s how you daemons work, right?”

“Hrmmm…" she mused playfully, acting as if she was considering the thought. "No. I have a better idea.”

“And…what might that be?”

Lowering her head, the daemonette nipped his left ear before softly whispering, “I’m going to make you my ''eternal'' fucktoy…”

==A Loving Embrace==
Much to Alysia’s surprise (and dismay), her teasing was not met with delight. Instead, Kraegus simply fainted, straight into his pile of sickness. For a moment, the daemonette remained frozen in place, blinking slowly as she stared at the mortal’s body collapsed on the floor.

“Clearly, we need to work on your stamina…” she whispered, bending over to gingerly pick up the Inquisitor. Slinging him over her shoulder with ease, Alysia turned to survey the room of her “birth.” Remnants of the slave-woman littered the small cargohold, making for a sight that would have pleased both Khorne and Nurgle.

With a frown, the daemonette waved her free hand, channeling the power of the warp to instantly clean the room. However, only half of the room became spotless, resulting in the corners of Alysia’s mouth to sink lower. Such a trivial task should have been simple for her to handle, even in the Materium. “Had something in the ritual gone wrong?” she wondered, waving her hand once again to finish what she had started.

Lost in her worries, Alysia slithered towards the shuttle’s bathroom. As the vessel wasn’t designed with daemons in mind, she could only fit part of the way inside. It was enough to get Kraegus into the shower, though. Since he was still unconscious, the daemonette had to prop the Inquisitor upright against her upper body as the water washed over them both. She tried to be quick about it, as each minute that passed in the cold cascade seemed to sap her energy.

By the time her charge was washed of his accumulated filth, Alysia could barely move. Shivering, she dragged Kraegus back into the cargohold. After depositing him neatly in a corner, she wormed her way to the sleeping quarters, where she promptly ripped the blankets free of the beds. Returning to Kraegus, Alysia wrapped the cloth around her, but to no avail. Her body simply wasn’t producing enough heat, and it was shutting down. Teeth chattering, she glanced over at the human, sighing moments later as she realized what she had to do.

When Kraegus awoke, he found himself unable to move, restricted by a pleasantly warm embrace. Slowly opening his eyes, he realized that Alysia had coiled around him. Most of her lower body was tightly wound him, while her upper was cuddled against him like that of a lover. Lying on the floor of the cargohold, with blankets draped over them, it wasn’t the most comfortable position in the world. Yet, something about it was pleasurable all the same.

Turning his head, the Inquisitor came to regard Alysia’s face. Her eyes were closed, a small bit of drool seeping from her slightly ajar mouth. The cobra-like hood that normally was prominently displayed had deflated, leaving the daemonette looking rather much like a purple-skinned Eldar of sorts. Her hands were wound around his chest, pulling her close to his side. Breasts enveloping his arm, Kraegus almost forgot for a moment that she was a daemon.

“…Since when do daemons sleep?” Kraegus finally wondered, squirming as he tried to pry himself free. In response, the reptilian tail restricted his legs further, and the arms around his torso squeezed him tighter.

“Mmmpphrm…Nnooo…I don’t want to go on the cart…” mumbled Alysia, still lost in whatever fared for dreams for a daemonette. Her head nuzzled against the human’s shoulder, causing goosebumps of delight to erupt across his skin.

“…Damn that’s cute…” Grumbling, Kraegus closed his eyes and tried to get back to sleep. There were worse ways to fall to heresy, he thought as he slipped back into the void.

==Coils of Delight==

“Oi! Wake up! Wake up you useless git!”

Kraegus was roused from his slumber by the sensation of Alysia’s tail constricting around him. His eyes snapped open, revealing the daemonette’s disapproving glare.

“What?” he said while yawning. “I was actually enjoying my nap…”

Alysia’s frown deepened as her arms wrapped around his shoulders. “I’m hungry,” she murmured, failing to suppress the redness seeping across her face. It was too soon. She shouldn’t need to feed off the mortal’s energy this frequently, but the telltale pull of the warp was unmistakable.

“Well…it’s not like you needed to wake me up to do that. Besides, that’s kind of something I always wanted to experience. Being woken up with…”

The Inquisitor’s eyes widened as he found Alysia forcing her lips against his. Since when did daemons get embarrassed? Something was wrong. After allowing her to lead their tongues on a brief tango, he wiggled his head free. “What in the world has gotten into you?” he asked, scanning her face with a mixture of wonder and concern.

Her eyebrows furrowed in response. “You should know, after all this is *your* fault…”

“*My* fault? I don’t follow…”

“Hmph!” Leaning back, Alysia increased the space between their upper bodies to allow herself to draw a symbol in mid-air. “Tell me, how many points does this star have?”

“Six, of course.”

“Then *why*, my dear mortal, did you only draw five on that woman?”

It was Kraegus’ turn to grimace. “…Maybe because I was a little distracted. You know, with being forced to edge for hours on end like *someone* wanted.”

“Typical human, can’t focus on anything but pleasure,” Alysia growled, revealing her fanged canines. Her heartbeat quickened, and her coils around the Inquisitor tightened.

Wincing at the increased pressure, Kraegus shot back, “That’s rich, coming from a daemon.”

“Ssssss…” she hissed, hood flaring. “It’s your fault I’m like this. Instead of leaving an imprint of myself on you, you left an imprint of yourself on me.”

“Hah, so your plan backfired then. I can’t say I’m at all disappoint…” His diatribe was halted by Alysia slapping him across the face. When he turned his head back, Kraegus was stunned upon seeing tears forming at the edges of her eyes.

“Shut up! Do you have any idea how embarrassing this is?! I’m stuck having the equivalent of ‘emotions’ and ‘feelings.’ My powers are weaker than your most pitiful psyker, and my body is restricted by the rules of this mortal realm. This isn’t how it’s supposed to be! If my Mistress found out…”

By now, the tears were flowing freely down the daemonette’s face. If it wasn’t for the fact that her entire appearance was unnatural, Kraegus might have mistaken Alysia for a scared woman. Gingerly, he extended his arms so as to hug her, only to have her fall against his chest sobbing.

“It’s not fair! It’s not! I just wanted to be a good servant! But now I’m useless…worse than trash… pathetic…” As she continued to mutter incoherently, Alysia pounded her fist weakly against him. To her, it was as if her entire short life had collapsed around her. If she ever was forced back into the Immaterium, she was certain She Who Thirsts would torture her for eternity. There was no room for compassion or weakness in Slaanesh’s domain.

Meanwhile, Kraegus was left wondering whether he was still dreaming. Hugging the daemonette gently, his first thought was whether he should offer to end her suffering. After all, it was *her* fault he had fallen and gone against everything he once stood for. But, as he stared down at the top of her head, that malicious thought faded. As much as his Inquisitorial training had been ingrained into him, he couldn’t just abandon a being that had saved his life, let alone one that was now lamenting while coiled around him. Still, he allowed a small part of himself to wonder if this was all a setup before trying to comfort Alysia.

“There there…It will uh… be alright?” he offered, unsure what to say. He was an Inquisitor damn it, not a counselor! Lucky for him, he didn’t have to say anything more.

Alysia once again forced her long tongue into his mouth, cupping the human’s head as she led a slow waltz. As the dance proceeded, she found herself subconsciously grinding against him. “Damn the consequences,” she thought, “I’m going to enjoy this.” She loosened her hold around Kreagus’ lower half before further ravaging his face, moaning in delight. This allowed the mortal to add hip thrusts to her own, rubbing his manhood against her moistening vulva.

Several minutes passed, by which time both of them were panting in arousal and anticipation. Breaking the embrace, Kraegus pulled back just enough to put an inch between his face and Alysia’s. “Now, you said you were hungry?” he whispered, looking downwards past her perky breasts to where their genitalia were scraping against one another. “Why don’t we do something about that?”

Before she could respond, he pushed his throbbing shaft into her folds. His groan was matched by Alysia’s own, and her tail once against restricted around him. For a moment, they simply savored being joined to one another, before Kraegus broke the silence.

“That…it…*you* feel incredible, Alysia. But how are we supposed to have sex if you keep me wound up like this?”

She giggled, kissing him once more. “Simple, my dearest Inquisitor. You just have to sit there and enjoy…”

Kraegus’ eyes widened as the textured walls enveloping his manhood began churning against it. It was as if the daemonette had taken kegels to a whole new level, exacting precise control and pleasure over each inch of his cock. Each second that passed was better than the last, yet he didn’t feel the telltale buildup that usually indicated he was nearing the edge.

“I…hnnngh…How long do you plan on…”

“Oh…all night, my dear. After all, I have needs too…” Alysia whispered, wrapping her arms around him and pulling him back into a kiss.

==Epilogue==
A cacophony of clashing steel echoed throughout the corridor as Kraegus drove the mad priest back. It had taken several years to track down the possessed man, and to destroy his cult. Now, as the Inquisitor exchanged chainsword blows with him, it became clear that everything that Alysia had said so long ago was true. No simple priest could survive this long against his swordplay, let alone deliver blows that caused his arm to resonate.

Suddenly, Kraegus found his blade wrenched from his hands as it was sent sailing into a nearby wall. A moment later he was flung to the ground, with the priest standing over him ready to deliver the final blow.

“Pathetic. *This* is the best the Inquisition has to offer? No wonder you mortals are so easy to manipulate and kill. Your skull shall adorn my Lord’s throne, and I shall drink your blood in his honor! Wait, why are you laughing?”

“Because, you stupid daemonhost, you forgot one thing: My girlfriend.”

On cue, Alysia dropped from the ceiling and cleaved the priest in two with her own blade. As his blood spurted over them both, the daemon contained inside his body howled with the death of its host. For a moment, the outline of a bloodletter appeared over the priest’s corpse. It turned to face Alysia, snarling.

“YOU!”

“Yes, me.”

Waving her hand, the daemonette banished her mortal enemy back into the warp. Silence fell over her and Kraegus, the latter of which would be the first to speak.

“Next time, you get to be the bait.”

“Hah, funny. Somehow I think my tail is a little hard to conceal, don’t you?” She offered out a hand, pulling him to his feet with a smile. “I’m glad you’re alright.”

“As am I that you are.”

They shared a quick embrace, made slightly awkward by the fact both were completely coated in the gore of slaughtering the cultists. Retracing their route, the pair soon arrived back at their rust bucket of a shuttle. It had been modified throughout the years, mostly to accommodate Alysia’s form and unique climate requirements.

“So, what now?” asked Kraegus as the airlock cycled behind them. “If I recall, getting rid of that daemon *was* the only reason you saved me.”

Tapping his nose lightly, Alysia playfully shot back, “Oh, maybe at first. But you know, I think I much rather prefer it here in the Materium. After all, being substantial has its…perks…” She winked, sliding her hand down his chest to briefly brush against his crotch.

“And I suppose that having a daemon for a girlfriend has them as well…” Kraegus added, returning the grope with one of his own. “Dare I ask you do that thing with your tail again?”

“Of course, my Darling.” They hugged, then scurried off to the shower. Once clean, they retired to their oversized bed that now took up the majority of the cargohold. Cuddling against one another, Alysia slowly brought the tip of her tail up to wrap around the human’s thickening shaft. With a soft groan, Kraegus pulled her close so as to press her luscious breasts against him.

“I love you, Alysia,” he murmured, tilting his head in preparation for a kiss.

“And I you, Kraegus,” she responded, meeting his tongue with her own.

----

Elsewhere…

“Fucking…How do I keep failing? [[The Final Saga of Macha the Ever-Virgin: Extra Large Heresy|First the stupid redhead]], now one of my own...”

“Perhaps it’s because you actually secretly enjoy playing matchmaker?”

“HAH! THE GIRLY-MAN CAN'T EVEN MATCH A PAIR OF CARDS!”

“Really? Are you two doing this again? Just go fuck already.”

“WE ARE NOT…”

“You’re not fooling anyone, Khorne. We figured it out a LONG time ago.”

“I WILL BEAT THE LARD OUT OF YOU UNTIL IT ADORNS MY THRONE!”

“Hey, calm down there. So you’re getting laid, at least that makes you better than Zeech over here.”

“…I hate you all.”

==Gallery==
<center><gallery>
Image:LamiaHugs.jpg|She just needs his body heat. It's not like she actually likes the mortal or anything.
</gallery></center>

[[Category:Warhammer 40,000]][[Category:Stories/Warhammer 40,000]][[Category:Heresy]][[Category:Daemons]][[Category:NSFW]]

World of Warcraft: The Roleplaying Game

2018-05-26T06:57:25Z

2A02:587:3A03:4900:A4E9:33F6:3E0:6391:

The World of Warcraft RPG was released in 2005 by [[White Wolf|Sword & Sorcery]] and is the 2nd edition of the Warcraft RPG, which uses the [[Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition|revised third edition of the D&D]] ruleset, thanks to the [[Open Gaming License]].

==Ruleset==
Of course it was simply a means to cash in on the rising popularity of [[World of Warcraft]], but the roleplaying game itself managed to get a few things right which managed to distance itself from the core D&D ruleset.

They binned level adjustments, all races are the same power level so no player gets left behind because they have to earn more experience to get to the same level as everyone else, because they took an ''extra'' imaginary level at character creation. Instead what we get is optional racial classes which give your character statistic improvements, as well as extraordinary abilities not always found anywhere else. The usefulness of multi-classing into your racial class is subjective depending on what your primary class is or should be. For example the Undead "Forsaken" racial class adds nothing in particular if you are a spellcaster, but works better if you are a fighter.

Perhaps more significantly, it introduced the concept of "Archetypes" before [[Pathfinder]] arrived on the scene and showed us how the same classes could be built in different ways. Though these "archetypes" only really applied to spellcasting classes, so the Arcanist could take the Mage, Necromancer or Warlock paths and give him different class abilities. The system was also elegant enough that multiclassing ''across'' archetypes is possible, and counts as a sort of half-and-half arrangement. You get the class features appropriate to the levels of both your archetypes, but you combine spellcasting levels to a single total, so you don't compromise your ability to get to 9th level spells by taking ten levels of mage and necromancer for example.

They also introduced the "Affiliation" system of '''Alliance''' vs '''Horde''', which does a couple of things to the ruleset. From a [[GM]]'s perspective it maintains a standard level of [[Fluff]] that the players will be familiar with if they have ever played one of the video games. From a player's perspective, it restricts their access to options available to the opposite faction since nearly all of the races belong to one faction exclusively and many prestige classes actually require membership in a particular faction, so it means that the group should make the decision to play Alliance or Horde (or unaligned) from the outset and not whine about not being able to play their Human Paladin in a party containing Forsaken Necromancers and Orc Barbarians.

As a minor thing, which did help give it a "closer to the game" flavor, WoW D20 renamed some of the six stats to resemble the terminology of the games; Dexterity became Agility, Constitution became Stamina, Intelligence became Intellect, and Wisdom became Spirit.

==Races==
''To make things easier to the unfamiliar, statistic adjustments will be referred to by their D&D names such as Dexterity and Constitution, rather than Agility and Stamina. But for all intents and purposes they remain the same thing.''

Before you go "No [[Draenei]]?", the simple truth of the matter is that Draenei weren't added to the game in their PC format until the Burning Crusade came out - and the gameline was cancelled a year after that date.

===Alliance===
*'''Human''' - Got to start somewhere, and it might as well be with humans. They have the same bonus feat and extra skill points as normal for D&D, but they ''also'' get racial bonuses on certain interactions, crafting checks and against fear. They also don't like Orcs, and so get racial bonuses when fighting them too, but the feeling is mutual. No racial class for them.
*'''Ironforge Dwarf''' - It's a [[Dorf]], what more can you expect? They have the same CON/CHA adjustments, the same slower speed, resistance to poison and come with Stonecunning, craft and appraise bonuses, so yes... Dorf. They do however get a racial class which beefs up their strength score, gives them the ability to turn to stone once per day and good bonuses against magic and when fighting Giants (which aren't ''too'' common in a Warcraft setting)
*'''High Elf''' - Lets get a couple of things out of the way, when they made this RPG, the Burning Crusade expansion hadn't come out yet, so no-one knew where Kael'thas took the Blood Elves or how they got back. So they're not in the game short of a Web Enhancement that you can't get any more. So we get High [[Eldar|Elves who are nearly extinct]] because of the whole Sunwell thing. Unlike D&D Elves, they have bonuses to INT rather than DEX since they are such good Arcanists, however they are addicted to magic so they need to spend more time preparing each morning unless they have access to a moonwell. Their racial class gives is like its own spellcasting class, giving access to 0-level spells and improves the primary arcane caster level too. If your GM allows you ''could'' also play these guys in Horde as Blood Elves, since they are practically the same thing.
*'''Night Elf''' - Sexy ninja-druid wood elves. Not too much to look at on their own. They make for good divine casters, but only have some shitty nature and survival skill bonuses. Their racial class is impressive though, giving them insane stealth bonuses when they don't move, DEX increases, exotic weapon proficiencies and Cold/Fire resistances that scale with character level.
*'''Half Elf''' - Kinda like a human, they get an extra feat at 1st level, and a range of interaction and magical racial skill bonuses. They can also take a unique feat that give them some 0-level spells if they wanted to. There are rules for playing variants: Half Blood Elves are practically the same thing, but with access to warlock spells, while Half Night Elves get a different set of skill bonuses and access to a more limited form of shadowmeld rather than the ability to cast 0-level spells.
*'''Gnome''' - Unlike core D&D, these midgets have a nack for technology rather than illusion, and make for better general craftsmen than dwarves do and come with a +1 bonus to all saves because they are lucky. They start the game with an extra technology feat. No racial class for them.

===Horde===
*'''Orc''' - Make for good warriors of any type. They get the ability to Rage like a barbarian, bonuses on STR and racial skill bonuses on handling wolves and intimidate checks. They also hate humans and get bonuses against them. They only got their racial class in the ''Horde Player's Guide'' because they were meant to be counterparts to humans. This racial class gives them steady STR/CON increases, lets them rage more and and can give them a temporary boost to any stat of their choice once per day.
*'''Tauren''' - Two-legged Cows. They're kind of like the counterparts to Night Elves; there's not much there in the stat block other than a few racial skill bonuses and the natural weapon that is their horns. Their racial class makes their charge more effective when they use their heads, and give them some STR/WIS increases, one thing that should be strongly pointed out is that similar to High Elves, the Tauren racial class stacks with Divine spellcasting levels. So can generally be a good option if you want to mix fighting ability with divine buff.
*'''Jungle Troll''' - They have good healing, but ''not quite'' like core D&D trolls, but we'll get to that. They suffer INT/CHA penalties, but gain DEX increases and have a range of mobility and survival skill bonuses and are good with thrown weapons. Their racial class also stacks with Divine spellcasting levels and properly grants them steadily improving Fast Healing, CON bonuses and has a good BAB progression which is actually quire rare for a racial class.
*'''Forsaken''' - Undead-type, coming with all the immunities that go with it. Meaning it can be a pain in the arse for the GM to figure out how to challenge you. That does come with it's own set of problems for you though, since you cannot heal naturally, you don't get a CON score, you have to deal with the positive/negative energy switch issue and you are specifically not affected by ''Raise Dead'' or ''Reincarnate'', and it takes a spell stronger than ''Resurrection'' to bring you back to "unlife" (because being Undead is an affliction in WoW, rather than a living/dead state). If you expect to be a front line warrior the racial class should be maxed out immediately since it increases your STR score by +3, your Natural AC by +3 and has the unique bonus of increasing the hit die you gain at each level by its next size; so D6 becomes D8, D10 become D12. Those who already get D12 get plus two hit points instead, which is why you want to take the racial class as soon as possible since the benefits scale up later.
*'''Half-Ogre''' - With options for both "true" half-ogres (human/ogre) and the awesome Mok'nathal (orc/ogre crosses). Their racial characteristics are fairly basic. But they do get to count themselves as one size larger in situations where it may be beneficial for them to do so, which can be significant. Their racial class is cool though, granting them +2 to STR, CON and WIS and increasing their base size to large, which due to their racial ability they can count themselves as huge if they feel like it. The Half-Ogre class also stacks with Divine spellcasting levels which is cool, since nothing about Half-Ogres really hinders divine abilities.

===Neutral or Other===
*'''Blood Elf''' - Although the web enhancement to get them is incredibly rare, it is still out there. Given the state of the game when the books were written, they're mostly hanging out under Illidan and Kael'thas. They're literally just a variant High Elf; they get free weapon proficiency in the longbow, composite longbow, short sword and warblade, their favored class is Warlock instead of Arcanist, and their version of the "Elf Racial Class" replaces the Empower Magic trait with the Mana Tap trait, which lets them make a touch attack that steals 0 level and 1st level spell-slots. This can be used to sate their mana addiction, restore their own depleted spellslots for casters, or power up their Arcane Torrent and Recharge racial feats.
*'''Goblin''' - Are like Gnomes, but with the CHA bonus traded for a Diplomacy skill increase. They also have a list of Craft bonuses rather than being generally "good at all craft" and they also get the Technological Feat. When it's all said and done, they might as well be practically the same thing as a Gnome, but at least anyone can play a Goblin
*'''Half-Orc''' - They are nothing like humans and almost nothing like Orcs, they get CON bonuses instead of STR and the penalty is to WIS instead of INT. Instead of Raging like a barbarian, they can get a temporary STR boost and instead of their hatred of humans/orcs (which would be redundant, being half human/orc) they get resistances to fear.
*'''Forest Troll''' - Identical in every way to Jungle Trolls in the Horde, which is a bit lazy on the part of the game developer, but at least it allows players to play Trolls in Alliance parties.
*'''Furbolg''' - [[Bear Lore|Intelligent Bears]]. They get a modifier to nearly every stat so optimal characters really should focus on divine spellcasting or be straight up punchy warriors. They have natural weapons, +2 natural armor to AC and some survival/nature skill bonuses. Their racial class makes their natural claw weapons even better, further improves their natural AZ and increases their size and strength similarly to the Half-Ogre, as well as providing the Divine bonus. One cool cosmetic note is that each level in Furbolg also increases the character's height by 10% and their weight by 20%.
*'''Wildhammer Dwarf''' - Neutral because nobody asked them to join a side when the wars started, it also means that any party can play a dwarf and these ones are probably better than the Ironforge Dwarves in terms of combat optimisation. Instead of the darkvision, stonecunning and crafting related bonuses, they get improvements on riding and handling animal checks cause they ride GRIFFONS, they also love hammers and get huge bonuses against fear. Their racial class gives them bonuses against Trolls (which are thankfully more common since they are a PC race) and they huge bonuses on the charge due to their reckless nature.
*'''Dark Iron Dwarf''' - Evil dwarves who serve the Fire Elemental Ragnaros. , they are practically identical to Ironforge Dwarves but they have shit stat modifiers, getting +1 to DEX and -2 to CHA for some reason. They kind of need their racial class to get anywhere which gives them +1 DEX and +2 CON as well as some resistance to fire, and a stacking caster level ability, but specifically only with Fire spells.
*'''Dragonspawn''' - Like Dragon Centaurs ''(or Dragon Ogres if you are familiar with Warhammer)'', they start off at large size and have a subtype depending on their heritage. They have shit stat modifiers though, only getting a measly +1 to STR and -2 to CHA ''(which can plummet further downwards with certain draconic heritages)'' so generally speaking they are not a very good race to play as. Their racial class stacks with Arcane levels for spellcasting, and does something to address the stat problem, by providing them with +3 STR and +2 CON, as well as some naturally armor and all of the armor proficiencies.
*'''Murloc''' - Ugly merfolk that take damage from being out of water for too long. Their racial class is a virtual smorgasbord of weapon proficiencies, swim and land speed increases, stealth improvements, natural AC bonuses, Darkvision boosts, as well as having good BAB progression, ''and'' it stacks with divine. So if you're a Murloc, just take the f**king racial class already.
*'''Naga''' - One of those races where Males and Females have real statistical differences, but nothing as simple as [[-4 STR]] here, instead males get +2 STR and -2 INT/CHA, while Females get the exact opposite. Both can swim and both get +1 AC. Their racial class has quite a lot in it to go into great detail here, but consists of a mutation that you may choose at each level to customise yourself with. There is a list of share upgrades, but the genders also get their own unique ones; Females can gain extra arms, or improved arcane ability. Males can grow larger
*'''Pandaren''' - Awesome kung-fu pandas. They have a good statline and get +1 natural AC, as well as gaining the Dodge feat at character creation. Their racial class stacks with Divine, and give them good saves on everything. As well as Combat Expertise and the ability to add their WIS bonus to their AC as if they were [[Monk]]s.
*'''Quillboar''' - A pretty good race if you want to be a fighter/barbarian. They get +2 to STR/CON but -3 to INT/CHA. They also have natural spike attacks, +1 AC bonus, the ''Scent'' ability and they pack hunting which makes them better if one of their allies drops dead. Their racial class stacks divine, gives a good BAB progression, and improves their pack hunting, gives them flanking bonuses and increases their STR/CON but +1 each. If someone were to get the ''Leadership'' feat, then Quillboar make perfect followers.
*'''Satyr''' - Demon assholes that are pretty similar to Night Elves in that they are sort of Ninja-Druid wannabees, except this time with claws and the outsider subtype. Their racial class gives them Shadowmeld (just like Night Elves) and the ability to backstab like a rogue.
*'''Tuskar''' - Eskimo walrus people, that exemplify the concept of "frozen north", getting fishing bonuses, proficiency with nets, resistance to cold and the like. Their racial class is pretty much the same continued, but with more armor and increase STR.

===Monster Races===
The WoW RPG also incorporated the "Creature Class" system that was initially released in '''Savage Species''', so it could allow you to play some of the more powerful races from first level. This does have its down sides though, since unlike "racial classes" you are compelled to take your creature class at first level, and are not permitted to multi-class until you have completed it. This means if you play a particularly powerful creature like a Giant or an Abomination, you are stuck within your class for the duration of the campaign. Not only that, but several of the creature classes have a level progression that goes well beyond 20th level, and Epic level progressions are not a part of the WoW ruleset, so your group would have to shoehorn it in from the core D&D material if you wanted to continue playing your giant past level 20, and due to commitment the class takes, once you've finished them you have to ask yourself what value is having a level 29 Abomination become a level 1 Mage? Of course your GM could house-rule that you need not complete your creature progression, but that's really up to him.

All that being considered, some of the creature classes do provide a lower level progression, so when you finish them you can comfortably join the group as a class member rather than a creature.

*'''Abomination''' - As mentioned, it has a 29-level progression, so you'll find it cute that Barbarian is the favored multi-class option. From first level you get a +10 bonus to strength, even though you start out at medium size. Though you face hefty penalties to every other stat. Your character build revolves around multi-weapon fighting, initially with two hands, but eventually you attach a third. You also get very impressive damage reductions and the ability to confer diseases as if they were poison attacks. Also remember that as undead, you are immune to most things that interfere with other player characters, so you've got a pretty good [[Tank]], if a bit one-dimensional.
*'''Ancient Protector''' - Your opportunity to play an Ent, they are the Plan versions of the Giants we'll come to talk about later; loads of STR, CON and size bonuses are coming your way. What makes this more interesting is that you can eat trees to regain hit points and you can root yourself to the spot which makes you immobile and increases your damage. It could be interesting but the class is so long that it's all you're going to be doing, so the novelty might wear off.
*'''Centaur''' - The bastard mongol children of Cenarius are comparatively good choice as a PC race. It's a bit bare bones, but you get stat increases every level to the point that when you've completed the class at level six, you've accumulated +8 STR, +4 DEX & CON and +2 WIS. As well as a land speed of 50 feet. Because it's a relatively shorter progression you could then go on to any other class you wished without having been hindered too much, but at least your stats go some way to make up for it, especially with the more martial classes.
*'''Dragon Whelp''' - a 13 level progression that is positively bristling with class features, every level you get something new, whether it is a set of spell-like abilities or a new trait like blindsense, flight or breath weapons; as well as all the stat increases. Dragon is a rewarding class if only because you don't feel like you're wasting time trying to get through it, even if other players are overtaking you in terms of power level. It is important to note that the rules for Dragon PCs don't work quite the same was as D&D ''Draconomicon''; you might grow more powerful, but you'll never get out of the "whelp" status and grow into one of the larger dragons, so a Spyro-esque midget you will remain. The rules are also easy enough to convert to a different colour of dragon if you wished, simply change the elemental subtype and breath weapon to a colour that matches.
*'''Dryad''' - The comely Daughters of Cenarius have a nine level progression that grants them magical resistances, the ability to dispel magic and they gain poison attacks. While it's a bit longer than Centaur, they at least have the fact that they are immortal Fey.
*'''Flamewalker''' - A fairly long class that provides stuff at every level, although not as fun-filled as the Dragon class. As a sort of elemental creature it is heavily dependent upon fire and cannot be away from heat sources for long otherwise they die, although GMs are advised to give PCs a special amulet that maintains temperature. The class does provide quite strong damage reductions and stat boosts and natural fire attacks and spell-like abilities. But you could have played a dragon.
*'''Keeper of the Grove'''- The "Mighty Sons of Cenarius" and they have the longest level progression of the group, but are probably one of the best ones to play, why? Because their entire level progression makes them into pseudo-druids, even providing them with spellcasting ability up to their total HD, and the class features are fairly balanced, so they get stat boosts to most things, damge reduction and the occasional spell-like ability.
*'''Mountain Giant''' - Immortal rock creatures, they were all born at the dawn of time so you have to fluff yourself and excuse for why you start out at level one. You get insane strength bonuses as the class progresses, as well huge CON bonuses and damage reduction. But that's about it, short of some resistance to magic and the fact that you grow to Huge size, it's fairly bare-bones.
*'''Nerubian''' - Want to play a spider-man? You start out at small size but eventually grow through medium to large as the class progresses, as well has having the ability to create webs and exude poison. The class has potential, but you'll probably get the feeling that you're killing time while only accumulating a few class features to show for it.
*'''Ogre''' - Much like the Centaur, it's a short class that provides stat boosts at every level, so is also a decent choice for a PC. It doesn't quite have the balance of the Centaur though, having a strong focus on strength while facing penalties on most other stats. There are options for two-headed Ogres, but it's mostly just cosmetic.
*'''Ogre Mage''' - One of the better choices for monster race, it has only one more level than the Ogre class, but has far less penalties to your other stats. The absolute best bit about it is that it automatically allows you to cast spells as an Arcanist or Healer of a path chosen at your character creation, with a caster level equal to your HD much like the Keeper of the Grove, but because it's shorter you can go off and do other things. So when you've completed your level progression, you can simply continue levelling-up as a spellcaster as if nothing had happened, the only penalty is the fact that you do lose out on three levels of spellcasting due to skipped HD for being an Ogre. But if you don't want to continue as a caster because you want to take advantage of all the strength and size bonuses, you've still got the benefit of having been one on the past.
*'''Sea Giant''' - Another one of those huge classes you'll never see the end of. You obviously get strength and constitution bonuses and a few spell-like abilities now and then and a special melee attack, but you'll never be as strong or as resilient as a Mountain Giant could be.

==Classes==
The WoW:RPG doesn't use the same set of classes as 3rd Edition D&D, though some of the same classes appear. In some cases (like with the Barbarian or Rogue) they are nearly identical, though in others (such as the Paladin or Druid) they are completely unrecognisable.

[[File:FacebookGiotaTsirou.jpg|620px|thumb|left|Panagiota Tsirou, a 200 pound girl of short stature with unnatural agility that is incompatible with the physical boundaries that her obese biological structure should obviously follow, proving that a twisted disfigurement of reality is already existent, unleashing the incomprehensible influence of the warp in ways too unimaginable for anyone to acquaint with its reflections in our ludicrous lives, redefined by overwhelmingly shocking surprises.]]

[[File:WOW.jpg|1200px|thumb|right|In the 8th game of the World of Warcraft series, which was the first since the current 8th editions of Warhammer Fantasy and 40K, they also advanced the storyline following the same trend, as we have an official Alliance-Horde war for the first time since Warcraft 3, in total coordination with the real world when long unsettled conflicts, such as the Arab-Israeli war, Grexit, Kim Jong-un, US-China trade war, Fascism emerging in Europe starting from Italy, Neo-ottomanism, American civil war, Monroe dogma over Nicolas Maduro and Lula and even a volcano in Hawaii erupting, are simultaneously all emerging as if we are truly living in a novel.]]

*'''Arcanist''' - Your [[Wizard]]-analogue, gets a 9th-level spell progression and casts from a spell book, gets scribe scroll and metamagic/creation feats every now and then. The real meat is in the archetype-path that you choose.
**'''Mage''' - Gets a familiar and the ability to summon an elemental whose size is dependent upon your level. Generally they make for good Evocation casters and damage dealers, because at later levels they get a free spell slot for each spell-level that can be used for Fire/Cold spells which are automatically cast with the Maximize Spell feat on it. They are also gain +1 caster level checks with these spells.
**'''[[Necromancer]]''' - Guess what? they're good at Necromancy. From level one, they get the ability to make something they touch drop down dead with no save. This does scale with level, but it's still no guarantee of it working. They also become completely immune to Death spells and effects, and get the ability to Animate Dead and eventually Create Undead as supernatural abilities rather than as spells
**'''[[Warlock]]''' - Demonic casters who make good Conjurers, with the ability to bolster and extend the duration of summoned creatures. They also get an Outsider companion who follows them around, and who isn't chosen from a list, they can just pick one as long as it's not above a certain HD total.
*[[Barbarian]] - Identical to the D&D class.
*'''Healer''' - Your [[Cleric]]-analogue, gets to turn/rebuke and get spontaneous conversion of spells like a cleric does but the target of turning and the actual spells they can convert depend on your path, they also get domains depending on the path they take, although the domains unlock themselves as the character levels up rather than being granted at the start and don't provide an extra spell slot just for domain spells. They can also Brew Potion regardless of the path they take.
**'''Druid''' - Gains an animal companion, can pass without trace, can wild shape just like a Druid does. They turn/rebuke plants and animals and get ''summon nature's ally'' spontaneously which probably isn't that great at later levels, but would be useful as the group starts out. They can also ''Plane Shift'' themselves and other to the Emerald Dream. Eventually they become Immortal, because that's cool.
**'''Priest''' - Turns/Rebukes Undead and gets spontaneous ''Cure'' or ''Inflict'' spells depending on their alignment. Their domains are heavily dependent on the religion they worship, but at least they get the choice, rather than having it fixed for them. Their class abilities are a combination of shielding buffs and smiting powers, which makes them good to have in a group, especially against undead or outsiders.
**'''Shaman''' - They can both Turn ''and'' Rebuke Elementals though they have to choose the elemental type of one then get the opposite of the other, but like Priests they get spontaneous ''Cure'' or ''Inflict''. Their class abilities are quite varied, with the ability to use minor divinations, imbue their weapons with flame or frost, polymorph themselves into spirit wolves, dispel transmutations and eventually cast a spontaneous resurrection spell.
*'''Hunter''' - A kind of bizarre [[Ranger]] analogue, but far more similar to the MMO idea, rather than the [[Drizzt|two-swords fighting]] and nature survivalist concepts that 3E provide us. They get a hunter's companion at 5th level and can eventually tame magical companions as well. Their whole class shtick is about "Aspects" which are like stances which provide them with passive bonuses to things, like giving them ''Evasion'' or improved land speed. They also get "Stings" which is basically the ability to apply poison to ranged attacks with out actually having poison items or worrying about them hurting themselves.
*'''[[Paladin]]'''- NOT like the D&D paladin, while they are beholden to a code of conduct, it requires them to maintain a Good Alignment (not [[Lawful Stupid|Lawful Good]]) Yes they get divine spellcasting and they eventually get the ability to turn undead and lay on hands, their main ability is buffing their allies with Auras.
*'''[[Rogue]]''' - Just like the core ruleset.
*'''Scout''' - The nature aspects of the Ranger given their own class and magnified, or you could compare it to a Druid with no spellcasting ability. They get a lot of tracking and mobility bonuses, including ''Uncanny Dodge'' and ''Evasion'' and have the ability to manufacture healing poultices out of roots, berries and animal dung.
*'''Tinker''' - an all-new class specifically about technology, which is a distinct thing in the Warcraft setting, you could probably compare them to Pathfinders's Alchemist Class in terms of feel and role. At their early levels, they make great pack mules and are good for scavenging knick-knacks of value from otherwise broken shit. They are great at throwing bombs, they get flat energy resistance against all energy types, and they can cobble together technological items in rapid time. They are not very good combat characters however, but give them cool items and they will probably munchkin the fuck out of the setting.
*'''Warrior''' - See [[Fighter]], it's the same thing with a different name.

===Prestige Classes===
*'''Ace''' - A fighter dog-pilot or a tank commander, because those things exist in Warcraft. It's kind of like an enhanced member of the Tinker class, they still get their ability to manufacture stuff, but the real abilities are how the Ace controls and enhances vehicles. A lot of the terms apply exclusively for aircraft, but most of the abilities can be translated over to something else.
*'''Archmage of Kirin Tor''' - Practically the same as the Archmage class that you got in the 3E Forgotten Realms campaign setting, you get High Arcana each level which allow you to manipulate your spells in cool and effective ways. This class is for Mage-Arcanists only, Warlocks and Necromancers need not apply.
*'''Assassin''' - The same thing as 3E, with the same Evil alignment requirement that seems oddly restrictive.
*'''Beastmaster''' (Horde OR Night Elf) - A cool fluffy prestige class that gives you an animal companion and lets you speak with animals. It also provides you with some natural weapons.
*'''Berserker''' (Orc or Troll) - All about the [[Rage]], giving you unique abilities you can perform while raging, then you get some more RAGE!
*'''Bone Crusher''' - Big slabs of muscle and fists, all about punching it til it dies, almost like a monk but with less enlightenment and funky abilities and far more "I punch it".
*'''Brewmaster''' - Drunken Master: Warcraft edition. Gets a whole range of [[Monk]] abilities that cannot otherwise be found in the ruleset, like Flurry of Blows and Unarmed Strike bonuses. They are also quite customisable with "Drunken Stance" and "Spirit Channel" abilities, which you get to choose from, making it quite possibly the most customisable class in the entire setting.
*'''Dark Ranger''' (Horde only) - Forsaken Rangers. A pretty good class that gets you access to divine spells, and sort of rogue-like abilities mixed in with archery bonuses.
*'''Dead Shot''' - one of the many archer classes available, though this one is perhaps the most simple, it is essentially a whole bunch of archery combat feats, mingled in with the ability to stay in stealth through-out combat, much like a sniper.
*'''Death Knight''' (Scourge only) - Again, this was before Wrath of the Lich King, so Death Knights only belong to the Scourge, so it's only there as an NPC class really. But it still pretty epic, being one of the few classes that properly combines martial ability (and vampiric runeblades that scale with level) and necromantic spell-like abilities.
*'''Demon Hunter''' - Epic class, burns out your eyes at level one and registers you as a demon to anyone who is looking, but gives you blindsense in trade. From there it only gets better; your weapons automatically become magically improved, and you get sneak attack bonuses against demons. Evasion and dodge bonuses also come into play, and at higher levels you gain more and more spell like abilities and eventually simply become an outsider.
*'''Dragonsworn''' - Do you luv dragnz? Well you'd need to because it takes quite a bit of commitment to qualify for this class. What you get is half of a spellcasting progression, but you do get some fantastic customisation potential, with ''Secrets'' and ''Powers'' of the Aspects (of the Dragons). So you can give yourself things like a +2 to any stat of your choice ever second level, or reduce metamagic costs, or give yourself breath weapons, or wings. It's cool like that.
*'''Duelist''' - Yeah, you've seen this before, prissy leapy fuckers with rapiers and grace.
*'''Elven Ranger''' (Alliance only) - Any Elf will qualify, but like the Dark Ranger it's faction only. It is basically the core [[Ranger]] class condensed into ten levels, which therefore makes it better, since you get everything sooner. You get a favoured enemy every second level, you get divine spellcasting, the archery combat syle and the improved perceptions and tracking abilities.
*'''Exemplar''' - You get a flag that behaves like a shield while you carry it, improving it's AC bonus as you level up. The flag itself is pretty cool, it nerfs enemies who can draw line of sight to it, and buff allies in the same radius. There are some other abilities in there, one of which revolves around casting down enemy flags, which might not come into play, unless you pester your GM and go hunting for enemy standard bearers.
*'''Fel-Sworn''' - Make your way to Daemon-Prince with this class, you get a mutation every level like wings, claws or size increases.
*'''Gladiator''' - [[Rip and Tear]] in class format, two handed weapon masters who are fantastic at cleaving and taking down opponents with big strikes.
*'''Gunman''' - Both a musketeer and a pistolier. You get a firearms bonus and the ability to do cool stuff with your firearm, like draw, fire and re-holster ALL of the pistols you have in your possession, up to the number of attacks you get, in a single turn.
*'''Hexer''' - Any non-Alliance; so Horde or Independent only. Basically all about penalising foes with Area of Effect powers, and unlike many magical effects they can last as long as you can maintain concentration. You can also make up voodoo dolls and troll your enemies, though that's not too great for PCs who would generally kill their opponent and be done with it.
*'''High Divinist''' - Like the Archmage, but for Divine casters instead. You get similar spellcasting upgrades at each level, but you can also augment your domains and get the Master level ability for them.
*'''Infiltrator''' (Alliance only) - Kind of like a Rogue with less backstabbing and more deception. All about concealing yourself under disguises and lies.
*'''Lightslayer''' (Horde only) - another Forsaken only class, which is kind of like Rogue, but with specific focus on screwing Paladins and priests of the Holy Light religion.
*'''Mountain King''' (Ironforge Dwarf only) - Note, you don't actually need to be a king, that's just the name of the class. You are an expert with Axes and Hammers, and of underground fighting, so you get even better while wielding an axe or hammer underground. You get a few nifty spell-like abilities, and the power to Avatar yourself briefly.
*'''Mounted Warrior''' - it's self explanatory really, you get a mount, you get better while fighting from a mounted position, and your mount also improves as if it were your animal companion. Good if you were a Paladin or Warrior, since those classes don't get special mounts as standard.
*'''Naga Anomaly''' (Naga only) - On the face of it, this class offers nothing other than Hit Dice, since it gives NO skill points, NO BAB or Save progression either. What you get is THREE mutations at each level, chosen from a bigger list than the Naga racial class. So you can give yourself a top BAB each level if you wanted to, or best saves if you wanted to. This is basically a create-your-own class. The only thing it's not good for is spellcasters, though you can choose to give yourself spell-like abilities a number of times per day (some of which are unlimited).
*'''Pandaren Transcendent''' (Pandaren only) - If it wasn't obvious, this is for pandas. It's nothing like a Monk though, instead you get improvements on Divine spellcasting and elemental abilities. You also get augmented touch attack rolls, so the class is good for those classes that have close-contact spells.
*'''Plagueshifter''' - not as repellent as it sounds. It actually is about healing and growth so Druids make good examples of this class. Their class features eventually provide for a good base of operations, because they provide a replenishing source of food, sanctuary and magical allies. Their final ability allows them to plant a tree that grants them healing powers and allows them to resurrect at if they ever die.
*'''Potion Doc''' - Alchemist all over again. Brews potions and poisons, it is essentially a crafting class, but also provides for some unique effects, like bombs, effervescent sprays, delayed activations and such.
*'''Primal''' (Orc, Tauren or Troll) - Another Rage-boosting class, although this one provides more passive bonuses rather than only coming into play while raging. The class gradually morphs the character into something more powerful by increasing STR and natural AC.
*'''Pyremaster''' (Orcs only) - Funeral Directors, the basic ability actually requires you to perform a funeral to get a bonus. Later abilities are more useful allow you to amplify your flame attacks, summon undead, create flame effects, heal when taking flame damage... basically if there is anything to do with fire, this class will somehow gain a benefit.
*'''Sapper''' - You can manufacture your own bombs, and you gain bonuses when throwing them or setting them off. You also gain Evasion and improvements to existing Fire resistance, because inevitably something blowing up with an area of effect will eventually catch you in its area, so you're protected from yourself.
*'''Savagekin''' - Requires you to have started as a druid, since you need to Wild Shape. The idea is that you've in fact spent far too much time in wild shape form and lose your connection to civilization. The up side is that you get more abilities while in Wild Shape form, including the ability to [[Rage]], unlimited Wild Shape usage, a second animal companion. The downside is that when you use most of your abilities, you might temporarily forget that you are an actual person and be unable to cast spells or revert back to your natural state as well as suffering a huge INT drop to for a number of hours until you snap out of it.
*'''Scarlet Battle Mage''' (Scarlet Crusade, Humans only) - Another NPC class, since the faction isn't for players. Which is a shame because it's pretty good at dealing out fire damage, making attacks as swift actions, and casting quickened spells with reduced metamagic penalties.
*'''Scarlet Inquisitor''' (Scarlet Crusade, Humans only) - A divine focussed [[Inquisitor]], coming with all of the torture bonuses and enchantment spells to get information out of their targets. The odd thing is that these guys are meant to be hunting undead, who are mostly immune to their abilities... but whatever.
*'''Shadow Ascendant''' (Forsaken only) - The idea here is to eventually turn your fleshy undead, into a spectral ethereal undead. It's a bit like the Shadowdancer core prestige class, in that you steadily get more stealthy, more mobile and can summon shadow servants. It is a low better because there are so many class features that find usefulness in many situation.
*'''Shadow Hunter''' - Voodoo priests, they continue their divine spellcasting progression, but every few levels they get choose an ability that can provide them with useful utility during the game, like a healing spell-like ability, or turn undead, or improved initiative.
*'''Sister of Steel''' - Essentially the Dwarven Defender prestige class, but for women only. You don't need to be a Dwarf though or be of any affiliation. You get steadily improving damage reductions and resistance to critical hits, eventually culminating in you becoming an elemental creature of stone and metal.
*'''Spirit Champion''' - Very much like a monk/sword saint, you get a mystical warrior who has the spirits on his side. He works best in light or no armour and gains AC bonuses, temporary feats or even temporary magical weapon bonuses.
*'''Spirit Walker''' - Pretty much a specific type of shaman. You get the game's closest equivalent of bardic lore, as the spirits just tell you stuff, and you grant yourself other temporary bonuses as you level up too. You can eventually turn yourself incorporeal and can summon ancentral warriors to lend you a hand.
*'''Spymaster''' (Horde only) - The counterpart to the Infiltrator, nearly the same class but with the ability to turn invisible rather than influence peoples minds.
*'''Subversive''' - Ninja-Druids, so the perfect class for Night Elves. Very similar to the Ranger class. You get 4 level divine spellcasting, wild empathy and a range of trap abilities, defensive boosts to AC and environmental enhancements to damage rolls that work in a similar way to sneak attacks, but are scaling fixed numbers rather than additional dice.
*'''Techslayer''' - Fantastic at taking out constructs, or anything with armour on. His attacks DO perform critical hits on constructs and he ignores the first few points of AC a target has with each strike.
*'''Ursa Totemic''' (Furbolg only) - Qualifies itself as a "sort of extension" to the Furbolg racial class, it makes you MOAR BEAR. You get better natural bear weapons, bear wrestling moves, a kind of [[Rage]] class feature with its own conditions, and ALL the natural AC bonuses.
*'''Vindicator''' - Vengeance is Mine! They are particularly focused on finding and kicking the fuck out of a single targeted individual. They also get a form of Rage ability that has its own conditions,
*'''Warden''' (Alliance only) - A very peculiar class that operates entirely on using Spell-like abilities, you get a list of them and you can use them a combined number of times per day equal to your level. It's a bit bizarre, but at least you get full BAB progression as well as improved "spellcasting" ability.
*'''Wilderness Stalker''' - Another Ranger variant, this time with favored terrain rather than enemy. You still get the swift tracking and wild step abilities you'd come to expect as well as the 4th level spell casting. They really did just dismantle the Ranger class and spread it out.
*'''Windwarrior''' - Remember how Wildhammer dwarves rode Griffons? Well this is how, although anyone can join the class. It's like the mounted warrior class, although it gives less combat focus and more utility, like the ability to call your mount with a totem, or the ability to determine changes in the weather

==Gear==

==What's this about a 1st edition?==
It was called Warcraft: The Roleplaying Game. It wasn't standalone game, but a [[campaign setting]] for [[Dungeons & Dragons]] 3e (complete with D&D logo on the cover used under license). It contained converted material to play post-Warcraft III games. It was a short run that eventually gave way to WOW: TRPG, and it lacked a lot of the innovative stuff that 2e did.

==List of Books==
So, you may be wondering what splat books this series actually put out before [[White Wolf]] axed it. Maybe you wanna rescue someone from MMORPG-dom by showing how much better tabletop RPGs can be and need an obvious hook to wean 'em off. Maybe you want to play an actually ''good'' Warcraft RPG that doesn't require forking out money for putting up with MMO stupidity. Maybe you just want to do what all good DMs do and steal all the fluff and crunch for your homebrew that you can get. Whatever your reasons, this is the big list of what there is:

'''1st Edition, aka "Warcraft: The Roleplaying Game"'''
* Warcraft: The Roleplaying Game: Your core campaign setting book. Obviously. This was written after Warcraft III but before The Frozen Throne (aka, Warcraft's last RTS game) came out, so remember that.
* Manual of Monsters: Azerothian bestiary, for monsters to kill.
* Alliance & Horde Compendium: Factional upgrade splat, with new races, prestige classes, feats, mass combat rules, seige weapons, and lore updates to coincide with the release of The Frozen Throne.
* Magic & Mayhem: New rules, lore and other stuff for magic and technology, including the original Runemaster core class, magic items, constructs, etc.
* Shadows & Light: Epic level content, planar cosmology, historical lore, the Azerothian pantheon, and stats for the game's big-league characters.
* Lands of Conflict: Setting gazetteer about the Eastern Continents - Azeroth, Khaz Modan, and Lordaeron.

'''2nd Edition, aka "World of Warcraft: The Roleplaying Game"'''
* World of Warcraft: The Roleplaying Game: Your core rulebook. Obviously. This was written after the release of the original MMORPG but before any of the expansions, so there's some lore revisions in comparison to 1e, but it doesn't match what the lore eventually became in real life. In fact, the gameline was cancelled after releasing Dark Factions in 2008, so keep that in mind before purist nerdraging.
* Monster Guide: Your 2e bestiary.
* More Magic & Mayhem: New spells, gizmos, and general upgrades for magic & technology. Yes, including a 2e update to the Rune magic stuff from the original Magic & Mayhem.
* Alliance Player's Guide: One of three "racial splats" that details expanded details on factional races, adds new races, new prestige classes, new feats, new spells, new gear, historical lore, settlement lore... basically, fleshes out the "world impact" of a particular major faction. As you've probably guessed, this focuses on the Alliance.
* Horde Player's Guide: One of three "racial splats" that details expanded details on factional races, adds new races, new prestige classes, new feats, new spells, new gear, historical lore, settlement lore... basically, fleshes out the "world impact" of a particular major faction. As you've probably guessed, this focuses on the Horde.
* Dark Factions: One of three "racial splats" that details expanded details on factional races, adds new races, new prestige classes, new feats, new spells, new gear, historical lore, settlement lore... basically, fleshes out the "world impact" of a particular major faction. This is all about the neutral parties in the Horde/Alliance/Lich King conflict.
* Lands of Mystery: Setting gazetteer about Kalimdor, the South Seas and Northrend.

{{WW-Games}}

Cult of the Redemption

2018-05-26T06:34:03Z

2A02:587:3A03:4900:A4E9:33F6:3E0:6391:

[[Image:Warhammer40k theredeemer 001.jpg|thumb|right|Thought [[Chick Tracts|Jack Chick]] was bad? '''GUESS AGAIN''']]

The '''Cult of the Redemption''' is one of the few signs that [[Warhammer 40,000]] still accepts that it has an understanding of the phrase "excessive", as the Cult of the Redemption is considered an extremist branch of the [[Imperial Cult]].

==Founding==
Formed on [[Necromunda]], the Redemptionists took a good look at the [[Hive]] they were living in and came to a rational decision for the first time in millennia: they realized that this place was ''Hell''.

Unfortunately, they stopped thinking clearly after that, as they soon decided that humanity was inherently evil (which is [[Humanity Fuck Yeah|open for debate]]) and could only find redemption in the eyes of the [[God-Emperor of Mankind|God-Emperor]] by killing all his enemies: In other words, [[psyker]]s, [[mutant]]s, and [[heretic]]s (which is anyone who decides to work against the Cult or its members). Unfortunately, the Redemption does not stop at mutants, witches, and heretics. Whenever Redemptionists manage to seize power, they immediately go on a psychotic killing spree, slaughtering the recognized mutant populations (which angers the administratum because it means that factories lose cheap labor), the Ecclesiarch priests (for not being part of the Redemption), nearly all officials (including the planetary Governor) for "Allowing Mutants and Heretics to Flourish", and even go on to attack and slaughter the Astropath Choir of the planet.

On Necromunda, they ended up finding a home in [[House Cawdor]], where it became the official religion of the House.

===Diaspora===
Though originally confined to Necromunda, the Redemption Cult soon spread across the [[Imperium of Man]] thanks to members of the [[Ecclesiarchy]]. [[Commissar]] [[Ciaphas Cain]], '''HERO OF THE IMPERIUM''', noted in the novel ''The Traitor's Hand'' that there was a Redemptionist preacher on Adumbria, and believed his old [[Schola Progenium]] classmate Tomas Beije was either a member of the Cult, or at the very least a sympathizer.

The Ecclesiarchy has occasionally tried to use Redemptionist Zealots as a means to get around the Decree Passive preventing them from having "men under arms" and limiting their military forces to the [[Sisters of Battle]]. (<s>Emperor's balls, now even the Ecclesiarchy doesn't want the Nuns with Guns.</s> {{blam|FWOOSH! Silence, heretic! The Ecclesiarchy wants more warriors ''beside'' the noble women of the Adepta Sororitas to purge the unclean in holy flame!}}) In the novel ''Legion of the Damned'', a group of Ecclesiarchs end up getting into a pissing match with the [[Excoriators]] over authority long enough for the Marines to get bored and BLAM several Redemptionist militants.

==Teachings==
The Cult of Redemption believes that the God-Emperor of Mankind is manifest proof of [[Humanity Fuck Yeah|mankind’s holy destiny to rule the stars]], but as they comprise of mostly poor citizens with limited education they very rarely factor in what the [[Xenos]] have to say upon the matter. In their minds, the only thing keeping mankind from its destiny is its own sinfulness. So they take it upon themselves to "remove" the sins which are holding back mankind.

Crucially, the Redemption believes that three sins surpass all others:
*[[Mutant|Mutation]] is sin and corruption made manifest on the human body.
*[[Psyker|Witchcraft]] is the ability to use unnatural powers.
*[[Heresy]] is refusing the truth of the Redemption, which pretty much encompasses everyone not part of the Cult.

Redemptionists "on business" are relatively uniform wherever they appear, with a particular tendency to wear the colour red and full face concealing KKK masks and have a preference for wielding flame or chain weapons. Though when not on the job they can appear just as typical as the next Imperial citizen, though perhaps with a heightened sense of irritability and racism over and above that of your average Joe living in the 41st Millennium.

===The Ludmillan Dictates===
Someone in the [[Dark Heresy|Calixis Sector]] actually took the time to sit down and codify how Redemptionists need to behave, essentially turning the Cult from a slightly crazy social gathering of religious nutballs into an organised sect, albeit one still composed of religious nutballs.

The ''(paraphrased)'' rules are as follows:
*Red is the colour of blood and therefore the colour of the Redemption.
*"Drugs are Bad M'Kay?" taking [[drug]]s is a sin, punishable by death.
*"Suffer not the Witch to live" punish them with death
*"Suffer not the Mutant to live" punish them with death
*"Suffer not the Heretic to live" make them [[Asmodai|repent]], then punish them with death
*When punishing sinners with death, you should wear red as it is the colour of the Redemption.
*When you take up the weapons of the Emperor, you are on His time and not your own, so [[Ninja|hide your face]].
*Self-Mortification should be done daily, as [[meme|it is a good pain]].

[[File:FacebookGiotaTsirou.jpg|620px|thumb|left|Panagiota Tsirou, a 200 pound girl of short stature with unnatural agility that is incompatible with the physical boundaries that her obese biological structure should obviously follow, proving that a twisted disfigurement of reality is already existent, unleashing the incomprehensible influence of the warp in ways too unimaginable for anyone to acquaint with its reflections in our ludicrous lives, redefined by overwhelmingly shocking surprises.]]

[[File:WOW.jpg|1200px|thumb|right|In the 8th game of the World of Warcraft series, which was the first since the current 8th editions of Warhammer Fantasy and 40K, they also advanced the storyline following the same trend, as we have an official Alliance-Horde war for the first time since Warcraft 3, in total coordination with the real world when long unsettled conflicts, such as the Arab-Israeli war, Grexit, Kim Jong-un, US-China trade war, Fascism emerging in Europe starting from Italy, Neo-ottomanism, American civil war, Monroe dogma over Nicolas Maduro and Lula and even a volcano in Hawaii erupting, are simultaneously all emerging as if we are truly living in a novel.]]

==Organisation==
There is no hard and fast "rule" when it comes to how the Redemption is organised, as the cult is not officially recognised by the Imperium at large its members can be drawn from all walks of life. In addition, very few individuals devote 100% of their time to the Redemption and take it up as their main vocation of choice, instead donning the hood whenever secretive meetings are held and returning to their original life leaving their friends and employers none the wiser.

===Necromunda (1995)===
Mechanically, they acted quite different from most other gangs both on the tabletop and in the between game phases:

'''Firstly''', they may never acquire territory like other gangs, due to the fact that its members may be members of other gangs in houses, or have commitments when they take the hood off. This means their income is entirely based on donations. This is actually useful to a player in some ways, because it negates the need to feed and shelter your cultists because they can eat at home, removing some of the paperwork. Unfortunately it does mean that credits come to you in a slow trickle and you may not be able to afford nice things.
'''Secondly,''' thanks to the huge number of faithful waiting for the opportunity to don the hood and start burning heretics, there is the possibility that you can get new gangers without having to pay for them. Whenever a ganger ''(of any type)'' dies, there is a 50% chance that a new devotee with a knife will join you for free.
'''Thirdly,''' they ''Hate'' Mutants, Psykers, Ghouls and Zombies, and they may not use hired guns of any kind unless the particular rules say so. Redemptionists are insular like that.
'''Fourthly,''' they may not ransom or exchange captured prisoners. They burn them at the stake unless the opposing player can mount a rescue mission. Having a Priest in your gang gives you the option to convert some captured gangers, but if that fails they'll burn the heretic anyway.

The unit types for Redemptionist Gangs are as follows:
*'''Priests:''' your typical gang leader. Gets access to the best stuff and all skill advance trees, comes with the ability to inspire his gang and convert captured enemies.
*'''Deacons:''' the right hand man of the Priest. Come with fewer skill trees than he does and have no special rules. However they do get access to the same range of equipment, and the Techno tree, meaning they are similar to Heavies in other gangs.
*'''Crusaders:''' your basic ganger, get access to basic weapons.
*'''Devotees:''' your Juvies - are shit, have access to fewer weapons than most other gangs and can only take skills from the ''Ferocity'' tree, unless they roll 2 or 12 on the advance table.
*'''Zealots:''' Psycho nut-jobs whose only purpose in life is to [[Rip and Tear]] heretics. Can only take from an exclusive list of melee weapons ''(which include [[Awesome|Eviscerators]])'' and they suffer ''Frenzy'', doubling their attacks but reducing your overall control of them.

There are two ways to build up your Redemptionist gang, and one could turn into the other several times throughout a campaign.

If you have a '''Priest''' then the gang becomes a '''Crusade''' and you are allowed to take '''Deacons''' who can buy from a larger list of ranged and special weapons, giving your gang much more versatility rather than "beat it to death". Having a Priest also allows you to use "Inspirations", which are practically a poor man's [[Sisters of Battle|Act of Faith]]. Allowing you to recover one ganger from pinning, reroll a failed leadership check or re-roll a recovery check once per turn. If you are running a Crusade, you must have one '''Crusader''' or '''Devotee''' for every '''Priest, Deacon''' or '''Zealot''' in your gang, therefore Deacons/Zealots cannot amount to more than half of your gang. If your Priest dies and you have no Deacons to replace him, the gang automatically becomes a mob.

Without a '''Priest''' leading them, they are made up of a '''Mob''' of citizens who make up for being shit with their enthusiasm: gaining additional leadership based on the number of individuals in the gang. Unfortunately they are not permitted to hire any '''Deacons''' ''(who would automatically become Priests in the absence of one anyway, so you are forced to just hire a new priest at full cost)'' The Mob rules represent a spontaneous uprising of the faithful, consisting of a lot of cheap, poorly armed fodder. Like the Crusade, Mobs come with restrictions: you must also have one '''Devotee''' for every '''Crusader''' ''or'' '''Zealot''' in your gang. So if you are using the Mob rules, half of your gang must be made up of Devotees. If they gain enough experience to be promoted, they stay where they are until a space opens up for them. This has deeper ramifications if you were demoted from a Crusade and had lots of Crusaders and Zealots, meaning that you cannot hire any new gangers ''(other than Devotees or a Priest)'' until the balance has been restored.

===RPG===
[[Dark Heresy]] alone introduced three ways for a citizen ''(read: character)'' to become a member of the Redemptionists and the rules for them were not all mutually exclusive either, so some people could go FULL crazy and take them all if they felt their character needed to be more one-dimensional like that,
although no where in rules does it say you cannot play mutant redemptionists, though your [[DM]] might cock-slap [[That Guy|you for doing it]], or [[Rocks Fall, Everyone Dies|force you to commit seppuku]] if you've also taken the elite advance that changes your behaviour, have fun:

*'''Cultist''' - basically what you took as an elite advance if being a member of the cult was done in your spare time. This broadly meant anyone can take up membership unless you were a mutant, psyker, tech-priest, priest of another denomination or disagreed with the cult in general. They are indoctrinated very heavily into the teachings of the cult, and have real difficulty from acting against the ludmillan dictates.

*'''Firebrand''' - Essentially a Cleric of the Redemption, taken as a background package at character creation. These would be the sect leaders of the cult, such as the deacons or pastors, they make it their job to spread the teachings of the redemption, either with a chainsword or a flamer and a whole lot of shouting.

*'''Redeemer''' - more correctly called the "Redemptionist", though is referred to in the text as Redeemer a couple of times which is less confusing for this article. A Redeemer is a professional Redemptionist, the sort of person who lives every day as a Redemptionist and doesn't go home for the evening after the sunday witch-burning. They can either be a Cleric - much like Klovis from the '''"Redeemer"''' comic books or they can be Assassins - like Silas from ''The Da Vinci Code''. Both all-round psychopathic zealots who get to perform [[Adeptus Sororitas|acts of Faith]] and perform practically supernatural feats while murdering heretics, but one focuses on bravado and leadership while the other focuses on killing efficiently and quickly.

===Notable Followers===
*'''House Cawdor''' - An entire Hive House that espouses the Redemptionist interpretation of the [[Imperial Cult#The Imperial Creed|Creed]], possibly an insightful look into what would happen if the Imperium adopted the extreme view of their own religion. They wear elaborate masks when outside of their house though they are not required to wear the colour red all the times. Funnily enough, extreme-extremists sometimes speak out against House Cawdor, since the Imperial Nobility is usually the hotbed of sinners that the cult seeks to purge. Though these particular voices tend to suffer {{BLAM}}, since Cawdor is one of the biggest fundraisers for the cult.
*'''Klovis the Redeemer''' - the most well known Redemptionist (to us at least); called the Arch Maniac by some, he is a notorious rabble rouser who endlessly crusades against sinners. He's pretty much the much noisier, [[grimdark]] version of Batman too, as he is originally a noble of House Cawdor and has a variety of gadgets to help him out; from the [[Awesome|Holy-combi-Eviscerator/Flamer]] called the ''Sword of Persecution'', a flaming mace called ''Mortifier'', and he even has his very own autocannon armed pimp-mobile called the ''Pulpitek.''
**'''Malakev''' - The Robin to Klovis' Batman, though far more useful. Malakev suffers ''Fear'' from everything in a fight if Klovis is outside of 6" and is armed with only a stub pistol and a knife. His job is to chronicle everything that Klovis does and carry around the Big-Giant-Book-of-Torture, said to be imbued with the power of the Emperor which grants him 5++ protection.
*'''The Arch Zealot''' - <s> the Grand Dragon of the K-</s> - the most well known Redemptionist on [[Necromunda]], more so than the Redeemer. Considered to be a prophet, he does not belong to any particular local cult, but travels between them, preaching the creed. He's no-where near as good a fighter as Klovis on the tabletop, but he's far more inspirational and makes his whole gang immune to bricking it and running away.
*'''Archdeacon Ludmilla''' - Leader of the redemptionists in the [[Dark Heresy|Calixis Sector]], which automatically makes her bigger than the Arch Zealot of Necromunda. She is the one who wrote the ''Ludmillan Dictates'' and she has made it her mission to get the Redemption incorporated into the Imperial Creed proper and become part of the [[Ecclesiarchy]]. To this end she sent gifts of burned or flayed sinners to the Cardinal of the sector, much like a pet cat bringing home dead animals.

[[Category:Imperial]]
[[Category:Warhammer 40,000]]

Age of Apostasy

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The '''Age of Apostasy''' is one of the major time periods of the [[Imperium of Man]]. It was preceded by [[Nova Terra Interregnum]] and followed by the [[Age of Redemption]], stretching from the beginning of M36 to mid-M37. It's basically the Protestant Reformation IN SPESS.

==Wars of Faith==
Contrary to popular belief, the Age of Apostasy actually started much earlier than the Reign of Blood, and had its roots in M33 with the establishment of the '''Temple of the Saviour Emperor''', which was basically the Vatican: 40k-style, and with its position amongst the High Lords of Terra would actually impose taxes on the citizens of the Imperium.

There had been many separate cults of the Emperor, but the Temple either swallowed them all up, or obliterated them, to the point that the only cult that challenged them was the '''Confederation of Light''' which was a more penitent cult that was all about "giving" in the name of the Emprah, rather than building up big cathedrals and palaces.

There was a big war and the Confederation was removed as a major power player.

The Temple of the Saviour Emperor would only grow in strength as they accumulated wealth via taxation that should rightly have gone into the government funding; and power since they had a religious army to back themselves up, eventually causing the Administratum to wane in power to almost pointlessness.

There was a period of clever politicking when the Administratum thought they were on the come-back, but then the Ecclesiarchy declared "Screw you guys" and moved the seat of their power to [[Ophelia VII]] in a very expensive undertaking where they built new palaces for themselves and left [[Terra]] to rot.

300 years later, the Ecclesiarchy figured enough time had passed and they were in no danger of being messed with any more, and returned to Terra, having to raise Taxes ''even further'' to fund the move.

Funnily enough, this particular clusterfuck was based on [https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avignon_Papacy a real period in history] where the Holy See was moved from Rome to Avignion and back again during the 1300s due to the French king's influence over the Catholic Church, which had the same general effect on Rome as it did on Terra.

==The Reign of Blood==
The main event in the Age of Apostasy began around M36, when [[Goge Vandire]], [[High Lords of Terra|Master of the Administratum]], had the [[Ecclesiarchy|Ecclesiarch]] assassinated and took control of the church himself. 40K being 40K, power went to his head and he began the so-called '''Reign of Blood''', in which he purged the Imperium of any dissenters with the backing of armies of millions of frenzied Imperial Cultists and a personal army, called the Frateris Templars. Vandire proved difficult to unseat, as he was protected by an order of warrior women once known as the Daughters of the Emperor (renamed the Brides of the Emperor when he convinced them to serve him).

Eventually, the people of the Imperium grew tired of Vandire's rule, and when a young man named Sebastian Thor started warring against the mad High Lord, he was soon joined by a massive army known as the resurgent Confederation of Light ''(since the original followers had just gone into hiding)''. Vandire sent a fleet to deal with Thor's army, but when it was destroyed by a massive [[Warp Storm]] that appeared out of nowhere (and is still there by M41, called Storm of Emperor's Wrath), people took that as a sign that the [[God-Emperor of Mankind|Emperor]] favored Thor, and he became even more popular.

When Thor finally got to [[Terra]], he joined forces with the [[Space Marines]] and [[Adeptus Mechanicus]] (who had never been friendly with the [[Ecclesiarchy]] to begin with), and managed to dislodge Vandire, forcing him to retreat to the heavily-fortified Ecclesiarchical sanctum of the Imperial Palace. With a Space Marine force spearheaded by the [[Imperial Fists]] and their successors (the [[Black Templars]], the [[Soul Drinkers]], and several others) it was assumed that Vandire would be easily overwhelmed. You can imagine the Coalition's surprise when instead of zealous but ineffective Frateris Militia, they unexpectedly were faced with a force of superbly trained and equipped warrior-women, clad in [[Power armour]], wielding [[Bolters]], skilled enough in warfare to challenge even Space Marines and who held their ground to the last woman in their utter, complete and absolute conviction they were defending the [[God-Emperor of Mankind|Big Guy]] himself. The Daughters proved to be too well entrenched for the Astartes premier fortification breaking experts to overcome quickly and what should have been a beheading alpha strike bogged down to the point it looked like it would turn into a massive meat grinder. Luckily for everyone involved, the Captain-General of the [[Adeptus Custodes]] managed to infiltrate the compound (he and his warriors had remained at their post defending the Emperor at the centre of the Palace without intervention so far) and brought Alicia Dominica, the leader of the Brides of the Emperor, to a face-to-face meeting with Big.E himself. What exactly was said between the Emperor and the woman who would become the first leader of the Adepta Sororitas is unknown, but it's really not hard to guess that the essence of the message was 'My Daughter, Vandire deceived you and serves only himself'. When Alicia Dominica came out of the throne room, she was filled with such [[Rage]] that she renamed her sect the Daughters and ended up personally executing Vandire herself. His last words were [[lulz|"I don't have time to die; I'm too busy"]].

[[File:FacebookGiotaTsirou.jpg|620px|thumb|left|Panagiota Tsirou, a 200 pound girl of short stature with unnatural agility that is incompatible with the physical boundaries that her obese biological structure should obviously follow, proving that a twisted disfigurement of reality is already existent, unleashing the incomprehensible influence of the warp in ways too unimaginable for anyone to acquaint with its reflections in our ludicrous lives, redefined by overwhelmingly shocking surprises.]]

[[File:WOW.jpg|1200px|thumb|right|In the 8th game of the World of Warcraft series, which was the first since the current 8th editions of Warhammer Fantasy and 40K, they also advanced the storyline following the same trend, as we have an official Alliance-Horde war for the first time since Warcraft 3, in total coordination with the real world when long unsettled conflicts, such as the Arab-Israeli war, Grexit, Kim Jong-un, US-China trade war, Fascism emerging in Europe starting from Italy, Neo-ottomanism, American civil war, Monroe dogma over Nicolas Maduro and Lula and even a volcano in Hawaii erupting, are simultaneously all emerging as if we are truly living in a novel.]]

==Thorian Reformation==
With Vandire dead, Thor became the new Ecclesiarch, and he instituted some reforms. First, he toned down the Ecclesiarchy's grandeur, insisting that the Church serve the Imperium as much as the other way around. Second, he issued the Decree Passive, a law which stated that the Ecclesiarchy should have no "men under arms". Finally, since he realized that the Ecclesiarchy still needed an armed force in case another Vandire tried to spring up, he reformed the Daughters of the Emperor into the Orders Militant of a new, all-female branch of the Ecclesiarchy, the [[Adepta Sororitas]], reasoning that the Decree Passive didn't forbid them since they were ''women'' under arms and that the Ecclesiarchy shouldn't be left totally dependent on the other parts of the Imperium for its defense. Even in the [[grimdark|grim, dark]] future, there are still [[rules lawyers]]. Bad ones, too, since any fool could point out that "men" also shares the definition of being another name for "human", thereby making any church Chamber Militant, regardless of gender, illegal. Of course, it is [[heresy]] to point this out, and heresy is decided by... oh. On the bright side, imagine how the Sororitas and the rest of the Imperium would react. The former is so fanatical they might genuinely kill themselves for being a "sinful existence" or some such. The latter would probably launch another reformation crusade in fear of a second Reign of Blood. After killing the "heretic" who pointed out the discrepancy. After all, if the Ecclesiarchy refuses to acknowledge that "men" also means "human" then they would be officially declaring half the species to no longer be considered human. The Imperium would not react well to that. To put it mildly, the Ecclesiarchy may well not manage to survive as an organization after the fallout from that.

If you're still trying to untangle the issue, remember that most of Vandire's former victims wanted the Ecclesiarchy up and gone. Hearing that Thor's second and third reforms were seemingly mutually exclusive probably shut them up with happy smiles, and hearing that the pious and largely-incorruptible Daughters would be doing the policing likely didn't raise any further complaints (and those that did complain [[Blam|shut themselves up quickly]]).

Anyway, to make sure these new reforms were followed, the [[Inquisition]] set up the [[Ordo Hereticus]] to both police the Ecclesiarchy and protect the purity of its teachings, with the Battle-Sisters serving as the Ordo's Chamber Militant.

As proof that no good deed goes unpunished, Thor's head got taken by [[Trazyn the Infinite]], making Trazyn no less than the fifth person to have claimed that valuable skull. I wish I was kidding, the paperwork is such a clusterfuck that three different Sororitas shrines and at least one Chaos jackass all claim they've got Thor's skull knocking around in their attic somewhere.

==Plague of Unbelief==
{{Main|Plague of Unbelief}}

Another minor event was the '''Plague of Unbelief''', in which a rogue Cardinal built a personal empire after Terra was cut off by warpstorms towards the end of the Reign of Blood. The idiot might even have gotten away with it too, but then he got the [[derp|genius idea]] to bother the [[Space Wolves]]. With his armies in shambles after learning that you shouldn't rouse a sleeping Wolf the hard way, it gave Confessor Dolan Chirosius the occasion to start a revolt that would ultimately give the crazy dumbass the boot.

On a galactic scale it's not a particularly important event, but as a story it is full of [[Awesome]].

{{40k-Timeline}}
[[Category:Warhammer 40,000]]
[[Category:Sisters of Battle]]

Imperium Secundus

2018-05-26T02:43:22Z

2A02:587:3A03:4900:A4E9:33F6:3E0:6391:

{{Cleanup}}
{{Topquote|It's Guilliman, What do you think he's doing? He's building an Empire!|[[Malcador the Sigillite]]}}

{{Topquote|It seemed like a good idea at the time...|Famous last words}}

'''Imperium Secundus''' is the formal name for the secondary [[Imperium of Man]], which [[Roboute Guilliman]] tried to build in the wake of the [[Horus Heresy]] around his own Legion Homeworld, the [[Ultramar]] systems. Data shows that Guilliman was preparing this new empire even before the Heresy, and many rumours state that he might have wanted to make an empire himself, instead of letting [[The Emperor|his father]] have all the fun. Others go that he had forseen the Heresy long before, and tried to do his best to keep humanity safe after the fall of their leader.

It was, and is, essentially [[skub]] in the form of a state. Ask yourself why the Ultramarine reinforcements were late for the [[Siege of Terra]]. Calth? The Ruinstorm? Ultramar being on the opposite side of the galaxy? Those plausible answers are only part of the reason. Instead, we get this... issue... to pad the Horus Heresy series.

==Formation==
Imperium Secundus (from the self referential book: "Unremembered Empire") was [[Roboute Guilliman]]'s attempt at building his own [[Imperium]] of Man after, having lost all contact with the rest of the galaxy, he was forced to contend with the possibility that the Emperor lay defeated and that the rest of the Imperium was ashes during the [[Horus Heresy]].

The [[Word Bearers]]' assault on Calth created a ''Ruinstorm'' which spread across the galaxy, garbling communications and restricting travel. The 500 worlds of the [[Ultramarines]] [[First Founding|Legion]] had no means of determining whether the rest of the Imperium stood or not during this period of war.

Thus the analytical mind of the [[Primarch]] Guilliman resolved that according to the ''theoretical'' destruction of the rest of the Imperium, he would enact his ''practical'' solution and build his own.

As it required moving the power-base of his "new" Imperium and its institutions to [[Macragge]], he knew that this situation could potentially be construed as an act of treachery. Thus, he maintained it would only be a temporary measure where if the Emperor and Terra were found to be intact he would be the first to lend his aid in their defense.

He also insisted that he would not be its ruler, as he was very aware that to both split from the true Imperium and to position himself as head of the splinter government would make him appear as [[Goge Vandire|a tyrant who was only interested in power]]. To prove his point, he planned to wait until such time as a worthy brother Primarch arrived on Macragge and make them the Regent-Emperor instead.

However, a number of events call into question Guilliman's sincerity:

===Misrepresentation===
[[Warsmith]] [[Barabas Dantioch]] of the [[Iron Warriors]] was lured into the service of Guilliman on the promise that his skills would be put to good use fortifying the Imperial Palace in the inevitable [[Siege of Terra]]; it seems Dantioch never got that far, and was assigned a position on Sotha, and possibly post-heresy his soldiers were [[Silver Skulls|just absorbed into the Ultramarines]] rather than making any meaningful contribution.

While this might sound cold and callous, there are the two following points to consider. First, the 500 worlds of Ultramar were effectively cut-off from Terra by the [[Ruinstorm]], so Dantioch might never have been able to get back. Second, as a Loyalist from a Traitor Legion, Dantioch and his men would have been mistrusted (if not outright imprisoned like the Outcast Dead or worse, executed); therefore, being absorbed into the Ultramarines would have been as wise a choice as any. It might not be the contribution Dantioch and his men wanted, but it definitely beats getting [[blam]]-med.

===Mustering Forces to Himself===
What Guilliman found on Sotha was a pre-Imperial device that acted similarly to the [[Astronomican]]. This device was known as the [[Pharos]]. Instead of a psychic lighthouse like the Astronomican, the Pharos shone like a lantern and illuminated targeted worlds in the Warp, allowing safe passage to them even through thick warp storms. Guilliman ordered that the Pharos be shone on Macragge so that lost loyalists fleets could find their way to him though the Ruinstorm.

This did have the intended effect, as beaten stragglers from the broken legions of the [[Iron Hands]], [[Salamanders]] and [[Raven Guard]] found their way to Macragge. It also brought in those ships from the [[Imperial Fists]] Retribution Fleet that managed to retreat from Phall and some [[White Scars]] who were not at Chondax for some reason. Badly beaten, and with their own primarchs [[Ferrus Manus|dead]] or [[Vulkan|assumed dead]], they swore allegiance to Guilliman until such time as the Emperor could be aided.

Some [[Space Wolves]] and a fleet of [[Dark Angels]] led by the Lion also showed up, but Macragge had always been their destination, since they had business in Ultramar.

AND if that's not enough the '''entire''' [[Blood Angels]] Legion ''(except for about eleven men left on [[Baal]], the "Lost Sons")'' from the Battle of [[Signus]] turned up on Guilliman's doorstep too.

Now this is where it gets ugly: both the Blood Angels and Imperial Fists [[RAGE|were actually looking for Terra]], so it could definitely be said that all these arrivals starved Terra of valuable resources and actually hindered the war effort. In fact this was ''explicitly'' stated to [[Lorgar]] by [[Kairos Fateweaver]] prior to the battle at [[Calth]] (the only time both of the damn bird's heads were compelled to speak the truth at the same time): they warned him that if Guilliman died, then Horus would have no chance at the Siege of Terra.

However, it is also known the Pharos was simply one part of a larger galactic network. It may be that Guilliman was incapable of redirecting its energies onto Terra, implying he was simply making the most practical use of the tools available. Not only that, but the Pharos was described as an "Empathic" device which responded to the desires of its user, but had mostly unknown capabilities. Thus, by shining it at Macragge, one could take from that that it responded to Macragge's (and by extension Guilliman's) desire to regroup and fortify. Which given the Ultramarines just got [[Shadow Crusade|savagely attacked and mauled]] by [[Lorgar]] and [[Angron]] made sense, even if it had poor consequences for the Imperium at large.

===Empire Building / Desire for Power===
Guilliman was renowned for Empire-Building, and his attempt at usurping the Imperium was actually anticipated by both the [[Emperor]] and [[Malcador the Sigillite]]. They discuss the matter together and are thankful that [[Lion El'Jonson]] takes his own initiative to resolve the matter. Now the Lion [[skub|may or may not]] have had his own agenda, as he had attempted to gain military power himself earlier in the war, but at least he argued that it was to the Imperium's benefit for him to be [[Warmaster]] and to be of better service to his father. The Lion was very clear on the issue with his brother Guilliman, he saw his brother's new Imperium as a threat equally as grave as [[Horus]] to the kingdom that his father had built- although he had no problem with Guilliman declaring him Warmaster of the Imperium Secundus in all but name.

Even Konrad Curze thought it was hilarious and internally mocked Guilliman in the "look at me, look at me, I'm building an Empire!" fashion. But then he was batshit insane to start with.

===Counterpoint===
Guilliman was ''very'' politically minded and was careful not to take the position of Regent for himself, lest he be seen as a usurper of his father's Empire. So he resolved to ensure that the position would go to another Primarch as only a member of the blood would have the qualities to rule (just not himself). Unfortunately, the first Primarch to arrive (Vulkan) had gone completely insane and thus was incapable of taking the position.

When the Lion arrived on Macragge, the issue of whether Guilliman should hand over rulership to him did come up. Unfortunately, Guilliman described the Lion as too inscrutable to be properly trusted with the position, and in turn the Lion could not trust Guilliman due to what the entire enterprise represented. ''(They never actually came to blows with one another over the matter, but nearly did since BOTH brothers were keeping secrets from one another, such as the locations of [[Konrad Curze]] & [[Vulkan]]).'' So, when [[Sanguinius]] and his fleet arrived, the two of them showed some common sense and unanimously decided to hand over the position of [[Regent]] to him. At the very least, both brothers could be described as sincere in their desire to put aside their differences and [[get shit done]] for the Imperium. Therefore, assigning the regency to Sanguinius was a matter of convenience for both parties involved.

Deathfire also shows that since Konrad Curze managed to single-handedly bypass all the security measures Guilliman put in place (along with the disparate World Eater and Word Bearer raiding groups still plaguing Ultramar), he turned Macragge into a military fortress, complete with curfews, decreasing civil liberties, and the Ultramarines acting as police force. Those were the very things setting up Imperium Secundus was supposed to prevent, causing Guilliman considerable emotional distress that wouldn't be expected from someone who merely wished to build an empire.

Guilliman's intentions were apparently sincere, if not in their execution. The three Primarchs eventually found out that the Emperor was still alive due to a combination of Sanguinius's visions of his death at the hands of Horus and Kurze's precognition of his being slain by an assassin sent by the Emperor. Guilliman himself was utterly mortified at everything he had done based on the assumption the greater Imperium had fallen, and left for Terra alongside the Lion and Sanguinius at once. Curze, having spent the past few years terrorizing Macragge on the (very twisted) premise that what he was doing was what his father truly wanted, promptly pissed himself laughing from the irony of it all.

==Rationale==
When challenged on the matter by [[Alexis Pollux]] of the [[Imperial Fists]] Retribution Fleet, Guilliman countermanded [[Rogal Dorn]]'s order to return to Terra, citing that he held command unless someone who outranked him showed up (who could only be Dorn in Pollux's case or the Emperor himself) and that for all intents and purposes, Macragge already was the Imperium.

When Pollux then inquired if that made Guilliman the new Emperor, his reply boiled down to ''"I am the Imperium!"''. Guilliman's response to Pollux was a bit telling and bears the hallmarks of an excessively cautious man but not necessarily a traitorous one, particularly since it was well worded. By discounting the rest of the Imperium's existence as a mere ''theoretical'' and choosing to deal with only the tangible matters of the ''practical'', it shows he was the sort of person who was unlikely to take risks and would prefer the path of certainty rather than gambling for something greater. Essentially Guilliman's solution to the ''Schrödinger's cat'' paradox is to get a new cat. By demanding proof of life he operates on the principle that the Imperium is dead until shown otherwise.

To be fair to Guilliman, it was two years before he starting receiving any news from the outer Imperium and when it did start coming in, it was mostly bad. And when he did get proof that the Emperor and the Imperium were still holding on, he stopped the whole thing immediately with no further resistance.

Oddly, Guilliman was willing to let the remaining Salamanders attempt to breach the Ruinstorm, despite having the power to stop them (or knowing that if they succeeded they could tell Terra what he was up to). It turned out to be moot anyway as even when they Salamanders found themselves in a position to warn both the Imperium AND return to Guilliman, they chose to do neither.

[[File:FacebookGiotaTsirou.jpg|620px|thumb|left|Panagiota Tsirou, a 200 pound girl of short stature with unnatural agility that is incompatible with the physical boundaries that her obese biological structure should obviously follow, proving that a twisted disfigurement of reality is already existent, unleashing the incomprehensible influence of the warp in ways too unimaginable for anyone to acquaint with its reflections in our ludicrous lives, redefined by overwhelmingly shocking surprises.]]

[[File:WOW.jpg|1200px|thumb|right|In the 8th game of the World of Warcraft series, which was the first since the current 8th editions of Warhammer Fantasy and 40K, they also advanced the storyline following the same trend, as we have an official Alliance-Horde war for the first time since Warcraft 3, in total coordination with the real world when long unsettled conflicts, such as the Arab-Israeli war, Grexit, Kim Jong-un, US-China trade war, Fascism emerging in Europe starting from Italy, Neo-ottomanism, American civil war, Monroe dogma over Nicolas Maduro and Lula and even a volcano in Hawaii erupting, are simultaneously all emerging as if we are truly living in a novel.]]

==Foreknowledge / Intention==
Guilliman was possessed of an analytical mind unlike any other, quite possibly greater than any of his brother Primarchs, and therefore was perfectly aware of what his new Imperium represented and did not need to be told by his brothers how heretical it was.

In his own mind Imperium Secundus was '''"Plan B"''' - ''an outcome less desirable, but something you can live with.''

Despite this; Guilliman was fully prepared to fight for what he believed in and even related to his officer [[Remus Ventatus]] ''(in the same conversation when he iterated that the [[Codex Astartes]] should not be adhered to religiously)'' that he should even be prepared to fight against those brothers who counted themselves Loyal to the Emperor, and even later commented that when he was about to declare the Imperium Secundus official he was ready to kill anyone who would stand in his way.

Furthermore, the fact that the [[Codex Astartes]] was written well '''before''' the fall of the Emperor shows that it was obvious that Guilliman believed that HE was the only person capable of safeguarding his father's legacy, regardless about what [[Leman Russ|his]] [[Rogal Dorn|brothers]] [[Corax|might]] have thought in the aftermath of the Horus Heresy. This would only have been irrespective about who took the position of "Regent" (essentially making it a puppet role), since Guilliman planned it all well in advance and was willing to back it up with force.

...possibly rightly so, since the "apparent" aim of the Codex was to neuter the strength of individual warlords, followed up by the dissolution of the actual role of Emperor, all makes the distribution of power in a future Imperium ever so slightly more equitable and better able to uphold the ideals of the Emperor rather than ignoring them in favor of mindless loyalty towards the Emperor himself. Or at least, that's what his original plan was. Given how upset he was (and still is) about the state of the Imperium after he got out of his 9,000 year stay in stasis, it's almost certain that he was less than pleased with the end result.

Is this the sign of a [[Heretic]]? It could be interpreted as such, but considering that Guilliman was trapped on the far side of the Galaxy with no awareness of the full extent of what had occurred, helpless to cause any significant impact as the war progressed while his powerful predictive mind could calculate most likely probably outcomes of the war in his absence, one might call his actions prudent planning rather than underhanded scheming. Later events have confirmed this, as Guilliman was utterly shocked when he learned his entire rationale was based on a false assumption. In retrospect, his insistence on leading the Scouring was likely his way of trying to atone for his failure to return to Terra sooner.

On a final note, keep in mind Guilliman ultimately got manoeuvred into creating Imperium Secundus. [[Kairos Fateweaver]] and [[Lorgar]] arranged things with the [[Battle of Calth]]/Ruinstorm/Shadow Crusade precisely to starve Guilliman from information, keep him busy in Ultramar and put him in a position where '''Plan B''' looked like the best possible option; all in a concerted effort to keep him and his Ultramarines away from the battle of Terra.

==Legacy==
===of Guilliman===
Imperium Secundus' legacy is a source of [[skub|discussion]], for it can be interpreted as Guilliman either being [[spiritual liege|an incredible visionary]] or a [[heresy|closet traitor wanting power for himself]]. It was called the "Unremembered Empire" for a reason, [[retcon|officially it didn't actually happen]] according to the history texts, as to do so would portray Guilliman as a traitor against his father.

However, Guilliman's influence on the Imperium after the [[Horus Heresy]] is hard to miss: he is widely regarded as the most influential of Primarchs on the Imperium, despite the fact that he did very little to protect it (and possibly even hindered it by accident) during its darkest hour.

There remains the interpretation that Guilliman's motives were not entirely sincere and that the Emperor, Malcador and the Lion were right: that Guilliman was only interested in building his OWN Empire, irrespective of the Emperor's involvement in it, which is where the problem lies. This is also supported by the the views of his brother [[Rogal Dorn]] who had been present at the final battle, returned his dying father to the Golden Throne and actually HEARD his final orders. Considering the Emperor already had knowledge of the war's outcome ''(read Outcast Dead)'' he should have prepared his own plan for its aftermath, therefore his orders to Dorn and [[Jaghatai Khan]] should have at least involved some sort of planning for the eventuality ''(unless the Emperor simply revealed what Guilliman was in the process of doing and was going to run with that anyway)''. Disagreements between them very nearly sparked another civil war about how the Imperium and its military should be run. That being said, recent revelations have shown that he had been able to make it to Terra, but elected to stay behind to fend off the Traitor fleets surrounding it so Sanguinius could fulfill his destiny.

Additionally, there remains the fact that 10,000 years later, his own sons are the foremost protectors of the Imperium of Man making up 50-60% of the whole Astartes population and have marginalised the others into either conformity via the [[Codex Astartes|Codex]] or obscurity by denying them descendant chapters. With the Ultramarines Chapter having the [[Spiritual Liege|singular honour]] of being the most respected of Space Marine chapters, who set the standard [[Matt Ward|for all other Astartes to aspire to]], it's not a difficult set of circumstances to arrange when your father was the one to initially draft the policies that everyone conforms to.

History is written by the victors, and Guilliman was the closest thing to a "[[skub|winner]]" in the Horus Heresy. It is even said on the Ultramarines Chapter Banner: ''[[retcon|"Our Presence Remakes the Past"]]''

Despite all of this, it could also be said that Guilliman took the longer view and created an Imperium [[Humanity Fuck Yeah|not ruled by Emperors, but by men]], with the [[High Lords of Terra]] in the Emperor's place.

However, immediately after unveiling his [[Codex Astartes]] which affirmed that no person, Primarch or otherwise should be able to wield such power of the Legions, Guilliman '''DID''' eventually achieve lordship over the Imperium, becoming '''Lord Commander of the Imperium''' ''(which was essentially Warmaster in all but name)'' and particularly at odds with the stated intention of restricting forces by achieving oversight of ALL armed forces. The position was used up until M32 and subsequent holders were even referred to by the title of ''"Lord Guilliman"'' ''(though the later holders seemed to have significantly reduced influence than Guilliman, with the last one before the War of the Beast being little more than a figurehead)'',

Following Guilliman's resurrection in the 41st Millennium, his first instinct is to secure his 500 worlds and re-establish the stability of Ultramar (and later on he would choose to begin expanding it further) without actually considering the Imperium at large, once again retreading the familiar ground of Imperium Secundus. But in a surprisingly subtle display of character growth, following the infliction of a Nurgle plague that only he can cure by his mere proximity to the afflicted, Guilliman recognizes the trap that would tie him to Ultramar. He refuses to commit the same mistake of the past and abandons his Five-Hundred Worlds to the care of [[Marneus Calgar]] and sets course for Terra. So at least he now acknowledges that Imperium Secundus was a mistake.

Shortly after his revival, Guilliman ordered the Ultramarines' Library of Ptolemy to be sealed off with entry forbidden on pain of death. Guilliman claimed the gesture was symbolic of how there would be no place for learning in the dark days they lived in, but what he didn't say was that he wanted to make sure nobody could find evidence of the Imperium Secundus, which he is still deeply ashamed of despite being the only person in a position to know it existed in the first place. It may be possible that he blames himself for the Emperor's mortal wounding as a result of his flawed assumptions.

That being said, when he reached Terra, he resumed the position of '''Lord Commander of the Imperium''' following a visit to the Emperor and forcibly replaces High Lords of Terra with candidates of his own choosing, claiming a direct mandate from the Emperor that no-one can verify. Politically expedient and effective? Yes, this behaviour retains all the hallmarks of a dictator. On the other hand, Luna had been attacked by the forces of [[Magnus the Red]] and shortly afterwards Terra itself was invaded by the daemonic forces of [[Khorne]], yet the High Lords were still desperately plotting behind closed doors to keep control of the Imperium ''away'' from Roboute Guilliman because of their fear of losing control, considering him and the other Primarchs to have been "fratricidal lunatics", utterly failing to realise how the Imperium was going to shit around them. It turns out the plotting of the High Lords was one of the outcomes that [[Abaddon]] had been hoping for since he had tried to move the Cadian Pylons to planets around Terra to calm the warp and isolate the Sol system; it was only the breakout by a small force of Custodians and Sisters of Silence that showed the error. Since then, Guilliman has taken control and has indeed tried to push reforms meant to make the Imperium a better place for everyone, but opposition from the Inquisition and other influential organizations has made such changes slow in coming.

In a stunning show of irony, it was at this time that a gigantic Warp rift began to grow and effectively cut the Imperium in half, so now Guilliman will experience his ill-fated experiment's effects on the Imperium proper firsthand. Odds are he's not going to be happy if he learns the Tyranid invasions are technically his fault as well.

What it means, or heavily implies is that there is possibly an edgier and more relatable side to the Ultramarines beyond simply being [[Mary Sue]]s or the best thing since sliced bread, and that the supposedly [[Spiritual Liege|eminent]] status that the Ultramarines enjoy is because of well calculated political maneuvers. Each of the Primarchs had their strengths which they passed on, in part, to their sons. Thus, if anything Guilliman was said to have been the greatest of statesmen. While the effects of his actions were not all beneficial to the Imperium, one could easily argue that the alternative would be to simply allow the Imperium to fall into complete anarchy in the Emperor's absence.

===of Sanguinius===
Thanks to his prescient sight, Sanguinius became more and more aware of his ultimate fate to die by Horus' hands. When the fact that Terra had not yet fallen became known, the three Primarchs would attempt to brave the Ruinstorm and return to the throneworld. Along the way each brother would be tested, yet none more so than Sanguinius himself, who was presented with the possibility that he might survive the Heresy and spare his legion from the Black Rage, giving him hope. However, he later realized that he would have to become something far worse than Horus in order to do it, and so he rejected this possible future and strengthened his resolve to meet his end as a loyal son of the Emperor. The Dark Angels and Ultramarine forces would buy Sanguinius the opportunity to reach the Siege of Terra by assaulting the rear flanks of the Traitor forces and draw them away. This explains why only the Blood Angels made it back to Terra even though they left with the Dark Angels and Ultramarines, and also explains why they were delayed in the first place.

One thing that does remain from this time is the [[Sanguinor]], who was a by-product of this era. As Sanguinius needed a regent to stand for him and deal with petitioners when he was too busy with other important tasks as well as to act as a body-double for the sake of assassination attempts and keep the focus away from the Primarch. Even at the time, the identity of the herald was kept a closely guarded secret and his name was removed from the records of the legion. By M41, the origins of the Sanguinor are completely forgotten about, even by the majority of the Blood Angels themselves if the ever knew about the practice at all This individual would stand in for Sanguinius at Davin, pinning a powerful daemon in place in a portal between the warp and realspace while the planet was bombarded around him. ''(Potentially setting himself up as a Draigo-like figure later on.)'' Sanguinius was originally going to take this task upon himself, but realized in another vision that whether he died on Davin or on Terra, his death would still cause his sons to suffer the [[Black Rage]], so there was no escaping that fate.

===of the Lion===
Perhaps the most difficult to quantify, as we know the Lion's eventual fate is more tied to Caliban than to Terra or Ultramar, the impact of Imperium Secundus on the Dark Angels or their Primarch in later years is a relative unknown. Other than a squad of [[Space Wolves]], the Lion was seemingly the only person who actually made the conscious decision to actually go to [[Macragge]], and even if he had not arrived Guilliman was still going to form his Imperium Secundus and would still have starved Terra of valuable resources; [[Sanguinius]] would still have become Emperor-Regent; and a charbroiled, insane [[Vulkan]] would still have fallen from orbit and the [[Cabal]] would still have sent an agent to kill him with the fulgurite.

However, the Lion did unintentionally bring [[Konrad Curze]] to Ultramar, and it was only by corroborating his visions with Sanguinius that they realized the Emperor was still alive and proved the lie that the whole project was based upon. The Lion would also appear to goad the [[Salamanders]] into departing for [[Nocturne]] with the body of their fallen Primarch, with the vague hope of his resurrection. Furthermore, it was only through the use of [[Tuchulcha]] that the Dark Angels were able to lead the fleets through the Ruinstorm, eventually reaching Davin and clearing the way for Sanguinius to get to Terra.

Therefore it can be said that the presence of the Lion acted as a catalyst for dismantling the Imperium Secundus, which was something he had set out to do in the first place, albeit it actually took him about seven or eight years to accomplish and happened in a way he did not initially anticipate. Ironically enough, by then he had already settled into his own role as the Imperium Secundus's not-Warmaster.

Despite this, in-universe ''(and often out of it)'' there does remain the lingering accusation that the Lion simply "sat out" the Horus Heresy and it would cause the Dark Angels to be mistrusted in later years. This accusation was spelled out directly by Konrad Curze during the [[Thramas Crusade]], but has been unwittingly parroted by members of the Imperium who are suspicious of the First Legion's lack of records on their activities.

With the development of the Black Library series, we know any such accusations are false: The first two years were spent breaking the [[Night Lords]] and capturing their Primarch. Even after departing for Ultramar, the Lion only took 20,000 men and a small fleet with him, the rest of the First Legion were spread throughout the Imperium chasing down the [[Death Guard]]. What's more is that the Lion and those 20,000 men, commanding the forces of the [[Blood Angels]] and [[Ultramarines]] were put to good use fighting the Shadow Crusade against the [[Word Bearers]] and [[World Eaters]], so if anything the Dark Angels were the most active loyalists of the entire war and were actually ''gaining ground'' against the enemy rather than just winning pyrrhic victories.

Even if no records of the Dark Angels activities existed; the Triumvirate of Primarchs acted together for most of the war and therefore all three aught to be considered as guilty as each other. However, Sanguinius sacrificed himself in the final battle against Horus and would be practically elevated in the eyes of the population to sainthood; Guilliman would become Lord Commander of the Imperium and steer it through the anarchy of the Scourging. The Lion would have no chance at endearing himself to the people in a similar way because he would disappear during the fall of [[Caliban]], while his Legion would not be able to truthfully answer the accusations of procrastination without also besmirching the names of Guilliman and Sanguinius, and they're too classy for that.

The issue of hunting the [[Fallen]] only began after the [[Second Founding]], and it would not have immediately mattered to the Imperium at that time ''(at least not until a pattern of suspicious behaviour presented itself)'' Therefore it is likely then that the undercurrent of mistrust of the Unforgiven Chapters could only have been built up based on their activities over a long period of time, biased with the fact that the knowledge of the activities of First Legion are a result of a bit of [[Retcon|selective memory]] on the part of the Imperium and its rulers, coupled with Guilliman's desire to bury the evidence of Imperium Secundus and [[Cypher]]'s own tampering with the records to erase anything compromising relating to the Dark Angels.

===Tyranids===
Some think the use of the Pharos may have also been the thing that initially got the Tyranids' attention and brought them to the Milky Way, which if true would be highly ironic given the Smurfs' history with the bugs.

Initial evidence for this was circumstantial at best, but fits a pattern. In the [[First Tyrannic War]] the bugs made a "bee-line" (pun-intended) directly for Macragge; actually converging on it to a point. When this was thwarted, [[Hive Fleet Kraken]] of the Second War was also moving in the "general direction" of Ultramar, but it counted the planet Sotha (where the Pharos was kept) [[Scythes of the Emperor|as one of the casualties of war]], quite possibly knocking out its effect.

Now compare this to the [[Third Tyrannic War]] which attacked the Milky Way from an entirely different axis and seems to have no focus on Ultramar whatsoever and is generally much more dispersed across the galaxy rather than aiming for a particular target.

Again, this a plausible theory that appears to fit known events especially when you look at maps of the hive fleets movements, but without more information on the subject it's quite difficult to tell exactly what caused the Tyranids to appear. Some in-universe sources believe that it might be the Astronomican leading them to the galaxy, like a moth to the flame, but they obviously would never have been aware of the Pharos to account for any possible influence it had.

The epilogue for the book ''Pharos'' now pretty much confirms that the Pharos is what brought the great devourer to the Galaxy. That in a brief moment when the Night Lords lay siege to Sotha, the light of the beacon shone brighter than ever before in a last ditch attempt by Warsmith Dantioch to purge the traitors from the planet. The light was noticed from outside of the Galaxy and the hive mind registered it as prey. Oops.

{{40k-Timeline}}

Ultramar

2018-05-26T01:47:01Z

2A02:587:3A03:4900:A4E9:33F6:3E0:6391:

[[File:skyline.png|center]]

{{Infobox 40k Nations
|name=Ultramar
|image=[[Image:Ultramar_Flag.jpg|300px|center]]
|bgcolor=blue
|fgcolor=orange
|Capital=[[Macragge]]
|Official Languages=Low Gothic, High Gothic
|Power=Middle Power
|Size=500 Planets (approximately)
|Head of State=[[Primarch]] [[Roboute Guilliman]]
|Head of Government= Roboute Guilliman, day-to-day operations overseen by [[Marneus Calgar]] and the Tetrarchs of Ultramar
|Governmental Structure= Unitary Authoritarian Meritocratic Tetrarchy (''Great Crusade'') Unitary Authoritarian Meritocracy (''41st Millennium'') Federal Authoritarian Meritocratic Tetrarchy (''42nd Millennium'')
|State Religion/Ideology=[[Imperial Cult]]
|Demographic=[[Humans]]
|Military Force=[[Ultramarines]], [[Scythes of the Emperor]], Praetors of Ultramar, Knights Cerulean, 6 other Chapters Ultramar Auxiliaries, Ultramar Defense Fleet, 3 Star Forts
}}
''TL;DR: Futuristic Rome in Space''

Ultramar is the name given to the stellar empire of the [[Ultramarines]]. It is an Old Spanish term meaning “(place) beyond the sea”. The French version of the term, outre-mer, is given to the Crusader States established in the Holy Land/Levant during the High Middle Ages, so it fits the Space Marine bulwark on the Eastern Fringe perfectly.

It was also the nickname of the Portuguese Empire, the first global empire, which moved its capital to Brazil after getting Napoleoned...and weirdly ties into the whole "Unremembered Empire" business, in which Roboute Guilliman decided to use Ultramar as the nucleus of an "[[Imperium Secundus]]" in case Terra fell to the traitors.

==History==
[[File:Ultramar 30k.png|400px|left]]
So, when the [[God-Emperor of Mankind|Emperor of Mankind]] finally found [[Roboute Guilliman]], he had been ruling as Lord of Macragge for some five years, and had established an alliance of mutual aid with eight other star systems. After the Emperor made Guilliman Commander of the Ultramarines, the worlds allied with Macragge reoriented themselves to providing food, munitions, and recruits to the Ultramarines Legion. While they only supported a Chapter now, the alliance remained, and the worlds formed the realm of Ultramar.

Originally, there were said to be even more than 500 worlds in the 30k era. However, the Shadow Crusade led to the destruction of many of these planets. Exact numbers are not specified. However, in "Laurel of Defiance" it states that about a hundred planets were destroyed by the combined might of the [[World Eaters]] and [[Word Bearers]] Legions. In the 41st Millenium, the Ultramarines now only controlled about 50-60 planets (given the latest maps from Gathering Storm). The rest were given away to successor chapters/independent administration. This is because, after the Heresy, Guilliman didn't want the Ultramarines to be tied up defending their own realm while battles raged elsewhere in the Imperium.

All of this changed after Guilliman returned in the closing years of M41. Having learned of the recent struggles that Ultramar had been facing as well as its immediate need for protection, he declared the treaties which gave many of the 500 worlds their independence "null and void" and ordered a return to the five hundred worlds system with an intent to expand Ultramar further.

==Shadow Crusade==
During the Horus Heresy, the full might of the Word Bearer and World Eater Legions were unleashed upon the 500 worlds as Horus wished to keep the Ultramarines from interfering with his advance to Terra. Many of the planets in Guilliman's star empire were subjected to ferocious and unexpected invasions.

With almost half of the Ultramarines Legion killed or put out of action after the Battle of Calth, and interstellar communication/travel cut off from one another due to the Ruinstorm Lorgar summoned, each planet was left to fend for itself. Some planets were able to repel the invaders completely. On Astagar, a force led by Lucien Corvo (later the founder of the [[Novamarines]]) managed to win the battle for the planet by destroying a possessed Warlord-Class Titan belonging to the Word Bearers. On others, the Ultramarines destroyed their worlds rather than let the enemy have them. This happened on Percepton, where an outnumbered chapter of the Ultramarines subjected the planet to phosphex bombardment, burning away both defenders and invaders who were unlucky enough not to evacuate in time.

Kor Phaeron would put his own plan in motion to strike at the heart of Ultramar and destroy its core worlds while Lorgar and Angron tore through its outer rim. He planned for an Abyss-class super battleship, the Furious Abyss, to destroy Maccrage, the home planet of the Ultramarines, while the bulk of the 13th Legion was stationed at Calth. This mighty vessel would then join a smaller fleet of Word Bearer vessels in laying waste to the core planets. Fortunately, a small strike force of Ultramarines and Space Wolves would board this ship and destroy it from the inside at the cost of their lives. Without the Furious Abyss, the Word Bearer attack on Maccrage and the core worlds of Ultramar failed.

Lorgar and Angron's main force did manage to conquer 26 planets including the world of Armatura, which had been an Ultramarine recruiting world during the Great Crusade. Accompanying this force were two Abyss-class super battleships as well as the Word Bearer and World Eater Gloriana-class flagships. Things would come to a head on Angron's homeworld of Nuceria, which saw the final battle of the Shadow Crusade. Guilliman and his motley fleet of 40 escort and cruiser-class ships (destroyers, corvettes, strike cruisers etc.), patched together from whatever he could muster after the Battle of Calth, threw itself at the combined spearhead of Word Bearers and World Eaters. Fortunately for the Ultramarines, [[FAIL|three unsupported mega-battleships would prove to be Lorgar's idea of a balanced fleet.]]

At great cost to the 13th legion (12 of the smaller vessels), they managed to bring down Lorgar's flagship, the Fidelitas Lex, by swarming it with about 30 ships. On the surface, the outnumbered Ultramarines would be pushed back and forced to retreat under the unrelenting pressure of two traitor legions commanded by their Primarchs - and by the end of the battle Angron had become a Daemon Prince. Although the boys in blue would end up withdrawing from the battle, this marked the end of the Shadow Crusade as Lorgar considered the [[Ruinstorm]] sufficiently fed and redirected his forces, along with those of the ascended Angron, towards Terra.

More traitor legions would also invade Ultramar space during the Heresy, although they were not part of the Shadow Crusade. For example, a 25,000-strong force of Night Lords that were one of the six splinter fleets escaping the Dark Angels would attack Sotha. Due to the superb strategic defense put in place by the defector Warsmith Dantioch, the Imperial Fist Captain Polux, and the thousand-strong Ultramarines Aegida company, this ended up being one of the most lopsided battles in the Horus Heresy. The invaders suffered near-total losses and were forced to retreat as they learned that Guilliman himself was leading a retribution fleet to Sotha. However, victory was only made possible due to the tragic sacrifice of Dantioch and nearly all of the Aegida Company (the survivors would later go on to become the [[Scythes of the Emperor]]). This would also inadvertently act as the [[Imperium Secundus#Tyranids|impetus]] for the [[Tyranids]] to invade the galaxy several millennia later, though nobody suspected it at the time. In the outer reaches of Ultramar, the [[Death Guard]] would also launch probing attacks on the relatively undefended border worlds. Late into the conflict, the Salamanders strike cruiser, Charybdis, would find the corpse of another Abyss-class vessel in the extreme outer edges of Ultramar space. It seemed as if it were attacked by a large Ultramarine fleet and destroyed when it was boarded and had its warp drive detonated by the intruders.

It is difficult to gauge how many planets were destroyed in total however; a snippet from the Horus Heresy books states that a little over a hundred worlds "died" due to the invasion. It should be noted that some of these worlds did manage to recover from the attack. Most notably Calth which would (ironically) become the perfect home to Ultramar's shipyards in M41 due to the fact that the Word Bearer invasion turned its surface into a smooth and airless planet. Planets such as Armatura were left alone and Parmenio would be the new main recruiting world. As for lives lost, 120,000 Ultramarines died during the Battle of Calth and a further 30,000 presumably died from the ensuing invasion. This left the Ultramarines with 100,000 marines near the end of the Heresy, down from their 250,000 at the start. The losses for the Auxilia were horrendous as well, with 500,000 dead at the Battle of Calth alone.

[[File:FacebookGiotaTsirou.jpg|620px|thumb|left|Panagiota Tsirou, a 200 pound girl of short stature with unnatural agility that is incompatible with the physical boundaries that her obese biological structure should obviously follow, proving that a twisted disfigurement of reality is already existent, unleashing the incomprehensible influence of the warp in ways too unimaginable for anyone to acquaint with its reflections in our ludicrous lives, redefined by overwhelmingly shocking surprises.]]

==Invasion by Hive Fleet Behemoth==
In 745, M41, [[Hive Fleet Behemoth]] would invade Imperial space, the bulk of it making a beeline towards the Ultramarines home planet. Although the Hive Fleet was splintered after the Battle of Circe, the invasion would leave many scars on Ultramar such as the destruction of the civilized world Prandium. Still, because the Tyranids had focused their attacks on a relatively few number of important planets, the star empire had recovered fully in the span of less than sixty years.

==The Plague Wars==
In M42, Ultramar's formerly idyllic existence was shattered by a Death Guard invasion led by Mortarion himself. Three systems to the galactic north of Ultramar were corrupted by influence of Nurgle and its planets are turned into staging grounds for the invasion of Guilliman's mini-Empire. This had apparently begun a few decades prior to the conclusion of the [[Indomitus Crusade]]. Surprisingly, Guilliman did not end the crusade upon hearing about the invasion of Ultramar. He wished to remain in command of the Imperium at large and knows he can do more good that way. He therefore left it to his sons to hold the line until his return. [[Imperium Secundus|Shows he's learnt something from the Heresy.]]

Mortarion's already large invasion force, bolstered by mutants and cultists from the Scourge Stars, was accompanied by [[Typhus]] and his [[Plague Fleet]] alongside the Great Unclean One [[Ku'Gath]] Plaguefather and his Plague Guard. Their strategy concentrated on taking and holding few major planets such as Iax, Espandor and Konor. They only launched raiding attacks on the less defended ones, withdrawing before Astartes were deployed.

The Espandor system was devastated. All planets in the system besides the main planet were taken; the Ultramarines bitterly contested Espandor Prime and would do so until they were later relieved. One of the Plague Guard would lead this attack, a [[Daemon#Greater_Daemons|Greater Daemon]] named Qaramas. The partial conquest of the Espandor system opened up the gateway for the rest of the invasion fleet to surge into Ultramar.

Iax was overrun by daemons of Nurgle as the bulk of the invasion force came to bear upon it. It had been converted into a hospital world earlier in the war and was therefore susceptible to infiltration by the heralds of Nurgle despite its stringent quarantine measures. This would be the base of operations for the entire invasion and conquest of Ultramar as Mortarion, the Death Guard and the rest of the Plague Guard would gather here.

Macragge suffered bouts of Chaos-induced unrest as Mortarion led probing attacks on the Ultramarines' homeworld. While this did not lead to any widespread destruction or damage to critical facilities, these incidents caused a drop in civilian morale and wasted Marneus Calgar's precious time on peacekeeping missions and displays of force to shore up confidence amongst Macragge's civilians.

Typhus and the Plague fleet had overrun and taken one of Ultramar's star forts. He was later directed by Mortarion to attack the Ultramarines training world of Parmenio. Konor would come under attack as well by the forces of the Death Guard, their aim being to take the crucial system and use it as a launching pad for an attack on Macragge itself. Though that failed miserably when Mortarion re-enacted Star Wars Episode IV with predictable consequences.

Guilliman eventually returned to Ultramar from his Indomitus Crusade, bringing with him thousands of Primaris reinforcements. First, he cleanses the Hive World of Ardium in the Maccrage system from the Death Guard. There he discovers that Mortarion was using the Hand of Darkness to craft Plague Engines that were re-animating the dead and turning them into Plague Zombies. He destroys the engine on Ardium and frees the world from the influence of Nurgle. He then landed on Maccrage, bringing with him thousands of Primaris Marine reinforcements and other allies. After taking stock of the situation, he organized the Ultramarines and their auxilia to launch a large-scale counterattack against the invaders. Several loyalist Ultramarine successors also joined the fight, their fleets engaging the Death Guard and doing their best to keep Ultramar's shipping lanes safe.

He first set his eyes on Espandor System, which served as the main supply line for the Death Guard invasion. He retook each of the lost worlds and destroyed the engines that were creating plague zombies on each of the planets, freeing them from the influence of chaos and destroying the source of the plague zombies. After a ferocious battle in which the Ultramarines Chapter found themselves fighting side by side with their Primaris brethren for the first time, the forces of Nurgle were routed from the planet, Guilliman decisively ending the battle by killing the greater daemon Qaramas with the [[Emperor's Sword]] and destroying the last Plague Engine in the system. The Espandor system was now essentially cleansed and the forces of Nurgle were cut off from the Scourge Stars.

With their supply lines to the Scourge Stars being cut, the Hand of Darkness lost (having been recaptured by the Ynnari after Guilliman informed them of it) their Plague Engines slowly being destroyed (stripping the traitors of their supply of Plague Zombies) and Imperial reinforcements pouring into Ultramar with each passing day, Mortarion found himself on the wrong side of the war of attrition. Guilliman had cut the Death Guard off and was now cutting them to pieces. With this in mind, Mortarion decided to throw all his remaining forces at one target.

Macragge was still too heavily defended for the forces of Nurgle to assault so it was decided that they would target the Ultramarines training world: Parmenio. This battle saw the biggest armored clash between the traitor and loyalist forces during the war. The largest star fort in Ultramar, Galatan, attempted to provide support but was engaged by the Plague Fleet and was boarded by traitor marines, leading to the death of the Novamarines Chapter Master. On the surface, however, the Ultramarines were slowly winning the fight. Guilliman killed Ku'gath's lieutenant Septicus and shattered his Plague Guard, giving the loyalists the upper hand and causing them to make major gains against the archenemy.

Guilliman then finally led the relief force to Iax. Not finding Mortarion in either Parmenio or Espandor, he was determined to hunt down his traitorous brother once and for all. The final battle of the war took place here, with Guilliman and Mortarion fighting each other to a standstill amongst the ruins of Iax. Eventually, Mortarion and the Death Guard were summoned back to the Scourge Stars, which had come under threat from the forces of Khorne in what would become the War in the Rift. They withdrew from Iax under the cover of a virus bomb and the forces of Nurgle retreated from Ultramar, but the threat of a renewed attack in the future remains.

After the forces of Chaos withdrew, Guilliman oversaw a period of reconstruction and restoration across the realm of Ultramar. He also gave the Ultramarines the means of creating new Primaris Space Marines and helped complete the reformation of the 500 Worlds. Although his duties would eventually call him away, he ensured that Ultramar would be fortified against future threats hereafter.

[[File:WOW.jpg|1200px|thumb|right|In the 8th game of the World of Warcraft series, which was the first since the current 8th editions of Warhammer Fantasy and 40K, they also advanced the storyline following the same trend, as we have an official Alliance-Horde war for the first time since Warcraft 3, in total coordination with the real world when long unsettled conflicts, such as the Arab-Israeli war, Grexit, Kim Jong-un, US-China trade war, Fascism emerging in Europe starting from Italy, Neo-ottomanism, American civil war, Monroe dogma over Nicolas Maduro and Lula and even a volcano in Hawaii erupting, are simultaneously all emerging as if we are truly living in a novel.]]

==Current State==
After his return from the Indomitus Crusade, Gullliman engaged in a series of reforms. He declared that the return to the 500 worlds would now be formalized now that he had returned to fully enforce the reformation. He also announced a great buildup in military forces to protect the expanded Ultramar. 8 new purely Primaris Marine Chapters, all Ultramarine successors would be founded in Ultramar. He therefore pledged 10 full chapters (including the Ultramarines and the Scythes of the Emperor) to defend his star empire at all times in the future. 10,000 Space Marines, of which more than 8000 were Primaris Marines, would now be Ultramar's permanent defense force, as well as the main force for future expansion of Ultramar's borders.

Ultramar is currently divided into five sectors (North, South, East, West and Center). Four of these sectors is ruled by a Tetrarch appointed by Guilliman himself. Every sector has a capital world where the Tetrarch resides, although each world considers itself under the rule of Maccrage.

*The Northern Sector is based around the Forge World of Konor. Its Tetrarch is [[Severus Agemman]], First Captain of the Ultramarines.
*The Southern Sector is based around the world of Andermung. Its Tetrarch is Second Captain Portan of the [[Genesis Chapter]].
*The Western Sector is based around the world of Protos. Its Tetrarch is Captain Balthus of the [[Doom Eagles]].
*The Eastern Sector is based around the world of Vespator. It had been previously ruled by a political entity known as the Sotharan league, but since Sotha was destroyed by [[Hive Fleet Kraken]] Guilliman re-constituted what was left of the league around Vespator. Its Tetrarch is Decimus Felix, a Primaris Ultramarine recently promoted to Eleventh Captain of the Ultramarines and Equerry to Roboute Guilliman.

The Central Sector falls under the direct rule of Macragge and its regent, Marneus Calgar. It encompasses all systems in the heart of Ultramar with the exception of Konor, Veridia and Espandor, which fall under the remit of the Northern Tetrarch.

==Notable Features of Ultramar==
What makes Ultramar notable is that by M41, it is a model of self-reliance, justice, and stability in the otherwise rotting [[Imperium of Man]]. Most people (such as [[Matthew Ward|he who shall not be named]]) say that it is a testament to Guilliman's ideals, a closer examination reveals more believable reasons:

'''Martial society''': Lacking the [[Hive]] and [[Death World]] so common among [[Space Marines|Space Marine]] homeworlds, the worlds of Ultramar have developed a highly industrious warrior society who looks down on those who cannot pull their weight. This would disqualify most nobles who absorb resources without providing anything for the masses. The people of Ultramar are indoctrinated into taking pride in their work for the betterment of the Imperium.

'''Social mobility''': The worlds of Ultramar lack the Hives so common in many planets, and there is little population discontent. Space Marines place value on competence, and the Ultramarines are no different. People do not gain a position of power unless they can show genuine leadership.

'''Minimal Imperial presence''': The Imperium of Man is quite frankly a horrible place to live, with the [[Administratum]], the [[Adeptus Arbites]], the [[Inquisition]], and the [[Ecclesiarchy]] basically running things to the ground, in other words the Administratum won't screw up Ultramar with any filing errors, the Arbites and the Inquisition won't be Ultrabarging into people's homes and taking them away for "interrogation" and the Ecclesiarchy won't be the corrupt church that makes use of the extreme ignorance of the people while being highly hypocritical and counterproductive. However, because Macragge provides for the Ultramarines, the Imperium classifies the world as free of major Imperial tithes (only tithing gene seed whenever another Founding is ready), and most of the other worlds of Ultramar get off pretty easy too. And despite setting up the [[High Lords of Terra]], Guilliman was firm on maintaining that the Space Marines answered to the Emperor, and the Emperor alone. As such, like other Space Marine homeworlds, the presence of the Adeptus Terra is quite limited in Ultramar and squarely subordinate to the Ultramarines.

==Worlds of Ultramar==
There are currently around 500 worlds in the reformed empire of Ultramar. The core systems that are most shown in most maps constitute the heart of Ultramar but it should be noted that they account for only around 10% of total planets in the mini-empire. Ultramar is divided into 5 segments (North, South, East, West and Center). The Eastern segment is said to have 86 worlds by itself. However, it should be noted that this was the segment what suffered the most under the Tyranid invasion and other segments may have many more worlds. So therefore, assuming a minimum of 86 worlds in each segment, Ultramar should consist of 430-500 worlds. How did they get more than 400 worlds if only 400 were left after the Horus Heresy? Well, it has been 10k years. Several more planets must have been colonized as well.

===Primus Worlds===
*Macragge, Capitol of Ultramar and seat of rule over the Central Sector
*Konor, Capitol of the Nothern Sector
*Andermung, Capitol of the Southern Sector
*Protos, Capitol of the Western Sector
*Vespator, Capitol of the Eastern Sector

===Core Systems===
'''Macragge System'''
*Macragge, Chapter Planet and capital of Ultramar
*Thulium, Death world
*Nova Thulium, agri-world
*Ardium, Hive world
*Laphis, Shrine world

'''Veridian System'''
*Calth, a cavern-world where the population lives underground in massive underground arcologies. The size of these cavern cities are so large that rain clouds are able to form under the roofs. Used to be a civilised world in M31 which was about to become a Primus world, however the Battle of Calth resulted in its surface being destroyed and irradiated by the Veridian Star. 10,000 years on it is ironically the current center for spacecraft manufacture/repair/refit in Ultramar as its smooth, airless surface is perfect for such activity. Has the largest shipyards in Ultramar.
* Ravishol, Industrial world
*Lamane, Mining world
*Ishcara, Civilised world
*Veridia Forge, Adeptus Mechanicus Asteroid Mining Outpost

'''Masali System'''
* Tarentus, a desert-world with cities encased in domes to provide produce.
* Masali, an agri-world.
* Quintarn, an agri-world.

'''Talasa System'''
*Falan's Reach, Fortress world
*Talasa Tertius, Industrial world
*Talasa Prime, Deathwatch training world
*Talasa Secundus, Hive world
*Uldregor, agri-world

'''Konor System'''
*Konor, Research/Industrial world, was a major center for manufacturing/shipyards even before the coming of the Imperium. It even rivaled several high-ranking forge worlds in terms of production. [[Stupid|So much so that the Mechanicus demanded that it be downgraded]]. Guilliman would offer a compromise. The production centers would be downgraded but much of this manufacturing capability would be moved to its moon of Gantz.
* Gantz (Moon of Konor), A Forgeworld that produced most of the Legion's equipment and was the home of their allied Titan Legion, the True Messengers.
*Vanitor, Frontier world
*Drenthal, Ocean world
*Loebos, Eldar Maiden World turned Death world following the elimination of its Exodite population, destroyed at conclusion of the [[Fate of Konor]] campaign.
*Nethamus, Agri-world
*Astramis, Hive world

===Other Systems/Planets===
* Talassar, an ocean-world.
* Espandor, a cardinal world given to the [[Ecclesiarchy]].
* Parmenio, a training-world.
* Occluda, former Primus world. Still a functioning planet but was still replaced during the reformation
* Tarvan
* Anuaris, a Forgeworld founded as an outpost of Accatran long before the Heresy and known for their long and bitter feud with Konor

===Former Planets===
* Prandium, Nommed by the Nids, used to be a pretty nice planet dubbed "the Jewel of Ultramar" (hint: Prandium is Latin for Lunch).
* Armatura, a war-world which supplied the Ultramarines Legion with recruits and repaired damaged warships. Purged by the Shadow Crusade, now a dead world.
* Saramanth, a former Primus world. Was devastated at one point and therefore replaced by Guilliman during the reformation.
* [[Nuceria]], a "civilized" world (it was about as civilized as Terra during the reign of the techno-barbarians) with the dubious honor of being the homeworld of [[Angron]] (and in extension, the [[World Eaters]], although they never recruited from here). Was originally just an insignificant backwater world before and after Angron, until the primarch arrived during the Horus Heresy, when he and the World Eaters murderfucked the entire planet for spreading lies about him running away from his last stand.
* Sotha, an agri-world in the age of the [[Great Crusade]] and later homeworld of the [[Scythes of the Emperor]]. Eventually overtaken by the Tyranids.
* Iax, former Primus world. An agri-world once known as the "Garden of Ultramar". Had diminished in importance relative to its surrounding planets and was replaced. Invaded by daemons of Nurgle and the Death Guard in M42 and was virus bombed by Mortarion to make his retreat. Now likely a dead world since it received exterminatus.
* Percepton, a world of Ultramar invaded by the Word Bearers during the Shadow Crusade. The Ultramarines would end up bombing Percepton with a massive Phosphex bombardment to deny the traitors the planet, scouring the whole planet clean of life (friend and foe).

There is a metric fuck ton of others (Ultramar is known as the 500 Worlds after all). Most of them are watched over by the 10 Ultramarine Successor Chapters assigned there. Guilliman has since announced his intention to re-expand Ultramar, so it may get even bigger.

{{Template:40k-Governments}}
{{40k-Planets}}

[[Category:Imperial]][[Category:Space Marines]]

The War of The Beast

2018-05-26T00:23:10Z

2A02:587:3A03:4900:A4E9:33F6:3E0:6391:

{{spoilers}}

'''The War of the Beast''' is the focus of the ''The Beast Arises'' series and is one of the major events in [[40k]] history in which the [[Imperium]] got the biggest [[Anal circumference|buttfuck]] it would ever get in between the [[Horus Heresy]] and [[Time of Ending|the tremendous dumpster fire that is the late 41st millennium]]. The series serves as a reminder the orks represent serious business and, goofy moments aside, they can be as cruel, hateful and threatening as any other enemy of the Imperium.

==The Imperium at the time==
Believe it or not, during the years prior to the biggest [[WAAAGH]]! that has ever been the Imperium was living a time one might call peaceful. Yes, there were silly little wars here and there such as the first Black Crusade, the first battle of Cadia, the Battle of the Fang, multiple traitor Primarchs fucking over many worlds, not to mention all of the Daemon cults that were popping up everywhere, but if we ignore all of those 'minor' events/chaos invasions we're left with a few others which basically consisted of the Imperials wiping out some xenos races. The Astartes were ''dying out'' because the author forgot the other shit that happened, the Imperial Fists-for example- hadn't left Terra for centuries and it was said nearly none of its battle brothers had had real battle experience in any substantial terms. The Emperor's Herd had grown complacent.

==The Catastrophe: Slaughter at Ardamantua==
For the first time in centuries the [[Imperial Fists]] left their role as praetorians of the throneworld and went on to slaughter alien scum known as the '''Chromes''' who were considered little better than non-sentient vermin.

The Fists were caught by surprise by strange gravitational hazards which started chewing up the landscape and causing their starships to fail and crash, thus they were dealt severe losses. The [[High Lords of Terra]], reluctant to lend their own aid to the Fists on what they considered a trivial matter of fighting Chrome pests, allowed the remaining Fists who were guarding the throneworld to deploy to Ardamantua, along with a contingent of Guard forces commanded by the '''Lord Commander Militant Heth.'''

When the counter attack commenced, an ENTIRE MOON materialized in the system; the process by which it was traveling had been messing up the planet's gravity, practically destroying it, while causing navigational hazards which scattered the fleets in orbit around Ardamantua, crushing them.

Then appeared the WAAAGH! Beast. It was said that its boyz were as strong and big as space marines, as tall as them and quite cunning to boot. Its nobs were massive. However, its biggest threat was the Ork Warboss: [[The Beast]], (who will bring much) Slaughter. The Beast was a leader of unprecedented tactical acumen and sophistication for an Ork and thus managed to turn his WAAAGH into a cohesive fighting force that uses actual battlefield tactics and even diplomacy.

Lord Commander Militant Heth died as his forces were slaughtered right after warning the Imperium of the greatest threat they had ever faced before. The Imperial Fists were slaughtered to a man. There remained only one survivor: '''Captain [[Slaughter Koorland]]'''. The future [[Chapter Master]] of the [[Imperial Fists]] and then Lord Commander of the Imperium.

==Galaxy Spanning threat==
The WAAAGH! Beast threatened to engulf the whole galaxy: the guard was bogged down on many fronts, the space marine chapters were mostly tied down trying to fight the invading orks. The Ultramarines had 2 of their worlds invaded and had been forced to bring in successor reinforcements. Many chapters were annihilated as they struggled to fend off an enemy the likes of which they hadn't ever faced. Worst of all was the fact that the orks were DEVELOPING technology, having such things as gravitational whips and massive teleporters capable of teleporting whole armadas in the blink of an eye.

The Imperium couldn't help but lose ground as '''Lord High Admiral Lansung,''' leader of the [[Imperial Navy]] and main topdog of the High-Lords, focused more on deploying his fleets to gain favours from other high lords and protect his own interests rather than ferrying the Imperial Guard and fighting the ork fleets. The rest of the lords were about as incompetent barring one man: '''Drakan Vangorich''', the infamous Grand Master of Assassins who would later stage [[The Beheading]]. The man was a patriot and tried his damn best to get the imperials to move their damn fat asses. The pay off took a while but it was noticeable.

==Battle for Port Sanctus==
After a lot of political maneuvering and tug-o-war, Lansung decided to move his fat ass into fighting the orks (mainly because one of his admirals had broken his orders and he didn't want to lose face) for the shipyards of Port Sanctus. There half of what was a segmentum's fleet fought the Orks. And it went horribly at the beginning: the ork attack moon's gravity whip was so powerful that BATTLESHIPS were torn apart by it and the moon's WAAAGH! gate brought in constant reinforcements to fend off the imperial navy as thousands of boarding ships and small cruisers sent in boarding parties to the imperial vessels, even with the void shields up and the gellar fields on.
Lansung decided he couldn't take more of this shit, and for the first time in two whole novels of total incompetence he went on and got shit done: he led a suicidal assault towards the moon. Dozens of battlecruisers and battleships were lost to the Imperium but the void shields of the gargantuan construct were drained by the energy consumption and the Imperial Navy was able to obliterate the threat.

==Terra under threat and the Proletarian Crusade==
But all wasn't so nice. Yes, the Navy had, at a great cost, destroyed the attack moon ''(and closed its WAAAGH! Gate)'' but the thing was that the orks had more of those buggers around. And one of them had recently popped out...right by Terra itself. Right then the Navy assets were on Port Sanctus and the massive network of star forts was still in construction. Basically the throne world was under threat and there was nothing that could defend them. At that time Lansung's power had been almost lost as many of his political allies turned from him, a new figure taking his place: '''Juskina Tull.''' Tull represented the chartist captains and had a "brilliant idea" ''(read: a suicidal, stupid idea)'': lead a crusade made by the people. The idea was to take the massive merchant fleet available in Sol and load it chock full with people: guardsmen and civilian alike. Literally billions were ferried into ships that ranged from massive mass conveyors to tiny shuttles in a massive tide of steel. The ork defense forces shot down a great number (if not the majority) of the vessels but the Imperials still managed to land millions of sods and hundreds of vehicles.

There they frigging zerg rushed and beat the crap of the ork forces on the surfaces... only to be crushed by mountains. The orks manipulated the surface of the moon and shifted the mountains close to a door to the moon's interior. Trapped between the stones, the imperial forces were crushed by their own bodies and the master-crafted trap the orks laid.
Thus ended the last ditch effort of the Proletarian Crusade, with a single survivor: a female adeptus arbite.

Oh, and the [[Eldar]] show up in the Imperial Palace trying to warn the humans not to let the Orks distract them from [[Chaos]], cuz, you know, chaos has to be your #1 priority even though the Imperium is being torn apart by killer Ork death stars. This cryptic crap achieves absolutely nothing other than getting the hard-line [[Inquisitor]]s into a frenzy of saying "I told you so" to anyone who will listen.

==The Last Wall, a Legion reunified==
Dorn had envisioned the chance of something BIG happening. So he had ordered his sons that, should the need arise, they reunited at '''Phall''', where the Heresy began for the Imperial Fists. There they would unify into a single legion and fight as one again, albeit keeping their traditional heraldry. The note was sent with not much time in advance but the majority of the second founding chapters managed to be present. There Koorland revealed to the utter shock of his fellow chapter masters from the [[Black Templars]], [[Crimson Fists]], [[Excoriators]] and the [[Fists Exemplar]] that he was the last Imperial Fist alive. The truth was almost too much for them to process but in the end they decided to get over it and banded together.
Over 3000 astartes and 50 ships went into [[Terra]] and led a glorious assault to neutralize the attack moon.

The fleet was joined by the [[Iron Knights]] chapter and succeeded in destroying the WAAAGH gate at the heart of the moon and rescuing the remaining human prisoners ''(including the aforementioned female Arbitrator)'' but unfortunately leaving the moon intact. While also suffering substantial casualties, amongst which was Chapter Master Malfons of the Iron Knights, who sacrificed himself to save Koorland from an Ork warboss the size of a Dreadnought.

==The Imperium Strikes Back==
After the battle of Terra and the blockade of the attack moon, the Last Wall ''(the new name for the Fist Legion)'' were praised by The Lord Guilliman ''(also: Lord Commander of the Imperium, also: Warmaster, also: your boss)'' '''Udin Macht Udo''' ''(a fellow more useless than Abaddon)'' who wanted to make a show of having five chapters bow to him and invited them to a party. He also wanted to keep the loss of the [[Imperial Fists]] chapter a secret for public relations and ordered the successors to play dress up and give Koorland an honour guard. Udo would also show himself "gracious" enough to ratify Koorlands's position as Chapter Master, since according to rules lawyers, the successors aren't allowed to do that.

[[File:FacebookGiotaTsirou.jpg|620px|thumb|left|Panagiota Tsirou, a 200 pound girl of short stature with unnatural agility that is incompatible with the physical boundaries that her obese biological structure should obviously follow, proving that a twisted disfigurement of reality is already existent, unleashing the incomprehensible influence of the warp in ways too unimaginable for anyone to acquaint with its reflections in our ludicrous lives, redefined by overwhelmingly shocking surprises.]]

The Fists were explicitly ordered NOT to destroy the attack moon that remained in orbit, because the [[Adeptus Mechanicus]] wanted the Ork technology for themselves. ''(oh the irony)'' The Fists were also disgusted by the constant power playing between the high lords and were happy enough to leave. Suffice to say, the space marines consider them all dicks.

==So that thing about Chaos? Orks are way worse==
Despite the warnings from the Eldar, Chaos, or more specifically: some [[Iron Warriors]] were also getting their asses kicked by Orks. While also being hunted by some Black Templars with a grudge. Realizing that the fight won't end well, they decide to join forces temporarily, but still can't overcome the Orks. When a relief force of Fists Exemplar show up to pull them out. However, the Orks use their gravity based weapons to SPAWN A FREAKIN' BLACK HOLE, which destroys the star system, the Imperial fleet escapes by scattering into the warp, where one ship turns up on '''Prax''' along with the Iron Warriors.

Prax turns out to be a key world in the new "Ork Empire" and reveals that the Orks have been evolving even further than anticipated. Where previously they were considered to be little but savages who could hammer bits of technology together and make it work, they now have their own society and specialists, "Bloody Axes" and "Leering Moons" and so forth. They actively conquer and enslave other races; taking humans, feeding them steroids and farming them like cattle, while some "lucky ones" get their teeth punched out, shaved bald, branded like slaves and get pushed into battle as [[Gue'vesa|auxilia cannon fodder]].

[[File:WOW.jpg|1200px|thumb|right|In the 8th game of the World of Warcraft series, which was the first since the current 8th editions of Warhammer Fantasy and 40K, they also advanced the storyline following the same trend, as we have an official Alliance-Horde war for the first time since Warcraft 3, in total coordination with the real world when long unsettled conflicts, such as the Arab-Israeli war, Grexit, Kim Jong-un, US-China trade war, Fascism emerging in Europe starting from Italy, Neo-ottomanism, American civil war, Monroe dogma over Nicolas Maduro and Lula and even a volcano in Hawaii erupting, are simultaneously all emerging as if we are truly living in a novel.]]

The combined Fists and Iron Warriors then destroy the planet rather than letting the Orks keep it.

Back on Terra, Vangorich manoeuvres Koorland into taking the top job of '''Lord Guilliman''' from Udo, who seems to think its business as usual, despite the Ork threat still signalling imminent doom. The Imperial Fists strut into the Senatorium and denounce him, and Udo orders their arrest, not noticing that everyone bar the Ecclesiarch and the Fabricator General have switched sides and actually ''wants'' someone competent to take command.

==The new regime==
With Koorland in charge, Vangorich brought him evidence of the Mechanicum withholding vital information to the war effort because of their fanatical need to hoard knowledge ''(and abscond with any new Ork tech)''. So Koorland's first act was to land military troops on Mars and bluff the Mechanicum into stepping into line. After a brief "incident" which was totally not a micro civil war the Fabricator General finally started singing the Imperial national anthem and revealed that the Orks were coming from '''Ullanor''', which had sunk into ancient legend because of its significance to the Great Crusade.

Deciding the Imperium needed its own legend, they went looking for [[Vulkan]], since the [[Inquisition]] conveniently knew where he was ''(and had been for a thousand years)''. Gathering a fleet, they went to the backwater volcanic planet and found Vulkan singlehandedly defending it against MILLIONS of Orks. Their arrival turned the tide, eliminated the attack moon being constructed in orbit. Providing the first major victory of the War. Yay.

==Attack on the Beast==
With Vulkan on board and confirming Koorland's position, the Imperium launched an assault against the Beast Capital, though upon coming to Ullanor the Imperial Fleet found massive resistance and were forced to adopt a suicide approach in order to allow troops to disembark. Once landed, the armies of the Imperium stormed The Beast's main citadel, and after a brutal raid a killteam composed of the Primarch himself and a bunch of chapter masters found the Beast, first confusing it with an humongous statue. The Beast soon revealed its power, reducing the smurf chapter master to a bloody pulp (seems like Games Workshop has finally apologized for 5th edition) and killing most of the imperial forces in a few minutes. Vulkan ordered the survivors to pull back while he dueled the Beast, quoting the "Forget the power of..." he used his own might to refocus the Waaagh! psychic make to blow himself and the Beast up. The Imperial armies retreated from the planet thinking the Beast slain, at the cost of a Primarch. Upon reaching Terra they discovered to their horror that the Beast had somehow survived the conflagration.

==The Deathwatch is born, the Sisters of Silence return==
With the Imperium getting overrun Koorland and Vangorich envisioned the creation of the Deathwatch. Knowing however this would not be enough, the Imperials, helped by inquisitor Veritus, managed to get the Sisters of Silence back from their self-imposed exile. Koorland ordered a new assault on Ullanor, this time using the brand new Deathwatch and the Sisters to assassinate The Beast. Sadly, they only managed to get a shadow of the former forces thrown into the assault, as the High nutheads of Terra argued they couldn't leave Segmentum Solar undefended or something (not that it would matter in a few months considering how bad the war was going). Still Koorland managed to punch through the Ork defenses once more and this time, with the help of the sisters and an ork psyker getting used as a waaagh! chain-reaction bomb, he managed to kill the Beast. Except it wasn't The Beast, but a lesser Prime-Ork. The real Beast appeared and proceeded to kill Koorland and destroy his [[geneseed|progenoids]], effectively destroying the Imperial Fists. The remaining survivors, seeing defeat, pulled back totally demoralized.

==The Fist of the Imperium==
The Imperium had mere weeks of life left, with their entire galactic military on the verge of annihilation and thousands of worlds being overrun, their populations murdered by an unending tide of orks. Meanwhile, on [[Inwit]], [[Maximus Thane]], Chapter Master of the [[Fists Exemplar]], presided the successor chapters a farewell ceremony for the last Imperial Fist, which took the form of the [[Feast of Blades]]. While competing (and subsequently winning) the Feast, suddenly he got an idea: so, the Last Wall protocol was active, right? That means technically the Imperial Fists legion was back, riiiiight? So, technically they could just say they were Imperial Fists too. After some agreement with the successors they pooled up and reformed the Imperial Fists, because, why not? He returned and asked the High Lords what they thought about it, some of them didn't get it and refused to cooperate, so Thane, teaming up with Vangorich, got them in line at gun point (finally, someone got fed up of them) and forced to unleash everything they got in a last ditch assault against Ullanor, ''everything'', regiments of Astra Militarum, Skitarii macro-clades, Titans, Mechanicus and Imperial Navy capital ships. And this time they decided to take note of the Orks tactic, [[Awesome|by unleashing asteroids against the Ork Capital, filled with the entire newly reformed Imperial Fists chapter and the remaining Sisters of Silence]] (problem, [[Administratum|Adepts]]?), and it worked, with the combination of asteroid drop, point-blank orbital bombardment and a chapter sized spearhead they forced a breach into the Beast stronghold and using the last remaining captured ork psykers they finally managed to kill the main Beast, the other Beasts and all near orks, ultimately cleaning Ullanor of Ork presence and finally breaking the back of greenskin unified galactic assault. The planet would have then been subjected to Exterminatus in order to ensure the greenskin threat was over, but the AdMech instead teleported the planet away elsewhere so they could loot the Ork technology for themselves.

==Aftermath==
The Imperium was saved, Chapter Master Thane and the Imperial Fists had managed to save mankind, unfortunately the flaws were still present, and in light of the AdMech's blatant disregard for how close the Orks had been to wiping out Terra Vangorich decided to fix things up in a very permanent manner. Interestingly, [[The Beheading|killing most of the High Lords of Terra]] actually wasn't so bad as you may think, as for the first decades him handling the Imperium's government while Thane was busy recovering all the territories lost to the ork seemed to work. Sadly, the fear that future High Lords could screw things up caused Vangorich to go mad, like, Perturabo mad, and stablished a terror regime (ok, even for Imperium's standard) on Terra. In the end Thane went back backed up by other 2 chapters and stormed the Throneworld to get Vangorich killed (by this point you may be wondering why is it that Failbaddon, Imotekh or the Tyranids have had it so hard to get here, plot armor maybe?). Vangorich unleashed 100 Eversors to deal with the marines, and if you watched that video made by Karl the Deranged from the Alpha Legion then you may imagine how bad it went for Thane, fortunately, the last eversor, who seemed about to kill him, was an ex-operative of Vangorich forcefully converted into a WRRYYY!, fighting back to psycho-conditioning and drugs, he gave Thane the open to kill Vangorich, the rest is history. Hey, this series was cool, and unlike the Horus Heresy, it actually went somewhere, don't you agree? {{BLAM}}

==Major revelations==

'''Here come some major spoilers!'''

The series has revealed many events which have previously only been hinted at or not really touched on at all:
*The [[Imperial Fists]] were completely wiped out during the war, it took the combined effort of the successor chapters to bring them back.
*It was Captain Koorland who came up with the idea of creating the Deathwatch from the marines who have survived the first months of the war.
*Drakan Vangorich was actually quite a cool guy, and it was only after 100 years passed from the beheading that he went mad and had to be removed.
*The novel series gives an excellent idea of the state of the human colonies during the Age of Strife when there wasn't an Imperium to defend mankind from the alien threat and why surrendering to xenos was a very bad idea.
*That inquisitor named Veritus? None other than Kyril Sindermann, formerly the Luna Wolves' [[Iterator]] and one of the founders of both the [[Imperial Creed]] and the Inquisition. This explains how he knew so much about, well, everything, and he came with the idea of the Ordo Malleus and the Ordo Xenos as separate defined branches, making him the grand-daddy of the modern Inquisition.
*Chapter Master Janus from the [[Grey Knights]] makes a cameo.
*Vulkan was still alive, and of course he will still be due being a perpetual, but it was good to have him back for a while, also, there are hints Rogal Dorn may be still alive too.
*After the defeat of the Beast the Mechanicus feinted destroying the planet of Ullanor by teleporting it to another solar system. It has become well known in the 41st millennium by the name of [[Armageddon]] (yeah THAT Armageddon).
*All the remaining Sisters of Silence were killed during the final battle against the Beast, the last one sacrificing herself to destroy the Ork-Prime, however it seems they too were later restablished, even if not so well funded and nurmerous as in M41, they arrived on Luna to stop Magnus from mopping the floor with Guilliman.
*[[Eldrad]] had a hand helping the Imperium to stop the orks, and during the final passages of the last book it was revealed to him that Mankind and [[Eldar]] fates are irrevocably intertwined.
*Throughout the siege of Terra, the Orks taunted the defenders with transmissions from orbit across all vox-channels in their own tongue: the name of their commander, a phrase roughly translating as "Beast", "I am Slaughter", or "Lord Who Brings Great Slaughter". It is revealed in the final passages of the last book that, in Orkish, this phrase is "Mag Uruk Thraka". Granted, [[Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka]] has exactly nothing on the Beast...at least, not yet.
**It's worth considering that the Orks believe that dead Orks go back to Gork and Mork to be belched into another body. And when ten zillion Orks believe a thing...
*Orks can be eradicated in mass through the use of the Pariah Gene and Weirdboyz, but only if the WAAAGH energies reach a certain critical mass first. Unfortunately, this is when they are also at their strongest and Pariahs with enough power to pull it off are a rarity themselves.

{{40k-Timeline}}

Deathwatch

2018-05-26T00:02:35Z

2A02:587:3A03:4900:A4E9:33F6:3E0:6391:

{{Infobox Spess Mahreen Chapter
|Name = The Deathwatch
|Heraldry = [[Image:DW_Shoulder_Pad_final.jpg|center|140px]]
|Battle Cry = "Suffer not the Alien to live!" / Various battle cries from the Marine's parent chapter.
|Founding = Around M32, in [[The War of The Beast]]
|Chapter Master = None - Lead by Watch Commanders
|Primarch = Varies
|Homeworld = Various Watch Fortresses around the galaxy, but officially Talasa Prime
|Specialty = Killing Xenos, Kill-team strikes, being every Chapter at once.
|Strength = Exact number varies.
|Allegiance = [[Imperium]]
|Colours = Black, with a silver left arm and right pauldron bearing the colors and iconography of the Marine's parent Chapter
}}
{{topquote|1=Ooh ooh ooh! '''DEATH-WATCH!''' Ooh ooh ooh! '''DEATH-WATCH!'''|2=An [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B60gnOiHDfw&index=16& unorthodox battle cry], which has gained popularity among the more musically inclined in the Deathwatch}}

''This article is about the organization. If you were looking for a different Deathwatch, see [[#See Also|below]].''

=Summary=
The Deathwatch is an independent Space Marine Chapter and is composed of the most badass [[Space Marines]] from every [[Space Marine Chapter|chapter]] who are deployed according to their skills and which specific kind of [[Xenos|xeno]] they are the most experienced at facing. If they have a [[Devastator Squad|devastator squad]] composed of ten [[Bolter#Heavy Bolter|heavy bolter]]-equipped [[Space Marines]] who are sent to fight the [[Tyranid]]s, then you can bet that those heavy bolter-equipped marines will be the best shots with a heavy bolter the Imperium could get their hands on and know everything there is to know about fighting the space bug lizards, loaded with all the best toys for Tyranid killing.

Their [[Power Armour#Space Marine Power Armour|armor]] is painted black save for one [[Pauldrons|pauldron]] which remains painted in the chapter colors to avoid pissing off the [[Machine Spirit|machine spirit]]. The other pauldron gets replaced entirely with a superfancy silver one bearing the Inquisitorial Seal (despite them no longer having anything to do with the Inquisition). Surprisingly this paint job actually manages to look really badass even if it ends up being totally pointless with the [[Black Consuls]], [[Black Templars]], [[Raven Guard]], and anyone else wearing black. They get their shit done and get it done quickly and now finally have their own [[codex]]. There are also a few fan-made codices for them as well as an [[RPG]] where they star as player characters though.

[[image:Deathwatchgetallthebitches.jpg|right|250px|thumb|Sister Carmella appreciates Battle Brother Bellephoron's screening for Genestealer contamination a bit too much. The outrage and jealousy offer Brother Seraphicus a perfect distraction to slip away from the team, seeking objectives unknown.]]
In short, [[awesome|Space Marine Special Forces.]]

Tactics for Overkill's Deathwatch have been assembled here: [[Warhammer 40,000/Tactics/Space Marines|Tactics/Space Marines]] and here: [[Warhammer 40,000/Tactics/Inquisition(7E)|Tactics/Inquisition]], since it's not entirely clear which the Overkill dataslate is a supplement for. Tactics for the codex can be found [[Warhammer 40,000/Tactics/Deathwatch(7E)|here]].

=Origins=
The origin of the Deathwatch is apparently a point of contention, since over the decades there have been several different accounts of how they came to be, with variances across the codices, novels and roleplaying games.

==1990s > 2010s==
The ''original'' origin for the Deathwatch wasn't really fleshed out too much other than to say that at some point, a group of Inquisitor Lords sat down with esteemed Space Marine Chapter Masters and assess the encroaching xenos threats and decided to hash out an agreement where the many disparate chapters of space marines could work together with the Inquisition to create a more effective fighting force.

The [[Deathwatch (RPG)]] eventually put a name to this meeting and called it the '''Conclave of Orphite IV''' and in this telling the Ordo Xenos already existed, who shared the belief that without imminent action, humanity would be consumed by alien beasts and the Age of Imperium would come to an end.

The Deathwatch RPG and the original fluff differ on what form the Deathwatch would exactly take, as in the original 90s articles, "Deathwatch Kill Teams" were basically a synonym for the "Ordo Xenos Kill Teams", where squads would be raised at the behest of individual Inquisitors and commanded by them, but in certain exceptional cases these Kill Teams might be led by a Deathwatch Librarian or Captain. Beyond this, GW had been very neglectful of the Deathwatch for decades and never really provided any new fluff or crunch. Conversely, in the RPG of early 2010s, the Deathwatch would become its own entity with a heirarchy of ranks, capable of sustaining and directing itself without direct input from the Inquisition and was not beholden to the Inquisition ''(explicitly calling them equals)'', though still tied to the Inquisition who would root out the foes for the Deathwatch to eradicate.

==Recent Origins==
{{spoilers}}
[[image:Deathwatch-large.jpg|right|250px|thumb|The old but still-used front for the [[Deathwatch (RPG)]] core rules... [[Rogue Trader|Well, at least it's kinda goofy.]]]]
Come late 2016 however, practically all of the above is retconned directly. Now the Deathwatch was formed after the Ork Tyrant called "[[The Beast]]" nearly conquered [[Terra]], and it was made directly by the High Lords rather than by agreement of Inquisition and Chapter Masters. From there the Deathwatch were given the best equipment that the Imperium had, and they were even allowed [[heresy|to innovate with whatever they wanted]], though how the fuck the AdMech were convinced to agree to that is left up to the reader. The books official explanation for why that's allowed is the same one as why the Deathwatch have Custodes equipment and why the Deathwatch choose to use Xenos weapons: Fuck all.

[[File:FacebookGiotaTsirou.jpg|620px|thumb|left|Panagiota Tsirou, a 200 pound girl of short stature with unnatural agility that is incompatible with the physical boundaries that her obese biological structure should obviously follow, proving that a twisted disfigurement of reality is already existent, unleashing the incomprehensible influence of the warp in ways too unimaginable for anyone to acquaint with its reflections in our ludicrous lives, redefined by overwhelmingly shocking surprises.]]

[[File:WOW.jpg|1200px|thumb|right|In the 8th game of the World of Warcraft series, which was the first since the current 8th editions of Warhammer Fantasy and 40K, they also advanced the storyline following the same trend, as we have an official Alliance-Horde war for the first time since Warcraft 3, in total coordination with the real world when long unsettled conflicts, such as the Arab-Israeli war, Grexit, Kim Jong-un, US-China trade war, Fascism emerging in Europe starting from Italy, Neo-ottomanism, American civil war, Monroe dogma over Nicolas Maduro and Lula and even a volcano in Hawaii erupting, are simultaneously all emerging as if we are truly living in a novel.]]

With regards to the status of "Chamber Militant"; the Codex for the Deathwatch and their section in Imperial Agents outright ignores any Inquisitorial attachment. They wear the same sigil, which is apparently open to everyone now, and occasionally find themselves allied with an Inquisitor but that's the extent of their relationship.

Following the release of the Codex though, the Beast Arises Series offers a take on their origin that differs in some ways. We learn that during the days of the WAAAGH! Beast, the Orks were an almost unstoppable force and many marine chapters were slaughtered. The Imperial Fists Chapter Master and Lord Commander of the Imperium at the time: [[Slaughter Koorland]] determined that taking the Orks on head-to-head no longer worked since the Imperium's technological advantage was being eroded. So he colluded with Grand Master Assassin Vangorich ''(yes, the dude that killed all the High-Lords, and he was a rather cool dude back then)'' to create much smaller kill-teams with mission specific profiles which would be better suited to cripple or behead a threat rather than slug it out on a battlefield. Thus many chapter mixed units were formed and have their armor painted black, they forgoed their allegiance to the chapter and most importantly, its dogma. With this concept the Space Marines would have an extremely flexible force: from the melee prowess of the Blood Angels, to the stalwart defense of the Imperial Fists. It was a specialist force, but all the specialists were mixed in giving each unit an edge on every possible situation.

The Deathwatch was the love child of Koorland himself, although the most of the High Lords (other than Vangorich, who had inspired them) protested its creation, primarily based on deep seated fears of an Astartes re-unification following the Horus Heresy and that it was bad enough that Koorland was an Astartes High Lord himself, fearing him turn into a dictator ''(amusingly he would later go on to shoot the Ecclesiarch for [[Heresy]])''. He only gave it up when he was called out on the fact that he was already the Chapter Master of the Imperial Fists as well as being the Lord Commander of ALL Imperial armed forces; So having a third title was a bit of a push. The Inquisition happily took over the role as overseers to the Deathwatch because they themselves owe allegiance to no single master other than the Emperor, so in theory were not likely to go AWOL with a powerful force of Space Marines. Koorland agreed, but with three caveats:
#That the Deathwatch be limited to Chapter-Strength
#That the Lord Commander have authority to disband them.
#That he would appoint a Space Marine to oversee all strategic aspects of the Deathwatch. ''(the first Watch Commander Asger Warfist)''

At the time the Deathwatch would be referred to as the chamber militant of the [[Ordo Xenos]], except for the fact that during its inception the Inquisition didn't even have Ordos. Towards the War of the Beast, the Inquisitorial Representative(s) decided that the Inquisition itself could be better served by dividing their attentions between Xenos and Daemon, rather than arguing over which was the greater threat. So the Inquisition divided into Ordo Xenos and Ordo Malleus.

The differences between the codex and surrounding sources place doubt on what ''exactly'' happened, since no source can seem to agree on the details. In the Codex there is no mention of them having fought in the War of the Beast other than participating in the clean-up afterwards, though given how it's worded and what happened in that series, it could be argued that they were formed partway through the war, rather than as a consequence of it (which the codex seems to imply). Other differences with the codex:
*Koorland's role in agreeing to Inquisitorial authority and restrictions to chapter strength is not mentioned in the codex ''(though by rights, the Inquisition can oversee anything they like)'' though the book does say that occasionally an Inquisitor will be in command of a Watch Fortress.
*The Codex doesn't mention any Inquisitorial connection which is arguably contradicted by the Inquisition's entry in Imperial Agents, and more specifically the rule Chambers Militant which allows an Inquisitor to field a Deathwatch squad but with the Inquisition faction, though that might be more a reference to how an Inquisitor can command a Watch Fortress and using an older term rather than keeping the old "Inquisitorial" Chambers Militant of the 90s.
*The 2017 tie-in novel to the codex: ''"Deathwatch: Kryptman's War" by Ian St Martin'' has the Imperial Navy believe that the Deathwatch carry Inquisitorial authority, ''(the source of which is not made clear)'' but no Inquisitors are present in the book. Additionally ''Swordwind"'' by the same author directly deals with a Deathwatch member's oaths to the Inquisition upon his returning to his parent chapter, refers to Deathwatch vessels as belonging to the Inquisition and has him ferried home in an Ordo Xeno starship.

=Organisation and Chapter Strength=
Another point of contention is how the Deathwatch is organised and how many marines they actually have.

The original fluff barely made any reference to how the Deathwatch was organised aside from being an ad-hoc arrangement of temporary squads and fortresses under the command of the Inquisition. In the Beast Arises, Koorland set that the Deathwatch be set to "chapter strength" back in M32, and appointed a single '''Watch Commander''' to oversee strategic aspects while taking his orders from the Inquisition. Admittedly, even the Watch Commander himself had no idea what the position entailed.

By M40 in the codex and contemporary fluff, Koorland's singular position of "Watch Commander" doesn't seem to exist and command is decentralised to the Watch Commanders of their respective fortresses and surrounding domains, making them roughly analogous to Chapter Masters. These new fortress commanders are usually '''Watch Masters''' but the codex implies this may not always be the case. ''(Interestingly, the new "Watch Master" role has been amalgamated with the old RPG rank of '''Watch Keeper''' who was one of the few permanent Deathwatch staff members and carried the same '''Clavis''' that Watch Masters now do)'' Whether the Masters have any higher authority above them is not made clear, depending on how much influence you think the Inquisition actually has over them.

Despite nominally being referred to as a chapter, the issue of "chapter strength" also seems to have been ignored, though this depends on how large you assume the "average" Kill Teams to be. For example: kill team Cassius was 11 strong, while kill team Artemis was 6 ''(plus himself as Captain for 7)''.

A traditional Fortress such as '''Talassa Prime''' has been shown to have five companies of four kill-teams plus a '''Watch Captain'''. So there is probably somewhere between 21 - 41 marines per company, making 105 - 205 marines per Fortress, plus a dedicated command staff including a Librarius, Chaplaincy and any attached Dreadnoughts for around 9 - 10 members, plus an armoury of indeterminate size to maintain the fortress's vehicles, though a conservative estimate would be 3 more techmarines given the size of the other departments, especially considering the huge redundancy of experience spread through the kill teams themselves, which can compose of their own techmarines, librarians, chaplains and Apothecaries.
All in all this puts a watch fortress at somewhere between 119 - 219 space marines.
The Deathwatch tie-in novel shows around 200 members mustering at fortress '''Furor Shield''', though this was a joint action including watch teams from nearby jurisdictions, but probably remains a good estimation of roughly how large a bulked out fortress can be.

Across the Imperium there are four "primary" fortresses which probably have either significant strategic value or play host to unique facilities ''(Talasa Prime is said to be a major training facility)'' plus fourteen other regular fortresses, which are all said to generally follow the same core structure, so the concentrated bulk of the chapter would be anywhere between '''2142 - 3166''' Deathwatch Marines, much higher than "Chapter Strength", assuming all of the Fortresses are equivalent in strength to the primary ones.

The final number is also complicated by the 40+ smaller Watch Stations which house anything between squad or two all the way up to a full blown company! Though it is not made clear whether or not those small stations fall under the purview of the closest Fortress and being assigned squads from there, or if they have their own discrete commands, otherwise that would add about another 200 - 1640 to their roster. Nor does it account for any Deathwatch Marines on detached duties (Kill-Marines) that appear in the RPG but are not mentioned in the codex unless you count those units which can be deployed in squad sizes of 1.

In addition, the 8th Edition Deathwatch Codex mentions that Roboute Guilliman assigned "multiple chapters" worth of Primaris Marines to the Deathwatch. While its quite possible that this hasn't increased their overall numbers if they took greivous casualties due to the Great Rift/Blackness, this alone implies that the Deathwatch are far bigger than any chapter.

Given the possible final numbers anywhere between around 2100 - 4800 marines, assuming the Deathwatch maintains itself at full strength all of the time, and that all Watch Fortresses are equal in strength.

If that seems like a huge amount, remember that would imply that each chapter of the thousand or so in the Imperium are donating only about two to five marines at any given time. But given the number of repeat chapters represented in Talasa Prime ''alone'', added to the fact that apparently hundreds of chapters are risking dishonour by actually requesting their battle brothers return to their parent chapter, this unusually high number may not be an unfair estimation.

= Induction and Training =
Calling on ancient oaths and debts of honour from hundreds of Space Marine Chapters, the Deathwatch <s>forces</s> ''requests'' each Chapter to volunteer a handful of its best warriors to be conscripted into the Deathwatch. This usually occurs when the old Deathwatch-conscripted marine dies in battle or returns after he fulfils his term of service to the Deathwatch. Some Chapters view recruitment into the Deathwatch as a great honour, with the warrior both envied and revered by his battle brothers for being chosen. Others, either view the conscription as little more than an inconvenience as it robs them of their best warriors or as a chance to get rid of marines too insubordinate to mix with the battle companies but too [[Derp|well-celebrated]] to be demoted.

As their recruits are full-fledged space marines and not mere neophytes, they usually believe they have some idea what to expect; most assume that they will be brought to a heavily-fortified space station where they will be trained much in the same way they are [[Derp|already trained]], but with more specialized weapons (after all, Space Marine training is already [[Rip and tear|quite intense]] and [[grimdark|comprehensive]]). This notion [[not as planned|is immediately proven wrong]] as the inductees first gaze upon a Watch Fortress. What greets them is a systemless [[Death World|planet]] floating in the middle of nowhere, encircled by a [[Halo|colossal artificial ring, supposedly built millions of years ago by an ancient alien civilisation]]. It is on this ring, bristling with Imperial gun batteries and missile defences, that the Deathwatch and its private fleet of warships make their home.

[[File:Tumblr m3en0pFje01rq1yzso1 1280.jpg|thumb|400px|left|Deathwatch Marines with Bolt Pistols only? The Deathwatch know how to conserve for the [[Tyranids|really]] [[Orks|big]] [[Chaos Space Marines|things]].]]

The ring station is so large that the Imperium has built entire orbital cities into their ancient superstructure; including individual quarters for thousands of space marines and serfs, vast [[Games Workshop|customizable]] training fields, including artificially-recreated planetary environments. The recruits are sworn into the Deathwatch and are forced to undergo hypno-indoctrination to put the Watch above all their old loyalties, and then undergo months of intensive retraining in [[Reasonable Marines|unconventional tactics]]. They are divided into 6-man Kill Teams, no two members being from the same chapter. The inductees are also introduced to their new arsenal; each of them is given a [[Combi-weapon]] built to accept a range of attachments and ammunition, for every Deathwatch space marine must have a secondary and tertiary weapon for [[Just_As_Planned|any eventuality]].

As part of the training, each marine is forced to watch endless hours of vid-recordings of space marines ''losing'' battles against Xenos. The lesson there is two-fold, one is to understand Xenos strategies, tactics, and weaponry, including all their strengths and weaknesses. The other is that though the Deathwatch marines come from diverse backgrounds, apparently nothing creates better unit cohesion and hatred against the Xenos than for a Space Marine [[Rage|to watch helplessly as another space marine fights a desperate and ultimately doomed last stand]], again and again across thousands of battles. At that point the point is pressed home--it does not matter what chapter you are from, the Space Marines in the recordings were mercilessly slaughtered and you must now [[Exterminatus|avenge them with extreme prejudice]]. The experience is so realistic that all inductees must be physically restrained to their seats prior to donning the vid gear (which in all likelihood includes a Pain Glove nicked from the [[Imperial Fists]], so that the Deathwatch trainees get to feel the pain the Astartes victims of Xenos likely felt in those recordings, which must be especially unnerving if the recording a trainee is watching came from a helmet cam mounted to an unfortunate Astartes being disemboweled and then beheaded by a [[Genestealer]] or certain [[Dark Eldar]]).

At the end of their training, every Deathwatch Space Marine has not only been reforged into an unparalleled Xenocide machine, but a Deathwatch Kill-Team as a whole will royally fuck up the shit of their target. Though extremely rare as Deathwatch is more of a small unit spec-ops force meant to infiltrate and eliminate specific objectives and targets instead of fighting all-out battles, the arrival of additional Deathwatch Kill Teams typically spells the end of whatever unlucky Xeno son of a bitch is on its receiving end. And if the shit has hit the fan to the extent that one hundred or so Deathwatch members have to deploy to just one battle and organize into an actual company, it probably means that the [[Imperium of Man|Imperium]] is going to be sending a [[Titan|lot more than just the space marines]].

Before deployment, each marine has the Deathwatch [[pauldron]] added to their armour and has the rest of their suit painted black. This process is surprisingly dangerous and must be carefully overseen as the [[machine spirit]] of the armour must be coaxed into accepting its new designation. Each suit of Deathwatch armour is thereafter twice blessed; a unique entity in itself and a single-minded foe against xenos.

= So, where's their Codex? =
[[image:Cautious approach by diegogisbertllorens-d5p1452.jpg|right|thumb|200px|No danger here, just a bunch of old ruins. Sure to be a lot of loot for the Deathwatch in there, don'tcha think?]]
The earliest rules for Deathwatch were a 6th-edition [[Apocalypse]] formation in the Damnos book, where two Sternguard Squads Squads and a Captain would get Preferred Enemy (one Xenos codex) and an additional special ammunition profile called Aniphase Rounds (AP4, forces Necrons to re-roll successful Reanimation Protocols). From here their representation would slowly accelerate...

In 2016 the game [[Deathwatch: Overkill]] was released. While not a full army, it did give a small set of special units using the packaged models, each of which was based on the hero of a story written by [[Black Library]] and led by a younger, un-nommed [[Ortan Cassius]]. Each model has their own Chapter Tactics (or equivalent thereof), but don't officially have it, so they can fit in any other Marine army without complaint. A good majority of the units also have Sternguard ammo, making them far more useful than their Damnos forebears.

Then, in August 2016 a full Codex went up for pre-order alongside a new game called "Death Masque" which featured new models for the Eldar (Xenos filth!), Harlequins, and official Deathwatch sprues with Deathwatch Veterans, Deathwatch Vanguard veterans, and an upgrade sprue to make your own Deathwatch units. There are also "new" (essentially the same thing but with a few "I"s to glue on) vehicles for them such as the Deathwatch land raider and Deathwatch transport/razorback. However, they do get one genuinely unique vehicle in the form of the [[Corvus Blackstar]], an airborne transport that carries a decent amount of firepower, as befitting the Deathwatch.

One of the great things about the Deathwatch is that the kill team kits provide a lot of goodies for kit-bashing some of your other Space Marine armies. Some of the items available are listed below:

Lots of chapter specific pauldrons. You only get one per chapter for every five-man kit, but they can be useful if you want a nicer-looking pauldron for a single character (especially if GW doesn't sell transfer sheets or upgrade sprues for said chapter):
* All Nine [[First Founding]] chapters
*[[Crimson Fists]] (Technically it's the Imperial Fists pauldron, but the shape's identical)
*[[Flesh Tearers]]
*[[Raptors (Chapter)|Raptors]]/[[Mentors |Mentors]]
*[[Brazen Minotaurs]]
*[[Black Templars]]
*[[Mortifactors]] (only available on Captain Artemis' model in Death Masque)
*[[Blood Ravens]] (only available from Jensus' model in Kill Team Cassius)
*[[Howling Griffons]]
*[[Novamarines]]
*[[Silver Skulls]]
*[[Blackshield]] (represented as a pauldron with scratch marks and chains)

You can also give the Deathwatch pauldron to your regular space marine veterans to show their service, to give your characters more flavor.

Unique weapons:
*Shotguns for full-size Astartes, not just scouts
*Infernus Heavy Bolter
*Storm Shields similar to the one used by [[Hector Rex]]
*Melta Powerfists
*Heavy Thunderhammer
*Infantry-portable Frag Cannons
*[[C'tan Phase Weapons|Xenophase Blades]]
*Guardian Spears (The only source for the weapon outside of the Adeptus Custodes)

Their 8th Edition Codex shows that Primaris Marines will be included [https://www.warhammer-community.com/2018/05/02/2nd-may-codex-deathwatch-building-primaris-kill-teams/|included]

=Daily Rituals of the Deathwatch=
03:00 - Morning Prayer. The Deathwatch are roused from their chambers to pray. Prayer lasts two hours, one for the Emperor and the other for ways to kill the xeno.

05:00 - Morning Firing Rites. The Deathwatch begin honing their shooting skills upon captured alien civilians. Bonus points if it is a [[Eldar|Elffag]] or [[Tau|Weeb]].

07:00 - Battle Practice. The Deathwatch descends upon the prisons holding captured xenos and proceed to find the best way to maximize pain and suffering upon them before giving them the Emperor's Peace.

10:00 - Morning Meal. A light meal is prepared by the serfs in the Deathwatch. Permission to eat the xenos they've killed is prohibited.

10:15 - Movie Time. [[Grimdark|The Deathwatch are forced to watch videos on fellow battle brothers getting shat upon and humiliated by the filthy alien. Each Deathwatch are strapped and bounded by ceramite braces]] to contain their [[Rage|rage]]. The ancient films Alien and Predator are popular choices.

11:15 - Tactical Indoctrination. The Deathwatch plans the next campaign to wipe out the filthy xenos and study the weaknesses and best possible way to enact as much pain on the alien.

13:00 - Midday Meal. A meal is prepared by the Deathwatch serfs. Eating the alien is still prohibited.

14:00 - Evening Firing Rites.

16:00 - Battle Practice.

19:00 - Evening Meal. A feast is prepared by the Deathwatch serfs. Eating the dead aliens is allowed if they are deemed safe to eat.

20:00 - Evening Prayer.

22:00 - Interrogation Time. The Deathwatch interrogates and torture captured xenos on information and intelligence.

24:00 - The Deathwatch ends their interrogation and proceed to go back to rest in their chambers.

= See Also =
*[[Warhammer 40,000/Tactics/Deathwatch(8E)]] - Tactica for the official Codex!
*[[Cyrus]] - A fellow deathwatch and a well known scout sergeant.
*[[Ortan Cassius]] - Another Deathwatch Alum and current [[Chaplain|Master of Sanctity]] of the [[Ultramarines]]
*[[Alienhunters]]
*[[Deffwotch]]
*[[Deathwatch (RPG)]], part of [[Fantasy Flight Games]]' [[Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay]] system. You get to be a Deathwatch marine and kill [[xenos]].
*[http://heralds-of-ruin.blogspot.com/p/kill-team-rules.html Heralds of Ruin] You get to be Deathwatch and play kill team! We even have tactics for both the [[Warhammer 40,000: Kill Team (HoR)/Tactics/Deathwatch|Deathwatch]] and [[Warhammer 40,000: Kill Team (HoR)/Tactics|general tactics]] for the game, for your pleasure!
*[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Deathwatch/40k-rules-deathwatch-en.pdf Deathwatch: Overkill] Rules for the Deathwatch units from Deathwatch: Overkill
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nodA5bxueyo A vid-recording likely included in the Deathwatch "compulsory viewing" curriculum for trainees.] Yes, this is from an official 40k product.

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