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Craftworld Alaitoc

2019-10-16T20:09:53Z

61.6.235.42: /* Recent Events */

{{Infobox 40k Nations
|name=Alaitoc
|image=[[File:Alaitoc banner large by mirageknight32-d62s4fo.jpg|150px]]
|bgcolor=
|fgcolor=
|Capital=[[Alaitoc]]
|Official Languages=Eldar Lexicon
|Power=Minor Power
|Size=Craftworld
|Head of State=High Farseer
|Head of Government= Seer Council of Alaitoc
|Governmental Structure=Authoritarian Magocratic Seer Council
|State Religion/Ideology= Eldar Mythology
|Demographic=[[Eldar]]
|Military Force=[[Craftworld]] Guardian Corps, [[Craftworld]] Fleet, [[Aspect Warrior]] Hosts, [[Outcast]] Allies, [[Corsair]] Allies
}}
'''Craftworld Alaitoc''' (also known as "The Starstriders"—the most [[/tg/|George Michael]] of aliases) is the most puritanical, overtly racist, and obnoxious of all the [[Eldar]] [[Craftworld]]s, potentially even rivaling [[Eldrad|this prick]] with their sheer arrogance. Primarily comprised of [[Eldar Ranger|outcasts with sniper rifles]] and a [[Eldar#Eldar Corsairs|disparate selection of pirates]], the forces of the Alaitoc can most accurately be described as "shady as fuck", choosing to spend most of their time chilling in the [[Webway]], waiting for shit to go down, or holding casual meetings with everyone's favorite [[Harlequin|circus freaks]]. Mostly, the forces of the Alaitoc like to observe from afar, casually mocking [[Ahriman]] as he knocks frantically on the door of the Black Library, sobbing like a girl in the rain waiting to be let in. Because the forces of the Alaitoc are made up of [[Neckbeard|grumpy loners]], [[Rogue_Trader_(Sourcebook)|with ideologies rooted firmly within the past with no scope for change]], they hate the idea of spending their time floating around in a big hunk of [[craftworld|space-metal]]. Consequently, this means that few Eldar actually live aboard the Alaitoc craftworld. Most choose to leave to follow the [[Paths of the Eldar|Path of the Outcast]]—where, eventually, they become pathfinders. On occasion, they are recalled to the craftworld in times of need, but most of their time is spent causing havoc and general jackassery upon passing merchant vessels, transports, and anything [[Necron]].

==A Word on the Necron Grudge==
Alaitoc used to be known for fighting mostly the [[Imperium]], but they became arch-enemies of the Necrons because [[Games Workshop|GW]] needed an Eldar force that "remembers" being created for that very purpose, and also because everyone and their dog fights the Imperium. A better choice might have been [[Saim-Hann]], as they keep alive most of the Eldar's ancient traditions and would be more likely than Alaitoc to return to their roots. Even their colors, white and red, are a perfect contrast to the black and green most Necrons favor. Alaitoc has had mixed success, at best, in confronting the Necron. One part of this is, probably, because their prefered leader for fighting the Necron is an absolute loser called [[Eldorath Starbane]] who, like most Farseers, [[Macha|can only win a battle if he has Space Marine allies holding his hand for him.]] But the blame can't all be placed on him, the famed ranger Illic Nightspear, for example, has never managed to do anything more than runaway from battles and get captured either. How did he escape capture? Well a Space Marine saved him. Beginning to notice a pattern?

===Alladrios Kulcassian===
A possible reason for Alaitoc's newfound [[Necron]] hatred could be the story of the Alaitoc [[Farseer]] Alladrios Kulcassian from the 3rd edition Necron codex. In the story, Alladrios had ordered Craftworld Alaitoc to the Imperium's training facility for [[Culexus]] assassins. He was doing this because a Culexus assassin killed his sister (who was also a Farseer), and the Eldar consider dying at the hands of one to be a horrific fate (as it resulted in complete destruction of the soul; vs. being consumed by Slannesh...tough call). Once within striking distance, Alladrios was about to give the order for Alaitoc's forces to destroy it. However, though eager to avenge his sister, Alladrios came down with a case of something rare in 40k: common sense. He read the runes to see the future consequences of the attack. This was a wise choice, as every alternate future after the Culexus temple's destruction showed Alaitoc being destroyed by an unidentified enemy (possibly Necrons or the Imperium's forces). Alladrios was torn but swallowed his pride and called off the attack. Though he loved his sister dearly, the price of vengeance was too high. As Alaitoc turned and left, the story concluded with a bitter Alladrios deducing that the Necrons and/or the [[C'tan]] put the pariah gene in humanity, likening it to sowing crops, and are preparing to harvest them. Of course, he doesn't realize that A) the Imperium would have found a way to make Culexus assassins even if we never had the gene and B) the other Culexus temples scattered across the galaxy and likely the other assassin Clades would come to show their...appreciation. Likely the destruction of Alaitoc he foresaw. Because if anyone is so damn sneaky an Eldar Farseer cannot see them, it would be the Officio Assassinorum. Although since numerous Space Marines constantly surprise whole Seer Councils sending the Culexus are probably overkill. Besides, being killed by a Culexus assassin does not destroy the soul, it merely prevents psychic powers from working unless the psyker is strong enough. Being from Alaitoc, he was likely just superstitious like that.

Of course, [[Matt Ward|there is another reason]].

==The Events of ''Path of the Eldar''==
[[File:Alaitoc-image.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Alaitoc Symbol.]]
Due to the selfish actions of the ranger Aradryan and the corrupt and egocentric Imperial commander De’vaque, who had dealings with the Eldar pirate Yrithain in an attempt to enrich himself at the expense of the Imperium, Alaitoc found itself under attack by all of the Imperial forces De’vaque could muster, led by the Chapter Master of the Sons of Orar, Nadeus. These events are the main focus of the books ''Path of the Eldar'', by [[Gav Thorpe]], which follow the story of three Eldar youths, Korlandril, Aradryan, and Thirianna. Thorpe decided to leave out their current Necron hunting job (Alaitoc's anti-Necron stance was introduced in 2011 irl, when Thorpe was more than halfway through the ''Path of the Eldar'' trilogy).

The armada that was sent was massive and each of Alaitoc’s [[Farseer|Farseers]] had been ascribed a region of the skein to watch. Thirianna herself was responsible for watching the unfolding fates of more than a dozen starships, from frigates to battleships. Thirianna was impressed that the human ships were protected by [[Warp]]-based technologies ([[void shields]]), for she had not believed them capable of such technology, though it was still simplistic compared to the Eldar mastery of the Warp. Which was a funny thing to think considering the Eldar aren't really shown with any advanced or particularly great psyker powers or warp technologies compared to the Imperium's great variety and the great power of its psykers; this is of course only if you look at the table top rules, but from a fluff prospective the Eldar Psykers out class human Psykers by a hilarious degree. Things like Wraithbone, which is a material created by manipulating the warp itself and is used as a foundation for most of their technology is a good example and so are things like wraith cannons or the D-scythes or even the sheer number of D weapons that even basic troops can take into battle; not to mention things like Wraithseers, Ghost Seers and Warlock Titans. Maybe they had become complacent in their dealings with humans because their typical conflicts with the Imperium would normally be dealt with on their own terms and as far away from the Craftworld as possible. But Thirianna's reaction can probably be chalked up to her youth and naïveté, as she, up to this point, had no experience when it came to dealing with humans, and given Alaitoc’s strict customs and insular tendencies, it’s not very likely that such information would be common knowledge.

After the first wave of Imperial ships were butchered, the main Imperial fleet appeared, arriving in small groups scattered around the edges of the star system. The Alaitoc fleet was just not numerous enough to cover every approach. Although they could not ultimately prevent the Imperials from boarding Alaitoc herself, by the time they had finally managed it the space around the craftworld was a graveyard of Imperial vessels.

Before the [[Space Marines]] arrived to save the day, the [[Imperial Guard]] were getting slaughtered within the craftworld by Alaitoc [[Aspect Warriors]], which isn’t a surprise given that they had THREE [[Phoenix Lords]], including [[Phoenix Lords#Maugan Ra|Maugan Ra]], fighting alongside them. One incident saw a small group of warriors luring thousands of Guardsmen, including entire armed divisions, into the centre of one of the craftworld's massive domes before turning off the gravity, ejecting the whole lot into the void. Taking advantage of the limited movement of the Eldar Titans within the confines of the inner corridors, the Imperial Guardsmen were actually able to take down the Alaitoc titans. Given the correct weapons (such as heavy Vanquisher cannons, which are basically anti-Titan guns), the Imperial Guard could indeed accomplish such an objective (though most of them died doing it). The reason the Sons of Orar chapter took light casualties during the initial fighting was because their chief [[Librarian]] was purposely sacrificing his basic troops to preserve the elites. Thirianna put a stop to this when she hunted him down and crushed his mind like a grape.

The Craftworld's Farseers had told their people that they had forseen Alaitoc's victory. The conclusion? Due to the intervention of the Ranger Aradryan, the Imperium discovered they had been tricked by the [[Dark Eldar]] and De’vaque's treachery was finally revealed. In short, the Alaitoc Eldar could have beaten off the attack, but it would have been bloody. Well, not really, considering the Eldar were still getting ass raped in their own Craftworld; despite each Eldar warrior killing dozens of imperial soldiers for every Eldar lose they would have likely lost eventually given the sheer imperial number advantage. Especially with the, y'know, Imperial Titans inside blowing shit up with the Eldar Titans dead and though the Guard was taking a brutal beating, they were still pushing through and gaining ground throughout the battle; although this was actually part of the Eldar strategy (I know, I know, blame Gav) to avoid needless Eldar losses. The plan was for the Eldar forces to hit the Imperial forces hard and then fall back in order to lure large numbers of Imperial soldiers into areas where they could be dealt with and away from the civilian areas which allowed them to evacuate before the Imperial forces arrived. This is not to mention any reserves from both sides that would have arrived eventually. Instead, they just told the Space Marines that they had been manipulated into attacking Alaitoc by the [[Dark Eldar]] and an Imperial governor. During the fighting within the Craftworld, the Eldar fleet had continued to destroy the Imperial fleet, leaving their forces upon Alaitoc stranded. Once the Eldar had finished evacuating the last of its population, they had planned to destroy Alaitoc by imploding her Webway portal and killing all the humans left behind (which would still be very much an Imperial victory). They also told the Space Marines that if they did not stop, a fuckhuge fleet of Eldar with ships from pretty much every craftworld was on its way to kill everything that was not Eldar within 20 lightyears which in theory would have resulted in mass cyclonic torpedo bombardment of every craftworld in the galaxy (too bad they have no idea where they are). Of course the Eldar have done such things before such as the erasing of all life from dozens of Imperial planets in order to starve Tyranid hive fleets of biomass; to which the Imperial response was to fail spectacularly to do anything other then stew in impotent rage as they were unable to retaliate against or even locate the Eldar.

And so, although Alaitoc is one of the smaller of the big five craftworlds, weaker Eldar for Eldar than other craftworlds such as [[Biel-tan]] and [[Ulthwé]] (who are constantly at war), and not made up of warrior tribes like [[Saim-Hann]] or a huge amount of wraith constructs like [[Iyanden]], they managed, through the sheer scale of Imperial losses, to ultimately convince a Space Marine Chapter Master to negotiate a truce:

"How many thousands have died already?" whispered Alaitin. "How many of your warriors have fallen to clean the blood from this man’s hands, Chapter Master?"

The boom of the pistol caused Aradryan to jump. De’vaque’s head disappeared in a cloud of blood and bone and his headless corpse collapsed to the pavement.

"Too many," snarled the Chapter Master. "Call off your ships and I will cease the attack."

In the end, nearly a third of Alaitoc lay in ruins from rim to core, but the number of Eldar dead was only counted in the thousands (unlikely, given the Titans blowing everything up, although it should be noted that the Imperial Titans were suffering the same problem as the Eldar titans within the confines of the Craftworld and were themselves being taken out by the more nimble Eldar Super Heavies. The losses for both sides are listed as "heavy" in the lexicanum but the books themselves give the Eldar loses in the thousands so whether that is an actual accurate number is debatable), and could have been far higher (though, the Imperium only wanted to smash everything, killing was just a bonus as they knew how evasive the Eldar are). The Imperium, upon leaving, decided to go kill the ones responsible. Some [[Fail|victory]], but victory is not measured in corpses, especially when fighting the Imperium. For them, it was a strategic victory. The Eldar rely on the stuff the Imperium destroyed to survive. Besides that, the Imperium had shown that a small (by Imperial standards- about the same size as the forces sent against the Tau) force could course serious problems for a craftworld and that the Imperium did not give a shit about the number of ships it would cost. Which told the Eldar what they already knew; that the Imperium has absolutely no respect for the lives of its own warriors and that they were so blinded by their own hatred and so heavily indoctrinated that they would willingly suffer truly horrifying loses as long as the enemy was destroyed. Directly attacking the Imperium with sheer force was not an option with their low numbers. The Imperium could afford to throw away millions if not billions of their own and they wouldn't even care; which the Eldar are not prepared to or willing to do.

Although there will be those who read the books that go straight into the chest thumping “My guys can beat up your guys”, this is unneccessary as it is shown explicitly that even Alaitoc, one of the primary Craftworlds, cannot survive a battle with a relatively small Imperial force. Note the books are more about showing the different priorities of both individuals and factions and how they affect the story as a whole. The big difference between the Imperial forces and the Eldar forces are that the Imperial’s priority is to destroy whilst the Eldar priority is to preserve.

==Recent Events==
Alaitoc lead an attack on the [[Invaders]] Space Marine Chapter in revenge for their utter destruction of a Craftworld. Said attack has forced the Invaders to become a fleet-based Chapter but, unlike their Craftworld victim, they have survived and, most likely, like the [[Scythes of the Emperor]] been reinforced with the new [[Ultima Founding]].

Alaitoc also attempted to foil the efforts of the [[Word Bearers]] upon the planet Gruelbowl (yes, that is really its name) but were incapable of doing so (probably because Alaitoc doesn't seem able of doing anything unless Space Marines are helping them).

Alaitoc itself has not, so far, become a major proponent of the [[Ynnari]], with only a limited number of its people joining the movement and the Craftworld itself remaining distant.

While the Asuryani of other world-ships finds their people divided and desperate for the first time, the staunch sons and daughters of Alaitoc have ever been cast like a net across the stars – and no matter how far they wander from home, they remain ready to close in around their craftworld’s many enemies. They're also warring against Mephrit Dynasty with Saim-Hann.

{{40k-Governments}}

[[Category:Eldar]]

Tomb World

2019-10-16T20:04:50Z

61.6.235.42: /* Notable Tomb Worlds */

[[File:Tomb_citadel.jpg|400px|centre]]

A '''Tomb World''' is a planet with a [[Necron]] tomb on it (and by "on" we mean "in").

The Necrontyr Empire once spanned the galaxy, but after the Wars of Succession, the disastrous [[War in Heaven]], the biotransference into [[Necron]] bodies, and the sharding of the [[C'tan]], the empire was left weak and the galaxy was a mess. The Necrons thus decided to go to sleep and let things settle down, so they sought refuge in great tombs, preparing to wake up in sixty million years' time to retake a healed galaxy.

In that time, the galaxy didn't just stop moving; since the vast majority of the inhabitants of the galaxy (basically everyone but the [[Eldar]], who were too busy having orgies/staying away from Slaanesh to remember them) never heard of the Necrons, they didn't know to check for them when settling planets, and so any inhabited planet (and any uninhabited planet, for that matter) could be a Tomb World. However, as of the 41st Millennium, the sixty million years are up, and the Necrons are starting to wake back up. Most of them are not keen on sharing their world with the upstarts who have moved in during their slumber.

==Notable Tomb Worlds==
[[File:Kaurava_3.jpg|right|thumb|Kaurava 3. Seems cozy if you're a desert tortoise or a Necron]]
*'''[[Kaurava System|Kaurava 3]]:''' destroyed by [[Gorgutz 'Ead 'Unter]].
*'''[[Kronus]]:''' Destroyed by [[Blod Rehvens]].
*'''[[Cato Sicarius|Damnos]]:''' Setting of the Fall of Damnos. Settled during the [[Great Crusade]] and, while rich in resources, was given low priority, [[Necrons]] awakened in 973.M41, and one year were controlling the entire planet. The [[Ultramarines]] could only gather what remained of the populace and retreat into deep space. The Ultramarines later returned in full Chapter strength and alongside a massive Imperial fleet as well as dozens of Deathwatch kill-teams, utterly rekt the Necrons, destroying their [[C'tan]] shard and destroying every single Tomb Complex inside the planet.
*'''[[Uriel Ventris|Pavonis]]:''' Setting of the novels Nightbringer and Courage and Honor. Mining World, location of the Tembra Ridge a mountain range over the [[C'tan#Aza.27Gorod.2C_The_Nightbringer|Nightbringer's]] tomb, the [[Ultramarines]] 4th Company led by [[Uriel Ventris]], managed to stop it from escaping into space, but it was never implied that the [[C'tan#Aza.27Gorod.2C_The_Nightbringer|Nightbringer]] shard was ever destroyed.
*'''[[Ciaphas Cain|Simia Orichalcae]]:''' Setting of the novel Caves of Ice. An ice world, uninhabited except for Promethium processing plants scattered across the planet to refine veins of rare ice. It had a Necron Tomb, but it was later destroyed by [[Ciaphas Cain]] (though [[Amberley Vail]] privately stated that no one was too keen on finding out if they truly were gone.)
*'''Naogeddon:''' Setting of the short story Deus ex Mechanicus. It houses a [[C'tan#Mephet.27ran.2C_The_Deceiver|shard of the Deceiver]], due to this several [[Explorator Fleet|Explorator Teams]] have disappeared while exploring in there.
*'''Carnac:''' Former [[Eldar World#Exodite Worlds|Exodite World]], was reclaimed by the [[Necrons]] in the Carnac Campaign by [[Anrakyr the Traveller]]. During the campaign Anrakyr commissioned aid from Mandragora, Gidrim, Trakonn, Solemnace led by [[Trazyn the Infinite]], and [[Orikan the Diviner]]. While the [[Exodites]], got help from [[Alaitoc]], [[Eldorath Starbane]], and [[Illic Nightspear]].In the end the Necrons won, because of suprise reinforcements from the just awakened Necrons of Carnac. The [[Eldar]] retreated, and [[Trazyn the Infinite|Trazyn]] got his World Shrine.
*'''Sarkon:''' Capital of the Empire of the Severed. When radiation storms wiped the memories of the Necrons in Sarkon, leaving them mindless husks of their former selves, the Master Program's own systems were damaged. The malfunctioning program saw the quiet order it had brought to Sarkon and resolved to carry it to other worlds, adopting the form of the Necron Overlord that it dubbed the "Sarkoni Emperor" to do so. Ever since then it has absorbed four other Tomb Worlds.Other non-Necron worlds were also absorbed, [[Grimdark|using Mindshackle Scarabs to bring any unruly creatures under its direct control]].
*'''Solemnace:''' Tomb World of everyone's [[Trazyn the Infinite|favourite collector/historian/shameless grave robber]].
*'''Mandragora:''' Crown World (capital) of the [[Sautekh Dynasty]]. All of its Overlords and Lords decided fighting a civil war as soon as they woke up was fun. Right up until [[Imotekh the Stormlord]] put a stop to that.
*'''Gidrim:''' Part of the Sautekh Dynasty, ruled by [[Nemesor Zahndrekh]].
*'''Pyrrhia:''' Original Tomb World of [[Anrakyr the Traveller]].
*'''Morrigar:''' Former [[Hive World]], gang warfare awakened the Necron, six months later when [[Cadia|Cadian]] [[Imperial Guard Regiment|207th regiment]], there was no trace of any inhabitants, human or otherwise. When [[Anrakyr]] arrived, the lack of Necrons was blamed was on the Cadian 207th and were wiped out by Anrakyr.
*'''Hollow Crown:''' Suhbekhar Dynasty Crown World that is a necropolis forged deep within the center of a star. Its construction was commanded by the Phaeron Ahmontekh due to his fears that his aeons long sleep would make him vulnerable to his enemies.
*'''Thanatos:''' Houses the Celestial Orrery, a device capable of forcing stars to [[Exterminatus|undergo a supernova millennia before its time that destroys all the nearby worlds that circle it]], unfortunately using it must be done with careful consideration as it could [[FAIL|upset the natural order of the cosmos and create a critical chain reaction]].
*'''Avarris:''' Tomb World of the Sautekh Dynasty, and [[Imperial Knight]] world, when the Necrons tried to exterminate the place, they found [[Wat|their gauss technology to be ineffective against the ion shields used by the world's Knights]], that or the Imperial Knights don't want their honour to be hurt by the fact that they lost against the Necrons.
*'''[[Flayed_Ones#The_Bone_Kingdom_of_Drazak|Drazak]]:''' Also known as the Bone Kingdom, a world populated almost entirely by Flayed Ones, who are ruled by Valgul the Fallen, a [[Necron Lord]] immune to the Flayer virus. Every few months Valgul announces a Time of Bounty, where they launch fleets to raid nearby planets to collect flesh and blood of the living to sate his subject's hunger.
*'''Silva Tenebris:''' setting of the [[Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus|Mechanicus game]].
*'''Gladius prime:''' setting of the [[Warhammer 40,000: Gladius - Relics of War]].
* A lot of [[Forge Worlds]] and Knight Worlds are in fact.

==See Also==
{{40k-Planets}}

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

Tomb World

2019-10-16T20:00:37Z

61.6.235.42: /* Notable Tomb Worlds */

[[File:Tomb_citadel.jpg|400px|centre]]

A '''Tomb World''' is a planet with a [[Necron]] tomb on it (and by "on" we mean "in").

The Necrontyr Empire once spanned the galaxy, but after the Wars of Succession, the disastrous [[War in Heaven]], the biotransference into [[Necron]] bodies, and the sharding of the [[C'tan]], the empire was left weak and the galaxy was a mess. The Necrons thus decided to go to sleep and let things settle down, so they sought refuge in great tombs, preparing to wake up in sixty million years' time to retake a healed galaxy.

In that time, the galaxy didn't just stop moving; since the vast majority of the inhabitants of the galaxy (basically everyone but the [[Eldar]], who were too busy having orgies/staying away from Slaanesh to remember them) never heard of the Necrons, they didn't know to check for them when settling planets, and so any inhabited planet (and any uninhabited planet, for that matter) could be a Tomb World. However, as of the 41st Millennium, the sixty million years are up, and the Necrons are starting to wake back up. Most of them are not keen on sharing their world with the upstarts who have moved in during their slumber.

==Notable Tomb Worlds==
[[File:Kaurava_3.jpg|right|thumb|Kaurava 3. Seems cozy if you're a desert tortoise or a Necron]]
*'''[[Kaurava System|Kaurava 3]]:''' destroyed by [[Gorgutz 'Ead 'Unter]].
*'''[[Kronus]]:''' Destroyed by [[Blod Rehvens]].
*'''[[Cato Sicarius|Damnos]]:''' Setting of the Fall of Damnos. Settled during the [[Great Crusade]] and, while rich in resources, was given low priority, [[Necrons]] awakened in 973.M41, and one year were controlling the entire planet. The [[Ultramarines]] could only gather what remained of the populace and retreat into deep space. The Ultramarines later returned in full Chapter strength and alongside a massive Imperial fleet as well as dozens of Deathwatch kill-teams, utterly rekt the Necrons, destroying their [[C'tan]] shard and destroying every single Tomb Complex inside the planet.
*'''[[Uriel Ventris|Pavonis]]:''' Setting of the novels Nightbringer and Courage and Honor. Mining World, location of the Tembra Ridge a mountain range over the [[C'tan#Aza.27Gorod.2C_The_Nightbringer|Nightbringer's]] tomb, the [[Ultramarines]] 4th Company led by [[Uriel Ventris]], managed to stop it from escaping into space, but it was never implied that the [[C'tan#Aza.27Gorod.2C_The_Nightbringer|Nightbringer]] shard was ever destroyed.
*'''[[Ciaphas Cain|Simia Orichalcae]]:''' Setting of the novel Caves of Ice. An ice world, uninhabited except for Promethium processing plants scattered across the planet to refine veins of rare ice. It had a Necron Tomb, but it was later destroyed by [[Ciaphas Cain]] (though [[Amberley Vail]] privately stated that no one was too keen on finding out if they truly were gone.)
*'''Naogeddon:''' Setting of the short story Deus ex Mechanicus. It houses a [[C'tan#Mephet.27ran.2C_The_Deceiver|shard of the Deceiver]], due to this several [[Explorator Fleet|Explorator Teams]] have disappeared while exploring in there.
*'''Carnac:''' Former [[Eldar World#Exodite Worlds|Exodite World]], was reclaimed by the [[Necrons]] in the Carnac Campaign by [[Anrakyr the Traveller]]. During the campaign Anrakyr commissioned aid from Mandragora, Gidrim, Trakonn, Solemnace led by [[Trazyn the Infinite]], and [[Orikan the Diviner]]. While the [[Exodites]], got help from [[Alaitoc]], [[Eldorath Starbane]], and [[Illic Nightspear]].In the end the Necrons won, because of suprise reinforcements from the just awakened Necrons of Carnac. The [[Eldar]] retreated, and [[Trazyn the Infinite|Trazyn]] got his World Shrine.
*'''Sarkon:''' Capital of the Empire of the Severed. When radiation storms wiped the memories of the Necrons in Sarkon, leaving them mindless husks of their former selves, the Master Program's own systems were damaged. The malfunctioning program saw the quiet order it had brought to Sarkon and resolved to carry it to other worlds, adopting the form of the Necron Overlord that it dubbed the "Sarkoni Emperor" to do so. Ever since then it has absorbed four other Tomb Worlds.Other non-Necron worlds were also absorbed, [[Grimdark|using Mindshackle Scarabs to bring any unruly creatures under its direct control]].
*'''Solemnace:''' Tomb World of everyone's [[Trazyn the Infinite|favourite collector/historian/shameless grave robber]].
*'''Mandragora:''' Crown World (capital) of the [[Sautekh Dynasty]]. All of its Overlords and Lords decided fighting a civil war as soon as they woke up was fun. Right up until [[Imotekh the Stormlord]] put a stop to that.
*'''Gidrim:''' Part of the Sautekh Dynasty, ruled by [[Nemesor Zahndrekh]].
*'''Pyrrhia:''' Original Tomb World of [[Anrakyr the Traveller]].
*'''Morrigar:''' Former [[Hive World]], gang warfare awakened the Necron, six months later when [[Cadia|Cadian]] [[Imperial Guard Regiment|207th regiment]], there was no trace of any inhabitants, human or otherwise. When [[Anrakyr]] arrived, the lack of Necrons was blamed was on the Cadian 207th and were wiped out by Anrakyr.
*'''Hollow Crown:''' Suhbekhar Dynasty Crown World that is a necropolis forged deep within the center of a star. Its construction was commanded by the Phaeron Ahmontekh due to his fears that his aeons long sleep would make him vulnerable to his enemies.
*'''Thanatos:''' Houses the Celestial Orrery, a device capable of forcing stars to [[Exterminatus|undergo a supernova millennia before its time that destroys all the nearby worlds that circle it]], unfortunately using it must be done with careful consideration as it could [[FAIL|upset the natural order of the cosmos and create a critical chain reaction]].
*'''Avarris:''' Tomb World of the Sautekh Dynasty, and [[Imperial Knight]] world, when the Necrons tried to exterminate the place, they found [[Wat|their gauss technology to be ineffective against the ion shields used by the world's Knights]], that or the Imperial Knights don't want their honour to be hurt by the fact that they lost against the Necrons.
*'''[[Flayed_Ones#The_Bone_Kingdom_of_Drazak|Drazak]]:''' Also known as the Bone Kingdom, a world populated almost entirely by Flayed Ones, who are ruled by Valgul the Fallen, a [[Necron Lord]] immune to the Flayer virus. Every few months Valgul announces a Time of Bounty, where they launch fleets to raid nearby planets to collect flesh and blood of the living to sate his subject's hunger.
*'''Silva Tenebris:''' setting of the [[Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus|Mechanicus game]].
*'''Gladius prime:''' setting of the [[Warhammer 40,000: Gladius - Relics of War]].
* A lot of [[Forge Worlds]] in fact.

==See Also==
{{40k-Planets}}

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

Forge World

2019-10-16T19:59:25Z

61.6.235.42: /* Planet */

'''Forge World''' is a term associated with [[Warhammer 40,000]]. In-universe, it applies to planets owned by the [[Adeptus Mechanicus]] devoted entirely to manufacturing. Out-of-universe, it applies to a division within [[Games Workshop]] that specializes in large and finely-detailed models.

== Company ==
[[Image:Manta.jpg|thumb|Hello, I'm a Tau [[Manta]]. I am reasonably priced at a mere £1,100 (€1,360) ($1,705).]]
[[Image:Trumpeter-KT.jpg|thumb|Hello, I'm a Trumpeter 2-in-1 1:16 King Tiger. You can buy four of me for that.]]
The first meaning of Forge World is if you took [[Games Workshop]] and leveled it up a few times. It's a sub-division of GW and produces [[finecast|resin-cast models]] for 40k, [[Warhammer Fantasy Battle|Fantasy Battle]], [[Battlefleet Gothic]], and [[Epic]]. Forge World grew from one of the oldest official giant stupid model projects, the early 40K lead Thunderhawk Gunship, which was originally created as a limited edition and routinely thrown at people who won GW contests. The Thunderhawk proved so popular that GW realized there was a serious market for giant stupid models, and thus Forge World was born to provide them, starting with [[Baneblade]]s and suchlike, working up to full-sized 40K Titans. Over time it's since gone about producing its own range of models and rule sets for a huge array of different factions, and even has its own home-grown Imperial Guard variants (the badass <s>Death Korps of Krieg</s> (or at least codified what was once little more than a doodle in the 3rd Edition IG Codex) and Elysian Drop Troops). The awesome-looking Chaos Renegades for [[Lost and the Damned]] also came from here.

More recently, Forge World has been spitting out gloriously beautiful and horrendously expensive Horus Heresy-era models, meaning every mark of Astartes Power Armor, Cataphractii Terminators, and older patterns of Rhino and Land Raider. This, in turn, creates the best and worst things ever; re-built, revamped Rogue Trader models. The horrible, goofy weapons, tanks, and dreadnoughts are back, in wonderful, goofy new resin kits. They all look amazingly terrible (and terribly amazing), but the icing on the cake includes Primarchs like ''[[Horus]] himself'' and ''fukken JETBIKES.'' Yes, Forge World put out pre-Heresy Jetbikes, and they are everything you hoped and dreamed for (provided you hoped and dreamed for resin dicks with Spess mahrienss inside them), including a new forgotten weapon type (the Volkite). And now they also have Mechanicum models too- because who doesn't want to play around with the oft-forgotten Imperial Robots?

In addition, many of their older models (read: all the ones you want) are no longer available and command even ''higher'' premium prices, and all special models (read: all of them) require an attendant overpriced supplement containing rules that tell you how the hell to actually use it, since just including these as a printable PDF on the site would remove a valuable opportunity to steal your moneys. These are called [[Imperial Armour]] Volumes, and are handily abbreviated by [[Neckbeard|everyone here]] as '''IA''' (and then a Volume Number). People who claim they have these either do not actually have these and instead have [[Heresy|.pdf copies]] '''/''' only have one or two (generally out of date) and treat them like Gutenberg Bibles '''/''' have like 4+ and are [[Flash Gitz|way too rich for their own good]].

Also responsible for the [[Forgeworld Reserve Phenomenon]].

As of April 1st, 2016 (and no, it doesn't appear to be an April Fools joke), Forge World has apparently jumped onto GW's "Last Chance to Buy" bandwagon and has decided to do some housecleaning on their product range. Thankfully, it's mostly obscure bits that likely hardly anyone ever bought or used, but notable losses include the Ork Kill Krusha Tank, Macharius Omega, and almost the [[Rage|''entire'' MKIV Dreadnought line, ''both'' Chaos and Loyalist]]. Many other models have gotten the axe since, notably all the Elysian line, mark 2, 3, and 4 space marine armor, etc. Combined with the retarded markup they now give to buyers outside the UK and the Adeptus Titanicus <strike>fiasco</strike> [[Adeptus Titanicus| glorious]] [[Adeptus Titanicus/Tactics| rebirth]], Forge World is <strike>now seemingly becoming the hated company Games Workshop once was, while the main branch keeps rolling out PR successes.</strike> showing the true colors of Games Workshop as a whole once more - with their "faster shipping" fiasco proving that the entirity of their social media is merely a publicity stunt (like most corporations). It's worth nothing that FW represents GW as a whole - they are run by the same people on the highest levels.

'''In conclusion:''' "Five hundred quid for a fucking titan? [[Rage|If I ever find the fucker responsible I'm going to beat them to death with their own]] [[HHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhnnnnnnngggggg-]]".
Note: Look at the new Warlord titans, 900 POUNDS for a titan, 1240 with weaponry.

'''*This doesn't mean to imply that you're limited to only two models unless you happen to be a serial killer or a corrupt mortician.'''

=== Notable Writers ===

*[[Alan Bligh]], who unfortunately died of cancer on May 26, 2017, and who was responsible for the creation of many rules concepts eventually used in the Forge World rulebooks. [http://www.john-french.com/2017/05/alan-bligh-remembered.html Read an obituary written by fellow GW writer John French here.]
*[[John French]]
*[[Andy Hoare]]
*[[Neil Wylie]]

=== Things Forge World Loves ===
[[Image:Red_Scorpions_Marine.png‎|thumb|150px|right|Screw giving the Sisters of Battle some [[Sisters of Cleaning|much needed loving]], let's just concentrate all our resources on some [[Red Scorpions|obscure chapter that nobody cares about]].]]
* Your money
* The [[Horus Heresy]]
* Aircraft
* Rapiers
* [[Tau]] [[Battlesuit]]s <strike>(XV9s!! fap fap fap) (XV107s!!! fapfapfapfap)</strike> (HERESY! '''''BLAMBLAMBLAM''''')
* IG Tanks
* Have we said your money?
* [[Daemon Engines]]
* '''[[Red Scorpions]]'''
* [[Terminator]]s, all the Terminators (except for the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Terminator robots originating from a certain movie], even though Games Workshop lifted from that movie to make [[Necrons|a race of robots for their setting]])
* [[Titan (Warhammer 40,000)|Titan]]s and the price to go with them
* TEH [[Baneblade|BANEBLEHDS]]
* <s>[[Kroot]]</s>
* We may as well say it again, your money
* Charging 100$ for a book
* High quality Customer Service
* [[Space Marines]]
* [[Dreadnought]]s (they actually sell autocannons!!!)
** Now really only true for Contemptor/Leviathan/Deredeo Dreads, since they axed most of their Mk IV/V Dread stuff, including FW-exclusive variants like [[Chaplain]] and [[Noise Marines|Sonic]] Dreadnoughts.
* [[Death Korps of Krieg]]
* Adding an extra "0" to the end of reasonable prices
* The word "siege" attached to everything
* Turrets & Immobile scenery
* <strike>Units that are broken to play against</strike> not anymore, GW realised they lost money because of that
* Your ''Opponent's'' money
* Selling towing vehicles to move that immobile scenery around
* Bringing civilian vehicles to battle. Seriously, a Sentinel [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_(franchise)| Power-lifter]?
* Papa [[Nurgle]]
* The [[Orks]], when [[Games Workshop|GW]] won't love them because they aren't serious enough
* [[Total War: WARHAMMER]] (Especially the Norsca DLC, which whilst [[Awesome]], was basically a playable Forgeworld advertisement!)
* [https://i.imgur.com/BgYmszI.png Discontinuing items more-or-less at random], apparently. Including ones you might actually need for making viable Horus Heresy armies.
* '''Your Money''' Tis r moneh nao

=== Things Forge World Hates ===
* Decent shipping
* Australians
* New Zealanders
* EU Citizens
* 'Rest of the World' citizens
* Anyone not in the UK, really
* Poor people (eg. most of the editors of 1d4chan).
* You.
* Making sure their rules all have models.
* Making sure their models all have rules.
* Making sure their weapons have weapon profiles.
* Making army lists (the rules for their models are fine; their lists, on the other hand, are not).
* Making sure their stuff is balanced.
*Making sure the £180 Fellblade Super Heavy Tank you just bought came with THE FUCKING TURRET
* Spell Chequing.
* Did we mention you? You.
* Proofreading books before release for rules/timelines/basic logic errors ''(supersonic transports that cannot land?)''.
* Warhammer Fantasy.
* <strike>Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit.</strike> No longer true, ever since they were given full control over the range. Now it's one of the few things they still make stuff for.
* Chaos that isn't Khorne or Nurgle.
* Dwarfs
* The Empire
* Other games workshop stores
* [[Gabriel Angelos|Making faces that don't look like shit.]]
* Making their instructions anywhere near understandable.
* Making uniform base sizes.
* Making sure their weapons don't have similar (or in some cases, the same) names.
* Releasing anything they advertise until long after the initial hype has died down.

=== An Alternative Point on the Price (which is your soul, by the way) ===
While it’s a tradition of neckbeards everywhere to bemoan having to pay an arm, leg, testicle and unicorn blood for Forge World, it could be argued that Forge World’s high costs do have the beneficial side effect of taking some of the overpowered weapons and wargear that are supposed to be rare in the fluff, and bringing them into the tabletop while still making them rather rare in the meta, as comparatively few people are willing or able to fork over the [[teef]] for the models and rules. This is a good thing because, well, everybody ''wants'' a Titan, but do you really want everybody to actually ''have one''? This way, it’s a bigger deal when this stuff actually shows up on the tabletop, as it should be, and if you’re the sort that doesn’t like to go up against that sort of cheese you’re not likely to run into it too often.... or at least that's how it WOULD be if Forgeworld units weren't such a mixed bag these days. Not everything they make right now is overpowered, in fact if they aren't they tend to be absolute shite.

A case in point of what happens when that little status quo is disrupted, with the release of affordable plastic Contemptor dreadnoughts and Cataphractii terminators, and with Angels of Death giving us non-Forge World rules for them, you can bet that everyone and their squig is gonna have the damn things now, even with the rather dumbed-down rules compared to Imperial Armour.

=== Common Misconceptions ===
You'll occasionally find arguments online or perhaps within local gaming groups about the validity or "official-ness" of Forge World products. This has become less prevalent in recent years as the general perception of Forge World has become more mainstream, though every now and then the prejudice rears its ugly head, usually when your opponent [[Butthurt|won't let you play]] the FW model you forked out a small fortune for.

Lets make one thing perfectly clear: Forge World ''(and Black Library)'' is Games Workshop. They share the same trading address and legal identity. It is not a subsidiary company (which would be a separate legal entity, but owned by the parent) nor is it a [[Fantasy Flight Games|licensee]] (which is a third party permitted to use the IP).

By comparison, [[Citadel Miniatures]] was founded as a subsidiary company and had its own separate projects outside of Warhammer/Warhammer 40,000 ''(so your opponent can [[Rage]] when you tell him your Forge World model has more direct legal provenance than his old metal models)''. GW also acquired Sabertooth games, which operated as an independent subsidiary, but both were eventually absorbed back into Games Workshop.

So, back to the issue with Forge World. Many [[Trolls|people]] had an innate dislike for the fact that Forge World models and rules were not actually declared by Forge World *or* Games Workshop to be "officially" part of the game; they would refuse to allow them on the tabletop, since they did not come from a Games Workshop primary rules source (such as a Codex, or the Big Rule Book). Forge World eventually started printing prefaces in their books explaining that their rules were official; but some still claim that since "Games Workshop" itself hasn't come out and said it, that they remain unofficial. However, since the spines of FW's books have always had the Games Workshop logos on them and the inside front cover have the legal copyright and property notices from GW, this argument seems specious at best; rather, much like how the Big Rule Book has no actual explicit declaration that rules from White Dwarf are "official", the Imperial Armour books themselves should be considered as canonical (what ever that means in 40k) as GW sources.

However, as with White Dwarf, GW hates you far too much as a gamer and customer to label any of their rulebooks/codices with edition numbers, much less ensure that their FW rules are always kept up to date with the current edition, and unlike Codices where you can typically determine the edition at a glance, a lot of Forgeworld books superficially "look" similar and may even have exactly the same name ''(to date there have been FOUR books with the title "Imperial Armour Apocalypse" but only two of them have sub-titles)''. This can be a major reason the rules are banned at tournaments, and an opponent might object for the same reason they might object to fighting a Squats army under the current rules - however "obvious" the rules translation might be, some people are uncomfortable playing games across too wide an edition gap, as rules interactions may make no sense at all and/or have utterly pathological balance ramifications. '''Update''' this has become pretty much irrelevant with the release of 8th edition where forgeworld have released complete indexes for pretty much their entire line.

We all know how [[ChapterHouse Studios|litigious]] GW can get with regards to "unofficial" products using their copyright, so you can bet if it wasn't official/legal Forge World would have had their asses handed to them, but it would seem absolutely stupid to sue the guys in the next office over in the same building as you.

So next time you get to the table and your opponent starts whining about your Forge World models not being legal, just batter him over the head with your Imperial Armour book, which will be an order of magnitude heavier than his little codex and claim your victory by default.

'''As an additional side note''' - this has nothing to do with the perception of FW rules being either powerfully unbalanced or too focused on the narrative, but on reflection, that's no different from the [[skub]] surrounding [[Grey Knights|codex creep]] and [[Tyranids|painful nerfing]] already rampant within "core" GW material. So what's new?

If a Tournament Organiser decides that they don't want to include Forgeworld rules then that is entirely their prerogative as they will want the tournament to be as balanced or as hassle free as is reasonable, especially since FW have a tendency to publish their rules with minor variances across multiple "in-date" books, which can be a nightmare to manage, especially where some books have "current" rules alongside other rules which have been superseded elsewhere. Though with the advent of 8th edition, and all factions receiving simultaneous rule updates via indexes (Imperial, Xenos and Chaos Imperial Armour indexes), these rules are much easier to keep track of than ever before.

But these organisers ''(if they are smart)'' will also likely restrict "core" army selections too, so no Unbound lists or may exclude certain FOCs, because in the end which is more unbalanced and [[Cheese|cheesy]]? The guy who takes a contemptor dreadnought in his Combined Arms detachment or the guy who take an unbound army of Heldrakes? (Ha Held Rakes sound scary). If the tournament organizer is using the ITC standard for 40k, Forge World units themselves are in fact quite legal.

All that said however, there is a somewhat valid reason why someone may be a bit "model-shy" around Forge World rules; and that is information. There are 16 armies in 40k, and each dex tends to have more than one valid build; the Astra Militarum alone has six (tank heavy, artillery heavy, balance, flying circus, infantry spam, veteran spam). From a player's perspective, throwing MORE armies, rules, and models at them only compounds how much they need to consider. By counting Forge World, the number of army lists jumps to over 28 without considering supplements or mini-codices with only a handful of options, and again, each list can be played in more than one way, and then there are the (admittedly handful) of differences between Forge World and Games Workshop about the same model "is that the vanquisher with the coaxial? or not?" and then on top of all that you need to consider allies. While Forge World is legal from any logical standpoint, people are not logical, and may be daunted by just how much new information they have to learn in order to make proper gameplay choices and not lose, because they did not know that the Death Korp can give orders to artillery. Again, though Forge World is by any standard as legal as any codex, the other player may feel intimidated by your Space Marine siege army just because he does not know for sure what it can do and chose to walk way from it the same way he would if you brought an unbound army made of nothing but riptides.

== Planet ==

The second, fluffy, definition is a type of [[Imperial Worlds]] that refers to an entire world converted into a factory; one that runs at high capacity, even for its size. They produce everything from [[laspistol]]s to [[Land Raider]]s to [[Titan]]s, so they are needed to keep the Imperial war machine trundling forward. Because of their nature, the [[Adeptus Mechanicus]] highly regard these worlds as holy places, and the Mechanicus owns just about all of them, which is fine since there are only a few of them and the Mechanicus is best at maintaining that shit. Losing a single one is considered an unacceptable loss by the Mechanicus, and the Imperium as well since it'll be harder than fuck to fill in those planet-sized gaps in their industrial sector. In the [[fluff]], there is actually a forgeworld called [[What|'Zpandex']]. Turns out, many of them are actually [[Tomb World]]s.

=== A few Forge Worlds of note are: ===
* '''Accatran''' - Makes all the wargear for the Elysian Drop Troops. Their Titan Legion, the Legio Destructor is the largest of all the Titan legions and their constant battles against Orks have made the Legio Destructor increasingly unorthodox in its outlook and behavior (read: Orky), and they have the awesome battlecry, 'big death, Big Death, BIG DEATH!'
* '''Agripinaa''' - One of the Forge Worlds in the [[Eye of Terror]], too bad [[Typhus]] turned one of their Agri-Worlds into his own little Daemon World. Has kept itself independent and Chaos-free since the fall of Cadia by "recruiting" refugees into its Skitarii legions, and occasionally making them into servitors.
* '''Angstrom''' - Situated near Badab. When Lufqt Huron's secession occurred they initially supplied both sides, but ultimately fell in line with the Imperials and contributed the [[Legio Crucius]] to the invasion of the Badab System.
* '''Anvilus''' - Prime maker of the [[Land Raider]] before the Heresy, as well as the main guns of everyone's favorite [[Dreadnought#Deredeo_Pattern|Legboat]]. Described as the only serious rival to Mars for manufacturing output once Phaeton was bullied into splitting its assets. Taken over by Horus's forces during the heresy and presumably destroyed afterwards.
* '''Aphret''' - A minor Forge World during the Great Crusade. Contributed frigates to the Imperium's fleets, notably the ''Grey Talon''.
* '''Arachnus''' - A forgeworld that seems to specialize quite heavily in big fucking lasers. They're the assholes that produce the "Heavy Laser Destroyers" that are sometimes mounted on Deredeo Dreadnoughts, as well as the ones used by Custodians.
* '''Atar Median''' - Founded by exiles from Phaeton. Home to the Legio Atarus (Firebrands).
* '''Chaeroneia''' - A small Forge World, that turned traitor and became a "Cannibal world" incorporating extreme amounts of bio-mechanical tech. The [[Titan#Castigator_Titan]] was responsible for the world's fall, corrupting an Archmagos, who subsequently converted the ruling class into a Chaos Cult that worshipped the Chaos-corrupted Titan as the Omnissiah.
* '''Cyclothrathe''' - Home to a particularly brutal sect in 30K, who followed Horus into rebellion. Used a House of enslaved and tortured Knights, and their warlord [[Draykavac]] became one of the most hated members of the nascent Dark Mechanicum.
* '''Deimos''' - One of the moons of Mars, a micro Forgeworld. Deimos is pretty much the size of an asteroid and shaped like a potato, that made the old-school patterns of vehicles that we players refer to as "heresy era". After the Horus Heresy it was displaced and put into orbit around Titan to provide all the goodies to the [[Grey Knights]] instead. So it's now a moon of a moon. The functionaries of Deimos are mind wiped at both ends to prevent them knowing about daemons, but the moon still maintains three knightly houses with complementary skitarii, ready to assist the Grey Knights should they need support. Because attending to one order of Knights wasn't enough, they need ''four'' to really be satiated.
**'''Phobos''' In case you're wondering about the other moon: Phobos in 40k was covered in guns literally as Mars' last line of defense. In reality it is expected to slam into Mars at some point in the future. Though to be fair by 'future', we mean about 30 or 50 million years. But that's before you build a shit ton of guns on it, and they can probably fly it somewhere like they did with Deimos, so who knows what it's orbit is now. The Beast Arises series seems to hint at Phobos being missing from accident during a test to try and teleport Mars out of the Beast's Waaagh!-path. Interestingly: Phobos has a [[Monolith]] on it, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phobos_monolith no seriously].
* '''Estaban''' - Home to the Legio Tempestus maniple which went heretic, and went with them. Eventually reclaimed by the Imperium.
* '''Graia''' - A forge world made of space stations that orbit the planet Graia. The last known makers of the Rapier Laser Destroyer, and incur misfortune (like getting attacked by [[Orks]] in [[Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine]] and then eaten by the [[Tyranids]]) because GW ''hates'' the Rapier. Poetically, [http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/Warhammer-40000/Imperial_Guard/Death-Korps-of-Krieg/GRAIA-PATTERN-RAPIER-LASER-DESTROYER.html Forge World loves Rapiers.]
* '''Gryphonne IV''' - Got wrecked by the [[Tyranids]], although some pretty cool artillery and [[Chimera|Chimeras]] made from there still roll with the [[Imperial Guard|IG]].
* '''Incaladion''' - A Forgeworld on the fringes of Imperial Space and constantly raided during the Age of Strife, it was home to the Legio Fureans 'Tiger Eyes'.
* '''Jupiter''' - I know right? Bet you didn't know about this one. The Imperial Navy's foremost shipyard and drydock. It only makes ships. It is a hotly contested Imperial political debate as to whether Jupiter is soverign to the Mechanicum or the Imperium. They went totally green though, the hippies.
* '''Kai''' - Once relatively close to Eye Of Terror. Due to [[Just as planned|an unfortunate flux]], the Eye expanded and engulfed it. Managed to maintain an Imperial presence for a time, considering that their weapons didn't have to obey the laws of physics. Eventually, they had to barter their services (and guns) to various daemons and Chaos Legions inside the Eye in return for protection. Made the legendary [[Bolter#Kai_Gun|Kai Guns]] during this time. Chaos being Chaos, the Machine Smiths of Kai got eradicated in the battle between daemons wanting their [[dakka]] fix. GW being GW, the hundreds of other strange and mystical weapons forged on Kai during its time in the Warp will never be elaborated upon.
* '''Kaurava I''' - A Forge World (continent-spanning Manufactorum, to be precise) which is capable of producing [[Vance Motherfucking Stubbs|over 100 Baneblades]] at any given notice. The status of this world is unclear, although it was likely abandoned or destroyed during the Kaurava conflict of [[Dawn of War|Dawn of war: Soulstorm]]. (Dawn of War III confirms that Gorgutz won the Kaurava Conflict)
*'''The Lathes''' - Actually a group of three Forge Worlds in one system, named Het, Hesh and Hadd individually. These planets all have an extremely odd orbit around their parent star, which somehow results in their native ores having unusual properties because of "gravity fluctuations". Besides being the center of production for the Calixis Sector, their most famous exports are Lathe-forged Blades, which use the aforementioned ore to basically be indestructible, able to stand up to even power blades.
* '''Lliax''' - 30K-era Forge World. Supplied Shadrak Meduson's warbands during the Heresy, but they seem to have been involved in subverting his command with the Cultmof the Gorgon.
* '''Lucius''' - First colonized by [[Battletech]] players from the late Eighties. Maintains the ancient Legio Astorum, better known as the Warp Runners, and supplies Death Korps of Krieg. They have exclusive patterns for some Titans which are cheaper to produce, [[skub|but not as sweet looking as Mars patterns]]. Didn't get super-heavy tank STCs for a while, which is why they were one of the few major Forge Worlds that launched Macharius tank production when its STC get re-discovered, while most others frowned on it as a "poor man's Baneblade". Unlike most other Mechanicus, they favor white robes for both their priesthood and skitarii, probably because it's the color of hot plasma. So yeah, those unusually white-robed enginseers from the Ciaphas Cain novels are probably Lucians.
* '''[[Mars]]''' - The big boss of the other forgeworlds and the go-to guy for [[STC|stock patterns]] of weapons. Home to the original three titan legions, the ''Triad Ferrum Morgulus'': Legio Ignatus (Fire Wasps), [[Dark Mechanicus|Legio]] [[Nurgle|Mortis]] (Death's Heads), and Legio Tempestus (Stormlords). Has a giant shipyard called the Ring of Iron in orbit, which claims to be one of the largest human-made objects in existence.
* '''Metalica''' - Home to the Legio Metalica. Also known as Metalicus due to GW not wanting to get sued. They maintain the only known [[Titans_40k#Imperial_Titans|Imperial Titans]] capable of out-rocking the [[Gargant]]s made by the [[Ork#Rokkas|Goff Rokkas]]. They also provide most of the adeptus mechanicus forces fighting on Armageddon at any given time.
* '''Mezoa''' - A Volcanic Forgeworld where no Titan can walk for fear of falling through the planet's crust. Was besieged during the Horus Heresy and the Gothic War.
* '''Mordax''' - The one that got taken over by the [[Orks]]. They named it Mordakka ([[MOAR DAKKA|Yes really...]]) and [[Blood Ravens|Blood Ravens-ed]] the titans on it. Despite the dubious [[canon]]icity of the old 13th [[Black Crusade]] materials, Geedubs hasn't forgotten about Mordakka, giving it a place on the Skitarii 7th Edition Codex and AdMech 8th Edition codex's galactic map. It's more than can be said for other worlds on this list...
* '''Morvane''' - Mentioned in the [[Adeptus Custodes]] codex, Morvane is a "lost forge world" but also the only lead the Custodes have to a possible fix for the [[Golden Throne]].
* '''M'Pandex''' - Also called Z'pandex, Mappandax and Zaphadak. You may commence laughing. (The original joke may have been that, during the Rogue Trader days, the Imperium needed a Forge World dedicated just to making all of the 80's-style spandex it would chew through.)
* '''Orestes''' - Supplied the Sabbat Worlds Crusade, but got attacked by Chaos Titans. [[Awesome|''And won.'']] [[Dan Abnett]] wrote [[Titanicus|a book]] about it. Presumably get overrun by Chaos with the rest of segmentum during the Night of Thousand Rebellions. It's apparently a Mechanicus-affiliated Knight World now. GW what the hell?
* '''Paramar''' - Invaded and overrun by the Alpha Legion at the beginning of the Horus Heresy.
* '''Phaeton''' - Used to be where the standard Leman Russ, Chimera and Basilisk patterns came from, before GW changed the models to the Mars pattern. Home to the Legio Osedax (Cockatrices). It probably still is where the STCs were discovered, and Mars just "lifted" them for safe keeping.
* '''Ryza''' - Makes all the coolest plasma stuff because nobody else could keep their act together. Their Titan Legion is the awesomely named Legio Crucius (Warmongers). After fighting Orkz for so long their Skitarii have the most badass warcry among other Forgeworlds: "[[Rip and tear|Red in Cog and Claw!]]"
* '''Sarum''' - Forge World closely aligned with the [[World Eaters]]. Purged after they turned traitor.
* '''Stygies VIII''' - Makes awesome guns and ammo, as well as the (apparently rare) [[Leman Russ Battle Tank|Leman Russ Vanquisher]]. Cannot keep their act together, losing [[Vance Motherfucking Stubbs|''two whole Titan Legions'']] to [[Chaos]] and having to get another legion [[Fail|transplanted in.]] [[What|Also it is a moon.]] Their tech priests constantly get into fights with Deathwatch killteams due to their intense interest in xenos technology.
*'''Toil''': Got fucked over by Perturabo invoking Nurgle, causing the factories to become living Daemon Engines. Either completely lifeless, or [[Heresy|turned traitor]] depending on the source.
* '''<s>Tigrus</s> Tigris''' - Originally made/discovered the Vanquisher Cannon, the Fellblade Accelerator Cannon, and several other Great Crusade-Era Imperial ordinance pieces and ammunition. Currently overrun by the [[Orks]], specifically the Murda Meks of Tigris. Most players generally consider the Orkish takeover a good thing, seeing as this world now makes the [[Kill Tanks]] from IA8.
* '''Tigrus''' - Sits on the "dark" edge of the galaxy-wide fuck-off warp rift known as the Cicatrix Maledictum. Notably ''not'' overrun by Orks. Unlike the above world of ''Tigris'', which is also conveniently in the Ultima Segmentum. Seriously guys, Tigrus ''just'' won a campaign against the Tau in M41! They ''totally aren't'' the same forge world, and GW ''totally didn't'' [[derp|forget about one of the most famous Ork-held worlds]] between 5th and 8th Edition when the new Adeptus Mechanicus codex came out, and the ''totally unrelated'' former forge world Tigris ''totally isn't'' a misspelling existing only in IA8! Why are you all looking at me like that?
* '''[[Tolkien|Tolkhan]]''' - [[Imperial Armour|IA Vol. 1]] gave us this gem. Oh [[Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader|Rogue Trader]], how you haunt [[Games Workshop|GW]] to this day. [[/tg/|We]] love you so. Incidentally, it is home to the best named Titan Legion ever: Legio Pallidus Mor.
* '''Triplex Phall''' - A Forge World on the Eastern Fringe, nearly got shitcanned by attacks from Hive Fleet Kraken and the Death Guard. Used to produce lasrifles for the Solar Auxila and currently produces the M-Galaxy Pattern lasgun. Constantly pisses of Mars by hoarding archeotech while refusing to hand them over.
* '''Urdesh''' - A Chaos-tainted Forge World in the Sabbat Worlds Sector, and contested heavily during the Sabbat World's Crusade. It was a more general-purpose Forge World, in that it produced all sorts of munitions, from Lascarbines to Autocannons to APCs and much, much more. Its specialty, however, was a large number of tank designs, most notably the AT-70 ''Reaver'' and the AT-80 ''Brigand''. While not quite as useful as Leman Russes, they were capable enough for the PDF in the sector. It remained under control of the Blood Pact army of Chaos until sometime towards the end of the Crusade. The [[Tanith First (And Only)]] face off against a lot of production from this world.
* '''Vanaheim''' - Known for producing its its own pattern of the [[Medusa Siege Gun|Medusa]] and [[Basilisk Artillery Gun|Basilisk]] with a unique gunshield as well as being the Forge World of origin for the [[Salamander Reconnaissance Tank|Salamander]] and [[Centaur Utility Vehicle|Centaur]].
* '''Voss Prime''' - A ''prime'' example of [[Imperium|Imperial]] [[fail]], has no idea [[what]] to do with [[Plasma|plasma.]] On the other hand, it made a Lasgun 2.0 called the Voss Pattern Lasrifle (it was [[awesome]]) and supplied the entire [[Solar Auxilia]] with it, down to a man. Who cares about plasma when you manufacture enough flashlights to light the whole Galaxy up? Still manages to maintain the goofily-named Legio Invigilata though. Also makes Vulture gunships and Lightning Strike Fighters. Supplies several patterns of ship with a distinctive eagle prow design (notably to the [[Armageddon]] fleets), though ''additional'' [[fail]] on Games' Workshop's part means that three of those were produced for all of two weeks before getting their molds permanently shitcanned.
* '''[[Xana II]]''' - A neutral Forgeworld that tried to play both sides during the Heresy, only for the Loyalists to fuck their shit up. Taken over by a hardcore motherfucker named [[Anacharis Scoria|Anacharis "I Eat Primarchs For Dinner" Scoria]] and became the first of the Dark Mechanicum Hellforges. Now drifts through the warp, selling Hellblades, Hell Talons and Harbinger Bombers to Chaos Warbands.
*'''Zhao-Arkhad''' - Also spelled Arkkad, the Anarcho-Capitalist Forgeworld that decided it was best to buddy up with the [[Thousand Sons]]. Their mistake led to their Forge World being razed during the Heresy. It would be re-founded in M41, and the schematics for the [[Crassus Armored Assault Transport|Crassus]] and Praetor found there. Once home to the Legio Xestobiax (Iron Vigil), who used heretekal Psi-Control cores in their Titans. It is unknown if this made Xestobiax titans Psi-Titans or not.

{{40k-Planets}}

[[Category:Companies]][[Category:Games Workshop]][[Category:Warhammer Fantasy]][[Category:Dark Mechanicus]]

Boss Zagstruk

2019-10-16T19:54:17Z

61.6.235.42:

[[File:---storage-emulated-0-Download-99810103006 BossZagstrukNEW01.jpg|thumb|300px|right|''Ca-caw you zoggin gits.'']]

'''Boss Zagstruk''' is an [[Ork]] [[Warboss]] who leads a personal squad of Stormboyz called Da Vulcha Squad, named after his personal red [[Fighta-Bommer]]. He lost his legs to a [[Space Marine|Spess Mehreen]] [[Dreadnought]], which made the mistake of dropping him and thinking him dead. Being 'arder than the average ork, Zagstruck used his arms to grab ahold of its legs, hauled himself up into its crotch and ripped its own legs off with his hands and teef. Then, after the battle, he got the dread's legs rebuilt into a snazzy new set of bionic legs for himself called Da Vulcha's Klaws (sensing a pattern here?). These two have the same crushing power as two Power Klaws, compounded by the weight of him landing on the unfortunate foe.
He and his squad are currently having a blast fighting for their lives against the [[Tyranid|Tyranids]] that invaded the Ork Empire of Octarius. No, I'm not being sarcastic. He also conquered an Imperial Shrine World which now serves as the capital of his growing Stormwaaagh!.

He is essentially the Ork [[Sly Marbo]], and is so fucking badass that he kills anyone who looks at him funny. He'll probably kill you even if you don't. He was born in a human settlement, and had to throttle his way out of there and back to his parent tribe, killing hundreds. He is perpetually angry, and his glare is enough to silence even the most idiotic Weirdboy. One time, he was fighting some [[Eldar]], and was so pissed off that the Eldar thought their Jetbikes were faster than him that he [[Awesome|Followed them into the Webway]] and went missing for several months. (Keep in mind, he is one of the few non-Eldar to enter the Webway.) He then reappeared, perfectly fucking fine, smiling a blood-filled grin and [[Rape|absolutely covered in Eldar Skulls.]]

{{Ork-Gitz}}

Old Zogwort

2019-10-16T19:53:09Z

61.6.235.42: /* History */

{{Wh40k-stub}}
'''Old Zogwort''' is, arguably one of the most if not the most powerful [[weirdboy]] to ever exist. With his strange and quite silly ability to turn whomever he pleases into [[squig]]s, known as Old Zogwarts curse.

==History==
Zogwart was born on an eclipse on the planet of <s>[[Catachan]]</s> Zurk. Surrounded by blood vipers he immediately went and fought them all. Walking a snake in each hand and covered in snake bites, the durability of him was seen as a blessing of [[Gork]] and [[Mork]] by the feral ork tribe nearby. Surprisingly since no snake has ever faught him, Just slithering away. Then almost immediately rose up to the top ranks in the tribe. But psychic catastrophe struck and he started being all psykery. Being slowly raised into a weirdboy, hordes by bigger orks that kept him on a leash. He was recently swallowed up by a Warp storm, only to be spitted out on to Morrowgrym Prime, purportedly sneezed out by Mork.

{{Ork-Gitz}}

Nazdreg Ug Urdgrub

2019-10-16T19:48:46Z

61.6.235.42:

[[File:Naz-2nd-Ed.jpg|450px|thumb|right|Nazdreg, in all his 2nd Ed glory.]]
Warlord of the Bad Moonz Clan, '''Nazdreg Ug Urdgrub''' is one of the wealthiest [[Orks]] to ever antagonize the Imperium, and quite possibly the richest Ork alive in 40K. Described as being incredibly cunning and more concerned with wealth than war, Nazdreg is what every Bad Moon aspires to be and more.

Nazdreg is also a part-time collaborator with [[Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka]], having worked with him to develop the "Tellyporta" that would be used to great effect on Piscina IV and later on Armageddon, the Third War of which Nazdreg also participated in. Nazdreg could be seen as the Mork to Ghazghull's Gork, where major Ork warlords are concerned.

After Armageddon, the only major campaign Nazdreg took part in was on Medusa V, in which he lost the war and his personal Space Hulk ''Ognazdreg Gargdurslagulk''. But, he snagged an Imperial Battleship for his troubles. Since his escape, he remains at large. He has been spotted leading his forces into the vicinity of Valhalla. After hearing about the Stormsurge he has his Boyz set out for the Farsight Enclaves in the hopes of looting one for use as a Stompa.

Nazdreg embodies traits that aren't common in most modern depictions of Orks: an obsession with something that isn't war, the ability to weigh risks and options, a sense of when it's time to run and hide. That's probably why he doesn't show up much in the lore or on the table. He's also described as being overweight, which is less common for Orks than the gut-forward posture of their models would lead you to believe.

== Tabletop ==
Nazdreg has made some sporadic appearances on the tabletop, appearing in the Second, Third and Seventh editions of the codex. He is always depicted wearing a set of Mega Armour, wielding a Power Claw and his ''Kustom Blast-X'' - a large plasma weapon with considerable ranged accuracy. He also allowed you to take extra Heavy Support choices, back when that mattered.

{{Ork-Gitz}}

Mad Dok Grotsnik

2019-10-16T19:46:07Z

61.6.235.42:

[[File:Grotsnik.jpg|300px|thumb|right|OPERATE, OPERATE! STILL TIME TO OPERATE!]]
If not for [[Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka]], '''Mad Dok Grotsnik''' would probably be dead by now (Vice versa is also true, however). The [[Ork]] equivalent of the Team Fortress 2 Medic, this madman (or madork) cares for nothing more than perfecting the art of 'serjery'. Due to constant bionic upgrades and such, he's now more demented than ever. In particular, his madness started after some Nobz saw that the new Warboss was a dead hard killing machine after this guy welded his skull back together with adamantium. They decided they liked the idea, and all the Nobz in the settlement came to him for the same treatment. Grotsnik decided he might want some insurance when the Nobz realized that a metal skull doesn't equate to being blessed by Gork and Mork, and for leverage he hid a grenade under each new skull he fitted. Pissed off when they found out, the Nobz arranged for him to have an "accident" with a Deff Dread that they thought would kill him. But he wasn't dead, and Grotsnik's ended up on his own 'serjery' table to be worked upon by his [[Gretchin]] assistants. They somehow did manage to to resuscitate him despite one of them puking onto his brain and another losing his pet spider in Grotsnik's skull, and while an impressive feat for Gretchin, they were still Gretchin, so they didn't actually do that great of a job when working out how to reassemble his brain pan. Back from the dead, if a little worse for wear, Grotsnik celebrated [[Grimdark|with fireworks]] to show that ''you don't fuck with Grotsnik!''

Just like with the Medic, any actual healing that this lunatic grants you is [[Grimdark|simply a fortunate side-effect]]. The only reason he's still allowed to keep doing his thing is because he's the one who patched Ghazghkull's skull with adamantium after it got blasted apart by a lucky Bolter round. In return, Ghazghkull was grateful not just for Grotsnik saving his life, but also because the surgery gave him the famous vision by [[Gork]] and [[Mork]] to conquer the galaxy.

Grotsnik actually has a seat on Ghaz's inner council and Ghaz still lets him operate on him. Every once in a while, Grotsnik is actually lucid and sane, and during these moments he's both a smart doctor and a good advisor that's actually saved Ghaz's life on several other occassions. That the mad doctor suspiciously becomes sane whenever Ghaz needs him for something really lends weight to Ghaz's claim that Gork and Mork are watching over him. Recently, he is experimenting on creating Franken-Ork, forrming "Da Corpse Lootas" consisting of Deathskulls, Painboyz, Freebooterz, and his own "Stitchboyz" to steal dead bodies from the battlefield (and make them if there are none) for Grotsnik to use as spare parts.

On the tabletop, he can make any unit Fearless, and grants it Feel No Pain as well. He can even upgrade another squad with Cybork bodies, including Meganobz. The best bit stem from the fact that he's One Scalpel Short of a Medpack (no, like, that's the rule's actual name), which means he gives his squad rampage, and the rule that he's not allowed to leave units by default. Him upgrading a squad of regular Orks is a prohibitively expensive cost, he's much better with mega-nobs since they're more likely to be outnumbered in a scrap and thus take advantage of rampage.

{{Ork-Gitz}}

Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka

2019-10-16T19:40:28Z

61.6.235.42:

[[Image:GHAZGHKULLVSDAHIVE.jpg|right|350px|thumb|That is the [[the beast|greatest Ork warlord to ever live]]? He's about to get his ass whooped by an [[Commissar Yarrick|old man.]]]]
{{topquote|Theys are a weak buncha gitz in yurop. Pansie, feeble...|Mag Uruk Thraka}}

Ghazghull Mag Uruk Thraka, '''the Beast of Armageddon''', is the Warlord of one of the largest [[Ork]] [[WAAAGH]]'s in existence. AND 'E IS DA BIGGEST AND DA BEST BOSS OOO SMASHES ALL DA UMIES, AND ANYFING ELSE WOT WANTZ TA 'AVE A GO!

Being from the political days of [[Rogue Trader]] (when the setting was a straight up parody of 80's British politics), he's also supposedly named after then-prime minister [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Thatcher Margaret "Fuck Yo Unions" Thatcher]; similarly to Thatcher's "Iron Lady" moniker, Ghazghull has been referred to as the "Iron Ork". Take this as you will. Andy Chambers created Ghazghkull's Goff warband from an assortment of figures that the painting team had put together. The actual name came from the Orc-ish language that he and those he LARP'd with made up based on the Black Speech language from Lord of the Rings. Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka's name is a combination of Ghazgh = Metal, Kull = Skull(Head), Mag = Big(Great), Uruk = warrior(Orc), Thraka = Leader. So put it all together Ghaz's name means "Metal head big ork leader". Its likely that a lot of people think its Margret Thatcher because a few people thought the names sounded similar. It could be a little of both, who knows.

==Overview==
{{topquote|Humies is all weak scum that deserve ta get stomped. 'Cept for One-Eye Yarrick. He knows how ter fight.|Ghazkull's opinion on Mankind is rather low.}}
Ghazy started out as an Ork of very little standing or prestige in the Goff's Klan on the planet of Uruk, where he also got his name 'Uruk', Yeah, we thought it was a LoTR reference too (why can't it be both?). Anyway, this meant that he was at least slightly tougher than the regular git, but hey, who's counting?

Anyway, an unknown group of Spess Mehreens (confirmed to be the Dark Angels per the WAAAGH! Ghazghkull Supplement) were forced to attack the Orks in Uruk. Oh, poor Ghazghkull fought, but a bolter round tore into his skull, destroying over 30% of his skull and pulping most of his brain. Rough, considering that like most Orks, he had little there to begin with. After the Spess Mehreens systematically left Uruk, Ghazghkull was found by a particularly... creative Painboy known as Mad Dok Grotsnik, who rebuilt the small Ork's head with adamantium for shits and giggles. (They don't call him ''Mad'' Dok for nothing.)

Apparently metal plates unleash psyker potential within Orks, because Ghazghkull had some visions from Gork and Mork, convincing him he was blessed. So yeah, Orks can be religious too. So, after this, he became delusional - sorry, I meant [[derp|DESTINED FER GRAET FINGZZZ]] and rose to become Warboss of his tribe after a short period of 6 years. Guess he needed to check in with his Ork Minister. Anyway, here's where the lulzy shit starts going down. A year or two later, Uruk's sun began to die, killing boyz with radiation from severe solar flares. However, conveniently enough, a massive Space Hulk appeared and provided Ol' Ghazzy a chance to be someone for a change. (Apparently [[Eldrad|the dick]] had something to do with this, as otherwise the WAAAAGH!! would have headed straight for Craftworld Idharae instead and we all know how much the [[Eldar]] would prefer not to die and, by then, Eldrad already knew that the Imperium could always beat [[The Beast|any amount]] [[Ullanor|of Orks.]]) He decided to get all them boyz on Uruk together and made for that Space Hulk. [[FAIL|It failed to start up several times]]. In the warp of all places. Which also meant they got to whack some daemons while they waited. The daemons may not have found these incidents as amusing as the Orks did.

{{topquote|Travellin' through space is boring. Well, boring unless da hulk yer on is full of dem gene-sneakers, or a base fer da chaos lads wiv da spikes, or already has Boyz on it. Or if humie lootas come callin', that's always good fer a bit a sport. Or unless yer have a mutiny or two to pass da time, or unless strange fings start happenin', which dey usually do when yer out in da warp. One time we had some bloody great ugly fing come straight out of Weird Lugwort's 'ed! It butchered half da lads, that was pretty entertainin'. Come ter fink of it, space is a pretty good larf. And that's before yer find yerself a nice world ta crush!|Bigmaw, Orks on Space Flight}}

Anyway, they finally managed to reach [[Armageddon]], kicking off those massive wars we all know and love. They were all great failures, especially considering how consistently Ghazghkull would get fucked over by Yarrick during the Second Armageddon War. Then the SPESS MEHREEENS arrived and it all went about as well as you would expect things to go for the Orks when the Badass Catholic Space Nazi Warriors of the Imperium decide to get their act together.

After a spectacular defeat Ghazghkull fled, tail between his legs, and abanonded Armageddon in defeat. Almost immediately he began plotting and planning his return. As part of these preparations he, along with Bad Moons Warboss [[Nazdreg]], invaded the world of Piscina IV where they <s>got their asses handed to them</s> seemingly legged it when the [[Dark Angels]] answered the distress calls. What the Imperium would only realize much later is that said raid on Piscina IV, along with a couple of such other 'defeats', were merely ol' Ghazzy testing out new 'gubbinz' and 'taktiks'. Unbeknowst to them, he was leading the Imperials on a merry dance until he was ready for round two.

Once he was ready to get back to it, Ghazghkull lured Yarrick to Golgotha where he ended up crushing the overextended and overconfident Imperials. Still, he let the old man live to prepare Armageddon for him. This ended up being a very stupid idea. (As for why Yarrick had not a single Space Marine in his army: by that time they'd all left for seemingly more urgent battlefields, leaving Yarrick to bring a seemingly fleeing and finished opponent to heel. Except Ghaz' was absolutely not finished, [[pretend|he'd just pretended to be]].)

Then the Third War for Armageddon started and he ends up fighting to a standstill with the Imperium, and withdraws simply because he recieved messages from Gork and Mork that his destiny lay elsewhere. Sometime between all of this, Yarrick swore to avenge the dead of Armageddon and kill Ghazgkhull. A rather strange thing to hear from a Commissar, but ol' Yarrick is hardly a conventional specimen.

Ghazgkhull developed an... equally unhealthy relationship with Yarrick, regarding him as '[[gay|the bestest 'umie evar]]'

And that's all there was to him for about twenty years, till 7th edition. It just seemed falling on his ass twice wasn't enough for da big boss no mores, so the Games Workshop team *gasp* advanced the storyline.

Well, just Ghazghkull's storyline.

See, Ghaz left Armageddon to go find something he wasn't quite sure of. Then, he had this revelation from Gork and Mork, telling him he was to create a galaxy-wide Waaagh! Ghaz had a space battle with Yarrick and Helbrecht, but got away after Gork and Mork themselves spoke through his Weirdboyz to announce to all the Orks present that Ghazgkhull was indeed the Prophet of the Waaagh, leaving his humie boyfriend in the dust. Ghazghkull, now determined to unite the orks under the Great Waaagh, went around the galaxy, thumping heads and getting orks in line. Then he went to Octarius and intervened, killing all the tyranids on Octarius and, essentially, driving over Hive Fleet Leviathan's testicles in a battlewagon. He did have a minor hiccup where he was swallowed by a super-Mawloc. Though he cut his way out he suffered acid burns and had a spike impaled in his body that even teams of Nobs and a Trakkor beam couldn't remove- Ghazghkull's most serious injury since the time he took a Leman Russ battle tank round in the gut. It took a buzzsaw and a Deff Dread with magna-clamps to remove it and Ghazghkull took a long time for an Ork to recuperate; about 1 or 2 hours and he's back to normal by the end of the day.

He let the empire of Octarius and its overfiend know he was the prophet of the ork gods and would bring an eternal Waaagh to the galaxy. Now endless orks flock to Octarius to join the fight against the remaining tyranids, turning the whole area into an endless war of attrition against the tyranids just as Armageddon is against the Imperials. Get that? With pretty much every major ork concentration between Armageddon and Octarius is united under Ghazghkull, he is on his way to uniting the ork race. Oh yeah, and he can psychically sense big concentrations of orks so he knows where to go.

Nowadays, unfortunately, he doesn't get ta have a proppa scrap like he used to. Oh, sure, it'd be ''nice'', but organizing all the orks together into one titanic WAAAAGH! isn't going to happen on its own. There's authority to delegate, multiple fronts to manage, the occasional orky bit of improvisation... It's a good thing he's actually turning out to be a genuinely genius strategist and tactician or it'd all fall apart on him. But when he does take to the field, he's still the most dangerous ork around.

The Deathwatch codex strongly suggests he's finished with Octarius, and fielding the largest Ork fleet the Deathwatch has ever seen. And given that they were first founded to fight The Beast, that's saying something. And it seems now he can be at several places at once.

Some consider Ghazghkhull to be the Warhammer 40K to Warhammer Fantasy's [[Grimgor Ironhide]], but really there's not a lot of common in between. Ghazghkull is much more of a general and statesman rather than Grimgor's epic super-champion that spends his days kicking major ass and taking names but falls flat on his face in strategy, diplomacy, logistics or generally anything that does not involve driving his choppa into some other git's head. Grimgor kicks more ass in a personal combat, but Ghazghkull kicks way more ass with an army and is able to keep it all together long past the point where it should have fragmented into rival warbands, so if anything his FB equivalent should be <s>[[Skarsnik]]</s> [[Azhag the Slaughterer]], who's basically the same guy, but with a mind-controlling crown rather than a vision-inducing chunk of adamantium for a skull.

It is worth noting that Yarrick, Ghazghkull, and Old One-Eye are all essentially takes on the same old fishing story about the one that got away. It's also worth noting that Mag Uruk Thraka means "I am Slaughter" heavily implying Ol' Ghaz is on the way to becoming like [[The Beast]]. The implication is taken further after the opening of the Great Rift, where just like the Beast, there seems to be more than one of him. On top of this, he has access to Necron loot as well, so his technology level will be even greater than WAAAGH! The Beast as well...
The galaxy is about to shit its pants, cause thats a big step on the path to Krork... Unless of course GW will retcon any of his significant acts and pretty much ignore most prevelant danger to imperium becouse WH40k is smurf vs the armless to them.

==Tabletop==
Ghazghkull used to be '''''the''''' Ork HQ. He was the only Ork character with Eternal Warrior, and he had 2+ armor and a 5++ in the form of Cybork body. With Fleet and Fearless in 5th edition, this guy was bad fucking news. In addition to that, if you called a WAAAGH using him it would last TWO TURNS and he would have a 2++ for the duration of that. And anything in his unit that had Slow and Purposeful, including him, could run during the WAAAGH. Though it was admittedly cheesy, especially for Orks, it fit the fluff and it was so awesome no one really cared since he costed as much as a [[Land Raider]].

Then 7th Edition happened.

Among the list of gut punches and groin kicks include:
*Cybork body became a pathetic ''6+ FNP. And he lost an extra attack.''
*His WAAAGH only lasts one turn now. And is changed from auto-running 6" for the whole damn army to just allowing him and the squad to run and charge (which can still find some use but not nearly as good as it used to be).
*''Moved to Lord of War slot.''
*Expensive price kept the same despite the nerfs.
* Actually with his supplement, he can call a WAAAGH!!! every turn granting him a 2++ save EVERY TURN. Still not really worth it though.

This is practically the equivalent of taking [[This Guy]] and punching him in the face, clipping off one of his testicles, and throwing him in jail for something he didn't do and didn't deserve.

Don't get me wrong, he's still no slouch. He can tank and kill most HQs in the game and is still the most powerful Ork character. Sadly, enough focused fire can take him out, and even Abbadon or a well-equipped Hive Tyrant can take him out one-on-one. The sad part is despite the nerfs to his WAAAGH, he'd still be good if he were just an HQ. Now as a Lord of War, he's thrown into the unfair category of Titans, Super-Heavy tanks, and Gargantuan Daemons. As flattering as that sounds, he is ''horribly'' underpowered as a Lord of War. He can't be redeemed as long as a generic warboss with da lucky stick is better and 2 times cheaper. And that very lucky stikk is taken from the cold, dead grasp of legendary Makari who used to hang out with Ghaz...

[[Warhammer 40,000/Tactics/Orks(8E)#Special_Characters|Changed again as of 8th.]] He's back as an HQ now, and got himself a 4++ along with some other nice bits and bobs. On the other hand his special WAAAGH!!! while decent is not nowhere near as amazing as SM stock characters and he looks very weak in presence of monstrosities like Papa Smurf or Mortarion who are not that much more expensive... Powercreep continues I guess.

8th edition ork codex rumors suggest he might get full Primork status and a new model with stats rivaling those of the most powerful models on tabletop currently available. This is not confirmed in any way.

(Spoiler: he didn't, but he got slightly punchier with the Goff Clan warlord trait. Additionally, if you run him in a similar configuration to his bully mob from last edition (and what proppa goff wouldn't) you can make probably the closest thing to a death star 8e can manage with da Lukky Stikk, a Painboy, a couple warboss leftenuntz and a weirdboy to cast Fist of Gork.)

==Awesome Quotes==
"I'm da hand of Gork and Mork, dey sent me to rouse up da boyz to crush and kill ‘cos da boyz forgot what dere ‘ere for.

I woz one of da boyz till da godz smashed me in da ‘ead an’ I ‘membered dat Orks is meant to conquer and make slaves of everyfing they don’t kill.

I’m da profit of da Waaagh an’ whole worlds burn in my boot prints. On Armour-Geddem, I led da boyz through da fire deserts and smashed da humies’ metal cities to scrap. I fought [[Commissar Yarrick|Yarik]], old one-eye at Tarturus, an’ he fought good but we smashed iz city too.

I’m death to anyfing dat walks or crawls, where I go nothin’ stands in my way. We crushed da stunties on Golgotha, an’ we caught [[Commissar Yarrick|old one-eye]] when da speed freeks blew da humies’ [[Baneblade|big tanks]] ta bits. I let ‘im go ‘cause good enemies iz ‘ard to find, an Orks need enemies ta fight like they need meat ta eat an’ grog ta drink.

I iz more cunnin’ than a grot an’ more killy than a dread, da boyz dat follow me can’t be beat. On Pissenah we jumped da marine-boyz an’ our bosspoles was covered in da helmets we took from da dead ‘uns. We burned dere port an’ killed dere bosses an’ left nothin’ but ruins behind. I’m Warlord Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka an’ I speak wiv da word of da gods. We iz gonna stomp da ‘ooniverse flat an’ kill anyfing that fights back. We iz gonna do this coz’ we’re Orks an’ we was made ta fight an’ win!"

All were found scrawled on the side of an Imperial Titan in legible Gothic. We suspected his good buddy "Clever" Nazdreg helped him with that. However the next quote comes from the memories of Yarrick himself as Ghazghkull (Chains of Golgotha book) releases him... HE SPEAKS IN FUCKING HIGH GOTHIC!

"A great fight! My best enemy. Go to Armageddon, make ready for the greatest fight!"

==See Also==
* [[Orks]]
* [[Makari]], Ghazghkull's late banna-wava.
* [[Yarrick]], Ghazzy's favorite humie.
* [[Octarius War]], shitstorm Ghazzy is <s>on his way towards</s> turning into a bigger, potentially galaxy-spanning shitstorm.

{{Ork-Gitz}}

Octarius War

2019-10-16T19:37:37Z

61.6.235.42:

[[File:Orks vs. Tyranids.png|250px|thumb|right|It's this. And it's happening 24/7, completely covering the surface of every planet in the Octarius system.]]
The '''Octarius War''' is another recent hilarious and [[fail]] venture the [[Imperium of Man]] has made, though unusually the most catastrophic part was when the Imperium tried to ''not'' fight anymore.

The [[Imperial Guard]] were having their asses handed to them by the [[Orks]] on the planet [[Ork_Empire_of_Octarius|Ghorala in the Octarius system]]. Former [[Lord Inquisitor]] [[Kryptman]], leading expert on the [[Tyranids]] and prolific bastard, decided that the best solution would be to sic a recently captured swarm of Tyranids on the Orks, let the two fight it out, and mop up the remaining survivors with the IG. The obvious flaw in his plan of course is that both Nids and Orks are unwitting experts at bioengineering who thrive on war, meaning whoever ultimately wins will emerge much stronger than ever before (though hopefully if the Tyranids win they will be overspecialized ork killers and be weak to other threats and fighting styles). The conflict has predictably devolved into a massive meat grinder, where neither side has a clear shot at winning, and both are fucking loving it.

This tale is notable for being one of the few bits of fluff in the Nid 'dex where they don't get their arses handed to them by [[Tau|space communists]], [[Eldar|space elves]], or [[Ultramarines|fucking smurfs]].

Never mind on the Eldar part, they're currently trying to clean up Kryptman's mess by [[Exterminatus|bio-purging]] the front line and the worlds around it. Unfortunately, they missed the Overfiend of Octarius, who just managed to [[Looted|loot]] an Avatar of Khaine...fucccckkkkk.

Oh, and [[Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka|Ghazghkull]] himself is on his way there too so he can call up more boyz for Da Great WAAAAGH!!!! Score one for the Orks, it looks like. After arriving there and killing a mawloc from the inside out (eat your heart out, Alien), he's managed to take command of the Octarian orks.

With so much carnage and destruction going on, it was bound to attract the attention of the Ruinous Powers. In particular, a Khornate warband called the Skullhunt of Vodha Bloodprice attack the system, declaring a Blood Crusade. And their results are... mediocre, to say the least. In the CSM 8th ed. Codex, it says the khornates were able to offer "over <s>ni-</s>eight thousand skulls ... to the [[Khorne|Blood God]], the smallest of which is the size of a boulder" and that was enough to make Vodha Bloodprice ascend to Daemonhood. It seems small, but Vodha did managed to off a Hierophant Bio-Titan with a Warboss' salvaged axe, so lords know what crazy misadventures he got himself into, to merit princedom with a relatively small body-count (could've just been because they were [[The Beast|8,000 <s>unusually sized</s>fuckoff hueg skulls]]). They fucked off right after that, likely as they've already achieved their objective and the Indomitus Crusade was underway, so there were fresher pastures to drown in blood.

Since then, the worst-case scenario has gotten even worse. [[Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka|Ghazghkull]] rallied the Orks and repulsed most of the Tyranids from the system and is currently getting them ready for what he's planning as the biggest, baddest WAAAGH in history. The Tyranids, realizing that its a lost cause, has broken off from Octarius and attacking nearby worlds instead. At the end of the conflict, Kryptmann did two things. At best he bought the Imperium some time as the Tyranids are reeling from the conflict and the Orks are still gearing up, so there's still time to prepare for them. At worst, he just replaced the Tyranids with the Orks, as now the Orks are getting organized for a WAAAGH that could very well eclipse the devastation of the Tyranids once it gets started.

Now this brings up the question of 'Why blow the planets around the war to shit? Why not just carpet-bomb the Octarius system with Cyclonic Torpedoes and Virus Bombs? Considering Ghazghkull managed to largely eliminate the nids in Octarius, that would mean he brought a naval fleet powerful enough to rival a Tyranid Hive fleet, something the Imperium struggles to scrape up in the best of times. So if an Exterminatus fleet were to try and purge Octarius itself: they'd have to contend with splinter fleets and its shadow of the warp interference AND the bulk of a massive WAAAGH-ready naval fleet at the same time. This would take resources the Imperium currently can't afford to spare given how Chaos is currently banging on their battle-worn doors and Papa Smurf is too busy doing everything to keep them from breaking it down.

Basically, it's a loose, loose, loose situation for the Imperium. The only solution seems to revolve around buying time and cordoning off as mush territory as possible---Whatever spews forth will be essentially be warp tainted Ork/Tyranid Hyrbids led by Ghazzy... Seem to have started fucking off to nearby planets after the Great Rift formed.

{{40k-Timeline}}

[[Category:Orks]][[Category:Tyranid]]

Octarius War

2019-10-16T19:35:58Z

61.6.235.42:

[[File:Orks vs. Tyranids.png|250px|thumb|right|It's this. And it's happening 24/7, completely covering the surface of every planet in the Octarius system.]]
The '''Octarius War''' is another recent hilarious and [[fail]] venture the [[Imperium of Man]] has made, though unusually the most catastrophic part was when the Imperium tried to ''not'' fight anymore.

The [[Imperial Guard]] were having their asses handed to them by the [[Orks]] on the planet [[Ork_Empire_of_Octarius|Ghorala in the Octarius system]]. Former [[Lord Inquisitor]] [[Kryptman]], leading expert on the [[Tyranids]] and prolific bastard, decided that the best solution would be to sic a recently captured swarm of Tyranids on the Orks, let the two fight it out, and mop up the remaining survivors with the IG. The obvious flaw in his plan of course is that both Nids and Orks are unwitting experts at bioengineering who thrive on war, meaning whoever ultimately wins will emerge much stronger than ever before (though hopefully if the Tyranids win they will be overspecialized ork killers and be weak to other threats and fighting styles). The conflict has predictably devolved into a massive meat grinder, where neither side has a clear shot at winning, and both are fucking loving it.

This tale is notable for being one of the few bits of fluff in the Nid 'dex where they don't get their arses handed to them by [[Tau|space communists]], [[Eldar|space elves]], or [[Ultramarines|fucking smurfs]].

Never mind on the Eldar part, they're currently trying to clean up Kryptman's mess by [[Exterminatus|bio-purging]] the front line and the worlds around it. Unfortunately, they missed the Overfiend of Octarius, who just managed to [[Looted|loot]] an Avatar of Khaine...fucccckkkkk.

Oh, and [[Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka|Ghazghkull]] himself is on his way there too so he can call up more boyz for Da Great WAAAAGH!!!! Score one for the Orks, it looks like. After arriving there and killing a mawloc from the inside out (eat your heart out, Alien), he's managed to take command of the Octarian orks.

With so much carnage and destruction going on, it was bound to attract the attention of the Ruinous Powers. In particular, a Khornate warband called the Skullhunt of Vodha Bloodprice attack the system, declaring a Blood Crusade. And their results are... mediocre, to say the least. In the CSM 8th ed. Codex, it says the khornates were able to offer "over <s>ni-</s>eight thousand skulls ... to the [[Khorne|Blood God]], the smallest of which is the size of a boulder" and that was enough to make Vodha Bloodprice ascend to Daemonhood. It seems small, but Vodha did managed to off a Hierophant Bio-Titan with a Warboss' salvaged axe, so lords know what crazy misadventures he got himself into, to merit princedom with a relatively small body-count (could've just been because they were [[The Beast|8,000 <s>unusually sized</s>fuckoff hueg skulls]]). They fucked off right after that, likely as they've already achieved their objective and the Indomitus Crusade was underway, so there were fresher pastures to drown in blood.

Since then, the worst-case scenario has gotten even worse. [[Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka|Ghazghkull]] rallied the Orks and repulsed most of the Tyranids from the system and is currently getting them ready for what he's planning as the biggest, baddest WAAAGH in history. The Tyranids, realizing that its a lost cause, has broken off from Octarius and attacking nearby worlds instead. At the end of the conflict, Kryptmann did two things. At best he bought the Imperium some time as the Tyranids are reeling from the conflict and the Orks are still gearing up, so there's still time to prepare for them. At worst, he just replaced the Tyranids with the Orks, as now the Orks are getting organized for a WAAAGH that could very well eclipse the devastation of the Tyranids once it gets started.

Now this brings up the question of 'Why blow the planets around the war to shit? Why not just carpet-bomb the Octarius system with Cyclonic Torpedoes and Virus Bombs? Considering Ghazghkull managed to largely eliminate the nids in Octarius, that would mean he brought a naval fleet powerful enough to rival a Tyranid Hive fleet, something the Imperium struggles to scrape up in the best of times. So if an Exterminatus fleet were to try and purge Octarius itself: they'd have to contend with splinter fleets and its shadow of the warp interference AND the bulk of a massive WAAAGH-ready naval fleet at the same time. This would take resources the Imperium currently can't afford to spare given how Chaos is currently banging on their battle-worn doors and Papa Smurf is too busy doing everything to keep them from breaking it down.

Basically, it's a loose, loose, loose situation for the Imperium. The only solution seems to revolve around buying time and cordoning off as mush territory as possible---Whatever spews forth will be essentially be warp tainted Ork/Tyranid Hyrbids led by Ghazzy...

{{40k-Timeline}}

[[Category:Orks]][[Category:Tyranid]]

Vikings

2019-10-16T19:01:34Z

61.6.235.42: /* Culture */

{{Topquote|It was not as if we'd stayed home and wasted our lives drinking wine with pretty girls.|A recurring motif in the Lay of Kraka}}
[[Image:VikingShip.jpg|500px|thumb|right|A Viking Longship, A thirty meter long can o' [[rape]] (literally) back in the day.]]
'''Vikings''' were Scandinavian people from the 8th to 11th century, a period in which societies based in Denmark, Norway and Sweden, making use of their long-ships set forth to trade and colonize areas including Northern France, the British Isles, Russia, Iceland, Greenland and even reached North America (though the settlements they set up there did not last). They also made a habit of bathing and washing their hands frequently, which at the time was unheard of among the peoples of Europe. Probably because they had to have about two dozen dudes on a small boat for a long time, so you would regularly bathe if you didn't want to be [[That Guy]]. They only stopped when France, of all countries, rolled a nat 20 on Diplomacy by offering Normandy to duke Rollo. One of his descendents by the name of William ended up with a claim to the throne of a place populated with Anglo-Saxons named Anglo-land (later known as England), and ultimately became its king.

Unlike popular belief, they did not wear horned helmets. This is for the practical reason that a big horned helmet might catch a sword unintentionally, which is all sorts of bad for the wearer; horned helmets were used on occasion, but only for ceremony. The ol' "horn-headed people eater" image was popularized during the 1800s.

==Culture==
Vikings believed that when they died in battle (preferably in a totally fuck-awesome way) they would go to a place called Valhalla to become one of the Einherjar (Chosen Slain) or to Fólkvangr (the realm controlled by Freyja, the Nordic goddess of love, prosperity, spring and being foxy as hell; also a death goddess and war goddess, which is why she gets half the chosen warriors in the first place), where they would chug booze, [[List of /tg/ Cuisine|eat all the meat and cheese they wanted]], and (if that actually managed to get dull) participate in massive murderfests only to be fully healed the next day and ready to do it all over again. On the other hand, if they died in bed or in a totally lame way (such as AIDs or cancer or... actually anywhere but battle is lame) they would instead go to a totally boring place called Hel where NOTHING FUCKING HAPPENED! '''EVER!''' (As you might imagine, this became problematic for many of their folk heroes who were just that fucking hard to kill). And if ''that'' weren't bad enough, people who committed what the vikings saw as the unforgivable sins, like oathbreaking, went to a prison overseen by the goddess of the dead. The ceiling is made from the bones of serpents, which drip burning venom, the halls are waist-deep in cold, slimy blood, and there is nothing to drink but goats piss and nothing to eat but rotten food (basically a Minnesota Vikings game). The exception is if you died while giving birth, then you got go to Valhalla; the vikings were surprisingly egalitarian in their attitudes towards the sexes.

That said, there was the ''third'' way to die. Dying at sea was totally cool for the Vikings, for while the Battle-junkies went to Valhalla and Freya, and the lame ones went to Hel,
the Sea-Bears went to the Halls of Aegir, god of the sea, where they got their own Watery Valhalla.

Vikings aren't known for being nice, [http://www.badassoftheweek.com/turgeis.html for a good reason]. During their raiding parties, after killing, enslaving and/or raping the non-Viking people they encountered, the Vikings would [[Blood_Ravens#Bloody_Magpies|they would steal ''anything'' that wasn't nailed down.]] If it was nailed down, they'd try and steal the nails and if that didn't work, they'd eat it. If they couldn't eat it, they'd ''burn'' it, and if they couldn't burn it they'd ''''SMASH'''' it!

Later some of the smarter Viking warlords started to conquer shit rather than rape, pillage and kill everything in their sight. For quite a long time a large chunk of France and Italy, and the entirety of England and Russia were ruled by Vikings or their descendants, although they all got quickly assimilated into the nations they've conquered, to the point when they started to think of themselves as French/Russians in just a two or three generations after settling in. The Vikings also had a level of prestige in the Byzantine Empire, as they were the preferred recruits for the Emperor's bodyguard, the Varangian Guard.

=== Norse Mythology ===
Like Greek mythology, the Norse have their own version of creation, different sets of gods, and heroic stories of manly feats. Here are some of them:

'''Odin''' - The All-Father, the One-Eyed Wanderer, King of the Wild Hunt and Patron of Shamans and Berserkers. He wasn't actually the first of the gods, but rather he is named "All-Father" for slaying his tyrannical grandfather and creating Midgard (Earth) from his body and bones. His stories are full of sacrifice in the pursuit of higher wisdom, such as hanging himself on the World Tree, Yggdrasil, in order to be granted the knowledge of runes. He has two ravens, Huginn and Muninn, which deliver him news of the nine realms every day, as well as two fucking huge wolves, Freki and Geri, which he uses as guard dogs/hunting hounds. His major schtick is trying to prevent Ragnarok. He also has a sick-ass spear called Gungnir, which will never miss it's mark. Known for being wise, but also manipulative. Not a god you should underestimate, by any means.

'''Thor''' - The God of Thunder, the Protector of Mankind, and arguably the most popular god, even in the Viking Age. (No, his popularity isn't really due to Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, that came much later) He wields a mighty warhammer named Mjolnir, and uses it to great effect. Out of all the Norse gods, he's probably one of the most bro-tier, although it's ill advised to piss him off (as several giants and dwarves could attest, were their heads not smashed in). He's so unbelievably OP that even when he thought he'd lost against Utgard-Loki (no relation to Loki, btw), Utgard-Loki had to admit defeat because Thor almost destroyed the world ''by accident.'' Prophesied to die fighting the world serpent Jormungandr.

'''Loki'''- the Trickster God, the Deceiver. Unfortunately, the Norse had a rather dim view of tricksters and deceivers, so he's usually a villain in the myths. Probably doesn't help that he and his children are responsible for killing several gods. Responsible for many shenanigans, including [[Wat|turning himself into a mare and fucking a stallion]] (part of a crazy scheme to defraud a contractor, no less), killing the near-invincible god Baldr as a prank, and being Odin's adopted brother. Yes, you read that right, ''Odin's'' brother, not Thor's.

'''Freya''' - Goddess of Fertility, Erotic Love, Magic, and War (In case you haven't noticed, the Norse really loved to fight). She claims half of all warriors slain in glorious battle, bringing them to her meadow of Folkvangr. (The other half are chosen by Odin and become Einherjar, the Chosen Slain, where they will feast and fight in Valhalla until Ragnarok, where they will all charge the wolf Fenrir and die.)

'''Tyr''' - The One-Handed God of Justice and Government. How does he have only one hand, you may ask? Well, let's just say...when a giant wolf demands your hand as payment for the gods binding him in unbreakable teathers, and you're known for keeping your word...well...

'''Heimdall''' - The Guardsman of the Bifrost and [[/pol/|the whitest of the gods, seriously, compare and contrast the Marvel Thor movies for a laugh.]] There's...very little to be said about him, other than that he's watching everyone, everywhere, at all times, and he and Loki are going to kill each other come Ragnarok.

'''Baldr''' - The God of light and joy. Or, at least he was. But now he's dead, thanks to some Loki-involved trickery involving a blind brother and his invulnerability to everything except mistletoe.

'''Yggdrasil''' - The World Tree. Now, this is not a literal tree, mind you, but rather a sort of metaphysical highway linking nine universes, or realms, together. Those realms are: Asgard (Home of the Aesir). Vanaheim (Home of the Vanir), Alfheim (Home of the Elves), Niflheim (Land of ice and fog), Musphelheim, (Land of ash and fire), Midgard (realm of mortals/Earth), Jotunheim (Home of the giants), Svartalfheim (realm of dwarves), and Helheim (realm of the dead). Encasing Yggdrasil is the Ginnungagap, the chaotic abyss from which all life sprung from.

'''Norns''' - These are the three sisters who preside over the fate and destiny of gods and men, much like their Greco-Roman counterparts. They reside near Yggdrasil's roots at a great well of knowledge, and their names are Urd (What Once Was), Verdandi (What Is Now), and Skuld (What Shall Be).

'''Sleipnir'''- As noted above, Loki got fucked by a stallion while disguised as a mare. Well, in truly horrifying mythological fashion, he gave birth to an eight-legged horse named Sleipnir, who later became Odin's favorite warhorse. Family reunions must've been ''awkward'' in Asgard.

'''Fenrir''' - Another one of Loki's animal children, and the aforementioned giant wolf whom bit off Tyr's hand due to Odin and the rest of the Aesir-Vanir binding him out of fear. He's prophesied to kill Odin during Ragnarok, only to be slain by his son, Vidar.

'''Jormumgandr''' - Yet another Loki spawn, the World Serpent. Basically, a snek so fucking huge that he can encircle all of Midgard when he bites his tail. Prophesised to annihilate Midgard and then fight Thor to the death during...yep...Ragnarok.

'''Surtr''' - King of the fire giants. His goal in life is to slay as many of those haughty gods as possible before he fucking dies in the end, and he'll do it with a huge flaming greatsword.

'''Ragnarok''' - Now, you might be wondering right now, just what in the fuck is Ragnarok? Well, my friend...it is [[Rhana Dandra|the end. Of Everything. Gods included.]] Basically, the world ends in ice and fire, there's a fucking huge battle where the gods, giants, humans all die, and the world is eventually reborn without all the bad shit, with two surviving humans and a few gods repopulating the place. History Channel says this was an free add-on by that new religions everybody was talking about at the time, where they "naturally" [[squat|killed]] the pagan beliefs, and [[The End Times|reboot]] [[Age of Sigmar|the whole setting]] to better fit their [[Imperial Cult|new edition of the rulebook.]]

'''Ragnar Lodbrok'''- A legendary figure in Norse Sagas, comparable to King Arthur or Aeneas. Basically, his feats involve invading the seven kingdoms of England, sacking Paris, being the father of every king who'd come to rule a piece of Scandinavia, and dying by being thrown in a pit of snakes by King Aelle of Northumbria, which sets in motion the Great Heathen Army, which was lead by his sons, and when the Vikings shifted focus from pillaging to flat out conquering.

==In Modern Fiction==
Vikings and the honorable Neanderthals are some of the closest that the real world has ever had to [[dwarves]], but they should not be confused as such. While they had a penchant for [[axe]]s and could use anything, [[Dwarf Fortress|including body parts and broken furniture]], as a weapon, Vikings were just unspeakably awesome humans (they couldn't handle as much booze as a dwarf, though only just). Vikings that [[Toothless Dragon|rode Dragons]] even more so. Vikings are not to be confused with [[barbarian]]s either, despite any combination with the former resulting in awesome. [[Warriors of Chaos|Vikings are also notable for pledging themselves to Chaos]] and becoming [[Space Wolves|werewolf supersoldiers]].

The Vikings have also finally gotten their own TV show starring Vladimir Kullich. It is about the saga of Ragnar Lothbrok and his sons; Bjorn Ironside, Ivar the Boneless, Sigurd Snake-eye, Halfdan, Hvitserk, and Ubbe, as well as the tales of Duke Rollo of Normandy, King Harald Fairhair, and Alfred the Great of Wessex.

==Viking Longships==

The thing that put the Vikings on the map were their Longships (or LongBOAT if you're not [[skub|American]]). Basically these were large canoes made from planks with a mast to catch the wind. They could, however handle rough northern seas very well, and allowed some Vikings to reach such exotic locales as Newfoundland centuries before other Europeans. One thing that helped made the Longships such a gamechanger was that the vikings worked out that properly curing and drying out timbers it made it stronger and more resistant to being eaten at sea by nematodes and similar grody things.

Sometimes to save travel time, the Vikings would pull their Longships overland for kilometers. No joking, no hyperbole. A few tricks (like log rollers) helped, though. One of them (Oleg, the prince of Kievan Russ) even mounted his longships on wheels to quickly move them into Constantinople harbor, bypassing the defensive chain pulled across the path (which possibly inspired the Ottoman sultan Mehmed II when he used a similar trick to help him capture Constantinople).

Their Longships also had an [[derp|early warning system]] so that people could tell wether they were going to fuck them up or not. It's to do with the shields:
If the Shields were on the outside of their Longships, then they were coming to trade goods.
If the Shields were not on the outside of their Longships, then they were going to use them in battle, and you should run for the hills (if you get that far...)

==Viking Berserkers==
There's lot of bullshit about this guys on the internet and in general beliefs. Hell, the word itself had became the synonym of uncontrollable rage in many languages. The truth, however, is quite boring - berserkers (which comes from the Old Norse for "bear hide", as it was their signature piece of clothes they wore above armor, or sometimes instead of it) were equivalents of champions in the Norse culture with a pitch of warrior-priest flavor added - i.e. the guys who fought in duels on behalf of the tribe or some wealthy noble. And Norse culture had a fuckton of things settled with duels. As best of the best professional warriors among already brutally strong vikings they kicked all kinds of asses, and were rightfully feared for their skill and bravery. As you may guess, they where quite rare, so no "hordes" or even "squads" of berserkers for you - at best you'd have two or three per raid, and most often only one. As for uncontrollable rage... well, sagas mention a total of ZERO berserkers going into what we now call "[[Khorne|berserker]] rage" - there are mentions of jarls and ordinary warriors going to battle biting shields, foaming with mad anger and killing friend and foe alike, but never berserkers. WRONG:

{{topquote|-And as the foemen's ships drew near, The dreadful din you well might hear Savage berserks roaring mad, And champions fierce in wolf-skins clad, Howling like wolves; and clanking jar.|Harald Fairhair Saga ch 19.}}
Mushroom brew painkiller that allow to fight despite heavy or even fatal wounds likewise weren't their exclusive, although proper brew (that wouldn't ruin your liver, therefore sentencing you to a lame death in your bed if you survive the battle) was quite expensive, and berserkers, as pretty much second-in-command of jarls were among those wealthy enough to afford it.

==Gallery==
<center><gallery>
Image:Elspeth_and_Vikings.png|When [[Elspeth Tirel]] needs backup, these are the people she calls.
Image:WarbandViking.jpg| JEG SKALL DRIKKE FRA HODESKALLEN DIN!!!.
Image:Lego_Viking_ship.jpg|Pillaging colorful brick villages since 576 A.D.
</gallery></center>

==See Also==
* [[Pirate]]
*[[The Poetic Edda]]
[[Category:History]]

Leman Russ

2019-10-16T18:57:21Z

61.6.235.42:

[[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)}}
{{Topquote|It never troubles the wolf how many the sheep may be.|Virgil}}

'''Leman Russ''', '''The Great Wolf''', '''The Lord of Winter and Ruin''', and '''Wolf King of Fenris''', also known as '''Lemon Russ''', '''Lemon Rust''', and '''[[Magnus the Red|That Fucking Furry]]''', 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 blond underneath [[Rip and Tear|all the blood.]] There appears to be no specific way to pronounce his surename as both the wider Imperium and the Wolves themselves commonly alternate between "R-UH-ss" and "Rh-OOs", when speaking about him or the [[Leman Russ Battle Tank|battle tank named after him]].

==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 realized they weren't fighting a wolf (they were probably drunk and kind of retarded) and 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.

[[Image:russ_original.jpg|300px|thumb|frame|left|This is the very first canonical portrayal of Leman Russ. I shit you not (In Rogue Trader; before primarchs were a thing, but still.)]]

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.

[[Image:russ_furry_original.jpg|300px|thumb|frame|right|...and this is the first portrayal getting ready for a furry con.]]

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 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's babbling and picked a fight with him by insulting the 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. With that said, Lorgar was able to get Angron to learn the lesson Russ was trying to teach him by just talking to him ''for two minutes'', and he did it without getting a shit load of his own men killed or getting his ass kicked in a duel. Not only does it show just how badly Russ failed at what he had set out to do on the Night of the Wolf, but also how his own hot headedness and fundamental inability to understand his brothers can royally bite him in the ass.)

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 [REDACTED] 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 bitch-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, and interestingly Russ found when they arrived at Prospero he didn't want to do that. He decided to go against the orders he thought were legit, and instead detain him and his legion so that they could be transported to Terra (ironically doing exactly what his legit orders were by going against what he thought they were), but when Magnus refused to answer the phone and the Thousand Sons' calls were all being blocked by he Primarch he became more and more annoyed, and eventually he was pissed off enough that he 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 in the dumbest fucking way possible). 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 (rumour has it that Russ could be heard shouting “Ah yes. I was wondering what would break first: your spirit… or your body!”...turns out it was both at the same time!). But even so, the red bastard managed to utter one single word of power and escaped through the fucking ground. 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. 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. In the recently published Horus Heresy novel Wolfsbane Magnus' last words to Russ are finally revealed "You are a sword in the wrong hands. You have severed an innocent neck." In other words: Magnus was even aware that the wolves had been manipulated into wiping the Thousand Sons out, instead of detaining them and bringing them back to Terra (but not aware he wasn;t actually innocent), and the idiot just let it happen instead of talking to Russ who wanted to ignore his orders and detain the Sons, in order to bring them back to Terra. It will be interesting to see how GW tries to fill the logic gap regarding the hatred of Magnus towards the wolves now, considering he obviously *knew* that Russ had been manipulated into killing Magnus and the entirety of the Burning of Prospero is directly his fault. Or is it all about the shard of Magnus that held his nobility which was absorbed by Ianus (first grandmaster of the Grey Knights, a former Thousand Son that was in the process of succumbing to the flesh change when this little "accident" occurred). That would be the easy way out (and therefore probably the road trodden), although fans would be deserving of a more convincing explanation. Seeing a hypergenius like Magnus hating the Space Wolves for destroying his legion - irrespective of the fact that he *knew* that they had been manipulated into doing so and the fact that he intentionally chose for his legion to be destroyed - makes absolutely no sense any more.

Either way, the events of Prospero 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 from heading to Terra and helping Big E. As the rotten cherry on top of an already really bad cake, the White Scars, who'd been bros with the Thousand Sons and had no idea why Russ had 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 [[File:Battle_of_Trisolian.jpg|280px|thumb|right|Only room for one wolf pelt wearing Primarch in this universe.]] 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 died 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 [[Battle of Trisolian|fight]] chaos-empowered Horus, after another try to get rid of it. He manages to stop the Warmaster with it, but then he acts like a fucking idiot, instead of just killing Horus and ending the rebellion then and there, he tries to reach out to Horus' good side and gets fucked up because of it.

Funny thing, that spear. It's actually the twin of another spear, the Apollonian Spear, wielded by the commander of the Custodes, Constantin Valdor. Russ's spear is known by many names, including Gungnir (the spear of Odin), simply the Spear of Russ, and others. But, this spear and its twin were both crafted by Big E, so before any of those other names it was called the Dionysian spear. Now, this is a bit of a deep cut on GWs part, but the Apollonian and Dionysian actually refers to the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche (feeling lost yet?), who was in turn writing about the Greek gods Apollo and Dionysus. In Nietzsche's philosophy, the Apollonian is representative of everything bright and individual, meaning life and the person living it, as well as order and stability. The Dionysian, however, is representative of the primordial state from which all things originally emerge, the CHAOTIC nothingness from which the individual Apollonian springs forth. So, bringing it back to 40k, the Apollonian spear of Constantin Valdor can impart the memories of the person it kills to its wielder, capturing that individual and orderly moment. What does Russ's spear, the Dionysian spear do? Well, we really don't know, but if the novel Wolfsbane is anything to go by, it seems that at least a couple people believe it's the weapon best suited for killing a Primarch. And since the Primarchs are essentially the Emperor's Own Daemonkin, it stands to reason that the Dionysian Spear was designed by the Emperor to destroy the soul of the Primarchs and return them to the primal Chaos from which they originated. This in turn jives with Russ's wyrd of being the Emperor's "executioner".

== 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 consummate 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..... Well, that last statement is a bit in the grey zone. It was rightfully pointed out above that Russ was not exactly cool-headed either. And it was only when Angron said that without the Nails he might have been a more honourable man (like Russ claimed to be); but that if this were so he might have decided at some point to storm the Emperor's palace and "chop the slavering bastards head off". That was the final straw for Russ who couldn't take more of that shit, hissed "Heretic" as he lost his temper and things went downhill from there until both legions clashed. It is also noteworthy (and of course grimdark/tragic) that Angron made some pretty valid and surprisingly logical arguments including showing genuine regret for having been pressed into a role he had never wanted ("I died on Nuceria") , especially considering what a berzerk killer he was even then already. Several years/brain hemorrhages later only the berzerk killer with the attention span of a two year old was left but that's a story for another day (as in: when he was [[troll]]ing Ultramar with Lorgar, which ultimately culminated in his ascension to daemon(prince)hood).

Russ really, ''really'' didn't get along with Magnus, even before the burning of Prospero. He hated that his brother used sorcery and warpcraft so extensively. 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 (which the Thousand Sons - to be fair - were totally unaware of using. They thought them to be benevolent spirits or "tutelaries"... until the Burning of Prospero of course when these spirits showed their true colours and turned on Magnus' sons). The Wolves also use the spirits of Fenris, hence all the totems and runes. Nearly all fluff indicates that this is utter horseshit, until the Spirit of Fenris was revealed to be real. Russ' convictions 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, 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, him turning a small brawl into a duel of honour case in point. 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 little weight. Russ' attempts to cover up the Curse of the Wulfen are somewhat similar to Magnus' treatment of the flesh change (the Wulfen curse was not exacerbated by rampant sorcerous power use like the flesh change was), 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. Russ considered [[Roboute 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]], Russ actually believed Guilliman and [[Perturabo]] were the most boring among his brothers after [[Rogal Dorn]], they had a sincere respect for each other as warriors. 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).

== 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 to call on in a crisis, 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.
*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 you meet an AP2 flamer or something), 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. 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 a fight.
*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. Besides, the times Russ isn't going to be able to get at least one wound in with this sword are going to be pretty rare.
*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>[[RIP AND TEAR|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).

Possibly 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 snowball's 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!

Do note too that if Russ brings his wolves along (as he should) then they can challenge and take challenges in his place, as they are both characters. Thanks to how the rules work, this means that Russ essentially has 8 wounds, and in the case of Primarchs who can't ID the wolves 14 wounds. In effect he can use this to prevent Horus from using his talon to drop his stats or Perturabo smacking him to many times with his hammer while making the combat last even longer, since for example if Horus uses Worldbreaker to kill the first wolf Russ can just tank the wounds before his other wolf challenges in round 2, all the while Russ is beating the shit out of Horus completely unharmed. Statistically if Leman Russ brings his wolves along it is near impossible for any single other Primarch to kill Russ before he grinds them down if in a challenge.

HOWEVER if you or your opponent plays him in a list he can potentially be tar pitted with terminators 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), 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. And again this is not even taking into account his two wolves. With either of them tanking a shot or two and preventing Concussion from setting in Leman Russ again has a very good chance of ripping through them. So don't expect this to be a consistent solution to dealing with him.

Bottom line, Horus is lucky that Russ didn't get there first.

</div>
</div>

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:russ_original.jpg|First portrayal of Leman Russ in canon (Rogue Trader)
File:russ_furry_original.jpg|First retcon of Leman Russ, now approximately 215% furrier, in 1st. Ed compilation
File:Leman russ by alexboca-d7930sk.jpg
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.
File:Horus-Primarchs-Warhammer-Russ.jpeg|
</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

2019-10-16T18:54:50Z

61.6.235.42: /* Brief History and Main Overview */

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Because of this, the [[Blood Ravens]] forge a weapon named after Ragnar, who tells them to keep their toys because he doesn't need it (though in all reality he had a suspicion that they were trying to 'fence' their 'gift' by giving it to him to evade Imperial authorities).

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

===Hierarchy===
The different 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]]s''': Having the role of [[Tactical Squad|Tactical Marines]], Grey Hunters are those Marines who have survived long enough as Blood Claws to quell the worst of their ferocity and blood lust (read: wear a helmet in battle). Their new found experience and control allows them to shoot and fight better than their younger brethren.
* '''[[Blood Claw]]s''': Neophyte Space Wolves who serve in the [[Assault Squad|Assault Marine]] roles of Codex Chapters.

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

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

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

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

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

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

They also 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.]] Or perhaps, they've remained the same and the galaxy has gone so grimdark that the Space Wolves now appear heroic in comparison. Then Warzone Fenris happened. In it, the Wolves pretty much abandon their allies to focus on the Wulfen. On the plus side, they send warriors to Cadia and Maccrage in spite of the mauling the Thousand Sons hand them. This is further heroism. Because Fenris is the only place they are genetically capable of recruiting from, so abandoning their allies to save it is perfectly reasonable and would save more people in the long-run by not losing an entire Chapter of ass-kickers.

==Daily rituals of a Space Wolf==
13:00 - Wake Up with Hangover - The Space Wolf awakens from his booze-induced coma and begins the day. Headaches abound. Aspirin is consumed by the ton. 
13:10 - Morning Piss - The Space Wolf empties the alcohol that has accumulated in his bladder(s) in the Sacred Alcohol Excretion Grounds. 
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 the 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 we can look at a few ways. "Fenris" is easy, a reference to Fenrir from Norse mythology. "Vlka" has a couple options; if you walk it backwards through the Germanic ''Volk'' you get "Folk of Fenris". This supports a common theory on 1d4chan where a bunch of colonists landed on a planet, bred giant dogs from their great, great, grand-children (more on that in a minute) then thought, "You know what's better than planet Unicorn? Planet fucking Fenris". So the the ''Vlka Fenryka'' are literally the folk of Fenris. Alternately ''Vlka'' can be translated from Slavic to get the "Wolves of Fenris" again.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Red Corsairs

2019-10-16T18:40:57Z

61.6.235.42:

{{heresy}}
{{Infobox CSM Warband
|Name = Red Corsairs
|Heraldry = [[File:CorsairsEmblem.png|250px]]
|Battle Cry = A tirade of expletives and threats, transmitted across all vox-caster frequencies, "Shiver me timbers!", "Take what ye can, give nothing back!"
|Origin = [[Astral Claws]], Tiger Claws, and various other chapters
|Warband Leader = [[Huron Blackheart]]
|Base of Operations = [[New Badab]] [[Chogoris]] '''Formerly:''' Badab Primaris
|Specialty = Piracy, infiltration, boarding tactics
|Strength = Roughly the size of a Pre-[[Horus Heresy|Heresy]] [[Space Marine Legions|Legion]]
|Allegiance = [[Chaos Undivided]]
|Colours = Red and black
}}
''Not to be confused with Barak-Mhornar, the Red Corsairs. A [[Kharadron Overlords| Kharadron Overlord]] fleet.''

Space Pirate Space Marines? In my 40K? It's more likely than you'd think.

==Who They Are==
The Red Corsairs are a space pirate warband of renegade Marines; some following Chaos, some just in it for the plunder and self-aggrandizement. Even before their fall to chaos, these guys were considered the top-dogs in boarding actions, so piracy came pretty natural to them. Attacking from the [[Maelstrom]], which is kind of like the anus to the [[Eye of Terror]]'s vagina (no, really, the Night Lords of the [[Broken Aquila]] bitch about how filthy it is ''in comparison to the fucking Eye''), they raid and pillage all over the [[Imperium of Man]], stealing vehicles, armour, weapons, ships for their fleets, and basically anything in sight. Nailing it down does not help, as they would steal nails too, making them essentially the chaos [[Blood Ravens]]. They are well-known for their balls-out psychotic raids on Imperial Naval vessels and [[Indrick Boreale|SPESS MEHREEN]] battle barges, in which they use boarding torpedoes to land and then assault the ship, taking it over to add to their makeshift navy. The Corsairs also have a number of not-marines, ranging from mercenaries and assorted scum to slaves captured by the Corsairs for the purposes of tending to their ships and equipment. They have a near-constant influx of loyalist Marines because once it becomes known that you're a fucking pirate, the ladies are all down with that shit, so it can be said that, like [[Tankred]], they are in it for the [[Sisters of Battle|bitches]].

Their core is mostly composed of former [[Astral Claws]], but much like the Black Legion they accept anyone who pledge his loyalty to their leader, and produce new marines from any gene-seed they can land their hands on, so you may find former loyalists (at lest a few Ultramarines and Space Wolves are confirmed), veterans of Heresy from the old legions, and a wide variety of Chaos-born neophytes, made with both traitor and loyalist gene-seed. With such a flexible recruitment policy it's not surprise Corsairs are the quickest growing Chaos force in entire Galaxy, and given time may even outgrow the Black Legion.

==Leader==
Whilst the Corsairs operate in smaller strike groups, the ultimate leader of the Red Corsairs is the Pirate Lord of the [[Maelstrom]], [[Huron Blackheart]]. Formerly known as Lufgt Huron (a name which to this day, /tg/ is unable to pronounce), Huron used to be the chapter master of the [[Astral Claws]]. They were assigned to guard and patrol the Maelstrom, an area of warp/real space overlap in Ultima Segmentum.

While a decent leader, years of being left sidelined left him bored and pissed off, and he eventually said "fuck this" and decided to take over the planet Badab, where he and the claws conquered the world for themselves and demanded tithes in the name of the Imperium - which they then kept for themselves, getting three other Space Marine chapters to join them in holding the world and turning into their own private little vacation-spot. Huron became known as the "Tyrant of Badab" for his forceful style of leadership. The Claws (and Huron) finally rushed past the moral event horizon when the Imperial Navy sent a small strike group to Badab to kick his ass.

Huron's forces repelled it, but the Imperial Navy had finally had enough of their shit and brought in a battery of heavy-duty ships to finish the job, and sent in [[Stormtrooper]]s, along with a shitton of Space Marines in the conflict that came to be known as the [[Badab War]]. Huron's forces took a major beating, and Huron himself got half of his fucking body blown off by a pissed-off [[Star Phantoms]] Captain packing a [[Meltagun]]. Legend has it, after a failed attempt at him he put his terminator boot on a dead strike team leader's chestplate (presumably to take a selfie), but the captain turned out not quite dead and shot him in the armpit point-blank with a melta instead. Oh, vanity. Barely alive, Huron's troops grabbed their master and hauled ass for the one area the Imperium wouldn't chase them through - the [[Maelstrom]]. After a few weeks, a shitload of bionics (he had to have most of the right side of his body replaced), and a little help from the Ruinous Powers, Lord Apothecary Garreon, Apothecary Secundus Variel, and Master of the Forge Armanneus Valthex (guys who had earned the nicknames "the Corpse Master", "the Flayer", and "the Alchemancer", respectively) successfully put Huron back together, and he began to rebuild his personal empire through piracy, bit by bit.

Huron himself claims to be Chaos' answer to [[Colonel "Iron Hand" Straken|Colonel "Vance Motherfucking Stubbs is my Poker Buddy" Straken]], but everyone knows that's a load of bullshit.

==Namesake==
"Corsair" means [[pirate]], and they use red "paint" to obliterate their former Chapter livery. Ergo, Red Corsairs. Not exactly a great name, but it's hard to argue that it doesn't work.

==Rise of the Red Corsairs and Fifth Edition==
Long before [[Matt Ward]] somehow managed to make the [[Ultramarines|Smurfs]] more hated than they already were - something [[/tg/]] had long since thought [[Troll|impossible]] - the Chaos Codex had gotten a reasonable update. Most of it was streamlining, pure and simple, but a lot of it was done with the intent to make Chaos forces of every stripe that much more viable and to put an end to the godless [[Gay|faggotry]] that was [[Emperor's Children]] [[FAIL|Noise Marine spam]] [[FATAL|raping]] entire armies in the opening salvo (for example). Players wanted more flexibility with their choices, more opportunities to play with unique options, (WTF are you smoking? CSM 4.0 took away so much stuff) and less ridiculously unbalanced exclusive shit that ruined everything (read: Iron Warriors fielding squads upon squads of Obliterators backed by [[Basilisk]]s). With so many changes to the system, Chaos largely got nerfed and saw marked improvements in a few areas ([[fail|at the cost of all the unique legion rules,]] [[herp|pages of]] [[derp|wargear]] [[brundlepenis|and mutations,]] [[AIDS|and anything else that made them stand out from vanilla marines]]), but since nobody liked the [[Black Legion]] or its [[derp|retarded]] leader [[Abaddon]], a long-available but largely unsung chapter, the Red Corsairs, got pushed into prominence.

[[FAIL|Before being cunt-punted back into a paragraph and Huron's special character page, in favour of]] [[Crimson Slaughter|a bunch of no-name not-]][[World Eaters]].

Vigilus Ablaze grants them tabletop rules, which are quite possibly the best out of any of the Chaos Space Marine subfactions. Not only can they advance and charge (the old generalist Renegade Chapter trait which already was pretty good), but now they get extra command points from detachments with three or more units.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Image:RedTermies.jpg|Red Corsairs Terminators.
</gallery>

{{Template:Chaos-Official}}
[[Category:Warhammer 40,000]][[Category:Chaos]][[Category:Space Marines]]

Chogoris

2019-10-16T18:36:20Z

61.6.235.42: /* Post-Heresy */

{{wh40k-stub}}
Chogoris (also known as Mundus Planus) is a feral world, homeworld of the [[Primarch]] [[Jaghatai Khan]] and current homeworld of the [[White Scars]] chapter. It's a pretty decent place to look at. Quite a few mountains and fertile land. Though its society is filled with warring tribes who the White Scars [[Space Wolves | look at the strongest kids and pilfers them for recruits.]]

== History ==
Remember what I said about warring tribes? Still like that. There was this guy called Palatine who had the largest empire and well-trained and disciplined soldiers. The Khan landed somewhere else and then made an empire of his own. He then killed the son of Palatine after he and some other blokes tried to capture the Khan after he got caught in an avalanche. Then Palatine sent an army but got smacked the fuck down and fell back to the capital whilst his army was utterly destroyed. Then after literally every other place on the planet was captured or looted, the people revolted and gave Jaghatai Pala's head when the Khan knocked on the capital's door. Peace came to the planet and everyone was finally unified.
Then the [[Emperor]] arrived and Khan got the chance to get tonnes of super soldiers and purge the xenos, the mutant and the heretic. Also got a cool bike.

After Khan left, the planet devolved back into warring tribes again. Though the White Scars believe he let that happen on purpose so there'd always be a supply of strong recruits for the legion (and later on, chapter).

==Post-Heresy==
Not much, the place is a popular pillaging stop for [[Red Corsairs]] and the [[Dark Eldar]]. The knife-eared bastards started looting everything not nailed to the floor (nails and floors being a luxury for most of the populace), and the Khan had to get back home to set things straight. The [[Necrons]] attacked and got destroyed. Though in the third war for Armageddon [[Huron Blackheart]] started looting Chogoris, so the White Scars had to leave Armageddon and purge the heretic. During the Damocles Crusade, the White Scars had to rev up the whole thing to rush back home to scare the Red Corsairs off their trophy collection stock once again. Lucky [[Shadowsun|bitch!]]

May or may not be a [[Tomb World]], considering a Necron Tomb ship randomly stopped by once to bombard a seemingly random and unpopulated area of the planet before getting blasted by the planet's defenses.

Following the opening of the Great Rift, the world has come under frequent siege by the forces of Chaos, and the Stormseers fear that the world may be in danger of corruption.
the [[Red Corsairs]] had managed to invade the planet and is currently entrenched in the system.
{{40k-Planets}}

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

The Rock

2019-10-16T18:34:24Z

61.6.235.42:

{{wh40k-stub}}

[[File:The-rock.jpg|200px|thumbnail|right|Size
Matters]]

''Not to be confused with [[Wikipedia:Dwayne Johnson|Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson]] or the gay bar that used to be near [[GW]]'s headquarters (no, seriously).''

'''The Rock''', also known as the ''Tower of Angels'', is the mobile headquarters of the [[Dark Angels]] [[Space Marine Chapter|Chapter]] of [[Space Marines]].

It used to be a very static headquarters called Aldurukh (Ancient Calibanite for "Rock of Eternity"), back when it was the fortress-monastery on [[Caliban (Warhammer 40,000)|Caliban]]. Unfortunately Caliban was destroyed after the Dark Angels mercilessly bombarded their own home after Luther roused the entire planet into rebellion against the Lion, taking the Dark Angels garrison force on Caliban with him. After the planet's destruction, the fortress-monastery's reinforced foundation coupled with the fact that its void shields were online meant that it was the largest piece of the planet remaining, so the Dark Angels put engines on it and now they fly around the galaxy, recruiting from tribal populations on the worlds they visit.

It also seems to have a ton of dark tech factories, which would explain the ton of plasma weapons and terminator armor they seem to have.

The Rock is home to several <s>[[Fallen Angels]]</s> FOUL BETRAYERS FROM THE NINE TRAITOR LEGIONS in the process of being redeemed ''(by which we mean they are tortured and made to repent for their treason before being finished off)'' and formerly [[Luther]] who recently escaped after an invasion by daemonic forces of Chaos. The [[Lion El'Jonson]] himself is also hidden away somewhere in the depths being cared for by the [[Watchers in the Dark]], although the Dark Angels are unaware of their Primarch's continued existence; except for Luther, who has long since gone insane but constantly rambled about the Lion's impending return. The Rock is now situated in the galactic north in the Imperium Nihilus, where the Inner Circle can more easily coordinate due to the lack of reliable communications.

[[Category:Warhammer 40,000]][[Category:Dark Angels]]

Baal

2019-10-16T18:28:23Z

61.6.235.42:

[[Image:Baal.jpg|frame|Baal, home world of the [[Blood Angels|Fabulous Space Angel Vampires]]. Not actually a Bionicle symbol.]]

'''Baal''' is a radioactive wasteland of a [[Death World]], famous for being the home of the [[Blood Angels]], the most badass [[Vampire|vampire]]s in history.

The Blood Angels' [[Primarch]], [[Sanguinius]], fell upon Baal Secundus after he and his brother Primarchs were [[Just as planned|scattered]] across the galaxy by the [[Tzeentch|machinations]] of the [[Chaos Gods]].

Baal has two moons, called Baal Primus and Baal Secundus. Apparently, the moons were pretty damn close to some Paradise Worlds, with cultures comparable to High Roman Catholic nations but the [[Age of Strife]] [[Anal circumference|slightly altered]] that. With [[Exterminatus|nukes]]. The moons' populations now spend their time trying to evolve out of the Stone Age.

Or they did, until [[Devastation of Baal|the mother of all clusterfucks]] ensued. Baal Secundus is still more or less intact thanks to the intervention of our [[Roboute Guilliman|Spiritual Liege]] (and when we say intact we mean "utterly trashed by the nids but extensively terraformed to go back to the days of the paradise moon of ancient times"). It has been terraformed back into its paradisal state before the long night on the order of Robu. Baal Primus, on the other hand, is now completely bereft of life after Ka'Bandha showed up to flip off the Hive Mind.

{{40k-Planets}}

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

Codex Astartes

2019-10-16T18:08:19Z

61.6.235.42:

{{Topquote|The Codex Astartes is a set of rules. They guide us. Shape us as Ultramarines. Teach us how to hold duty and honor sacred above all. But how we live with those rules is the true test of a Space Marine.|[[Captain Titus]], [[Ultramarines]] 2nd Company}}

{{Topquote|They tell me Guilliman wrote a book, maybe, with all that time on his hands he might have seen this coming|Leman Russ, during the Horus Heresy}}

{{Topquote|[[If the Emperor had a Text-to-Speech Device|So, I accepted the book and gave it a five out of ten "it was OK" review.]]|Rogal Dorn}}

{{Topquote|But NO! You succeded because you were trained by the book. The holy codex of our OH SO WONDERFUL I COULD SHIT MY '''POWER PANTS''' Spiritual Liege|[[If the Emperor had a Text-to-Speech Device|Marneus Calgar's true thoughts on the Codex Astartes]]}}

The Codex Astartes (a.k.a Codex Asstardes) is the collective name given to a series of tactical and organisational guides written by [[Roboute Guilliman]] over the course of his life, compiled at the end of the [[Horus Heresy]]. The Codex's organizational mandates split the remaining [[First Founding|Space Marine Legions]] into smaller chapters, for reasons discussed below. It also includes many tactical doctrines and stratagems for just about every situation, like the formidable [[Steel Rain|STEEL REHN!]] Most loyalist Space Marine chapters follow the Codex Astartes to varying degrees, with [[Ultramarines]] and their successors seeing it as literal holy writ, while some chapters like the [[Black Templars]] and [[Space Wolves]] merely see it as a book of tactics to be referred to when necessary. Most chapters will fall somewhere between those two extremes, using the codex where necessary but making adaptations where necessary (the [[Imperial Fists]], for example, use the Codex, but have a special appendix on how to Fist better, called the Book of Five Spheres. I guess Dorn was a fan of Musashi?). Almost all chapters will make a few minor alterations at the very least, usually just superficial things accounting for the chapter's culture. Now that Guilliman woke up, odds are he's going to update the codex like a fa/tg/uy updating his army lists, so the boys in blue should have some new reading material soon. Fortunately, since he's been adding Primaris Marines to Chapters that already have a thousand Marines, Guilliman has probably thrown out the number limit thing, realizing it was really stupid (or that no one noticed the Great Crusade never officially ended and so all Chapters are technically crusading and so have no number limits in the first place).

A certain detail needs to be mentioned that seems to have been missed by the Adeptus Astartes by the 41st millennium. Namely the fact that Chapters fought together in the same battles during the Great Crusade. It is highly likely that Guilliman fully expected this practice to continue after splitting the legions up. But, then the Chapters went and parceled out their companies (and sometimes squads) throughout the galaxy. As a result, while they often win, their loses are also famous and their victories tend to be somewhat costly. If the entire Chapter fought together, though, they would win too quickly for casualties to reach any noteworthy number and could swiftly zip from world-to-world kicking the absolute shit out of anything and everything. Case in point: Black Templars.

==What the Codex set out to Accomplish==

The Codex Astartes was written with three main purposes in mind.

First, the Codex is a tactical and strategic guide. It contains tips and plans on how to handle nearly any battle situation imaginable, and then some. The Codex served with flying colors until the modern day of the setting, when its weaknesses began to show against certain [[Tyranids|unconventional]] [[Necrons|enemies]]. Much like ''The Art of War'' or the FBI tactical guidebook, if you can get your hands on a copy you can anticipate the actions of those that use it, but countering it is '''really''' fucking hard because of just how comprehensive the Codex is. It doesn't just tell you "When your enemy is doing B, do C to counter it," it also says, "And when the enemy counters C with X and Y, use Z to shut down their counter." In real life warfare, soldiers have a hard time adapting to new information under pressure, which is why commanders need to limit the orders they give to their troops and keep them as unambiguous and simple as possible; drilling them on exactly what to do in a given situation, especially in such a comprehensive manner, does have its advantages since it reduces mental clutter. Sun Tzu's ''Art of War'' is still being taught millennia after its publication; now imagine that same spark of tactical genius manifesting inside the mind of a superhumanly intelligent demigod. The Codex isn't perfect - no tactical treatise is - but it's damn close.

Second, the Codex is an organizational guide. Guilliman was a flawed genius, an organizational savant literally unmatched in the galaxy, and more than a little OCD when it came to detail. Beyond simple mandates about the composition of the Chapters, the Codex contains information on the minutia of administration. Details on every subject from bolt shells to bread, water distribution to weapon production, organization of auxiliary forces, suggested countermeasures to [[Nurgle|viral]] outbreaks, training schedules, troop morale, ammunition production, distribution of that ammunition to terrestrial and naval combat units, how large reserves can be built up, how long those reserves will last when production stopped, ration distribution for militant and civilian populations, how those rations can be stored, food cycling to avoid waste, integration of chain of command with allied and auxiliary forces, integration of militia into formal military, suggested staging area locations relative to battle lines, suggested landing area locations relative to battle lines, prioritizing access to and from these areas, [[derp|guides to avoiding massive compound sentences]], fortification locations, demolition strategies for those fortifications in the event that they must be abandoned, and I could go on. It also has plenty to say on how to live your day to day life, with everything from codes of honor to follow, to how your boots should be laced. Seriously, the Codex can tell you how to spend every minute of your life from birth to death, and pretty much every part of it is either acceptable or outstanding, if admittedly inflexible. Much of it, if applied to the Imperium as a whole, would also solve most of the grimdark.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the final version of the Codex is designed to keep the power of the Imperium decentralized. At the end of the Heresy, Guilliman wanted to ensure there wouldn't be any repeating performances of the strife that had gripped the galaxy. To this end, he split the Imperial Army into the [[Imperial Navy]] and the [[Imperial Guard]], and broke up the Legions, to keep one person from ever having the power to cause such massive chaos. Whether or not this was a good move is [[skub|a subject of ongoing debate]]. Detractors would point out that the newly decentralized and feudal Imperium is nowhere near as capable of unified action as it was before the heresy, pointing at how this decentralization screwed the Imperium over during [[the War of The Beast]], while its defenders would point out the examples of The [[Badab War]] or the [[Macharian Crusade]] as examples of too much centralized power devolving into a clusterfuck, to say nothing of the Horus Heresy demonstrating why giving any one person too much power over the Imperium is a ''very bad idea''.

However, one thing that people often forget when they argue about whether Legions or post-Heresy Chapters are better is that the Legions and Chapters have very different roles. Legions of a hundred thousand Astartes are great when you want to steamroll the galaxy - ''which is also exactly what the original Legions designed for'' - but such huge armies are not so great when you want to maintain peace in a sprawling galaxy-spanning empire. What the post-[[great Scouring|Scouring]] Imperium really needed were small-scale elite rapid-response forces, which is exactly the kind of role that the Chapters are most suited for. Well, that coupled with a large normal army to act as first-responders very quickly and hold the line for the big boys to come smash face.

And this is also a much more efficient use of the Astartes. You don't need a space marine to man a gun line or garrison a fort - why let a marine do a guardsman's job? - and considering how long it takes to create a fully-fledged Astartes, you'll want to get the most out of every single one of them. Also remember that there weren't all that many loyalist Astartes left alive after the Heresy. Getting a thousand Astartes killed just to win a battle may have been A-OK during the Great Crusade or the Heresy, but the post-Heresy Imperium just couldn't afford losses like that anymore (for a while, at least). Hence, it only makes sense for the space marines to conform to tactics where your average space marine battle will result in few marine casualties, if any. Guilliman designed the Codex marine armies to be modular, precise, and efficient in ways that the original legions weren't.

Of course, the trade-off is that the marines are no longer well suited for large-scale warfare. But large-scale warfare and armoured warfare are now the Imperial Guard's job, anyway. On top of that, Legion-sized (or at least multichapter) deployments can and will still happen whenever necessary, like with the [[Armageddon|Armageddon wars]] or the [[Black Crusade|Black Crusades]] or the Wall of the Imperial Fist Legion during the War of the Beast. But all that being said; yes, there are situations in M41 where the Legions of old would probably be more effective than any gathering of Chapters. Especially the [[Tyranids]] and the bigger [[Necrons|Necron]] dynasties come to mind, though there's also less formidable threats like the [[Tau]] (who are still powerful enough to inflict unaffordable losses on a space marine Chapter (the more Marines fighting the more quickly the enemy dies before they can inflict significant loses, though)). But even there, the Guard is a perfectly fine substitute for a Legion in most if not all of those cases. Especially with their godly mechanization, tanks, and artillery. Hell, their standard procedure is to simply use various artillery to eradicate everyone and everywhere the enemy could hide (bunkers, trenches, buildings, tunnels, ''anything'') then send in tanks to wipe out any resistance and the ground pounders to hunt down the survivors. We have billions of Guardsmen dying every day, but the number of Guardsmen makes billions a day look like literally a drop in a literal ocean. So, incredibly minute casualties on the whole. Because of massive guns and lots of them. This means that the Astartes are not needed nearly as often as the Guard. Especially since the Guard almost always operates on the defensive, which means that line-breaking supersoldier armies are rarely needed.

Interestingly enough, the original version of the Codex had no plans to break apart the Legions at all. Instead, it proposed their unification into a single Legion formed from multiple self-sufficient Chapters, which would merge and break up as needed regardless of which Primarch they descended from. While this may have been able to preserve the advantages of being a Legion better, the other [[High Lords of Terra]] were scared shitless by the idea of the Space Marines unifying and promptly rebelling a second time, so the original plan Guilliman had in mind never came to pass. Even the idea of it happening was enough for the 41st millennium-era High Lords to plot Guilliman's overthrow when they heard he might resume his old position. Which shows how dumb they are. The Primarchs are the sons of the Emperor for a reason. They are '''''really fucking scary dudes'''''. Besides, the Space Marines would unify as much or as little as they choose and there really isn't anything the High Lords can do about it. So, their concerns over Guilliman's original intentions for Chapters didn't matter and the changes didn't matter, either. They still operate the same way Guilliman had intended but with far less communication and co-ordination unless they needed. Since they usually don't needed, it doesn't really matter at all.

When Guilliman finally got off his ass, he began to see the flaws that came from strict adherence to the Codex Astartes. Thus, he has begun reforming its guidelines and got rid of several of its restrictions on Space Marines. He currently hopes to replace it entirely with the Codex Imperialis—a tome that won't just describe how to organize and direct the Adeptus Astartes, or even the other [[Imperial Guard|Imperial military forces]], but Imperial governance as a whole, possibly down to the ideal daily lives of every Imperial citizen, likely in an attempt to make the entire Imperium [[NobleBright|look and operate as smoothly as Ultramar]]. Needless to say, this will probably be the size of a 10 volume encyclopedia, and still hasn’t been finished.

==Chapter Organisation==
Under the Codex Astartes, the Space Marine legions were to be split into groups of 1000 fighting men, called a [[Space Marine Chapter|Chapter]]. While many people assume this means a chapter is composed of 1000 men, this is a bit misleading, because that 1000 man number does not include a chapter's upper echelons, support structure, auxiliary units (now including Scouts), dreadnought-interred veterans, the librarius, vehicle crews, honor guard, or other specialists (tech marines, apothacaries, chaplains, etc). This means that a chapter will commonly have upwards of 1100 space marines while still being codex compliant, and many chapters will have large units of mortal retainers (including thousands of Voidship crew in their fleet) to serve as auxiliary forces, so it's not uncommon for a chapter to have tens of thousands of soldiers to call upon, though only a minority of them will actually be Adeptus Astartes. It's important to note that the Chapter was already an existing sub-unit within the pre-Heresy legions, and those were organized much as they were in the Codex.

By the 42nd Millennium, the reawakened Guilliman has set about redrafting the Codex Astartes to accommodate the inclusion of Primaris Marines, who do not form the same sorts of squads as their traditional brothers. However he has not massively changed the organisational units of "Chapter" and/or "Company". With the new codex, the space marine company is still 100 men on paper, but can be organised in a far more flexible arrangement of squads and can accommodate additional squads drawn from reserve companies. It also means that whole Companies ''(or even Chapters)'' of Primaris Marines can be formed without the need to makes exceptions for them.

The 1st Company is composed of [[Veteran Squad|Veterans]], and only marines who have served in the first company are allowed to wear [[Terminator|terminator armor]].

The 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th Companies are Battle Companies. Guilliman's reorganisation allows companies to be composed of as many as twenty squads of five men, there will always be least six Battle line squads, at least two Fire Support squads, and least two Close Support squads. They train together, and when a Space Marine Company deploys as a single unit, it will be one of these.

The 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th Companies are Reserve Companies, and are more specialized than the first five companies. The 6th and 7th Companies are composed entirely of Battleline squads (whose Tactical Marines also specialize in using [[Bike Squad|bikes]] and [[Land Speeder]]s, respectively), the 8th Company of Close Support squads and the 9th Company entirely of Fire Support squads. Additionally, Primaris Marines in reserve companies may also be seconded to Battle Companies as '''Vanguard Marines'''.

Originally, the 10th Company was composed entirely of [[Scout]] Marines, who were eventually promoted to other companies after a certain number of years. It's worthy of note that the 10th company was typically the largest in the chapter, containing 100 neophytes in addition to veterans seconded to the company for training. Additionally, the 10th company's 100 man limit was often uncapped so as to keep the chapter's flow of new marines steady in times of great loss. With the recent revisions to the Codex, Guilliman has ordered that all [[Primaris Marines]] train in '''Vanguard Tactics''' during their time in the Scout Company and can later revert to the squad organisation as required, whereas a regular Tactical Marine might never don his Scout uniform ever again (except in the old [[Deathwatch (RPG)|Deathwatch RPG]]). Consequently, it now retains 10 squads' worth of fully initiated Vanguard Marines whose roles can be changed as needed, while the Scouts no longer seem to be counted towards the nominal 100-marine limit at all.

There is a fair amount of leeway given to what roles the reserve companies can maintain. The 7th company, for instance, is given the moniker of "tactical reserve." Some chapters field these companies as bodies to replace losses from the battle companies. Some use them to train landspeeder pilots (the Codex states the entire company should be able to ride landspeeders.). Some chapters, such as the [[Salamanders]], use the 7th company to train fighter pilots for their Air Force. Others, typically those suffering from heavy losses, use it in place of the tech auxillera for tank crews. Still others keep weapon specialists, such as dedicated plasma-gunners, on hand to replace battle company soldiers as need demands.

===Marine roles===

Among the tenets of the Codex, Guilliman outlined the roles of various Marines to be used in Chapters. They include the following:

====Battle Line====
*'''[[Tactical Squad|Tactical]]''': The backbone of a Battle Company, Tactical Marines are those who are flexible in combat, relying on both ranged weapons and melee weapons in combat. Note that due to the order of the Companies, they usually have served as both Assault and Devastator Marines, so they definitely know the basics of both, granting the majority of the chapter great theoretical tactical flexibility.
*'''[[Intercessor]] Squad''': Those Primaris Marines who are armed uniformly with some version of Bolt Rifle-either the standard version, the more mobile Auto Bolt Rifle, or the longer-ranged Stalker bolt rifle. Their role on the battlefield is to set up lines of fire and advance on and secure objectives much in a similar way to Tactical Squads; although they lack their little brothers' overall flexibility due to their exclusive use of Bolt Rifle variants, it is said that a combination of these units with other squads is invaluable to a commander.
*'''[[Infiltrator]] Squad:''' Recon Primaris Marines wearing a slightly lighter armament, but are expected to perform extended operations behind enemy lines. All Primaris Marines can revert to Vanguard Marines at any time, though Primaris Marines from the reserve companies often get seconded to frontline companies in this way.

====Fire Support====
*'''[[Devastator Squad|Devastator]]''': Devastator Marines can be summed up in three words: Blow shit up. The purpose of the Devastator is to provide heavy weapons fire in battle, artillery strikes, and hunting tanks. Once a Scout earns his Black Carapace and Power Armor, he will be attached to a Devastator Squad, allowing him to gain battlefield experience by watching the conflict from afar, with the added perk of allowing a new marine to bond with his armor while learning its strengths by lugging heavy weapons around. Unlike [[Sisters of Battle]], the Devastator title refers to organization rather than weapon skill. Devastator squads will contain both heavy weapons and bolter marines who act as spotters and loaders. Likewise, the heavy weapon marines in tactical squads are tactical marines, not devastators.
**'''Devastator [[Centurion Squad]]s:''' Devastators trained to wear Centurion Warsuits, allowing them to carry considerably more firepower than any other marine short of a dreadnought. Centurion squads are organised in combat squads of three rather than five, which means that the reorganization of the codex to accommodate more variety actually means leftover soldiers can bulk up other Demi-squads without interfering with the 100 man standard.
*'''[[Hellblaster]] Squads:''' Primaris Marines who show a particular talent for marksmanship are elevated to the position of Hellblaster, which makes them a sort of elite promotion rather than Devastators who are often newbies. The reason for this is because the Plasma Incinerators they wield are very rare and difficult to maintain, and so are be entrusted to the care of a warrior who can put them to best use. Their role is to provide dedicated anti-armor firepower without sacrificing mobility in the process, and assault and heavy variants of the Plasma Incinerator also exist for greater effectiveness against massed light infantry and vehicles, respectively.
*'''[[Aggressor]] Squads:''' Primaris marines equipped with Mk X Gravis Armour and Auto Boltstorm Gauntlets and Flame Gauntlets (essentially power fists with built-in bolters or flamers, respectively). in the case of the former, they may also use shoulder-mounted grenade launchers to further supplement their firepower. Aggressors fulfill a similar role to Centurions and are also organised into combat squads of three, but Aggressors are somewhat more lightly armed in exchange for superior maneuverability. Their role is to provide close-range anti-infantry fire support to an advancing force as they move in for the kill.
*'''[[Eliminator]] Squad''': Marksmen Vanguard Marines wearing stripped down Phobos Armour, coming with a Shrike Pattern Bolt Rifle with special ammunition. Their duty is to hunt for targets of opportunity while being extra stealthy.
*'''[[Suppressor]] Squad:''' Come with Omnis Pattern Armour, which is a lighter variant of Gravis Armour equipped with various jump packs, grav chutes and shock absorbers. Unlike Inceptor Marines the aren't meant for crashing onto the battlefield from low orbit and cause havoc, but are instead intended to maneuver themselves into position and lay down withering fire with their Accelerator Autocannons.

====Close Support====
*'''[[Assault Squad|Assault]]''': Assault Marines are those who specialize in melee combat, using [[Chainsword|Chain]] and [[Power weapon]]s alike to fuck up the enemies of the [[Imperium of Man]]. In addition, they also take to the field wearing jump packs which allows them to deepstrike onto the battlefield, move quickly from point to point, and even execute a jet-fueled charge of awesomeness into the enemy. This is the next stop in a new Marine's career when he graduates from the Devastator squads (Blood Angels start as Assault and become Devastators), helping to familiarize him with any weapons he hasn't used yet, and putting him through the crushing psychological stress of hand-to-hand combat under something resembling optimal conditions. Assault marines can also use bikes, attack bikes, landspeeders, drop pods, Rhinos, and Razorbacks.
**'''Assault Centurion Squads:''' Assault Marines trained to use the Centurion warsuits for siege breaking and trench clearing.
*'''[[Inceptor]] Squads:''' Primaris marines who fulfill an analogue to the Assault squad role, though their function is less about engaging the enemy at close quarters and more to act as the spearhead unit that will arrive in advance of the main force and secure the drop zone. Their Assault Bolters and Plasma Exterminators are surprisingly powerful for their size, allowing Inceptors to perform deadly hit-and-run attacks.
*'''[[Reiver]] Squads:''' Primaris specialists in shock and awe tactics, who fill a role somewhere between Assault Squad and Scouts. Their mission profile is to create confusion and terror by attacking from unexpected angles, so to do this they can either infiltrate onto the battlefield or glide in silently on grav chutes. In battle, they can choose to wield either a paired combat blade and heavy bolt pistol for melee use or a bolt carbine for close-quarters firefights.
*'''[[Incursor]] Squads''': Vanguard marines clad in lightweight Phobos Armor made flushing out hidden positions and close-combat. Their special Occulus Bolt Carbines and Multi-Spectrum Arrays allow them to detect enemies in any circumstance, while their haywire mines can cripple vehicles. Curiously, these are the only marines that seem to know how to dual-wield their knives effectively enough to be standard-issue.

====Others====
*'''[[Scout|Scout Squad]]''': Scout Marines are Neophyte Space Marines who are charged with scouting terrain and enemy positions, in addition to demolitions and what we would today call special forces operations. A risky job, but this has the effect of ensuring that the more cautious ones survive while the reckless and foolish are weeded out.

*'''[[Veteran Squad|Veteran]]''': Veteran Marines are those who have seen through several centuries, allowing them access to all the cool toys in the Chapter's armory. They're hopefully experienced and cool-headed enough not to, say, [[Dakka|super-glue the relic blade of the founder to the codpiece of their armor to skullfuck the enemies of mankind.]] A Chapter's first company veterans get to wear [[Terminator]] armor (the Crux Terminatus is a cross between a medal and authorization papers), but they sometimes stay with normally-sized power armor instead, which is instead slowly turned into Artificer armor by all the bling and enhancements. Power-armored Veterans are divided into two subgroups: Vanguard (who focus on close quarters combat) and Sternguard (who focus on bolter drills and other forms of ranged warfare).

The first and tenth companies '''very''' rarely take to the field as single formations. Instead, the veterans are seconded to other companies, often serving as commanding officers and sergeants to other squads, so as to spread their experience and skill as widely as possible. Whilst the same is also said of Scouts, who are attached to other companies as auxiliary units so that they can learn their trades alongside their more experienced brothers.

A very common codex variant is to keep a company's veterans attached to their parent company permanently, acting as an additional squad in a company and assisting the captain and his command staff where necessary, filling the role of champion, standard bearer and any other administrative positions. These men are very seldom counted as part of the 100 man structure of the company and are instead counted amongst the command staff. More rarely the Veterans will supplant one of the tactical squads, particularly when they act autonomously from the Captain and form the line of battle instead of as a command squad, or in an even greater deviation from the codex, adding an extra squad that is counted amongst the company's order of battle. This organization is used by the [[Space Sharks]], [[Iron Hands]], [[Iron Snakes]], [[Executioners]], [[Dark Angels]] and others.

===Ranks===

The Codex Astartes formalized and simplified the ranks among the Adeptus Astartes, eliminating some ranks like "commander", while adding some more. They include:

*'''[[Chapter Master]]''': The grand poobah of the Chapter. He is the one who gives Marine companies their assignments, and is under no obligation to recognize any external authority save for the [[God-Emperor of Mankind]], though most Chapter masters will recognize and honor (if not obey) the authority of the Inquisition and the Administratum. A chapter master is not merely the commander-in-chief of the chapter, he is also expected to be an administrator, a paragon of martial skill, a councilor, a tactician, a strategist, and often even an admiral or a planetary governor, as the chapter master will typically have ultimate authority over the chapter's homeworld, or home fleet in the case of crusading chapters. Needless to say, chapter masters are some of the most formidable individuals in the galaxy, rivaled only by the greatest heroes and monsters of other races.

*'''[[Brother-Captain|Captain]]''': Captains are the commanders of Companies, overseeing their Marines from the front line instead of the back. Captains are usually promoted from the senior Sergeant in the Company. The most senior is the First Captain, who commands the Veteran 1st Company, and is often the official heir apparent to the Chapter Master. Each Company Captain also holds a Chapter-level position of authority, supervising his Chapter's fleet, vehicle pool, recruits, or territory, for example.

*'''Lieutenant:''' with the unveiling of Cawl's new Primaris Marines came a slight reorganisation of codex companies and delegation of officers duties. Each space marine company would have two lieutenants subservient to its captain, though their exact duties can vary from chapter to chapter. ''(Salamanders lieutenants are [[This Guy|ceremonial bodyguards]] for their Captain, whilst Iron Hands lieutenants are [[That Guy|naysmiths]] charged with arguing against their Captain's battle plans in order to ensure his logic is free from human error)'' Largely, their main function is to act as an executive to their Captain and take command of the demi-companies when the company splits (one per demi-company), and allowing specialist officers such as Chaplains and Librarians to actually focus on their roles rather than taking command themselves. Which makes sense considering specialist officers trained for a particular duty may be no more qualified to command than any other battle brother.
**As with Captains, there is no actual requirement for Lieutenants to be Primaris Marines, and as it stands, regular Astartes lieutenants are more flexible thanks to the wider range of compatible wargear.
*'''Force Commander''': Not a rank but a title given to the commander of a task force (duh), either given if more than one company is fighting at the same time in which case it would be the senior captain or if the company has to split up and a junior officer such as a lieutenant takes command of forces aside from his own captain.

*'''[[Brother-Sergeant|Sergeant]]''': Sergeants lead squads of four to nine other Marines depending on the influx of recruits. There are approximately ten sergeants per Codex approved Company. Often, the most senior sergeant will be the commander of a company's "First Squad" ''(usually a Tactical Squad)'' and will likely be next in line for a promotion if the Captain is ever slain, but not always. Members of the Captain's Command Squad may also be Sergeants who get additional duties as the Captain's role might require.

*'''[[Veteran Squad|Veteran-Sergeant]]''': Not a "rank" exactly, but more of a recognition of status for those who have been members of a Chapter's First Company, quite frequently these guys get redistributed back to the lower companies to act as squad leaders where their experience will do some good, hence "Veteran Sergeant". These guys will usually get to wear the "Crux Terminatus" even when in power armour, to represent the fact that they have earned the right to use Terminator Armour. Note that Veteran Sergeants can serve in the ranks of the Scouts, Devastators, and Assault Marines despite being technically overqualified, in each case helping the new recruits to adapt to Chapter life. In old 3rd Edition rules you could get Captains without terminator honours, which kind of implied that they never passed through the first company but still got command, nowadays a Captain is just one thing.

*'''Champion''': Champion is actually a number of positions within a chapter, with each company having a champion, the chapter as a whole having a champion, and a champion being drawn from within the ranks of the honour guard to serve as the personal champion of the chapter master (though these last two positions are often held by the same marine). A champion is theoretically the best close quarters fighter in a company, charged with protection of the Captain from all threats. Given that your average Captain is a badass in power armor, this may seem redundant, but it's supposed to allow him to focus on coordinating the battle. One of the biggest dissonances between the crunch and fluff is manifested with the champions, in that on the tabletop officers are almost universally more formidable than the champions that are supposedly there to protect them. Also, rather hilariously, the current status of their chapter champion is one of the only breaks the Ultramarines have with the Codex Astartes, due to the raging ego of one [[Cato Sicarius]].

*'''[[Honour Guard]]''': Like a veteran-veteran, assumed to be the best of the best. These guys get bunched together and given some of the best gear available to the chapter. The fluff tells us that these guys are peers of Captains in terms of battlefield experience, but do not have the command rank to actually issue any orders, though when Honour Guard speak up it's advised that the officers nearby listen carefully. Thankfully the tabletop game is balanced not to give a whole squad full of Captain-equivalent soldiers.

*'''Standard Bearer''': The Company Standard Bearer, given the title of '''Ancient''' ''(the old term for Ensign, who was traditional standard bearer)'', is charged with carrying and protecting the Company Standard, or banner. Also frequently joins the Command Squad. Should a Company Standard Bearer drop the banner and let it fall to the ground, he will essentially forfeit his honor. If the Standard Bearer should be killed and the banner stolen, then the entire Company will be dishonored until the banner is reclaimed. Which means that if you steal a Company Standard, you now have nearly one hundred Space Marines who were just trying to kill you, but now you had to go and make it personal. The most elite of these is the Chapter Standard Bearer ''(often a member of the Honour Guard)'', who carries the Chapter banner in war.

===Other Departments===
Outside of the above mentioned battle ranks, there are other positions within a Chapter:

====Librarium====
A chapter may have any number of librarians, with no Codex-mandated minimum or maximum. The fact that psykers, let alone Astartes psykers, are rare makes the position self-limiting.
*'''Chief Librarian''': The head of the Librarium, who assigns [[Librarian]]s to assist in battlefield communications. Also tests to see whether or not his battle-brothers are tainted by [[Chaos]] ("Yes brother, this is [[Rape|standard Codex procedure]]." *Snaps Latex gloves*)
*'''Epistolary:''' The highest rank below Chief Librarian, Epistolaries serve as the main communication aides on the battlefield.
*'''Codicier:''' Mid-level Librarians, who evaluate reports from campaigns and document them in their Librariums.
*'''Lexicanum:''' Entry-level Librarians, they are responsible for compiling battlefield reports for the Codiciers.
*'''Acolytum:''' Neophytes who have been identified as psykers.

====Apothecarion====
A chapter may have any number of apothecaries, although the Codex mandates at least 11 (one per Company, plus the Chief Apothecary).

*'''Master of the Apothecarion''': The head of the Apothecarion, who assigns an [[Apothecary]] to each Company. The Apothecarion in turn also takes care of the [[gene-seed]] that Chapters place such holy emphasis on, and for good reason: no gene-seed - no new recruits. Also, considering the relatively practical and utilitarian approach marines take to science, Masters of the Apothacarion are some of the only actual scientists in the entire freaking Imperium, if you don't count the ones that pray to their own bionic elbows, which you shouldn't.

====The Chaplaincy====
A chapter may have any number of chaplains, although the Codex mandates at ''least'' 11 (One per Company, plus the Reclusiarch/Master of Sanctity).
*'''Master of Sanctity''': The head of the Chaplaincy, and spiritual leader of the Chapter. He assigns [[Chaplain]]s to the Companies to oversee the spiritual health of the Chapter. This position is often, but not always, held by the chapter's Reclusiarch. Though it might be tempting to compare them to warrior bishops, they're actually atheists, seeing the Emperor as an honored predecessor and the epitome of humanity, but not a god.
*'''Reclusiarch''': The Chaplain who oversees the Chapter's Reclusiam ''(where they keep the relics and other secret historical stuff)''. But quite often the job gets rolled-up into the Master of Sanctity's job description (particularly if the Chapter is relatively young and has not accrued entire millennia worth of trinkets). It's uncertain what interaction ''(if any)'' they have with the Master of Relics, or it is quite possible that a Chaplain receives the role if that Captain of the 9th company gets a different position. Or, maybe, the Reclusiarch looks after the more "holy" and historically significant relics, and distributes some of them to Chaplains to carry in battle, while the Master of Relics okays the deployment of precious but combat worthy stuff like ancient marks of power armour or Heresy-era tanks, as Master of the Forge is technically a specialist position, not an authoritative one.

====Armoury====
A Chapter's armoury consists of any number of [[Techmarine]]s and dedicated vehicle operators, who do not formally get assigned to any Company.
*'''Master of the Forge''': The head of the Armoury, who assigns [[Techmarine]]s to oversee maintenance of the machine-spirits of the chapter's wargear and motor pool. Their position often overlaps to some degree with the Chapter's Reclusiarch, given that both are responsible for keeping the chapter's relics in good condition, so many artifacts will fall under both of their duties. Again, given that their religious zeal is tempered by the practical mindset of a space marine, Masters of the Forge are some of the only engineers in the galaxy that are actually still innovating to any degree, which really shows when you compare the armories of the modern space marine chapters with their traitorous counterparts.
*All Space Marines are required to familiarise themselves with operation of Rhino tanks at the very least as part of their standard training.
**Drivers of the armoury vehicles are referred to as '''Custodians''' ''(unrelated to the [[Adeptus Custodes|golden bananas]])'' many of whom are assigned when necessary from the squads of the 6th & 7th reserve companies. They are expected to continue their development through the companies and learn ''every'' aspect of war so that vehicle commanders better anticipate the roles of Tactical/Assault/Devastator and provide battlefield support without even being requested. That is unless they get assigned to the armoury on a more permanent basis, such as being trained to operate larger, more precious vehicles and/or end up specialising in armoured operations.
**Battlefield support vehicles tend not to be assigned permanent crews, and are manned by individuals capable of operating a number of chapter vehicles, helped in part to the ubiquity of the Rhino chassis and the standard training.
*Dreadnoughts are typically assigned back to their original companies, and appear sporadically across a chapters roster, though some chapters assign Dreadnoughts to their own formations instead. However the technology to build even the most basic dreadnought is rare and time consuming; even for master artificers, so the number is limited. But even then, the frequency of wakefulness decreases over time and they get used less and less.

====The Fleet====
A chapter is allowed a fleet of as many ships as it can get together, and may assign Marines to these ships as permanent staff, in a similar fashion to the Armoury, although the Codex is significantly more flexible on Fleet staff. A chapter can be Codex compliant without any Marines in their Fleet at all. Ship designations made for Space Marines have a fairly narrow band of marine transport capacity, between one to three companies worth, which does not change significantly between chapters. Therefore, while a chapter could theoretically muster a fleet of any size, the practical restraints limit the upper and lower bands of a chapter fleet's size.

*'''Lord Admiral''': Often the Captain of the 4th company gets this position by default as "Master of the Fleet", but it's [[Uriel Ventris|not unheard of for a Captain to step down]] from the position if someone else would be better suited to the role; they call that person "Lord Admiral", and he gets command over the Chapter's fleet assets. Though it might be perfectly reasonable that that space marine holds a battlefield rank of Battle-Brother or Sergeant, so he's probably just temporary until the Captain ''(or his replacement)'' wants the job back.
*'''Lieutenant Commander''': In the days of the Great Crusade, these individuals commanded battalions of five companies, outranking Captains and were subservient to Chapter Masters. We know of [[Marines Errant|only one example]] of this rank though it is uncertain whether the title holds the same authority as before. From what we know it now applies to the commander of a vessel, which makes sense since most Space Marine chapters have more ships than Captains, so ''somebody'' has to get the job of commanding them. Though often we assume it's just a techmarine or sergeant of whichever squad gets attached to that vessel or more likely a badass high ranking [[Chapter Serf]] who doesn't need to be superhuman to understand how spaceships operate.
**With the advent of the company rank of Lieutenant, it is uncertain as to how the Lieutenant Commander actually fits in the new command structure: whether it is a superior form of Lieutenant with new duties ''(which is what the rank itself implies)'' or if it is a Lieutenant who has been officially combined with the Force Commander role ''(see above)'' and has his own units set aside from his company that he commands on a full time basis. Or more likely, considering that Space Marines tend to hold to an army chain of command rather than a naval hierarchy, the rank is probably an honorific title that stands alongside their company rank such as with the Lord Admiral. It is also quite possible this is now the same as a old ''naval'' Lieutenant Commander, which was a ''Lieutenant'' serving as the ''Commander'' of a vessel.

==Codex Skub==
In case you haven't picked up on it yet, the Codex is rather controversial, for a number of reasons. First off, and perhaps most significantly, is the fact that even GW's own writers don't agree on what the codex is. [[Dan Abnett|Saint Abnett]] views it as a book of tips and strategies, comparable to ''The Art of War''. Graham McNeill (the guy who wrote the Ultramarines Omnibus) sees it as a comprehensive but inflexible guide to strategy, organization, and conduct. Matt Ward quite famously sees it as a literal Space Marine Bible, a holy book that all marines follow to the letter. Like a lot of GW lore, the canon is up in the air, and as such it's kind of open to interpretation. When it comes down to it, most of the argument over the codex comes down to people saying, "The Codex is a detrimental, absurd tome written by an OCD fucker that only serves to weaken the Imperium!" and others saying, "The Codex is one of the most important things in the entire imperium, setting down the rules that have allowed it to survive to the modern day!" Both people are correct because of the nebulous canon. Many writers are clearly very critical of the Codex, and portray it as antiquated and damaging, whereas others portray it as comprehensive and useful, but increasingly antiquated. Also there's Ward, but let's not talk about him. Which version is true? Yes.

It's also worthy of note that many people within the Ultramarines take the Codex with a grain of salt. [[Captain Titus]], [[Uriel Ventris]], and even [[Marneus Calgar]] and the freaking [[Roboute Guilliman|primarch himself]] have all been critical of the codex at various times, or rather, been critical of people's reception of it. All of these people see the codex as useful and important, but take issue with people, Ultramarines or otherwise, that see it as a holy book that contains everything you need to know. Perhaps Guilliman himself put it best, saying, ''"[My teachings] are yet flawed. No one, not even one such as I, can anticipate every possible outcome of battle. My words are not some holy writ that must be obeyed. There must always be room for personal initiative on the battlefield. You and I both know how one spark of heroism can turn the tide of battle. That knowledge and personal experience can only be earned in blood, and the leader in the field must always be the ultimate arbiter of what course of action should be followed."'' As the opening quote implies, Captain Titus is also quite critical of Leandros's interpretation of the codex, pointing out that personal initiative is just as important as adhering to the codex. Then again, Titus is also quite clearly a company champion who got mixed up for a captain, what with his disregard for tactics in favor of glorious melee, so maybe we should just ignore what he thinks.

Ultimately, your own take on the codex is going to depend on a number of things, including whose canon you believe, you opinion of the Legions, your opinion of Guilliman, and a dozen other things, just decide for yourself. Don't let yourself get pulled in by the fanboys saying the Codex is the perfect guide to everything, and conversely don't listen to the idiots who say the Codex is only useful as toilet paper.

=="Codex" Chapters with doctrinal variations==
More commonly, are those chapters which follow the codex at an organisational level, but disregard certain tactical aspects contained within, most likely because they have their own modus-operandi that they have a preference for, or because they create their own unique tactics that had never been considered.

'''[[Aurora Chapter]]'''
*Follows the Codex Astartes, yet has a large number of vehicles.
*They have a lot of vehicles.
*For a 1000 man sized Chapter, they have a lot of tanks.
*Of all the Codex Chapters they have the most tanks.
*Their armored spearhead attacks are pretty devastating.

'''[[Charnel Guard]]'''
*Cannot say too much about those guys since they are very secretive, thus their organisation and structure are completely unknown.
*Are confirmed to be Blood Angels successors, yet as said before, they are totally unknown from a organisational and structural P.O.V.
*Have a lot of Great Crusade and Horus Heresy Era stuff, including a Fellblade.

'''[[Crimson Fists]]'''
*More tactically oriented [[Imperial Fists]].
*Actually do follow the Codex more closely than other Sons of Dorn (but not that much like the Hammers of Dorn).
*At the time of their founding, they were known to be the most level-headed members of the Imperial Fists Legion, therefore took in the Codex much faster and easier.
*Only deviation is the existence of a Crusader Company that is a 1st Company that has 128 Veterans. A result of an event where they were reduced to 128 members during the Crusade of Righteous Liberation.
*Due to the whole situation with Rynn's World, the Chapter became very capable at fighting [[Orks]].

'''[[Emperor's Shadows]]'''
*Iron Hands Successors that follow the Codex.
*Put more emphasis on projectile weapons (like Bolter Weapons) and Dreadnoughts.

'''[[Hammers of Dorn]]'''
*Follow the Codex to the letter, yet do put more emphasis on heavy weapons and overwhelming firepower.
*No really, they follow the ABSOLUTE LETTER of the codex.
*Not even the [[Ultramarines]](Famous for having the primarch that wrote the damn thing) follow the codex more rigidly than them.
*They probably actually read the Codex from cover to cover.

'''[[Hawk Lords]]'''
*Codex compliant, yet put large emphasis on flyers.

'''[[Minotaurs]]'''
*Instead of sending out a single company, the Minotaurs utilize mob and berserker tactics along with sending out all ten of their companies to utterly overwhelm and crush their foes.

'''[[Raptors]]'''
*[[Reasonable Marines|Camouflage Power Armour]]. Technically this IS in the codex, but they're the [[Derp|only space marine chapter out of literally thousands]] that actually bothers to do it. They're also sneeki beekies, just like their Raven Guard progenitors.

'''[[Raven Guard]]'''
*Sneeki Cheeki [[beakie|Beekies]]. While they do follow the codex, their chapter is renowned for its skill with [[Reasonable Marines|stealth tactics and guerilla warfare]]. It also made extensive use of mutants (during the [[Horus Heresy]]) due to their situation after the Drop Site Massacre.

'''[[Space Sharks|Space Sharks/Carcharodons]]'''
*Greater emphasis on infantry and terror tactics.
*Will sneak up as close as possible to the enemy to later tear them a new one in close combat while berserking.
*May be organisationally non compliant as well, but they are quite tight lipped about it.
*Like the Iron Hands and Dark Angels, they keep veterans in their battle companies to maintain coherency within the companies.

'''[[Storm Giants]]'''
*Codex compliant, but utilize armoured assaults, Drop Pod strikes, and heavily use Scouts to get intel before ruining someone's day.
*Due to their heavy use of Scouts, they have a larger than average 10th Company.

'''[[White Scars]] and some Successors'''
*Disproportionate emphasis put on bikes and speeders compared to heavy vehicles, still adhering to codex formation however.

==Chapters with differences in formations or composition==
Some chapters have taken the idea of a "Chapter" and tweaked it with their own unique spin on its organization, either by adding units or ranks that aren't found anywhere else, or have their own composition of companies that doesn't fit with the approved codex model. In some cases they may ignore the codex altogether and do their own thing.

'''[[Black Dragons]]'''
*Dragon Claw squads, made up of mutants who make use of adamantium-coated wrist blades.

'''[[Blood Ravens]]'''
*'''Pre-Aurelian Crusade''':
**Usually, the Chapter Master was the Chief Librarian too, like [[Azariah Kyras]]. This tradition of Chapter Master/Librarian combo started with Azariah Vidya (as in Vidya Games or the Indian term for knowledge, science, scholarship, learning and etc.).
**Their gene seed causes them to have an above average number of Librarians, so many they can field two whole squads of them in the First Company. Librarians are so recurrent among Blood Ravens that it's not uncommon for one to even be a Captain.
**Actually Codex Compliant in structure, yet utilize their Librarians to scry and predict the movements of their enemies (so their Scouts are Librarians too?) and use the intel to formulate a counter strategy (because they appeared in [[Dawn of War]], their way of war is an emulation of how RTS gamers play when they are serious).
**Non-standard patterns of [[Apollo_Diomedes|speech]], incidents of [[Blood_Ravens_Force_Commander|hairesy]], compulsive [[Blood_Ravens#Bloody_Magpies|kleptomania]] and emphasis on [[Indrick_Boreale|devastating, defensive deepstrikes]].
*'''Post-Aurelian Crusade''':
**With [[Gabriel Angelos]], a non-psyker, taking the position of Chapter Master and separating the Chapter Master and Chief Librarian positions, they returned to a more codex-compliant organization, albeit severely undermanned.

'''[[Blood Angels]] and Successors'''
*[[Scout]]s graduate to [[Assault Squad]]s rather than to Devastator squads.
*The use of [[Heresy|non-standard tech]], like Baal Predators, Furioso and [[Dreadnought#Chapter_Specific_Dreads|Librarian Dreadnoughts]].
*Sanguinary Priests (Apothecaries) make up part of the chapter priesthood equivalent to Chaplains, who are busy tending to...
*...The [[Death Company]].

'''[[Dark Angels]] and Successors'''
*The [[Deathwing]] & [[Ravenwing]] instead of First and Second companies. As of 8th edition, this modification has been officially approved by Guilliman, ostensibly on account of their proven effectiveness.
*Inner Circle in place of usual chapter command structure.
*Chaplains taking the additional role of [[Chaplain#Dark_Angels_Interrogator-Chaplain|Interrogators]].
*Battle Companies incorporate an additional squad of [[Veteran Squad|veteran marines]].
*Some nifty STC that they do not share with anybody apart from their own successors.

'''[[Executioners]]'''
*Disregard many of the Codex's rules and trappings, but nonetheless follow the ten company outline.
*Choose to go into close combat with the enemy, while heavily preferring Land Speeders over Bikes.
*Heavy emphasis on their own skills and superhuman abilities enhanced with sheer determination.
*Each company has three [[Chaplain|Death Speakers]].
*Battle Companies have only one Devastator Squad each, but can field their own Veteran Squads.

'''[[Exorcists]]'''
*Have two additional scout companies to account for the high attrition rate amongst recruits.
*...said attrition rate being caused by subjecting recruits to daemonic possession.

'''[[Iron Hands]]'''
*Have a Chapter Council instead of a fixed [[Chapter Master]], though a leader may be nominated.
*Chaplain Techmarines, aka "[[Chaplain#Iron_Hands_Iron_Father|Iron Fathers]]".
**The current leader is thus a Chapter Master Chaplain Techmarine. And people say the Blood Ravens are the crazy ones.
*Each Clan Company has its own armoury, rather than a single armoury for the whole chapter.
*Terminator Armour was distributed to squad sergeants instead of being reserved only for the First company.
*Pre-6th Edition fluff indicated that individual companies (clans) had their own veterans and recruits, newer fluff put them more in line with the Codex.

'''[[Iron Snakes]]'''
*Instead of having five regular battle companies and five reserve companies, the Iron Snakes have ten battle companies with an equal number of veterans, regulars and neophytes for perfect balance.
*Each squad has a Apothecary, personal Squad Standard Bearer and a number of specialists of their own.

'''[[Red Scorpions]]'''
*Apothecaries act in squad command roles instead of sergeants.
*Functionally the opposite of the Raptors, the Red Scorpions ignore all of the codex's teachings on stealth.

'''[[Salamanders]]'''
*Have seven oversized companies instead of ten, but otherwise broadly conform to the codex.

'''[[Star Phantoms]]'''
*Each company takes a [[Devastator Squad]] over a [[Tactical Squad]], leaving five Tactical and three Devastators in the battle companies
*The chapter is never at full strength, seldom even at half, but maintains weapons as though they were. Their "tactical" reserve companies can fill in for full devastator squads, if needed.

'''[[Storm Wardens]]'''
*Tempest Blades being a non-codex formation.
*Heavy emphasis on mechanized warfare and mano-a-mano honorable duels to the death.

'''[[Ultramarines]]'''
*Tyrannic War Veterans are a non-codex formation.
*Originally, Guilliman deliberately gave himself an 11th company in contravention of his own rules for the sole purpose of guarding the [[Imperium Secundus|Pharos]]. Though this company got [[Scythes of the Emperor|rolled into its own chapter]] while the Adeptus Terra were doing their audits for an unanticipated Third Founding.
*The Ultramarines still have an [[Ultramarines Honour Company|"apparent" 11th company]] that guards the Eye of Terror; made up of volunteer squads donated from their successors but all wearing Ultramarine uniforms.
*After Guilliman's return, he appointed Decimus Felix as an 11th captain ''(no particular company this time)''. The break with the codex was enough to give Felix cause for concern. Later, Guilliman appointed him Tetrarch and gave him authority over Ultramar's Eastern expanses.
*[[Cato Sicarius]] is still the 11th ''(12th/13th?)'' He now commands the [[Victrix Guard]], which is a new formation of Veterans who act as Guilliman's bodyguards and envoys.

'''[[White Consuls]]'''
*Have [[Alpharius|two Chapter Masters]] instead of one

==Non-Codex Chapters==
As mentioned, there are so many chapters in the Imperium and very few of them follow the codex absolutely to the letter. Many chapters have their own preferred mode of warfare based upon their experiences, supplies and dispositions, often they generate their own interpretations and deviations from the codex. Here follows a comparative listing of those chapters and the way in which they differ from what the codex actually prescribes.

'''[[Astral Claws]]'''
*'''Pre-[[Red Corsairs]] Times''': Before [[Lugft Huron]] went pants-on-heads retarded, the Chapter was known for being exceptionally stubborn with skilled Bikers and favoring lightning strikes and boarding actions while still following the Codex.
*'''[[Badab War]] Times''':
**Due to Huron's pants-on-heads retarded thinking, the Chapter seized the Badab Sector's industry and made it so that Bolter rounds and Rhinos were mass-produced to the point being expendable, not to mention the larger-than-standard number of marines due to them purposefully not paying their geneseed tithe.
**Emergence of specialized units (such as the hated Corpse-Takers) and human Auxilia. Squads larger due to aforementioned not paying of the geneseed tithe.

'''[[Black Templars]]'''
*"Chapter" made up of ad-hoc crusade fleets and fighting companies, their numbers thus swelling up to six times the size of everyone else's.
*No Scout company, instead recruits are apprenticed to fully fledged battle-brothers, aka "Crusader squads".
*No Librarians.
*Doctrinal emphasis on close quarters combat.
**Abundance of previously unsanctioned Land Raider "Crusader"s to deliver said Crusader squads to CQC. See the trend here?
*May or may not deify the Emperor. The canon is kind of up in the air right now.
**The position of "Emperor's Champion", a Chapter Champion-esque title but of faith significance.

'''[[Grey Knights]]'''
*Due to their unique training and equipment (not to mention the [[Chaos|intimidatingly]] [[Chaos Space Marines|insane]] [[Daemon|shit]] they have to deal with), the Codex would actually hamper them instead.
*All psyker Chapter of Demon hunting marines. Nuff said.
*The infamous [[Dreadknight]].
*When the Neophyte ends his training, he becomes a battle brother and is issued a suit of power armour and his standard wargear.
*Do not have any artillery weapons like Whirlwind Artillery Tanks or lack of certain vehicles other Chapters have.

'''[[Legion of the Damned]]'''
*Previously Codex adherent [[Fire Hawks]] (maybe, now it's uncertain if they are Fire Hawks or somebody/something completely different), now a horde of angry hellfire powered, space/time/dimension travelling, [[AWESOME|spectrerevenantdemonspacemarines]].
*Utilize more powerful, but unstable early versions of existing Imperial Weapons like early Horus Heresy Era Plasma Weapons.

'''[[Space Wolves]]'''
*Ignore the organizational parts of the codex outright. It would be easier to go [[Space Wolves|their page]] to find out how they are organised.
*Simply put, [[Leman Russ]] wanted them to be forged in his vision instead that of Roboute Guilliman, and Guilliman gave him permission to do so.
*Although they do however take some useful tactics from the codex because they like them, they see them as just that: useful tactics, and nothing more.
*Fenrisian Wolves/Thunderwolves used by the Chapter. This may or may not be heresy.
*Have more than a thousand marines, yet not that much as the Black Templars.
*Threw the typical training process out the window because of the Canis Helix.
*In the previous editions, they had access to Leman Russ tanks (since the tank was named after their Primarch).
*Wolf Priests combine both Chaplain and Apothecary roles.

==Purpose for Gamers==

Of course, there's a reason [[Games Workshop]] included the Codex Astartes in their fluff (long before Matt Ward came along, by the way). Basically, it makes it easier for players to invent their own Chapters.

Players who just have an idea for a cool color scheme or name but don't want to put any effort into making up a whole organizational layout can just make a Chapter that rigidly follows the Codex, like the [[Ultramarines]]. Those who want to have one or two unique organizational or tactical features can make a Chapter that generally follows the Codex but has some variances, like...well, most of them (see above). And players that want to make up entirely independent structures themselves can make Chapters that ignore the Codex entirely, like the [[Space Wolves]] or the [[Black Templars]].

This means that [[Matt Ward]]'s Codex worship isn't just lame, but actually bad for GW's business: By telling players that only Codex Chapters are any good, he's discouraging players with their own ideas from investing in models, paints, tournaments, and maybe even later editions of the game. Truly, there is no end to his failure.

{{Marines-Forces}}

Epic

2019-10-16T10:59:46Z

61.6.235.42:

{{Oldschool}}
[[Image:Epic_box.JPG|thumb|300px|Box]]
'''Epic''' was a system for running massively huge (or, one might say, EPICally huge) games of [[Warhammer 40,000]], using streamlined rules and 6mm scale figures to make things feasible. [[Forge World]] never bothers to stock shit for this anymore since it has been overshadowed by its big brother [[Apocalypse]]. When [[Games Workshop]] switched from metal to [[Finecast]] and then plastic, they (and Forge World) declined to update the molds for Epic (and the other [[Specialist Games]]), so the stocks are slowly dwindling away. [[Games Workshop|This is purely a game play decision and has nothing to do with the fact that the 28mm scale resin models in Apocalypse are outrageously expensive and supported by special books you have to buy.]] It is currently being remade.

==In the Before Time==
[[Image:Epic_titans.jpg|thumb|300px|]]
Epic began as a system by the name of ''Adeptus Titanicus'' and was all about giant-ass [[Titans]] fucking each other over with huge weapons and stamping on puny infantry. Then, along came a system called ''Space Marine: Epic'' designed to allow more rounded armies and hailed as a way to show the true scale of Warhammer 40k conflicts, seeing as the fluff demands wars on the level of the [[Apocalypse]] over a Black Templar spilling iced coffee on an Eldar Guardian. As this was during the ''Second Edition'' phase of design, it did this via a diseased combination of "Army Cards" where building an army was a matter of creating a spreadsheet with a bunch of dead trees. In this system the majority of models were 1/350 scale, while large vehicles were 1/700 scale to keep them affordable (seriously, there was a time when Games Workshop actually thought like this). This also got GW the ''Space Marine'' registered trademark in the UK, which they took great joy in forcing figures based on the ''Aliens'' franchise to acknowledge even though the second movie came out first.

Old Epic had some strange issues with armament; specifically, weapons were divided into broad types with no real acknowledgement of different subtypes; all "bolters" (pistol, bolter, storm, heavy) had the same stats, for example, and the Battle Cannon in a [[Baneblade]]'s turret had the same stats as the one in a [[Leman Russ Battle Tank]]'s, or the one in a Stormblade's sponson.

===How it worked===
[[Image:Epic_army.jpg|thumb|300px|Army]]
An Epic army was organised using army list-like groupings based on cards with point values. Armies were built around Company cards, which could have up to five Support cards and one Special card. Company cards were company-level infantry (e.g. Space Marine Battle Companies, Eldar Warhosts, or Ork Clans) which were usually split into three separate detachments on the table. Support cards were additional infantry squads or tank squadrons, and Special cards were the army commanders or superheavy vehicles, Titans and suchlike (think 'decurion' formations, and you're on the right track).

Each of these cards also had a point value printed on it, and as usual armies were limited to a number of points agreed on by the players.

==Titan Legions==
At some point, however, someone realised that ''Space Marine'' meant that the average army contained loads of cheap plastic minis and only a few big, expensive lead Titans. This led to the creation of ''Titan Legions'', which introduced Titan Company cards, a pair of new super-Titans for the Orks and Imperium (with more planned) and the [[Imperial Knight]]s, which entered their 2-year cycle of GW forgetting and remembering they exist at this point in time. It also marked the start of the fluff acknowledging that Orks actually had aircraft.

''Titan Legions'' also introduced greater support for large units of armour as Company cards, and the Tyranids as a playable army; written in concert with Codex: Tyranids for 40K, this was the first time it was acknowledged that any Tyranid creature larger than a Carnifex and smaller than a Hive Ship actually existed.

Predictably this failed to really do anything; ''Titan Legions'' was underwhelming and didn't address any of the issues with the core system, instead just adding an extra dollop of complexity on top of it. Most of the new minis were never released at all, while some planned for later supplements like the Ordinatus weapons only ever had their rules featured in ''White Dwarf''. Being the only place the [[Squats]] didn't suck made the Epic system an obvious candidate for the chop, and soon the whole line was discontinued.

Some people liked this old Epic with its sub 50 page rules book and have kept the game alive with revised rules, newer armies from later Epic versions, and in some cases killing your printer with PDFs that look entirely too good for a fan project. It is called Net Epic http://www.netepic.org/netepic.html

==The Other Other Other Epic==
Eventually a newer, streamlined system called ''Epic 40,000'' came out. It was well-designed and the rules made sense, and the players who bought it (both of them) saw that it was good.
(Unless you liked Space Marine/Titan Legions, [[Skub|Then Epic 40K was something to hate,]] even though Andy Chambers and Jervis Johnson have openly called it "the best rules they have ever written"). On the upside the starter box was full of awesome stuff, lots of molds were redone to look good, and having a game with an Imperator Titan or Ork Mega Gargant wasn't like combining Star Fleet Battles rules with Epic. It died in less than two years for a reason. And butthurt Squat players mad their army was entirely removed can't have been enough of a reason alone to cause sales to be that bad. Epic 40,000 can honestly be the line in the sand where Games Workshop began rushing headlong into the [[rage|completely loathed company they are today]]. This is of course conjecture from boomer tier fa/tg/uys who hate everything new.

=={{anchor|When Somebody Said:}}The End of Epic==
"Hey, you know what would be awesome, making 40k scale models to match the level of scale Epic was trying to make."

And thus began the slow spiral into madness. Don't get me wrong, I love [[Forge World|EXSBAWKS HUEG]] models and I make them, but Epic was a relatively rules-easy game that had a solid fanbase that died to [[Apocalypse]], which was poorly designed and is cumbersome to play. There was a new system called ''Epic Armageddon'', which GW barely supported with a range of old ''Epic 40,000'' models, and dropped entirely in 2013 with the rest of their [[Specialist Games]]. Rumors turned up in April 2014 of a new 10mm Epic game in the works, but not many people took them seriously. (They were right).
However...

==It's coming back!==
[https://1d4chan.org/images/c/c4/SPECIALIST_GAMES_ARE_COMING_BACK.jpg] Gamesworkshop is now remaking Specialist Games, [[Profit|everyone knows why they're doing it]] but hey, epics coming back too!

[http://www.tp.net-armageddon.org/tournament-pack/] NetEpic

[http://epicau.com/mw/index.php/Main_Page] Rules for 30k epic for the NetEpic system.

==Adeptus Titanicus==
GW's latest "version" of Epic consists of Knights, Titans and Bigger Titans. Set in 30K, no support for demons and xenos units so far.
The rules seem to be based on Imperial Knight: Renegade with the complexity of piloting your Titan! Still fun if you are into mech battles.

==See Also==
*[[Aeronautica Imperialis]]

{{Specialist-Games}}

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