Editing Codex Astartes (section)

===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. Some Chapters (especially the [[Iron Hands]] and most of their successors who use the Clan-Company system) don't have Chapter Masters and have the company Captains jointly rule through council, though they may elect one among their number as Chapter Master either temporarily or permanently.
*'''[[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 (though with the advent of Lieutenants this might have changed). The most senior is the First Captain. Each Company Captain also holds a Chapter-level position of authority, supervising his Chapter's fleet, vehicle pool, recruits, or territory.
**The First Captain holds the title of '''Regent''' and commands the Veteran First Company as well as being the regent of the Chapter's Home World or Fleet and the heir apparent to the Chapter Master. Most likely of all the Captains to wear Terminator armour as he is leading the squads that get to have it in the first place. Some chapters have the Chapter Master be the First Captain and directly lead the First Company (found in the [[Salamanders]] and [[Crimson Fists]]).
**The Captain of the Second Company is the '''Master of the Watch'''. Charged with maintaining discipline, they serve as the prosecution during trials within the Chapter and handle other cases involving a lack in discipline but which are not quite heretical. Their main responsibility lies in the logistics of defense for the chapter's Fortress-Monastery/main base of operations. In fleet-bound chapters these responsibilities are often rolled into the title of Master of the Fleet.
**The Captain of the Third Company is the '''Master of the Arsenal'''. They oversee the Chapter's stockpile of weapons, munitions, and vehicles of war, maintaining both number and quality of such. Likely works closely alongside the Master of the Forge.
**The Captain of the Fourth Company is the '''Master of the Fleet''', charged with taking care of the Chapter's Fleet. It would seem logical that this position is more important in fleet-based Chapters as ships are even more key to the Chapter's function. The Master of the Fleet can give up his duty and simply be Fourth Captain if one more qualified than them is available for the duty of naval command (all captains can theoretically do this, but the Master of the Fleet is where this exception is most frequently found). Some Chapters have dedicated separate Masters of the Fleet and give the Fourth Company Captain a different role entirely.
**The Captain of the Fifth Company is the '''Master of the Marches'''. They have the duty of overseeing the Chapter's deployment and fighting strength; when a Chapter is rebuilding, they have the final say when the Chapter is ready. Their duties require an immense amount of time and effort; it is not uncommon for a Master of the Marches to spend all of his time on incoming data, which does not seem like the thing a seven foot superhuman should spend his time on. The Chapter Masters probably don't trust a newbie or mortal to handle something this important.
**The Captain of the Sixth Company is the '''Master of the Rites'''. They perform and oversee the rites, rituals and other formal occasions inherent to the Chapter; as such their duty (and the size of it) differs between the various Chapters. In many cases they work closely with the Chapter's Chaplains. The precise differences between Master of Rites and the Master of Sanctity vary greatly between chapters, generally with both holding special significance under different spheres.
**The Captain of the Seventh Company is the '''Chief Victualler'''. They are tasked with maintaining the logistics within the Chapter and with outside forces, ensuring supplies that the Chapter cannot make for itself are procured and that there is enough raw material for the things the Chapter can produce. They also make sure that the various ships and bases of the Chapter have ample supplies. Synonymous with Quartermaster.
**The Captain of the Eight Company is the '''Lord Executioner'''. Unlike his brethren, the Lord Executioner serves as a weapon for the Chapter, to be bloody in battle and destroy the Chapter's enemies in close range.
**The Captain of the Ninth Company is the '''Master of Relics'''. Their duties are twofold: to tend to the various relics that the Chapter has and to engage in long-ranged warfare both in sieges and firefights. Rumor that this duty also includes warding any and all Blood Ravens from the armory is unconfirmed.
**The Captain of the Tenth Company is the '''Master of the Recruits'''. They oversee the recruiting, indoctrination, training and deployment of the Chapter's Neophytes and Scouts.
**It should be noted that Chapters tend to have different roles for their Captains. The most common variant is among the [[Dark Angels]] and their successors within the Unforgiven having [[Deathwing]] and [[Ravenwing]] First and Second Companies with different roles for the Captains of those companies. Another common variant is to have one or more Captains to be designated as '''Siege Captain''', specializing in taking and holding fortifications. This may be in addition or in full replacement of their normal roles as captain.

*'''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 now has two lieutenants subservient to its captain, though their exact duties can vary from chapter to chapter; for example, 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. 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), 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, 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, especially if the newly mandated Lieutenants are available for promotion instead. Members of the Captain's Command Squad may also be Sergeants who get additional duties as required.

*'''[[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 implied that they never passed through the first company but still got command; nowadays a Captain is just one thing. It's also important to remember that the number of Veterans in a Chapter is not limited by the Codex.

*'''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 while the Champion tears up anyone who tries to interrupt. One of the biggest dissonances between the crunch and fluff is manifested with the champions: on the tabletop officers are almost universally more formidable than the champions that are supposedly there to protect them. In an ideal scenario, the Chapter has one champion for each Company, one Honour Guard Champion, one Chapter Master's Personal Champion and one Chapter Champion (the Honour Guard Champion and Chapter Master's Champion titles are frequently held concurrently by one Marine) giving a total of 12 or 13 champions for a full strength Chapter.

*'''[[Honour Guard]]''': A veteran's 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. Essentially, the Honour Guard acts as the Chapter Master's Command Squad. As noted above, one of the Honour Guard is the Honour Guard Champion.

*'''Standard Bearer''': The Company Standard Bearer, given the title of '''Ancient''' (the old term for Ensign, who was the traditional standard bearer), is charged with carrying and protecting the Company Standard. 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, 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, but not necessarily), who carries the Chapter banner in war. If the Chapter Ancient isn't among the Honour Guard, then the Honour Guard will have its own Ancient as well. Primaris Bladeguard have [[Primaris Ancient|Bladeguard Ancients]].