Black Templars

Black Templars armorial with Legion iconography.

Black Templars Tactical Legionary Kul Hadronar.

"*The galaxy is the Emperor's, and anyone or anything who challenges that claim is an enemy who must be destroyed.*"
— High Marshal Helbrecht at the Battle of Fire and Blood
The **Black Templars** are a Loyalist First Founding Space Marine Legion. Born as the XVI Legion on Terra, they would first rise to greatness under the name of the Luna Wolves. Before the dark days of the Dornian Heresy they fought at the Emperor's side on Terra and through the early years of the Great Crusade. The XVI Legion was loyal beyond question, and their master was lauded above all others. They exemplified what an Astartes was supposed to be; brutal, ruthless and unwavering but also honourable, and were considered the most favoured servants of the Emperor of Mankind. In honour of Horus' great achievements during the Great Crusade, following the Imperial victory over the Orks during the Ullanor Crusade, the Emperor suggested that the Legion be renamed the Sons of Horus. Horus was also granted the title 'Warmaster', commander-in-chief of all the Emperor's armies.

The history of the Black Templars is the history of the ambition of the Imperium itself, and the flaws that broke its founder's dreams of unification and glory for all Mankind asunder. The tragic events of the Dornian Heresy saw their Primarch Horus slain and the Emperor mortally wounded at the hands of the Arch-Betrayer Rogal Dorn. The salvation of the XVI Legion came when one of its greatest captains, Ezekyle Abaddon, stepped forth and almost single-handedly re-organised the badly mauled Imperial forces into a Crusading force in order to prosecute a war of reciprocity against the hated Traitor Legions. Enraged at his Primarch's inability to protect the Emperor, he shunned his Legion's past and renamed them the Black Templars. Since that time, the Black Templars have been on the longest Crusade the Imperium of Man has ever known to prove their loyalty to the Emperor of Mankind.

## Legion History

### The Wolves of Terra

"*You will try. But today you face the Emperor's sons and His warriors.
We are the Luna Wolves, and this Legion is the anvil upon which you will be broken.
We are the anvil..now behold the hammer.*"
— Commander Horus Lupercal during the Compliance of Melchior

In the time when the Emperor's eye first began to fall beyond Terra, He raised new armies to fight His Great Crusade. He drew these new troops in part from the forces that had already unified Terra during the Unification Wars of the late 30th Millennium, from willing Terran volunteers like those who comprised the XVI Space Marine Legion who were implanted with the gene-seed of their missing Primarch Horus like all the Astartes of the First Founding. These recruits were also drawn in part from the Emperor's subjugated enemies, and together they represented the first generation of Space Marines. Like most of the embryonic Space Marine Legions, the XVI Legion drew all of its first recruits from the Terran population. Though it is difficult to be certain based on the existing Imperial records from this lost time, there are indications that many of the XVI Legion's early intake came from the hunter clans of the Jutigran Bowl and the Samsatian sub-plate slums. Perpetual conflict and the harshness of life on the desolate margins of Terran society had given these people the hard edge of ruthlessness and independence that would serve a Space Marine well.

The XVI Legion made war with abrasive aggression. Perhaps through the influence of their genetic heritage or the use the Emperor put them to, the Space Marines of the XVI Legion became synonymous with sudden and overwhelming shock assaults. To the XVI Legion fell the swift prosecution of battle and the bloody termination of campaigns. Their attacks were preemptive as often as they were part of an existing conflict, their forces either the first deadly threat unleashed by the Imperium or preserved to enact a final, killing blow. The First Pacification of Luna was perhaps the most famous of these early victories for the XVI Legion, but the breaking of the Coriolis Enclaves and the Five Winter left scars in the collective consciousness of Terran society that persist even now. In the Capridian Sinks, it is still common for traders and gamblers to refer to the Legion's ancient number of sixteen as "the counting of the wolf".

At some time the notion of the Emperor sending His "wolves" to break intractable or potential enemies took root in the consciousness of the new-born Imperium of Man, with the Pacification of Luna in the late 30th Millennium - considered by many the first battle of the Great Crusade - its apocryphal source. The XVI Legion embraced the epithet '*Luna Wolves*' they earned after this first campaign with relish. The wolf's head became a common icon for the Astartes of the XVI Legion, the link being somewhat abstract, as the Terran animals once called wolves had been almost extinct for millennia, largely relegated to an existence as gene-stock for engineered bio-weapon beasts on Terra itself, though the name remained synonymous in most Terran dialects with controlled savagery. The wearing of pelts of such augmented canid predators increasingly marked out the field commanders and officers of the Luna Wolves. The XVI would not be the only Space Marine Legion to bear such a title and embrace this imagery as their own, but they were the first.

### Cthonia

The Luna Wolves were the first Space Marine Legion to begin recruiting from another world beyond Terra. In this case, the new pool of Aspirants was found amongst the adolescent human males drawn from the violent hive city gangs inhabiting an ancient former Mining World that had devolved into a Feral World called Cthonia. Cthonia was located in one of Terra's closest neighbouring star systems in the Segmentum Solar and was within reach of spacecraft that could travel at only sublight velocities before the invention of the Warp-Drive. As a result, Cthonia had been colonised, built upon, tunnelled and mined since the dawn of human interstellar space travel millennia before the beginning of the Dark Age of Technology. Due to this unusually long period of exploitation by Mankind, all of the world's natural resources had been stripped away and used up centuries before, and the ancient mining technology had long since been rediscovered and removed by the Tech-adepts of Mars. The planet that remained was largely useless and abandoned, completely riddled with catacombs, crumbling industrial plant and exhausted mine-workings.

### Lupercal

Horus, the true Primarch of the Luna Wolves, was the first of the Primarchs to be recovered by the Emperor, having been cast in his gestation capsule through the Warp much closer to Terra on Cthonia than the others by the Ruinous Powers, and he was found at a much younger age. Whereas the early history of many Primarchs is extensively if unevenly documented, the same cannot be said of Horus. Contradiction and omission tarnishes all accounts of Horus' formative years. It is clear that the Emperor did find Horus and also that he took command of the XVI Legion early in the Great Crusade. Beyond these manifest facts, agreement between the early Imperial sources is decidedly lacking, some even placing Horus on Cthonia as a foundling. Like many of his superhuman brethren, these sources say that the young Primarch thrived in Cthonia's harsh environment, learning his first lessons in war and killing from Cthonia's tech-barbarian kill-gangs.

Another source claims that Horus returned to Terra itself. It is said that Horus grew at the Emperor's side, learning from his father even as they took back the Sol System and forged the alliances between the techno-barbarian nations of Terra and with the Mechanicus of Mars that created the Imperium of Man. Other highly creditable claims state that the Emperor found Horus, the first of His lost sons, but neither source specifies where, or the location of this finding. Surrounded in millennia of myths and allegory, the truth of Horus' origins will more than likely never be known. As a result, Horus was for many standard years the Emperor's only son, and there was a great affinity between them. The Emperor spent much time with His protege, teaching and encouraging him. Horus was soon placed in command of the XVIth Legion, which had already come to be known as the Luna Wolves -- 10,000 Astartes created from his own genetic code. With these superhuman warriors to lead, Horus accompanied the Emperor for the first thirty standard years of the Great Crusade that had begun in 798.M30, and together they forged the initial interstellar expansion of the young Imperium of Man.

### A Legion Reborn

With the induction of the gene-stock from Cthonia, the XVI Legion was remade. For the Terran Space Marines who already constituted the core of the Legion, their new brothers brought with them their own customs, attitudes and modes of thought, the ingrained inheritances of a thousand generations of callous violence and the ruthless pursuit of survival that the indoctrination practices of that time could modify and perhaps suppress but not entirely erase, which was perhaps the point for the Cthonians' inclusion within the Legion. As the Terran Legionaries fell in battle, their voices and the more ordered military traditions they had been trained in became fewer and fainter within the XVI Legion.

The marks of change were many and subtle, not overwriting the Legion's culture entirely but bringing a unique character to what had gone before. Examples of this change came slowly. The topknots and mohawks commonly sported by Cthonian ganger head-hunters became common throughout the ranks of the Luna Wolves as both additions to their armour and as personal decoration. After being wounded in battle by a worthy foe it was common for a Luna Wolf Astartes to honour the valour of his fallen enemy by making a deep scratch in the ceramite across his helm's eye socket. Perhaps most tellingly, the Cthonian word for cutting the throat of an enemy gang-killer in single combat - '*aebathan*' - became a common term in the ranks to describe the completion of a campaign.

The personal charisma and reputation of a commander within the Legion came to apply to the Astartes under his command, as if the ways of the Cthonian gang lords now informed the Luna Wolves' own understanding of leadership. This applied particularly to the Luna Wolves' Primarch Horus after his rediscovery by the Emperor, as his cult of personality was universal within the Legion and all Luna Wolves came to revere the Lupercal almost to the extent that they revered the Emperor.

The strength of the Luna Wolves in battle did not change or weaken after the inclusion of the Cthonians; if anything the Legion seemed to become even more potent over time. The Legion strove to maintain the required flexibility needed to allow them to fight any war or enemy they might encounter on their own terms, but where possible the application of sudden and overwhelming force was usually their favoured form of attack, and that of their Primarch. As a doctrine this became bound up with the Legion's savage ferocity that was born of Cthonian blood, and wielded with ferocious intelligence and the matchless tactical instinct of Horus. A star system targeted for Imperial Compliance would often fall to the Legion in a single engagement: Luna Wolves warships would cut in from the system's edge, forming a spear formation that would break into many smaller blade tips to strike at the target system's planets, moons and space stations. Orbital bombardment and simultaneous mass orbital drops would break the enemy's strength and will to resist. Tactical threats were systematically identified, isolated, outflanked, encircled and destroyed with merciless precision and close-quarter savagery which spoke of apex pack predators splitting a herd and gutting its members with lightning fury. The Imperial Army troops that followed in the Luna Wolves' wake often had little to do but scrape suddenly Compliant worlds clean of the leavings of battle.

### Triumph of Ullanor

In the closing years of the thirty-first millennium, the Emperor's Great Crusade to reunite humanity under His banner was continuing apace. Vast expeditionary armies, spearheaded by His primarch sons, surged out across the galaxy, bringing enlightenment and compliance wherever they went. The greatest of the nascent Imperium's victories during the high point of the Great Crusade came in the form of the defeat of the largest Ork empire ever encountered. The Ullanor Crusade was a vast Imperial assault on the Ork empire of the Overlord Urrlak Urruk. The capital world of this Greenskin stellar empire, and the site of the final assault by the Space Marine Legions, lay in the central Ullanor System of the galaxy's Ullanor Sector. The Orks of Ullanor represented the largest concentration of Greenskins ever defeated by the military forces of the Imperium of Man.

Following the defeat of the Orks of Ullanor, the Emperor of Mankind returned to Terra to begin work on His vast project to open up the Eldar Webway for Mankind's use. In His place to command the vast forces of the Great Crusade He left Horus. In the aftermath of this Ullanor Crusade, Horus was granted the newly-created title of 'Warmaster', the commander-in-chief of all the Emperor's armies who possessed command authority over all of the other Primarchs and every Expeditionary Fleet of the Great Crusade. Before returning to Terra to oversee the next phase of the creation of His stellar empire, the Emperor suggested to Horus that he rename the XVI Legion the 'Sons of Horus', in honour of their Primarch and to show his preeminent place amongst the other Primarchs. Horus initially declined this honour, not wishing to be set above his brothers, and so his Legion continued as the Luna Wolves for a little while longer. Some say that this event was where the seeds of disaffection were planted amongst the primarchs, with one of their number being so publicly elevated above the rest. In truth, the rot had started long before.

### Davin

The Sons of Horus were redeployed to the feral world of Davin, a world that they had brought into Imperial Compliance sixty years earlier and was given to Eugen Temba, a former Imperial Army commander, as Planetary Governor to oversee the successful transition and rule. Somehow, Temba had been corrupted by the forces of the Lord of Decay and declared Davin's independence from the Imperium. During a battle against Chaos-spawned undead on Davin's moon, Warmaster Horus was struck down by a xenos blade dedicated to Nurgle known as a Kinebrach Anathame. During the battle with the corrupted Planetary Governor, Horus was wounded by the potent living metal of the Chaos blade he wielded, which left the Warmaster with a bleeding, toxic wound in his shoulder. This seemingly minor wound rapidly brought the Primarch to near-death, as his body was ravaged by an unknown contagion that his Legion's Apothecaries could not treat despite all the advanced technology at their disposal.

During his recovery, Horus attended an initiation ceremony of one of Davin's primitive warrior lodges, after which the Warmaster's condition dramatically worsened to critical. That a primarch could succumb to any natural pathogen should have given a hint that what happened in the halls of the Knife of Bone involved the supernatural. It was in fact an act of possession by a powerful warp entity, although at the time the concept of the daemonic was widely regarded as errant superstition. Only with the aid of the psychic might of the blind Primarch of the Thousand Sons, and spiritual counselling from Chaplain Erebus of the Word Bearers, could the entity finally be cast out. So, with the Warmaster having escaped their snare, the Ruinous Powers turned their attentions elsewhere.

The ordeal revealed to the Warmaster the true dangers of Chaos - a power so great that even he and his fellow primarchs were not immune to its corrupting touch. Horus was severely weakened by the events of Davin, and out of position to deal with what was to come. First, Curze of the Night Lords attacked Rogal Dorn, before going on the run with his legion. Worse still, word came from the galactic east that Guilliman had declared independence from the Imperium, claiming dominion over a massive region of space that he called 'Ultramar Segmentum'.

### Dornian Heresy

When Horus had slipped from their clutches, the Ruinous Powers had moved to groom another for the role of Arch-Betrayer. True, they had been able to corrupt other primarchs, but Rogal Dorn was chosen for his potential to bring the entire Imperium crashing down. They preyed upon and magnified his feelings of jealousy at being passed over as Warmaster, and then being withdrawn to Terra while his brothers were carving a reputation across the galaxy.

Feeling revulsion at such thoughts, Dorn had sought to drown out these shameful doubts of his father's judgement in the scourge of the Pain-Glove. As the pressure increased, he spent longer and longer in the device, until eventually it unhinged his mind, and he was claimed by the Pantheon of Chaos. He was not beholden to one, but to the glory of Chaos Undivided. The subsequent events of Isstvan revealed a third of the Legiones Astrates as traitors to the Emperor, with five loyal legions left either effectively destroyed, or entangled on the other side of the galaxy in an interminable conflict. With the news growing worse by the day, the remaining loyalist legions scrambled to get back to Terra, and to save the Emperor.

#### The Siege of Terra

As the Age of Darkness descended upon the Imperium, the veil of night had fallen and it would not be lifted within the lifetime of any condemned by the fates to live through it. As the fires of war caught, entire worlds burned. Between Isstvan in 006.M31 and the casting back of other Traitor campaigns, the Imperium knew anarchy, uncertainty and bloodshed on a scale never before witnessed. Soon, the Arch-Betrayer Dorn claimed world after world in the northern Imperium, and other spheres, systems and entire sectors across the galaxy declared for the Traitors' cause. Millions-strong armies reeled in disorder as desperate pleas for aid went unheeded. A torrent of orders flooded out from Terra with no notion of whether the intended recipients would receive them, or if they had already been slain or turned to the Arch-Betrayer's cause. Entire planetary populations fled across the stars, a migratory diaspora of refugees driven beyond sanity by the horrors unleashed by the rapidly advancing Traitor armies.

Thus it proved nigh-impossible for Terra to mount a truly coordinated defence of its worlds and so sector after sector fell to the Arch-Betrayer as he advanced upon Terra. There was no single frontline that could be held and no decisive salient that could be mounted. Individual forces, from small companies to entire armies, threw themselves willingly into the crucible of war in a desperate effort to stem the inexorable tide. Never before had Mankind been divided by such conflict, and soon a thousand worlds and more were transformed into blasted war zones across which millions of erstwhile brothers-in-arms clashed.

The galaxy was now in flames and the Emperor's vision for humanity laid in ruins. His former Praetorian, Rogal Dorn, had turned from service to the Imperium and embraced Chaos. His armies, the mighty and redoubtable Space Marines, were locked in a brutal civil war. After seven long years of bitter fighting, the Arch-Betrayer Dorn finally reached the Throneworld itself. Suffering and damnation awaited all should the Emperor fall and the war be lost. The end was nigh, as the skies darkened and colossal armies gathered. For the fate of Terra, for the fate of Mankind itself..the Siege of Terra had begun.

With Dorn's Betrayal on Istvaan prematurely revealed, the Emperor and his Custodes were able to seal themselves off inside the Imperial throne-room complex. Dorn's intention had been to quietly dispose of the legions he could not corrupt, and then return to the palace before his treachery was discovered to deal with his father. Dorn, however, had allowed for this eventuality. As the Emperor's Praetorian, a portion of his legion garrisoned the Imperial Palace, and when the time came, guards became jailers, trapping the Emperor and His Legio Custodes within the armoured bunker of the Imperial throne-room.

Dorn's grip upon Terra was tightened as, according to his plan, the Blood Angels fleet broke from the warp. What emerged from the landing craft at the Eternity Wall spaceport were not the proud, red-armoured sons of Baal, but gaunt, diseased creatures, who fell upon the terrified defenders to feast upon their blood. The legion had fallen prey to some form of malady that first rotted their blood, forcing them to take fresh stocks from unwilling victims, and in the process ate away at their sanity and loyalty to the Emperor.

A ray of hope came for the embattled defenders as the mercurial Night Lords appeared from nowhere. Nothing had been heard from the legion since their Primarch, Konrad Curze, had physically attacked Dorn and taken his followers into hiding. Once more, Night Lord fought Imperial Fist, but this time the reason for it was clear. Characteristic of the Night Haunter‟s favoured tactics, the battle through the Imperial Palace was brutal and swift. Then, without warning, they withdrew to take the fight elsewhere across Terra.

This respite was short-lived, though, as within days the Arch-Betrayer, Dorn, arrived back from Istvaan in force, along with the Salamanders. The Iron Hands moved to secure Mars for the rebellion, silencing all word from the Adeptus Mechanicus and their Titan Legions. Shortly after, the fleets of the Sons of Horus and the Iron Warriors battered their way through the blockade to make planet-fall, before encircling the Imperial Palace in a counter-siege. This forced the Imperial Fists to defend the outer walls of the palace at the same time that they tried to break into the heavily fortified throne-room. The combination of the Warmaster's cold fury and Perturabo's siege-craft slowed Dorn's progress towards the Emperor.

The siege continued to grind on for nearly two more months. Despite strenuous assertions from Horus that He must leave Terra, the Emperor flatly refused. He had spent the whole of his long lifetime battling to unite Terra and mankind, and had fought at the forefront of the Great Crusade. He would not be driven away from His own planet. They, beyond all expectation, things went from bad to worse as another Traitor Legion arrived to join the fray - the Slaanesh-corrupted White Scars. With another fresh legion throwing its weight behind the traitors, and the fleets of the Dark Angels and Space Wolves only days away, the Emperor had no choice but to cut out the Heresy at its source. He and his finest troops prepared to board the Phalanx and destroy the Arch-Betrayer, Dorn, on his own command vessel, *The Phalanx*. The Emperor, flanked by his Custodians, and Horus along with his Mournival of captains teleported onto the ship, but were scattered across the vast command decks by sinister magicks. Called by the psychic presence of the Emperor, the loyalists fought their way back to their leader.

Horus reached the Emperor just outside of Dorn's personal Sanctum, to find the primarch's Terminator armour-clad guards dead, and the armoured doorway already open. A wail of unutterable anguish echoed from the chamber beyond. The pair ventured inside and found the room a wreck. Fine tapestries had been ripped from the walls, and Dorn was smashing the complex mechanisms of his Pain-Glove with the sheared adamantium haft of his personal standard – the banner awarded to him by the Emperor. The pair advanced, ready for the kill, but Horus recognised the look in his brother's eyes from his time just after the possession on Davin and urgently waved his father back.

Dorn mumbled that he had been freed - that the pulse from the Astronomicon had given him enough strength to finally banish the daemon. He said that he had killed his corrupted bodyguards and retreated to the Pain-Glove to atone for his sins. Empathising with Dorn, the Warmaster put aside his weapons and advanced, open-handed in friendship, to embrace his returned brother. More wary than Horus, the Emperor hung back, and as though compelled by some unexplained urge, kicked aside a fallen tapestry to reveal the brutalised corpse of Konrad Curze.

A sombre squad of veterans in white Power Armor marched down the silent inner sanctum of the Luna Fortress-Monastery. After entering the large domed space, they knelt as one at the throne of Cerberus, their Legion Master. The throne was currently empty. The empty throne was why they were here. The five Astartes were tasked with choosing the next Cerberus. They were the five most senior Luna Wolves, the last remnants of the original Legion and the ones that had maintained faithfulness to their original creed.

Now, under the light of Terra that they’d sworn to protect, the five began the ritual to decide who would next take up Loken’s Mantle and lead the last true Great Company in its eternal vigil over the Emperor’s body and the threats that wished him truly dead.

With his deception revealed, Dorn raised the broken standard pole and plunged it deep into Horus' chest. The Warmaster died, never realising that he had been betrayed a second time. Spurred into action, the Emperor leapt at Dorn. The room had seen the deaths of two of his sons, and He hardened his heart to cause a third. Dorn, though, had been endowed with all the gifts of the Ruinous Powers, and was a match for even the Master of Mankind. The two battled for what seemed like an age, but when the Mournival, led by First Captain Abaddon, reached the devastated site of the battle, they found both of them broken, burned and shattered beyond aid.

Dorn's Heresy had been ended, but doing so had claimed the Emperor's mortal life. All that remained was an echo of His spirit that had been bound to the Astronomicon. It bade Abaddon to reclaim the bodies of the Emperor and His loyal sons, and to re-unite the physical shell with what remained of His immortal soul. They fought their way off the ship with cold fury, and after that the Phalanx, under the command of Sigismund, stayed in orbit just long enough to collect the remaining Imperial Fists. The coalition of traitors fractured, and then scattered, with the Blood Angels, Salamanders and White Scars commandeering whatever vessels they could to escape. The Dark Angel fleet turned from its Terran course, and even the blood-crazed berserkers of the Space Wolves faltered, before falling to fighting amongst themselves.

### The Bitter Harvest: Post-Heresy to M41

"*Horus was weak. Horus was a fool. He stayed his hand and allowed the Arch-Betrayer to cripple the Emperor. If he had survived I would have executed him myself."

"We are no longer the Sons of Horus. Neither are we the Luna Wolves. That is the past, we are the future, and must crusade to take back what was lost, and to destroy the traitors. From this day forth, we are the Black Templars.*"
— Legion Master Abaddon, First High Lord of Terra
The Emperor was brought to the Astronomican, where His shattered, lifeless, flesh was integrated with the psychic machinery of the beacon, and fed and nourished with a thousand souls a day to sustain His wavering life-force. The Long War to drive the Traitors from the Imperium could then begin. The Heresy had been averted, but amongst the many casualties had been the Imperium's Manifest Destiny to rule the galaxy. The Emperor's vision of a Great Crusade was but a memory, and although the eight Traitor Legions had failed to claim Terra, they were far from defeated: Guilliman's secessionist Ultramar Segmentum was only the largest and most organised of the rebellious realms.

With the Emperor hovering as a ghost in the machine, the Warmaster and most of the loyal primarchs scythed away, it was Abaddon who stepped forward and became de facto leader of the Imperium. Hating his primarch for not protecting the Emperor, he first reorganised, and then re-named his legion to shun their past, and to reflect their crusading future. Thus, the Black Templars were born, and just as the Warmaster had done before him, Abaddon proved supremely adept at manipulating the disparate parts of the shattered Imperium back to some semblance of order.

Accepting the numerical weakness of the Legiones Astartes at that time, and the vast numbers of threats and enemies they faced, Abaddon made the Black Templars the core of an overwhelming force composed of as many legions as possible. The idea was to prevent the legions becoming isolated, both so that they would not be destroyed piecemeal, and that they would watch over one another to prevent any further legions falling to the Ruinous Powers. Initially there was resistance to such a cautious approach, especially from legions whose primarchs had survived. However, the tragic fate of the isolated Raven Guard, and the grievous losses the Iron Warriors sustained trying to dislodge the Imperial Fists from their Iron Cage worlds reinforced the wisdom of Abaddon's proposals.

Soon he was able to command the fealty of the surviving primarchs, and played on their individual preferences and prejudices. For instance, Mortarion would commit to a force to drive the Space Wolves from Fenris proposed by Magnus, on the understanding that reciprocity would be observed when it came to mounting a xenocidal crusade against an Aeldari Craftworld. For Fulgrim and the Emperor's Children, an attack on Guilliman deep inside Ultramar Segmentum in revenge for Isstvan was the prize, and Lorgar was pacified with leadership of the newly formed Ecclesiarchy and support for his legion's Wars of Faith. Painfully slowly, but surely, the tide turned and the borders of Imperial-controlled space rolled back once again.

In the course of a long lifetime, Abaddon saw his patience rewarded. The remaining loyalist legions were rebuilt and expanded, and the Traitor Legions were pushed from their homeworlds and enclaves towards the massive warp-rift which became known as the Eye of Terror. He died as he lived; leading the Imperial forces from the front. On the world of Uralan, in the shadow of a monumental tower, Abaddon was struck down by a huge golden-skinned creature bearing an enormous blade of warp-construction. The first High Lord of Terra was dead, but his philosophy would live on.

## Legion Organisation

#### Pre-Heresy

First as the Luna Wolves and later as the Sons of Horus, the XVIth Legion maintained much of their Legion structure as it had existed since the wars for Terra and Solar Unity, which had adhered closely to the Terran pattern laid down by the Imperial Officio Militaris before the Space Marine Legions' unification with their Primarchs.

The smallest formation within the *Logos Terra Militia*, and therefore within the Luna Wolves, was the squad. This consisted of a group of Luna Wolves under the command of a Sergeant. Squads varied widely in both size and specialisation, with the majority of the units ranging between 10 to 20 Space Marines within the XVIth Legion. Conversely, very specialised squads such as reconnaissance units or those that might have suffered heavy casualties, might only consist of a handful of Space Marines in active service.

The specialties and wargear of squads in the Luna Wolves included all of those generally found in other Legions, including those designated Destroyer and Seeker units, who were shunned by some and existed in lesser quantities. The Luna Wolves also maintained considerable resources in terms of armour and vehicles, with tithed industrial worlds they had brought into Imperial Compliance and good relations with the Mechanicum ensuring a steady supply of munitions and materials for the XVIth Legion, which spent such political coin readily.

Even Horus, a generalist and a pragmatist, upon being given command of his Legion is thought to have adopted new squad formations after having seen their effectiveness in other Legions. For example, it is noticeable that until the Lactrical Onslaught the number of Storm Shield-equipped Breacher Squads was relatively low in the XVIth Legion. The contributions of such units amongst the forces of the Imperial Fists cannot have escaped his notice.

After the annihilation of the Lactrical, the number of such squads in the ranks of the Luna Wolves rose noticeably. Other anecdotal evidence of this adaptability and willingness to embrace new weapons of warfare can be found in Horus' vocal backing of the Tactical Dreadnought Armour project, with the result that his Legion was one of the first and most widely equipped with Terminator Armour and at the forefront of the development of tactics for its use in assaults.

The XVIth Legion showed a preference for the use of Tactical Squads. Squads configured in this form within the Luna Wolves and later the Sons of Horus outnumbered all other squad types combined throughout the Great Crusade. Horus remarked on several occasions that there were few challenges of war that could not be met by, or did not require, the use of such units.

The presence of Tactical Squads designed to be held in reserve and unleashed once a weakness in an enemy line had been identified, trained in fire saturation and carrying additional close combat weaponry for use in overrunning enemy positions -- the so-called Despoiler Squads -- shows again the dominance of the place of the Tactical Squad in Horus' tactical thinking. Such was the effectiveness of this tactic that its use was copied by several different Legions, such as the White Scars and Iron Warriors, who field Despoiler Squads of their own.

The heart of the Sons of Horus Legion was the company, which served as the Legion's principal military division. Made up of a grouping of squads under the leadership of an officer with the rank of Captain, the company was the base currency of campaigns and battles. There was no fixed strength for a company within the Luna Wolves and the Sons of Horus.

While other Legions codified and enforced strict limits on the size of similar formations, this was not the case amongst the Sons of Horus, which had begun in more regimented form, but had become increasingly *ad hoc* in structure and disposition over time. Company strengths as small as 36 and as large 972 Astartes were recorded by datafactors during the XVIth Legion's action against the Dasim Patrimony, for example.

The configuration of squad types within a company varied as widely as its strength. Some were comprised almost exclusively of Tactical Squads with a few Support Squads. Others were an eclectic mix based on the varied requirements of different campaigns and the will of Horus. By way of example, the 17th Company, known as the Hesperus Guard, had a standard strength of 205 Space Marines at the time of the virus-bombing of Istvaan III. Tactical Squads made up half this strength numerically, with the Legion placing in general great importance on the use of Tactical Squads in every deployment.

The rest consisted of two veteran units, three reconnaissance units, a heavy support squad and multiple batteries of support weaponry. The elite 1st Company showed even greater variation. Small in number, it contained two distinct sub-formations: the Justaerin Terminator Squads and the Catulan Reaver Assault Squads. Both sported the black armour worn only by this elite company and each was led by a Captain under the overall command of the Legion's First Captain, Ezekyle Abaddon. Used in combination, the 1st Company exemplified Horus' predilection for precise and overwhelming attacks against strategic targets.

In other Space Marine Legions a company would form part of further layers of hierarchical military organisation, variously referred to as battalions, cohorts, chapters, regiments or by any number of other titles. Horus seems to have preferred to avoid this extra layer of fixed organisation, which eroded over time in the Legion and was largely academic by the time of their transition to become the Sons of Horus.

Instead of a formal structure, Horus would group companies and individual units together as required for the execution of a particular campaign. The commander of such a formation would usually be a senior Captain. If the formation was especially large, then other Captains would take on the role of lieutenants to the overall force commander until the completion of the campaign. These formations rarely had formal titles, but the Sons of Horus commonly referred to formations intended to prosecute a rapid assault as "Speartips."

In eschewing formality and fixed structure above the basic level of the company, Horus demonstrated his pragmatism and his preference for waging war with careful precision. Within the Luna Wolves and the Sons of Horus, squads also commonly had their own honorific or epithetic titles rather than simple numerations: the Illuminators Prime, Death Makers, Jerrok's Reavers, the First Sons, and similar appelations, while some were named for the Sergeant or Chieftain that led them if their leader's own reputation was strong enough alone.

Many of these titles betrayed the culture of Cthonian gang honours and the tradition of reputation and internecine warfare from which they had sprung. This culture had grown steadily stronger over the years within the rank and file of the XVIth Legion's intake of Neophytes.

The exact disposition of the Sons of Horus at the time of the Istvaan III Atrocity is uncertain. Given the accounts of the battle on Istvaan III following Horus' treacherous bombardment from those that survived it, it would seem likely that the culled Loyalist elements of the XVIth Legion represented something approaching a third of the Sons of Horus' entire force.

Records, tainted as they may be, place the Sons of Horus at a fighting strength of approximately 130,000-170,000 Space Marines in the period leading up to the Istvaan III Atrocity. Although the figure may have been higher, this estimate would also tally with more general assessments of the Sons of Horus Legion being in the upper quarter of the Legions in terms of the Space Marine manpower available to them.

The XVIth Legion's Great Crusade fleet was likewise accorded to be among the greatest under any single commander's flag, with in excess of one hundred capital ships and perhaps three times that figure in smaller Cruisers and Escorts under Horus' direct command. Taking into account likely losses from the ground war that followed the virus-bombing of Istvaan III, and elements of the Sons of Horus Legion not in the Istvaan System at the time, it would follow that Horus began his war of betrayal with around 70,000-110,000 Space Marines of his own Legion at his disposal, with considerable evidence present in Imperial records that the latter figure is the more accurate.

Heavily engaged on the surface of Istvaan III during the Istvaan Atrocity, it is estimated that some 30,000 of the Sons of Horus' Legionaries were dead or unaccounted for in the aftermath of that battle. It has been theorised by some analysts that as a consequence of the initial difficulties encountered with the purging of the Terrans from the Legion's ranks, and the unexpected cost in lives and materiel the battle had entailed, Horus was deliberately cautious with the use of his Legion during the later Drop Site Massacre.

In this it is thought that he hoped perhaps to preserve as much of the Sons of Horus' strength as possible for the intended push on Terra that was planned to follow, or perhaps he simply meant to have others blood themselves in his cause while destroying the Loyalists.

#### Legion Command Hierarchy

As with all of the Space Marine Legions, Horus' command as Primarch over his own Legion was absolute. Beneath Horus were his Captains, beneath them were the squad Sergeants, and where a formation of squads came together for a purpose, the informal rank of "Chieftain" was given to the Sergeant granted field command authority, a matter not always of seniority, but rather selection of the best or most suited Astartes for the task at hand; an approach which fitted well within the Legion's pragmatic and sometimes impulsive approach to warfare.

Beneath these non-commissioned officers were the rank-and-file Battle-Brothers of the Luna Wolves and the Sons of Horus. This simple hierarchy belied the truth of matters when applied in practice within the XVIth Legion. Within each rank, prestige and personal reputation counted for much within the brotherhood of Space Marines.

There were distinctions between those who fought with the Legion for longer, between those who had fought in different campaigns, between those who had received certain honours, and between ordinary squads and those who formed a Captain's Honor Guard. Beneath the surface of this simmered other divisions, not easily visible to the outsider, divisions of blood and origin, divisions that the mere act of becoming a Space Marine should have washed away, but for the Sons of Horus did not in many cases. These hidden divisions would eventually bear bitter fruit.

The rank of Captain within the Legion also held subtle variations of authority. Generally those in command of a lower numbered company outranked those in a higher numbered company, while those who had once had overall command of a campaign were considered superior to those officers he had commanded during that action. At the top of this informal but very real hierarchy of Legion officers were those Captains who served as Horus' closest advisors and in particular the First Captain of the Legion who commanded the elite 1st Company and also served as his Primarch's principal field officer and second-in-command.

The senior-most Captains comprised the Legion's Mournival, the quartet of Astartes who served as Horus' closest advisors and companions within the XVIth Legion and who existed outside the regular command structure. Before the outbreak of the Horus Heresy, the final Mournival of the Sons of Horus included Captains Garviel Loken, Horus Aximand, Tarik Torgaddon and Ezekyle Abaddon. The Mournival served as an advisory body to Horus in both military and political matters, but in truth its members held no formal power above that of the other company Captains.

Held together by Horus' personal charisma and brilliance as a leader, the command structure of the Luna Wolves and then the Sons of Horus proved highly effective, adaptable and resilient. Combined with the XVIth Legion's skill in rapidly concluding campaigns, it allowed the Legion to flow from one victory to another, forming and reforming to meet each new challenge.

Each Son of Horus knew his capabilities and the capabilities of those around him, both by given rank and personal repute, capabilities that were enshrined in a hierarchy determined by deeds rather than the demands of military or ceremonial formality. Effective as it was, one cannot help but notice the importance of personal prestige and the pack-like sorting of authority as a hallmark of the XVIth Legion.

#### Specialist Ranks and Formations

* **The Mournival** - The Mournival were Horus' most trusted advisors and confidants. Consisting of four chosen Captains of the Legion, the Mournival existed outside the rest of the XVIth Legion's regular command structure. Together the Mournival functioned as the soul of the Luna Wolves, and later the Sons of Horus, supporting their Primarch and steering the Legion's temperament and decisions. The Mournival had many important responsibilities, which included making sure that the Legion and its Primarch lived up to their standards of moral excellence and the Emperor's vision of the Imperial Truth in prosecuting its duties and helping the Primarch devise strategies for more effectively carrying forth the Great Crusade. The Mournival on occasion even provided Horus the means to posture politically as a means to save face or present a certain united front when in the presence of the XVIth Legion's Imperial allies and enemies alike. Horus relied on the Mournival to balance his decisions with questions and different perspectives. In this way the four Captains served as a combination of counsellors, confidants and naysmiths. It is known that there was an element of ritual to the bond between the Mournival brothers: meetings of the Mournival took place in moonlight, a different phase of the moon was graven on the helm of each brother, and its oaths of brotherhood were made over the reflected image of a moon. The origins of the Mournival are unclear, although there are parallels with the rites of brotherhood amongst the Jutigran clans of Terra and the ritual practice of the Selenar gene-cults of Luna, who were integral to the early integration of many Cthonian Neophytes into the XVIth Legion. Whatever the Mournival's origins, its existence within the Legion certainly lies in in the early decades of the Luna Wolves' history, and it is known to have persisted for a time even after the Istvaan III Atrocity, though by then it had lost any meaningful check upon the actions of Horus and continued to exist solely due to tradition. The last members of the Mournival before the XVIth Legion fell to Chaos included Captain Horus "Little Horus" Aximand (Half Moon), First Captain Ezekyle Abaddon (Full Moon), Captain Garviel Loken (New Moon) and Captain Tarik Torgaddon (Gibbous Moon).
* **Justaerin Terminator Squads** - The Justaerin Terminator Squads were one of two distinct sub-formations found within the XVIth Legion's elite 1st Company. Led by the Legion's First Captain, the black-armoured Justaerin were the pride of the XVIth Legion. Tasked with forming the "point of the spear" of the Legion, they went where the fighting was thickest, their attack directed usually at destroying the heart of an opposing target or conducting the decapitation strike of an enemy force. Early proponents of the use of Tactical Dreadnought Armour, many of the Justaerin entered combat as Terminators, relying on the resilience this gave them to smash aside any resistance and close in for the kill.
* **Catulan Reaver Assault Squads** - The Catulan Reaver Assault Squads were the other sub-formation present in the XVIth Legion's elite 1st Company. They too, sported the signature black armour which denoted their specialisation in harrowing actions and hit-and-run tactics. They were led by a Captain under the overall command of the Legion and the 1st Company's commanding First Captain. They also made extensive use of Terminator Armour, taking advantage of its additional protection and ability to smash aside any opposition. Used in combination, these two elite sub-formations of the 1st Company exemplified Horus' predilection for precise and overwhelming attacks against strategic targets.
* **Despoiler Squads** - The Tactical Squads known as Despoiler Squads were designed to be held in reserve and unleashed once a weakness in an enemy line had been identified. Trained in fire saturation techniques and carrying additional close combat weaponry for use in overrunning enemy positions, the so-called Despoiler Squads showed the dominance of the Tactical Squad in Horus' tactical thinking. Such was the effectiveness of this tactic that its use was copied in several different Legions.
* **Destroyer Squads** - Considered dishonourable by some Legions who made little use of them or eschewed them altogether, Destroyers were equipped with and expert in the use of otherwise proscribed and forbidden weaponry. Alongside certain factions of the Adeptus Mechanicus, only Destroyer cadres had the license to use these weapons in the forces of the Imperium by the Emperor's command. Rad-weapons, bio-alchem munitions and the burning horror of Phospex were amongst the forbidden weapons in a Destroyer Squad's dark arsenal, weapons which irrevocably tainted the ground upon which they were used. Marked by their fire-blackened and chem-scalded armour, Destroyers were often shunned and deemed somehow tainted by their fellow Battle-Brothers in many Legions and were considered at best a necessary evil, although the effectiveness of their relic-weapons in cracking especially difficult enemy defences could not be denied.
* **Seeker Squads** - Seeker Squads were comprised of a specialised force of Space Marines whose principal task on the battlefield was to identify an enemy's command structure, its warlords, officers, priests, demagogues, whatever form they took, and slay them with a well-placed bolt round while the battle raged round them. The Alpha Legion are said to have first crystallised the use of this tactic and squad configuration, which had with the Emperor's approval spread to the other Legions, although its use sat poorly within the combat doctrine and martial culture of some like the Space Wolves. Equipped with special issue ammunition to assist their efforts, Seeker Squads were primarily composed of the finest shots within the Legion, as a Seeker strike force often only had a small window of opportunity to take down its targets at close range, rather than enjoying the luxury of distance.

### Post-Heresy

#### The Crusades

The core element of organization for the Black Templars Legion is the Crusade Fleet. Each is centered around 1-3 Battle Barges, and led by a Praetorian or Marshal - a legendary Astartes soldier. A fleet typically contains between 2,000-5,000 Legionaries and the huge numbers of serfs and support personnel needed to keep them in the field. Small Crusader fleets can number less than 500, and the vast Crusader Fleet of High Marshal Helbrecht contains almost 10,000 Legionaries. Where Helbrecht treads, entire sectors weep.

The term Praetorian is typically chosen by more conservative elements of the Black Templars too represent their ties to the imperium back through the Great Crusade era. The title of Marshal is chosen by more aggressive and revisionist members of the Legion: representing their more aggressive nature and desire to bring all potential authority under their own banner.

When larger forces than a single Crusade Fleet is required, a single leader is chosen and takes the title of Lord High Crusader. Variants of this title include there labels of Praetorian, Marshall, and even Warmaster for particularly aggressive leaders attempting to replace Horus’ failures with their deeds. Under the head of the fleet is a number of Senior and Line Captains overseeing around 100 Astartes each, gathered into councils that can self organize. These Captains rely on lieutenants and sergeants to lead individual squads and deployments.

Across the Legion there are a number of Warrior Lodges that act as informal social cohorts. These lodges each take a spirit animal for their sigil, and allow a more egalitarian organization of Astartes outside the rigid chain of command. Often, a lodge can be as important as the Astarte’s rigid command structure for grooming them to command their fellow soldiers.

Despite this widespread culture many Captains refuse to allow their commands to be part of any warrior lodges. These are typically the more militant leaders, and are more likely to take on the title of Marshal off promoted. To these Captains, Astartes should train and meditate under the strict guidance of senior officers, not be allowed to waste time in a social club.

At the squad level, individual combat prowess is the only measure of success. To better spread these skills Crusader Brethren are expected to take new initiates on as Apprentices, teaching them how to fight as part of the squad. This often leads to overstrength squads of mixed armor types and vastly different combat skills. These “Crusader Squads” are the front line troops of the Legion, and roughly fill the role of Tactical and Assault squads in other Legions.

Some Astartes lack the right to train new recruits (either through lack of zeal, or some moral failing during their own training). These brothers form dedicated support squads that more closely match up with organizational structures found in other Legions. This lack of trust and ability to advance within the legion leaves brothers even more self-loathing and more willing to commit attrocities in their foes. Each Crusade Fleet that survives it's initial deployments begins to develop a unique culture and traditions. This often starts with rituals and titles, but the oldest fleets can have wildly different heraldry and colors than the “standards” of the Legion.

Finally, above all Crusade Fleets sits the Mournival: five great leaders chosen to lead the legion as a whole. Each one oversees a segmentum, guiding and watching the Fleets under his authority. The Mournival was reformed after Abaddon’s disappearance, and the soul-crushing loss of two supreme leaders. They ensure the Legion will never again be without a spiritual head.

#### Specialist Ranks

* **High Marshal** - The High Marshal is the senior ranking Astartes of the Black Templars, and is equivalent to the Legion Master of other Space Marine Legions. The fighting skills of a High Marshal are unsurpassed with Bolters, blades or bare hands, as his rank speaks of a bloody past littered with the devastated enemies of the most terrifying and inhuman sort. However, it is not enough for the High Marshal to be the Legion's foremost warrior, for he must also be a superb tactician and strategist, grounded in the teachings of those who have gone before him and honed through countless decisions made in the heat of battle. He is also steeped in the lore of the Black Templars, privy to all of the Legion's secrets. A High Marshal is the supreme commander of the Legion's ongoing crusades, keeping track of their overall progress and making tactical decisions in regards to the deployment of the Legion's forces and occasionally blessing individual crusades with his inspirational presence. The High Marshal is one of the most autonomous military commanders in the Imperium, decreeing by his own designs where his warriors will fight and without recourse to the dictates of the High Lords of Terra.
* **Marshal** - Marshals are the great warriors who lead the individual crusades of the Black Templars. These ferocious Space Marines possess superb tactical abilities, second in experience to only the High Marshal himself. The purity and ultimate success of a crusade is entrusted unto the Marshal and such a duty is a sacred and glorious responsibility. A Marshal is not only a warrior so deadly that he will rarely meet his match on the field of battle, but one whose expertise includes concerns beyond the battlefield, for the leading of a crusade is a mighty task indeed. As a result, only the most inspirational and determined warriors may rise to become a Marshal, having long proved their courage and determination within the ranks of the Sword Brethren or as a Castellan leading a fighting company. The Marshals are able to coordinate the Space Marines under their command and lead them and their crusades to ultimate victory, whatever the opposition.
* **Castellan** - A Castellan is a specialist officer rank that is unique to the Black Templars Legion, and is the equivalent of a Space Marine Captain. A Castellan is responsible for leading an entire fighting company of the Chapter on the field of battle during the numerous ongoing crusades conducted by the Black Templars. Larger Black Templars crusades often comprise a number of the Legion's fighting companies, each led by a Sword Brethren (Veteran) raised to the rank of Castellan. Only those Sword Brethren who have proven themselves as devotional warriors and inspirational leaders may rise to this esteemed rank. These hardened Veterans have earned their ascension to command rank through their bloody and zealous dedication to the Legion's cause. As masters of the battlefield, Castellans are able to read its ebb and flow, and adjust their tactical formations accordingly. Leading from the front by example, a Castellan's Astartes know what it is to be a Black Templar and a dedicated warrior of Abbadon and the Emperor, and from his leadership they learn the trade of battle and the craft of death.
* **Sword Brethren** - Equivalent to the elite members of a standard *Legions* Veteran 1st Great Company, the greatest warriors of a Black Templars crusade are inducted into the Marshal's household. Known as the Sword Brethren, they are no longer required to train Neophytes and they will receive additional training, particularly in the use of Tactical Dreadnought Armour. After completion of this training, Sword Brethren will use Terminator Armour whenever available, usually selecting melee weapons to use with it, an area of combat where all Black Templars excel. Like most Black Templars, Sword Brethren will fight with others out of familiarity rather than in organised squads, and they will always be found in the thickest of the fighting. If the Marshal of a crusade is either killed or promoted to the position of High Marshal of the Chapter, one of the Sword Brethren will be elevated to take his place. The Sword Brethren of a crusade who receives this honor is decided by ritual combat. The winner of the melee earns the right to become a Marshal upon the approval of the High Marshal; there has only been one case in Black Templars history of the High Marshal withholding his approval or reversing it (the Gervahrt Repeal of the 36th Millennium). Sword Brethren of the Black Templars often wear a cream-coloured cloak and have red trim on their black pauldrons to signify their elite status.
* **Emperor's Champion** - At the very height of the Siege of Terra during the Dornian Heresy, Captain Abbadon, First Captain of the Luna Wolves Legion, was tasked by his Primarch Horus with leading the ground battle whilst the Emperor and he led the assault on the Traitor Warmaster's Battle-Barge. Abbadon was named Emperor's Champion, a title sometimes applied to Horus, and in that act a new tradition was formed, which is honoured amongst the Black Templars, the direct descendants of Abbadon, to this day. When the Master of Mankind and His gene-sons teleported away to face Dorn, Abbadon led the remaining warriors, not as a general, but as an example, taking the battle to the enemy in person and emboldening the hearts of the defenders with his deeds. Abbadon sought out the greatest warriors amongst the teeming hordes of the enemy, facing mighty Chaos Space Marine leaders as well as towering fiends from the great beyond, and defeating every single one of them. Abbadon was chosen as Emperor's Champion because he was filled with such devotion to the Father of Mankind, and to the Imperium and the Great Crusade that had created it, that he was a shining exemplar of all that the *Legiones Astartes* were and could be. The oath he took when he accepted the mantle of Emperor's Champion resounded through the ages, and was so weighty that it could never be broken. While Abbadon's beloved Emperor fell on that day, the Emperor's Champion prevailed and, with Dorn defeated, the vile hosts on the surface were routed. Later, the Sons of Horus reformed into the Black Templars and Abbadon's fiery zeal was recognised. He became the first High Marshal of the Black Templars, and his belief that the Great Crusade would never end became a reality embodied by the new Legion and its never-ending Crusades. Ever since the Siege of Terra, it has become a cherished tradition amongst the Black Templars to field one who the chaplains have proclaimed the Emperor's Champion. On the eve of battle, the Black Templars pray, fast, and meditate upon their duty, and it is not uncommon for one amongst their number to be blessed with some form of vision that speaks to him of his duty and shows him portents of things yet to come. The battle-brother then presents himself to the Chaplains and confesses his vision and if he is found true, is declared to be the Emperor's Champion. The battle-brother is ritually prepared for the coming battle, the attendants of the Reclusiam cladding him in the *Armour of Faith* and presenting him with the *Black Sword*. In theory, each Black Templars Crusade force has its own Emperor's Champion who serves as such for the duration of a protracted battle or a campaign, but in practise each Company is likely to have one, each battle producing its own Champion if one has not come forward already. It is common for Black Templars battle-brothers serving with the Deathwatch to pray and fast on the eve of a mission, just as they would before a battle within the ranks of their own Legion. On some extremely rare occasions, such a Battle Brother may feel the blessings of righteous certainty upon him, and know that he must take up the mantle of the Emperor's Champion. Within his Legion, the battle-brother would seek out the Chaplains and be declared the Emperor's Champion by them, but this may not be possible whilst he is serving the Long Watch. Unless a Chaplain of the Black Templars is present and able to take the brother's confession, he must assume the mantle alone, donning the most sacred relics of his Chapter and declaring his mission to his fellows. He will seek permission from the Master of the Armoury to bear into battle the most potent of weapons and the most revered of armour. Few would dare refuse, for the battle-brother's eyes burn with the zeal of his duty and the weight of his oaths is an almost palpable thing. Regardless of the nature of the coming mission, the Emperor's Champion will seek out the greatest champions and leaders amongst the ranks of the enemy and strike them down in the fury of single combat. In so doing, he acts as a shining beacon of faith by which the enemy is cast back and the warriors of the Emperor are driven to ever-greater acts of valour. Having taken up the trappings of the Emperor's Champion, the battle-brother remains as such only until his vision is fulfilled and he returns to the Watch Fortress. Only by the word of the Chaplains is his duty discharged, and he resumes his place in the ranks once more.
* **Initiate-** Unlike in other Legions, an Initiate is not an Astartes who is new to the Legion, but is the rank held by the majority of Black Templars battle-brothers until they have served long enough to be promoted to the Veteran status of a member of the Sword Brethren. Initiates serve in most of the standard tactical roles seen within Space Marine Legions and are also each responsible for adopting and training a Neophyte until he has earned Initiate status.
* **Neophyte-** Neophytes of the Black Templars differ from the neophytes of other Legions in that they have successfully completed the physical process of transformation into an Astartes. This would normally grant them initiate status in Other Legions, but in the Black Templars, this only means that they are ready to truly begin their training. Every neophyte, after he has been deemed worthy by the Legion's Chaplains and Apothecaries, is assigned to an apprenticeship with a full Initiate of the Chapter, essentially serving in some regards as his squire. When the neophyte's Initiate feels that his student has gained the experience and wisdom necessary to make him an asset to the Legion, he is raised to become an Initiate himself. The new Initiate is then required to begin the personal training of his own neophyte, and so the process repeats itself.

#### Specialist Formations

* **Crusader Squad** - A Crusader Squad is the standard tactical organization employed by the Black Templars Chapter. The Black Templars are organised in a different manner compared to many *Codex Astartes*-compliant Chapters and do not follow the dictates of the *Codex* in many ways, notably in the recruitment, training and deployment of their warriors. The majority of Black Templars battle-brothers -- known within the Chapter as Initiates -- are organized into Crusader Squads, which form the backbone of any strike force unleashed by the Chapter. Many Crusader Squads have the honour of being led to battle by one of the Chapter's Sword Brethren -- Veterans whose deeds and example inspire the Initiates to ever greater acts of courage. Crusader Squads are armed primarily with the holy Bolter, though given the Black Templars' preference for fighting their foes face-to-face, many choose to carry Chainswords and other weapons more suited to the cut and thrust of close combat, epitomising the Black Templars' righteous zeal and their drive to defeat their foes in battle.

## Legion Recruitment

### Neophytes

Since the Black Templars are fleet-based, all of their recruiting is done via their Legion keeps. Legion keeps are built on most worlds conquered by the Black Templars, and are used as staging ground for crusade forces and recruitment posts for the Legion. A Legion keep only recruits a few individuals in a Terran year. Only the most skilled aspirants are allowed to join, and if they pass the initial tests, they are implanted with the gene-seed organs that will eventually transform them into full Space Marines and neophytes of the Legion. When roughly two dozen neophytes are available at a Legion keep and have been approved by the keep's Castellan and the Legion's Apothecaries and Chaplains, they are dispatched to a crusade fleet for the next stage of their induction.

Upon reaching a crusade fleet, the neophytes are put through many gruelling tasks and trials by the Initiates of the Black Templars. These trials test the neophytes to their limits, separating out the weaker recruits from the stronger. Unlike other Legions, the Black Templars have no dedicated Scout Company in which its aspirants are trained. Should a survivor of the trials impress one of the assembled battle-brothers, an Initiate may take it upon himself to personally mentor the neophyte in the art of war.

From that point on, the Initiate takes sole responsibility for his pupil's training and conduct. He swears an oath to prepare the neophyte for his entry into the brotherhood that is the Legion, teach him of its history, and guide him through its holy rites of worship to the Emperor.

In return, the neophyte pledges obedience to his master and vows never to bring dishonour to his name. Neophytes also act as servants to their mentors, waiting on them at the great banquets and seeing to their day-to-day requirements. The crusade's Chaplains oversee this training and make sure the neophyte learns the history of the Legion, and watch for any signs of weakness in the neophyte's faith.

The neophyte will also accompany his Initiate into combat, and should his master fall, another brother will take up his training. The bond between the Initiate and his neophyte pupil is strong, and if the neophyte meets his end, the Initiate will swear a death oath to avenge his apprentice, or die trying.

It is the Initiate's prerogative to say when his apprentice's training is complete. Once he has proven his valor and skill, a Black Templars neophyte submits to the Legion's Chaplains to undergo the final trials of purity before, in a ceremony of great reverence, he is elevated into the ranks of a full battle-brother of Initiate status and honored with a suit of Power Armor. He is now truly a Black Templar, possessed of great power, and sworn to use it in the Emperor's service unto death. The Black Templars' zealous hatred of mutants and the Warp prevents them from recruiting any man who bears genetic impurities, including the mutation that allows an individual to wield psychic abilities. This is why the Black Templars Legion contains no Librarians.

### Initiates

Once accepted into a crusade's fighting company, an Initiate fights alongside his other Black Templar battle-brothers, forging a name for himself within the Legion and perfecting his fighting abilities. If the Initiate lives long enough, he will eventually apprentice a neophyte of his own. In this way, the skills, traditions and experience of the Legion are preserved and passed down, master to neophyte.

Initiates form the majority of the Legion's fighting companies and are split up into Crusade Squads of up to twenty Initiates. Each squad is a deadly force with a range of skills and abilities. Initiates are armed primarily with Bolters, though, given the Black Templars' preference for fighting face-to-face, many choose to carry weapons more suited to close combat.

Some squad members may carry more specialised weaponry, such as Plasma Guns, Flamers or mighty Power Fists. Black Templars squads are highly flexible and have the tactical adaptability to deal with virtually any foe, instructing their neophytes by bloody example. On the battlefield, an Initiate often stands beside his young neophyte, teaching him through bloody example the way of Bolter and blade. In this way, the neophyte learns first hand the methods of waging war and of destroying the Emperor's enemies.

#### Scout Squads

As noted above, the Black Templars have no dedicated Scout Company in which its aspirants are trained. However, after fighting as part of a Crusader Squad on several battlefields, it is common though for groups of Black Templars neophytes to be tasked together into independent squads, akin to a *Codex* Chapter's Scout Squads or Vanguard Marines.

These units are tasked with infiltrating enemy positions or fulfilling some other critical mission. For a neophyte to be trusted so speaks volumes of his Initiate's faith in his abilities, and the Neophyte fights all the harder, lest they show such trust to be misplaced.

## Legion Combat Doctrine

The Black Templars have continued in the style of their first High Marshal, preferring close, melee combat to ranged warfare. This is further emphasized by the fanaticism of the Black Templars' Initiates, whose righteous anger makes them impulsive and headstrong.

They launch themselves upon the enemy with a merciless, focused aggression, bellowing battle-oaths as they carve their foes apart. They carry a particularly intense hatred for xenos, witches, and rogue psykers, and will purge these hated foes wherever they are found. When making war, a Black Templars Crusade will focus on two main tactics. The first is orbital assault; the Crusade will use Drop Pods and Thunderhawk gunships to perform a mass-landing in the wake of a heavy orbital bombardment.

If enemy resistance is still strong after this initial assault, the Templars will land their heavy armour and launch an armoured spearhead against the weakest link in the enemy's defensive line. As part of their dedication to the Emperor and their crusade, the Black Templars swear fell oaths of faith and protection. Before a battle, it is considered customary to renew one of these oaths, the individual vow serving as a focus on the particular aspect of the battle-brother's duties considered to be necessary to ensure success for the overall crusade.

Due to the fact that the Black Templars have such a hate and distrust for the Warp and anything within it or derived from it, Black Templars will not allow Librarians or any beings with psychic powers to fight amongst their ranks or in an alliance with them, except for the Thousand Sons. Every Black Templar has a deep prejudice against any type of psyker, which can lead to trouble between the Legion and those Imperial Adepta that often use Sanctioned Psykers, such as the Inquisition or even certain regiments of the Astra Militarum.

## Legion Beliefs

"*The Emperor extends His will to us when we destroy the wicked and impure to reconquer the galaxy in His name. The Emperor leads the galaxy to righteousness, and thus we must petition for His Judgement on the wicked... for it is judgement without mercy.*"
— High Marshal Helbrecht, addressing his warriors, prior to the Cleansing of Gemenon Majoris
All Space Marines are renowned for their fervent dedication, but the extent of the Black Templars' faith is often described as fanatical. They seek nothing less than to crush every last enemy of Mankind.

The Legions's dogma reserves a special hatred for particular enemies, specifically mutants, Heretics, and witches. The reason for this is to be found in the Legion's reformation, springing from the contempt in which Abbadon held those Heretic Astartes who had cast off their oaths and turned against the Imperium during the Dornian Heresy.

In assuming the mantle of the Emperor's Champion, Abbadon delivered the ultimate judgement on those who had betrayed the Master of Mankind, executing them by his own hand. It is the zeal to prosecute such crimes that drives the Black Templars in their crusades across the galaxy and beyond the borders of the Imperium, lending them the strength to face any foe. When a Black Templars battle-brother strikes down a champion of the enemy, he is enacting the judgement of Abbadon and through him the Emperor Himself, and continuing a tradition established at the height of the Imperium's most terrible crisis.

For ten thousand standard years the Black Templars have crusaded to prove their loyalty, and this creed has become so embedded in their doctrines that they are utterly ruthless towards anyone or anything perceived as a threat to the Emperor. Unlike most other Legions, the Black Templars have come to revere the Emperor as the one, true god of Mankind, just as the mortals of the Imperium do, and this belief has driven them to new heights of fanaticism.

However, the Black Templars are first and foremost Space Marines, and so even their faith is superhuman in its focus and dedication. Their gruelling rites are every bit as tasking as their battle drills -- to the Black Templars, ceremonial dedications to the Emperor and their martial drilling are one and the same. The Black Templars have been known to mercilessly wipe out entire planetary populations to expunge the sin of heresy, while the mere presence of a witch on the battlefield drives them into a zealous fury against which few enemies have any hope of standing.

The Black Templars' professed loathing of the witch even extends to those psykers in the employ of the Imperium. As a result, the Black Templars eschew the use of all Librarians in their ranks, unwilling to have any of their brethren touched by the taint of the Warp. When not engaged in battle, the brethren of the Black Templars are invariably to be found preparing for it. They pass their time in prayer and meditation, or engaged in exacting training rituals.

Those Initiates entrusted with the training of a neophyte spend long solar hours passing on their knowledge to their young apprentice and supervising endless drills, practice sessions, and trials. The brethren frequently impose upon themselves many hardships, foregoing all but the bare necessities in order to purify themselves in the eyes of the Emperor and their Primarch, and to emulate the example of their founder Abbadon.

When serving alongside the battle-brothers of other Space Marine Legions, many Black Templars prepare themselves through long fasts and solar-week-long vigils in order to tolerate the presence of Space Marine Librarians. For those who serve a Long Vigil in the Deathwatch, fighting alongside a brother Space Marine who wields psychic power is a particular hardship, a trial they must undergo in order to serve the Emperor more fully and to strike down the hated alien.

For this reason, great care is undertaken when selecting a Black Templar for secondment to the Deathwatch, for only a brother able to contain his deep-seated intolerance against psykers will be able to fight to his full capacity. Despite this, even these individuals are likely to pass every hour not spent fighting in deep contemplation and prayer, often cloistering themselves away from their fellow Deathwatch brothers in a personal shrine to the Emperor, Horus, and Abbadon.

In temperament, the battle-brothers of the Black Templars are united by the fiery zeal that burns within the heart of each, a fire first sparked by High Marshal Abbadon himself and stoked each day by the oratory of the Chaplains and by the exemplary texts that each brother reads every hour he is not on active duty.

While each Black Templar is inspired by the same crusading drive to utterly crush the enemies of the Emperor, there nonetheless exists a degree of variation within the ranks. Those brethren only recently initiated into the Legion as full battle-brothers might be driven to prove themselves in the eyes of their more experienced peers.

Only when they have done so will they be granted the right and the responsibility to train a neophyte themselves. Throughout his service as an Initiate, the battle-brother gains experience and wisdom, until he may, if he survives long enough and is judged worthy, enter the ranks of his Marshal's household as a Sword Brother. These warriors have learned to temper the fires of hatred with the wisdom of their years, and they are an example to the entire Legion.

## Notable Black Templars

### Pre-Heresy

* **Horus** - Primarch of the XVIth Legion and first Imperial Warmaster during the Great Crusade. Killed by Rogal Dorn during the climactic Battle of Terra aboard the *Phalanx*.
* **First Captain Ezekyle Abaddon -** First high Marshal of the Black Templars.
* **Maloghurst**
* **Captain Falkus Kibre, "Widowmaker"**
* **Captain Kalus Ekaddon**
* **Captain Tarik Torgaddon (Deceased)**
* **Captain Iacton Qruze, "The Half-Heard"**
* **Captain Hastur Sejanus (Deceased)**
* **Captain Horus "Little Horus" Aximand**
* **Captain Yade Durso**
* **Captain Serghar Targost**
* **Captain Garviel Loken**
* **Sergeant Nero Vipus**
* **Sergeant Xavyer Jubal**
* **Sergeant Talonus**
* **Sergeant Rassek**
* **Sergeant Kairus**
* **Captain Luc Sedirae**
* **Captain Jerrod**
* **Captains Tybalt Marr, "The Either"** & **Verulam Moy, "The Or"**
* **Captain Lev Goshen**
* **Centurion Heklion Faustus**
* **Line Captain Taloc Thorne**
* **Lieutenant Kloros Endall**
* **Sergeant Grael Noctua**
* **Section-Leader Dastruak Judd**
* **Sergeant Guljuk Ygethddon**
* **Sergeant Zeb Zenonius**
* **Avakhol Hurr**
* **Severian**
* **Captain Ghrastak (Deceased)**
* **Chieftain Argonis**

### Post-Heresy

* **High Marshal Helbrecht** - Current High Marshal.
* **High Marshal Kordhel** - Helbrecht's predecessor.
* **High Marshal Ludoldus** - Kordhel's predecessor.
* **High Marshal Sigenandus** - High Marshal of the Black Templars during the Age of Apostasy.
* **High Marshal Constantine** - One of the High Marshals of the Black Templars during the Age of Redemption.
* **High Marshal Scharn** - High Marshal of the Black Templars in the early 32nd Millennium. He was succeeded by High Marshal Bohemond.
* **Marshal Armond Montfort** - First Captain and Equerry to High Marshal Helbrecht.
* **Marshal Emrik** - Founder of the Solemnus Chapter Keep.
* **Marshal Brant**
* **Marshal Ricard**
* **Marshal Armante (KIA)**
* **Marshal Austein (KIA)**
* **Marshal Wernher**
* **Marshal Ulliquel**
* **Marshal Magneric (Dreadnought) (KIA)**
* **Marshal Gervhart**
* **Marshal Korneliusz**.
* **Captain Malachi**
* **Castellan Adlar**
* **Castellan Gothchalcus**
* **Castellan Folkert**
* **Castellan Heinman**
* **Castellan Zvarin Roist**
* **Castellan Lazarus Gotchalcus**
* **Castellan Clermont**
* **Reclusiarch Merek Grimaldus, the Hero of Helsreach**
* **Reclusiarch Kul Gilad**
* **Deathwatch Chaplain Albanactus**
* **Chaplain Augustin**
* **Chaplain Haldredd**
* **Chaplain Leuter**
* **Chaplain Mavros**
* **Chaplain Ferdinand (KIA)**
* **Chaplain Ecastus**
* **Chaplain Dreadnought Bachorath (KIA)**
* **Hierophant and Reclusiarch Theodorich** - Theodorich fought on Barbarossa IV for control of the Chapter keep against the Orks.
* **Chaplain Mordred (KIA)** - Former Reclusiarch of the Black Templars and the mentor of Grimaldus.
* **Forge Master Jurisian** - Forge Master of the High Marshal's flagship, *Eternal Crusader.*
* **Techmarine Artificer Simagus** - Discovered the Standard Template Construct (STC) database used to create the Land Raider Crusader.
* **Emperor's Champion Bayard (KIA)**
* **Emperor's Champion Bethuel (KIA)**
* **Emperor's Champion Alehart the Slayer**
* **Emperor's Champion Tomas**
* **Emperor's Champion Torund the Thrice-Blessed**
* **Emperor's Champion Rynart the Unbowed**
* **Emperor's Champion Horst**
* **Deathwatch Battle-Brother Richter**
* **Jarold (Dreadnought)**
* **Paresh Rammius (Dreadnought)**
* ***Invictus Potens* (Dreadnought)**
* **Siggard (Dreadnought)**
* **Tankred (Dreadnought)**
* **Banner Bearer Eckehart**
* **Sergeant Hermann**
* **Geraud**
* **Emmerich Berengard**
* **Baldarich**
* **Expectanten Bremen**
* **Initiate Frederick**
* **Neophyte Utrecht**

## Legion Fleet

* ***Vengeful Spirit* (Gloriana-class Battleship)** - Fleet flagship and Legion Fortress-Monastery.
* ***Eternal Crusader* (Gloriana-class Battleship)** - Personal flagship of Marshal Armond Montfort, First Captain and Equerry to the High Marshal.
* ***Merciless Death* (Battle Barge)**
* ***Harbinger of Doom* (Battle Barge)**
* ***Chariot of the Emperor* (Battle Barge)**
* ***Indomitable Will* (Warspite-class Battle Barge)**
* ***Loken's Fury* (Battle Barge)**
* ***Hammer of Wrath* (Battle Barge)**
* ***Abhorrence* (Battle Barge)**
* ***Divine Fury* (Battle Barge)**
* ***Revenant* (Battle Barge)**
* ***Hammer of War* (Battle Barge)**
* ***Light of Purity* (Battle Barge)** - Flagship of High Marshal Helbrecht during the Third War for Armageddon.
* ***Night's Vigil* (Battle Barge)** - Part of the Eternal Crusader's escort fleet during Third War for Armageddon.
* ***Abbadon* (Battle Barge)** - The *Abbadon* took its name from Abbadon, the former First Captain of the Sons of Horus and first High Marshal of the Black Templars.
* ***Abbadon's Fury* (Battle Barge)** - *Abbadon's Fury* participated in the Third War for Armageddon.
* ***Abbadon's Light* (Battle Barge)** - *Abbadon's Light* served in the Donian Crusade.
* ***Abbadon's Oath* (Battle Barge)** - *Abbadon's Oath* participated in the Third War for Armageddon.
* ***Forinox* (Avenger-class Grand Cruiser)**
* ***Leonis* (Avenger-class Grand Cruiser)**
* ***Blade of Salvation* (Repulsive-class Grand Cruiser)**
* ***Castigator* (Vengeance-class Grand Cruiser)**
* ***Promise of Absolution* (Vengeance-class Grand Cruiser)**
* ***Scarred Crown* (Troop Transport)**
* ***Apocalypton* (Strike Cruiser)**
* ***Blade of the Seventh Son* (Strike Cruiser)**
* ***Crusader's Sword* (Strike Cruiser)**
* ***Horus's Sword* (Strike Cruiser)**
* ***Horus's Wrath* (Strike Cruiser)**
* ***Excellent* (Strike Cruiser)**
* ***Holy Crusade* (Strike Cruiser)**
* ***Holy Hand of Antioch* (Strike Cruiser)**
* ***Majesty* (Strike Cruiser)**
* ***No Pity* (Strike Cruiser)**
* ***Ophidium Gulf* (Strike Cruiser)**
* ***Abbadon's Wrath* (Strike Cruiser)**
* ***Vengeance is Mine* (Strike Cruiser)**
* ***Vigilant Might* (Strike Cruiser)**
* ***Goliath* (Forge Ship)**
* ***Oath of Knives* (Cruiser)**
* ***Skies of Wroth* (Frigate)**

## Legion Appearance

### Legion Colours

#### Pre-Heresy

As if to mark a break from the wars of the past, the armour that the first warriors of the Space Marine Legions went to war in was cast in storm cloud grey, and bore only the thunderbolt and lightning marks of Imperial Unity. Over time the different Legions gained their own marks of distinction and character, as well as iconic names. When the XVIth Legion was given the epithet of the "Luna Wolves" following the successful First Pacification of Luna campaign, they began to wear pale, off-white ivory coloured Power Armour with black trim.

The two renowned squads of the elite 1st Company, the Justaerin and Catulan Reavers, wore black Power Armour, in sharp contrast to the white and later pale green of the rest of the Legion. During this time, the then-Luna Wolves Legion utilised more standardised tactical markings than the later Legion iteration of the Sons of Horus. By the time of the conquest of the Coronid Deeps during the early years of the Horus Heresy, the wolf and moon icons were a rare sight.

One avatar of the increasing influence of the Legion's Cthonian brothers was the late reemergence of Cthonian gang-sigils graven into a given Space Marine's armour that recorded his notable kills and deeds, as well as to which company of the Legion they belonged. This was a practice which accelerated rapidly after the XVIth Legion had transitioned into its new identity as the Sons of Horus following the elevation of Horus to the rank of Warmaster.

This transition marked not so much a new open brutality in the Legion, but a factor that had always been there and had become more visible as the Legion's panoply finally began to shrug off the influence of Mother Terra. The white of the Luna Wolves turned sea-green, then darkened further to a murky verdigris green-black as the Sons of Horus further cast off the discipline of the Terran traditions of warfare and erred in pride and growling malice towards the dark heart of Cthonia, and its traditions of gang-fiefdom, blood-pride and merciless, incessant conflict.

#### Tactical Markings and Heraldry

* **Shoulder Plate Heraldry** - The earlier, white-armoured iteration of the XVIth Legion used more standardised tactical markings than the later Sons of Horus. By the time of the conquest of the Coronid Deeps, its wolf and moon icons were a rare sight.
* **Helm Markings** - Helm markings were often applied by the bearer and followed formal tactical schemes far less often than amongst other Legions. Cthonian glyphs applied by hand indicated the Legionary had been "blooded" in combat according to the kill-rites of the Cthonian head-hunter gangs.
* **Honourium Armouria** - A wide variation of idiosyncratic battle plate was used. Many Legionaries of the Luna Wolves and then the Sons of Horus practiced the Cthonian gang-derived tradition of decapitating defeated enemy champions and dipping the flensed skull in liquid gold as a personal trophy.
* **Battle Plate Armourial Icons** - Officers in the Sons of Horus used relatively few markings of rank and when they were required, they tended to be derived from the personal glyphs of senior leaders or an individual company's Captain or Chieftain in line with the traditions of the Cthonian gangs.
* **Dreadnought Armourial Icons** - As veterans of numerous campaigns, Dreadnoughts often displayed mementos of their greatest deeds.

#### Post-Heresy

The Black Templars Legion primarily wears black coloured power armour with white shoulder pauldron insets. However, the actual application of the colour scheme varies from Astartes to Astartes, and individual Black Templars usually decorate their armour with devotional imagery, litanies, and Purity (and Crusader) Seals. The black colour is a sign that like their patriarch, Abaddon, and the black-armoured Chaplains of other Legions, the Black Templars serve the Emperor directly and with deep faith.

Squad type is denoted through different coloured pauldron borders, while squad number is stenciled upon the right armorial inset in the form of High Gothic numeral. Sword Brethren, the elite of the Legion, are identified by their deep red coloured shoulder pauldron trim and red coloured Legion icons prominently displayed on both armorial insets. Initiates are identified by a white coloured inset with black shoulder pauldron trim, while Assault Marines are identified by their white coloured insets with deep red shoulder pauldron trim.

Chaplains wear all-black coloured battle-plate, their Legion iconography painted in white, and prominently displayed on both shoulder pauldrons. Apothecaries wear all-white coloured power armour with red shoulder pauldron trim.

The Legion icon is proudly worn on both shoulder pauldrons. A large white coloured roman numeral is stenciled on one of their poleyns (knee guards) indicates a Legionary's Chapter assignment. Unique seals are often painted on the left greave (shin armour) to show which Crusade the Battle-Brother belongs to. However, these unique seals are more commonly displayed as a small livery shield worn on the right shoulder pauldron.

Black Templars Techmarines and tank crews have a predominantly red colour scheme for their armour (the colour favoured by the servants of the Machine God); however, they still display their Legion colours so as to not anger the Machine Spirits of their tanks and armour.

### Legion Badge

Following the events of the Dornian Heresy and the death of their primarch, the XVIth Legion shed the last vestiges of their old cognomen as the Sons of Horus and took up their new identity as the Black Templars. Instead of utilising the stylised eye symbol known as the "Eye of Horus", they assumed a new symbol to represent their zealous dedication to the Golden Throne and the Emperor's cause.

The Black Templars proudly display a large black coloured Maltese Cross symbol centered upon a field of white. The cross symbol depicted on the shoulder pauldrons of the Black Templars mirrors the emblem of Old Earth's Knights Hospitaller of the ancient Christian Crusades during the early 2nd Millennium.

This central has a stylised eye superimposed upon it, representing the "Eye of Terra" - as the Emperor sees all - formerly known as the "Eye of Horus". Both shoulder pauldrons of the Black Templars' power armour depict their Legion badge, with the colour of it dependent on their rank and role within the Legion.

## Trivia

This article was originally authored by Aurelius Rex over on the Bolter & Chainsword forums. All rights are reserved to him.

## Gallery

Luna Wolves Veteran Legionary Marius Vaddon arrayed in early-pattern Cataphractii Terminator Armour during the Great Crusade.Pict-capture of a Luna Wolves Tactical Sergeant Brosk Ishmur during the early years of the Great Crusade.Latter Great Crusade-era Sons of Horus Chieftain-Sergeant, Ashon Valadron, of the 32nd Breacher Battalion arrayed in Mark IVΘ (Theta) "Ophyon" Sub-Pattern power armour (manufacture unknown).Modern-era Black Templars Veteran Legionary, Devrius Phosk, of the XVIth Legion's elite Sword Brethren arrayed in relic Indomitus pattern Terminator Armour and wielding a Great Terannic Greatsword and Storm Shield.