Flesh Tearers - Chapter Combat Doctrine: As with all aspects of the Flesh Tearers Chapter, the Black Rage strongly influences its strategic approach towards military engagements. One of the most important ways that this can be seen is in its reduced numbers. As a consequence of their losses to their gene-seed curse, these Space Marines were incapable of organising companies in a manner consistent with the Codex Astartes before the arrival of the Primaris Marine reinforcements in the Era Indomitus.Instead, each of their four companies was organised to be fully and independently functional. To maintain this ability, all battle-brothers underwent constant functional cross-training so that they might effectively serve the role of a Scout, Tactical, Assault or Devastator Marine as the tactical situation necessitated.Due to the Chapter's constrained size, each company was capable of maintaining sufficient resources in its Armoury to equip its members with the gear necessary to fulfil any of these roles effectively. While this training is necessary and effective, some of its aspects are actually seldom used. This is, once more, due to the effects of the Black Rage. As Flesh Tearers prepare for combat and see the enemy, they often choose to directly engage their foes in melee combat.This proclivity extends throughout the Chapter from the leadership elements to the newest recruits. As such, when preparing for an engagement, the Flesh Tearers' commanders generally plan their tactics in a way that takes advantage of this tendency, instead of attempting to fight against it.Consequently, the Chapter often fields an inordinate number of its battle-brothers equipped as Assault Marines. In contrast, they seldom field squads of Devastator Marines. Even among their tactical units, heavy weapons are often left behind, as many Flesh Tearers sergeants are reluctant to hold their units at range long enough for the weapons to be used effectively. In many ways, this restricts the Chapter's tactical flexibility and ability to adhere to the tactics presented in the Codex Astartes. However, considering the overall efficiency of their Assault Marines, it is difficult to rationalise such a criticism considering the results of a Flesh Tearers unit in close combat.Like other Blood Angels successors, the Flesh Tearers field members of the Death Company as part of any significant conflict. However, due to the nature of their curse, this complement is often larger than the ones exhibited by other Chapters of the Sanguinary Brotherhood. In many instances, the Death Company's membership includes some of the Chapter's most experienced warriors. This has often led to the Death Company being even more devastatingly effective than when used by other Chapters descended from Sanguinius' blood line.The vast majority of the Flesh Tearers' vehicles are transports, specifically Rhinos and Razorbacks. Just as the Chapter seldom fields a significant number of squads equipped with heavy weapons, it also limits the number of armoured vehicles that it deploys. The Flesh Tearers prefer to charge forward into direct melee whenever possible as heavy infantry, eschewing the limitations imposed by a battle tank. The primary exception to their movement away from vehicles regards the numbers of Dreadnoughts that the Chapter maintains.Many of the Flesh Tearers' most respected heroes fall prey to the Black Rage before they can suffer a noble death in combat. Whenever possible, these respected warriors are assigned to a life-support sarcophagus and placed within a Dreadnought chassis where their abilities and knowledge can be preserved and used in future engagements.Many of these "Old Ones" enter combat with their fellows in the Death Company, charging directly forward to eliminate any foes that stand before them. Tragically, this results in an unacceptably high incidence of death among the pilots of these machines, but this does have the benefit of freeing new sarcophagi for the use of other battle-brothers that fall prey to the Black Rage.As the Flesh Tearers often charge into battle, they have taken a number of specialised measures to assist them as they charge. The Flesh Tearers also have a unique battle cry that they let loose as they attack their foes. While the cry is created by the Space Marines' vocal cords, it is enhanced and amplified by their power armour's vox-systems. First-hand reports confirm that opponents are often stunned into immediate submission when they hear the terrible sound as defenders come face-to-face with the savagery of these battle-brothers.Because of their propensity to fall to savagery and uncontrolled bloodlust, the Flesh Tearers fight alone when possible, standing unaided against the innumerable odds rather than risk the lives of those they have pledged to protect. At other times, they have employed more extreme measures to keep their secret, annihilating planets, star systems and star clusters in a hail of Cyclonic Torpedo warheads.If it's such measures that have kept the Flesh Tearers within the tolerance of the High Lords of Terra, or the fact that the Imperium has need of every blade to defend it, none can say for certain. Politically, the Chapter constantly teeters on the abyss of denouncement and persecution as Traitors. To some members of the Inquisition, there is no doubt that the Flesh Tearers are abominations. These Inquisitors see these broken Astartes as proof positive that the entire genetic line of Sanguinius is tainted.Were it not for the influence and efforts of the Blood Angels themselves, and the fact that the Imperium sorely needs all the sons of Sanguinius to hold back the current press of Chaos, the judgement of the Flesh Tearers might come swiftly and surely.