vizn3r/warhammer40k-lore huggingface dataset:
Black Templars - Black Templars Crusade Organisation: The Black Templars is a fleet-based Chapter, their companies scattered across the galaxy into numerous crusades. Each crusade is led by a Marshal, while a single High Marshal is responsible for the progress of all the current crusades.Below is the disposition of the Arkron Crusade, launched into the Ghoul Stars during the closing years of the 38th Millennium. A typical crusade comprised of Firstborn Black Templars, it numbered hundreds of battle-brothers, war machines and support elements, allowing it to campaign far beyond the Imperium's borders.Marshal's HouseholdMarshal Palin HarrosEmperor's ChampionChaplainsCrusade Banner BearerHousehold Banner BearerTechmarinesServitorsApothecariesSword BrethrenTerminatorsDreadnoughtsLand RaidersRhinosPredator AnnihilatorsPredator DestructorsHunters & StalkersWhirlwindsStormravensStormtalonsFighting Company Edessor "The First Sons": Castellan EdessorBanner BearerTechmarinesApothecariesInitiatesNeophytesDreadnoughtsLand RaidersPredator DestructorsRazorbacksRhinosFighting Company Antora "The Righteous Fist": Castellan AntoraBanner BearerTechmarinesApothecariesInitiatesNeophytesTerminatorsLand RaidersCenturion WarsuitsFighting Company Stenheir "The Scythes of Retribution": Castellan StenheirBanner BearerTechmarincsApothecariesInitiatesNeophytesScout BikesAttack BikesLand SpeedersJump PacksFighting Company Chalica "The Hammer of Heldenhorst": Castellan ChalicaBanner BearerTechmarinesApoothecariesInitiatesNeophytesVindicatorsLand RaidersPredator DestructorsPredator AnnihilatorsRhinos
Black Templars - Era Indomitus Black Templars Crusade Organisation: Below is the order of battle of the Aurilla Crusade, one of the Shrine World Crusades intended to protect the possessions of the Ecclesiarchy launched after the passing of the Warp storms that enveloped the Caton Sub-sector following the birth of the Great Rift in the Era Indomitus.One of the first Black Templars crusades to incorporate Primaris Space Marines and their new war machines, it is otherwise typical of its type, numbering hundreds of battle-brothers, war machines and support elements prepared to campaign across the sub-sector's multiple Shrine Worlds.Marshal's HouseholdMarshal Armond MontfortEmperor's ChampionChaplainsCrusade Banner BearerHousehold Banner BearerTechmarinesServitorsApothecariesSword BrethrenTerminatorsDreadnoughtsLand RaidersRhinosRepulsorsPredator AnnihilatorsPredator DestructorsHuntersStalkersWhirlwindsStormravensStormtalonsFighting Company Brocas, "The Righteous"Commanded by: Castellan BrocasBanner BearerTechmarinesApothecariesInitiatesNeophytesIntercessorsDreadnoughtsLand RaidersPredator DestructorsRepulsorsRazorbacksRhinosFighting Company Bardolph, "Bearers of the Sacred Bones"Commanded by: Castellan BardolphBanner Bearer (Banner of Sacred Bones)TechmarinesApothecariesInitiatesNeophytesTerminatorsLand RaidersCenturion WarsuitsAggressorsFighting Company Stebach, "The Emperor's Justice"Commanded by: Castellan StebachBanner BearerTechmarinesApothecariesInitiatesNeophytesBikesScout BikesAttack BikesLand SpeedersJump PacksVanguard MarinesReiversFighting Company Darras, "Bringers of the True Word"Commanded by: Castellan DarrasBanner BearerTechmarinesApothecariesInitiatesNeophytesInceptorsVindicatorsLand RaidersPredator DestructorsPredator AnnihilatorsRhinos
Black Templars - Emperor's Champion Vows: On the eve of battle, the Emperor's Champion leads the Black Templars in renewing one of the four Vows of the Chapter, each one instilling these Astartes with righteous fury that is expressed on the battlefield in different ways. These vows include:Suffer Not the Unclean to Live - The Black Templars swear to release their unclean foes -- Heretics, mutants, xenos and Traitors -- from the suffering of their lives, striking them down with great fury.Uphold the Honour of the Emperor - The Black Templars uphold the Emperor's honour, and face their enemies' attacks head-on rather than cower behind cover. Such is their indomitable faith that they can withstand attacks that would fell even other Astartes.Abhor the Witch, Destroy the Witch - The Black Templars' hatred of the mutant and the Warp drives them into a rage in battle. Should their enemies' ranks include a psyker, they will rush to vanquish them with renewed effort. Their hatred enhances their will, making them highly resistant to psychic abilities.Accept Any Challenge, No Matter the Odds - The Black Templars swear to answer any challenge, and should an opportunity present itself they will always charge to meet their enemies in close combat.
Black Templars - Crusader Squads: A Crusader Squad is the standard tactical organisation 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 organised 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.
Black Templars - Formations: Sons of Grimaldus - Chaplain Grimaldus entered legend during the Battle of Helsreach in the midst of the Third War for Armageddon in 998.M41. For more than 60 solar days, he commanded the defenders of the Temple of the Emperor Ascendant against a massive horde of Orks. Eventually, with the defenders cut off and outnumbered hundreds to one, the temple fell. Miraculously, Grimaldus and a handful of the Black Templars with him survived. These few swore to avenge the brave warriors, mortal and Astartes alike, who had fought and died beside them. Other Black Templars flocked to their banner, and from that day the special formation of the Chapter known as the Sons of Grimaldus have harried the Orks from one end of Armageddon to the other, and now pursue them even as they flee into the depths of space. They will not rest until Ghazghkull Thraka and every Ork under his command has been slain. The Sons of Grimaldus are currently commanded by Grimaldus and composed of 1 Command Squad, 1 squad of Sword Brethren Terminators, another squad of Sword Brethren outfitted as Assault Terminators, 2 squads of Sword Brethren encased in standard Power Armour, and 5 full squads of Black Templars Astartes.
Black Templars - Neophytes: Since the Black Templars have no Chapter homeworld, all of their recruiting is done via their Chapter keeps. Chapter 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 Chapter. A Chapter 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 Chapter. When roughly two dozen neophytes are available at a Chapter keep and have been approved by the keep's Castellan and the Chapter's Apothecaries and Chaplains, they are despatched 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 Space Marine Chapters, 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 Chapter, 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 Chapter, 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 valour and skill, a Black Templars neophyte submits to the Chapter'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 honoured with a suit of Power Armour. 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' order of battle contains no Librarians.
Black Templars - 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 Chapter 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 Chapter are preserved and passed down, master to neophyte.Initiates form the majority of the Chapter'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.
Black Templars - 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.
Black Templars - Training Worlds: The Black Templars, being a fleet-based Crusading Chapter, need many new recruits to fill their ranks. Not only do they lose many Space Marines in battles across the galaxy, but they also lose many recruits in training.Despite this attrition, there are thousands of citizens across the Imperium who dream of becoming Black Templars. Many of them have spent their entire young lives in preparation, honing their martial skills in their local Planetary Defence Forces or even the Astra Militarum.Those brave souls who have declared their intent to join the Black Templars are known as "Expectanten." These aspirants have a long and dangerous journey to survive before they can even bear the title of neophyte.One of the original training planets of Black Templars where such aspirants can try and prove their worth to the Chapter is Barbarossa IV -- a largely peaceful Agri-world. However, the planet's northern regions possess many dangerous native flora and fauna that provide a good training ground for aspirants. It is there that the Black Templars Chapter keep is located.
Black Templars - Known Recruitment Worlds: The following worlds are known to be planets on which a Chapter keep is maintained and from which the Black Templars have taken neophytes in the past.Barbarossa IVCloisterFergaxKilhavenLilia MundiPurgatius IIISolemnus
Black Templars - Black Templars Names: The names of Black Templars battle-brothers are generally drawn from the Germanic cultures of Old Earth. As such, sample names for Black Templars Astartes include Otto Ulbrecht, Sebastian Kroeller, Micael Richter, Signar Dranacht, Magnor Arbrecht, Lothair Torismund, Guy Mordred, Diedrech Carlmagne, Sedric Kiergaard, Arnuph Arbrecht and names in a similar ancient Teutonic vein.
Black Templars - Deathwatch Service: While the Black Templars as a Chapter have left the Jericho Reach for the present at least, their battle-brothers still serve in the ranks of the Deathwatch, the Chamber Militant of the Ordo Xenos. Several of the greatest heroes to have served their Vigil from Watch Fortress Erioch were drawn from the Chapter, though their names and deeds may only be read in the annals of the Deathwatch, and these are sealed from access by all but the most privileged.Black Templars are known to make worthy members of a Kill-team, though their zealousness can occasionally put them at odds with other members. Black Templars never back down from a challenge and they are reluctant to re-deploy from battle in the face of overwhelming odds. A mission that requires stealth and observation may find itself compromised should a Black Templar battle-brother take it upon himself to engage a foe he should be watching from afar.For this reason, only the most self-disciplined and open-minded of Black Templars are seconded to the Deathwatch; the strain on their minds to tolerate the myriad different expressions of a thousand divergent Chapter cults embodied by the new battle-brothers of the Long Watch will be enormous, and to be forced to live and fight alongside psykers, either the other Chapter's detached Librarians or the Ordo Xenos' psychically-gifted Inquisitors, will test the seconded Black Templar's faith and tolerance to their very limits.But a Black Templar does not have to suppress his essential nature to operate in the Deathwatch. Instead, on the field of battle, it is his greatest weapon, for his righteousness and zeal allow him to face and to overcome the most terrifying enemies facing the Imperium.
Black Templars - Chapter 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 witchkin 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 Grey Knights.Every Black Templar has a deep prejudice against any type of psyker, which can lead to trouble between the Chapter and those Imperial Adepta that often use Sanctioned Psykers, such as the Inquisition or even certain regiments of the Astra Militarum.
Black Templars - Land Raider Crusader: The Land Raider Crusader variant of the standard Land Raider was developed by the Black Templars during the Jerulas Crusade, to aid them in the numerous hive city sieges required to reclaim that Hive World for the Emperor. As word of the design's successes spread, many other Chapters pressured the Tech-priests of Mars into releasing construction schematics of the Crusader.Eventually the design was officially recognised by the Adeptus Mechanicus in 763.M39, but this was seen as a mere formality; over three-quarters of the Chapters had already put Crusader Pattern Land Raiders into effective use.The Land Raider Crusader is a line-breaking main battle tank, built and armed to plough into the enemy formation and disgorge its larger-than-normal cargo of Astartes directly into close combat. The Crusader is armed with side sponson-mounted Hurricane Bolters as well as a hull-mounted Assault Cannon and a Multi-melta.By replacing the side sponson Lascannon of the original Land Raider design with the Bolters, the Land Raider Crusader has given up some of its anti-armour capability in exchange for a significant increase in its troop-carrying capacity. It also has Frag Assault Launchers to help pin the enemy unit being attacked.
Black Templars - Abhor the Witch: Outsiders sometimes mistakenly interpret the lack of Librarians within the ranks of the Black Templars Chapter, and the fury with which its battle-brothers slay Chaos Sorcerers, as an intolerance for all forms of psykers.This could hardly be further from the truth, for the Black Templars hold special reverence for astropaths, seeing them as holy disciples who have actually communed with the God-Emperor. Navigators are similarly honoured, for their psychic blessing allows them to see the divine light of the Astronomican and guide the Black Templars through the Warp to deliver righteous retribution against the Emperor's enemies.Instead, the Black Templars' abhorrence is reserved for deviant alien witches and rogue psykers who embrace the blasphemous Dark Gods in their quest for power. These individuals threaten to drag entire worlds from the Emperor's light and into damnation, for they are conduits through which unholy daemons can cross into the mortal realm.So it is that the Black Templars strengthen their souls with the purity of their faith when facing rogue psykers, as they strive to end with a single sword-stroke the potential of a daemonic assault that could otherwise plunge the Emperor's realm into solar decades of bloodshed and madness.
Black Templars - Behold the Glory and the Wonder: One of the more unusual aspects of the Black Templars' worship of the Emperor is the Chapter's collection of reliquaries. Being a fleet-based Chapter and lacking a proper homeworld, the High Marshal's Battle Barge and mobile fortress-monastery, the Eternal Crusader, has become the spiritual epicentre of the Chapter.It has been refitted many times over the millennia, and its massive expanse is filled with sacred relics, chapels, reliquaries and devotional pieces. All Black Templars return here after a crusade, renewing vows and adding any new-found wonders to their already vast hoard.Some of these pieces date back to the Great Crusade: banners carried before the Emperor Himself, a piece of the First Aquila, a blackened skull reportedly struck by the Emperor's scorching psychic energies, and thousands more.
Black Templars - Hall of Records: Aboard the Eternal Crusader lies the Hall of Records, a vast archive where a legion of scribes and servitors toil to record the history and deeds of the Black Templars' far-flung forces.Such duties of record-keeping would normally fall to a Chapter's Librarians, but the Black Templars Chapter boasts not a single psychic Space Marine amongst their ranks. It is uncertain how, or when, the Black Templars ceased to field Librarians, for with their disappearance, much of the Chapter's history was also lost.Outsiders suggest that, as the Chapter came to worship the Emperor as a god unlike most of their fellow members of the Adeptus Astartes, they took His decree at the Council of Nikaea to disband the Space Marine Legions' Librarius corps as holy law. Others whisper that the Black Templars' gene-seed has somehow deteriorated, or that their Librarians were slain during a great war in the Chapter's history.Some scholars point to the Black Templars' final battle to end the Catelexis Heresy in the 34th Millennium, and the apocalyptic psychic death-scream that tore through the Warp after the slaying of the Cacodominus, as another possible explanation.Whatever the truth, the Black Templars have come to accept the loss of their Librarians as part of the Emperor's divine plan. If the Emperor decides to once again bless the Black Templars with Librarians, they will embrace it, but until that day, they will wage battle without these powerful warriors at their side.
Black Templars - Chapter Traditions: Devotion Chain - Most Black Templars use Devotion Chains to bind their weapons to their fists on the eve of battle, removing them only once victory is achieved. This tradition harkens back to the bygone era of the Great Crusade. The tradition of using chains to bind weapons to one's arms was originally started by the World Eaters when they were still the Loyalist XII Legion, a tradition which eventually spread to the other Space Marine Legions after its popularity had extended beyond the World Eaters' fighting pits. Sigismund, First Captain of the Imperial Fists, took to the custom with his usual zeal, binding his knightly weapons to his wrists on dense black chains. He had made an impressive name for himself within the bowels of Primarch Angron's flagship, Conqueror, duelling with the XII Legion's finest warriors late in the Great Crusade.Chain of Zeal - Unlike the Devotion Chain, the Chain of Zeal is no such fleeting token. It is secured to weapon and armour with a permanent weld that lasts as long as the Space Marine serves. Furthermore, because taking off a gauntlet with the chain still attached is a shameful act that entails great dishonour, the wearer of the Chain of Zeal must keep his armoured glove donned and weapon in hand every minute for the rest of his days.
Black Templars - Chapter Appearance: The Black Templars are noted to wrap chains or bindings around their arms to represent the fact that they will not give up their weapons until the battle is done.
Black Templars - Chapter Colours: The power armour of a Black Templar is predominantly black and white. 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 Sigismund and the black-armoured Chaplains of other Chapters, the Black Templars serve the Emperor directly and with deep faith.Squad specialty symbols are not indicated. Instead, the Astartes' tactical role -- battleline, fire support, Veteran or close support -- is displayed by the colour of the pauldron trim.The Chapter icon is proudly worn on both shoulder guards. Squad number is stencilled as a white Low Gothic numeral upon the right knee plate. Unique seals often worn on the left greave show which Crusade the battle-brother belongs to.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 Chapter colours so as to not anger the Machine Spirits of their tanks and armour.
Black Templars - Chapter Badge: The Black Templars' Chapter badge is a black Maltese Cross on a field of white. The shoulder plates of Black Templar Power Armour depict the Chapter badge, with colour dependent on their rank and role within the Chapter.The Cross depicted on the shoulder plates of the Black Templars mirrors the emblem of the Knights Hospitaller of the ancient Christian Crusades during the early 2nd Millennium.
Black Templars - Disputed Size of Black Templars Chapter: The Black Templars were stated to be 5,000-6,000 strong in the comprehensive 4th Edition Codex: Black Templars.However in the 2014 novel Eternal Crusader, they were stated to be Codex-compliant, with only 1,000 battle-brothers. Author Guy Haley went on to state on his blog that the Black Templars' numbers are variable depending on the era of the setting and the requirements of a given story.In the 8th Edition campaign supplement Psychic Awakening - Faith and Fury it is restated that the Black Templars do not adhere to the Codex Astartes and are larger than a standard Chapter. Each of their crusades is stated to be thousands strong, with the number now left far more ambiguous.
Black Templars - Trivia: The "character" of the Black Templars is drawn from the high medieval Christian Crusades of the 11th to 13th Centuries AD, and the history concerning the military orders of the Roman Catholic Church at that time, including the Order of the Knights Templar, the Order of the Knights Hospitaller and the Teutonic Order.One of their special weapons, the Holy Orb of Antioch, is a reference to Monty Python's Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch, which itself is a reference to items discovered by the real Crusaders at Antioch (such as the "Holy Spear of Antioch").
Black Templars Crusade Fleet - Black Templars Crusade Fleet: The Black Templars Space Marine Chapter has no single Chapter homeworld. Instead, they live in their crusade fleets, upon many Battle Barges, Strike Cruisers, training vessels, and gigantic forgeships. The Black Templars establish Chapter keeps on every world they conquer or reclaim for the Emperor.The main purpose of the Chapter keeps is to recruit new Space Marines from the population, and to act as staging posts for mustering the crusades. These Chapter keeps are sizeable, with chambers to accommodate two to three fighting companies of Space Marines, but are far smaller than the fortress-monasteries of other Chapters.However, there have been hundreds of Chapter keeps established over the millennia, some of which are still standing, others which have fallen into ruin and disrepair and are no longer manned. The High Marshal himself has his own Battle Barge, the Eternal Crusader, and he can travel from crusade to crusade lending his military genius and spiritual guidance to those under his command.The Eternal Crusader is gigantic, even for a Battle Barge, having been expanded and refitted over ten thousand standard years with extra docking facilities for Escort ships, additional launch bays for shuttles and Thunderhawk gunships, as well as accommodation for twice as many Space Marines than a normal Battle Barge.This nomadic way of life also honours the Black Templars' original Founding Legion, the Imperial Fists, who were also a fleet-based Chapter, based upon the great mobile star fortress known as Phalanx. Each Crusade fleet is usually led by a Black Templars officer with the rank of Castellan or Marshal and is charged with carrying out a specific objective. Until that objective is achieved, the Crusade fleet will not join up with its brethren and its Astartes will not rest.
Black Templars Crusade Fleet - History: After the great Horus Heresy, Rogal Dorn, Primarch of the Imperial Fists, resisted the breaking up of the Legions into smaller Chapters. It was only when the Imperial Fists were nearly branded Heretics that Dorn relented, allowing his beloved Legion to be subdivided into Chapters. One of the new Chapters born of this time was the Black Templars.To prove his loyalty to the Emperor, the first Chapter Master of the Black Templars -- the High Marshal Sigismund -- assembled a massive war fleet and began the greatest Space Marine crusade in the history of the Imperium. It has lasted for 10,000 years.Eschewing the establishment of a homeworld, the Black Templars took to the stars in a mighty war fleet. Rather than constructing a single Chapter fortress-monastery as most Space Marine Chapters do, the Black Templars determined to establish a chapter keep upon each world they conquered, to keep watch for treachery, to stage future crusades, and to recruit new Battle-Brothers.The ten-millennia-long crusade of the Black Templars has seen its warriors embroiled in some of the most momentous conflicts ever to engulf the Imperium. The High Marshals have followed the example of their founder and taken the fight to the realms of the alien, the Heretic, and the witch. The Black Templars are crusaders, holy warriors battling to bring the truth and light of the Emperor to the unconquered worlds of the galaxy.With bolt shell and chainsword, the Black Templars convert the benighted to the light of the Master of Mankind and destroy those who refuse to welcome His truth. Each crusade is directed by the will of the Marshal in command, and each is despatched by the decree of the High Marshal of the Black Templars to fulfil their prime mission to cleanse the stars.
Black Templars Crusade Fleet - Black Templars Crusade Organisation: The Black Templars are a fleet-based Chapter, their companies scattered across the galaxy into numerous crusades. Each crusade is led by a Marshal, while a single High Marshal is responsible for the progress of all the current crusades.Below is the order of battle of the Arkron Crusade, launched into the Ghoul Stars during the closing years of the 38th Millennium. A typical Crusade, it numbered hundreds of Battle-Brothers, war machines and support elements, allowing it to campaign far beyond the Imperium's borders:Marshal's HouseholdMarshal Palin HarrosEmperor's ChampionChaplainsCrusade Banner BearerHousehold Banner BearerTechmarinesServitorsApothecariesSword BrethrenTerminatorsDreadnoughtsLand RaidersRhinosPredator AnnihilatorsPredator DestructorsHuntersStalkersWhirlwindsStormravensStormtalonsFighting Company Edessor, "The First Sons"Commanded by: Castellan EdessorBanner BearerTechmarinesApothecariesInitiatesNeophytesDreadnoughtsLand RaidersPredator DestructorsRazorbacksRhinosFighting Company Antora, "The Righteous Fist"Commanded by: Castellan AntoraBanner BearerTechmarinesApothecariesInitiatesNeophytesTerminatorsLand RaidersCenturion WarsuitsFighting Company Stenheir, "The Scythes of Retribution"Commanded by: Castellan StenheirBanner BearerTechmarinesApothecariesInitiatesNeophytesBikesScout BikesAttack BikesLand SpeedersJump PacksFighting Company Chalica, "The Hammer of Heldenhorst"Commanded by: Castellan ChalicaBanner BearerTechmarinesApoothecariesInitiatesNeophytesVindicatorsLand RaidersPredator DestructorsPredator AnnihilatorsRhinos
Black Templars Crusade Fleet - Era Indomitus Black Templars Crusade Organisation: Below is the order of battle of the Aurilla Crusade, launched after the passing of the Warp Storms that enveloped the Caton Sub-sector after the Great Rift opened in the Era Indomitus.One of the first Black Templars crusades to incorporate Primaris Space Marines and their new war machines, it is otherwise typical of its type, numbering hundreds of Battle-Brothers, war machines and support elements prepared to campaign across the system's multiple Shrine Worlds.Marshal's HouseholdMarshal Armond MontfortEmperor's ChampionChaplainsCrusade Banner BearerHousehold Banner BearerTechmarinesServitorsApothecariesSword BrethrenTerminatorsDreadnoughtsLand RaidersRhinosRepulsorsPredator AnnihilatorsPredator DestructorsHuntersStalkersWhirlwindsStormravensStormtalonsFighting Company Brocas, "The Righteous"Commanded by: Castellan BrocasBanner BearerTechmarinesApothecariesInitiatesNeophytesIntercessorsDreadnoughtsLand RaidersPredator DestructorsRepulsorsRazorbacksRhinosFighting Company Bardolph, "Bearers of the Sacred Bones"Commanded by: Castellan BardolphBanner Bearer (Banner of Sacred Bones)TechmarinesApothecariesInitiatesNeophytesTerminatorsLand RaidersCenturion WarsuitsAggressorsFighting Company Stebach, "The Emperor's Justice"Commanded by: Castellan StebachBanner BearerTechmarinesApothecariesInitiatesNeophytesBikesScout BikesAttack BikesLand SpeedersJump PacksVanguard MarinesReiversFighting Company Darras, "Bringers of the True Word"Commanded by: Castellan DarrasBanner BearerTechmarinesApoothecariesInitiatesNeophytesInceptorsVindicatorsLand RaidersPredator DestructorsPredator AnnihilatorsRhinos
Black Vipers - Black Vipers: The Black Vipers is a Loyalist Space Marine Chapter and a successor of the Salamanders.It is a Chapter composed wholly of Primaris Space Marines and was raised during the Ultima Founding of ca. 999.M41 by Archmagos Dominus Belisarius Cawl.
Black Vipers - Chapter History: The Salamanders were kept largely unaware of what new Successor Chapters were created from their gene-seed by Belisarius Cawl, and once they learned of their existence, they were always quick to dispatch a Chaplain to the Chapter to teach them the ways of the Promethean Cult.The Salamanders accidentally learned of the existence of the Black Vipers many standard years after they learned of their other Ultima Foundingsuccessors. Sur Kgosi, the Chaplain sent to the Chapter by the Salamanders, disappeared without trace.The Black Vipers appear to claim no world for their own, and spurn contact with allies on the rare occasion where they are seen at war.Wherever the Chapter has been identified, agents of Belisarius Cawl have never been far away...
Black Vipers - Chapter Colours: The Black Vipers wear black power armour with a red backpack, red knee plates and red shoulder plate trim. The Aquila or Imperialis on the chest plate is red.The Chapter badge is worn on the left shoulder plate, and the red squad tactical specialty symbol -- battleline, close support, fire support, Veteran or command -- is on the right.A red Low Gothic numeral inscribed onto the squad specialty symbol on the right shoulder plate indicates squad number.A black Low Gothic numeral placed on the left knee plate indicates company number.
Black Vipers - Chapter Badge: The Black Vipers' Chapter badge is a red viper's head in profile, mouth open, centred on a field of black.
Black Vultures - Black Vultures: The Black Vultures is a Loyalist Space Marine Chapter of unknown genetic lineage, comprised entirely of Primaris Space Marines. It was raised during the Ultima Founding of 999.M41.The Black Vultures are known to be highly-skilled, long-range marksmen. This is in part because the Black Vultures are meticulous mission planners, waiting patiently until the time is right to attack in order to ensure victory.This penchant has led to some heated interactions with more physically direct Chapters like the Space Wolves who have at times claimed that the Black Vultures are cowardly.
Black Vultures - Chapter History: The Black Vultures have unusually close ties with the Adeptus Mechanicus for a Chapter of the Adeptus Astartes. They often undertake operations suggested by the Tech-priests, during which the Mechanicus retrieves some key archeotech relic while the Black Vultures secure assets to benefit the Chapter and receive preferential technical support from one of the Mechanicus' Forge Worlds.The Black Vulture's Chapter Master has been inspired by the teachings of Roboute Guilliman as the resurrected lord commander of the Imperium and Imperial Regent -- not just strategically in battle but also as a statesman. He has intentionally stationed the Chapter's fortress-monastery close to an established Imperial world.The Chapter interacts with the people much like the Ultramarines in their Realm of Ultramar and, through their proximity, provide some protection for these citizens, allowing their star system to develop as an Imperial trade hub.
Black Vultures - Chapter Colours: The Black Vultures wear grey power armour with black helmets, pauldrons and knee plates.
Black Vultures - Chapter Badge: The Black Vultures' Chapter badge is a white vulture on a black field.
Black Vultures - Trivia: In August 2019, the Black Vultures were revealed as a Chapter created by Martin Morrin, a Games Workshop Warhammer Community video manager that was showcased in an online Warhammer Community article and a YouTube video, as seen above.
Black Vultures - Sources: Warhammer Community - Successor Chapter Showcase: Martin Morrin's Black Vultures (14 Aug 2019)
Black Wings - Black Wings: The Black Wings is a Loyalist Codex Astartes-compliant Space Marine Chapter of unknown genetic origins and Founding.In 700.M35, for unknown reasons, half the Chapter renounced their vows to the Emperor and turned upon their former brethren. In the ensuing internecine conflict, much of the Black Wings' fortress-monastery was devastated and a number of their fleet vessels were destroyed until their traitorous kin were driven off-world.Swearing an eternal oath of vendetta, the Black Wings changed their livery to a halved-pattern of crimson and black, until justice is finally visited upon their erstwhile kin and the Chapter's soul is fully healed.The Chapter's Renegade brethren are known to hunt down Loyalist Astartes Chapters that possess Contemptor Dreadnoughts and fight to win them as spoils of war. The Renegade Black Wings now field at least 12 Contemptor Dreadnoughts of their own, one of which is occupied by the Heretic Astartes who was the instigator of their original betrayal.
Black Wings - Notable Black Wings: Chapter Master Khardin Gol - Chapter Master Gol of the Black Wings Chapter and numerous lords of the Imperium were brutally murdered during the infamous Hour of Shadow by the Heretic Astartes known as The Tenebrae, which plunged the world of Lorin Alpha into riot and madness. The entire Black Wings Chapter pursued the Renegades into the Veiled Region and three centuries later only a handful of Black Wings returned and would explain what had happened to them beyond the boundaries of Imperial space only to the Inquisition's Ordo Malleus. The Chapter took many solar decades to rebuild its full strength afterwards.Brother Sevastin - Sevastin was a battle-brother of the Black Wings who served with the Deathwatch as a Terminator of Kill-team Sabatine. The kill-team was sent to the Hive World of Sarastus to hunt down a rogue Adeptus Mechanicus tech-priest who had absconded with several samples of dangerous xenos biological material.
Black Wings - Chapter Colours: The Black Wings once wore pure crimson power armour. After the treachery of some of their brethren in the late 35th Millennium, the Black Wings changed their livery, painting half of their armour black, until such time as all their wayward former brethren are captured or killed.The Aquila or Imperialis on the chest is silver.The white squad tactical specialty icon -- battleline, close support, fire support, Veteran or command -- is indicated on the right shoulder guard.A black Low Gothic numeral is stenciled in the centre of the squad specialist symbol, indicating the squad number.The shoulder plate trim displays the company colour in accordance to the Codex Astartes -- i.e. white (1st Company), yellow (2nd Company), red (3rd Company), etc. Veterans of the elite 1st Company are also identified by their white helmets.
Black Wings - Chapter Badge: The Black Wing's Chapter badge is a single, black, leathery bat wing stretched outward to the right, centred on a field of red.
Black Wings - Notes: The "Divided we endure!" war cry listed above is not formally confirmed to be the Black Wings' battle cry but was suspected as such by the Terminator Garran Branatar of the Salamanders Chapter, who served alongside the Black Wings Terminator Sevastin on the Deathwatch's Kill-team Sabatine.
Black Wings - Canon Conflict: Although past miniatures display the Black Wings' colours as halved dark blue and crimson, later sources describe or depict them wearing haved black and crimson armour.
Black Wings - Sources: Adeptus Astartes: Successor Chapters (Limited Release Booklet), pg. 18Imperial Armour Volume Two, Second Edition - War Machines of the Adeptus Astartes, pp. 17, 19Imperial Armour Volume Thirteen - War Machines of the Lost & The Damned by Andy Hoare with additional material by Alan Bligh & Neil Wylie, pp. 22, 23, 47, 105Insignium Astartes, pp. 54, 56Deathwatch 9: The Walker in Fire (Short Story) by Peter Fehervari
Blackmane - Blackmane: Blackmane, also called the "Howler of the Night," is a legendary Fenrisian Wolf who was an important character in the myths and legends of the barbarian tribes of the Death World of Fenris. Said to be large even for a Fenrisian Wolf, Blackmane possessed supernatural powers and was a fell lieutenant of Morkai, the Deathwolf, the two-headed wolf-god of the dead in Fenrisian myth.Blackmane was said to possess the ability to raise the dead from their graves with the power of his mournful calls. After the Primarch Leman Russ, the Wolf King of Fenrisian legend, defeated Morkai in battle and tamed the wolf-god, he slew Blackmane and turned the great wolf's pelt into a magical cloak that allowed him to pass without harm through the Gates of Death and return when his people needed him. Morkai now guards those portals, waiting for his master's return.At present, one of the largest and most ferocious breeds of Fenrisian Wolf, the Blackmaned Wolf, is named after the mythological Blackmane. One of these creatures was slain by the young Space Wolves aspirant Ragnar Thunderfist, a deed which was commemorated in his new by-name of "Blackmane," and later, became his Great Company's totem and title -- the Blackmanes -- when he rose to become the youngest Wolf Lord in that Chapter's history.
Blackshield - Blackshield: This article concerns the Blackshields of the Horus Heresy era; for Black Shields of the xenos-hunting Deathwatch, see Deathwatch Black Shield.The term "Blackshield" came to be used during the Horus Heresy in the early 31st Millennium to cover a wide range of Space Marine outcasts, marauders and those Legiones Astartes units of uncertain allegiances or origin.Mystery and suspicion attached themselves to such warriors regardless of their true loyalties or intentions, and while some did deliberately scour their old heraldry from their armour or replace it with some false device or heraldry of their own, their name of Blackshield was often a literal description for armour over-masked or simply scorched black.Though never existing in numbers so great as the Space Marine Legions from which they had no doubt sprang -- far from it -- each faction and band, from the dozen survivors of a deadly betrayal by their own kind who cast aside the past, to the cohort of rapidly-indoctrinated Initiates thrust into battle for a cause they barely understood in power armour empty of livery, had their own place in the tapestry of galaxy-wide destruction that was the Horus Heresy.
Blackshield - The Steadfast, the Turncoat & The Renegade: The most difficult class of Blackshield to define or identify with any certainty were those who were constituted en masse from the ranks of a parent Legion having refused to align themselves with the declared allegiance of their primarch.Though their true numbers remain unknown, they cannot have been great for most of the Traitor primarchs proved horrifyingly willing and able to purge their Legions of those genetic sons they suspected would not stand alongside them against the Emperor.It is well known to Imperial scholars now that the Sons of Horus, Death Guard, World Eaters and Emperor's Children were all purged by the hands of their own genetic fathers at Isstvan III, while it appears that Lorgar rid his Word Bearers Legion of such elements at a much earlier point.Of the other Traitor Legions, it can only be assumed that similar fratricides were enacted, although none appear to have been carried out with complete effectiveness for there were ever detached units serving far afield or beyond communications range.What trauma such warriors experienced upon learning of their master's treachery can only be imagined and the bloodshed that ensued between brother Legionaries must have been every bit as terrible as the slaughter at Isstvan III.Many of those warriors who escaped the betrayal of their kin fled into the darkness and were never seen again, while others embarked upon short-lived campaigns of bloody vengeance, determining to sell their lives dearly and consumed by hatred for a galaxy in which they no longer had a place.
Blackshield - The Disavowed: It is a truth that sits ill with many who are party to such knowledge that not all Blackshields were the sons of Traitor primarchs. The warrior lodges had spread their pernicious philosophies far and wide in the years prior to the events on Isstvan III, and few indeed were the Legions entirely unaffected by their hidden workings.Indeed, it is notable that in some bands of Blackshields, adherence to the tenets of the various warrior lodges remained strong and some were even accompanied by small covens of Davinite lodge priests.How many Blackshield bands were in fact Renegade elements of otherwise Loyalist Legions, or how many individual Blackshield warriors in the ranks of a Marauder Squad were secretly Traitor sons of Guilliman, Dorn or Russ or any other loyal son of the Emperor is a matter that even now has yet to be fully accounted.
Blackshield - The Damned: Despite their rejection of visible Legion heritage, most Blackshields remained nonetheless recognisable as Space Marines. A small number, however, stretched such a definition to a point where onlookers may not have taken them for the product of the Emperor's vision at all.Throughout the Horus Heresy and beyond, accounts of Astartes fallen to physical mutation persisted, hinting at a creeping instability in gene-seed purity, corruption of the implantation process, exposure to certain influences or even deliberate tampering with the Astartes genetic template.At first sight these warriors might appear blessed of superior strength, speed or resilience, but invariably they proved unstable in other ways. Some were prone to physical or mental collapse in the heat of battle, while others experienced spontaneous and uncontrolled mutation under stress, their limbs distending into horrific forms as bones re-knit and muscles distorted, battle-plate splitting apart in the process.Some were indistinguishable in appearance from any other Astartes, yet possessed of such an unnatural mien or aura that others could not stand their presence, and with prolonged exposure would be driven by an inexplicable urge to strike them down.It has been suggested by some Imperial scholars that not every band of such genetic aberrations classified as Blackshields were truly outcasts from the other Legions. Some may actually have been deliberately created in secret within one of the Legions and then released into the war-torn galaxy as living weapons of mass destruction.Created ignorant of their heritage, such forces would have reaved across the stars in pursuit of some implanted imperative, burning fiercely, albeit briefly, in the depths of the Horus Heresy's Age of Darkness.