vizn3r/warhammer40k-lore huggingface dataset:
Blood Angels - Signus Campaign: Just as it seemed that the Emperor's dream could be fulfilled, the Great Crusade ended in the most terrible and unimaginable way. It came to pass that the Imperial Warmaster Horus, the greatest of the Emperor's genetic sons, fell to the temptations of the Chaos Gods and became swayed by their promises of power. He naturally sought to sway his brother Primarchs to his cause.Horus and Sanguinius had fought many campaigns by each other's side. Their relationship was so close it had even incited jealousy amongst their brother Primarchs on occasion. But in his now-black heart Horus knew that Sanguinius would never willingly betray their father, and so he had formulated an audacious plan to either convert the Blood Angels Legion to his cause or utterly destroy them.To this end, Horus had discovered solar decades earlier a carefully guarded secret of the Blood Angels when he fought alongside Sanguinius' IXth Legion in a xenocidal campaign on the world of Melchior. Horus had come upon his brother Primarch in a sunken ruin of an alien chapel and had witnessed the unthinkable -- Sanguinius murdering one of his own Astartes. Sanguinius explained his actions to his bewildered brother. He had discovered that within his own genome there was a trait that lay buried and waiting to be awakened. This genetic flaw would later be known as the Red Thirst.Sanguinius had been aware of the flaw in his genome for several years, keeping the truth from the Emperor and his fellow Primarchs. Some of the Angel's sons had learned a measure of the truth, but only Azkaellon, First Captain Raldoron, the IXth Legion's Master Apothecary who remained on the Legion homeworld of Baal and a few others were fully aware of the extent of this affliction. They were united with Sanguinius in finding a way to repair this flaw, always referred to as "the Flaw."Horus swore to his brother that he would never speak of this matter to anyone, even their father, and he would keep this promise for as long as Sanguinius wished him to. The Angel was touched by his brother's gesture and expressed his gratitude. Horus solemnly vowed to help Sanguinius deal with the matter, however long it took. Little did they know at the time that one day a corrupted Horus would take full advantage of this knowledge and attempt to turn the Blood Angels' Flaw against them.
Blood Angels - Sanguinius Betrayed: Decades later, Horus exploited this knowledge of the Blood Angels' genetic deficiency. The Warmaster believed that he had found a way to sway his "beloved" brother's Legion to his cause and the service of the Chaos Gods. In his capacity as Imperial Warmaster, Horus ordered Sanguinus to gather his entire Legion and make for the Signus Cluster, a triple star system located in the Ultima Segmentum near the Eastern Fringe.Sanguinius' IXth Legion was to cleanse the 7 worlds and 15 moons that comprised the Signus Cluster of xenos invaders known as the Nephilim and release the humans settled there from their xenos-overlords in what would later be known to history as the Signus Campaign. To further entice Sanguinius, the Warmaster informed him that he had found the means by which the Blood Angels would be able to excise the darkness from within their souls, and rid themselves of the Flaw.If Sanguinius obeyed the Warmaster's command in this matter, then Horus promised him that the Blood Angels would find a new freedom. Sanguinius had no reason to doubt Horus, for they were as close as two brothers could be. Many of their fellow Primarchs were even jealous of the closeness between the pair.Sanguinius relished the opportunity to once again prove the value of their bond. Unaware of the Warmaster's perfidy, Sanguinius willingly obeyed his brother Primarch and immediately set out for this volatile region of space.Unbeknownst to the Blood Angels, they were blindly walking into a deadly trap, for the Signus Cluster had fallen prey to agents of the Ruinous Powers and become a veritable Realm of Chaos in realspace -- a system of hellish Daemon Worlds under the rule of a Greater Daemon of Slaanesh known as Kyriss the Perverse.When the Blood Angels arrived in-system, their fleet was ambushed by the malevolent daemonic forces of the Warp, crippling or killing many of their Navigators and Astropaths in the initial onslaught. The Blood Angels now faced the true fury of Chaos for the first time. Kyriss sent an image of himself to Sanguinius, declaring his lordship over the system in the name of Slaanesh and taunting the Primarch into taking it back from him.Though they had never faced such a foe, the Blood Angels prepared their counterattack, sure that they would prevail. Rising to the challenge of the vile Greater Daemon, the Blood Angels Legion attacked the daemon host of Kyriss, launching a series of attacks across the seat of the daemon's power, the world of Signus Prime.
Blood Angels - The Black Rage: During the battle, Sanguinius came face-to-face with a new nightmare known as Ka'bandha, a Greater Daemon of Khorne. During the battle that ensued, Sanguinius was sorely wounded and temporarily incapacitated. He witnessed Ka'bandha slaughter 500 of his sons with a single blow of his mighty axe. The psychic backlash of the deaths of so many of his sons blasted Sanguinius into unconsciousness.With the fall of their Primarch and the slaughtering of their brethren, the Blood Angels Legion was consumed by a black rage that drove them into a berserker's fury as they charged into the daemonic horde and in their madness they smashed the horde of daemons asunder. Yet the brutal violence of the daemon Ka'Bahnda had unleashed something dark within the psyche of the Space Marines, a thirst for blood and violence that would not be slaked until every taint of Chaos had been erased from the planet.At the same time, the Blood Angels Librarians violated the edicts of the Council of Nikaea and used their abilities to heal and revive their Primarch. Once Sanguinius awoke, he assaulted Ka'Bandha and defeated the Bloodthirster. Even the mighty Kyriss was banished back to the Immaterium by Sanguinius.Only when the planet was fully cleansed did the rage of the Blood Angels finally subside. Though Signus had been freed from its thrall to the forces of Chaos, the cost of victory was far higher than any could have wished. The strange berserker rage the Blood Angels had experienced had left a brooding shadow on their souls that would manifest in the centuries to come as the great curse (later known as the Black Rage) that would afflict the Blood Angels and their later successors.
Blood Angels - Arrival in the Five Hundred Worlds: Following the end of this long, grueling campaign, the Blood Angels attempted a Warp jump towards the Throneworld. Despite the impassable torrential Ruinstorm that had been conjured by the Word Bearers during the Battle of Calth, the fleet's Navigators were able to pinpoint a shining beacon, which they initially assumed was the Astronomican. Desperate, the IXth Fleet's Navigators followed it.Sensing "safe harbour", the fleet immediately executed a Warp translation back into realspace. When they finally exited the Warp, they found themselves hundreds of light-years off course, nowhere near their targeted destination. It was by no accident that the Blood Angels had arrived at the current, unknown destination, as Sanguinius had ordered his Navigators to strike for the strongest telepathic signal.They had inadvertently detected the shining beacon of the alien artefact, known as the Pharos, on the distant world of Sotha. Unknowingly, the Blood Angels had traveled clear across the galaxy, and ended up in the Realms of Ultramar. Soon they were approached by a skirmish line of unidentified starships. They were hailed by the bright cobalt-blue vessels, trimmed with white and shining gold. The Blood Angels were greeted by the master of the XIIIth Legion himself, Roboute Guilliman, who welcomed his brother Primarch to the Five Hundred Worlds of Ultramar.
Blood Angels - Age of Darkness: If the Great Crusade was Mankind's finest hour, then the Horus Heresy was surely its blackest. Brother fought brother, with quarter neither offered nor given. Heroes were slain, worlds burned and the Emperor's dreams of peace were shattered forever. In the midst of this darkness, the Blood Angels never wavered, but held true at the Emperor's side.Sanguinius now stepped into the void left by Horus' desertion, assuming command of the Emperor's loyal forces. In doing so, he thrust the Blood Angels into the brutal forefront of the fighting. The rivalry with the World Eaters now escalated into bitter enmity as the two Legions found themselves serving different masters, and their confrontations were to be amongst the bloodiest and hardest fought of that bloodiest of wars. It is said that Horus hated and feared Sanguinius more than any of his brothers and wove many strategies to ensnare or slay him, though all failed.
Blood Angels - Recent History (41st Millennium): It is well known that the Sons of Sanguinius keep a firmly united counsel, convening on matters of grave import from time to time. In such conclaves, it is typical that all present defer to the Chapter Master of the Blood Angels, although over the course of 10,000 standard years there have been occasions when the voice of another is considered senior.One such case was when the newly-appointed Lord Commander Kalael succumbed to the Black Rage in the 35th Millennium and his brothers from the Angels Sanguine and Angels Vermillion jointly took up the mantle of seniority for a time, overseeing the reaction of the Sons of Sanguinius to WAAAGH! Vangrod, the Chaos Incursion of Silas Gorehand and the latter phase of the Nova Terra Interregnum. This spirit of cooperation has led the Sons of Sanguinius to stand together time and again, uniting in common cause against terrible enemies.A great example of this is the fighting on the archeotech world of Hell's Hollow in the 37th Millennium, where the Angels Encarmine, Blood Drinkers and Blood Angels joined forces to crush a vast Chaos Cultist uprising, and the subsequent daemonic invasion. Likewise, in the 40th Millennium, a Knights of Blood and Flesh Tearers strike force routed a massive Aeldari army from the Maiden World of Kal Eyath. This cooperative attitude does not just extend to brother Chapters of the Blood Angels, either, and many times the successors have found themselves fighting beside other Imperial armies, such as during the Third War for Armageddon where the Flesh Tearers and Blood Angels bolstered the defences against innumerable Orks, or when the Blood Drinkers rescued the Cadian 35th Regiment on Helios Alpha.
Blood Angels - Second War for Armageddon: As the Ork WAAAGH! Ghazghkull ravaged the Imperial hive world of Armageddon, the Blood Angels, as well as their brothers from the Ultramarines and the Salamanders Chapters, arrived on Armageddon to lend the beleaguered planet's defenders aid during the Second War for Armageddon. Such was Lord Commander Dante's reputation that Tu'Shan and Marneus Calgar, the Chapter Masters of the other two Chapters, ceded overall command of the entire Space Marine strike force on Armageddon to him. The Blood Angels bore the brunt of the close-quarter fighting, which eventually culminated in a massed Drop Pod assault into the heart of the Warlord Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka's Ork forces that finally broke the back of the massive Greenskin army.
Blood Angels - Third War for Armageddon: Despite the bulk of the Chapter being deployed at the time of the Third War for Armageddon (998.M41) against the threat of the Tyranid Hive Fleet Leviathan in the galaxy's Eastern Fringes, Commander Dante still deployed the Blood Angels' 3rd Company, led by Captain Erasmus Tycho, to Armageddon when the hive world fell under Warboss Ghazghkull's baleful attack. Ghazghkull led the greatest Ork WAAAGH! in the history of the Imperium to assault the strategically-located hive world once more. During the ensuing conflict, Captain Tycho succumbed to the Black Rage, finally meeting a valiant end as part of the Blood Angels' Death Company upon the walls of Hive Tempestora. Brother-Captain Machiavi succeeded him in command of the 3rd Company.
Blood Angels - Diamor Campaign: The tides of the Warp proved fickle. The warships of the Blood Angels' 1st and 2nd Companies made up considerable time on Astorath and his 5th Company warriors, and translated into the Diamor System within only solar minutes of their brothers. It was almost as though some other agency wished to see them burst simultaneously into realspace.The momentary delay proved crucial, for it was all that stood between First Captain Karlaen's forces and sudden damnation. As the first captain established contact with the 5th Company's vessels, Death Company Chaplain Daenor informed him of their plight. As the Blood Angels' vessels translated in-system, they were suddenly enveloped by a severe psychic attack.It was Warp sorcery of some kind that engulfed the Blood Angels' voidships like a storm, but worse were its effects upon the minds of all on board. The storm inflicted visions of the sort every Blood Angel had hoped never to see. The malefic sorcery struck at the Chapter's genetic curse -- it unleashed the Black Rage. Though exact numbers remained uncertain, it appeared almost the entirety of the 5th Company had been affected.There was a moment's pause as Karlaen digested this terrible news. The Black Rage. All Blood Angels dreaded its touch, but to have it forced upon them by some artifice of the foe...it was a violation of the highest order. Astorath and Death Company Chaplain Daenor, the other Chaplains on board and their Librarians, all those with psyker training or psychic defences had survived.The rest had fallen to the curse. The helots who made up the warships' crews had cloistered themselves in terror, with some having been slain by the affected battle-brothers. It was sheer bedlam aboard the vessels of the 5th Company.First Captain Karlaen immediately despatched the Chaplains of both the 1st and 2nd Companies, as well as the Sanguinary Guard to aid the beleaguered survivors and bring their fallen under control in an attempt to restore their ships to order.
Blood Angels - Vengeance and Death: After they brought their fallen brethren under control and determined the wider strategic situation in the system, the Blood Angels wasted no time in launching their attack. They could not do so quickly enough, for already it seemed as though the enemy's plans were well advanced.Crimson Slaughter warbands were present at all the primary Mechanicus Hubs. Enemy forces were heavily investing the north and south hemispheres of the world of Amethal as expected, concentrated around multiple dig sites.At Hub Beta-Secundus, the Death Company dropped in two waves. Chaplain Daenor and his brothers came down well within the Mechanicus complex, landing between the advance elements of the Crimson Slaughter and their prize. The Crimson Slaughter had struck at the five major concentrations of Mechanicus forces on the planet.The five zones were given separate war zone designations by the Crimson Slaughter: Carnage, Cruelty, Hatred, Malice and Perdition. Chaos Lord Kranon the Relentless himself led the Chaos advance in War Zone Carnage.Meanwhile, Astorath and Lemartes led the main force of the Death Company against the outer edge of the dig site's defences, seeking to encircle them in a constricting ring of carnage. The Crimson Slaughter soon found themselves trapped against the defence lines they had so recently overrun.The devastation wrought by the Death Company was breathtaking. The Crimson Slaughter were pushed back on every front, forced to huddle amongst the wrecked defences on Beta-Secundus' outskirts. Many of the Traitors were becoming slow and clumsy, burdened by uncontrollable mutation or shuddering with Warp energies that were causing them to literally burst into flames.The Crimson Slaughter attack soon had lost all momentum. It was fragmenting by the second, caught from both sides by Death Company and Mechanicus forces.Daenor proudly noted that his Death Company warriors had fought with magnificent strength and courage, despite their terrible affliction. Though the enemy had thrown everything at them, from brass-sinewed Daemon Engines to disgusting Warpcraft, still Daenor's warriors had prevailed.The Blood Angels continued to press their attack, intent on killing every last Traitor present on Amethal.
Blood Angels - Defence of Amethal: Leading elements consisting of the 1st, 2nd and afflicted 5th Companies, Astrorath the Grim and Lemartes put the Traitor forces to flight. The arrival of the Blood Angels had changed the tides of war upon Amethal, and made possible a concerted counteroffensive on every front. Moreover, the attack by the Death Company upon Hub Beta-Secundus had seen Kranon the Relentless and his elite guard hurled back in disarray.For a time, it looked as though the war was turning resoundingly in the Imperium's favour. When the Chaos response came, however, it proved unexpectedly devastating.The true architect behind the Traitor's attack, the Chaos Sorcerer Xorphas of the Black Legion, had planned for this inevitable outcome. As he continued enacting a dark ritual, a large World Eaters' murderfleet arrived in-sytem, led by the infamous Berzerker Khârn the Betrayer.This conglomeration of World Eaters warbands was a Khornate force of prodigious size, known as the Butcherhorde, led by the indomitable might of The Betrayer himself.Khârn's forces, led by the Berzerker Lords Korbadash and Vrakha, launched an immediate Dreadclaw Drop Pod assault on Amethal. Soon, Khârn himself appeared at the vanguard of the murderous horde, slaying Imperial forces with unimaginable brutality.But the Butcherhorde soon faced fierce resistance as the might of the Death Company met the World Eaters head on. The favoured of Khorne duelled Death Company Chaplain Daenor, but was led into an ambush by an Imperial Reaver-class Titan of the Legio Metalica.This attack marked the beginning of a counteroffensive by that Loyalist Titan Legion's involvement, which decimated the Traitor forces. But this merely forestalled the Traitors' advance, as their sheer numbers soon began to overwhelm the Blood Angels' forces.Yet the expert leadership of Astorath and Chaplain Daenor restored some order to the afflicted brothers' ranks. Spearheaded by the furious Chaplain Lemartes, the Death Company then counter-charged their enemies, dictating the shape of the battle rather than waiting to be overwhelmed. It was a daring move, and one that slowed the Khornate advance.Yet soon enough the massively outnumbered Blood Angels sustained appalling casualties. Over ninety percent of the Death Company were slain by the time multiple engines of the Legio Metalica were able to reach the engagement area. The thunderous advance of the Titans drove the Khornate forces back and fractured their cohesion, providing time for Astorath and Lemartes to extract the last remnants of their forces. Chaplain Daenor was borne from the battlefield by Astorath himself, hacked and mangled by Khârn the Betrayer.The loss of the Death Company brothers was acceptable, for it had always been their destiny to perish in selfless battle, and they had sold themselves as dearly as they could. Astorath would not allow Daenor to perish, however, for the Death Company Chaplain was amongst the most accomplished of his order.
Blood Angels - Hex Infernium: In the wake of the Titans' attack, the surviving Khornate warbands scattered away from Hub Beta-Secundus, marauding at will in search of blood and skulls. The surviving Legio Metalica war-engines also disengaged, the Titans' strength needed elsewhere to defend against the fresh waves of Daemon Engines being flown in from Ioline.Nor was this danger restricted to Hub Beta-Secundus. As the war raged across the surface of Amethal, Imperial counterattacks were being driven back or ground down by huge packs of newly forged Daemon Engines.The Traitors were receiving a steady stream of powerful reinforcements. The Imperial forces were not. By the inescapable arithmetic of war, it could only be a matter of time before the forces of Chaos were victorious.Just as the Blood Angels' attack on the Daemon Engine factories of Ioline seemed doomed to costly failure, there came the manifestation of a mysterious power that has long aided Sanguinius' sons in their darkest hours. Blazing with golden light, the Sanguinor dropped from the storm-lashed heavens and rallied the Blood Angels.With the help of their avenging angel, the Blood Angels successfully destroyed the Hex Infernium, denying the Traitors any further reinforcements of Daemon Engines. As the Crimson Slaughter continued to bleed against the might of the valiant Blood Angels, the Chaos Sorcerer Xorphas rejoiced as his machinations finally came to fruition.The Chaos Lord planned to use the slaughter and carnage on Amethal to help power the Chaos artefact known as the Banshee Stone to create a vast Warp rift that would drown the Diamor System in a veritable tidal wave of Daemons.The resulting destruction wreaked by the Neverborn would extend Abaddon the Despoiler's Crimson Path from Cadia to Diamor, and hopefully, one day, Terra itself.
Blood Angels - Primaris Space Marines: Roboute Guilliman and Archmagos Belisarius Cawl came to Baal with a kingly gift. Disgorged from the hibernation chambers aboard Cawl's freighter-hulk, the Zar-Quaesitor, hundreds of Primaris Space Marines joined in the final destruction of the Tyranid swarms. These superlative warriors wore the colours of the Blood Angels, the Blood Drinkers, the Flesh Tearers and many more. They were inheritors of the might of the Primarchs, and they bolstered the depleted ranks of their adoptive Chapters just when they were needed most. The scions of Sanguinius accepted their reinforcements gladly, along with Cawl's offering of the technologies that would allow them to recruit and create still more Primaris Battle-Brothers.Commander Dante never expected to see his Chapter's final days, yet he faced them unbowed. He never expected to see a Primarch returned, yet he knelt before Roboute Guilliman with thankful hearts. When Guilliman named Dante as his Regent of the Imperium Nihilus, the Lord of Baal felt the hand of fate land heavy upon his shoulder. With the fury of the Great Rift unleashed, a darkness looms more terrible than any in the Imperium's history. The Blood Angels now stand before that darkness with the throne of Terra at their backs, and will have to fight like never before.Coupled with the revitalising purpose of this new duty is the fresh hope brought by the Primaris Space Marines, the possibility that perhaps the Sons of Sanguinius will not burn out like a guttering candle. It is said amongst the Blood Angels that Commander Dante has never stood taller, even as he does so in the face of such terrible adversity. The Regent of the Imperium Nihilus has sworn to purge his dark new realm of the taint of Chaos, even should it take another thousand Terran years and more. After all, it is amidst the darkest night that such golden angels shine the brightest.
Blood Angels - Notable Campaigns: From the earliest days of the Imperium, the Blood Angels have fought to defend the Emperor's realm. In spite of the darkness that gnaws at their souls, the sons of Sanguinius have proven themselves true heroes time and again. Even now, as their days darken towards night, they remain a beacon of hope amid a galaxy of war.Few Space Marine Chapters are as consistently committed to the defence of the Imperium as the Blood Angels. Whilst other Chapters like the Ultramarines act as the guardians of particular star systems or sectors of the Imperium, the Blood Angels see the entirety of the Imperium of Man as their responsibility to protect.As a result, the Chapter's Astartes have been spread thin and have suffered higher-than-average rates of attrition. Nevertheless, the Blood Angels' roll of victories is amongst the most honourable in the Imperium and the fame of the Chapter has spread across the galaxy. The campaigns listed below are those that the Chapter itself considers the most worthy of commemoration.
Blood Angels - Orders of the First Sphere: The First Sphere of the ancient Blood Angels Legion was made up entirely of a series of separate warrior orders, each of which operated independently of the Legion's standing Three Hundred Companies. The first and most famous of these were the Sanguinary Guard, the honour guard of the primarch himself, but there would be many others -- each assigned with a specific task and duty.Few outside of the Legion ever made a complete accounting of these orders, but listed below are the most well-known and important of the warrior Orders of the First Sphere.Sanguinary Guard - Also known as the Ikisat, or the "Burning Ones," for their ardour and unwavering devotion, each individual warrior of this Order bore the title "Seraph," and was tasked with the ultimate safety of the primarch's person. On rare occasions, they were also assigned as guards for other commanders as a sign of the Great Angel's favour.Crimson Paladins - Also known as the Keruvim, or the "Storm Winds," for the sudden onset of their anger and the lasting fervour of their hate. The Crimson Paladins served as the guardians of the primarch's halls, sanctums and all other Legion facilities under the Blood Angels' control across the galaxy, especially at their outposts on Baal, Canopus and Saiph. At the primarch's command, they also took to the field as an elite combat formation to serve as the embodiments of his determination and the shield of his will.Burning Eyes - Also known as the Ofanim, and the "Many-eyed," these secretive warriors were the Angel's Shame, Sanguinius' secret police and shadow agents. They watched their Legion for signs of treachery and madness and acted to assuage his guilt for his Legion's behaviour by removing the stain. Rarely seen on the battlefield, the Ofanim fought alone and with weapons considered unworthy of true warriors.Angel's Tears - Often called the "Broken Blade," or "Dead Hand," for the cruel devastation they brought to the foe, each individual warrior of this Order bore the title "Erelim," and served as Sanguinius' wrath set forth by his will to scour away those he decreed unworthy of being saved. They were the most commonly seen of the Orders of the First Sphere, serving the dark role of unconventional and special weapons warfare other Legions would refer to as Destroyers.High Host - The High Host, sometimes known as the Archae or the Principatii, was a fraternity of the Blood Angels Legion, one of the lesser Orders of the First Sphere of the Legion, during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy. The High Host was made up of those warriors who bore the sorrowful duty of delivering Primarch Sanguinius' ultimate sanction to his enemies. Unlike their brothers in the Angel's Tears, the High Host did not shrink away from showing their true faces to an uncaring galaxy as they deployed weapons born of Humanity's darkest nightmares that left a trail of murdered worlds in their wake.
Blood Angels - Legion Command Hierarchy: The lords of Sanguinius' crimson hosts bore many similarities to the strictures of the Principia Belicosa, but with a number of differences both large and small. Authority was strictly divided across the three Spheres of the Legion, with each officer operating within his own place in the manner given him by the primarch himself.This strict, overlapping system of authority was less flexible than some Legions, but it afforded a solid line of responsibility and control that limited the effect of the Blood Angels' ever-present hunger and sudden rage. To mitigate the possibility of any breakdown of authority, the Blood Angels maintained a large number of junior officers, lieutenants and sergeants of varying types, all quickly able to take the place of the slain in the heat of battle.On the field of battle, the line of authority was always drawn clearly for the Blood Angels and followed absolutely. To disobey or question orders was a grave sin, undertaken only in the most serious of situations and warranting the harshest of punishments, even if the disobedience was proven correct.The duty of the Blood Angels battle-brothers was only to obey, and the individual warrior worried not for anything but action, putting the hunger for blood to the back of his mind while those appointed over him worried over consequences. In the Blood Angels, all authority stemmed directly from Sanguinius and flowed down from him, first to the Lord Commanders who commanded the largest divisions of the Legion then to his captains and beyond in an unbroken and inviolable line.This fact kept Sanguinius' Legion centred and focused, each word from a sergeant in the heat of battle was the word of Sanguinius himself, each nod from a captain a tilt of the primarch's head itself.The Blood Angels also differed in small ways, as with many of the Legions they had their own titles and names for authority and a host of lesser divisions to suit their style. Those who held command over Hosts and had authority over lesser captains were known as "Archeins" rather than the old title of "Praetor," and also held the title of "Dominion" for command of a company.Within a company were a number of junior officers, the "Powers" who commanded the ranks of the company at war and the "Virtues" who stood as its exemplars in other endeavours. Many were known by the focus of their devotion, "Archeins of Wisdom" and "Powers of the Blade," such distinctions a mark of respect as much as a tactical designation in a Legion whose primarch urged his Astartes to be more than simple weapons.
Blood Angels - Chapter Command: The rule of the Blood Angels ultimately always falls to the Chapter Master and his council. In the wake of the Great Rift's birth, Roboute Guilliman has expanded their responsibilities beyond the Chapter, appointing them to act as one of the foremost Imperial authorities in the Imperium Nihilus -- a vast area in the galactic north wracked by Warp Storms and beyond the easy reach of Terra. Most seats at the high table are taken by the Brother Captains who command the Chapter's companies. Some, however, belong to senior officers whose injuries are too great for continued combat, but whose wisdom still holds great value. Such officers command the Chapter's vital support institutions, such as the Armoury, the Chapter fleet and the ongoing recruitment of fresh neophytes.Though ultimate power rests with the Chapter Master, the council is often called upon to act in its master's absence should he be slain or is himself away on campaign. In addition to their role on the council, each officer will also have an assigned title and duties necessary for the smooth running of the Chapter. Some such titles, such as Master of the Watch, are drawn from the pages of the Codex Astartes. Others, including the "Lord of Skyfall" and the "Shield of Baal," have sprung from the Blood Angels' unique nature.It should be noted that unlike most other Codex Chapters, the Blood Angels' Sanguinary Priesthood, Apothecaries and Reclusiam are also part of the Chapter Command, rather than subordinate organisations as would normally be the case. This structure means that the Sanguinary High Priest and High Chaplain take joint temporary rule in the event of the Chapter Master's death, rather than the rank automatically passing to the Captain of the 1st Company. This tradition arose during the 35th Millennium, when Captain Kalael rose to the rank of Chapter Master and succumbed almost immediately to the Black Rage, throwing the Blood Angels into a spiritual and organisational crisis.By holding temporary command, the High Chaplain and Sanguinary High Priest can test the will and worthiness of the new candidate to ensure that such a rash and unfortunate appointment does not occur again.
Blood Angels - Company Command: Many Blood Angels commanders take to the field accompanied by a cadre of Veteran warriors. The Company Command -- known collectively as the Honour Guard -- are seasoned warriors, hand-picked for their skill and tenacity in combat. Fighting at the bleeding edge of the battle, the Company Command support the Blood Angels' heroes.
Blood Angels - Commanders: Even amongst an entire Chapter of remarkable heroes, the commanders of the Blood Angels stand out as the most magnificent of all. Strategically brilliant masters of the battlefield, they direct the Battle-Brothers of their company to victory after victory in war zones across the galaxy as they strive to defend Humanity's domain in the name of Sanguinius and the Emperor.Captains - In keeping with the dictates of the Codex Astartes, the Blood Angels appoint a Captain to command each of the Chapter's ten companies. They are the Chapter's foremost warriors and tacticians, tempered by service amid gruelling wars and star-spanning campaigns. Each Captain can draw upon solar decades, even Terran centuries, of personal combat experience to guide his actions and strategies, taking in the needs and challenges of even the most difficult battlefields with what must appear to lesser beings as the most superficial appraisal, and inspiring those under him to ever greater feats of heroism. A Captain is thus a truly mighty warrior who aspires to the most incredible of deeds, whether personally striving in the thick of the fray, or serving as the supreme architect of some grand military strategy. He is defeated only in death. It is rare for the entire Chapter to fight as one, and its companies often strive in separate, far-flung wars. Captains are thus entrusted with a level of autonomy for which many other Imperial Commanders would give their eye teeth. Yet this freedom brings weighty burdens of its own.Lieutenants - Lieutenants are skilled warriors and capable battlefield commanders, whose foremost duty is to expedite their Captain's commands and optimise their Battle-Brothers' efficacy in combat. Typically, each Captain is served by two Lieutenants, who act as his right and left hands in whatever capacity he requires, from leading carefully selected forces against key strategic targets, to commanding secondary battlefronts or liaising with allied forces. Many Chapters have found their own roles or warrior traditions that they apply to the Lieutenants within their ranks, and the Blood Angels are no exception. The first Lieutenant within a company is known as the "Warden of the Blood," and is charged with assuming command of the company or strike force in which he fights, should its more senior officers lose themselves to the Red Thirst. Where this role emphasises strategic control and cool thinking, the second Lieutenant's role -- that of the "Sword of Sanguinius" -- is altogether more aggressive. To this Lieutenant falls the duty of leading the most dangerous but vital assaults, planting the Blood Angels' banner atop sacred sites, eliminating key enemy leaders or seizing strategic battlefield assets. Failure is the only unforgivable sin for the Sword of Sanguinius, while victory excuses any amount of savagery.
Blood Angels - Company Veterans: Selected from amongst the Chapter's most experienced Battle-Brothers, the Company Veterans are equally adept whether acting as dedicated bodyguards, fighting at the forefront of a bloody battle, or forming the lynchpin of an immovable defence line. Company Veterans are usually deep in their Captain's counsel, their voices heard and respected on matters of strategy, morale and doctrine. Such a privileged position is earned through exceptional valour across countless campaigns, and amongst the long-lived Blood Angels it is rare for any Company Veteran to be less than three hundred standard years old. Over such a vast span of near-constant warfare, Company Veterans have learned the art of fighting with a vast array of weaponry in both ranged and close-quarters combat. They are permitted their pick of the Chapter's armoury, each Veteran wielding the armaments to which he is best attuned.
Blood Angels - Company Ancients: The Blood Angels put great stock in their past, looking back upon halcyon days of glory and drawing inspiration for the darker times ahead. They treasure their company banners with a near-religious intensity, and each standard is a beautiful masterwork woven from durasilk and chased with ur-gilt and theldrite threads. Decorated with glimmering saltires and fashioned to depict mighty heroes, famous victories, or the angelic Primarch himself, these banners are precious beyond the worth of worlds and inspire those Blood Angels that witness them to ever greater acts of heroism. Accordingly, each company's standard is entrusted to a Battle-Brother -- known as an Ancient -- who has displayed true and selfless heroism in the face of overwhelming odds. Such warriors must defend their banner at all costs. To allow their precious relic to fall into the hands of xenos or Heretics would be an unforgivable failing, and so Ancients will gladly give their own lives if it ensures the preservation of the banner they bear.
Blood Angels - Company Champions: Company Champions are master swordsmen that seek out the enemy's greatest warriors and engage them in lightning-fast duels to the death. As with everything they do, Blood Angels work long and hard to perfect the arts of swordplay, and so competition for this post in each company is fierce. The mantle of Champion is typically claimed or defended during feast days, where ritual duels, contests of skill and the like are used to determine who will defend their company's honour for the next solar decade. Company Champions specialise in neutralising dangerous enemy leaders. Not only does this allow their commanders to concentrate on the wider battle, but it also eviscerates the strategic abilities of the enemy one slain hero at a time.
Blood Angels - Pre-Heresy: In battle, the Blood Angels Legion was the incarnation of the Emperor's wrath upon those who rejected the gift of Unity. Led by their angelic Primarch Sanguinius, their coming was nothing less than apocalyptic judgement delivered upon the guilty from on high, as descending from the skies on wings of fire, the IXth Legion conquered lost human worlds by their preternatural fury as well as by the dread and awe they created. Entire nations fell to their knees cowering before the wrath and splendour of these "red angels", lest they too perish beneath the Space Marines' glimmering blades. Against the xenos, no such quarter was given, and the wrath of the Legion was made manifest as a tide of unrelenting carnage that only gave way once complete extermination had been achieved.Throughout the Great Crusade, the IXth Legion became renowned for its "wars of ultimatum". These campaigns of open domination against non-Compliant worlds began with Sanguinius or one of his Praetors affording a world one opportunity to embrace Unification or face a "Day of Revelation", in which they would suffer the fury of the Blood Angels unleashed. Many foes confronted by the gathered IXth Legion hosts were overcome with dread and awe, and capitulated without hesitation. Those who did not would see the shining countenance of the Angel Sanguinius transformed into savage fury as blinding destruction was delivered from on high.The IXth Legion's tactical doctrines were heavily focused on the use of powerful shock assaults to shatter an enemy's resistance in a single, devastating blow. Because of this, flamer and melta weapons were strongly favoured at the tactical level, both because of their effectiveness and ability to provide a fearsome display in action.Just as the IXth Legion was famed for its set piece shock assault tactics, so it was also famed for its ability, when pressed, to stand against any that would overwhelm it, no matter the odds and no matter the foe, and even in its death throes, drag its enemies down with it to destruction. To even their brother Legiones Astartes, such feats of resilience sometimes seemed to border on the preternatural and could be laid to no single tactical plan nor doctrine nor biological trait, but rather had their origins within their unshakable will to endure, as if somehow fuelled by the rage and grief wrought in their hearts by the deaths of their battle-brothers. To the Blood Angels themselves, such battles became known as the "days of sorrows", when few would stand against many and sell their lives dearly, their names and deeds to be reborn eternally in the most sacrosanct of the Legion's rites of battle and remembrance. When the bulk of the Legion was missing for many years at Signus-Prime, those few lone ships and garrisons which remained in an Imperium riven by war would find themselves time and again outnumbered by their foes. Many were their own days of sorrow, but far greater was the number of the Traitor foes who died along with them as they passed burning into the night.
Blood Angels - Post-Heresy: The companies of the Blood Angels generally fight in a similar fashion as most other Space Marine forces, with a tendency toward aggressive and decisive spaceborne and planetary assault actions utilising highly mobile forces. This usually results in actions in which dedicated assault units, including the Death Company, close with the weakest point of the enemy position at the earliest opportunity under covering fire, and then are supported by mounted tactical units and armoured forces to exploit the breakthrough. This then allows the assault units to carry on into successive enemy positions behind the front line, preventing an organised response, while the rest of the units conduct a mop-up of the remaining enemies and move into positions of support, pinning down the next target with available firepower. Their passion for perfection in all things martial and otherwise, added to the longevity in which to achieve this, can be seen in their strategic and tactical planning, which is exemplary. However, they cannot be counted upon to hold a position in the same disciplined way as the Ultramarines or Dark Angels, as the Black Rage can afflict any Marine in the midst of battle, inciting him to charge forward in an attempt to tear the enemy limb from limb. This often has the benefit of creating victories in the unlikeliest of situations through sheer aggression, although Imperial Commanders have been known to refrain from asking for the assistance of the Blood Angels due to fear that such savagery could become uncontrollable.
Blood Angels - Chapter Gene-Seed: The Blood Angels, of all the warriors of the Legiones Astartes, evidenced perhaps the greatest degree of transformation of their flesh from their human origins to the Space Marines they would become. This transformation's effects were even more pronounced and more fundamental than that of the Space Wolves or the Salamanders, both of which featured unique stigmata of their own. The aggressive over-writing of the aspirant's gene-helix by the blood of the Primarch was capable of transfiguring the rad-scarred and twisted inhabitants of Baal to create "perfected" warriors, living icons of the physical ideal of the Legiones Astartes, each one an echo of their Primarch, called "the Angel", Sanguinius in his fearsome glory. There was a price however for this power, and the process of transformation was a more arcane, elaborate and painful one than that endured by any other Legion. Even with the direct infusion of its Primarch's own blood to stabilise the process, the rate of fatalities among aspirants was frighteningly high. There were also those who argued that the mental scars suffered by those who survived the change were just as deep, instilling a sense of cause and purpose that manifested as unflinching, unreasoning fanaticism bordering on madness, a certainty which could in mere moments turn to insane fury when that purpose was challenged.
Blood Angels - Black Rage: The Blood Angels and their Successor Chapters still suffer from the psychic imprint left by Sanguinius' death (or by the daemonic "wound" suffered by their primarch that was caused on Signus Prime). This can cause them to go insane prior to or during battle and feel the rage that Sanguinius himself felt against Horus and his Traitors during the Siege of Terra.The condition is largely irrecoverable and only a few Blood Angels have managed to defeat the "Gene Curse." Victims are locked away in the "Tower of Amareo" (named after an ancient Chapter Master of the Blood Angels) on the Blood Angels' homeworld.This insanity is known as the Black Rage. Rather than let them face a slow, insane death, Blood Angels will form those who have newly succumbed to the Black Rage into a special unit known as the Death Company.They wear specially painted black power armour, and are often led by the few Chapter officers, notably Blood Angels Chaplains, who are still able to communicate orders to the insane troops and who are still obeyed by them, perhaps because Chaplains directly represent the authority of the Emperor.The members of the Death Company are then sent out to perform the most dangerous assaults, hoping for a quick and honourable death in combat. The Rage seems to lend those afflicted with a measure of the primarch's might, granting them the strength to rend their foes limb from limb in bloody melee.However, by some unknown means, the Flaw that produces the Black Rage also seems capable of extending the victim's lifespan, at least until he finally succumbs to the Rage.Commander Dante is by far the oldest living Space Marine (not including those interred in a Dreadnought) born more than 1,000 standard years before the present time.
Blood Angels - Red Thirst: Deep within the psyche of every Blood Angel is a destructive yearning, a battle fury and blood-hunger that must be held in abeyance in every waking moment. Few battle-brothers can hold this Red Thirst in check unceasingly -- it is far from unknown for Blood Angels to temporarily succumb to its lure at the height of battle.The Red Thirst is the Blood Angels' darkest secret and greatest curse, but it is also their greatest salvation, for it brings with it a humility and understanding of their own failings which make them truly the most noble of the Space Marines.The fate of those unfortunates overtaken completely by the Red Thirst is known only to the Chapter itself. There are tales of a secret chamber atop the Tower of Amareo in the fortress-monastery on Baal, and of howling cries that demand the blood of the living, but none are willing to say for certain what secrets lie hidden in this haunted, desolate place.There have been incidents when the Blood Angels have been stationed on distant worlds where members of the local population have gone missing only to turn up later drained of blood. It is possible that this is the work of cultists seeking to discredit the Chapter.It may even be that some of the more superstitious local citizens have taken to offering up sacrifices to their god-like visitors. It may also be possible that these folk have been killed by Blood Angels overcome by the Red Thirst.Those affected by the Red Thirst often have pale skin, and a potent urge to drink the blood of their enemies that can emerge at any time during combat. Many also may develop enlongated and sharpened eye-teeth.This genetic curse has also been passed on to the Blood Angels Successor Chapters, such as the Flesh Tearers, Blood Drinkers, and the Angels Sanguine.One Successor Chapter, the Lamenters, managed during their Founding by the Adeptus Mechanicus to eliminate the Flaw from Sanguinius' gene-seed through the genetic tinkerings of some overzealous Tech-priests. However, throughout its history, the Lamenters Chapter has been stricken by extraordinary bad luck in battle ever since, suffering an improbable series of unlikely catastrophes, and has been nearly annihilated.The recent addition of Primaris Space Marines to the Chapter who were derived from Sanguinius' gene-seed has changed this calculus somewhat. In all of the combats since their introduction to the Chapter following the Devastation of Baal, the Primaris Marines proved -- at first -- immune to the Black Rage, but not the Red Thirst.However, they seemed able to channel their fury more effectively, leading to fewer unfortunate "accidents" with civilians or other Imperial forces.