vizn3r/warhammer40k-lore huggingface dataset:
Blackshield - Notable Blackshield Campaigns: The histories of the Horus Heresy present far more mysteries and enigmas than reliable or complete accounts, and so entire armies of historator-scribes labour to piece together something of the truth from uncounted fragments of hearsay.In the examination, many such fragments reveal still more perplexing or troubling elements. Each of these battles served in their own way to influence the course of the war not just at the local level, but at the strategic one.Even though the specifics of cause and effect were hidden at the time and are only barely perceivable to us now, many Imperial historators now believe that when considered as a whole, they amount to a significant contribution towards the ultimate ending of the great civil war:The Ash-Blind of Euros - At the twinned gas giants of Euros, for example, ashen-skinned, black-eyed warriors bearing the eye of the Warmaster Horus upon otherwise featureless Mark VI Corvus Power Armour, who could only have been Renegade sons of Corax, sent the vast macro-bastions plunging through the crust, in so doing causing the fiery deaths of over twenty million Loyalist colonists.The Vaults of Ytterbia - At Gamma-Dvalin, a force of warriors, each one wearing armour of discordantly mismatched heraldry and patterns torn from numerous dead foes, breached the Vaults of Ytterbia and plundered the forbidden stasis arsenals quantum-locked within. A solar month later, the stolen n-dimensional weapons were unleashed upon the 38th Company of the Sons of Horus Legion at Iantana Minor, consuming both armies and tearing an entire continent apart in the process. Fragmented pict-thief captures show several Blackshields bereft of their helms, each of them bearing an identical Cthonian gang rune tattooed across their scalp.Assault on Taracanis - A Blackshield force is known to have launched attacks against Sons of Horus and Death Guard Legionaries at Taracanis, culminating in the boarding action against the Death Guard Heavy Cruiser Morbid Revelation and the spiking of its mighty Nova Cannon. The extent of the damage was not discovered until the weapon was next fired in anger, ten solar days later, against the Mechanicum Explorator Barque Radiant Precept, resulting in the Revelation being crippled in the ensuing back-blast and its forced withdrawal from the war.Battle of the Ultinian Rings - At the Battle of the Ultinian Rings, Sons of Horus hunter-slayers under Tybalt Marr, tracking down survivors fleeing Isstvan V, were ambushed by a Blackshields force led by an individual later identified as the Raven Guard Strike-Centurion Morkan Sayle. In the ensuring battle, a sky-hive housing 100,000 colonists was destabilised and brought plummeting into the lyotropic crystal seas of Ultinia 7. Centurion Morkan was presumed dead in that operation, along with over half of his force, but contrary claims continued to emerge even solar decades later.
Blackshield - Command Hierarchy: If the Shattered Legions were irregular in their command structure, the myriad bands of Blackshields were downright idiosyncratic. Many appear to have been ruled by sheer brute strength or force of will with no apparent reference to any formal rank their leaders may once have held.What qualified a leader to rule a Blackshield warband can only be guessed at, but it has been observed that the fates of many such bands were intrinsically linked to their master's own goals.Aside from the reaver lords, most Blackshield bands exhibited a comparatively flat organisational hierarchy. The reaver lords invariably led their warriors from the front and because overall strengths were rarely more than a single Legiones Astartes company equivalent, the line officers, specialised sub-ranks, command cadres and equerries utilised across the Legions were largely superfluous and therefore rarely seen among Blackshields.
Blackshield - Materiel Strength: Observed strengths among Blackshield warbands varied from as few as two dozen to as many as 2,000 with around 500 being the most commonly encountered level. No recognisable order of battle dominated and each force was constituted according to the demeanour of its commander, its warriors and the logistical limitations imposed upon them by fate.While recognisable Legiones Astartes squad types were encountered, it was common for the core squads of Blackshield groups to carry a wide range of equipment, often with no two warriors being armed in the same manner. This phenomenon set the warriors of the Blackshields far apart from their Astartes roots and such squads came to be known as "Marauders" as the Horus Heresy progressed.The strength of most Blackshield warbands was very much concentrated in its core infantry elements, for, divorced form conventional Legion logistical chains, stocks of heavy equipment very quickly dwindled. It was rare indeed for such groups to utilise disposable equipment such as Drop Pods, for recovering such items for re-use generally called for support assets the Blackshields did not have ready access to.Instead of Drop Pods, most Blackshield warbands relied upon the lighter patterns of Astartes gunships to transport forces to a planet's surface and to provide them with fire support, Storm Eagles and Fire Raptors being commonly encountered, and it is likely that many Blackshield bands prioritised the capture of these aircraft from enemy forces.Given the circumstance of their creation and the manner in which they operated, it has proved impossible to assay the total number of Astartes warriors-turned-Blackshield who fought throughout the Heresy.Given that some may have come into being as a result of accelerated Astartes-organ implantation regimes or unsanctioned replication protocols and therefore never entered on the official roles of the later Great Crusade, the numbers may be far higher than any could imagine, albeit spread across the unimaginably vast reaches of the galaxy over which Mankind sought dominion.
Blackshield - Blackshield Warlord Traits: The Blackshield warbands were led by leaders who possessed different personalities and motivations for their actions. Among the most common were the following:Bloody Tyrant - Many of those Space Marines that abandoned their old Legions during the Horus Heresy, did not do so for high-minded ideals or lofty ambition, but for their own gain. These warriors sought to forge their own petty stellar kingdoms and to build their own armies, to benefit from the destruction that had been unleashed upon the Imperium. They cared little for the side they fought on, but only for what they might gain for the sacrifice of their followers' lives.Forgotten Hero - To some of the heroes of the Great Crusade, the actions of their Legion during the Horus Heresy were anathema. Unable to endure such dishonour, they chose to abandon their brethren and forge a new path, gathering like-minded Astartes warriors and seeking out battles that fit their ideals. Those that chose to fight at their side did so not out of duty or fear, but admiration, and willingly followed them into the most terrible battles of the war.Twisted Strategist - Among the leaders of Blackshield warbands, the most dangerous were those that sought to guide the bloody course of the war from the shadows. Such warriors cared little for the lives of their followers or for the ephemeral benefit of glory and riches, but instead sought to fulfil some plot or prophecy that would change the course of the war. Such opponents were impossible to predict or anticipate by Traitors and Loyalists alike, and proved a constant peril to the plans of the great and the wise.
Blackshield - Blackshield Commander Personality Types: Death Seekers - These Blackshields were motivated by an all-consuming drive to offer up their own lives upon the altars of war. Psychologically-unstable, either as a result of what they had witnessed or endured or through brutally enforced and accelerated psycho-indoctrination, death had become the centre of their being, either as a blessed release, sought-for atonement or programmed obsession, but they did not meet death vainly and without taking as many of the foe with them as they could. Through sheer force of will or other more malign influence, such as prohibited gene-seed experimentation, they were able to shrug off otherwise debilitating injury as they abandoned themselves to the anarchy of battle.Orphans of War - Having seen betrayal, atrocity and unthinkable carnage at the behest of distant and uncaring masters, these warriors were hardened veterans who had survived against all odds and trusted only in the warrior next to them in the line of battle. For brothers they would fight and die and strive to see another dawn, but for great cause or primarch, and the lies and whispers of lords and potentates alike, they had nothing but scorn.Outlanders - These Space Marines had seen the depths to which both sides in Mankind's civil war sank in order to destroy the other, and they washed their hands of either side and sought to pursue their own goals, having turned towards the path of the marauder and void corsair to determine their fate. For some who had previously served in the nomad-predation fleets and the flotillas of Rogue Traders at the forefront of the Great Crusade's darkest frontiers, this was merely a reversion to a path well-travelled in the past, although with themselves as master, while others were forced into exile by the wrath of enemy and one-time ally alike.Chymeriae - As the Horus Heresy progressed so there came into being Astartes who simply should not have existed. Some were the by-blows of failed rapid Astartes-organ implantation and psycho-indoctrination programs, others the product of prohibited experimentation on gene-seed stock or the influence of malign forces from beyond. Most often the cause for such "Chymeriae" creation was to create a breakthrough that would see their faction, Loyalist or Traitor, gain a decisive edge in the war: a goal which for some was worth breaking any taboo or stricture. All, be they primarch or Master Apothecary, who accepted this soon learned the folly of their error. Such warriors were at best invariably unstable or unpredictable when compared to those Astartes brought into being by conventional means, while others succumbed to insane madness or cancerous mutation as terrifying to behold as it was ultimately fatal.
Blackshield - Notable Blackshield Units: Blackshield Reaver Lord - Once an officer in one of the Emperor's Space Marine Legions, treachery and fate caused this warrior to obscure his erstwhile heraldry and to pursue another path entirely. It is around such warriors that bands of Blackshields invariably coalesced, for they were possessed of a fiery mien and fate visibly rested upon their shoulders. While many appeared to fight because they knew no other existence, a few were said to be following some far grander strategy that only they were able to perceive. There existed no standard type among Reaver Lords, for each was an individual uniquely shaped by the circumstance that caused him to renounce whichever of the Legions had sired him. They ruled their bands with the utmost authority, either through brute force or charisma. All were fearsome and accomplished warriors, peerless leaders and strategists, and the skills they once brought to bear in service to the Great Crusade were now turned towards the cause of caring for their own fates in a galaxy drowning in the blood of its ending.Blackshield Marauder Squad - Most Blackshield warbands were able to field a core of certain Space Marine Legion unit types, and the squad configuration for which they were most well known was the iconic Marauder Squad. These units were equipped according to the proclivities of their leaders or the tastes and expertise of the individual Blackshields, and no two were likely to be identically constituted. While many Marauder Squads carried similar Legiones Astartes weapons, others wielded an idiosyncratic array of firearms and melee weapons pried from the cold, dead hands of their foes or plundered from the holds of captured freighters. Many Blackhsields carried out field modifications to their arms, armour and equipment that would never be sanctioned within the parent Legions from which they were drawn, sometimes to improve performance and in other times simply to keep them in service for one battle more. Varying widely in demeanour even within a single squad, Blackshields ranged in character from taciturn veterans intent upon delivering justice upon those who had wronged them, to murderous pirates who cared only to reave across the stars, carving out their own domains in defiance of Terra and the Warmaster Horus alike.Dark Herald - As the wars of the Horus Heresy spread to consume the galaxy, billions fought and died under the banners of warlords they had never seen or heard firsthand, and even amongst those such as the Legiones Astartes, near-religious fervour became common for those artefacts touched by primarch, the Warmaster Horus or the Regent of Terra Malcador the Sigillite, and given to a chosen emissary as a sign of authority and favour. The Blackshields, having obscured their heraldry or cast aside former masters were no different, their strange sigils or blackened flags becoming totems of destruction and the foresworn. Amongst the Blackshields, these emissaries were know as Dark Heralds.
Blackshield - Blackshield Rapid Assault Force: Blackshield forces were a heterogeneous mix of Astartes elements, and in theory had access to the full arsenal of weaponry and equipment the Space Marines were granted at the outset of the Great Crusade.In practice however, most Blackshield groups abandoned the use of heavier war machines such as super-heavy tanks, as well as static defences and heavy equipment that required support or recovery units to retrieve after battle, in particular the range of Drop Pods used throughout the Legiones Astartes.Instead, most Blackshield forces favoured lighter, multi-purpose vehicles that complemented their particular mode of warfare -- rapid orbital insertion followed by highly mission-focused assaults, quickly backed up by the exfiltration of all attack elements.To this end, although no two Blackshield forces were exactly alike, most made extensive use of Storm Eagle gunships, while most also had access to at least a handful of Thunderhawk gunships. The most fortunate could call upon the lighter patterns of Stormbird lander, the most prized being the Sokar Pattern.In general, most Blackshield forces deployed only those ground units that could be rapidly set down onto a planet's surface from orbit, limiting ground vehicles to Rhino and Land Raider variants that could be carried by a Thunderhawk Transporter or within the hold of a Sokar Pattern Stormbird.Nevertheless, there were several known exceptions and not every Blackshield force operated in this manner; the group known as the Gerasene Host, for example, deployed without warning into the northern sulphur deserts of Treab's World and fought for many solar months before departing just as suddenly using voidcraft they are thought to have secreted in hidden caverns near the planet's northern pole.In common with the Blackshield warriors themselves, most vehicles had their original Legion heraldry deliberately obscured. As the Horus Heresy ground on, many individual Blackshield groups developed their own unique heraldic identifiers or came to use their own often highly idiosyncratic sigils and identifiers.The Dark Brotherhood, for example, came to be known for the use of a ragged, skeletal version of the Imperial Aquila, rendered in ghostly white or pale gold.It was by such symbols of death and doom that many Blackshield groups would become known, making for a spectacle as terrifying as any Legion force deployed in the armies of Loyalist or Traitor alike.
Blackshield - Blackshield Wargear: The nature of the Blackshield forces and their often erratic and unorthodox lines of supply forced many into the adoption of ragged and modified equipment and weapons in order to maintain an effective fighting force. Among some of this wargear could be found the following:"Pariah" Wargear - Various Blackshield groups were observed throughout the Horus Heresy to wield arms and armour obviously field-modified in a variety of ways, sometimes simply to keep it functioning in the isolated conditions under which such forces operated, but often to improve its performance in some manner. Such modifications were not authorised by Legiones Astartes battle doctrine and were often in flagrant contradiction of the laws of the Cult of the Machine. Such weaponry came to be known as "Pariah" wargear, a term indicative of the outcast status of those who implemented such modifications.Pariah Power Armour - Some Blackshield forces were observed to modify their power armour in a manner not proscribed by any doctrine of the Legiones Astartes. By stripping back reactor casings, re-routing power couplings and foregoing components such as gauntlets, motive stabilisers, vambraces, pauldrons or helm, the wearer was afforded a combination of power and dexterity not provided by standard patterns, albeit at the expense of some protection against heavy weapons fire.Pariah Bolter - Though it grieves those inducted into the mysteries of the machine, some Blackshields had learned to strip the iconic bolter of its casing and any extraneous fittings in order to make it easier to handle during the fury of a charge or the tumult of a Zone Mortalis engagement.Pariah Flamer - These weapons, produced from battle-damaged and field-repaired units, had been modified by their bearers to remove safety cut-offs, allowing a greater volume of promethium fuel to be fired, albeit at risk and with less regularity of pressure than standard-issue Imperial flamers. Such protocols were not approved by the battle doctrines of the Legiones Astartes and were in contravention of the laws of the Cult Mechanicus.Xenos Deathlock - There existed many terrifyingly powerful xenos technology weapons encountered during the Great Crusade, which, through incredibly effective, had been declared prohibited by the Mechanicum and the Emperor alike for their detrimental effects on the body and mind of a Human wielder. The desperation of certain Blackshield forces, however, had overcome such concerns. Those weapons sought out by certain groups of Blackshields were prized for the trauma they inflicted upon the foe -- enemies not torn apart by their horrifying effect were assailed by a storm of soul-wrenching alien horror. Such weapons had been encountered in a range of classes, such as the Extinction Carbines of the Khrave or the psycho-mobius claw-guns of the Kala Sistrum being the most commonly sought-after amongst Blackshield forces.
Blackshield - Heraldry of the Blackshields: The various Blackshield forces known to have operated during the Horus Heresy had no fixed pattern of heraldry like their Astartes' parent Legions. Each used a unique set of icons and colours, often intentionally chosen to obscure or deride their origins and making identification of their true loyalty difficult in combat conditions.While no "standard" form exists, to the right can be found a selection of the more well-known insignia that demonstrates the lengths to which such heraldry deviated from the original Legion armourials.
Blackshield - Sources: The Horus Heresy Book One: Betrayal (Forge World Series) by Alan Bligh, pp. 38, 47, 54, 58, 266The Horus Heresy Book Two: Massacre (Forge World Series) by Alan Bligh, pg. 49The Horus Heresy Book Three: Extermination (Forge World Series) by Alan Bligh, pp. 22, 24, 30, 122, 255The Horus Heresy Book Four: Conquest (Forge World Series) by Alan Bligh with Andy Hoare & Neil Wylie, pp. 19, 158, 216The Horus Heresy Book Six: Retribution (Forge World Series) by Alan Bligh, pp. 18-19, 29, 132-147, 218-228, 234, 246-247Warhammer The Horus Heresy Second Edition: Campaigns of the Age of Darkness - The Battle for Beta-Garmon: Shadow Wars (Specialist Game), pp. 84-89, 150-163, 198-199, 206-207The Solar War (Novel) by John French, Ch. 14Blackshield (Short Story) by Chris Wraight
Blackshield (Short Story) - Blackshield (Short Story): Blackshield is the twenty-ninth short story published in the Horus Heresy Series that was not originally part of an anthology novel. Blackshield was first published in e-book format as Day 1 of the 2016 "Summer of Reading".
Blackshield (Short Story) - Synopsis: Even within the dread annals of the Horus Heresy, few events have provoked as much horror as the Drop Site Massacre on Isstvan V, when the Space Marines turned on their brothers in an orgy of slaughter. The Legions were torn apart, the civil war spiralling outwards to all corners of the Imperium, shattering the trust that once bound them together. Along with a handful of other Renegade Death Guard Legionaries, ex-Deathshroud Terminator Sergeant Khorak has begun to raid the fringes of the Imperium -- until they are cornered by mysterious warriors in crudely painted black armour, led by another fallen son of Mortarion, the Blackshield Crysos Morturg. Can the two gene-brothers set aside their differences, or is history deemed to repeat itself?
Blackshield Marauder Squad - Blackshield Marauder Squad: A Blackshield Marauder Squad was the average line unit of a Blackshield force during the Horus Heresy in the 31st Millennium. These ad hoc forces were comprised of a wide range of Space Marine outcasts, marauders and those Legiones Astartes of uncertain allegiances or origin. The arms and armour, obviously field modified in a variety of ways, were employed by the often idiosyncratic Blackshields. The nature of the Blackshield forces and their often erratic and unorthodox lines of supply forced many into the adoption of ragged and modified equipment and weapons in order ot maintain an effective fighting force.
Blackshield Marauder Squad - History: Most Blackshield warbands were able to field a core of certain Legiones Astartes unit types, and the squad configuration for which they were most well known was the iconic Marauder Squad. These units were equipped according to the proclivities of their leaders or the tastes and expertise of the individual Blackshields, and no two were likely to be identically constituted. While many Marauder squads carried similar Legiones Astartes weapons, others wielded an idiosyncratic array of fire arms and melee weapons pried from the cold, dead hands of their foes or plundered from the holds of captured freighters. Many Blackhsields carried out field modifications to their arms, armour and equipment that would never be sanctioned within the parent Legions from which they were drawn, sometimes to improve performance and in other times simply to keep them in service for one battle more. Varying widely in demeanour even within a single squad, Blackshields ranged in character from taciturn veterans intent upon delivering justice upon those who had wronged them, to murderous pirates who cared only to reave across the stars, carving out their own domains in defiance of Terra and Warmaster alike.
Blackshield Marauder Squad - Unit Composition: 1 Marauder Chief4-15 Marauders
Blackshield Marauder Squad - Wargear: Bolt PistolChainsword, Chain Axe or Combat BladePower ArmourFrag & Krak Grenades
Blackshield Marauder Squad - Optional Wargear: Lascarbine or AutogunAstartes ShotgunLaslockSecond Bolt PistolBolter or Pariah BolterHeavy ChainswordLascutterRather than taking an option from the previous list, one in five Marauders may take one of the following options:Sniper RifleXenos DeathlockFlamer or Pariah FlamerRotor CannonGrenade Launcher (Frag & Krak)Heavy FlamerMeltagunPlasma GunHeavy BolterAutocannonMissile Launcher (with Frag & Krak Missiles)Multi-MeltaExchange Bolt Pistol for a Plasma PistolExchange Bolt Pistol for a Hand FlamerExchange Chainsword/Combat Blade for a Power WeaponOne Blackshield Marauder may take:Nuncio-Vox
Blackshield Marauder Squad - Optional Wargear (Marauder Chief Only): Power FistSingle Lightning ClawThunder HammerCombi-WeaponPlasma PistolMelta BombsEntire squad may exchange its power armour for:Pariah Power Armour
Blackshield Marauder Squad - Dedicated Transport: Rhino Armoured TransportAnvillus Pattern DreadclawProteus Pattern Land Raider
Blackshield Reaver Lord - Blackshield Reaver Lord: A Blackshield Reaver Lord was a commander and de facto lord of a Blackshield warband during the Horus Heresy in the 31st Millennium.These ad hoc groups were composed of a wide range of Space Marine outcasts, marauders and those members of the Legiones Astartes of uncertain allegiances or origin. They were invariably led by individuals possessed of a fierce presence, the drive to forge their own destiny and the ability to sweep others along with them in their quest.Some were darkly brooding and malign warriors, resentful of the dark fate that had befallen the galaxy. Others enthusiastically embraced their new existence and relished the chance to prey upon those weaker than themselves and to take by force that which they considered their rightful due. Many such Blackshield groups would often adopt entirely new heraldry of their own invention or created by a strong-willed leader imposing his vision on the entire band.
Blackshield Reaver Lord - History: Once an officer in one of the Emperor's Space Marine Legions, treachery and fate have caused this warrior to obscure his erstwhile heraldry and to pursue another path entirely. It is around such men that bands of Blackshields invariably coalesced, for they were possessed of a fiery mien and fate visibly rested upon their shoulders.While many appeared to fight because they knew no other existence than the pursuit of war, a few were said to be following some far grander strategy that only they were able to perceive. There existed no standard type among Reaver Lords, for each was an individual uniquely shaped by the circumstance that caused him to renounce whichever of the Legions had sired him.They ruled their bands with the utmost authority, either through brute force or charisma. All were fearsome and accomplished warriors, peerless leaders and strategists, and the skills they once brought to bear in service to the Great Crusade were now turned towards the cause of caring for their own fates in a galaxy drowning in the blood of its ending.
Blackshield Reaver Lord - Wargear: Power ArmourBolt PistolChainsword or Combat BladeFrag GrenadesKrak Grenades
Blackshield Reaver Lord - Wargear (Terminator Only): Terminator Armour (Tartaros or Cataphractii Patterns)Combi-BolterPower Weapon
Blackshield Reaver Lord - Optional Wargear: Bolter or Pariah BolterCombi-WeaponVolkite ChargerXenos DeathlockA Blackshield Reaver Lord may exchange either their Bolt Pistol and/or Chainsword / Combat Blade for one of the following:Volkite SerpentaPlasma PistolArchaeotech PistolHeavy ChainswordCharnabal Sabre Power WeaponPower FistSingle Lightning ClawThunder HammerHalo BladeA Blackshield Reaver Lord may exchange both their Bolt Pistol and Chainsword / Combat Blade for a pair of Lightning ClawsA Blackshield Reaver Lord may take any of the following:Melta BombsDigital LasersCyber FamiliarRad GrenadesA Blackshield Reaver Lord may upgrade a single weapon to become:Master-CraftedA Blackshield Reaver Lord may exchange their Power Armour for:Pariah Power ArmourArtificer ArmourTerminator ArmourA Blackshield Reaver Lord may take one of the following:Combat ShieldRefractor FieldBoarding ShieldIron HaloA Blackshield Reaver Lord may take one of the following:Jump PackSpace Marine Bike with twin-linked BoltersLegion Scimitar Jetbike with Heavy Bolter
Blackshield Titan Legion - Blackshield Titan Legion: A Blackshield Titan Legion, also known as a Blackshield Legio, was a Titan Legion of the Collegia Titanica that during the Horus Heresy refused to serve either the Emperor of Mankind or the Warmaster Horus.Such Legios pursued their own purposes, often no greater than to forge their own pocket stellar empire from amidst the chaos engulfing the galaxy.
Blackshield Titan Legion - History: Many were the princeps of Titan Legions abandoned by the maelstrom of war during the Horus Heresy, left to defend a far-flung edge of the Imperium now superfluous in the face of the Warmaster Horus' advance on Terra, while others were presumed dead and thus stricken from the records of their Legio. These forsaken souls found themselves trapped between legacies, returning to find a galaxy riven by treachery and mistrust. All too often they were deemed foes of either side, presumed agents of the enemy and marked for death.Forced to accept destruction or seek their own path, many of these lost souls sought a new life upon the fringes of the war, ushering in the advent of the first Blackshield Legios. There lay no unifying purpose amongst those princeps devoid of a Legio and their past heritage offered little but a mark of shame. Varying in strength and disposition, and often forged by Titans drawn from multiple Titan Legions, these so-called "Blackshields" defined their own legacy.Some, like the Pretermitted Brotherhood, watched over the burned-out remains of their once-home, striking down all who dared sully its memory with their tread. Others, like the Cleansing Flame, sought more martial goals, descending upon worlds fresh from battle between Loyalist and Traitor to conquer such planets for their own purpose.Regardless of their objectives, the methods employed by a Blackshield Legio were reliant upon the nature of their supplies, for the attrition of war was a greater burden on those without the backing of greater powers.Accepting any who believed in their cause, it was not unheard of for a Blackshield Legio to favour a single pattern of Titan, adapting their tactics to overcome the deficiencies presented by a lack of reserves.Rarely able to reinforce or grow in number, many a Blackshield Legio burned bright but fell quickly, crushed upon the anvil of war and doomed to fall into obscurity.
Blackshield Titan Legion - Notable Blackshield Legios: Legio Tritonis - The Legio Tritonis was the first of the Blackshield Legios to be recorded by the Imperium, born from the secessionist impulses of the Forge World of Arachnus. The secessionists made sure that the Loyalist elements of the already extant Legio Venator were off-world during the Horus Heresy campaign known as the Cataclysm of Iron before they declared their independence from the Imperium. The princeps of the Legio Tritonis sought nothing less than the reestablishment of the glories of the once-independent Forge Empire of Arachnus, free of the rule of the Emperor and Horus alike. They unleashed widespread destruction upon the region of space known as the Belt of Iron before they were finally purged from Arachnus by a Loyalist assault led by their own kin of the Legio Venator.Blood Hounds of Gryrut - Consisting of only a single maniple of Warhound-class Titans, this Blackshield Legio carved out an empire for themselves within  the Segmentum Obscurus as the Heresy raged.Cleansing Flame - As the Heresy unfolded, this Blackshield Legio preyed upon and conquered worlds that had been recent battlegrounds between the Traitors and Loyalists for their own purposes.Hounds of Night - The Hounds of Night were a Loyalist faction of the Traitor Legio Audax, who during the Heresy dedicated themselves to hunting down Traitor Titans across the battlefields of Beta-Garmon.Protectorate of Unsubdued Steel - The Protectorate of Unsubdued Steel was a Blackshield Legio created during the Cataclysm of Iron in the region of the galaxy known as the Belt of Iron. It was composed of Titans from several different Legios, including the Legio Astorum and the Legio Damnatus. As the Loyalists and Traitors waged war on each other within the Belt of Iron, the Protectorate of Unsubdued Steel began building a pocket stellar empire of its own. Among the first worlds to fall to the Protectorate was the Forge World of Arl'yeth after it refused to peacefully join the Protectorate's empire. The conquered Forge World then joined a dozen other planets that the Blackshield Legio controlled at the time.Pretermitted Brotherhood - The Pretermitted Brotherhood was a Blackshield Legio that watched over the burned-out remains of their homeworld, striking down all who dared sully its memory with their blasphemous tread.Lords of Valour - The Lords of Valour was a small Blackshield Legio of Reaver and Dire Wolf-class Titans that was formed during the Horus Heresy. Its existence was unconfirmed by the Imperium. However, rumours claimed that the Lords of Valour were possibly Loyalists, who had somehow escaped the Legio Interfector's corruption and treachery. They were also rumoured to have operated within the star systems surrounding the Legio Interfector's Forge World of Valeous II.
Blackshields: The False War (Audio Drama) - Blackshields: The False War (Audio Drama): Blackshields: The False War is the forty-forth audio drama for The Horus Heresy series that was not originally released as part of an anthology or other release. Blackshields: The False War was first released as an audio drama in September 2017.
Blackshields: The False War (Audio Drama) - Official Synopsis: Renouncing fealty to all masters or driven mad by the rigours of war, the Blackshields are a stain upon any Legion they once served. Regarded as little better than pirates, their loyalty is only to themselves. Infamous among their mercenary ranks is Endryd Haar, a former World Eater, driven by hatred, his blade pledged to no banner but his own. But estranged from his Legion and surrounded by a battered warband of warriors, how long can Haar and his Blackshields hope to endure?
Blackshields: The Red Fief (Audio Drama) - Blackshields: The Red Fief (Audio Drama): Blackshields: The Red Fief is the forty-fifth audio drama for The Horus Heresy series that was not originally released as part of an anthology or other release. Blackshields: The Red Fief was first released as an audio drama in September 2017.
Blackshields: The Red Fief (Audio Drama) - Official Synopsis: As the forces of the Warmaster Horus close in on Terra, Endryd Haar leads his warband of Renegade Blackshields into battle once more. With his forces battered in the wake of their raid on Xana, Haar finds himself in desperate need of warriors. Answering a distress call from an old friend, Haar seeks out the tithe-world of Duat, intent on plunder. But when he discovers what is hidden there, Haar is faced with a decision that will determine his fate -- and perhaps that of Terra itself.
Blackstone - Blackstone: Blackstone, known in High Gothic as noctilith, is a mysterious, black-hued, stone-like substance of unknown provenance that possesses the ability under certain conditions to outright nullify the psychic energies of the Immaterium or to absorb them and unleash them with spectacular force.Though relatively rare, it is found in concentrations on certain worlds across the galaxy, particularly those planets that are Tomb Worlds of the ancient Necron Empire.Blackstone was used by the Necrons during the War in Heaven to construct special, pylon-like devices on various worlds across the galaxy that were capable of creating tetrahedral regions of space-time immune to incursions from the Immaterium.Blackstone's true purpose and properties remained unknown throughout Imperial history, and only at the close of the 41st Millennium did its true import become clear. Perhaps, if the tech-priests of Mars had come to understand its significance earlier, the opening of the Great Rift could have been prevented, and the galaxy kept from plunging further toward utter calamity.Blackstone is mined from a smooth dark rock, similar to obsidian or onyx in appearance. It registers all manner of pecularities when surveyed by Omnispex or prognost wave, and has baffled every cryptogeologist and terrastitian who has examined it.The substance is found only on certain mineral-rich planets across the galaxy, though a close correlation has been found between worlds settled by the original Mechanicum -- the forerunners of the Adeptus Mechanicus -- and the "Quarry Worlds" upon which the mineral is present.Some of these worlds have clearly been mined specifically for this subtance, or possibly had large monoliths of blackstone conveyed to their surface and installed there by forgotten agents from before the dawn of recorded Human history.Since the opening of the Great Rift in the Era Indomitus, the tech-priests of the Adeptus Mechanicus have become aware of the true properties of blackstone and have sought to mine it in large quantities wherever possible. Under the direction of Archmagos Dominus Belisarius Cawl, the Mechanicus has begun blackstone mining operations across the galaxy.This is part of an attempt to gather enough of the material for the Imperium of Man to construct its own zones of realspace stability to contain the Chaos incursions facilitated by the Great Rift. However, this quest has brought the Mechanicus into conflict with the various dynasties of the Necrons, who are also seeking to gather the resource as they did in ancient days. Like Mankind, the Necrons intend to use the blackstone to close the Great Rift and retake the galaxy for their own.
Blackstone - Battle of Vorlese: The forces of Chaos also recognised the potential power of blackstone and arcane weapons derived from it. The Despoiler's seizure of Cadia during the 13th Black Crusade in 999.M41 had finally destroyed its great blackstone pylons, allowing the Eye of Terror to spill at last from its boundaries and infect half the galaxy as part of the Great Rift.Only splinters of those original sentinels were recovered, mere fragments of the occult nexus of pylons that had once existed to contain the tides of the Warp and create what had been the Cadian Gate.Those fragments of the original pylons were taken from the remains of Cadia by the minions of Chaos, tempered on dark forges, bound by fell sorceries and augmented in blood-soaked rites until their original power was twisted such that they became weapons capable of disrupting the flow of the Immaterium.Just one such shard was now capable of extinguishing the Warp's touch from an entire star system. And if that system lay at the centre of a Warp conduit, a passageway through the Warp used by starships for easy navigation, then the conduit was lost too. This ability allowed the servants of the Dark Gods to use these shards to direct the flows of voidship traffic through the Warp to where and when they desired.This was a potent new weapon in the post-Great Rift era, and was used to try and prevent Roboute Guilliman's Indomitus Crusade from reaching the wider galaxy from Terra by blocking all the Warp egress roots from the Imperial Throneworld. Only the actions of the Sisters of Silence and the Adeptus Custodes, soon to be free to go out into the galaxy once more, prevented the jaws of this trap from being sprung at the Battle of Vorlese.
Blackstone - Obsidian Circlet: A dark, glassy substance was found by the Drukhari of Commorragh during raids on worlds held by both Necrons and the Adeptus Mechanicus. Within the Haemonculus covens of the undercity of Commorragh, it was not long before those ancient Drukhari discovered that this material could be used to repel daemonic entities.After more raids were launched against Necron and Adeptus Mechanicus planets, the plundered blackstone was arrayed around the ever-deepening Chasm of Woe in what became known as the "Obsidian Circlet." The Circlet helps to seal off the sunken sub-realm of the Dark City created following the eruption of daemonic legions into Commorragh from Khaine's Gate during the Dysjunction just before the birth of the Great Rift.The captives from these raids are also sent into the chasm, where their anguished deaths nourish the black souls of the Drukhari.
Blackstone - Significance of Blackstone: Some amongst the higher orders of the tech-priests call noctilith the "Pariah Stone," believing the mineral is a physical incarnation of the Null gene that lends the Culexus Assassins and the Sisters of Silence their unsettling soulessness and potent anti-psyker abilities. Others maintain it is stone mined from within cosmic singularities, and that it originates from another dimension all together.The most abiding of the numerous theories concerning the nature of blackstone is that it somehow resonates with the psychic energies of the Immaterium and, if correctly machined, can even manipulate the raw energy of Chaos.Belisarius Cawl's Theory of Empyric Polarity posits that blackstone is not inherently possessed of Chaos energy, nor is it anathema to it. However, much like ferrite metal can be polarised to bear a magnetic charge, blackstone can be charged under the right circumstances to interact with the metaphysical energies of the Warp.The monoliths of blackstone that formed the Cadian Pylons, the obsidian slabs found inside the wreckage of the Gates of Kromarch, and the Eldritch Needles of Nemesis Tessera -- all these are thought to have been negatively charged, and hence able to hold back the the encroachment of the Warp upon their respective world's locations.The Blackstone Fortresses captured by Abaddon the Despoiler during the Gothic War are thought to be positively charged with empyric energy, and hence are extremely destructive machines of war that can discharge beams of Chaos essence if correctly weaponised by one who knows their secrets.Small wonder then that the Adeptus Mechanicus and the Crypteks of the Necron species both scour the galaxy for this material with every means at their disposal.If this theory has even a grain of truth to it, then blackstone could theoretically be used to shore up the invisible barriers between realspace and the nightmare realm of the Warp, quarantining the Cicatrix Maledictum that now cuts the galaxy in half and perhaps even sealing it forever.
Blackstone - Blackstone Pylons: Where the agents of the Imperium have discovered worlds across the galaxy cursed with the presence of a blackstone pylon, there have been only a handful of these cyclopean structures, commonly only one.To the Imperium, each unique pylon bears a superficial resemblance to the pre-Imperial structures once found on Cadia but, since that planet's loss to the Warp in the 13th Black Crusade, any detailed comparison is now impossible.The Necrons have established a vast network of nodal and outlier star systems, even using arcane technology to force entire planets into precise alignment for their plan. The deployment of pylons on certain worlds has created a network of vast power in a non-Euclidean cryptal pattern beyond any sane comprehension.At its heart is the Xendu System, where an immense blackstone cage has been constructed to trammel its ferocious star, anchored by myriad Necron structures hanging around it in orbit.Somehow, these structures are channelling the star's power into the vast, maddening network of pylons -- a contra-immaterial nodal matrix as the Necrons' arcane architects refer to it. The pylons' purpose is to sustain and extend a field of negatively-charged, anti-empyric energies, and it was the interstice before this field that the forces of the Imperium encountered as a shimmering veil around the Pariah Nexus.The Pariah Nexus propagation is a star-spanning weapon of cosmic potency that the aeons-old minds behind its creation hope might forever end the threat of Chaos to the galaxy. That this great victory would come at the price of the soul-death of every living creature in the Milky Way, the Necrons simply view as providence.Yet not everything has so far followed the Necrons' labyrinthine plans. The Adeptus Mechanicus are already experimenting with blackstone, though their ability to use it is as yet childlike compared to the Necrons.Though the soul-dampening effects of the Pariah Nexus are limiting the Imperium's responses, Humanity is learning to harness faith and belief as a weapon to overcome the Nexus' effects. They also see something of the pylons' role in creating the anti-Immaterium field effect that stills the soul and destroys the will to live in its victims, and will stop at nothing to bring them down.
Blackstone Fortress - History: The Blackstone Fortresses were a collection of six massive and mysterious artefacts of pre-Imperial alien culture that were scattered across the Gothic Sector in the Segmentum Obscurus. Each was a vast installation whose mass was larger than even the mightiest Imperial starforts and Segmentum Fortresses.Some Imperial archaeo-historians place the construction of these ancient artefacts anywhere between 17,000 and 300,000 standard years before their discovery in the 33rd Millennium. Other Imperial scholars disagree, estimating them to be far older, dating back to the early years of sentient life in the galaxy many millions of Terran years ago.For as long as the Imperium was aware of their existence, the Blackstone Fortresses lay in a dormant state, with all but passive power systems shut down despite the best efforts to revive them. Although inactive, there was enough residual power in the fortresses' power grids to allow humans to live in them and turn them into powerful space-based, fortified hardpoints that were central to the stellar fortifications in the star systems they occupied.The Blackstone Fortresses became the foundation of the Imperial Navy's strategy and presence in the Gothic Sector. With the exception of Port Maw, each sub-sector was based upon the location of a Blackstone Fortress, which functioned as the primary naval base for the sub-sector.Although almost entirely dormant, a Blackstone Fortress was still open to exploitation by Imperial forces. The Adeptus Mechanicus linked numerous weapon systems to its alien and near-incomprehensible energy grid, opened up vast chambers to be used as attack craft launch bays and installed defence turrets over its surface.