Crimson Paladins (Blood Angels) - History: The origins of the Crimson Paladins lay in the reunion of the IXth Legion and its Primarch Sanguinius. The winged primarch was to bring a sense of order to the often fractious Legion, stamping a new structure onto it in the hopes of containing its genetic hunger. Though in essence this new order would seem to be in accord with the Principia Belicosa, the schema by which the other Space Marine Legions were organised, in actuality it also varied a great deal from the standard pattern.It retained the basic structure of companies, initially forming the Legion into 200 companies of approximately 300 warriors each, although by the last years of the Great Crusade this would have increased to 300 companies each of 500 warriors. However, past this basic structure there were many discrepancies, each chosen by the Great Angel to serve a purpose in his plans.These companies were grouped into "hosts" for campaigns requiring greater force of numbers than that possessed of a single company, though each host was a temporary creature broken and made as tactical need required. Sanguinius created three "spheres" to encompass his hosts, three chambers by which he would give order and purpose to the warriors of the Legion.Each was separate and distinct from the Three Hundred Companies of the Legion and the strictures of the Principia Bellicosa, forming a distinct strata of organisation that allowed the warriors of the IXth Legion to focus their hunger and rage towards a single end and to conquer it. Yet it was not merely a blunt tool, but an elegant and artful plan designed to promote the finer qualities of the Legion while providing an outlet for the more base. It was the Great Angel's masterwork, the fulfilment of an oath and the salvation of his children.The First Sphere, the final demarcation of Sanguinius' new Legion, comprised the ranks of the "Immortals." These warriors stood within the presence of the primarch; they did not operate within one of the Three Hundred Companies but as the guards and servants of the Great Angel himself. Each, when inducted into the ranks of the First Sphere, gave up his common name to take on another and gave up his identity to do the work of the primarch without guilt or regret.They were Sanguinius' wrath, his stern resolve and his watchful eyes each given form and purpose. Upon these warriors he depended for the most dangerous of tasks, to fight upon those battlefields and to act upon those errands that would tarnish the soul and bring the hunger for flesh and blood suffered by all the Blood Angels roaring to the fore. By the armour of the new names and persona that the warriors of the First Sphere wore like their own, they put off the toll of their actions and emerged from their service untarnished, to take their places in the ranks once again.The First Sphere was made up entirely of a series of warrior Orders, each of which operated independently of the 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.Also known within obscure dogma of the IXth Legion as the Keruvim, or the "Storm Winds," the Crimson Paladins were one of the warrior Orders of the First Sphere. As with the other First Sphere Orders, they forsook name and rank to assume an identity and role that subsumed all sense of self and left them with only the singular duty assigned them.Such a sacrifice, made in the name of the Great Angel and for the sake of their brothers, bolstered the resolve of these warriors to the point that no threat or dire fate could turn them from their purpose. It was commonly held within the Legion that no warrior who wore the armour of a Crimson Paladin had ever taken a step backwards while the IXth Legion bore arms in righteous combat.The Crimson Paladins of the Blood Angels stood as the guardians of the primarch's halls, a grim counterpart to the Golden Seraphs, the Sanguinary Guard. When these warriors took to the field, clad in the reliquary armour of their Order and cloaked in the names of the Immortals, they stood as a bulwark against the foe and a shield for the sons of Sanguinius.They formed the unyielding anchor upon which the Crimson Host turned -- a single unshakeable bastion of blades and power shields. By their sacrifice and indomitable resolve were the Blood Angels freed to give vent to the noble fury of their Legion.