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Conquest of Uttu Prime - History: Nemesor Zahndrekh's ultimatum had given the Imperial defenders of Uttu Prime one solar month to withdraw, as was required by the ancient Necron codes of battle. Yet, when the deadline had passed, the foolish humans had not availed themselves of this most generous of offers. Indeed, whilst the Necron fleet held in intentional abeyance in orbit around Uttu Prime's desert moon, four regiments of the Imperial Guard's Catachan Jungle Fighters and three companies of Imperial Fists Space Marines had come to reinforce the contested world. So it was that when Zahndrekh finally launched his assault, he did so against a planet with formidable defences. However, when his courtiers argued against prosecuting the war to completion, the Nemesor merely issued a grating laugh and sent the interstitial command that set his fleet in motion.Zahndrekh initially ignored Uttu Prime's outlying cities, focussing his assault on Fort Anan, the planetary capital. Zahndrekh's first attack wave was a dozen squadrons of Doom Scythe fighter craft. They swarmed over Fort Anan's fortifications, Death Rays raising great furrows of twisted metal and stone as they ploughed through bastions, ferrocrete walls and the luckless human defenders therein. To their credit, the humans put up a spirited resistance. Hydra Flak Tanks and Defence Lasers scoured the skies, driving off or blasting apart many of the swarming Necron aircraft. Yet each time a Doom Scythe was destroyed, another immediately peeled off from the main group to exact vengeance. Soon, Fort Anan was stripped of aerial defences, and the landings began.Transport craft followed in the wake of the first attack wave. Night Scythes flew low over the wreckage of crashed Necron flyers and Imperial bastions. Small arms fire scattered across the Night Scythes' armoured hulls as their flickering teleportation invasion beams delivered Zahndrekh's assault troops into the heart of the humans' defences. Phalanx upon phalanx of Immortals and Necron Warriors stalked through the fresh ruins, Gauss Weapons blazing in unnaturally precise volleys as they drove the Catachans back. Here and there, an officer's barked orders held the Guardsmen in line, but where those commanders fell, the Imperial lines went into full retreat.It was as the attackers' lines reached the Planetary Governor's citadel that the Imperial Fists finally made their presence known. Thunderhawk gunships screamed through the skies, shredding the oncoming Necron Warriors with Heavy Bolter fire and blasting Immortals limb from limb with missile strikes. As the gunships touched down amongst the rubble to disgorge Space Marines into the fray, the Necrons shifted to defensive protocols and awaited reinforcements. Alas for the Imperial Fists; from his vantage point in orbit, Zahndrekh had marked the approach of the Thunderhawks long before they had made their presence known planetside. Thus, even as the roar of Bolter-fire echoed through Fort Anan's ruins, a shadow fell over the battlefield as the massive Necron Megalith descended.The Megalith was no ordinary war engine, but a vast floating fortress. Green fire lanced out from its flanks, blasting Thunderhawks from the air or crippling them on the ground. As the shadow grew larger, chunks of the Megalith's understructure broke away, the blocks falling lazily to the ground. They were no mere wreckage, but Monoliths detaching from the mothership's hull. As each touched down, it added firepower to the barrage assailing the Imperial Fists.The Space Marines must have determined that they were doomed, but duty and stubborn tenacity made them redouble their efforts. Lascannon and Multi-melta fire flickered through the ruins, the beams converging to pierce the Monoliths' necrodermis hulls. Assault Squads threw themselves at the Necron phalanxes, Chainsword teeth screaming as they ripped through living metal bodies. However, the Megalith was now close enough to the ground to bring its invasion beams into play. Ghoulish viridian light flickered over the battlefield as the teleport beams activated, delivering Doomsday Arks, legions of Necron Immortals, as well as Zahndrekh and his personal Lychguard, into the thick of battle.Those Space Marines that yet survived now withdrew to the Planetary Governor's citadel, but three Doomsday Arks converged their fire on the great adamantium gate. For a handful of moments it glowed an angry red, then burst into fragments with an ear-splitting crack. As the Imperial Fists fell back deeper into the citadel, Zahndrekh raised his Warscythe in salute to the doomed foe. Then the scythe swept down and the Nemesor led his triumphant army of the undying through the ruined gate. Shortly thereafter, Fort Anam had fallen. The rest of Uttu Prime would soon follow, and another world would be added to the territory of Gidrim -- and the growing personal domain of Nemesor Zahndrekh.
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Consecrators - Consecrators: The Consecrators are an Unforgiven Successor Chapter of Loyalist Space Marines raised from the gene-seed of the Dark Angels during an unknown Founding. The Chapter's history is largely a mystery. No record of its existence is to be found prior to the third century of the 40th Millennium.The Consecrators prefer arriving without warning and, upon defeating their foe, disappearing without a word. This cryptic Chapter wields all manner of ancient relics and holy patterns of armour, weapons and vehicles.
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Consecrators - Origins: The Chapter was founded by Supreme Grand Master Valafar of the Dark Angels, to uncover and guard the lost history of the descendants of the I Legion.The Chapter's first appearance is in the works of the field notary Corwen Quilp, in his account of the Second Kuppukin Schism. At the height of this terrible war, Loyalist forces were surrounded within the Sanctum of Silence by a screaming sea of Renegades, mutants and Traitors, when the entire Consecrators Chapter deployed at Chapter strength with no warning whatsoever.It appeared that the Imperial forces had but solar hours to live, until the Consecrators plummeted from the heavens. All vox-hails were ignored, but the Unforgiven went to war on the defenders' behalf with a terrible fury.In just six solar hours, the Adeptus Astartes wiped out the schismatists' entire high command structure, and left the Traitor horde as little more than broken, twisted corpses. Its task complete, the Chapter withdrew without a word, not to be seen for another three solar decades, when its 4th Company fought alongside the Dark Angels at the Arrulas Intervention.Other such heroic intercessions have been noted since, the Consecrators always remaining silent. Though his descriptions are vague, Quilp is very specific about one element of the Consecrators' appearance -- he noted that the brethren of this Chapter bore all manner of sacred relics, and used the most ancient patterns of Imperial power armour, weaponry and vehicles.It was as if, Quilp commented, the Consecrators had inherited the most revered arms of the ancient Ist Legion, preserving them lovingly, and bearing them down the ages against the foes of their primarch Lion El'Jonson and the Emperor of Mankind.
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Consecrators - Notable Campaigns: Second Kuppukin Schism (200.M40) - At the height of this terrible civil war when the world of Kuppukin rose up in rebellion against the Imperium, Loyalist forces were surrounded by the foe when the entire Consecrators Chapter deployed in their support. Though never answering friendly transmissions, the Consecrators launched an immediate attack upon the enemy and, within six hours, the Consecrators had wiped out the schismatists' entire high command structure, breaking the back of the rebellion, and essentially winning the war.Arrulas Intervention (230.M40) - The first known instance of the Consecrators aligning themselves with their progenitor Chapter. This joint operation was conducted by the Consecrators' 4th Company fighting alongside the Dark Angels.Assault on the Ruins of Caliban (Unknown Date.M41) - At some time in M41, the Consecrators answered Supreme Grand Master Azrael's summons to the site of lost Caliban, where they joined the Dark Angels and Knights of the Crimson Order Chapters in battle with Nurglite Chaos Space Marines led by Typhus. They were noted to have been reduced to almost half strength at that time.Achilus Crusade (801.M41) - The Consecrators deployed to the Jericho Reach in 801.M41 to join in the Achilus Crusade. The majority of the Chapter's involvement in the crusade was primarily focused on a number of actions in and around the Slinnar Drift. On their initial deployment, the Consecrator's 3rd Company, with support elements drawn from the Chapter's 1st and 10th Companies, came under Ork attack en route for Shedu. Their strike cruiser, the Heritor of Ages was beset by an Ork Kill Kroozer named the Growler. Caught by surprise as it exited the Warp near the outskirts of the Slinnar Drift, the Heritor of Ages' auspex-scanners were blinded by the ambush occurring so close to the strike cruiser's time of translation back into realspace. The strike cruiser still managed to escape after inflicting severe damage on its Ork attacker, but was crippled following the battle, ultimately forcing all hands to abandon ship. With no life-sustaining worlds other than Shedu to operate from within range of their Thunderhawks and lifepods after they abandoned ship, the remaining Consecrators were forced to remain in the Slinnar Drift, though it is not generally known how long they remained an effective and operational force under such conditions. Several Chapters launched missions to locate the lost Consecrators force, but their ultimate fate remains unknown.13th Black Crusade (ca. 999.M41) - The Consecrators sought to help defend the Cadian Sector from the assault of Abaddon the Despoiler's 13th Black Crusade.War of Beasts (ca. 001-025.M42) - The Consecrators deployed 1 company in a force comprised of other Unforgiven Chapters to aid the defence of the strategically important Sentinel World of Vigilus from assault by xenos and Chaos foes.Invasion of the Stygius Sector (Unknown Date.M42) - Five companies of the Consecrators participated in the unsuccessful defence of the Stygius Sector from an invasion by the forces of the Blood God Khorne during Operation Prismata.Nachmund Rift War (Unknown Date.M42) - The Nachmund Rift War is an ongoing conflict being waged by the Imperium in the Nachmund Sub-sector. Closely related to the recent battles of the War of Beasts and War of Nightmares on the Sentinel World of Vigilus, while Vigilus itself continues to remain largely in Imperial hands, the greater Nachmund Gauntlet finds itself under constant siege by the forces of Chaos. Elements of the Consecrators served in the conflict.Massacre at Darkmor (Unknown Date.M42) - Elements of half a dozen Unforgiven Chapters descended upon the Shrine World of Darkmor, including multiple companies from the Angels of Vengeance, the Consecrators and the Guardians of the Covenant. All had followed their Librarians' scryings to the planet, searching for the newly materialised Fallen Angel Cypher. It was not long before they discovered that they were not the hunters, however, but the hunted. The Warp storms that subsided to allow their armies into Darkmor's orbit returned in force. On the planet's surface, the Unforgiven found the world's vast cathedrals in ruins and its populace slaughtered. Awaiting in ambush were armies of Daemons, Chaos Space Marines and Renegades. What followed was the worst single incident of losses suffered by the Unforgiven since the Forgotten Wars. Less than a hundred Space Marines from an original contingent of a thousand managed to escape, and they did so only because they pursued Cypher, who, in his attempt to flee, led them to a secret teleportation device.Arks of Omen Campaign (Unknown Date.M42) - During the events of the Arks of Omen campaign, the bulk of the Consecrators Chapter took part in the Dark Angels' operations and Grand Master Nakir was given command of the Unforgiven's fleet and overall defensive command of The Rock.
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Consecrators - Chapter Organisation: Like their fellow Unforgiven Chapters, the Consecrators follow the Dark Angels' pattern of organisation, and so are considered to be in only partial compliance with the Codex Astartes.This includes possessing formations similar to the elite Deathwing and Ravenwing companies. Though these elite formations have performed admirably, they have not garnered the recognition of their Dark Angels' counterparts.Like the Dark Angels, the Unforgiven Successor Chapters also have a clandestine "Inner Circle," comprised of the Chapter's elite officers and senior company commanders, who possess knowledge of the Fallen and of the true events that occurred on Caliban.
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Consecrators - Notable Consecrators: Grand Master Nakir, "Master of Souls" - Nakir is the current Chapter Master of the Consecrators Chapter. Nakir cuts a striking figure clad in black war-plate and a long white cloak. His armour is a mix of archaic marks from the time of the Imperium's founding and the Horus Heresy -- pieces of Mark III Iron Power Armour and Mark IV Maximus Power Armour combined, studded with bonding rivets across the chest. A knightly helmet taken from a suit of ancient Mark II Crusade Power Armour completes the battle-plate. This is crested front to back with a red brush. Nakir's face is surprisingly young, gaunt to the point of being skeletal. His eyes are a piercing blue, at odds with the mop of black hair on his scalp. His brow is tattooed with an Imperial Aquila in black, and a broken blade in red adorns each of his cheeks. There is a scar across the front and right side of his throat and evidence of an implant -- the wound that gives him his distinctive gravel-like growl of a voice. Nakir had been an Interrogator-Chaplain before his ascension to command of the Consecrators, the so-called "Master of Souls." Even now a symbol of his past hangs at his waist, a wooden rod in the shape of a small Crozius Arcanum, studded with six black pearls. Each was a trophy of a Fallen made to repent, a remarkable feat for any Dark Angel, and almost unprecedented in one of Nakir's short service. He leads a Chapter dedicated to unearthing the secrets of the past. In battle, Nakir wields one of the legendary Heavenfall Blades, the Sword of Sanctity. This ancient obsidian blade is made of the same black material as its cousins. It was originally given to Grand Master Orias, the first lord of the Disciples of Caliban, who later fell in battle against the Orks of the Quolon Pass. Nakir had recovered it three solar decades earlier, and wished to return it to its proper master. But Azrael informed his fellow Chapter Master that the blade had already found its proper master and that it was Nakir's by right of recovery. Supreme Grand Master Azrael knew that Nakir would bring honour to the cousin of his own blade, the Sword of Secrets.Seneschal Maalik - Maalik is a sergeant in Grand Master Nakir's honour guard. He aided Captain Belial of the Dark Angels in defending The Rock against an incursion by the Chaos Lord Typhus and his Death Guard.Deathwatch Techmarine Anaximan - A Techmarine of the Consecrators Chapter who stands the Long Vigil, Brother Anaximan was responsible for rendering battlefield repairs to the adamantium frame in which the Deathwatch Dreadnought Brother Pardis of the Tigers Argent was interred when it was crippled by the attacks of a number of the biomechanical constructs the fallen Mechanicum of Samech deployed to protect their planet. Had the Techmarine not been able to affect his repairs, the Old One would undoubtedly have been slaughtered by the hideous monstrosities, a deed for which Brother Anaximan has been awarded due honour.Corpulax - Corpulax was originally a member of the Consecrators Chapter, but was infected with the Zombie Plague while battling the plague-ridden forces of the Death Guard Chaos Lord Typhus. Left for dead, Corpulax awoke as a reanimated corpse. However, unlike other plague victims, Corpulax retained his intelligence and cognitive abilities. He eventually became a willing servant of the Plague God Nurgle and for the last three Terran centuries has orchestrated an inexorable rise to power, until finally he became one of Abaddon's most trusted warlords in the Black Legion. Fighting in dozens of battles at his lord's side, or carrying out the Warmaster of Chaos' bidding, Corpulax continues to spread the terrible plague that he was infected with. He is single-handedly responsible for disseminating the virulent plague that wiped out every inhabitant of the city of Atika during the Pandorax Campaign. During that conflict, one of his hands was severed by the Dark Angels Master Balthasar and the other by the Grey Knight Supreme Grand Master Kaldor Draigo. He was then taken prisoner by the Dark Angels and had both his arms severed completely, with his shackles wrapped tightly around his throat. Not long after he was executed outright by Balthasar since he was not a Fallen Angel who could be interrogated, but simply another Chaos Space Marine who had betrayed the Emperor.
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Consecrators - Chapter Fleet: Heritor of Ages (Strike Cruiser) - During the Achilus Crusade, the Consecrators' strike cruiser, Heritor of Ages, was set upon by the Ork Kill Kroozer Growler, a vessel that according to Departmento Tacticae advisers should have been operating near the Jericho Reach. The Consecrators' vessel was caught by surprise as it exited the Warp on the outskirts of the Slinnar Drift to take a stellar reading and correct course, its sensors blinded to the entirely opportunistic and completely unpredictable ambush. Though it managed to escape after inflicting severe damage on the Growler, the Heritor of Ages was crippled and after a solar week all hands were forced to abandon ship.Reliquaria (Battle Barge) - The flagship of the Consecrators' Chapter fleet which also serves as the Chapter's mobile fortress-monastery.
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Consecrators - Chapter Relics: Radiant Arrow - Though this venerable relic Plasma Gun is plain and unadorned, it is impossible for a trained eye not to notice its superlative craftsmanship and quality. The perfect proportions and design of the weapon speak to a wondrous artifice now lost to the Imperium. The Consecrators proudly hold that the weapon has never once performed less than perfectly, despite the generally volatile and often explosive nature of Imperial plasma weaponry. Radiant Arrow is an Astartes Plasma Gun which cannot jam, overheat, or otherwise fail and which is impervious to malfunction caused by psychic or technological effects.Sword of Sanctity - The Sword of Sanctity is a master-crafted Power Sword wielded by Grand Master Nakir of the Consecrators. It is one of the few Heavenfall Blades from the Chapter's Armoury and utilises small amounts of obsidian in its workings, similar to the Sword of Secrets wielded by Supreme Grand Master Azrael of the Dark Angels. Originally presented to Grand Master Orias, the first Chapter Master of the Disciples of Caliban, the weapon was lost after he fell in battle with the Orks of Quolon Pass. It was recovered a standard millennia later by Grand Master Nakir of the Consecrators, who presented it to Supreme Grand Master Azrael. Azrael instructed Nakir to keep the blade, as he had earned the right to wield it by the effort he had expended in its recovery.Melta-warheads - Grand Master Nakir made use of these relic bolt rounds that contained miniature melta warheads capable of easily penetrating even Terminator Armour.
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Consecrators - Chapter Appearance: The Consecrators bear a close resemblance to the Dark Angels Legion before the Horus Heresy and the Second Founding, maintaining the Legion's original black colours.Many Consecrators wear the older variants of Astartes power armour that have been kept by the Chapter since the Dark Angels Legion's early days before and during the Horus Heresy. This includes suits of the Mark II Crusade, Mark III Iron, Mark IV Maximus, Mark V Heresy and Mark VI Corvus armours. No marks of armour more recent than the Mark VI have been observed among the Chapter's Firstborn Marines.In addition to bearing such venerated patterns, the Consecrators carry many weapons and other items that would ordinarily be considered relics. The Consecrators' elite 1st Company all wear revered suits of ancient Terminator Armour, black-clad as the rest of their Battle-Brothers save for helmets of off-white that symbolised their brotherhood with the Deathwing.Like their Chapter Master, their armour is a mix of styles and types, gathered from armouries and forgotten Legiones Astartes depots scattered across the galaxy.
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Consecrators - Chapter Colours: The Consecrators wear black power armour, with a red stripe located down the centre of the helmet. As the Consecrators are known to wear older patterns of power armour and wield relic wargear, on occasion, this may compel them to display squad numbers and squad designations elsewhere upon their armour instead of on their shoulder plates.Primaris Consecrators, who utilise only the various types of Mark X Power Armour, wear the squad specialty symbol -- battleline, close support, fire support or Veteran -- on the right pauldron; their squad number is indicated by a Low Gothic numeral.Company is designated by the heraldry of the right knee plate.Like their parent Chapter, Veteran Consecrators and members of the Inner Circle are commonly found wearing crimson hooded cloaks and tabards; this symbolises their shame over the Fallen Angels betrayal of the Emperor near the end of the Horus Heresy.
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Consecrators - Chapter Badge: The Consecrators' Chapter badge is a variation of the Dark Angels' own badge, a red winged flame topped by a red Iron Halo centred on a white background roundel. This roundel is centred on a field of black.There are intriguing heraldic links between the Consecrators' Chapter sigil and the icon once utilised by the Firewing, one of the six wings of the Dark Angels Legion's ancient Hexagrammaton during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy. Unfortunately, its purpose is not known, having been completely lost to the mists of time.
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Constantin Valdor - Constantin Valdor: Constantin Valdor, known as "The First of the Ten Thousand" and "The Shield of the Emperor," was the first Chief Custodian and Captain-General of the ancient Legio Custodes, the elite bodyguard of the Emperor of Mankind. Under Valdor's peerless leadership during the Wars of Unification to reunite Terra and the subsequent Great Crusade launched to reclaim the lost colony worlds of Humanity, the Legio Custodes was an unstoppable force, and its warriors covered themselves in glory for Terran years uncounted.Even amidst the civil strife that consumed the newborn Imperium of Man during the Horus Heresy, under his leadership the Custodians remained utterly resolute and unquestionably loyal, feted throughout the Imperium as the Emperor's finest warriors. In honour of his deeds, the Valdor Tank Hunter proudly bears his name.It is said that Constantin Valdor epitomised all that it meant to be one of the Legio Custodes. Stoic, watchful, fiercely intelligent and -- when required -- a truly inspirational leader, Valdor was a true hero of the Imperium who never once faltered in his duty. It is not recorded what became of Valdor after the Emperor's withdrawal to the Golden Throne, following His mortal wounding at the hands of the Arch-Traitor Horus at the Battle of Terra. Valdor resigned the Captain-Generalcy to his newly elected successor soon after and disappeared from the historical record, his final fate unknown. But there are those who believe he serves the Emperor still...
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Constantin Valdor - History: Few warriors in the entire history of the Imperium have even come close to the martial magnificence, selfless dedication and strategic excellence of Constantin Valdor, the first Captain-General of the Ten Thousand. He was a puissant warrior and a being of supernatural stature and gravitas, such that many had likened him to one of the Primarchs of the Space Marine Legions and that he could even have matched one of the Emperor's sons in a contest of blades. Records of his existence predate any of the Primarchs' creation, as with many of the Legio Custodes, who were the Emperor's firstborn genetically-augmented warriors.Such were his fighting skills, martial power and physical and mental abilities that there were those, even within the Imperial Court, that dared to call him "Primarch" in all but name. Yet, for all his power, Valdor was made and trained to serve a different and far more focused purpose, that of Lord Commander of the Custodian Guard, and to Valdor the petty concerns of conquest and glory, dominion and victory were as nothing when compared to his own sworn duty.Yet Valdor's value to the Emperor was so much more than as a mere combatant. From the earliest days of the Unification Wars -- perhaps even before -- Constantin Valdor was the Emperor's staunch companion, and his loyalty to the Master of Mankind was absolute. The Captain-General would rather have taken his own life than risk that of the Emperor; Valdor's devotion to his master was such that there was no act he would not perform, no deed he would not consider, to ensure the Emperor's continued survival.So while Constantin Valdor held a rank in some ways higher than even that of a Primarch, and sat at the centre of Imperial power on Terra, he seldom exercised his influence, save where his purview was directly concerned, and then never with ambition or aggrandisement. But should his purpose be challenged or worse yet should anyone or anything seek to endanger the Emperor or His chosen representatives, Valdor was as a demigod of vengeance made incarnate: unstoppable and unrelenting.Constantin Valdor faithfully served the Emperor of Mankind from as early as the Unification Wars, the Great Crusade and the dark days of the Horus Heresy, in which he was active during some of the most significant events and campaigns that took place during that Age of Darkness, including the Burning of Prospero and the Battle of Terra. On Prospero, Valdor eventually faced over thirty of Magnus the Red's elite Blademasters, warriors who could predict their enemies' attacks through psychic precognition, slaying them all and receiving only a single wound in the process.During the final, titanic siege on Terra, the Legio Custodes fought alongside the Loyalist Legions to defend the Emperor and His palace. They showed no mercy to the turncoat Space Marines. They did not waver, even as megatonnes of explosive death rained from the burning skies, even as daemonic abominations spilled through the veil of reality and Chaos Titans hammered the palace walls with city-levelling weaponry. Valdor and his Ten Thousand fought valiantly during that nightmarish battle, driving back one offensive after another. The Captain-General was seen to reave through the ranks of the Traitor Legions as easily as their Loyalist cousins would against ordinary humans and lesser xenos.During this final battle of the Horus Heresy, the unthinkable would happen. At the culmination of the Siege of Terra, the Emperor led a last-ditch boarding action against Horus' Battle Barge, the Vengeful Spirit, where He met the Arch-Traitor in single combat and defeated him at the last, but the cost was appalling. Though they cut down Traitors and daemons beyond count, Valdor and his fellow Legio Custodes were unable to prevent Horus from mortally wounding the Emperor, and leaving his father's mind and soul trapped in a shattered husk of a body. Grief-stricken, the Custodians bore their master back to Terra, there to be interred forevermore within the machineries of the Golden Throne. They swore a penitent's oath and donned the mourning black, consigning themselves to watching over their fallen lord for the rest of time.Following the failure of the Warmaster's assault upon Terra, the Emperor's surviving loyal sons lead a furious war of vengeance, which came to be known as the Great Scouring, in which they hounded the fleeing Traitor Legions across the galaxy. Yet the newly reorganised Adeptus Custodes took no part in this time of violent catharsis and retribution, standing their sombre watch upon the Throneworld and contemplating their ultimate failure. Though records conflict as to how and when, it is during this period that Captain-General Constantin Valdor disappeared from Imperial histories, along with his weapons and armour, which never made their way to the Hall of Armaments. The Custodians elected Valdor's successor from amongst their ranks and continued their watch.
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Constantin Valdor - Notable Campaigns: Unification Wars (Unknown Date.M30) - It is not known when the Emperor fashioned the Custodians. The truth is hidden in fragments of the past, accounts of figures appearing in crude hieroglyphs and cave etchings, stasis-locked scads of parchment and gene-sealed tomes that no man can now open. They speak of the towering demigods that strode at the Emperor's side, trusted bodyguards and respected counsellors that He took into his confidence. These crimson and gold clad transhuman warriors took part in many notable campaigns of the Wars of Unification. From the earliest days of the Unification Wars -- perhaps even before then -- Constantin Valdor was the Emperor's staunch companion, and his loyalty to the Master of Mankind was absolute.Battle of Maulland Sen (Unknown Date.M30) - This campaign of the Unification Wars, known also as the Battle of the Red Frost, was an epic campaign between the Emperor's newly-created proto-Astartes of the Thunder Legion, a small cadre of Custodians led by Constantin Valdor and the forces of the Priest-King of the Maullan Sen Confederacy of the Nordyc hives. Although outnumbered nearly seven-to-one, the Imperial forces were able to defeat the horde of genetically-altered warriors, witch-marked men and zealots of the Priest-King, who was captured by the Custodians. After the battle, the Priest-King was executed by the Emperor Himself. But according to detailed extant records preserved in the Trans-Nordyc Akashic archives, in actuality it was one of the Emperor's gold-clad "Custodians" who was responsible for striking the head of the confederation's tyrant-prophet from its shoulders in the aftermath of the campaign.Battle of Mount Ararat (Unknown Date.M30) - The Imperial historical chronicles tell of the last battle of the Unification Wars, known as the Battle of Mount Ararat, which was fought in the Kingdom of Urartu. During this final battle the remaining proto-Astartes, the Thunder Warriors, were slain to a man. The chronicles of the time recorded that the famed Thunder Warrior Arik Taranis, known as the "Lightning Bearer," raised the Banner of Lightning at the final declaration of Unity which established the rule of the Emperor of Mankind over the entirety of Terra before dying of his wounds. It was considered a measure of the Thunder Warriors' heroic sacrifice that they had all died to win the last and greatest victory for the Emperor. Unfortunately, this version of events is completely false, manufactured after the event to cover the Thunder Warriors' betrayal. In reality, during the final years of the Unification Wars, the Thunder Warriors at last realised that their creator had cursed them with short lifespans, and turned upon him for what they saw as his betrayal. Several hundred prototype Astartes of the I Legion of the newly created Space Marines, alongside a cadre of several hundred Custodians, even then believed to have been led by the legendary Constantin Valdor, stood in the Emperor's defence, carrying out a merciless culling of the obsolete, unstable and rebellious gene-soldiers. With those relic forces purged, Terra could at last be pronounced unified, and the Emperor turn His gaze to the stars for the benefit of all Mankind.Assassination of Koja Zu (Unknown Date.M30) - Sometime during the early years of the Great Crusade, Constantin Valdor was assigned the dire task of personally carrying out the assassination of Koja Zu, the Minister of the Anuatan Steppes, who had committed an unforgivable crime in the eyes of the Emperor. As the Emperor's Imperium had expanded out into the stars during the Great Crusade, millions of pilgrims had began to flock to humanity's birthworld, wishing only to see their ancestral Earth with their own eyes. It was said that unsettled land on the Throneworld was already the most valuable commodity in the nascent Imperium, but this was not so. Only one resource was far more precious -- water. Minister Zu was to be put to death for the crime of stealing water. For this act, and this act alone. Her other treacheries were meaningless in the Emperor's eyes; her cleansing pogroms, her trade in forbidden flesh. The army of gene-worked detritus the minister had sequestered in the bunkers beneath the Jermanic Steppes. The prospect of her rebellion was never a threat to the Pax Imperialis. Her crimes of apostasy were nothing. She was to die for the sin of her harvester machines drinking the Last Ocean. Carrying out the Minster's execution, Valdor claimed her young son (who would later be known as Ra Endymion) for induction into the Legio Custodes.Council of Nikaea (004.M31) - A great Imperial conclave was called by the Emperor of Mankind upon the world of Nikaea in the midst of the Great Crusade. This consistorial court was intended to determine whether or not the use of psychic sorcery represented a boon or a grave danger to Mankind and the newborn Imperium of Man. Presided over by the Emperor Himself as final arbiter of justice, He took no part in either the debate or the voting that followed it. As always, His most faithful companion and bodyguard, Captain-General Constin Valdor was by his lord's side. Focused on his duty of protecting the Emperor at all costs, he favoured neither side. Ultimately the existence of some psykers like Astropaths and Navigators in the Imperium was sanctioned but all others were banned, including the Librarians of the Space Marine Legions. The potent and unrestricted use of psychic abilities that was defined as "sorcery" was also officially banned. The psychically powerful Primarch Magnus the Red and his Thousand Sons Space Marine Legion would continue to study such powers in secret on their homeworld of Prospero, ultimately leading to their damnation.Razing of Prospero (734.004.M31)- Still practicing sorcery in secret, Primarch Magnus the Red saw a precognitive vision that revealed that the Warmaster Horus, greatest of the Primarchs and the Emperor's most favoured son, had been mortally wounded upon the feral moon of Davin. The Crimson King also foresaw the pact with Chaos that the dying Warmaster had made to save his life. Finally, he foresaw the epic events that were yet to unfold in the galaxy and could prove dire to the survival of the Imperium -- the galaxy-wide conflict that would come to be known as the Horus Heresy. Troubled by the revelations of Horus' betrayal and the coming galactic civil war, Magnus risked further censure from his father by employing the use of a sorcerous spell to warn the Emperor. This foolhardy action would unmake and disrupt the psychic wards surrounding the Emperor's secret construction of a new extension into the Webway, which was secretly located deep within the subterranean dungeons of the Imperial Palace. This action would enrage the Emperor and doom Magnus and his Thousand Sons, and thus, would herald the first battle of the Horus Heresy. Constantin Valdor and his Legio Custodes were charged with leading a Censure Host to Prospero and bringing Magnus back to Terra to face His father's judgement. Since their earliest days the Custodians had always borne the Magisterium Lex Ultima, a mark of office that made them answerable only to the Emperor Himself. Yet never before had they been charged with exercising its authority for such a daunting task. Still, Valdor did not shirk from his duty. What should have been a diplomatic coup became a murderous conflict when Leman Russ, the Primarch of the Space Wolves, joined his forces to Valdor's. Goaded by Horus' cunning words and driven by an instinctive dislike for his sorcerous brother, Russ took the role not of Magnus' captor, but his executioner. Though Valdor initially resisted Russ' urgings, his hand was forced when the corruption of the sorcerers of Prospero was revealed, and so he led his gold-armoured brethren to the surface of the damned world. Fighting alongside the Sisters of Silence, whose Null powers warded off the Thousand Sons' psychic attacks, the Custodians slew many of Magnus' followers during that tragic battle. Only with the aid of Valdor's warriors were the Space Wolves able to extricate themselves from the slaughter before a howling Warp rift consumed Prospero itself.War Within the Webway (004-014.M31) - When Magnus foolishly utilised sorcerous means in order to warn the Emperor of Horus' corruption and the inevitable conflict that would ensue, the Crimson King's actions were more dire than simply violating the Emperor's Nikaean Decree Absolute. He had also undone the Emperor's secret work -- the Imperial Webway project -- a lost portion of the Eldar Webway on Terra. It was the Emperor's hope that he would be able to utilise the Webway in order to free humanity of the burden of utilising the Immaterium to travel great distances. This would also have freed Mankind from having to expose themselves to the malevolent entities that made the Warp their home. With Magnus' sorcerous intrusion, he had broken many of the wards that had been put in place, in order to hold the hordes of the daemons behind the skein of reality. It is ironic that while the Space Marine Legions battled furiously against one another -- and the Imperial Army and Mechanicum tore themselves to shreds with internecine conflict -- the Legio Custodes would be strangely absent for much of the Horus Heresy. The few records that survive from that dark time provide only hints as to why that might have been, alluding to the existence of another, terrible war that took place beyond the sight of the wider Imperium, one that only the Legio Custodes had any chance of winning. The Emperor and His Custodian Guard were actually engaged in their own desperate conflict, fighting upon a trans-dimensional battlefield the Emperor once sought to tame for Mankind's use. Tragically, this existential war kept the Custodians from exacting the Emperor's vengeance upon His wayward sons. The Ten Thousand would not take a major role in the battle for the Imperium until the foe was beating at the very gates of the Emperor's palace. As the majority of the Custodian Guard were occupied with the continuing War Within the Webway, Captain-General Valdor assumed a position on the Terran War Council alongside the Imperial Regent, Malcador the Sigillite; Primarch Rogal Dorn of the Imperial Fists; Fabricator Locum Trimejia of Mars; Kaeria, Oblivion Knight of the Silent Sisterhood; and the Loyalist Fabricator-General Zagreus Kane. These six souls would decide the fate of an empire in the wider conflict to come.Execution Force (005.M31) - After learning of Horus' perfidy on Istvaan III, the Sires and Siresses of the various secret Imperial Assassin Clades were tasked by Malcador the Sigillite, the secret Grand Master of Assassins, with the daunting task of slaying the Arch-Traitor Horus, for if they could accomplish this monumental undertaking, they could effectively crush the nascent rebellion against the Emperor before it could inflict further damage upon His Imperium. Invited by the Master of Assassins to the secret council of assassins, it was Valdor who suggested that an assassin from each Clade operate as a team to assassinate Horus, rather than act alone as was the standard mode of operation. This was the catalyst for the creation of the first-ever Execution Force. When the Imperial Fists Primarch, Rogal Dorn, learned of these events, he challenged the Captain-General, claiming that by leaving the Arch-Traitor alive, they had been granted the boon of knowing how predictable his actions were, but cutting off the head of the Heresy wouldn't stop it, as someone more predictable would simply take Horus' place. Valdor argued that, in the end, they all wanted to achieve the same objective; to preserve the Master of Mankind. Dorn countered Valdor's argument by pointing out that it was the Captain-General's role to safeguard the life of the Emperor while Dorn himself, and the Astartes of the Loyalist Space Marine Legions' was to safeguard the Imperium. Though the Executioner Force uncovered valuable information, ultimately, their mission was a failure, as Horus was tipped off about the attempt on his life and had sent a proxy in his place, who was killed by the assassins. Later, Dorn and Valdor would continue to passionately debate about the merits of utilising such tactics, with Dorn pointing out that in order to preserve the Imperium, they must do so by standing by a moral code. Valdor countered Dorn's argument by citing that to match the Warmaster's evil that they must not stop at utilising underhanded tactics. However, their debate was eventually settled, when the Emperor had the last word, stating that there would be no more shadows and no more veils.Siege of Terra (014.M31) - After nine standard years of brutal conflict, the Traitor Legions finally launched an all-out assault in order to strike at the heart of the Imperium and kill the Emperor. During this titanic siege, the Legio Custodes fought alongside the Loyalist Legions to defend the Master of Mankind and His Imperial Palace. Valdor personally led the Ten Thousand who fought valiantly during this nightmarish siege, driving back one offensive after another. Despite their heroics, and to the eternal shame of the Legio Custodes, they failed in their ultimate duty. Whether some sliver of his old self remained, and sought to derail the Dark Gods' plans, or perhaps he simply wished to face the Emperor before the end, and to strike his father down by his own hand, Horus foolishly lowered the shields on his orbiting flagship, the Vengeful Spirit. The Emperor immediately gathered an elite force of Primarchs, Space Marines and Custodians, and led them in a teleport attack against Horus' unshielded ship. The battle that followed was horrific, the Emperor's force scattered throughout the tainted ship and forced to fight for their lives. Sanguinius, primarch of the Blood Angels, fell to Horus' talon, but worse was to follow. Despite the best efforts of Valdor and his fellow Custodians, they could not overcome the unnatural might of Horus. Only the Emperor was able to defeat His rebellious gene-son, but the victory came at a terrible cost. Horus' powers shattered the Emperor's body, leaving him a ruined husk. The Master of Mankind would be consigned to the Golden Throne forever more, its sustaining technologies keeping him on the threshold of life. So enthroned, His immense psychic power continues to guide and protect the loyal people of the Imperium -- should he ever perish, Mankind would surely follow soon after. Constantin Valdor resigned the Captain-Generalcy to his successor soon after, his final fate unknown.
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Constantin Valdor - Wargear: The Apollonian Spear - Believed to be crafted by the hand of the Emperor Himself and once wielded by His own hand in battle as far back as the Unification Wars during which He rose to power on Terra, the Apollonian Spear was given to Valdor upon his accession to the mantle of Chief Custodian, and it has served no other since. Like the signature armament of the Custodian Guard, it incorporated both a Power Weapon and built-in Bolter, though in both cases these were of a potency far exceeding those even the Emperor's other elite carried into battle.Corinthine Warplate - Worked by the same artificers that forged the Emperor's own warplate, this suit of Custodian Armour is proof against all but the most destructive attacks and most terrible weapons. Not only that, but its glorious origin and astonishing workmanship serve to inspire those that fight at Valdor's side, urging them to deeds of valour rarely witnessed.Iron HaloMisericordiaArae-ShrikeDigital LasersPlasma GrenadesKrak Grenades
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Constantinus - Constantinus: Constantinus, also known as Constantinus the Liberator, was a former squad sergeant of the Sons of Guilliman Space Marine Chapter's 4th Company who turned to Chaos and became a Chaos Lord. He led the world of Nova Terra in a rebellion and subsequent costly and drawn out civil war against the Imperium of Man, known as the Constantinus Iconoclasm.
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Constantinus - History: Originally a sergeant in the 4th Company of the Sons of Guilliman Chapter, Constantinus and his squad fought to free the population of the world of Nova Terra from Tyranid attack. After driving the aliens off the world, his unit was left behind to monitor for signs of Genestealer infestation. For three standard years Constantinus led his squad on endless patrols through the caves of Nova Terra, cleansing the planet of the remaining pockets of Tyranid infestation. When rumour arose of a Genestealer infestation among the city of Cirtus' ruling aristocracy, Constantinus brutally hunted down the infected nobles and their families.However the people of Nova Terra were enraged by the summary execution of their leaders and rose up in revolt. Disgusted by this "ungrateful" behavior, Constantinus destroyed entire sectors of the city of Cirtus, turning on those in his own squad who tried to stop his massacre. He appeared before the crowd and announced himself the new ruler of Cirtus and declared the Emperor of Mankind and His minions had turned him into such a monster. Constantinus vowed to lead the people of Nova Terra to freedom from the Imperium. Eventually commanding an army 3 million strong, they overthrew the planet's Imperial Governor. The Renegade Sergeant renamed the world of Nova Terra Constantinium and under his rule bloodthirsty mobs were given free reign, anarchy prevailed in the streets, and any dissent was viciously silenced.Now uninhibited, the crowds eventually turned to worshipping the Gods of Chaos, which attracted the attention of Chaos Space Marine warbands. Constantinus fought and defeated the best Champions of Chaos, claiming their warbands for himself. He then embarked on a rampage across the neighboring star systems, and within a solar decade his wars had engulfed the entire surrounding sector. Eventually Imperial forces, including the Iron Knights and two other Space Marine Chapters, twelve Astra Militarum foundings, an entire battlefleet and agents of both the Officio Assassinorum and the Ordo Hereticus, arrived in the region to deal with the growing threat. Following a thirteen-standard-year-long war against the forces of Chaos, the Imperium reclaimed the world of Nova Terra for the Emperor. The war itself only ended with the death of Constantinus at the hands of the Assassins of the Officio Assassinorum.
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Constantinus Iconoclasm - Constantinus Iconoclasm: The Constantinus Iconoclasm was a rebellion led by the former Sergeant Constantinus of the 4th Company of the Sons of Guilliman Space Marine Chapter, which had been charged with freeing the world of Nova Terra, located within the Segmentum Pacificus, from a Tyranid attack by remnants of the Hive Fleet Leviathan. He was a part of a handful of Astartes units left behind on Nova Terra to combat any resurgent Tyranid organisms that had survived the war, and to monitor the populace for signs of Genestealer or other Tyranid infiltration or infection.For three standard years Sergeant Constantinus led his squad on endless patrols through the cave systems of Nova Terra's volcanic plateau where the Tyranids had made planetfall, cleansing nesting broods with flamer and chainsword, not once seeking reward. However, when rumours led Constantinus to a possible Genestealers infection in the Nova Terran capital city of Cirtus, he found a growing Genestealer Cult had pervaded the city's ruling aristocracy.As righteous as ever, Constantinus and his squad hunted down the infected nobles and their families and swiftly ended the threat. Far from being grateful, the people of Cirtus were enraged by the summary executions of their leaders and rose up in revolt. Two dozen battle-brothers of the 4th Company of the Sons of Guilliman had sacrificed themselves for this world, this Nova Terra, only for those who had remained behind to battle the Tyranid threat -- unremembered and unrewarded -- to now have to suffer this final dishonour. That had been the final disgrace, the final injurious slight that pushed Sergeant Constantinus beyond the brink. It was more than any mortal man, or immortal Adeptus Astartes, should ever had to endure. If the scum of Cirtus City wanted rebellion, to see their world burn, Squad Constantinus would light the fire for them.There were those who had already sworn themselves to the sergeant, having seen what Constantinus and his brethren had wrought within the city sectors -- including Imperial Guardsmen who had seen their fellow soldiers die to save Nova Terra from the Tyranids, looters, rioters, the dispossessed, former servants of the Ecclesiarchy, and the members of the Adeptus Arbites stationed on this world. They appreciated what the sergeant and his Astartes had done, what they had been forced to do and why. They willingly followed Constantinus, and even went so far as to call him "the Liberator."Constantinus led his squad on search and destroy missions throughout Cirtus, destroying entire city sectors. Soon the city was ablaze and the fume-choked avenues were awash with blood and rioting mobs, the palaces of the nobles nothing but charred ruins. Constantinus eventually turned upon those within his own squad who tried to stop him from carrying out the massacre and cut them down. He then declared himself the new ruler of Cirtus, decrying the Emperor of Mankind and His minions, claiming that his own Chapter had turned him into a murderous monster, and swore that he would lead the people of Cirtus to freedom and a better future outside the Imperium.His conviction proved infectious. The old order on the world was thrown down, the emblems of the Imperium destroyed and defaced while statues of Constantinus the Liberator were raised in their place. Once the city was taken, the revolt spread from city to city, until finally the Liberator stormed the mansion of the world's Imperial Commander at the head of an army nearly three-million strong. Constantinus beheaded the Imperial Commander and declared that Nova Terra was now free of the Emperor's iron grip.The Renegade Space Marine sergeant renamed the world Constantinium and under his rule the mob was given free rein. Constantinus plunged his newly conquered world into an anarchic age of darkness as bloodthirsty crowds bayed in the streets and sacrifices were soon made to the Ruinous Powers. Called by their Dark Gods, dozens of Chaos Space Marine warbands travelled to Cirtus to join the Renegades. Constantinus fought the best Champions of Chaos to arrive and defeated them, claiming their warbands of Heretic Astartes for himself and becoming a Chaos Lord. He then embarked on a terrifying pogrom of other planets in the neighbouring star systems, and within a solar decade, the rebel sergeant's megalomania escalated until it plunged the whole sector into open civil war.Eventually Imperial forces, including the Iron Knights Chapter, arrived to reclaim the world for the Imperium, and war raged for thirteen standard years, only ending with the death of Constantinus at the hands of Officio Assassinorum Assassins. Even three hundred standard years later, pockets of rebels continued to still hold out in the volcanic plateaus of the world, having made their lair within the labyrinthine lava tunnels found in that region.It was from these hidden cave systems that the rebels continued to carry out guerrilla raids against the Emperor-fearing folk of Nova Terra. It was within those haunted caverns that they continued to make sacrifices to their blasphemous gods in the name of Constantinus the Liberator -- a name that would forever after be a stain upon the reputation of the noble Sons of Guilliman. Eventually, by 981.M41, the Constantinus Iconoclasm had ended and Constantinium was liberated from the forces of Chaos. The world's name was restored to Nova Terra.
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Constantinus Iconoclasm - Fall of Salvation-Gamma: During one notable incident of the conflict that occurred in 981.M41, the Night Reapers Chapter was assigned to defend the Shrine World of Salvation-Gamma. But instead, they forgot their duty for, when confronted by a massive counterattack led by a dozen Chaos warbands drawn to the Iconoclasm's revolt alongside an unknown number of degenerate mutant hordes from the edge-worlds of the sector, the Night Reapers had abandoned the Shrine World as both effectively indefensible and of "negligible strategic worth."Rather than allowing the world to fall, the Night Reapers turned their own weapons on the basilica-cities and granted the pilgrims and refugees who had sought harbour there a "merciful end." The rage of the Ecclesiarchy over this loss was boundless and ensured the Night Reapers Chapter's censure by the High Lords of Terra.Shorn of their fortress-monastery and Chapter homeworld, they were condemned to the perilous and thankless task of policing the outer reaches of the Laanah Rifts. The Night Reapers bore their punishment with grim impassivity and obedience but little contrition -- or at least appeared to. Within a solar decade, however, Imperial contact with the Chapter, which had long carried a reputation for ruthless efficiency, independence and technical aptitude, grew untowardly infrequent. Soon, all official contact with the Chapter ceased, their ultimate fate unknown, though they were presumed to have become Renegades.
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Constantinus Iconoclasm - Forces of Constantinus: The Iconoclasts - The Iconoclasts were made up of former Sons of Guilliman Space Marines who willingly followed their former Brother-Sergeant Constantinus into damnation, and later served as his personal bodyguards. These fallen Heretic Astartes helped shape the former capital world of Nova Terra, and a dozen worlds across the sector like it, into the nightmarish vision of their mad Chaos Lord.The Zealous - The Zealous were the masses of so-called "liberated" Nova Terran Humans who fought in Constantinus the Liberator's name, and who were charged with the defence of the Chaos Lord's realm. They made the Imperial invaders pay for every metre of ground gained in blood.The Enlightened - The Enlightened were those who had witnessed first-hand the fate of those who had challenged Constantinus' domain and chose to side with the Chaos Lord, rising to become his most important and useful servants.
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Constantinus Iconoclasm - Notable Followers of Constantinus the Liberator: Maimon and Pius - Former battle-brothers of the Sons of Guilliman, and later Constantinus' personal honour guard that was known as the Iconoclasts. This pair of Chaos Space Marines were the most loyal of all of Constantinus' devotees. They wore corrupted battle-plate that was red-black and gold like their Chaos Lord's, the eight-pointed Star of Chaos raised from the ceramite of their left shoulder pauldron where once was displayed an altogether different insignia.Kabiel, "Skull-taker" - A Chaos Space Marine from beyond Nova Terra who had been drawn to Constantinus' rebellion. He later became one of the most faithful servants of Constantinus amongst the ranks of the Enlightened.Gha'gur Nor the Slythian - A Chaos Space Marine who once served in the warband of Ghorgoth the Oppressor, who had been drawn to Constantinus' rebellion in the Viridis Sector, and later became known as the Herald of Constantinus, the most faithful of the Enlightened. He wielded the mighty weapon Foe-smiter in battle.
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Construct Shield - Construct Shield: A Construct Shield is an Imperial defensive technology deployed on Imperial Knights and other ancient Mechanicum war machines during the Horus Heresy. It represented an experimental attempt to create a stable, miniaturised Void Shield Generator at a fraction of the material cost of other forms of heavy shielding. The Construct Shield is most frequently employed by magi of the Ordo Katastrophica to ensure their temperamental automata survive in battle long enough for them to gather vital operating data.
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Consul - Consul: Consul, formally known as a Legiones Consularis in High Gothic, is a defunct, generalised specialty officer rank of the ancient Legiones Astartes bestowed upon Space Marine Centurions during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy. Among the Space Marine Legions, the humble Legion Centurions served as both officers of the line and specialists in every conceivable doctrine of war.Those Centurions that specialised in the many esoteric arts of combat and war were known as Consuls, and the masters of the Legion called upon them when the Legions needed their specialised skills to overcome the numberless enemies of Mankind. With the outbreak of the Horus Heresy, these artisans of the craft of death would face their grandest trial, turning their hard-won skills against their own brothers.
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Consul - History: The ranks of each Space Marine Legion were tens of thousands, sometimes hundreds of thousands strong and as such required a substantial core of battle commanders and officers to control and coordinate, as well as more specialised ranks and roles which helped give a Legion its operational depth and strategic flexibility.The Astartes with the rank of Centurion represented such leaders, champions and line officers, and whether they were a company captain in command of a thousand or more Legionaries on campaign, or a Shield-Lieutenant given charge of a boarding party in a savage space battle, to have risen in the ranks of their Legion to the middle tiers of its hierarchy meant they had already demonstrated their worth in the bloody fires of conflict.Among the many officers of the Legiones Astartes, there are those with unique talents and hard-won tactical skills that were honoured with the title and rank of consul, although this covers many different ranks and purviews such as the Chaplains, fleet captain, blood chieftains, Vigilators, Legates and even the psykers of the Librarius. These warriors led the Legion into battle and conducted the most arduous of missions, called upon by their lords when the specialised tactical knowledge they had mastered was required in the struggle for victory and the demise of the foe.
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Consul - Consul Types: The following are some of the more common examples of Consuls found in the Space Marine Legion forces of the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy, although many others existed in particular Legions:Armistos - Few individuals were capable of the unending operation of maintaining, categorising, requisitioning and dispensing the vast arsenals of an entire Space Marine Legion. Beyond this, many such officers of the Legions worked to improve the weaponry at their disposal, running simulations and field tests of augmented weaponry. The logistical skills of a quartermaster required of an Armistos were much sought after by the Legion's Master of Arsenal, particularly in those Legionaries with a level temperament who were not apt to charge into the fray but were capable of supporting and supplying their battle-brothers without desire for aggrandisement.Champion Consul - A Legion Champion's sworn task was to hunt down and slay the commanders and heroes of an enemy force in single combat. Armed with the finest weapons available, these deadly warriors embodied the honour of their Legion.Loyalist Champion Consul - Chosen from the best blades of the Legion, a Champion bore the honour of their chapter or company in battle, and was armed and armoured in the finest panoply of war. Their sworn task was to seek out the foe's mightiest warriors, and slay them in glorious single combat. Such victories were a crushing blow to enemy morale, and an object lesson in their Legion's superiority. A Loyalist Champion Consul was a skilled duelist -- armed with a massive two-handed Paragon Blade, with a Combi-melta at their side. Their finely-wrought Artificer Armour often featured a flowing tabard, as well as a knightly gorget to guard against return blows. Medallions and decorative chains proclaimed the Champion's many victories, marking him as a foe worthy of any challenger.Traitor Champion Consul - Those Champion Consuls pledged to the Traitor Legions were largely identical in fucntion to their Loyalist brethren save that they took great pleasure in cutting down any Loyalist lapdogs foolish enough to stand in their way. A Traitor Champion Consul was a paragon of martial expertise and an expert in the art of dealing death to the followers of the False Emperor. They were armed with a deadly Paragon Blade for parrying blows and lopping off Loyalist heads while wielding a Volkite Serpenta to melt through enemy armour at range. The bulky and tough Artificer Armour worn by a Traitor Champion was multi-layered, given even more protection, and was often adorned with the icon of the Eye of Horus, so there was no mistaking as to whose cause they fought for.Chaplain - The Chaplain Order, established towards the end of the Great Crusade on the advice of the Word Bearers, was intended to create a cadre of fearsome veteran Astartes warriors who would enforce a cohesion of doctrine and belief in the scattered and increasingly idiosyncratic Legions, far from Terra. Theirs was a mortuary symbol of sacrifice graven in the form of an ornate staff, mace or axe: the Crozius Arcanum, which served as both a badge of office and a deadly weapon.Legion Delegatus - A Legion Delegatus was a mid-ranking Legion officer, such as a Centurion, tasked with a specific mission by their Legion high command and formally deputised to act in all matters with the full weight of their commander's authority. As such, they could mobilise the Legion's resources to the full, deploy its assets and, if performing a mission of vital strategic worth, assemble a strike force of chosen warriors.Legion Esoterist - The Legion Esoterists were a late creation among many of the armies embroiled in the Horus Heresy, as members of the Librarius returned to their studies in violation of the Decrees of Nikaea with or without the blessing of their primarchs, and delved into the forbidden lore that saw common use on the battlefields of that dark age. Some Esoterists studied the Warp with the sole intent of discovering the weakness of those entities that dwelled within. They were dedicated wholly to the study of the Warp and its denizens, seeing them as tools for the prosecution of war, unburdened by loyalty or purpose. If they could chain them to the cause of their master, then they would gladly sacrifice their sanity in pursuit of victory. Esoterists mastered the sealing of ætheric energy and investigated any method of repelling the foul entities that spilt from that realm, no matter how strange or ritualistic such arcane tricks might be. Though those battle-psykers who had received real training might scoff at their dubious rites, few could deny their effectiveness in battle against the forces of Chaos.Legion Forge Lord - Masters of the machine and foundry, Forge Lords were the most experienced and skillful of the Legion's Techmarines. These warrior-smiths were skilled battle-leaders as much as they were artisans of war, and were often appointed to the command of Legion detachments comprised largely of tanks and armoured vehicles or Battle-Automata, as well as serving as stewards to a Legion's Dreadnoughts.Herald - A Herald was an officer of consul rank who carried the standards and other sacred totems of their Legions, chapters, companies and other organisations. 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 among those such as the Legiones Astartes, near-religious fervour became common for those artefacts touched by primarch, Warmaster or Imperial Regent, 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.Librarian Consul - For many years the Legions maintained cadres of Astartes battle-psykers in their ranks, warriors who fused these esoteric powers with a Space Marine's transhuman physical power. But many within the Imperium's hierarchy were troubled by such dangerous and unstable potential, and after dark events in the Great Crusade's later period, such adepts were forbidden from the use of their arts and arcane lore by the Emperor Himself at the Council of Nikaea.Master of Signal - A vital link between those desperately fighting and support elements of the Legion in battle, the Master of Signal was a strategic and communications specialist capable of interpreting and directing the flow of battle around them and calling in support strikes from distant batteries and orbiting vessels. A Master of Signal was commonly attached to the forward elements of a Space Marine assault, providing vox and cogitator communications support across the wider warzone, and was capable of calling down a pinpoint bombardment from either orbiting fleet assets or static artillery positions nearby, engulfing the foes of Mankind in flaming destruction.Moritat - Said by some to be no less than death incarnate, and by others to be dishonourable murderers with no place in the Imperium's order of battle, Moritats were lone killers operating outside their Legion's usual command structures at the behest, or at least sufferance, of its high commanders. Regarded usually as dangerously unstable outcasts -- perhaps created by some seldom-exposed flaw of gene-seed or indoctrination -- they were also savage and proficient warriors, however, having become one with the act of killing, honing their transhuman reflexes to gun down the foe at close quarters to a preternatural degree.Legion Mortifactor - A specialised subset of Techmarines, Mortificators were ultimately responsible for the Legion's honoured dead known as Dreadnoughts, the furious Ancients entombed within cybernetic sarcophagi that slumbered in the Legions' sepulchres, and showed a near-fanatical devotion to their charges, in some cases going so far as to contravene the tenets of the Mechanicum adopted by the Legions' Forge Lords. A Mortificator's primary duties included the protection during slumber and rousing during war of their Legion's complement of Dreadnoughts, and when necessary, extended to the controlling of those Dreadnoughts too long asleep or too choleric to be considered wholly sane.Consul Opsequiari - The Consul Obsequiari was a battlefield overseer, granted the power of life and death over his brothers. During the Terran Wars of Unification and the early years of the Great Crusade when the Legionaries of the newly formed Space Marine Legions were introduced to the Imperium's fighting forces, certain less-disciplined and more violent Space Marine Legions such as the VIth, XIIth and XIVth Legions experienced issues with Legionaries who were bellicose, hot-tempered or often proved fractious. To help curb their worst excesses and to ensure discipline was maintained on the field of battle, a new class of disciplinary officers was created -- the Consul Obsequiari. These Disciplinary Corps served to maintain order in the ranks of the Space Marines, both during and away from battle, as well as curb any attempts to disregard or circumvent orders. The Consul Opsequiari were selected from among the most stable of the veterans of their Legion and granted the power of life and death over their brothers. Clad in utilitarian storm cloud grey power armour bare of any ornamentation, save a squad symbol on their breast and a Terran Raptor Imperialis ornament, these officers carried out their solemn duty within the ranks of the Legion. To single them out on the field of battle these individuals were also marked by the distinctive emblem of that oft-maligned order, stencilled upon their right pauldron and the abdominal buckle of their armour. Reorganisations and the changes in Legion culture made upon the reunification of these Legions with their respective primarchs ultimately made this position obsolete before the onset of the Horus Heresy.Legion Pathfinder - Within the ranks of the Legions at the time of the outbreak of the Horus Heresy there were few remaining Scout Marine cohorts, with most companies equipped with the Scout Armour long since reassigned to Recon detachments. Those few that remained were often veterans of over a standard century of war in the most hostile terrain known to Humanity, and the last Pathfinders were the unchallenged experts on combat within such dangerous ground.Legion Consul Praevian - A Legion Consul Praevian was the keeper of the Legion's bound Battle-Automata, those soulless machines sworn to the Legion's service and inducted into their ranks as honourary Legionaries after solar decades of service, a practice that increased as the Horus Heresy inflicted an ever-greater death toll on many Legions' ranks. Initiated into the rites of the Mechanicum to a lesser degree, these officers oversaw the maintenance and programming of their charges and ensured that loyalty to the Legion and its traditions were enshrined in their core logic. On the field of battle, they marched at the forefront of the inducted maniples, guiding them in the correct prosecution of war and acting as examples of true sons of the Legion. Often chosen from amongst the ranks of those veterans whose injuries had required extensive augmetic rebuild and left them ill-suited for other, more specialised roles, these warriors were often solitary individuals, given to brooding and keeping to the company of their iron brothers. It was rare in most Legions for these warriors to advance higher up the chain of command, and some Legions used the rank as a dumping ground for those deemed unfit for other duties, while others, most notably the Iron Hands and Salamanders, considered it an honour to serve with such unique avatars of the Machine Cult's craft.Primus Medicae - High officers of the Legion Apothecarion, the primus medicae of a Legion held the onerous duties of both ensuring the battle-readiness and physical wellbeing of their battle-brothers. This was an authority which none but a primarch or his chosen deputy could overrule, and such warriors were dedicated to preserving the gene-seed of the Legion from loss or contamination at any cost, even that of their lives. The primus medicae were skilled in all the fields of medicae relevant to the biomedical care of Astartes on and off the battlefield and the creation of new Space Marines for the Legion using the accelerated maturation techniques in use at the time of the Great Crusade.Primus Nullificator - With the increase of uncontrollable occurrences of Daemonic incursion across the galaxy, many officers within the Legiones Astartes on both sides of the conflict resorted to arcane and superstitious means to counter the little-understood threat of the Empyrean. These pioneers sanctioned research into esoteric artefacts and weapons and openly sought prohibited lore in the hope that it would provide wisdom capable of combatting the galaxy's intangible horrors. These officers, who were first among the Nullificators, forged an example and encouraged those serving under them to also seek out by any means necessary the answers to defeat the arcane threat.Siege Breaker - The wreckers of cities, the bringers-down of fortress walls and the shatterers of strongholds, Siege Breakers were officers of the Legion whose tactical speciality was precisely applied destruction against strategic targets. Placed often in command of armoured spearhead assaults and frontline artillery units, they preferred to closely observe their work, rather than sit back behind the lines, and so were deadly efficient in adapting their force's attack patterns from moment to moment.Vigilator - Highly skilled as watchers and hunters among their brethren, Vigilators were the eyes of their Legion on the ground, their wisdom paramount in scouting out the foe's disposition and strength, and determining the best place to strike. Theirs also were the arts of sabotage and assassination, and while some Legions were more inclined to such subtleties than others, all saw their military value.Warmonger - In seemingly every Legion, there was a cadre of Centurions who competed for the honour to make first contact with any enemy force or lead the spear-tip of any assault. These hardened line commanders were much respected for their willingness to heroically throw themselves and their soldiers into the toughest resistance and were entrusted to prosecute shock assaults which crushed a foe in a single action, breaking its lines of supply and leaving its defences in disarray. To these warriors, the informal honorific "Warmonger" was attributed, and any who were marked as such were destined for greatness in their Legion, rapidly rising in stature and rank, should they survive.
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Consul - Dark Angels: Paladin of the Hekatonystika - Veiled in allegory and obscure symbolism, the orders of the Hekatonystika bore the heavy burden of keeping the most secret and dangerous knowledge acquired on the battlefield. Many of the Ist Legion's most veteran warriors were initiates of the Orders and wore their colours with pride on the field of battle.Interrogator Consul - A specialist rank utilised specifically by the Hosts of the Ist Legion's Host of Fire, among the most secretive of the early hosts. The ranks of this hidden order were filled with spies, assassins and all the subtle tools of war. In war, the Host of Fire was the eyes and bloody left hand of the Legion, the first to take to the field and the last to draw blood. Its Interrogator Consuls were widely feared for their talent for extracting information from their captives.
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Consul - White Scars: Stormseer - While every Legion had a number of Librarian Consuls in their ranks -- warrior-scholars with the ability to bend the Warp to their will -- the psykers of the White Scars Legion incorporated the long-standing superstitions of their homeworld of Chogoris into their training schema. These Stormseer Consuls were weather-witches who acted as advisors and mystics to their khans, offering wise counsel and unleashing the wrath of the storm on those in their way. With their horizons broadened by the shamanistic customs of Chogoris, Stormseers tapped into wisdom beyond the ken of their brothers. This invited much scepticism from the more stringent members of the Legiones Astartes, and many viewed their esoteric methods as deviations from the Imperial Truth. More fool them, as this ignorance blinded the narrow-minded to the meteorological mastery of the Stormseers. In battle, their subtle applications altered the climate for tactical advantage, calling on the heavens themselves to aid them. By tapping into the Empyrean they could obscure their allies' approach with mist and fog, place a favourable wind behind flanking Golden Keshig, and impede enemy forces with foul tempests and withering hail. When a more direct approach was required, Stormseers would not hesitate to call down bolts of pure white lightning from the skies.
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Consul - Space Wolves: Pack Thegn - A Pack Thegn or lesser Claw Leader was a proven Space Wolf warrior of a score of campaigns or more, who is deeply experienced in the making of murder. Long of fang and beard, often a Pack Thegn was a commander who had survived the loss of his company or lost esteem in the eyes of his betters and was side-lined from any hope of becoming a jarl. These warriors bound their fortunes to that of their favoured jarl (or indeed whichever jarl is willing to take them on if disgraced), sharing their cunning and expertise in war with his new recruits and teaching patience to his more savage pack members. A Pack Thegn would stay at the heel of that jarl, hunting at the head of his packs until death.Priest of Fenris - The Priests of Fenris existed as a series of interconnected orders which provided for the physical, spiritual and technological needs of the VI Legion. Occluded to outsiders beneath webs of what outwardly seemed superstition and barbarism, they were more than technicians and specialists, but instead the repositories of the Legion's true history, the keepers of its secrets and the masters of its lore.Speaker of the Dead - These were the predecessors of the 41st Millennium's Wolf Priests, but more akin to an Apothecary. They were chosen from the most strong-willed and coldly self-controlled of the VI Legion's brethren, to serve as its masters of discipline, instillers of its culture, wardens both of the gene-seed and the memory of the Legion. A Speaker of the Dead was charged with overseeing the implantation of the Legion's gene-seed into potential aspirants as well as monitoring the physical and mental well-being of their fellow warriors. The Speakers of the Dead were also entrusted with the vital task of training new waves of the Legion's warriors and the watching over of its ranks for dangerous incidences of instability, either mental or physiological. In battle, they carried a variety of sophisticated biogenic and alchemical tinctures whose use was masked in primitive ritual in order to temporarily abjure hideous injuries incurred on the battlefield. These priests walked the path that threaded between both life and death, memory and oblivion, and while their healing balms might bring a warrior back from the brink of death, their garm-blood vials symbolised the other side of that coin; in it was a bitter poison that brought on a terrible death. It was they who encoded the VI Legion's history within memetically-patterned "sagas," and who recorded and judged the deeds both of the living and the dead so that the honoured might be remembered and the dishonoured despised.Caster of Runes - These were the predecessors of the present Space Wolf Rune Priests. They were undeniably an order of psykers who considered themselves a breed apart from the Librarians of the other Legions. Those chosen as the Casters of Runes had the psyker's gifts, but treated them warily as a potential curse as well as a blessing, reaching for their power only through a deliberate skein of cognitive shielding within their own minds, and aided by a unique lattice of psycho-memetic pattern field technology incorporated into their armour as a safeguard both against hostile outside forces and drawing down too much power themselves. They manipulated their powers through these little-understood runic matrices and adapted Fenrisian rituals, and provided the VI Legion with prognostication and shielded it from Empyreal threats.Priest of Iron - The Priests of Iron were the predecessors of the present Space Wolf Iron Priests. They were the masters of the Legion's armouries, its war machines and the technological arcana of the Space Wolves Legion. They masked their technological lore behind an outwardly barbaric show of tech-mysticism whose temper -- if not form -- would do justice to the most obtusely arcane Tech-adept of Mars. Their role was not simply to supply their Legion with arms and maintain their wargear, but ensure it was as self-sufficient as possible. They also stood guard over certain troves of weaponry and schematic patterns gifted by Terra and uniquely developed by the Iron Priests themselves.
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Consul - Imperial Fists: Castellan - Upon the broad shoulders of the Lords Castellan were the foundations of the Imperium built. They were the unbending spine of the VIIth Legion, those chosen few lords of siege warfare who commanded armies in the name of their primarch, Rogal Dorn, conquering world after world. In their wake, the Castellans left only loyal, Compliant civilisations; erecting upon those worlds which they conquered mighty Imperial redoubts from which the defence of entire sub-sectors could be coordinated.
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Consul - Sons of Horus: Dark Emissary - Commanding a galaxy-wide insurrection was no small feat, even for the extremely talented Horus Lupercal. Fortunately, the Warmaster's unparalleled record, abundance of charisma, and otherworldly patronage saw him win the support of half the Legiones Astartes -- and even more allies besides. To ensure that his allies and servants remained unquestioningly loyal during the Heresy, Horus instated the Dark Emissaries, specialised Legion Consuls who acted as his watchful eyes and ambassadors across the galaxy. These experienced Sons of Horus warriors ensured unflinching obedience in all who had pledged service to the Warmaster, from Traitor Auxilia and Fallen Nobles to his own Sons of Horus, and guided them with their strategic experience. Each Dark Emissary was a paragon of skill and martial prowess, an example that Horus expected every member of his Legion to strive towards. Should anyone fail to live up to the Warmaster's expectations -- or worse, display seditious intentions -- then a Dark Emissary could also act as an executioner for their exacting patriarch.
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Consul - Word Bearers: Diabolist - A unique specialist of the Word Bearers Legion that were able to direct the corporeal manifestations of the Warp, manifesting what some observers referred to as Warp "magic." These mysterious esoteric specialists were first encountered by the Ultramarines during the Calth Atrocity, with the few survivors of the 22nd Chapter of the Ultramarines referred to such officers as "Diabolists," a designation later adopted en masse by their brethren to identify those Word Bearers officers whose training appeared to somehow harness the ætheric medium as a weapon of war. Carefully hidden from Ultramarines observers, other officers of similar specialisation to those observed at Thrascia appear to have been present in most of the Word Bearers units mustered on Calth. Indeed, ritual use of psychic powers by these individuals appears to have been the source of some of the bizarre transformations and illogical tactical choices made by certain Word Bearers formations. One of many dictates issued by Roboute Guilliman in the campaigns following Calth was the priority targeting of enemy officers classified as Diabolists.
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Consul - Alpha Legion: Saboteur - The Saboteur specialised in covert infiltration, assassination and sabotage, arts usually considered beneath the honour of the Legiones Astartes but at which the Alpha Legion had always excelled. Saboteurs made their presence known on the battlefield by the destruction they wreaked, often in the opening moments of a major engagement, striking against enemy command structures, vital units or defences, leaving the foe reeling before the Alpha Legion's onslaught.
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Consul - Sources: The Horus Heresy Book One: Betrayal (Forge World Series), pg. 190-191The Horus Heresy Book Two: Massacre (Forge World Series), pg. 254The Horus Heresy Book Three: Extermination (Forge World Series), pp. 153, 258The Horus Heresy Book Five: Tempest (Forge World Series), pp. 113, 237, 242-243The Horus Heresy Book Six: Retribution (Forge World Series), pp. 220, 232-234, 248, 253The Horus Heresy Book Seven: Inferno (Forge World Series), pg. 92The Horus Heresy Book Eight: Malevolence (Forge World Series), pp. 146, 290-293The Horus Heresy Book Nine: Crusade (Forge World Series), pp. 87, 109Warhammer: The Horus Heresy Second Edition - Rulebook (Specialty Game), pg. 90Warhammer: The Horus Heresy Second Edition - Liber Hereticus (Specialty Game), pp. 22-23, 104-115, 122, 285, 335Warhammer: The Horus Heresy Second Edition - Liber Astartes (Specialty Game), pp. 22-23, 104-115, 122, 157, 181, 201-203, 229Warhammer Community - Legacies of the Age of Darkness (Army Lists), pp. 9-10Warhammer Community - God-Machines with Angels (30 Nov 18)Warhammer Community - The Librarian Consul Boils Space Marines With Warp Lightning, Even if the Emperor Says Not To (13 Apr 23)Warhammer Community - Heresy Thursday - Put Loyalist Weaklings to the Sword With the Traitor Champion Consul (14 Sept 23)Warhammer Community - Master the Meteorological With the Mystical White Scars Stormseer Consul (09 Nov 23)Warhammer Community - Heresy Thursday - This Thousand Sons Librarian Reasserts Dominance Over the Immaterium (23 Nov 23)Warhammer Community - Heresy Thursda: The Dark Emissary Brings The Warmaster's Unrelenting Gaze (30 Nov 23)Warhammer Community - Heresy Thursday: Hoodwink Your Foes With the Alpha Legion Saboteur (07 Dec 23)Warhammer - Legion Praevian (Warhammer Webstore)Warhammer - Consul Champion (Warhammer Webstore)Warhammer - Legiones Astartes: Traitor Champion Consul (Warhammer Webstore)Warhammer - Librarian Consul (Warhammer Webstore)Warhammer - Traitor Esoterist Consul (Warhammer Webstore)Warhammer - Legion Cataphractii Praetor & Chaplain Consul (Warhammer Webstore)
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Consul Opsequiari - Consul Opsequiari: Consul Opsequiari was an officer rank of the Space Marine Legions used during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy who served as disciplinary officers in many of the more fractious Legions before they were reunited with their primarchs. An Opsequiari was one of several specialty ranks that fell under the generalised banner of the mid-tier Legion officer rank of consul, formally known as a Legiones Consularis in High Gothic, which was awarded to an individual Astartes who was recognised for their unique talents and hard-won skills.The Consul Opsequiari was a battlefield overseer, granted the power of life and death over his brothers. During the Terran Wars of Unification and the early years of the Great Crusade when the Legionaries of the newly formed Space Marine Legions were first introduced to the Imperium's fighting forces, certain less-disciplined and more violent Legions such as the VIth (Space Wolves), XIIth (War Hounds) and XIVth Legions (Death Guard) experienced issues with Legionaries who were bellicose, hot-tempered or often proved fractious.To help curb their worst excesses and to ensure discipline was maintained on the field of battle, a new class of disciplinary officers was created -- the Consul Opsequiari. This Disciplinary Corps served to maintain order in the ranks of the Space Marines, both during and away from battle, as well as curb any attempts to disregard or circumvent orders.The Consuls Opsequiari were selected from among the most stable of the veterans of their Legion and granted the power to execute their battle-brothers when necessary. Clad in utilitarian storm cloud grey power armour bare of any ornamentation, save a squad symbol on their breast and a Terran Raptor Imperialis ornament, these officers carried out their solemn duty within the ranks of the Legion.To further help single them out on the field of battle these individuals were also marked by the distinctive emblem of that oft-maligned order -- the twin flame-blade insignia of the 'Sanghauta' -- which was prominently displayed upon their right shoulder pauldron, the abdominal buckle of their armour and sometimes back banners. This icon was presumably of ancient Terran origin and carried with it a very definite meaning: it clearly displayed the ultimate authority every Consul Opsequiari of a Space Marine Legion had over their brethren.Reorganisations and the changes in Legion culture made upon the reunification of these Legions with their respective primarchs ultimately made this position obsolete before the onset of the Horus Heresy.
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Consul Opsequiari - Unit Composition: 1 Consul Opsequiari
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Consul Opsequiari - Wargear: Mark II Crusade Power Armour or Mark III Iron Power ArmourBolt PistolBolterKrak GrenadesFrag Grenades
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Consul Opsequiari - Legion Specific Variations: Burning Eyes - Within the First Sphere of the Blood Angels Legion, there was a formation of disciplinary officers known as the Ofanim or Burning Eyes. Also known as the "Many-eyed," these secretive warriors were the Angel's Shame, Primarch Sanguinius' secret police and shadow agents. They watched the Astartes of their Legion for signs of treachery and madness and acted to assuage their primarch's guilt for his Legion's affliction by the Red Thirst by removing the stain of those Blood Angels who fell to its genetic curse. Rarely seen on the battlefield, the Ofanim fought alone and with weapons considered unworthy of true warriors.
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Consul Opsequiari - Game History: The concept of the Consul Opsequiari was first introduced in Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader (1st Edition) as a Space Marine specialty unit known as the Field Police on page 168. They primarily wore black power armour and a red helmet with a vertical black and yellow hazard stripe. However, besides the image and the sale of the subsequent Field Police miniature in White Dwarf magazine, nothing else was known about this Space Marine specialist unit.With the release of The Horus Heresy Book Seven: Inferno by Forge World, this obscure specialist unit was brought back into the spotlight as the updated Consul Opsequiari. The updated imagery of the Consul Opsequiari kept some elements of the original 1st Edition artwork including the twin flame-blade insignia of the Sanghauta that was used by the original Field Police.
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Consul Opsequiari - Sources: The Horus Heresy Book One: Betrayal (Forge World Series), pg. 86The Horus Heresy Book Seven: Inferno (Forge World Series), pp. 74, 92The Horus Heresy Book Eight: Malevolence (Forge World Series), pp. 124, 129Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader (1st Edition), pg. 168
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Contagion - Contagion: The Contagion is a Plague Engine of the Lord of Decay, Nurgle. When a Chaos host gathers for war, the followers of Nurgle congregate together, performing depraved ceremonies for their diseased master. With the arrival of the Daemons, the construction of massive engines of war begins.Overseen by the Nurglish acolytes, thousands of twisted and corrupted slaves toil to build the awesome machines of destruction that will spread the plagues of Nurgle to a hundred worlds. Their festering altars are used to provide ammunition for the disgusting Contagion Plague Engines. And all throughout this frenzied activity the constant buzz of insects and the stench of rotting bodies permeates the air. When the war machines of Nurgle are ready, the pestilent Chaos army sets forth upon its dark crusade.
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Contagion - Armament: Built by the worshippers of Nurgle, Contagions are formidable plague engines that advance across the battlefield in rows, launching their pestilent ammunition at their enemies with a terrifying scream of plague catapults filling the air. The main weapon of the Contagion is the Plague Catapult, a huge armament which bombards the enemy with chunks of Chaos-saturated stone, clusters of decaying corpses and other disease-infested filth.When these vile bombs impact they spray ichor and infected debris across a wide area. The pestilential aura that surrounds the site of these bombardments fills the air with corruption and the malaise of Nurgle's Rot which quickly spreads across the battlefield. Those who survive the initial bombardment soon contract a variety of other virulent diseases. Their wounds turn gangrenous and they die swiftly, wracked with pain and despair.
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Contekar - Contekar: The Contekar, also called the Contekar Elite, were elite units of Terminators within the Night Lords Legion at the time of the Great Crusade and the Horus Heresy. They were deployed as elite shock assault troops who were highly adept at sowing panic and dismay with their arrival, as the Contekar's talents for steadfast ruthlessness in the prosecution of war was much vaunted amongst the other Space Marine Legions during the Great Crusade.Contekar Terminators in truth were nothing more than butchers and murderers of a high order, to be called upon when the VIII Legion wished to bring more than terror but utter and abject despair and destruction upon a foe, to burn their armies, infrastructure and agriculture, and to topple the foundations of their civilisation.A haughty warrior class within the Night Lords Legion, the Contekar was made up of recruits taken from Nostramo's ruling elite, and in their blood lay the corruption and contempt held for the Imperial citizenry by those ignoble potentates. Obsessed with status and hierarchy like their mortal kin, the Contekar kept themselves aloof from the rest of their Legion, deigning only to fight for those leaders they deemed worthy or also possessed of noble Nostraman blood.Indeed, only the first captain and primarch of the VIII Legion could command the Contekar freely. Other officers of the Legion would risk a mighty price for calling upon these elite forces, for the Contekar ever sought to further improve their status in the Legion hierarchy, interpreting any sign of weakness from their commanders as an invitation for an individual Contekar to eliminate a rival and seize control of their command.The Contekar were often dispatched to wrest command from lesser Night Lord leaders whom their commanders deemed unfit to prosecute the Legion's objectives. Such cruel but pragmatic methods were favoured by Night Lords officers like First Captain Jago Sevatarion and others of both the old Terran Legion and the new Nostraman recruits, relying on the brutal skills of the Contekar to lay waste to the enemies of the Night Lords as an example to those of their brethren that might falter in their duties.
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Contekar - Unit Composition: 4-14 Contekar1 Dissident (Sergeant)
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Contekar - Wargear: Terminator Armour (Any pattern)Heavy FlamerNostraman ChainbladeTeleport HomerVolkite Cavitor (As replacement for Heavy Flamer)Escaton Power Claw (As replacement for the Dissident's Nostraman Chainblade)Trophies of Judgement - The Contekar enjoyed taking grisly trophies of their kills such as skulls, entrails and other body parts to symbolise the judgement they brought and to enhance the demoralising effects of the terror they unleashed upon their victims.
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Contekar - Dedicated Transport: Land Raider Phobos or Dreadclaw Drop Pod (5 Contekar Terminators maximum)
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Contemptor-Achillus Dreadnought - Contemptor-Achillus Dreadnought: The Contemptor-Achillus Dreadnought is a variant of the standard Contemptor Pattern Dreadnought utilised exclusively by the Legio Custodes during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy eras. Similar in aspect to the Contemptor Dreadnoughts of the Legiones Astartes of this same era, the Contemptor-Achillus is a markedly superior war machine, outfitted with weapons and systems artificer-made by the servants of the Imperial Court.By the outbreak of the Horus Heresy, the Contemptor-Achillus was the most widely employed Dreadnought pattern by the Legio Custodes, a general battle unit which combined phenomenal strength and speed with the echoes of the interned Custodian's own unmatched martial skill. It is unknown if the Contemptor-Achillus Dreadnought is still in use by the Adeptus Custodes of the 41st Millennium.
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Contemptor-Achillus Dreadnought - Role: There is little short of utter destructive force able to fell a Custodian, and thanks to their Emperor-gifted preternatural resilience, there are few injuries that they cannot fully recover from given time. However, in those isolated cases where the body has been all but irrevocably destroyed but the Custodian's mind remains intact and their will to survive undimmed, internment within the cold and unyielding body of a Dreadnought is the next step. For the Custodians, only in death does duty truly end.To this purpose, the few Dreadnoughts of the Legio Custodes were as singularly advanced as their other wargear, with unique variants of more common patterns available to the Legio Astartes refitted to the particular physiology of the Custodians themselves, and outfitted with Artificer-wrought weapons and systems.Though they remained relatively rare, with less than perhaps a hundred Dreadnoughts of the Legio Custodes in service at the time of Primarch Magnus' folly and the subsequent attack on Prospero, they represented a phenomenally powerful concentration of force, most having had their chassis upgraded to the Achillus Pattern, a variant of the Contemptor manufactured with materials and technologies far beyond even the vaunted war machines of the Legiones Astartes.
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Contemptor-Achillus Dreadnought - Wargear: Contemptor-Achillus Dreadspear - In addition to their standard armament, such is the dexterity and power of the Achillus Pattern Dreadnoughts of the Legio Custodes that they were able to wield scaled-up versions of the iconic Guardian Spear of their Legio with devastating power.2 Dreadnought Close-Combat Weapons with built-in Lastrum Storm BoltersSmoke LaunchersSearchlightRefractor FieldExtra Armour
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Contemptor-Achillus Dreadnought - Optional Wargear: An Achillus Dreadnought may be equipped with the following:Achillus Dreadspear with built-in Corvae Las-PulserAn Achillus Dreadnought may replace any of its Lastrum Storm Bolters with one of the following:Twin-linked Adrathic DestructorInfernus Incinerator
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Contemptor-Cortus Dreadnought - Contemptor-Cortus Dreadnought: The Contemptor-Cortus Dreadnought, also known as the Contemptor-Cortus Class Dreadnought, was a variant of the standard Contemptor Pattern Dreadnought that was designed to replace the original Contemptor Prime model in the field. It possessed more robust, but less potent, weapons and sub-systems due to its creation from salvaged components. The Contemptor Pattern Dreadnought is an ancient Imperial cybernetic combat walker used by the Space Marine Legions in the days of the Great Crusade and the Horus Heresy, 10,000 Terran years before the present day.Like the current patterns of Dreadnoughts now in service, the Contemptor Pattern Dreadnought served as a cybernetic sarcophagus for an Astartes who had been so badly wounded in battle that his only chance for continued service to the Emperor lay in being interred within the cybernetic sarcophagus of a Dreadnought. The Contemptor Dreadnought, like much of the technology developed at the dawn of the Imperium of Man, is larger and more powerful than its standard pattern counterparts.This pattern of Dreadnought was once a key part of the earliest Space Marine Legion forces raised on Terra in the late 30th Millennium to initiate the Great Crusade. Such relics are sometimes recovered as archeotech by the Imperium in the late 41st Millennium and then used to supplement the forces of the present-day Space Marine Chapters. It is unknown if any Contemptor-Cortus Dreadnought variants still exist in the modern day Imperium, or if the Space Marine Chapters that may possess them would even know the difference between the Cortus and the standard pattern Contemptor.
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Contemptor-Cortus Dreadnought - History: The Contemptor-Cortus Dreadnought was first created during the ancient Ullanor Crusade against the Orks, where it was used to replace the battlefield losses of Legion Dreadnoughts which had far outstripped supply. The Cortus Pattern was created from damaged or wrecked examples of the highly successful original Prime Contemptor pattern, and utilised many of the same base components. However, most of the more sophisticated systems and sub-systems were replaced with robust -- if less potent -- replacement systems that could be more easily fabricated in the field by the Legions. The result was a war machine with its own unique strengths and combat characteristics, but also with a reputation for instability.The Mechanicum strongly disapproved of this ersatz design, and upon the conclusion of the Ullanor Campaign the Contemptor-Cortus Pattern was phased out almost entirely with surviving examples of the Cortus either being decommissioned or put into permanent slumber. Afterwards, the production of new Contemptor-Primes and Castraferrum Pattern Dreadnoughts met the shortfall. The Contemptor-Cortus Pattern was well on its way to being nothing more than a footnote in the annals of the Legiones Astartes, eventually to be forgotten altogether.This would not come to pass, however, for shortly after the great triumph at Ullanor the Horus Heresy would set the galaxy ablaze, and the Contemptor-Cortus would see a resurrection in that grinding interstellar civil war. During the Heresy, many more Contemptor-Cortus Dreadnoughts strode into battle, either as newly constructed models or cannibalised from the remains of Contemptor Primes or Mortis Pattern Contemptors, salvaged from wreckage found all over the galaxy.
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Contemptor-Cortus Dreadnought - Armament: The standard load-out found on a Contemptor-Cortus Dreadnought is a set of twin-linked Heavy Bolters attached to one arm and a massive Dreadnought Close Combat Weapon on the other with a built-in twin-linked Bolter. Smoke Launchers and a Searchlight complete the standard weapons load-out. A Contemptor-Cortus' standard weapons complement can be replaced with a number of different weapons to suit different tactical needs, including a Multi-melta, a set of twin-linked Autocannons, a Plasma Cannon, a Kheres Pattern Assault Cannon, a set of twin-linked Lascannons, a power-leeching Heavy Conversion Beamer, and a Dreadnought Chainfist with a built-in twin-linked Bolter.A Contemptor-Cortus can replace its built-in twin-linked Bolter with a Heavy Flamer, a Plasma Blaster or a Graviton Gun. It can also be outfitted with Extra Armour Plating and a carapace-mounted Havoc Missile Launcher. All Contemptor-Cortus Dreadnoughts are protected by an Atomantic Deflector, which generates a protective gravitic shield around the walker using an advanced Atomantic power core and which provides greater protection from both ranged and melee attacks for the walker. However, when damaged, the Atomantic power generator can overload and result in a devastating miniature atomic explosion that can badly damage nearby allied units.
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Contemptor-Cortus Dreadnought - Unit Composition: 1-3 Legion Contemptor-Cortus Dreadnoughts
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Contemptor-Cortus Dreadnought - Wargear: A standard Legion Contemptor-Cortis Dreadnought is armed and equipped with:One set of twin-linked Heavy BoltersOne Dreadnought Close Combat Weapon (Dreadnought Powerfist) with in-built twin-linked BolterSmoke LaunchersSearchlightAtomantic DeflectorAny Legion Contemptor-Cortus Dreadnought may replace their twin-linked Heavy Bolters and/or its Dreadnought Close Combat Weapon with any of these options:A second Dreadnought Close Combat Weapon (Dreadnought Powerfist) with in-built twin-linked Bolter (Replaces the twin-linked Heavy Bolter Arm Only)A second Dreadnought Close Combat Weapon (Dreadnought Chainfist) with in-built twin-linked Bolter (Replaces the twin-linked Heavy Bolter Arm or Dreadnought Close Combat Weapon Arm with Dreadnought Powerfist)Multi-MeltaHeavy Plasma CannonHeavy Conversion Beamer (Limited to One Only)Kheres Pattern Assault CannonOne set of twin-linked AutocannonsOne set of twin-linked LascannonsOne set of twin-linked Volkite CulverinsAny Legion Contemptor-Cortus Dreadnought may replace their in-built twin-linked Bolters from the Dreadnought Close Combat Weapon with any of these options:Heavy FlamerPlasma BlasterGraviton GunMeltagunLegion Contemptor-Cortus Dreadnoughts may also have a variety of vehicle equipment such as:Extra Armour PlatingHavoc Missile Launcher (Carapace-mounted)
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Contemptor-Cortus Dreadnought - Adeptus Mechanicus Technical Specifications: Contemptor-Cortus Class DreadnoughtVehicle Name:Contemptor-Cortus DreadnoughtMain Armament:One arm-mounted set of twin-linked Heavy BoltersForge World of Origin:N/A (Field Conversion)Secondary Armament:One arm-mounted Dreadnought Close Combat Weapon with inbuilt twin-linked BoltersKnown Patterns:N/ATraverse:360 degreesCrew:1 interred Space MarineElevation:-90° to +90°Powerplant:Atomantic Arc ReactorMain Ammunition:VariableWeight:14.5 TonnesSecondary Ammunition:VariableLength:2.1 metresArmour:Width:3.1 metresHeight:4.5 metresSuperstructure:200 millimetresGround Clearance:N/AHull:75 millimetresMax Speed On-Road:12 kilometres per hourGun Mantlet:180 millimetresMax Speed Off-Road:7 kilometres per hourVehicle Designation:N/ATransport Capacity:N/AFiring Ports:N/AAccess Points:N/ATurret:N/A
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Contemptor-Cortus Dreadnought - Sources: The Horus Heresy: Book Six - Retribution (Forge World Series) by Alan Bligh, pp. 238-239The Horus Heresy: Legiones Astartes - Age of Darkness Army List (Forge World Series), pp. 38-39Forge World Webstore - Contemptor-Cortus Dreadnought Talon (Defunct Site)
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Contemptor-Galatus Dreadnought - Contemptor-Galatus Dreadnought: The Contemptor-Galatus Dreadnought is a sub-variant of the Contemptor-Achillus Dreadnought utilised exclusively by the Legio Custodes during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy eras. Similar in aspect to the Contemptor Dreadnoughts of the Legiones Astartes of this same era, the Contemptor-Galatus is a markedly superior war machine. It is still fielded by the Adeptus Custodes in the 41st Millennium.The unrivaled skills of the transhuman warrior entombed within its sarcophagus notwithstanding, the Contemptor-Galatus is stronger, faster and better-armoured. Armed with a formidable array of weaponry, the Contemptor-Galatus is a potent close-combatant and was nigh unstoppable, even against the heaviest enemy firepower.
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Contemptor-Galatus Dreadnought - Role: The Contemptor-Galatus was designed to provide a mobile anchor point for a Legio Custodes battleline in the field. To this end, the Galatus was analogous to the specialised Sentinel Guard formations of the Legio Custodes, and is armed with a potent combination of a huge Galatus Warblade and vastly enlarged version of the Praesidium Shield.The warblade allows the Contemptor-Galatus to swiftly and efficiently reap a murderous toll of any massed infantry assault at close-quarters, or indeed hack through armoured vehicles and monstrous xenos with equal ease. It is the defensive power of the hulking Praesidium Shield, however, that is the Contemptor-Galatus' most significant feature, as with it the already durable Contemptor chassis becomes nigh-on impregnable, even against the heaviest of firepower.
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Contemptor-Galatus Dreadnought - Wargear: Galatus Warblade with built-in twin-linked Infernus Incinerator - A huge Dreadnought Close Combat Weapon in the form of a power sword, the Galatus Warblade is wielded by the Dreadnought as easily as a Sentinel Guard might their own sword. The Galatus' signature weapon is able to shear through ranks of armoured troops with a single pass, while its built-in, twin-linked incinerator units are equally designed to swiftly purge a numerically superior enemy.Dreadnought Praesidium Shield (Horus Heresy era only) - Essentially a scaled-up version of the prototype energy-reinforced battle shield carried by the Sentinel Guard of the Legio Custodes, the Dreadnought Praesidium Shield made the Contemptor-Galatus a truly formidable defensive element in any Legio Custodes battleline; a bulwark upon which the strongest shock attack might break and shatter.Galatus Shield (Present Day)Smoke LaunchersSearchlightRefractor FieldExtra Armour
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Contemptor-Galatus Dreadnought - Sources: The Horus Heresy - Book Seven: Inferno (Forge World Series) by Alan Bligh, pp. 114, 279, 283Forge World Webstore - Legio Custodes Contemptor-Galatus DreadnoughtForge World Custodes Datasheets
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Contemptor-Incaendius Dreadnought - Contemptor-Incaendius Dreadnought: The Contemptor-Incaendius Dreadnought was a unique sub-class of Contemptor Pattern Dreadnought utilised exclusively by the Blood Angels Legion during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy eras of the 30th and 31st Millennia.What set this class of Contemptor Dreadnought apart from its peers was its use of an external Incaendius Booster Pack secured to its back that allowed it to be utilised as an elite heavy assault unit in heavily contested drop zones.This enabled the Blood Angels to employ them from low orbit or make a one-off leap right into the heart of their enemy's ranks.It is not known if the Blood Angels Chapter of the late 41st Millennium still maintains any examples of this relic class of Dreadnought within their Chapter's armoury.
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Contemptor-Incaendius Dreadnought - Role: The Contemptor-Incaendius Dreadnought was a sub-class of the Contemptor Dreadnought chassis manufactured only within the Mechanicum enclave that clung to the irradiated surface of Baal's first moon, under ancient treaty with the great Forge World of Anvillus.Similar in most respects to the widely used Contemptor chassis, the Incaendius differed in one key aspect: the external Incaendius Booster Pack secured to its back.This volatile, single-burn magneto-plasma engine was powerful enough to decelerate the Dreadnought in a fall from low orbit or to propel it in a shallow leap at significant velocity despite the bulk of its armour and ceramite endoskeleton.It served the Blood Angels Legion as a shock assault unit of unparalleled ferocity, for the half-dead warrior entombed within suffered none of the disorientation such tactics inflicted on the living.Most commonly, such vehicles were armed with weapons designed for battle at close ranges, with Flamers and the so-called Talons of Perdition being preferred, though some had been known to employ the prototype Iliastus Pattern Assault Cannon.These weapons were well-suited to the Dreadnought's role, which was to secure a heavily contested drop zone for the Blood Angels' infantry that followed on its heels. Those enemies that survived the impact of its arrival were given no opportunity to fortify their position or to fall back in good order.
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Contemptor-Incaendius Dreadnought - Unit Composition: 1 Contemptor-Incaendius Dreadnought
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Contemptor-Incaendius Dreadnought - Wargear: 2 Talons of Perdition with built-in Heavy FlamersSmoke LaunchersSearchlightAtomantic ShieldingArmoured CeramiteIncaendius Booster Pack
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Contemptor-Incaendius Dreadnought - Optional Wargear: A Contemptor-Incaendius may replace either built-in Heavy Flamer with one of the following:MeltagunIliastus Pattern Assault CannonA Contemptor-Incaendius may replace either of its Talons of Perdition with the following:Dreadnought Close Combat WeaponExtra Armour
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Contemptor-Mortis Dreadnought - Contemptor-Mortis Dreadnought: The Contemptor-Mortis Dreadnought, also known as the Contemptor-Mortis Class Dreadnought, was a variant of the standard Contemptor Pattern Dreadnought, specifically the original Contemptor Prime model, that possessed two ranged weapon arms. The Contemptor Pattern Dreadnought is an ancient Imperial cybernetic combat walker used by the Space Marine Legions in the days of the Great Crusade and the Horus Heresy, 10,000 Terran years before the present day. Like the current patterns of Dreadnoughts now in service, the Contemptor Pattern Dreadnought served as a cybernetic sarcophagus for an Astartes who had been so badly wounded in battle that his only chance for continued service to the Emperor lay in being interred within the cybernetic sarcophagus of a Dreadnought.The Contemptor Dreadnought, like much of the technology developed at the dawn of the Imperium of Man, is larger and more powerful than its standard pattern counterparts. This pattern of Dreadnought was once a key part of the earliest Space Marine Legion forces raised on Terra in the late 30th Millennium to initiate the Great Crusade. Such relics are sometimes recovered as archeotech by the Imperium in the late 41st Millennium and then used to supplement the forces of the present-day Space Marine Chapters.
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Contemptor-Mortis Dreadnought - History: In the time of the Great Crusade, Dreadnought combat walkers primarily served as heavy assault units and highly mobile weapons support platforms for the Space Marine Legions. They were highly valued for their ability to endure under very heavy enemy fire and to operate in locations and theatres where traditional combat support vehicles would be impractical or downright impossible to use. The Contemptor-Mortis Dreadnought used the more advanced Contemptor chassis as a potent carrier of heavy weapons. It was able to target and destroy the foe at close range and was also outfitted with an advanced Helical Targeting Array that allowed it to provide a Space Marine spearhead force with close anti-air support when needed. During the last years of the Great Crusade, the Contemptor-Mortis Dreadnought was widely used by both the Dark Angels and Iron Warriors Legions, although it was used to some extent by all of the Astartes Legions during this era. Ten standard millennia later, there remain several Contemptor-Mortis Dreadnoughts that are still operational. They are revered both as potent relics of the Imperium's Golden Age and as powerful weapons by those few Space Marine Chapters lucky enough to still possess them.
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Contemptor-Mortis Dreadnought - Armament: The Contemptor-Mortis Dreadnought differs from the standard pattern Contemptor Dreadnought only in being outfitted with two ranged-weapons arms as a standard weapon load-out along with the integration of a Helical Targeting Array that allows the Dreadnought to unleash its heavy weapons as dedicated anti-aircraft support. The standard load-out of the Contemptor-Mortis was two sets of twin-linked Heavy Bolters, along with Smoke Launchers and a Searchlight. The walker's Heavy Bolters could be replaced with several different weapons, including a set of twin-linked Autocannons, a set of twin-linked Lascannons, a set of Multi-Meltas or a set of Kheres Pattern Assault Cannons. The Contemptor-Mortis could also be outfitted with Extra Armour Plating and a carapace-mounted Havoc Missile Launcher. In the late 41st Millennium the Contemptor-Mortis can be equipped with a carapace-mounted Cyclone Missile Launcher instead of the Havoc Missile Launcher.The Mortis Dreadnought was the Castraferrum Pattern Dreadnought's version of the Contemptor-Mortis Dreadnought, although many of this version lacked the Helical Targeting Array that allowed the Contemptor-Mortis to engage enemy aircraft, along with being built upon the less advanced Castraferrum chassis.
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Contemptor-Mortis Dreadnought - Unit Composition: 1 Relic Contemptor-Mortis Dreadnought (41st Millennium Only)1 Legion Contemptor-Mortis Dreadnought (31st Millennium Only)
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Contemptor-Mortis Dreadnought - Wargear: A standard Relic Contemptor-Mortis Dreadnought is armed and equipped with:2 twin-linked Heavy BoltersAtomantic ShieldingAny Relic Contemptor-Mortis Dreadnought may replace its twin-linked Heavy Bolters with these options:2 Multi-Meltas2 twin-linked Lascannons2 twin-linked Autocannons2 Heavy Plasma Cannons2 Kheres Pattern Assault CannonsRelic Contemptor-Mortis Dreadnoughts may also possess vehicle equipment such as:Smoke LaunchersSearchlightExtra Armour Plating Cyclone Missile Launcher (carapace-mounted)
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Contemptor-Mortis Dreadnought - Horus Heresy Era Wargear: During the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy eras the Contemptor-Mortis Dreadnoughts of the Legiones Astartes featured many more loadout options than those relics that still exist in the 41st Millennium.A standard Legion Contemptor-Mortis Dreadnought is armed and equipped with:2 twin-linked Heavy BoltersAtomantic ShieldingSmoke LaunchersSearchlightAtomantic ShieldingHelical Targeting ArrayAny Legion Contemptor-Mortis Dreadnought may replace both of their twin-linked Heavy Bolters with any of these options:2 Multi-Meltas2twin-linked Lascannons2 twin-linked Autocannons2 Kheres Pattern Assault CannonsA Legiones Astartes Contemptor-Mortis Dreadnoughts may also possess vehicle equipment such as:Extra Armour PlatingArmoured Ceramite Plating1-2 Hunter-Killer Missile LaunchersHavoc Missile Launcher (carapace-mounted)
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Contemptor-Mortis Dreadnought - Adeptus Mechanicus Technical Specifications: Contemptor-Mortis Class DreadnoughtVehicle Name:Contemptor-Mortis DreadnoughtMain Armament:Two arm-mounted sets of twin-linked Heavy BoltersForge World of Origin:MarsSecondary Armament:N/AKnown Patterns:N/ATraverse:360 degreesCrew:1 interred Space MarineElevation:-90° to +90°Powerplant:Atomantic Arc ReactorMain Ammunition:VariableWeight:14.5 TonnesSecondary Ammunition:N/ALength:2.1 metresArmour:Width:3.1 metresHeight:4.5 metresSuperstructure:200 millimetresGround Clearance:N/AHull:75 millimetresMax Speed On-Road:12 kilometres per hourGun Mantlet:180 millimetresMax Speed Off-Road:7 kilometres per hourVehicle Designation:N/ATransport Capacity:N/AFiring Ports:N/AAccess Points:N/ATurret:N/A
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Contemptor-Mortis Dreadnought - Sources: The Horus Heresy: Book One - Betrayal (Forge World Series) by Alan Bligh, pp. 99, 170, 174, 177, 180, 200The Horus Heresy: Book Two - Massacre (Forge World Series) by Alan Bligh, pp. 78, 170, 193-195The Horus Heresy: Book Three - Extermination (Forge World Series) by Alan Bligh, pg. 171The Horus Heresy: Book Four - Conquest (Forge World Series) by Alan Bligh, pp. 197, 217, 222The Horus Heresy: Book Five - Tempest (Forge World Series) by Alan Bligh, pg. 155The Horus Heresy: Legiones Astartes - Crusade Army List (Forge World Series), pp. 28-29The Horus Heresy: Legiones Astartes - Age of Darkness Army List (Forge World Series), pp. 9, 36-37Imperial Armour Volume 2 Second Edition - Warmachines of the Adeptus Astartes, pp. 24, 176, 179Imperial Armour Volume 13 - Warmachines of the Lost and the Damned, pg. 108Imperial Armour Index: Forces of the Adeptus Astartes (8th Edition), pg. 26
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Contemptor Pattern Dreadnought - Contemptor Pattern Dreadnought: A Contemptor Pattern Dreadnought is an ancient Imperial cybernetic combat walker used by the Space Marine Legions in the days of the Great Crusade and the Horus Heresy, 10,000 Terran years before the present day.Like the current patterns of Dreadnought, the Contemptor Pattern Dreadnought served as a cybernetic sarcophagus for an Astartes who had been so badly wounded in battle that his only chance for continued service to the Emperor lay in being interred within the cybernetic sarcophagus of a Dreadnought.The Contemptor Pattern, like much of the technology developed at the dawn of the Imperium of Man, is larger and more powerful than its standard pattern counterparts. The Contemptor Dreadnought was once a key part of the earliest Space Marine Legion forces raised on Terra in the late 30th Millennium to initiate the Great Crusade.Such relics are sometimes recovered as archeotech by the Imperium in the late 41st Millennium and then used to supplement the forces of the present-day Space Marine Chapters.The few of these Dreadnoughts that can still be awoken are wonders of a different era, walking reminders of a time when the Emperor strode the galaxy and the Imperium was a bright hope. They may be few in number, but Mankind's enemies still tremble at their approach.
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Contemptor Pattern Dreadnought - History: The Contemptor Pattern Dreadnought was once a staple of the armoured might of the Space Marine Legions first raised on Terra following the end of the Unification Wars. Evidence of their ancient origins exist in the forms of sacred Chapter memento mori and other Imperial monuments raised long ago on worlds such as Necromunda and Lorin Alpha. This suggests that the Contemptor Pattern Dreadnought played an integral part in the earliest Astartes forces raised on Terra for the Great Crusade.A more powerful combat walker than the current patterns of Dreadnought in service with the Adeptus Astartes in the late 41st Millennium, the Contemptor Pattern Dreadnought featured many technological systems that found a parallel in the combat robots of the ancient Legio Cybernetica, including such fabled techno-arcana as Atomantic Field Generator technology that would later be refined and incorporated into the Storm Shields used by Space Marine Terminators and other, now-lost, secrets from the Dark Age of Technology that were meshed with the Contemptor's basic systems.Another interesting aspect of the Contemptor Pattern was the design of the Dreadnought's head. The oversized metal helm possessed the precious cargo of sensor nodes and visual auspex and pict-finders linked to the foetal corpse curled deeper within. The Contemptor was fashioned with the simulacrum of a head to focus its pilot's awareness forwards. It helped to create an impression within the corpse's neurological sensory input/output that it was still alive, for it saw the outside world just as it had seen it in life: from a human perspective, albeit from a much taller vantage point than in the wounded Astartes' previously organic form.During the height of the Great Crusade, the Contemptor served alongside the Castraferrum Pattern Dreadnought as a spearhead unit for the Legiones Astartes. During the Horus Heresy and the wars that followed in its wake like the Great Scouring, they bore the brunt of the fighting by Dreadnoughts in every theatre and as a result suffered the heaviest losses.Like so many of the Imperium's most advanced and sophisticated war-fighting technologies, the ability to manufacture and maintain the Contemptor Dreadnought was essentially lost in the chaotic aftermath of the Heresy, though there exist reports of Contemptor Pattern Dreadnoughts being regularly fielded by First Founding Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes as late as the 36th Millennium.The few Contemptor Dreadnoughts that remain in service in the 41st Millennium are incredibly rare relics of archeotech even in comparison to their fellow Dreadnoughts. But when they take to the field, it is as a living reminder of the Golden Age of the Imperium when the Emperor still walked amongst Mankind, and the foes of Humanity tremble at the sight of its ancient glory.
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Contemptor Pattern Dreadnought - Armament: The standard Contemptor Pattern Dreadnought is outfitted with a twin-linked Heavy Bolter attached to one arm and a massive Dreadnought Close Combat Weapon on the other with a built-in twin-linked Bolter. Smoke Launchers and a Searchlight complete the standard weapons load-out.A Contemptor's standard weapons complement can be replaced with a number of different weapons to suit different tactical needs, including a Multi-melta, a set of twin-linked Autocannons, a Plasma Cannon, a Kheres Pattern Assault Cannon, a twin-linked Lascannon, a power-leeching Heavy Conversion Beamer, and a Chainfist with a built-in, twin-linked Bolter. A Contemptor can replace its built-in twin-linked Bolter with a Heavy Flamer, a Plasma Blaster or a Graviton Gun.It can be outfitted with Extra Armour Plating and a carapace-mounted Havoc Missile Launcher. All Contemptor Dreadnoughts are protected by advanced Atomantic Shielding which generates a protective gravitic shield around the walker using an advanced Atomantic Power Generator and that provides greater protection from both ranged and melee attacks for the walker. However, when damaged, the Atomantic Power Generator can overload and result in a devastating miniature atomic explosion which can badly damage nearby allied units.Some rare examples of Contemptor Pattern Dreadnoughts have been known to carry strange and singular weapons that find their origins in the Dark Age of Technology such as the Kheres Pattern Assault Cannon, considered by some Imperial savants of the techno-arcane to be the forerunner of the Terminators' Assault Cannon, compact Plasma Blasters capable of being fitted to the carapace of a Dreadnought and Gravity Flux Weapons like the Graviton Gun whose secrets were ultimately lost during the civil war between the sects of the Adeptus Mechanicus known as the Schism of Mars at the outset of the Horus Heresy.
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Contemptor Pattern Dreadnought - Unit Composition: 1 Relic Contemptor Pattern Dreadnought (41st Millennium Only)1 Venerable Contemptor Pattern Dreadnought (41st Millennium Only, Adeptus Custodes Only)1-3 Legion Contemptor Pattern Dreadnoughts (31st Millennium Only)
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Contemptor Pattern Dreadnought - Wargear: The Relic Adeptus Astartes Contemptor Dreadnoughts are armed and equipped with:Two Dreadnought Close Combat Weapons (Contemptor Dreadnought Powerfists) with built-in Storm BoltersAtomantic ShieldingRelic Contemptor Dreadnoughts may replace one or both of their Dreadnought Close Combat Weapons (Contemptor Dreadnought Powerfists) with built-in Storm Bolters with any of these options:Dreadnought Close Combat Weapons (Contemptor Dreadnought Chainfist) with built-in Storm BoltersRelic Contemptor Dreadnoughts may replace one or both of their built-in Storm Bolters with any of these options:Heavy FlamerPlasma BlastgunGraviton BlasterRelic Contemptor Dreadnoughts may replace one or both of their Dreadnought Close Combat Weapons (Contemptor Dreadnought Powerfists) with in-built Storm Bolters with any of these options:Twin-linked Heavy BoltersTwin-linked LascannonsTwin-linked AutocannonsMulti-MeltaHeavy Plasma CannonKheres Pattern Assault CannonHeavy Conversion Beamer (C-beam Cannon)
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Contemptor Pattern Dreadnought - Venerable Contemptor Pattern Dreadnought: The Contemptor Pattern Dreadnoughts of the Adeptus Custodes feature a different load-out than those used by the Adeptus Astartes.A Venerable Contemptor Dreadnought is armed and equipped with:1 Multi-Melta1 Dreadnought Close Combat Weapon with built-in Combi-BolterAtomantic ShieldingA Venerable Contemptor Dreadnought may replace their Multi-Melta with:Kheres Pattern Assault Cannon
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Contemptor Pattern Dreadnought - Horus Heresy Wargear: A standard Legion Contemptor Pattern Dreadnought of this ancient era is armed and equipped with:Twin-linked Heavy BoltersDreadnought Close Combat Weapon (Dreadnought Powerfist) with built-in twin-linked BolterSmoke LaunchersSearchlightAtomantic ShieldingAny Legion Contemptor Pattern Dreadnought may replace their twin-linked Heavy Bolters with any of these options:A second Dreadnought Close Combat Weapon (Dreadnought Powerfist) with built-in twin-linked BolterDreadnought Close Combat Weapon (Dreadnought Chainfist) with built-in twin-linked BolterMulti-MeltaPlasma CannonHeavy Conversion BeamerKheres Pattern Assault CannonTwin-linked AutocannonsTwin-linked LascannonsTwin-linked Volkite CulverinsAny Legion Contemptor Pattern Dreadnought may replace their Dreadnought Close Combat (Dreadnought Powerfist) with any of these options:Dreadnought Close Combat Weapon (Dreadnought Chainfist) with built-in twin-linked BolterMulti-MeltaPlasma CannonKheres Pattern Assault CannonTwin-linked AutocannonsTwin-linked LascannonsTwin-linked Heavy BoltersTwin-linked Volkite CulverinsAny Legion Contemptor Pattern Dreadnought may replace the built-in twin-linked Bolters from their Dreadnought Close Combat Weapons with any of these options:Heavy FlamerPlasma BlasterGraviton GunMeltagunCombi-bolterLegiones Astartes' Contemptor Pattern Dreadnoughts may also have a variety of vehicle equipment such as:Extra Armour PlatingHavoc Missile Launcher (carapace-mounted)
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Contemptor Pattern Dreadnought - Contemptor-Mortis Dreadnought: In the time of the Great Crusade, Dreadnought combat walkers primarily served as heavy assault units and highly mobile weapons support platforms for the Space Marine Legions. They were highly valued for their ability to endure under very heavy enemy fire and to operate in locations and theatres where traditional combat support vehicles would be impractical or downright impossible to use.The Contemptor-Mortis sub-pattern used the more advanced Contemptor chassis as a potent carrier of heavy weapons. It was able to target and destroy the foe at close range and was also outfitted with an advanced Helical Targeting Array that allowed it to provide a Space Marine spearhead force with close anti-air support when needed. During the last years of the Great Crusade, the Contemptor-Mortis sub-pattern was widely used by both the Dark Angels and Iron Warriors Legions, although it was used to some extent by all of the Astartes Legions during this era.Ten millennia later, there remain several Contemptor-Mortis Dreadnoughts that are still operational. They are revered both as potent relics of the Imperium's Golden Age and as powerful weapons by those few Space Marine Chapters lucky enough to still possess them.The Contemptor-Mortis Dreadnought differs from the standard pattern Contemptor Dreadnought only in being outfitted with two ranged-weapons arms as a standard weapon load-out along with the integration of a Helical Targeting Array that allows the Dreadnought to unleash its heavy weapons as dedicated anti-aircraft support.
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Contemptor Pattern Dreadnought - Contemptor-Cortus Dreadnought: The Contemptor-Cortus Dreadnought was first created during the ancient Ullanor Crusade against the Orks, where they were used to replace the battlefield losses in Legion Dreadnoughts which had far outstripped supply. The Cortus Pattern was created from damaged or wrecked examples of the highly successful original "Prime" Contemptor Pattern, and utilised many of the base components.However, a large number of the more sophisticated systems and sub-systems were replaced with robust -- if less potent -- replacements that could be more easily fabricated in the field by the Legions. The result was a war machine with its own unique strengths and combat characteristics, but also with a reputation for instability.The ancient Mechanicum, however, strongly disapproved of this ersatz design, and upon the conclusion of the Ullanor Campaign the Cortus Pattern was phased out almost entirely from the Imperial arsenal, with surviving examples of the Cortus either decommissioned or put into permanent slumber. Afterwards the production of new Contemptor-Primes and Castraferrum Pattern Dreadnoughts met the shortfall. The Cortus Pattern was well on its way to being nothing more than a footnote in the annals of the Legiones Astartes, eventually to be forgotten altogether.This would not come to pass, however, for shortly after the great triumph at Ullanor the Horus Heresy would set the galaxy ablaze, and the Contemptor-Cortus would see a resurrection in that grinding interstellar civil war. During the Horus Heresy many more Contemptor-Cortus Dreadnoughts strode into battle, either as newly constructed models or cannibalised Prime or Mortis Pattern Contemptors, salvaged from wreckage found all over the galaxy.
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Contemptor Pattern Dreadnought - Contemptor-Incaendius Dreadnought: The Contemptor-Incaendius Dreadnought is a sub-class of the Contemptor Dreadnought chassis manufactured only within the ancient Mechanicum enclave that clung to the irradiated surface of Baal's first moon, under ancient treaty with the great Forge World of Anvillus.Similar in most respects to the widely used Contemptor chassis, the Incaendius differed in one key aspect: the external Incaendius Booster Pack secured to its back. This volatile, single-burn magneto-plasma engine was powerful enough to decelerate the Dreadnought in a fall from low orbit or to propel it in a shallow leap at significant velocity despite the bulk of its armour and ceramite endoskeleton.It served the Blood Angels Legion exclusively as a shock assault unit of unparalleled ferocity, for the half-dead warrior entombed within suffered none of the disorientation such tactics inflicted on the living.Most commonly, such vehicles were armed with weapons designed for battle at close ranges, with Flamers and the so-called Talons of Perdition being preferred, though some had been known to employ the prototype Iliastus Pattern Assault Cannon.These weapons were well-suited to the Dreadnought's role, which was to secure a heavily contested drop zone for the Blood Angels' infantry that followed on its heels. Those enemies that survived the impact of its arrival were given no opportunity to fortify their position or to fall back in good order.
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Contemptor Pattern Dreadnought - Chapter Specific Contemptor Pattern Dreadnoughts: The following are Contemptor Dreadnoughts that are only used by certain Space Marine Chapters:
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Contemptor Pattern Dreadnought - Blood Angels Contemptor Pattern Dreadnought: The Blood Angels Chapter and its Successors have long been considered unique amongst the Adeptus Astartes as a result of their history and much of their wargear, as well as for their armoury and the "taint" that some whisper hangs over the Blood Angels and their Brethren since the death of their Primarch Sanguinius during the Battle of Terra at the end of the Heresy.At the end of the Great Crusade, the Blood Angels Legion fielded a large number of Contemptor Pattern Dreadnoughts in its ranks, which had been optimised for close assault duties as was always the tactical preference of that Legion. Very few of these walkers survived the horrors of the Horus Heresy that followed.In the millennia afterwards, the Furioso Dreadnought came to dominate amongst the ranks of the Blood Angels' Dreadnought brothers and what Contemptor Dreadnought remained had been distributed to the Blood Angels' Successor Chapters as living monuments to both the triumphs and the tragedy that defined the Blood Angels Legion's past. They became living monuments of war intended to tie Blood Angels Astartes yet unborn to the fragile and fading memory of the lost glories of Sanguinius.The Blood Angels Contemptor Dreadnought is largely identical to the standard Contemptor with only a few key differences. The Blood Angels variant is optimised for close assault combat and so replaces the standard Contemptor's weapons load-out with two Blood Fists (Blood Angels variants of the Power Fist) with built-in Storm Bolters and Smoke Launchers.It can replace its Blood Fists with Blood Talons (Blood Angels variants of Lightning Claws) and can also make use of a carapace-mounted Magna-Grapple. Unfortunately, like all Blood Angels Astartes, the Space Marine within this Dreadnought can still fall victim to the Chapter's Flaw known as the Black Rage.
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Contemptor Pattern Dreadnought - Space Wolves Contemptor Pattern Dreadnought: The Contemptor Pattern Dreadnought has an uneasy reputation as a result of the dark and strange history of this walker within the ancient Space Wolves Legion which was woven into the sagas and legends of the present day Space Wolves Chapter. The Contemptor was never as numerous within the Space Wolves as it was in some of the other Space Marine Legions of the Great Crusade era as they favoured the Castraferrum Mars Pattern Mark IVs and Mark Vs due to their robust natures and ease of repair.The Space Wolves' Contemptor Dreadnoughts developed a reputation within the Legion for engaging in excess on the battlefield and unwarranted savagery that stained the character of those interred within the Dreadnought's armoured carapace. This infamy became a form of self-fulfilling prophecy in some cases as the superstitious Iron Priests of the Chapter began to inter only elite fallen Astartes who already possessed sagas relating deeds darker than most of their peers in pursuit of the foe.As a result, the few Contemptor Pattern chassis that survived the Fall of Prospero and the heavy losses the Chapter sustained during the Wars of Apostasy of the 36th Millennium still serve, but are always looked upon as troublesome and ill-omened allies at best by the Astartes of the Great Companies. They are valued for their great prowess in combat and always afforded the respect that all Dreadnoughts are due, but are never fully trusted as is normally the due of such living ancients amongst the Get of Russ.Space Wolves Contemptor Pattern Dreadnoughts are essentially identical to the standard variant of this Dreadnought pattern save for the addition of Smoke Launchers and some morale-building wargear that is unique to the Astartes of the Space Wolves, such as Wolftail Talismans and Wolftooth Necklaces that are derived from the massive, semi-sentient Fenrisian Wolves.Additionally, unlike in other Chapters, the few Contemptor Pattern Dreadnoughts left to the Space Wolves are infamous war engines whose stories are filled with ill-omens, blood and death. As such, these Dreadnoughts are defined by three special sagas that shape the personalities of the warriors within these ceramite behemoths, including:Saga of the Black Cull - A thousand times a thousand dead can be heaped at the feet of this Contemptor Dreadnought, who has shown unwarranted excess upon the battlefield in his pursuit of blood. These Dreadnoughts will actively seek out enemy infantry to slay, no matter the tactical cost to their fellows.Saga of the Forsaken One - This Contemptor Dreadnought's deeds before his internment within his Ceramite shell were dark and marred by unwarranted savagery. Though his battle-brothers remain respectful, they do not wish the shadow of his deeds to blacken their own names. As such, this Contemptor Dreadnought will fight alone and will not be supported by any of his fellow Astartes should he enter close combat.Saga of the Iron God - The warrior within this Contemptor Dreadnought has grown prideful as a result of his enhanced abilities in combat and seeks out other Dreadnoughts or walkers in combat to display his superiority, no matter the tactical cost to his fellows.
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Contemptor Pattern Dreadnought - Adeptus Custodes Contemptor Dreadnoughts: The following is a list of Contemptor Dreadnoughts used by the Adeptus Custodes, including the:
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Contemptor Pattern Dreadnought - Contemptor-Galatus Class Dreadnought: Similar to the Contemptor Dreadnoughts of the Legiones Astartes, the Contemptor-Galatus Dreadnought is a markedly superior war machine. The unrivalled skills of the warrior entombed within its sarcophagus notwithstanding, the Contemptor-Galatus is stronger, faster and better armoured than the more common Contemptors used by the Space Marines.Designed to provide an anchor for a Legio Custodes battleline, the Contemptor-Galatus was armed in similar fashion to the Custodes Sentinel Guard -- wielding a huge Galatus Warblade with its built-in twin-linked Infernus Incinerator, and equipped with a vastly enlarged version of the Praesidium Shield. Already able to withstand heavy assaults with its thick armour and refractor field, the Praesidium Shield allows the Contemptor-Galatus to stand nigh impregnable, enduring the enemy onslaught and reaping a murderous toll with its massive Power Sword.
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Contemptor Pattern Dreadnought - Contemptor-Achillus Class Dreadnought: At the time of the outbreak of the Horus Heresy, the most widely employed Dreadnought by the Legio Custodes was the Contemptor-Achillus Dreadnought, a general battle unit which combined phenomenal strength and speed with the echoes of the interned Custodes' own unmatched martial skill.A fearsome example of Dreadnought technology, this Achillus is armed with the massive Dreadspear, an enlarged Dreadnought-sized version of the Custodes' Guardian Spear.The Dreadnought is also armed with two wrist-mounted Storm Bolters, Infernus Incinerators or Adrathic Destructors.
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Contemptor Pattern Dreadnought - Venerable Contemptor Dreadnought: The Venerable Contemptor Dreadnoughts of the Custodian Guard are revered relics of the Imperium's golden age. Each houses a fallen hero of the Adeptus Custodes, a warrior broken in body but not in mind who has opted to fight to his last breath. The pilot is shorn of all unnecessary flesh, rendered down to little more than a sack of organs and brain matter sustained within an armaglass amniotic tank.The Custodian becomes a god of war, able to stride unharmed through hails of fire and crush the Master of Mankind's foes with their hydraulic might. Articulated in the manner of a human warrior, the Contemptor fights with a deceptive dexterity for its size – onward it pushes, its heavy weapon system laying down a swathe of deadly fire.At close quarters, sweeps of its power fist crush infantry to paste and tear their war engines apart to leave naught but wreckage behind.
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Contemptor Pattern Dreadnought - Chaos Contemptor Pattern Dreadnought: In the aftermath of the galaxy-wide conflict known as the Horus Heresy and the subsequent Great Scouring, the Traitor Legions were pursued by the vengeful Imperium and cast into disorder and retreat. They were eventually driven into the shadow of the greatest Warp Storm in the galaxy, known as the Eye of Terror.During their flight from their persecutors, the Traitors lost much of their cherished and sacred wargear or it became corrupted and scavenged. Much of the more advanced techno-arcana was cast aside in favour of arms more readily manufactured and maintained by the hell-spat forges of the Dark Mechanicum.But even during these dark times for the servants of the Ruinous Powers, the rare few Contemptor Pattern Dreadnoughts were always held as a most precious resource by those Chaos Space Marine warbands fortunate enough to possess them. The nightmarish intellects of the warsmiths of the Traitor Legions fashioned daemonic replacements for those technological systems of the Contemptor Dreadnoughts that they no longer possessed the skills or the materiel to replicate.Unable to maintain the Contemptor's original arcane armaments in exile, the Dark Magi replaced them with occult weapons of diabolical design, forged in blood and suffused by daemonic force, such as the Soul Burner which unleashes explosive blasts of daemonic force that devours the souls of its victims, and the Butcher Cannon, a heavy calibre rotary gun whose shells are bound with daemonic runes of anathema and bloodletting to increase their penetrating power and murderous toll.Another notable piece of forbidden Chaos technology incorporated within a Chaos Contemptor is the replacement of its standard Atomantic Power Generator with a Warp-infused Hellfire Reactor that charges its armoured carapace to provide a preternatural resilience and also serves as a hungry vortex for the soul-stuff of those it has killed. Enemy psykers are particularly vulnerable to its relentless hunger. The cost for this boon, however, is the loss of the advanced Atomantic Shielding used by the original Contemptor Pattern Dreadnought.Though few in number, these ancient relics have changed hands over the millennia many times and carried out countless dark deeds in their wake. Chaos Contemptor Dreadnought chassis have always been preserved for the interment of powerful Chaos Lords, Dark Magos Hereteks and sometimes even worse.As a result of their exalted nature and favour with the Dark Gods the occupants of these Dreadnoughts have avoided the inevitable madness that normally consumes other Chaos Dreadnoughts. These potent combat walkers fuse together the power of Mankind's lost technological might with the diabolic forces of the Warp to create killing machines that are more than a match for any fielded by the forces of the Corpse Emperor.Chaos Contemptor Dreadnoughts are normally dedicated to one of the four major Chaos Gods, which provides the following sorcerous boons in combat:Dedication of Khorne - The Chaos Contemptor Dreadnought can be consumed by a Khornate Berserker rage that increases the speed and velocity of its attacks when it engages in close combat.Dedication of Slaanesh - The Chaos Contemptor Dreadnought is outfitted with sonic weaponry that mimics the effect and usage of grenades and allows it to often gain the drop on the enemy in ranged combat.Dedication of Nurgle - The Chaos Contemptor Dreadnought is afflicted with the decay and pestilence of the Plague Lord and finds itself more resistant to external damage as a result.Dedication of Tzeentch - The Chaos Contemptor Dreadnought finds its effectiveness, damage and ability to target the foe with Bolter and Flamer weapons to be dramatically increased as a result of the arcane blessing of the Lord of Change.
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Contemptor Pattern Dreadnought - Thousand Sons Osiron Pattern Contemptor Dreadnought: The Osiron Pattern Contemptor Dreadnought, or simply the Osiron Dreadnought, was a variant of the ancient Contemptor Pattern Dreadnought used by the Thousand Sons Legion during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy that allowed an Astartes psyker to continue to use his powers after being transformed into a cybernetic behemoth.For many solar decades the arts by which the power of an Astartes psyker could be maintained medically within the armoured sarcophagus of a Dreadnought eluded the Thousand Sons and any other Space Marine Legion that tried, with the occupant experiencing a lingering death, madness or malign psychic phenomena.The Osiron Pattern Dreadnought came about as the result of Magnus the Red himself applying his brilliant mind to solve the problem, resulting in the creation of a device known as the Osiron. This device takes the form of a crown of psychometric barrier lattice encasing the occupant's living brain. The Osiron device was difficult to construct and was barely understood by even the most learned psi-arcanists, though this did not stop the Thousand Sons from outfitting it to their Contemptor Pattern Dreadnoughts, with startlingly powerful results.Imperial records indicate that Magnus the Red, before the Council of Nikaea, gave the schematics of the Osiron device to all of the other Space Marine Legions, though it is likely that most spurned this gift entirely. It is unknown if the Osiron Pattern Dreadnought is still used by the Thousand Sons, or if any other Astartes Legions or their descendants made use of the Osiron.
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Contemptor Pattern Dreadnought - Word Bearers Mhara Gal Tainted Dreadnought: The Mhara Gal Tainted Dreadnought is a variant of the Contemptor Pattern Dreadnought that was once used by the Word Bearers Traitor Legion during the Horus Heresy.The Mhara Gal was first encountered by Imperial forces during the battle for the city of Ithraca amidst the atrocity committed by the Word Bearers on Calth.The first of the Mhara Gal Dreadnoughts is believed to have been created from the barely living remains of a Gal Vorbak Dark Brethren and a battle-shattered Contemptor Dreadnought chassis, both recovered from the blood-soaked ground of Isstvan V.Fused together by unholy practices, they were then corrupted by a Warp-borne power, giving birth to a new monstrosity -- a living engine of war and hatred.
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Contemptor Pattern Dreadnought - Sources: Codex Adeptus Astartes - Space Marines (8th Edition), pp. 83, 166Codex Adeptus Astartes - Dark Angels (8th Edition), pp. 52-53, 102Codex: Space Marines (8th Edition) (Revised Codex), pp. 81, 136Index: Imperium 2 - Armies of the Imperium (8th Edition), pg. 127Imperial Armour - Apocalypse - Second Edition, pp. 24-28, 107Imperial Armour Aeronautica, pg. 38The Horus Heresy - Collected Visions (Background Book), pp. 23, 30, 45, 57-58, 65, 77, 91, 101, 174, 176, 180, 228, 238, 258, 276, 296, 298, 302, 306, 333, 355Imperial Armour Volume Two, Second Edition - War Machines of the Adeptus Astartes, pp. 24, 176-181Imperial Armour Volume Twelve - The Fall of Orpheus, pp. 130, 134-135, 147Imperial Armour Index: Forces of the Adeptus Astartes (8th Edition), pg. 28The Horus Heresy - Book One: Betrayal (Forge World Series) by Alan Bligh, pp. 6, 57, 76, 99, 115, 134, 165, 170, 174, 177-178, 180-181, 200-201, 205, 227-228, 241, 255, 260-261, 263, 288The Horus Heresy - Book Two: Massacre (Forge World Series) by Alan Bligh, pp. 33, 37, 68, 78-79, 96-97, 119, 133, 153, 170, 193-195, 224-226, 256The Horus Heresy - Book Three: Extermination (Forge World Series) by Alan Bligh, pp. 51, 58, 65, 75, 93, 113, 145, 167, 171, 175, 187, 194, 197, 253The Horus Heresy - Book Four: Conquest (Forge World Series) by Alan Bligh, pp. 46, 161, 163, 209, 217, 222The Horus Heresy - Book Five: Tempest (Forge World Series) by Alan Bligh, pp. 47, 78, 155, 240, 246The Horus Heresy - Book Six: Retribution (Forge World Series) by Alan Bligh, pp. 1, 27, 43, 49, 143, 153, 161The Horus Heresy - Book Seven: Inferno (Forge World Series) by Alan Bligh, pp. 63, 87, 148, 195, 211, 214, 236The Horus Heresy - Book Eight: Malevolence (Forge World Series) by Neil Wylie and Anuj Malhotra, pg. 209The Horus Heresy - Book Nine: Crusade (Forge World Series), pp. 69, 127 (Images)The Horus Heresy: Legiones Astartes - Age of Darkness Army List pg. 34Betrayer (Novel) by Aaron Dembski-Bowden, pg. 133Forge World Webstore - Legio Custodes Contemptor-Galatus DreadnoughtForge World Webstore - Legio Custodes Contemptor-Achillus DreadnoughtForge World Webstore - Emperor's Children Legion Contemptor DreadnoughtForge World Webstore - Iron Warriors Legion Contemptor DreadnoughtForge World Webstore - Night Lords Legion Contemptor DreadnoughtForge World Webstore - World Eaters Contemptor DreadnoughtForge World Webstore - Thousand Sons Legion Contemptor DreadnoughtForge World Webstore - Death Guard Legion Contemptor DreadnoughtForge World Webstore - Sons of Horus Legion Contemptor DreadnoughtForge World Webstore - Word Bearers Legion Contemptor DreadnoughtForge World Webstore - Alpha Legion Contemptor DreadnoughtForge World Webstore - Imperial Fists Contemptor DreadnoughtForge World Webstore - Blood Angels Legion Contemptor-Incaendius Class DreadnoughtForge World Webstore - Iron Hands Legion Contemptor DreadnoughtForge World Webstore - Salamanders Legion Contemptor DreadnoughtForge World Webstore - Raven Guard Legion Contemptor DreadnoughtForge World Webstore - Contemptor Pattern Dreadnought BodyForge World Webstore - Relic Contemptor Dreadnought BodyForge World Webstore - Hecaton Aiakos Minotaurs Contemptor Dreadnought
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Contenders - Contenders: The Contenders is a Codex Astartes-compliant Loyalist Space Marine Chapter of unknown Founding and origin. Almost nothing is known about this Chapter in the Imperial records, except that they were created some time after the Second Founding.
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Contenders - Chapter Colours: The Contenders Chapter primarily wears dark grey Power Armour. This includes the helmet, torso, arms, shoulder plate trim, groin and upper legs. The power pack, shoulder plates and lower legs are a lighter grey. The red squad specialty symbol -- Tactical, Assault, Devastator or Veteran -- is indicated on the right shoulder plate. A black Roman numeral centred on the squad specialty symbol indicates squad number. The colour of the Aquila or Imperialis on the chest, indicates company number in accordance with the Codex -- i.e. White (1st Company), Yellow (2nd Company), Red (3rd Company), etc.
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Contenders - Chapter Badge: The Contenders' Chapter badge is a stylised clenched red fist on a field of light grey. The fist symbol used is similar to that used by the Imperial Fists.
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Contenders - Sources: Adeptus Astartes: Successor Chapters (Limited Release Booklet), pg. 25Chapter Approved 2001 - Second Book of the Astronomican, pg. 117
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Contingent - Contingent: A contingent, or tio've in the T'au Lexicon, is a large military unit of the T'au Empire's Fire Caste. A contingent is a grouping of several cadres, normally three to six in number, equivalent to an Astra Militarum regiment. The most senior T'au Commander is designated as Contingent Commander, and their own cadre is nominated as a headquarters guard. An Ethereal might be present in such a force at cadre level, but there is always at least one present when a contingent is formed.Ethereals often stay at the headquarters position, as it is a hub for incoming reports and their counsel can best be received there. Should an Ethereal wish a closer observation of a situation, they will attach to or even assume leadership over a given cadre.Unlike a cadre, a contingent is not a permanent formation, though efforts are made to preserve contingents that have served efficiently together through prolonged campaigns. Once objectives are achieved -- such as a breakthrough of enemy lines or the elimination of a foe -- the contingent is dissolved or reformed into another arrangement.
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Contorted Epitome - Contorted Epitome: A Contorted Epitome is a daemonic construction in the form of a great mirror used by the Daemons of Slaanesh to unleash and deny psychic powers on the battlefield.Rivalry is common among the Daemons of Slaanesh, but those few that can abide each other's presence are often assigned as stewards of an ornate Mirror of Absorption.These semi-sentient relics are taken from the Pleasure Palace of Slaanesh in the Realm of Chaos and used in battle to absorb the psychic energies of the Dark Prince's foes, before turning them back with terrifying effectiveness.Each mirror holds an immense reserve of psychic energy and is also used by the Dark Prince's Daemons to manifest the Chaos God's power to aid its servants in combat.A Contorted Epitome can also deny Slaanesh's daemonic and mortal enemies the ability to use their own psychic powers.
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