Space Marine Captain
A Captain leads from the front. By his example shall his men know what it is to be of the Adeptus Astartes, and from his teachings shall they learn the trade of battle in the Emperor's name.
No ordinary man can a Captain be, for many are the paths to victory and he must be master of them all. His very being shall be an extension of the Emperor's work. With every strike of his sword, with every word of his speech, does he reaffirm the ideals of our honoured master. He will vanquish darkness and heresy with every thought, word, and deed. So shall his coming be a sign of deliverance to the dutiful, and a herald of dismay to all traitors. No living man shall stay his wrath.
Roboute Guilliman, quoted in the Apocrypha of Skaros.[1]
A Space Marine Captain (also known as Brother-Captain) typically commands an entire company of his battle brothers (a customary maximum of one hundred Marines).
Contents
Role and Responsibilities
In addition to leadership of his own Company and its resources, a Captain may have other Chapter responsibilities (and correspondingly, an additional title) - usually being responsible for an area of Chapter logistics.[1] Typically, the senior-most Captain commands the First Company and often serves as second-in-command to the Chapter Master and as their immediate successor.[9][10]
In addition some chapters, such as the Salamanders[7] and the Space Wolves[3a], the Chapter Master is at once the leader of the entire chapter and of his own company of marines.
Additionally, the commander of a Space Marine Company's Battle Barge may be referred to as "Captain" aboard his vessel, regardless of his regular rank.[Needs Citation]
Chapter Variations
- Shadow Captain redirects here; for the novella, see Shadow Captain (Novella)
Within many chapters, the Captain is sometimes referred to as "Brother-Captain" in recognition of the fact that all marines within the chapter are brethren. Several chapters refer to their Company Captains by different titles:
Chapter | Title Variant |
Dark Angels | Master[2] |
Space Wolves | Wolf Lord[3b] |
Red Scorpions | Commander[4] |
Black Templars | Marshal or Castellan[5] |
Iron Hands | Iron Captain[11] |
Grey Knights | Brother-Captain (represents a slightly different rank)[6] |
Raven Guard | Shadow Captain[1] |
Excoriators | Corpus-Captain[8] |
Notable Space Marine Captains
Miniatures
Captain Erasmus Tycho of the Blood Angels 3rd Company - (deceased)
Master Belial of the Dark Angels Deathwing
Master Sammael of the Dark Angels Ravenwing
Grey Knights Captain Arvann Stern
First Captain Darnath Lysander of the Imperial Fists
Shadow Captain Kayvaan Shrike of the Raven Guard
Wolf Lord Ragnar Blackmane of the Space Wolves
Captain Cato Sicarius of the Ultramarines 2nd Company
- SMCap.jpg
A Blood Angels Space Marine Captain
Sources
- 1: Codex: Space Marines (5th Edition), [Needs Citation]
- 2: Codex: Dark Angels (4th Edition), pg. 14
- 3: Codex: Space Wolves (5th Edition)
- 4: Imperial Armour Volume Six - The Siege of Vraks - Part Two, [Needs Citation]
- 5: Codex: Black Templars, [Needs Citation]
- 6: Codex: Grey Knights (5th Edition), [Needs Citation]
- 7: Index Astartes IV, [Needs Citation]
- 8: Legion of the Damned (Novel), Chapter One, pg. 33
- 9: Fall of Damnos (Novel), by Nick Kyme, Chapter Three, pg. 57
- 10: Codex: Blood Angels (5th Edition), pg. 8
- 11: Codex: Space Marines (6th Edition) (E-Book Edition) pg.234