Difference between revisions of "White Scars"
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*[[Altan Nohai]] - [[Apothecary]] and later member of the [[Knights-Errant]] | *[[Altan Nohai]] - [[Apothecary]] and later member of the [[Knights-Errant]] | ||
*[[Timur Gantulga]] - Captain | *[[Timur Gantulga]] - Captain | ||
+ | *[[Hakeem]] - Captain | ||
*[[Naranbaatar]] - [[Stormseer]] | *[[Naranbaatar]] - [[Stormseer]] | ||
*[[Halji]] | *[[Halji]] |
Revision as of 20:55, 22 March 2017
The White Scars were the V Legion of the original twenty Space Marine Legions of the First Founding. Their Primarch is Jaghatai Khan. During the Horus Heresy the White Scars remained loyal to the Emperor, after which they reorganized and split into Chapters. Drawing on the tribal savagery of their homeworld, the White Scars practice a highly mobile method of warfare, tearing into their enemies with lightning-quick attacks and vanishing before a response can be made. Despite being characterized as barbarians, the White Scars are a highly cultured Chapter. Poetry is among their most respected and ancient traditions.[25]
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Contents
History
The Great Crusade
By the time the 5th Legion was united with their Primarch Jaghatai Khan, he had united the fierce tribes of his homeworld Mundus Planus. Upon meeting the Emperor, Jaghatai recognized him as a man who embodied his ultimate ideal, someone who could unite all the stars of the sky. At his palace at Quan Zhou he swore allegiance to the Emperor and was given command of the 5th Legion. The Astartes adopted the facial ritual scars of the Talskar tribesmen and renamed themselves "White Scars", while many of Khan's loyal tribesmen were allowed to join the Legion.[3a] Jaghatai's palace, located in the rugged, lonely mountain passes of the Khum Karta mountains, would become the Legion's Fortress-monastery.[1]
The White Scars fought many bloody battles during the Great Crusade and under Jaghatai Khan they became infamous for their fast attacks and hit-and-run assaults.[3a]
The Horus Heresy
Jaghatai Khan and his Legion had spent several years in a campaign against the Orks of the Chondax System, which had been intentionally prolonged by the Alpha Legion,[19] when news about the betrayal of Horus and the Drop Site Massacre arrived. They were urged by Rogal Dorn to return to Terra[7a] The Khan was contacted by Leman Russ who had just returned from Prospero and offered to join forces with him. Horus, however, had anticipated this and sent the Alpha Legion to launch an assault on Russ' outnumbered Space Wolves, where they were defeated at Yarant.[7a][8] Although he despised leaving the Space Wolves on their own and was faced with dangerous Warp Storms, Jagathai Khan followed Dorn's urgent request to return to Terra immediately rather than engaging in a costly battle against the Alpha Legion. Most of all, the Khan sought to find answers for himself as to what had happened to the Imperium. Using a fleet formation known as the chisel, the White Scars broke a nearby Alpha Legion blockade, destroyed several of their warships, and left the Chondax System behind.[7a]
The Khan eventually decided to return to the source of all of these problems to investigate for himself and arrived at Prospero after its apocalyptic attack by the Space Wolves. Of both sides, the White Scars initially found no sign, but the ghosts of slain Thousand Sons soon appeared and the White Scars found their weapons ineffective against these deadly enemies and Master Qin Xa ordered an immediate retreat. Eventually the Khan himself was confronted by an ethereal projection of Magnus the Red, who implored his brother to choose a side in this war and not trust the Emperor. In the end the Khan shattered the shade with his sword. Jaghatai and his Keshig next encountered Mortarion and his Deathshroud of the Death Guard, and the two sides came to battle. Meanwhile as White Scars and Death Guard ships began to engage each other in space, the legion was faced with an attempted coup led by Torghun Khan and Hasik-Noyan Khan to take command of the White Scars fleet while it was at Prospero, and join their forces with Horus. Cultural tensions between members of the Legion born on Terra and those from Chogoris had been fermenting for years, with many of those from Humanity's birthplace favoring Horus while those from the Khan's adopted world favored loyalty to his word. Thanks to the efforts of Shiban Khan, who led a boarding party onto the Swordstorm and battled the traitors until Jaghatai arrived, the plot failed. Mortarion and the Death Guard withdrew shortly after following a brief battle in space.[25] Surviving traitors within the Scars were condemned to the Sagyar Mazan, suicide units that would atone through death against the enemy.[34]
For the next four years, the White Scars found themselves trapped far from Terra. Warp Storms cut off long-distance Warp travel while the traitor fleets blocked the best routes to Humanity's capital. Faced with no other choice, Jaghatai had the Scars wage a hit-and-run campaign of attrition. While damaging to Horus' war effort, it did not halt his progress towards Terra and 1/5th of the White Scars Legion was lost in the fighting. Soon, it became apparent that the traitors were adjusting to the Scars tactics and the Legion slowly became boxed in. It was after the Battle of the Kalium Gate and the death of Qin Xa that the Khan decided that they had suffered enough and a way to Terra would be forged. Eventually, the Scars were able to discover the Dark Glass artifact and through the sacrifice of Chief Stormseer Targutai Yesugei a portal into the Webway was opened that allowed for the Scars to reach Terra.[34]
The Battle of Terra
During the siege of the Emperor's Palace the White Scars fought alongside the Blood Angels and Imperial Fists against the traitors. They launched several hit-and-run assaults and together with remnants of the 1st Terran Tank Division and several Imperial Infantry Regiments they successfully harassed the enemy supply lines on Lions Gate spaceport.[7b]
Post-Heresy
After the Horus Heresy, the White Scars adopted the Codex Astartes and the Legion was divided into several Chapters.
In order to contain the outlaws, renegades and aliens that dwell within the Maelstrom, Roboute Guilliman ordered the surrounding systems to be reinforced. The White Scars were tasked with the main responsibility of securing the area from their homeworld.[5]
Notable Engagements Post-Heresy
- ???: The Lost Kin. According to the writing of the Great Khan of Quan Zhou, the White Scars learned upon their return to Mundus Planus that their homeworld had been the target of numerous Dark Eldar raids. Jaghatai swore many oaths against the Dark Eldar and fought them in many battles. It was during the battle of Corusil V that he and his first brotherhood followed a mighty Dark Eldar lord through a gate into the webway, vanishing forever. To this day the White Scars hold a great hate for these aliens.[3]
- ???: The Gehoft Incursion. When a planet Gehöft became the point of the Blighted Claw attack and Daemonic incursion, White Scars of Kor'sarro Khan with the aid of the Dark Angels Chapter and Brindelweld Imperial Guards arrived to help the inhabitants. Unfortunately it was to late and despite the fury confrontation, the planet was lost and undergo Exterminatus.[30]
- ???: The Attack on Volghast. There was a battle between the White Scars and the Tau of the Vior'la Sept in M41. Librarian Kaljuk managed to confuse the senses of Tau forces and set an ambush that totally overwhelm the Xenos.[31]
- ???: The Blackfist Scalping
- ???.M41: The Hunt for Voldorius
- ???.M41: The Jopal Uprising
- 742.M41: The Damocles Crusade
- 755.M41: The Sabbat Worlds Crusade. The White Scars fought alongside Saint Sabbat during her crusade to liberate the Sabbat Worlds from the forces of Chaos. After her martyrdom on Harkalon, where she suffered the Nine Holy Wounds, her body was retrieved by the White Scars and interred on Hagia.[14][17]
- 775.M41: The Fourth Quadrant Rebellion
- 856.M41: The Diata Purge
- 869.M41: The Battle for Grase Mesa
- 925.M41: the White Scars committed the 4th Company under Joghaten Khan to the Battle of Cardrim, clashing with Necrons and Orks.[20]
- 936.M41: The Bloodswarm Crusade.
- 945.M41: The Battle of Phrayton VI.
- 988.M41: The Rynn's World Reclamation. White Scars helped the Crimson Fists to reclaim their homeworld - the Rynn's World - from Ork menace.[32]
- 989.M41: the White Scars and six other Space Marine chapters combined forces to purge the Daemon World of Fyre in the Battle for Fyre.[24]
- 998.M41: The Third War for Armageddon. The White Scars committed 3 brotherhoods to the Third War for Armageddon.[10] One of these, the Tulwar Brotherhood led by Suboden Khan, was charged with defending the vital oil and water drilling stations and processing plants located in the Deadlands. In the opening days of the war, the Brotherhood clashed with the White Lightning Speed Kult during the Battle of Dante's Canyon, successfully driving the Orks into the frozen waters of the Tempest Ocean.[15]
- 999.M41: The Battle of Mu'gulath Bay and the subsequent Battle of Voltoris
- 999.M41: the Prefectia Campaign
- 999.M41: The Second Agrellan Campaign
- 999.M41: The Thirteenth Black Crusade. The White Scars send forces to the Cadian Gate under Khajog Khan. Within a short period Kajog's Brotherhood becomes a major threat to Abaddon's Plans, lifting the sieges of three Kasr's. As a result, Abaddon ordered the first company of the Black Legion guided by Zaraphiston as well as a horde of The Lost and the Damned to hunt down and destroy the Brotherhood. Khajog launches a Biker attack on a Black Legion slave convoy on Cadia, plunging into a Black Legion ambush and taking heavy loses. The White Scars withdrew to the Caducades Sea Pylon, with the remaining sixty Brothers viciously fighting to the death.[21]
- ~999.M41: The Terran Crusade. White Scars elements answer the call of the reborn Roboute Guilliman.
Combat doctrine
The Chapter is highly mobile even for Space Marines, specializing in lightning warfare, and making use of attack bikes, Land Speeders, Storm Talons, and other fast vehicles. Those mounted on bikes often make use of a special type of power weapon called a Power Lance, providing the same destructive potential at a much greater range.[3h] Heavily-armoured forces are often left chasing after shadows while the White Scars easily outmaneuver to attack them at their weakest point. White Scars forces prefer to attack their enemy at range, using their speed and firepower to destroy them, but are more than capable of committing their Assault Squads in ferocious hand-to-hand fighting.[3c]
White Scars naval vessels have been heavily modified by their Techmarine's, allowing them to accelerate quickly and move at speeds thought impossible for ships their size. This however comes with sacrificing weaponry, protection, and troop-carrying capacity.[25]
Organization
The Chapter organization of the White Scars reflects their home world's tribal culture; for example, Librarians are referred to as Stormseers. White Scars recruit from a single planet, Mundus Planus. The steppes of the world are inhabited by feuding tribes, from which are chosen the best and most promising young warriors, regardless of tribe. Once a warrior becomes a White Scar, loyalty to his tribe is replaced by loyalty to the Chapter and the Emperor.
During the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy, a specialized rank of Noyan-Khan existed that was the equivalent of a Chapter Master. Since the Heresy, the White Scars are led by a single Great Khan and several company-level Khans (Captains).
As their Primarch did during his campaign to unite the steppes, recruits from different tribes are mixed together in squads. Each squad becomes part of a Brotherhood, roughly equivalent to a standard Company. During the Great Crusade when the White Scars were still a Legion, multiple Brotherhoods fell under the control of a Horde, roughly equivalent to a Chapter. However, unlike other Codex Chapters the White Scars maintain a much higher proportion of bike squadrons and Land Speeders, a reflection of the style of warfare favoured by the Chapter. They are also entirely lacking in Devastator Squads, as the slow, heavy weapons clash against the White Scar's method of battle. The Chapter also maintains relatively few battle tanks, which are often stripped-down versions in order to keep with the rest of the White Scars. Finally, the White Scars do not possess any Dreadnoughts since the thought of confining a warriors' spirit within a sarcophagus is abhorrent to them.[3d][11]
Chapter Disposition
Headquarters
Chapter Command | ||||
| ||||
Armoury | Apothecarion | Fleet Command | Librarius | Chaplaincy |
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Companies
Veteran Company | Battle Companies | |||
1st Company | 2nd Company | 3rd Company | 4th Company | 5th Company |
"Spearpoint Brotherhood"
Master of the War Council |
"Firefist Brotherhood"
Master of Lore |
"Eagle Brotherhood"
|
"Tulwar Brotherhood"
Master of Blades
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"Stormwrath Brotherhood"
Master of Spirits
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Reserve Companies | Scout Company | |||
6th Company | 7th Company | 8th Company | 9th Company | 10th Company |
"Hawkeye Brotherhood"
Master of Shields
|
"Plainstalker Brotherhood"
|
"Bloodrider Brotherhood"
Master of Steeds
|
"Stormbolt Brotherhood"
Master of Bows
|
"Windspeaker Brotherhood"
Master of Braves |
Notable Chapter Elements
Notable Vessels
- Swordstorm - Gloriana Class Battleship (Heresy-era)
- Lance of Heaven - Battleship (Heresy-era)
- Jaghatai's Pride - Battle Barge[24]
- Lord of Heavens - Strike Cruiser[26]
- Nomad - Nova Class Frigate[27]
- Warrior of the Plains - Strike Cruiser[12a]
- Sickle Moon - Frigate (Heresy-era)[Needs Citation]
Notable Named Vehicles
Notable White Scars
Heresy-era
- Jaghatai Khan - Primarch of the White Scars.[2]
- Qin Xa - Master of the Keshig.[25]
- Targutai Yesugei - Chief Stormseer of the White Scars[25]
- Hasik Noyan-Khan - Noyan-Khan of the Horde of the Stone.[25]
- Jemulan Noyan-Khan - Noyan-Khan of the Horde of the Earth.[25]
- Ganzorig Noyan-Khan
- Qin Fai Noyan-Khan
- Namahi - Second of the Keshig
- Jubal Khan - Master of the Hunt
- Shiban Khan - Khan of the Brotherhood of the Storm.[25]
- Torghun Khan - Khan of the Brotherhood of the Moon.[25]
- Goghal Khan - Khan and member of the Keshig
- Hibou Khan - Khan
- Altan Nohai - Apothecary and later member of the Knights-Errant
- Timur Gantulga - Captain
- Hakeem - Captain
- Naranbaatar - Stormseer
- Halji
- Kalikgol
Post-Heresy
- Angnar - was a White Scars Khan, who was chosen to become the first Chapter Master of the Dark Hunters Chapter
- Cemakar - Second-in-command to Kor'Sarro Khan, Called "Old Shatterhand" for tearing a Chaos Space Marine out of a Helbrute, killed in action on Agrellan.[28]
- Clan-Brother Jogaten - Sergeant of the White Scars. Bike Squadron[Needs Citation]
- Jebe - Third Company Champion.[28]
- Jegun - Veteran Sergeant. Was killed during the Evacuation of Barac in M36[35]
- Joghaten Khan - 4th Company Captain, led the 4th Company in the Battle of Cardrim.[18]
- Jubal Khan - Great Khan of the White Scars.[3]
- Jurga Khan - Captain of White Scars[12b]
- Kaljuk - Librarian. Took part battle against the Tau of the Vior'la Sept, on the mist covered world Volghast.
- Khajog Khan - Brotherhood Captain, killed in the 13th Black Crusade.[21]
- Kor'sarro Khan - Captain of the White Scars 3rd Company, and Master of the Hunt.[6]
- Honoured Kyublai - Great Khan of the White Scars before Jubal Khan.[13]
- Seglei Khan - Captain
- Subodai - Captain that was killed in the recapturing of the Rynn's World[32]
- Suboden Khan - Khan of the Tulwar Brotherhood of the White Scars.[15]
- Sudabeh - Stormseer
- Jaikhos - Chaplain
- Kubalai - Chaplain and member of the Deathwatch
- Nutujin - member of the Deathwatch
Unique Troops
- Stormseers
- Keshig (Heresy-era)
Images
Notes
! |
Previous Edition Warning: This article discusses a topic from a previous edition of Warhammer 40,000 whose current validity may be in question, for details see the corresponding "Notes" section below. |
Previous editions
- The Whitescars, as presented in Chapter Approved - The Book of the Astronomican (1988):
- The Whitescars are organized like most Space Marine Chapters. For over two thousand years they have been guarding the Kolarne Circle, a densely populated cluster of systems, constantly threatened by internal rebellions and nearby Ork warlords. The Chapter has a long and proud history and played an instrumental role in the destruction of Hive Fleet Behemoth (noted as being a Chaos aligned force).[1]
- The Whitescars are completely fleet-based, their fortress-monastery being the space barge Constantinius. Their fleet numbers over a hundred ships, and as a result the Chapter has a high number of Astropaths and Navigators attached to it.[1]
- A unique formation within the Chapter are the Souldrinkers, Space Marine veterans that excel in close combat. These Marines are armed with power-swords and refractor fields and bear their own distinctive shoulder badges and honour banners. Another formation are the Cobra Squads, comprised of regular members of the Chapter's companies that have been equipped with jump packs.[1]
Related Articles
Loyalist | I - Dark Angels · V - White Scars · VI- Space Wolves · VII- Imperial Fists · IX- Blood Angels X- Iron Hands · XIII- Ultramarines · XVIII- Salamanders · XIX- Raven Guard |
---|---|
Traitor | III- Emperor's Children · IV- Iron Warriors · VIII- Night Lords · XII- World Eaters · XIV- Death Guard XV- Thousand Sons · XVI- Luna Wolves/Sons of Horus · XVII- Word Bearers · XX- Alpha Legion |
See Also
Sources
- 1: Warhammer 40,000 Chapter Approved - The Book of the Astronomican, pp. 65–70
- 2: Codex: Space Marines (4th Edition)
- 3: US WD256/UK WD257, Index Astartes I: Index Astartes - Lightning Attack - The White Scars Space Marine Chapter
- 4:The 3rd War for Armageddon website (site is no longer active, Internet Archive link)
- 5: Codex: Chaos Space Marines (3rd Edition, 2nd Codex), p. 7
- 6: Codex: Space Marines (5th Edition), p8, p28, p30, p42/43, p47, p49, p94
- 6a: p. 94
- 7: Horus Heresy (Artbook Series): Collected_Visions:
- 8: Fulgrim (Novel), Chapter 25
- 9: White Dwarf 93 (UK), [Needs Citation]
- 10: Codex: Armageddon (3rd Edition), p. 32
- 11: Epic White Scars.pdf - Epic Armageddon Resources on the official Games Workshop site
- 12: Cover of Darkness (Short Story) (published in Legends of the Space Marines (Anthology))
- 13: Codex: Space Marines (5th Edition), p. 42
- 14: The Sabbat Worlds Crusade (Background Book), [Needs Citation]
- 15: White Dwarf 300 (US), p. 121
- 16: Imperial Armour Volume Ten - The Badab War - Part Two, 2010 p.64
- 17: Honour Guard (Novel) by Dan Abnett: [Needs Citation]
- 18: White Dwarf 389 pgs. 30-39
- 19: The Serpent Beneath by Rob Sanders, Chapter Two, p. 341
- 20: White Dwarf 389 pgs. 30-39
- 21: WD286 pg.71
- 22: Brotherhood of the Storm page at Black Library (last accessed September 7, 2012)
- 23: Black Library's September 7, 2012 Blog (last accessed September 7, 2012)
- 24: Codex: Space Marines (6th Edition) (E-Book Edition) pg.132
- 25: Scars (Novel), by Chris Wraight[Needs Citation]
- 26: Hunt for Voldorius (Novel), Chapter 1, pg. 22
- 27: Savage Scars (Novel), Chapter 1, pgs. 12-13
- 28: Damocles: Hunter's Snare
- 29: How to Paint Space Marines, pg. 78
- 30: Kor'sarro Khan: Huntmaster (Short Story) by Graeme Lyon
- 31: Codex: Space Marines (7th Edition) - The Chronicles of Heroes - The Hunters Hunted
- 32: Imperial Armour II - Ork, Eldar and Dark Eldar Vehicles for Warhammer 40,000, pg. 31
- 33: War Zone Damocles: Kauyon, pg. 19
- 34: The Path of Heaven (Novel)[Needs Citation]
- 35: Imperial Armour Volume Two - Space Marines and Forces of the Inquisition, pg. 125