Lamenters
From Lexicanum
Contents |
Chapter Summary
| Marine | Basic Data | Chapter Symbol | |
| Name: | Lamenters | 
|
| Founding Legion | Blood Angels | ||
| Founding: | M36 (Cursed) 21st Founding | ||
| Current Chapter Master: | Unknown | ||
| Homeworld: | None | ||
| Fortress-Monastery: | Unknown; Fleet-based | Miniature | |
| Known Descendants: | Unknown | 
| |
| Colours: | Yellow with a red stripe and a checkered right shoulder | ||
| Specialty: | Unknown | ||
| Current Chapter Strength: | roughly 300 Marines/three companies | ||
Background
The Lamenters were an unfortunate Chapter of Space Marines who sided with the renegade Tyrant of Badab and his Astral Claws during the Badab War. After they were defeated in an assault by the loyalist Minotaurs chapter, the Chapter returned to the side of the Imperium. At the defeat of the rebellion, the Lamenters were granted the Emperor's forgiveness, and subject to a hundred year crusade.1
It was found that the chapter's siding with the renegades was not from any notion of rebellion against the Imperium, rather they viewed the Imperial attack on the Astral Claws, who the Lamenters had previously crusaded alongside during the Serpentine Straits Wars, as a challenge to the sovereignty of the whole Adeptus Astartes.
The Lamenters were one of the chapters created in the Twenty First Founding, which has afterwards become known as the Cursed Founding. Some in the Imperium believe that the Lamenters' inception was an attempt to utilise the Primarch Sanguinius's strain of gene-seed, breeding out the deficiencies known to mar that otherwise superior DNA. If true, the experiment seems to have been successful in its objectives, as the Lamenters do not suffer from the Black Rage associated with the Blood Angels-descendant chapters. They also adhere to the Codex Astartes. Although free of the curse of the Blood Angels, the Lamenters are seemingly cursed in another way, suffering the most appalling twists of ill fortune and tragedy.
Prior to the Badab War, the Lamenters were involved in the Corinthian Crusade against the Ork Empire of Charadon. They managed to inflict heavy casualties on the Orks, subsequently putting Waaagh-Argluk back thirty years.
More recently, their crusade led them straight into the jaws of Hive Fleet Kraken. The Lamenters fought a hopeless battle defending the planet of Malvolion from the invading Tyranids; the Lamenters were wiped out and the planet destroyed. Only 3 companies of Lamenters remain.
The Lamenters are one of the three chapters from which Marines are recruited to join the Deathwatch kill teams, to specifically combat the Tyranid threat.
Notable Campaigns
- Crusaded alongside the then loyal Astral Claws during the Serpentine Straits Wars.
- Badab War aka Badab Uprising
- Annihilated in Tyrannic War by Hive Fleet Kraken
The Banner of Tears
After the Lamenters' part in the Badab War, their chapter banner was a tattered remnant. When they were granted the Emperor's forgiveness, the banner was given to the Adepta Sororitas to be repaired and purified. Their handiwork was said to be inspired by the Emperor, and that they wept as they wove, contemplating the Emperor's great sacrifice for humanity. The banner became known as the Banner of Tears and was taken with the Lamenters on their penitent crusade.4
Sources
- 1 White Dwarf 101(uk) "Badab War" by Rick Priestley
- 2 Chapter Approved 2003 Cursed Foundings
- 3 GW Campaign Weekends Site. GW UK's Campaign Weekends Badab War Rules (.pdf)
- 4 Warhammer 40,000: Compendium
- http://uk.games-workshop.com/campaignweekends/assets/badab-war-rules.pdf (link removed, accessed 2006.12.11)
