Terminator
Terminators are Space Marine Veterans wearing the powerful Tactical Dreadnought Armour, more commonly refered to as Terminator armour. In most Codex chapters they are members of the elite 1st Company of a Space Marine Chapter.
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Overview
Within a typical Space Marine Chapter, only the members of the 1st Company have full access to the rare and extremely resilient Terminator armour. Each suit is treated as an important relic and seen as a physical representation of the Chapter's fighting spirit.1
The most revered part of each armour is the Crux Terminatus, a cross-shaped badge placed on the left shoulder plate. According to legend, the Crux Terminatus worn by Terminator captains contains a fragment of the armour the Emperor wore at the height of the Horus Heresy. To a Terminator, the loss of his Crux is unthinkable.5
All suits have built in teleportation devices which allow them to deploy anywhere via deep strike, although more often they are deployed using Land Raiders. Squads consist of a Terminator sergeant and between 4 and 9 Terminators.5
Terminator Squad
Terminator Squads fight with the standard armament of a storm bolter for ranged combat and a power fist or chainfist for close combat. The storm bolter can be swapped for an assault cannon, heavy flamer, or shoulder-mounted cyclone missile launcher.5
Terminator Assault Squad
Terminator Assault Squads are oriented toward close combat. To maximise their effectiveness, they swap their standard armament for a pair of Lightning Claws, or a thunder hammer and storm shield.5 They often battle in close quarters, such as spaceship boarding actions or in the lower levels of a hive.3
Terminator Command Squad
Essentailly a Command Squad equipped with terminator armour. A squad consists of one terminator sergeant and three to nine terminators. The terminator sergeant is armed with a power weapon and storm bolter and the rest are armed with power fists and storm bolters. Some swap their storm bolters for assault cannons, heavy flamers or cyclone missile launchers and their power fists for chainfists, especially when boarding actions are carried out.2
Non Codex Astartes deployment
The Dark Angels Deathwing
The Dark Angels 1st company is known as the Deathwing and makes singular use of Terminator Squads (note that in the Deathwing there are no differences between Tactical and Assault Terminator squads - because every Terminator Squad is armed in that combination of heavy, hand to hand and assault weapons that fits this squad role on the battlefield the best), as well as Land Raiders. The position also confers greater knowledge of the chapter's history. There are no Veteran Squads in the Deathwing6.
The Space Wolves Wolf Guard
The Space Wolves name for Veteran Squads are the Wolf Guard but unlike other chapters, they only wear Terminator Armour when the situation calls for it rather than supporting a number of permanent Terminator Squads7.
The Salamanders
The Salamanders chapter uses an altered version of the Codex Astartes with 12 squads in each company rather than the standard 10, including up to 120 Veterans or Terminators4.
Grey Knights Terminators
Terminators of the Daemon-hunting Grey Knights use Storm Bolters and Nemesis Force Weapons. Some are equipped with Incinerators, Psycannons or Psilencers. Unlike conventional Terminators, they make use of psychic powers.8
Chaos Terminators
Chaos Terminators turned renegade thousands of years ago and have had a long time to hone their skills, making them some of the most deadly troops in the galaxy.
Major Terminator Deployments
Terminators are the veteran units of the army and are used only in the most dire circumstances.
Two of these involved the Ultramarines First Company during the First Tyrannic War and the following Second Tyrannic War. In the first war, the entire First Company was wiped out defending Macragge and during the second a company of over twenty Terminators stormed the centre of the Tyranid invasion on Ichar IV, eventually killing all of the Tyranids on the planet.
Images
Ultramarine Terminator
Iron Hands Terminator
Salamanders Terminator
Imperial Fists Terminator
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All Miniatures
- List of all Miniatures: Space Marines Terminators
Sources
- 1:Codex: Ultramarines (2nd Edition), p.24, p.62, p.66
- 2:Insignium Astartes
- 3:Codex: Space Marines (3rd Edition), pp.8/9
- 4:Codex: Space Marines (4th Edition), p.12, pp.31
- 5:Codex: Space Marines (5th Edition), pp.64, p.136
- 6:Codex: Dark Angels (4th Edition), 3rd Edition
- 7:Codex: Space Wolves (3rd Edition)
- 8: Codex: Grey Knights (5th Edition)
Related Articles
- Space Marine Veteran
- Terminator Titanhammer Squad
- Deathwing of the Dark Angels
- Wolf Guard of the Space Wolves
- Fire Drakes of the Salamanders
- Grey Knights Terminator Squad
- Chaos Terminators
| Command | Master • Captain • Master of Sanctity • Reclusiarch • Epistolary • Codicier • Command Squad • Apothecary • Company Standard Bearer • Company Champion |
|---|---|
| Standard | Tactical • Assault • Devastator • Scout • Veteran • Tyrannic War Veterans • Honour Guard |
| Terminators | Terminator Squad • Terminator Assault Squad • Terminator Command Squad |
