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Warhammer 40k - Lexicanum β

Wolfblade (Unit)

Targetdrone.gif This article is about the Unit; for the Novel, see Wolfblade (Novel).

The Wolfblade is a small unit of Space Wolves assigned to Terra as bodyguards for Navigators of House Belisarius. In addition to bodyguard duties, they train the House's own security troops and lead them into battle, when the need arises.[1a][3] At any given time, there are no more than twenty-four Space Wolves assigned to the unit, most of them on Terra.[2]

According to one source, the Wolfblades are the only Space Marines on Terra, since the populace of that world associates all Marines with the destruction caused by the Battle of Terra during the Horus Heresy.[1d]

History

The unit's history reportedly dates back to an agreement between the Wolves' Primarch, Leman Russ, and the head of House Belisarius[1b]: in exchange for the Wolves' service, Belisarius supplies Navigators to serve aboard the Space Wolves' space fleet.[1a][3]

For most Space Wolves, assignment to the Wolfblade was not sought after, since it required separation from the rest of one's Great Company, and there were few opportunities for the kind of glory associated with fighting as a Space Wolf.[1a] For that reason, many of the Wolves posted to the unit were somehow "misfits", and the posting was sometimes regarded as punitive or a form of exile.[1c] For instance, Ragnar Blackmane was assigned to the unit after losing the Spear of Russ. However, Wolf Priest Ranek told Ragnar that some of the Chapter's greatest leaders were former Wolfblades, since the posting allowed them to become politically savvy about the inner workings of the Imperium, and to make useful contacts therein.[1a]

Known Wolfblades

Sources