Kharn once told me:

When life gives you lemons, blood for the blood god.

A battle history recounted

Brother-Sergeant Loken of Lazarus tactical squad recounted a story of a great battle in which he had the pleasure of serving alongside the great captain Tycho.

It was an encounter that will be long remembered as elements of the third company under captain Tycho’s command engaged the thrice damned warband in an attempt to secure the southern flank of the imperial guard garrison on Cadia. This all occurred during a minor black crusade in 991.M41.

There were two zones perfect for terminator teleportation support on the flank at which the battle took place. Due to the tactical importance of these two objectives, those zones were sure to be hotly contested.

The Blood Angels Third company was to deploy all possible units to secure these objective points and the units closest to engage in the battle were tactical squad Lazarus under command of Sergeant Gadriel in a rhino, the Assault squad Alactus in a Razorback and the predator annihilator Wrath of Lemartes. Captain Tycho along with a small unit of sternguard veterans were to enter the fray via drop pod in an effort to wreak havoc within the enemy lines. The stormraven Sanguine Spear was to arrive as soon as possible with Assault Squad and the Furioso dreadnought Azrael the Venerable to provide additional support.

The thrice damned included a predator annihilator, a defiler war machine, their leader daemon prince among a host of troops including a unit of emperors children, a unit of death guard plague marines, and a squad of newly converted chaos marines from various legions that seemed as though they were quickly becoming followers of nurgle. A unit of raptors was also employed for quick assault support.

The thrice damned obtained a quick strike initiative, surprising the blood angels and doing a good bit of damage while the third company prepared its counter assault.

The defiler war machine launched a round from its battle cannon and destroyed a track belonging to the Wrath of Lemartes resulting in the vehicles immobilization. As the chaos rhinos advanced, the warband provided suppressing fire to keep the third company in place. This resulted in a rather effective tactical attempt to engage on their terms.  This advantage, however, was not to last.

As a drop pod slammed into the earth, the Blood Angels units opened up as a cohesive force. The crew of Wrath was unable to exact revenge for the damage inflicted as the defiler was out of range, however the razorback and rhino moved forward in an attempt to head off the advancing chaos troops. As Tycho and the sternguard unit exited the drop pod, they opened up with combi-meltas and destroyed the chaos predator. The decisive shot came from a beaky sergeant.

As the chaos marines advanced, the raptors engaged the sternguard unit in close combat.

Captain Tycho and the sternguard performed valiantly, as is to be expected, and forced the raptors into retreat. At this point the remaining veterans cut down the raptors as they attempted to flee.

A low rumble began to increase in volume, providing an ethereal nature to the visual horrors of war on this barren battlefield desolate and so far from the cradle of humankind.  As the higher pitched whine of anti-grav plates became audible enough to discern over the low rumble of engines and the sounds of bolter fire, a blood red visage appeared under the canopy of clouds.  The Sanguine Spear had arrived.

A new data feed began streaming to Captain Tycho’s visor lens.  In it, Tycho was able to obtain a bird’s eye view of the battlefield as well as troop strength and estimated enemy weapons loadouts.  Within moments Tycho had adjusted the battle plan to better take advantage of the enemy locations and maximize the strengths of his strike force.  As the Sanguine Spear halted its advance on the edge of the battlefield, the Stormraven emptied its payload of missiles into the defiler war machine that had continued to harass troops and vehicles of the third company.  Unfortunately at such long range the weaponry was not of much use.  While this gambit by the pilot and gunner servitor failed, Tycho took advantage of the opportunity afforded him by the distraction of the Stormraven’s arrival and subsequent barrage.  The Wrath of Lemartes utilized its turret and sponson lascannons to destroy a Chaos rhino transporting a squad of marines.  Stranded, this unit of marines was forced to disembark from the flaming wreckage and in revenge fired several meltaguns at a razorback assault transport.  A razorback for a rhino, and as destiny would have it the two marine units, one loyalist and one traiter, would then engage in close combat.  Meanwhile, the sternguard unit and Captain Tycho charged ahead, not firing their boltguns as would be the norm for such a potent unit, but charged the unit of Emperor’s Children noise marines.  Captain Tycho continued to lead by example, striking down several traitors and forcing the unit to retreat.  As they ran off the battlefield, they were gunned down by the victorious sternguard along with their champion, Captain Tycho.  The front objective was secure.

The unit of Death Guard plague marines suffered a similar fate as the standard marine unit in that they had been stranded with a destroyed rhino, courtesy of a single lascannon tactical marine.  As the Death Guard unit moved forward, they were caught in a crossfire between two combat squads of Tactical Squad Lazarus.  Incredibly resilient, the plague marines marched forward through a fusillade of bolter fire to assault the combat squad that had been embarked in a rhino. 

The ferocity of the chaos marines at this point could not be denied as the plague marines and the chaos united marine unit wiped out their engaged enemies to the man.  The Sanguine Spear then disgorged from its belly the mighty Furioso Dreadnought Azrael the Venerable as well as the assault squad Danton.  Squad Danton moved up in an attempt to cut off the Daemon Prince, rumored to be the legendary Son.  Once engaged in close combat, Danton proceeded to put up quite a resistance, but fell in battle to the Daemon Prince.  Azrael moved forward to engage Son in an attempt to slow the Daemon down and buy precious time for reinforcements to arrive.  As the Daemon and the Furioso prepared for what was sure to be a bloodbath, a meltagun shot cracked the roar of battle and immobilized Azrael.  With a Daemonic smirk, Son proceeded to fly over Azrael to engage the few remaining tactical marines holding the rear objective. 

In the rear of the battlefield, three remaining tactical marines held on within the ruins of a building in the hopes that they could hold the objective located there until reinforcements arrived.  Three units of traitors were converging on their position.  Son, the Daemon Prince, was arriving from directly ahead via air.  On the left flank, two remaining Death Guard plague marines were marching toward the turning point.  On the right flank, eight traitor marines loyal to Nurgle also trudged forward with no more troop resistance.  The Wrath Of Lemartes was silenced thanks to the same meltaguns that silenced Azrael.  The Sanguine Spear, on orders from Captain Tycho, had advanced and outflanked the defiler war machine, neutralizing it.  Three lonely tactical marines were all that stood between this army of Chaos and a victory.  As the three units advanced on the marines, a single marine armed with a boltgun and a marine armed with a lascannon managed to down one of the two plague marines.  Suddenly the left flank was much less dangerous. 

Son landed behind the tactical marines and attempted to fire a psychic attack at the Blood Angels.  This was not to succeed.  Something within the warp manifested itself in such a way that it surprised and attacked Son.  The great Daemon Prince vanished, sucked into a rift in warp space that claimed the prince of Nurgle.  Decades later, Sergeant Gadriel chimed in during the story to state that he believes he heard the laughter of an Eldar while Son vanished into the warp rift. 

On the right flank, the traitor marines continued to advance, firing all the while.  The lone remaining marine with a boltgun fell to this barrage of bolter fire.  When this happened, Sergeant Gadriel ordered the marine armed with a lascannon to prepare for close combat as he drew his own chainsword.  The two remaining tactical marines then stood their ground as the lone remaining Death Guard raised his power fist high into the air and charged.

The battle was fast and deadly, the roar and spinning teeth of the chainsword dancing a deadly tango with the glowing mass of the Death Guard’s power fist.  Then, the power fist found purchase on the chestplate of the heavy weapons marine.  Armed with nought but a bolt pistol and a short sword, he never stood a chance against such a veteran with a powered gauntlet.  The stricken marine was propelled backward into the walls of the ruin, breastplate shattered and helmet cracked to reveal a single eye locked in a lifeless gaze.

Sergeant Gadriel made the most of the opportunity.  The chainsword screamed as it found ceramite plating, and resulted in guttural noises as it broke through, tearing into diseased flesh.  The follower of Nurgle did not scream, as no true disciple of the god of pestilence feels pain as a mortal human or even Astartes would.  The damage, however, had been done.  The power fist, pulled back in preparation for a deadly blow upon the Sergeant, began to fall.  The Death Guard’s helmet tilted forward with the unseeing gaze from diseased eye angled toward the sight at the waist of his suit of armor.  A chainsword, no longer roaring, was lodged halfway through the waist of the marine.  Sergeant Gadriel released his grip on the hilt of the chainsword, watching the plague marine as he fell to his knees with a sound like a coin falling on bare earth.  Stopping short, the traitor marine unit saw the plague champion fall but did not hear his body hit the ground.  The only audible sound came from the screaming engines of Thunderhawk Gunships as they broke atmosphere en route to the battlefield.  As the Sergeant turned his back on the Death Guard, he met the gaze of the traitor squad leader.  A brief moment passed as they held each other’s gaze but suddenly the line of sight was blocked.  A red giant had appeared between the two leaders, wielding a power sword and a storm bolter.  More red giants clad in Terminator armor appeared to the left and to the right until a full complement of twenty Terminators formed a solid barrier of ceramite between the lone remaining tactical marine and the traitor marines.  In unison, all twenty Terminators raised their storm bolters, assault cannons, and flamers and opened fire.

Individual veteran models I'd like to add to a sternguard/vanguard unit

Amazing picture

Picture!

Aristione The Chosen



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Captain Gadriel

Captain Gadriel, blood angels fifth company. A fast ascension
through the ranks of the blood Angels chapter is the story of how Gadriel came to command the fifth company. After having been recruited from the blood angels homeworld of Baal, Gadriel quickly proved his mettle in battle among the scout company. After the great scouring of ultramar in 746.M41, the third, fourth, and fifth company returned to Baal woefully reduced in numbers due to the tyranid invasion.

Ideas: first blooded after promotion to third company battle brother in Lazarus tactical squad. Fought against a tau expedition that attempted to
Colonize an imperial controlled planet. Later on fought against a waaagh and was promoted to sergeant of Lazarus squad. Tycho of third company took great interest in Gadriel as he continued to rise through the ranks. Eventually Gadriel was promoted to tactical veteran status as he showed incredible capability of withstanding the urges of the red thirst. He spent a few decades as a sternguard veteran and eventually was promoted to sternguard sergeant. After tycho was promoted to third captain, he requested sergeant Gadriel join his honor guard. Gadriel spent fifteen years before the third war for armageddon in the honor guard of captain tycho and became a valued tactical mind among the leadership of the blood Angels. It's been rumored that Dante had his eye on Gadriel to join his honor guard squad. It is known however that Gadriel was notified that he had been selected for promotion to the sanguinary guard after the third war for armageddon. However, due to the nature of the battles, the percentage of battle brothers that succumbed to the black rage increased dramatically. The night before a particularly large engagement, captain tycho and his honor guard were planning a tactical advance along a river To secure checkpoints when tycho began to show symptoms of the black rage. After the novitiate in the guard fetched the chaplains, it was determined that tycho would be inducted into the death company. The next day, Gadriel and the other members of Tychos honor guard watched with an incredible sadness as the captain was overwhelmed by a tide of greenskins, tearing them limb from limb until he finally fell in battle. After the conclusion of the third war for armageddon, the losses in those companies involved were great and squads needed to be reinforced. The captain of the fifth company also fell in the third war, and it was with great sadness due to the losses sustained, but also with great pride that Commander Dante informed Gadriel that if he were to accept, his promotion to the sanguinary guard would be cancelled, and he would be promoted to captain and given command of the fifth company. Dante had hoped to one day name tycho as his successor as Lord Commander, but from the ashes of one of the greatest leaders in blood angels history rose another candidate that may have a greater control over the flaw in his gene-seed.

After his promotion to fifth captain, Gadriel has overseen the rebuilding of the fifth company. Since entire squads were destroyed in battle, Gadriel has borrowed nicknames from the stories of blood angels history for the new squads composed of only a few veterans and far too many newly promoted battle brothers. As the Status of the fifth company may imply, incidents of red thirst and black the among the fifth are rare, but most believe this to be due to the relative youth of those battle brothers in the company. Some of the chapters priests are investigating the company to determine if there are any other causes of the small percentage as compared to other companies within the chapter. Rumor has it that even brother corbulo himself is researching the status of the gene seed of those in the fifth.

Tuesdays batrep

On Tuesday the mighty Blood Angels fifth company encountered a chaos space marine warband just outside of the cadian gate. The warband was the fabled Thrice Damned which claims that they were cast out of the emperors favor for no reason, that they were called traitors while still loyal to the imperium. The records of remembrancers from the heresy are being reviewed to determine if this claim is true although quite few records remain from that tumultuous time.

Captain Gadriel of the fifth company along with the terminator assault squad "avenger" deployed in a land raider redeemer, the Flame of Baal, from a thunderhawk gunship onto what was soon to become a blooded battlefield.
Other elements of the fifth deployed included Lazarus tactical squad commanded by brother Nero Vipus standing in for sergeant Garviel Loken. Lazarus squad was deployed in a rhino near the only level ground in the area in an effort to secure it for further support drops Loken was deployed along with four other brothers in a drop pod issued with special ammunition to serve as an impromptu sternguard unit for fire support. Heavy support units included the blood hammer, the vindicator attached to the fifth, as well as the predator annihilator Tychos hand. Two rhinos were used as transports in the mission one serving as the transport for Lazarus, and one serving for the assault squad "Laora" commanded by sergeant Saul Tarvitz. A twin linked Lascannon razorback was the transport assigned to the assault squad "Sparta". A sanguinary priest was attached to each assault unit.

Batrep

On this day in blood angels lore:

A detachment of ultramarines on a previously unscouted planet put out a general call for assistance after stumbling upon a tau heavy weapons depot. Railguns were holding off the ultras advance. A small detachment of the blood Angels fifth company led by brother sergeant Saul Tarvitz answered the call.

Upon arriving in system a tau ship was damaged severely and crashed to the surface resulting in an unstable warp drive. Daemons began to pour forth from the warp rift caused by the unstable drive. Sergeant Tarvitz readied his assault squad accompanied by a priest, and also obtained the assistance of the terminator assault squad, "Avengers", that was traveling with them. The terminators were to be delivered groundside by the stormraven gunship Sanguine Spear while the assault squad dropped into the thick of the fighting to provide much needed relief for their ultramarine cousins.

Upon arrival, the assault squad saw the true Nature of the beasts pouring forth from the warp. Assault squad "Laora" immediately attempted to put the meltagun to good use by targeting the soul grinder that had materialized to assail the ultras devastators, but to no avail.  The Sanguine Spear arrived to provide terminator support to the devastators and to attack the soul grinder. The ultras devastators were wiped out but managed to cast quite a few khorne bloodletters to the warp from whence they came. As this occurred, a golden visage was observed dropping from the sky.

The Sanguinor, in all his resplendent mystery, arrived on the battlefield and struck down a tau stealth team, and proceeded to strike down a herald of tzeench. As he continued around the battle casting daemons into the warp and striking fear into the tau, "Avenger" squad completed the destruction of the bloodletters and moved on to destroy the soul grinder. The assault squad then moved on to daemonettes of slaneesh and proceeded to cast them back into the ether of the warp while a unit of ultras eliminated a nurgle threat. The sanguine spear had been damaged by an errant railgun shot but continued to pump out assault cannon rounds. With the success of these battles, the warp drive was quieted and the Sanguinor proceeded to eliminate threats from daemons while the ultras and blood angels mopped up what remained of the tau force. After the battle had concluded, the Sanguinor vanished back into the mystery shrouding him. This time however the witnesses numbered greater than any previous recorded sighting. In addition, astartes of another chapter witnessed his appearance. The inquisition may find this troubling, however those ultras that fought along the sons of Sanguinius on that day will forever remember and appreciate the grand golden apparition that turned the tide of battle.

Blood Angels fifth company sergeant Saul Tarvitz of the third assault squad "Laora" has been recommended for battle recognition.

The Sanguine Spear has succeeded in another engagement, adding to it's battle record.