The Space Marines of the Imperium
The 25th Founding of Space Marine Chapters occurred during the latter half of the 40th Millennium. There are only three known Chapters that were Founded at this time -- the Fire Angels, the Scythes of the Emperor and the ill-fated Star Scorpions. The Fire Angels were created during this period, Founded as a Chapter without a specific named predecessor Chapter. Instead they were created from existing gene-stock issue, their initial command and training structure composed of honoured Veterans drawn from several Ultramarines Successor Chapters. Their gene-seed is also on record as being sourced from the highly stable Ultramarines stock.
The Star Scorpions were also created during this Founding but had the dual misfortune of producing highly mutated gene-seed and being utterly devastated by daemonic entities when the Chapter's fleet became trapped in the Warp. The exact fate of the Star Scorpions is unknown. However, the High Lords of Terra decreed on the Emperor of Mankind's behalf that the Chapter should be considered irrevocably lost when the Adeptus Mechanicus proved incapable of using their corrupted gene-seed to reconstitute the Chapter.
The Scythes of the Emperor, along with their allies, the Lamenters Chapter, were virtually destroyed during the invasion of the Imperium of Man by the Tyranids' Hive Fleet Kraken. The remnants of the Chapter stand on the edge of oblivion. The few Battle-Brothers that remain have sworn to spend their lives seeking out and annihilating the remaining Tyranid splinter forces within the Ultima Segmentum and beyond even as they seek new recruits to replenish the Chapter's shattered ranks.
Select 25th Founding Chapters
| Chapter | Successors of | Primarch | Homeworld | Notes |
| Fire Angels | Ultramarines | Roboute Guilliman | Lorin Alpha | The Fire Angels are a recently Founded Chapter, though not the first body to bear the title and panoply. They hail from the world of Lorin Alpha and while they share the genetic heritage of the Ultramarines, the Fire Angels have no special links to the wider body of Ultramarines Successors. Instead, the Fire Angels look forwards, carving their own legends in the annals of the Imperium’s history. Though only a few centuries old, the Chapter has already won many notable victories and taken part in numerous campaigns and Crusades. |
| Scythes of the Emperor | Ultramarines | Roboute Guilliman | Sotha (Destroyed) | A Successor Chapter of the Ultramarines, the Scythes of the Emperor, along with their allies, the Lamenters Chapter, were virtually destroyed during the invasion of the Imperium of Man by the Tyranids' Hive Fleet Kraken. The remnants of the Chapter stand on the edge of oblivion. The few Battle-Brothers that remain have sworn to spend their lives seeking out and annihilating the remaining Tyranid splinter forces within the Ultima Segmentum and beyond even as they seek new recruits to replenish the Chapter's shattered ranks. |
| Star Scorpions | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | The Star Scorpions had the dual misfortune of producing highly mutated gene-seed and being utterly devastated by daemonic entities when the Chapter's fleet became trapped in the Warp. The exact fate of the Star Scorpions is unknown. They are now considered extinct, a lost Chapter of Astartes. It is unknown what Chapter provided the gene-seed for the Star Scorpions' Founding and little else about the Chapter is available in Imperial records. |
Sources
- Adeptus Astartes: Successor Chapters (Limited Release Booklet)
- Codex: Space Marines (5th Edition), pg. 29
- Deathwatch - Honour the Chapter (RPG), pg. 131
- Imperial Armour Volume Nine - The Badab War - Part One, pp. 47, 50, 90-97, 168
- Imperial Armour Volume Ten - The Badab War - Part Two, pp. 13, 19
- Warhammer 40,000: Compendium (1st Edition), "The Badab War" by Rick Priestley, pp. 33-35
- White Dwarf 103 (UK), "Rampaging Rhinos" by Rick Priestley
- White Dwarf 101 (UK) "Index Astartes: The Badab Uprising" by Rick Priestley
- White Dwarf 98 (UK), "Index Astartes-The Mentor Legion" by Bryan Ansell, Alan Merrett and Paul Cockburn, pp. 39-44