1,286
edits
Changes
From Warhammer 40k - Lexicanum
m
Updated to {{CME}}
|-
|style="font-size:90%;border-top:1px solid #555555;vertical-align:top;text-align:left"|'''Specialty'''
|style="font-size:90%;border-top:1px solid #555555;vertical-align:top;text-align:left"|'''[[Terminator]] veterans and hunting the [[Fallen]], Special Operations{{Fn|1111x}}, [[Space Marine Honor Guard|Lifeguard duties]].{{Fn|1111x}}'''<br>
|-
|style="font-size:90%;border-top:1px solid #555555;vertical-align:top;text-align:left"|'''Colours'''
==Overview==
====Origins====
[[File:DeathwingSymbolHH.jpg|thumb|right|150px|[[Heresy]]-era Deathwing Symbol{{Fn|1111x}}]]Formed from the shattered remains of the [[Host of Crowns]], the formation once famed for its line breaker squadrons and marksmen. Those of the inner circle who survived that infamous incident swore mighty oaths that no member of the Wing would ever leave the field of battle in the hands of the enemy, accepting death over dishonour or retreat. The Deathwing excels in special operations alongside other units of the Legion, especially as a counterpart to the more numerous [[Stormwing]], with a multitude of sub-disciplines within its ranks. Most renowned among its specialists are those dedicated to the role of line breakers, elite veteran infantry that serve to shatter the enemy's formations and create openings for other units or Wings, and the lifeguard cadre deployed to protect officers during battle.{{Fn|1111x}}
These lifeguard cadre are especially prominent, with few high ranking officers in the Legion lacking a small force of Deathwing veterans sworn to give their lives to ensure their safety. Indeed, it is a detachment of the Deathwing that provides a garrison force for the inner citadels on both [[Caliban]] and [[Gramarye]], charged with the safety of the Primarch himself. Given the stringent requirements for entry into even the outer circles of this Wing, its membership remains small but garners much respect within the Legion, often acting as force commanders in situations where the authority of other factions within the Legion is unclear. As the Horus Heresy wore on and casualties began to take a toll on the Dark Angels' officer corps, the veterans of the Deathwing came to assume a greater responsibility over their brethren, slowly taking a dominant position within the Legion and on the Council of Masters.{{Fn|1111x}}
The Deathwing is one of the two current incarnations of the original [[Hexagrammaton]] formations of the Dark Angels [[Space Marine Legion|Legion]] that continues into the [[41st Millennium]].{{Fn|6a}}
====Attitude====
[[Image:Deathwing sml.jpg|thumb|right|250px|a Deathwing Terminator]]
More so even than the regular Dark Angels, the Deathwing are notoriously stubborn and resistant, refusing to buckle under extreme pressure from enemy advances, even when it would be more advantageous to retreat.{{Cite thisCME}}
The events on [[Thranx]], where a squad of Terminators freed a recruitment world of Genestealers (later known as ''"The Tale of Two Heads Talking"'') became one of a main legends that were told to young members of the Chapter. Other famous tales include the "Scouring of the [[Space Hulk]] ''[[Place of Fears]]''", "Fall of the [[House of Pervigilium]]", the "Whisper in the Gloom" and "Vengeance of Beleaguerest" amongst a lot of others. These stories tell about self-sacrifice and overwhelming odds so instil in every Dark Angel a zealous drive to right ancient wrongs and seek out the enemy no matter where he might hide. As they progress through the Chapter's ranks such preparing helps a Dark Angels to know the ultimate true about the dark past of their Chapter.{{Fn|3}}
==Heraldry==
===Heresy Era===
[[File:DeathwingPauldron30K.jpg|thumb|200px|Heresy-era Deathwing armourial. The field of bone-white marked a warrior that had survived a mortal wound.{{Fn|11c11b}}]]
During the Horus Heresy, and prior to the events on [[Thranx]], the Deathwing coloured their armour in the black of the legion. Having some of their armour plating painted bone white signified a warrior of the Deathwing that has taken a mortal wound meant for another and survived.{{Fn|2}}{{Fn|11a}}{{Fn|15}} Votive ceramite plugs were placed to mark the breach’s taken to a [[Brother|Knight’s]] armour as a badge of honour with few equals among the pragmatic Dark Angels. The members of the Deathwing bore a number of elements of the unique heraldry used by the Dark Angels, and were often considered indecipherable by their brethren in the other [[Space Marine Legion|Legions]]. Symbols of crossed keys were worn on the left greave and the Deathwing’s initiation icons worn on right pauldron, both of which marked the Dark Angel as a warrior who is master in the arts of the Deathwing, as a champion and linebreaker, on the field of battle should he be needed.{{Fn|11a}}
The unique all bone white colour scheme was later adopted as a mark of remembrance for a lone squad of Dark Angel Terminators who freed a [[Adeptus Astartes Recruiting World|recruitment world]] from a [[Genestealer]] infestation and slew a [[Broodlord]] that had terrorized the [[Galaxy]].{{Fn|4}}{{Fn|20a}}{{Fn|20b}} As they did not expect to survive such a confrontation, they painted their armour white in preparation for their deaths. In the end the Deathwing triumphed and a vital part of the Dark Angels' heritage was saved.{{Fn|2}}
The company's armour is a bone white colour, rather than the dark green of the majority of the Chapter, or the black of the original Legion. Originally their armour were black but after a single squad of Terminators freed one of the Chapter's recruitment worlds - and the squad's original homeworld - from a [[Genestealer]] infestation it was forever decreed that the company's armour would be white to honour their valour.{{Fn|20a}}{{Fn|20b}} This alteration of the colour scheme applies only to the Dark Angels, not to their successor Chapters.{{citethisCME}}
According to another version, the armour was painted white when the Dark Angels needed to reconquer a lost recruiting world, and the colour change was due to the warriors of the 1st Company being distinguished from the [[Heretic Astartes]].{{Fn|16}}
====Insignia====
The Deathwing's insignia is a variation of winged sword worn by the rest of the Chapter - the blade of the sword is depicted as being broken in Deathwing iconography.{{citethisCME}}
==Forces==
===Pre-Heresy===
[[File:DWHeresy.jpg|thumb|200px|[[Heresy]]-era Deathwing [[Terminator]]]]
*[[Praetor (Rank)|Deathwing Praetor]]{{Fn|11b11x}}*[[Deathwing Companion]]{{Fn|11b11x}}
*[[Secta Mortis]]{{Fn|6b}}
*Deathwing [[Terminator]]s{{Fn|11b11x}}*Deathwing [[Rhino]]s{{Fn|11b11x}}*[[Land Raider Proteus]]{{Fn|11b11x}}
*[[Grav-Raider|Calibanite Grav-Raider]].{{Fn|6b}}
==Sources==
*{{Endn|1}}: [[Codex: Dark Angels (3rd Edition)]]{{Cite ThisCME}}
*{{Endn|2}}: [[Deathwing (Short Story)]]
*{{Endn|3}}: [[Codex: Dark Angels (4th Edition)]], pg. 16
**{{Endn|6b}}: Chapter 16
*{{Endn|7}}: [[The Eye of Ezekiel (Novel)]], Chapter Three
*{{Endn|8}}: [[White Dwarf September 2019]] – ''[[Index Astartes]]: Dark Angels''{{citethisCME}}
*{{Endn|9}}: [https://www.warhammer-community.com/2020/03/02/the-road-to-thramas-part-4-marvellous-mindersfw-homepage-post-2/ Warhammer Community: The Road to Thramas – Part 4: Marvellous Minders (posted March 2 2020)] (last accessed 3/7/2020)
*{{Endn|10}}: [https://www.warhammer-community.com/2020/07/03/faction-focus-dark-angels/ Warhammer Community: Faction Focus: Dark Angels (posted 7/3/2020)] (last accessed 7/4/2020)
*{{Endn|11}}: [[The Horus Heresy Book Nine]] pg.104-105
**{{Endn|11a}}: pg. 124
**{{Endn|11b}}: {{Cite this}}pg. 109**{{Endn|11c11x}}: pg. 109{{CME}}
*{{Endn|13}}: [[White Dwarf 127 (UK)]], pg. 56
*{{Endn|14}}: [[Codex Supplement: Dark Angels (9th Edition)]], pgs. 67-70
