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|Descendants=*[[Raven Guard#Successors|Successors Below]]
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The '''Raven Guard''' were the '''XIX Legion''' of the original [[Space Marine Legion]]s. Their [[Primarch]] is [[Corvus Corax]]. Their [[Adeptus Astartes Homeworld|homeworld]] is [[Deliverance]] (originally named '''Lycaeus'''), a moon which orbits the [[Hive World]] [[Kiavahr]].{{Fn|2}}
Raven Guard Captains are fiercely independent, and it's incredibly rare for the chapter to fight as a whole. Individual companies are completely autonomous and are quick to lend their aid to Imperial commanders across the galaxy, with or without the sanction of their Chapter Master.{{Fn|2}} Such behaviour has led to some to question the Raven Guard's soundness, but most recognise that such fluidity of command proves the presence of formidable discipline, not its absence.{{Fn|4a}}
[[fileFile:TauVsRavenGuards.jpg|thumb|right|350px|Raven Guard assaulting Tau position]]Core to Corax’s teachings was the '''Trifold Path of Shadow''', often rendered in pictorial form as a short-bladed trident or triple-bladed lightning claw.{{Fn|36e}} The first path of shadow is Ambush{{Fn|36e}}, the second Stealth{{Fn|36f}}, and the third Vigilance.{{Fn|36g}} Mastering one Path, he taught, brought the possibility of victory; mastery of two rendered triumph likely, and accomplishment in all three made the foe’s defeat all but inevitable. From the beginning, the chapter’s battle companies were based on this Trifold Path. Companies 3 through 5 each specialised in one branch, and a battle-brother’s promotion to the 2nd came only when true mastery was attained. Such promotion is far from guaranteed. Even amongst Corax’s sons, there are few who can replicate his skill so completely, and many battle-brothers live out a life of war in the same Battle Company, peerless in their own path, but never truly able to grasp the fathomless depths of the others.{{Fn|36e}}
Due to their specialised combat style, the Raven Guard makes less use of heavier vehicles and tanks (such as the [[Land Raider]] and [[Predator]]) than most chapters.{{Fn|3}} However they conversely make heavy use of [[Land Speeder]]s and gunships, and due to their extreme tactical autonomy and genetic instability nearly every deployment with see an [[Apothecary]] of some sort of included. As a result, the Raven Guard maintains more Apothecaries and [[Helix Adept]]s then most chapters.{{Fn|43a}}