Veteran Squad (Space Marines)
Veteran Space Marines are mostly members of the 1st Company of a Space Marine Chapter, the so called Veteran Company. They form the Chapter's battle-hardened core and have wide access to its armoury. Recently, though predominantly identified with the 1st Company, each Space Marine Company maintains its own Veteran Squads, known as Company Veterans and often incorporated into Command Squads.[8a]
Overview
To be promoted into the 1st Company is a great honour for all battle-brothers. Those that have proven themselves worthy usually have centuries of service behind them and have risen to the rank of a sergeant. Sometimes a less experienced Marine may be accepted after committing several acts of outstanding heroism.[4a][5] The Marines of the 1st Company bear the privilege of taking the Chapter's finest and most revered equipment to battle, as well as the duty to return with it afterwards.[5]
Most frequently, 1st Company Veteran squads are attached to other Space Marine strike forces rather than the entire formation fighting as one. They are usually used as a devastatingly powerful adaptable force, capable of performing any role required of them. When working with other forces, they serve as peerless mentors and share their wisdom and experience with their less experienced Battle Brothers. Because of their status, Veterans take their pick from their Chapter's armouries and thus each warrior wages war with their preferred weaponry. Commanders know that Veteran squads are best utilized when given a wide remit to prosecute the battle in whichever way they deem best. As such, Veteran squads are much less rigid in their doctrine than the Battle-Brothers of other companies.[10]
Heraldry
Members of the 1st Company traditionally wear white helmets. A Veteran Sergeant's red helmet is adorned with a white stripe, laurel, or skull.
Their power armour features white or silver trimmed shoulder pads. The tactical symbol on the right shoulder is a stylized cross which is derived from the Crux Terminatus. A small crux, known as "Terminator honours" is carried on the left knee pad.[1][2]
Veteran Squads
Due to Veterans' privilege of rank, they have the ability to select any wargear from the Chapter Armoury for use. This allows them to Veterans deploy as virtually any squad type, such as a Veteran Inceptor Squad or Infiltrator Squad. However, the vast majority of squads deploy as one of the Codex-approved exclusively-Veteran squads listed below.[13]
- Terminators are trained to fight in Tactical Dreadnought Armour, the toughest armour the Chapter has to offer.[1] Terminators geared for close combat fight together in Terminator Assault Squads.[3]
- Vanguard Veterans excel in rapid close-combat. Alongside a huge assortment of melee weapons, jump packs are often used to add the advantage of speed to their attacks.[5]
- Sternguard Veterans are experts at ranged combat. They rely on finely crafted weapons and highly specialised ammunition to take on all manners of foes.[5]
- Bladeguard Veterans are close-combat duellists that wield Power Swords and Storm Shields.[7]
- Veteran Intercessor squads act as veteran versions of normal Intercessor or Assault Intercessor squads.[8]
- Company Veterans are the fighting elite of their respective company and act as their Captain's bodyguards and closest advisors. They equip themselves for any battlefield situation, leading offensives or reinforcing weakening elements of the battle line.[8a]
Chapter Variants
Some Codex-divergent Chapters have their own unique veteran formations. Below are some notable examples:
- The Sword Brethren of the Black Templars
- The Wolf Guard of the Space Wolves
- The Deathwing of the Dark Angels and their successors
- The Sanguinary Guard of the Blood Angels and their Successors
- The Tempest Blades of the Storm Wardens
- The Firedrakes of the Salamanders
- The Morlocks of the Iron Hands
- The Red Brethren of the Carcharodons[11]
Images
Company Veterans (10th Edition)[12]
Veterans (5th edition)
Veterans (4th edition)
Sources
- 1: Codex: Ultramarines (2nd Edition), pgs. 25, 66
- 2: Insignium Astartes,
[Help] - 3: Codex: Space Marines (3rd Edition), pgs. 8-9
- 4: Codex: Space Marines (4th Edition)
- 5: Codex: Space Marines (5th Edition), pgs. 62-64, 136
- 6: How to Paint Space Marines, pg. 41
- 7: Warhammer Community: Warhammer 40,000: More Models Revealed (24/05/2020) (Last accessed on 24 May 2020)
- 8: Codex: Space Marines (9th Edition) pg.16
- 8a: pg.151
- 9: Warhammer Community: The 30th Anniversary Veteran Sergeant and Combat Squads (posted 27/8/2017)
- 10: Codex: Space Marines (9th Edition), pgs. 19-20
- 11: Carcharodons: Red Tithe (Novel) - Chapter III
- 12: Codex: Space Marines (10th Edition), pg. 152
- 13: Codex Supplement: Ultramarines (8th Edition), pg. 12
