Grim Wardens
Structure
Organisation
The organisation of the Grim Wardens partially follows the codex astartes, with only a few major changes. Mainly the 1st company, who have mostly replaced their terminator armour to be clad with modified venerable centurion warsuits equipped with power fields, master-crafted weaponry and an unruly machine spirit. Only the most aggressive and veteran Astartes of the Grim Wardens Chapter are chosen for the honour of possessing one of these hallowed suits. When a monstrous foe must be executed with utmost destruction and certainty, one of the 10 veteran centurion squads of the 1st company are often the first to be deployed, with only the most deadly left to the Chapter Master and his personal retinue known as the Immortal Centurions. The Grim Wardens contain three battle companies, four reserve companies and one scout company, with the most notable being the 1st company who are infamous for their bestial executions and harsh tempers, and the 7th company, who served to tour the Juriah Sector, single-handedly eliminated an entire warband of heretic Thousand Sons in the process. For battle companies, all firstborn tactical and assault squads have been replaced with centurion devastator squads and centurion assault squads respectively, with any remaining centurion warsuits being trickled down into the reserve companies. In the 42nd Millennium the Grim Wardens began adapting the structure of their chapter to accommodate the addition of the Primaris Astartes, as new Primaris squads are being implemented into the reserve companies. Despite the commonness of the centurion warsuit in the Grim Wardens chapter, only the best Astartes of each company are taught and trained the powerful centurion warsuits, however, due to the manufacturing of these warsuits, only the firstborn of the chapter can effectively fit and weld these powerful tools. Recruitment
The Chapter recruits off the planet of Humbalious, wholly within the hive city of Grimsbeck. Due to a deal made with a former planetary governor, the Grim Wardens can recruit freely off the planet. The 10th company sargeants seek out absolutely anyone from the highest standing counsellor’s son to a crafty slum child, anyone they deem has potential is taken. To complete the training of a Grim Wardens Astartes, the recruits must go through the Warden's Path, a brutal endeavour containing numerous trials, from withstanding the Grim Curse, to solitary leviathan hunting. The last trial of the Warden's Path is the hardest, as the recruit must single-handedly and with no weapons survive against Grim Wardens Astartes in their centurion suit in close-quarters combat for 5 minutes. Only when the recruit has won does he become an official Grim Wardens Astartes and regain the last name of their old families, or get to choose a new name they see fit, with the generic last name being Grim. New recruits of the Grim Wardens chapter that have progressed far enough in the transformation process and have passed the Warden's Path are sent into the bowels of Grimsbeck as scouts, where they are tasked with the eradication of all manners of eldritch mutants and tainted scum. This serves as valuable combat experience for the new Grim Warden Astartes as the hostile environment of the Hive City combined with deadly horrors residing deep within provides the perfect training ground to boost their combat prowess.
The organisation of the Grim Wardens partially follows the codex astartes, with only a few major changes. Mainly the 1st company, who have mostly replaced their terminator armour to be clad with modified venerable centurion warsuits equipped with power fields, master-crafted weaponry and an unruly machine spirit. Only the most aggressive and veteran Astartes of the Grim Wardens Chapter are chosen for the honour of possessing one of these hallowed suits. When a monstrous foe must be executed with utmost destruction and certainty, one of the 10 veteran centurion squads of the 1st company are often the first to be deployed, with only the most deadly left to the Chapter Master and his personal retinue known as the Immortal Centurions. The Grim Wardens contain three battle companies, four reserve companies and one scout company, with the most notable being the 1st company who are infamous for their bestial executions and harsh tempers, and the 7th company, who served to tour the Juriah Sector, single-handedly eliminated an entire warband of heretic Thousand Sons in the process. For battle companies, all firstborn tactical and assault squads have been replaced with centurion devastator squads and centurion assault squads respectively, with any remaining centurion warsuits being trickled down into the reserve companies. In the 42nd Millennium the Grim Wardens began adapting the structure of their chapter to accommodate the addition of the Primaris Astartes, as new Primaris squads are being implemented into the reserve companies. Despite the commonness of the centurion warsuit in the Grim Wardens chapter, only the best Astartes of each company are taught and trained the powerful centurion warsuits, however, due to the manufacturing of these warsuits, only the firstborn of the chapter can effectively fit and weld these powerful tools. Recruitment
The Chapter recruits off the planet of Humbalious, wholly within the hive city of Grimsbeck. Due to a deal made with a former planetary governor, the Grim Wardens can recruit freely off the planet. The 10th company sargeants seek out absolutely anyone from the highest standing counsellor’s son to a crafty slum child, anyone they deem has potential is taken. To complete the training of a Grim Wardens Astartes, the recruits must go through the Warden's Path, a brutal endeavour containing numerous trials, from withstanding the Grim Curse, to solitary leviathan hunting. The last trial of the Warden's Path is the hardest, as the recruit must single-handedly and with no weapons survive against Grim Wardens Astartes in their centurion suit in close-quarters combat for 5 minutes. Only when the recruit has won does he become an official Grim Wardens Astartes and regain the last name of their old families, or get to choose a new name they see fit, with the generic last name being Grim. New recruits of the Grim Wardens chapter that have progressed far enough in the transformation process and have passed the Warden's Path are sent into the bowels of Grimsbeck as scouts, where they are tasked with the eradication of all manners of eldritch mutants and tainted scum. This serves as valuable combat experience for the new Grim Warden Astartes as the hostile environment of the Hive City combined with deadly horrors residing deep within provides the perfect training ground to boost their combat prowess.
Culture
The Astartes of the Grim Wardens are dangerously aggressive, easily provoked and hate losing. However, they are highly respectful to anyone who treats them as equals. Both the Serfs and Astartes of the Grim Wardens Chapter are often thought of as rude and crass when talking to outsiders. The Chapter just considers this good humour and shouldn’t be taken seriously, despite this insistence, it has not stopped them from getting into trouble due to how they communicate. This rough way of life is caused by their exposure to the culture of the crime infested hive city of Grimsbeck, causing a lot of gang slang to bleed into the Chapter’s vocabulary.
Through their gene-seed, the Astartes gain the Grim Curse, this most predominantly shows during situations where their bloodthirst flares. The Grim Curse causes the Astartes of the Chapter to have to stick close together on the battlefield so they can feel the soul soothing effects of the stabilising stones, often carried by sergeants, lieutenants and captains. This creates an unbreakable bond between them, allowing the Grim Wardens to fight in unparalleled unison when facing the horrors that threaten the Imperium. In addition to their curse, the Grim Warden gene-seed grants them higher strength and quickened reflexes compared to the average Astartes, much like an enraged Blood Angel, which all combine to make the Grim Warden Astartes perfect assault marines. Partially from this, their tradition of wearing centurion armour spawned, as the combination of their aggressive personality and enhanced attributes coalesced perfectly with the added protection and firepower of the centurion armour to maximise their destructive potential.
Through the millennia the Grim Wardens have developed many other traditions, such as: the annual Leviathan Hunt, located on the planet of Humbalious, where teams of the Astartes and even some administrative staff go out on selfmade ships to hunt down the biggest and most dangerous sea life the planet has to offer, with whoever brings back the biggest and most dangerous kill wins eternal Glory and also extra food during the end of week feast. Another tradition is the annual Gore-Glory Games, where the astartes work together in a series of trials that test their whits and survival skills, with the last trial being the subjugation and taming of genetically enlarged boars. Lastly, one of the most important tradition that they always make time for is their weekly feast, where on the last day of every week, they sit down and enjoy a hearty meal.
History
M35 The Warden's Founding
The Grim Wardens are part of the 21st founding in M35, known as the cursed founding, they were formed to create breakthroughs in stagnant battles near the Veiled Star. Decades before the 21st founding, a Genetor known as Eta O-Yeth tasked themself with removing the effects of the red thirst and black rage from the Blood Angel’s gene seed. After getting permission from the Chapter Master of the Blood Angels, Eta O-Yeth got to work by altering the Blood Angel gene seed. In spite of many setbacks and blunders, after many decades Eta O-Yeth seemingly created the perfect Blood Angel gene seed, with all the enhanced strength and reflexes from the red thirst without the need for blood and all the fury of the black rage and insanity that followed. After being founded, the Grey Shields set off towards their new designated homeworld of Humbalious, with Eta O-Yeth accompanying them to observe their new creation. As they neared the Envantis system, the Navigators refused to enter, as they only saw a black void when peering into the warp, after some negotiations, the Navigators that refused to move forward were permanently replaced with more daring ones. Upon entering the system, their ships began picking up a distress signal from Humbalious, who were currently under assault by a Tzeentch Warband, calling themselves the “Scryers of Morgomaigne”. Seeing an opportunity to bloody their chapter in glory and destroy heretics at the same time, the Grim Wardens jumped in with all their fury to butcher the traitors. As the tough and bloody fight ensued, the savagery of the Astartes were on full display and to Eta O-Yeth, everything looked perfect. However, as the battle went on and the Astartes’ rage grew, their souls started breaking apart and disintegrating. All around, the bodies of Astartes collapsed dead as empty husks. This unexpected flaw manifesting during battle resulted in a pyrrhic victory for the loyalists over the invaders, as many had fallen to this new curse. Following the victory of the Humbalian Blitz, the first Chapter Master, named Grayhiem Ardrax found the planet Humbalious underwhelming and relocated his homeworld to Humbalious’ moon, Imminghar. Through the exploration of the planet by the 10th company, under Captain Alexander Planthis and the Genetor Eta O-Yeth, the ancient ruins and vaults dating back to the dark age of technology were discovered. On their report back, Captain Alexander Planthis claimed he heard whispers and murmurs that dug deep into the back of his head, enticing him to open it. Seeing this vault almost mentally break his most resolute captain, Chapter Master Grayhiem Ardrax decided the fortress monastery would be built on top of the vault and banned anyone from approaching it for all eternity. Captain Alexander Planthis also reported that while he fell back to recover, the Genetor Eta O-Yeth stayed, claiming the vault was revealing secrets beyond comprehension. After a while, Eta O-Yeth returned from the vault unusually calm and collected, saying that they have the solution to the Grim Curse that the Astartes were facing. After a trip to a few other vaults and the terraforming station found on the poles of the moon, they created the first Stabilising Stone. Forged from an amalgamation of wires, rare Archeotech and an abnormal purple gem stone scavenged from the depths of a vault. This was gifted to Chapter Master Grayhiem Ardrax and has been passed on to future Chapter Masters. After, Eta O-Yeth went on to create smaller, weaker versions of the stabilising stone to hand out to the important Astartes of the Grim Wardens Chapter. Over time, the traditions of the Grim Wardens were founded, with the first being the Gore-Glory Games, from when Chapter Master Iaindal Grail wrestled a giant Goretusk as a bet, then challenged all the others to try to outdo him. The end of week feast was a tradition that was carried over by the recruits gathered from Grimsbeck. The Leviathan Hunt was created in response to the lack of deadly monsters to train against on Imminghar. Because the first Leviathan Hunt was so successful and the Grim Wardens Astartes enjoyed the challenge so much, Chapter Master Zackodious Palaven decided to make it an annual event, with the prize of Glory and also extra food during the end of week feast for the team who killed the biggest and most deadly Leviathan. Over millennia, these traditions evolved to become the core foundations and culture of the Grim Wardens. M38 Centurion Integration
During the Age of Redemption, the Humbalian 86th regiment, Chapter Master Iaindal Grail and his Grim Wardens were part of the defence of the planet Orbide II. The planet was fending off a humongous Ork WAAAGH and the situation was looking bleak planetwide. The Grim Wardens took command of Hive Palmerinah’s Landing, holding it against the orkish onslaught. They held the outer walls for months during which time several other Hives fell to the Ork attack. On the sixth month of their defence the outer walls finally fell and the Grim Wardens and Humbalian 86th were forced to begin a gruelling urban defence. Inch by inch they lost ground to the Orks, casualties amassing as cut off pockets of Grim Wardens fell to the Grim Curse. Finally eight months after the siege began reinforcements arrived, the 7th Company of the Grim Wardens and a host of other Imperial forces. The 7th rushed to relieve their beleaguered brothers clad in the latest addition to the Imperial arsenal, Centurion Warsuits. The armour's unique ability to heighten a marines rage paired exceptionally well with the Grim Warden’s natural ferocity. This drove the warriors of the 7th to new destructive heights. Chapter Master Iaindal Grail was so impressed by the destructive power of these new warsuits, that after the Hive was rescued he contacted Eta O-Yeth. Ensuring his chapter was well supplied with a large quantity of these suits. In exchange for this arrangement Eta O-Yeth was given full access to the vaults on Imminghar. Because of this, every Grim Wardens Astartes gained access to a Centurion Warsuit and from that point on, the entire Chapter was Centurion focused. In addition, Iaindal Grail acquired an experimental Centurion Warsuit known as the Azathoth Warsuit, equipped with the powerful Kraken Drills. 702.M41 The Daemonorum Crusade
After a series of ruinous and corruptive incursions on the outer edges of the Juriah Sector, members of the 10th Company under the command of Acturo Laitum were sent to investigate. Through heavy attrition and harrowing sacrifice, word of the return of the Scryers of Morgomaigne reached Chapter Master Garthiel Hallias. Seeing an opportunity for honour and revenge, Garthiel launched probing assaults into the outskirts of the Sector, to hunt down and destroy any and all heretics relating to this Warband. As battles raged on and casualties mounted, the scale of the conflict increased beyond Garthiel's expectations, so in an attempt to end this war swiftly, he called a mighty crusade, later named the "Daemonorum Crusade". During the course of the Crusade, the Grim Wardens and their allies slowly attritted the heretic legions and the tzeentchian daemons back to their corrupted world, Daemonorum. Wanting to finish this war in one blow, Garthiel and his 1st Company personally lead an attack on the Daemon World, shattering through hordes of mutants, waves of traitors and swathes of Heretic Astartes. After crashing through the planetary fortress, they purged their way to the heart of the corruption, where the Exalted Lord of Change, Morgomaigne, staged its surprise ambush. Through desperate scuffles and perilous fighting, the Immortal Centurions granted Garthiel Hallias enough time to duel the exalted Daemon. After seas of warpfire, daring strikes and devastating blows, the Chapter Master banished Morgomaigne back to the Immaterium, shattering its minions and Legion and bringing honour and revenge to his Chapter. To end the Crusade, Garthiel ordered the exterminatus of Daemonorum, and hunted down whatever remnants remained 999.M41 Cryptogenic Revolt and Primaris Intervention
During the Cryptogenic Revolt on the planet of Humbalious, the 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 10th company of the Grim Wardens were fighting in the Indomitus Crusade, as they help create breakthroughs in the front lines of stagnant battlefields on far off planets past the Great Rift. Due to this separation of forces, the Grim Wardens were wholly unprepared when the Cryptogenic Revolt set off, resulting in stacking losses as they battled against vile creatures and hordes of cultists. When numbers were low and defeat seemed likely, the Adeptus Custodes showed up with new Primaris Marines, who immediately displayed their worth by backing up and assisting the attrited Firstborn and helping defeat the cultists and monsters during the revolt, potentially saving the Grim Wardens recruiting world. When learning of these new Primaris Marines, Chapter Master Garthiel Hallias was very grateful for their assistance, as well as impressed by their performance. So he gave the choice to his first born marines as to whether they would like to undergo the Rubicon Primaris operation to be reborn as a Primaris Space Marine. Most firstborn decided to not be reborn, as they realised that if they undergo this operation, they wouldn’t fit into their centurion armour. Seeing the advantages of having Primaris around, Chapter Master Garthiel Hales decided that new Primaris recruits would be implemented into the chapter's structure as Primaris squads in the reserve companies while he and Eta O-Yeth attempt to find Primaris centurion armour.
The Grim Wardens are part of the 21st founding in M35, known as the cursed founding, they were formed to create breakthroughs in stagnant battles near the Veiled Star. Decades before the 21st founding, a Genetor known as Eta O-Yeth tasked themself with removing the effects of the red thirst and black rage from the Blood Angel’s gene seed. After getting permission from the Chapter Master of the Blood Angels, Eta O-Yeth got to work by altering the Blood Angel gene seed. In spite of many setbacks and blunders, after many decades Eta O-Yeth seemingly created the perfect Blood Angel gene seed, with all the enhanced strength and reflexes from the red thirst without the need for blood and all the fury of the black rage and insanity that followed. After being founded, the Grey Shields set off towards their new designated homeworld of Humbalious, with Eta O-Yeth accompanying them to observe their new creation. As they neared the Envantis system, the Navigators refused to enter, as they only saw a black void when peering into the warp, after some negotiations, the Navigators that refused to move forward were permanently replaced with more daring ones. Upon entering the system, their ships began picking up a distress signal from Humbalious, who were currently under assault by a Tzeentch Warband, calling themselves the “Scryers of Morgomaigne”. Seeing an opportunity to bloody their chapter in glory and destroy heretics at the same time, the Grim Wardens jumped in with all their fury to butcher the traitors. As the tough and bloody fight ensued, the savagery of the Astartes were on full display and to Eta O-Yeth, everything looked perfect. However, as the battle went on and the Astartes’ rage grew, their souls started breaking apart and disintegrating. All around, the bodies of Astartes collapsed dead as empty husks. This unexpected flaw manifesting during battle resulted in a pyrrhic victory for the loyalists over the invaders, as many had fallen to this new curse. Following the victory of the Humbalian Blitz, the first Chapter Master, named Grayhiem Ardrax found the planet Humbalious underwhelming and relocated his homeworld to Humbalious’ moon, Imminghar. Through the exploration of the planet by the 10th company, under Captain Alexander Planthis and the Genetor Eta O-Yeth, the ancient ruins and vaults dating back to the dark age of technology were discovered. On their report back, Captain Alexander Planthis claimed he heard whispers and murmurs that dug deep into the back of his head, enticing him to open it. Seeing this vault almost mentally break his most resolute captain, Chapter Master Grayhiem Ardrax decided the fortress monastery would be built on top of the vault and banned anyone from approaching it for all eternity. Captain Alexander Planthis also reported that while he fell back to recover, the Genetor Eta O-Yeth stayed, claiming the vault was revealing secrets beyond comprehension. After a while, Eta O-Yeth returned from the vault unusually calm and collected, saying that they have the solution to the Grim Curse that the Astartes were facing. After a trip to a few other vaults and the terraforming station found on the poles of the moon, they created the first Stabilising Stone. Forged from an amalgamation of wires, rare Archeotech and an abnormal purple gem stone scavenged from the depths of a vault. This was gifted to Chapter Master Grayhiem Ardrax and has been passed on to future Chapter Masters. After, Eta O-Yeth went on to create smaller, weaker versions of the stabilising stone to hand out to the important Astartes of the Grim Wardens Chapter. Over time, the traditions of the Grim Wardens were founded, with the first being the Gore-Glory Games, from when Chapter Master Iaindal Grail wrestled a giant Goretusk as a bet, then challenged all the others to try to outdo him. The end of week feast was a tradition that was carried over by the recruits gathered from Grimsbeck. The Leviathan Hunt was created in response to the lack of deadly monsters to train against on Imminghar. Because the first Leviathan Hunt was so successful and the Grim Wardens Astartes enjoyed the challenge so much, Chapter Master Zackodious Palaven decided to make it an annual event, with the prize of Glory and also extra food during the end of week feast for the team who killed the biggest and most deadly Leviathan. Over millennia, these traditions evolved to become the core foundations and culture of the Grim Wardens. M38 Centurion Integration
During the Age of Redemption, the Humbalian 86th regiment, Chapter Master Iaindal Grail and his Grim Wardens were part of the defence of the planet Orbide II. The planet was fending off a humongous Ork WAAAGH and the situation was looking bleak planetwide. The Grim Wardens took command of Hive Palmerinah’s Landing, holding it against the orkish onslaught. They held the outer walls for months during which time several other Hives fell to the Ork attack. On the sixth month of their defence the outer walls finally fell and the Grim Wardens and Humbalian 86th were forced to begin a gruelling urban defence. Inch by inch they lost ground to the Orks, casualties amassing as cut off pockets of Grim Wardens fell to the Grim Curse. Finally eight months after the siege began reinforcements arrived, the 7th Company of the Grim Wardens and a host of other Imperial forces. The 7th rushed to relieve their beleaguered brothers clad in the latest addition to the Imperial arsenal, Centurion Warsuits. The armour's unique ability to heighten a marines rage paired exceptionally well with the Grim Warden’s natural ferocity. This drove the warriors of the 7th to new destructive heights. Chapter Master Iaindal Grail was so impressed by the destructive power of these new warsuits, that after the Hive was rescued he contacted Eta O-Yeth. Ensuring his chapter was well supplied with a large quantity of these suits. In exchange for this arrangement Eta O-Yeth was given full access to the vaults on Imminghar. Because of this, every Grim Wardens Astartes gained access to a Centurion Warsuit and from that point on, the entire Chapter was Centurion focused. In addition, Iaindal Grail acquired an experimental Centurion Warsuit known as the Azathoth Warsuit, equipped with the powerful Kraken Drills. 702.M41 The Daemonorum Crusade
After a series of ruinous and corruptive incursions on the outer edges of the Juriah Sector, members of the 10th Company under the command of Acturo Laitum were sent to investigate. Through heavy attrition and harrowing sacrifice, word of the return of the Scryers of Morgomaigne reached Chapter Master Garthiel Hallias. Seeing an opportunity for honour and revenge, Garthiel launched probing assaults into the outskirts of the Sector, to hunt down and destroy any and all heretics relating to this Warband. As battles raged on and casualties mounted, the scale of the conflict increased beyond Garthiel's expectations, so in an attempt to end this war swiftly, he called a mighty crusade, later named the "Daemonorum Crusade". During the course of the Crusade, the Grim Wardens and their allies slowly attritted the heretic legions and the tzeentchian daemons back to their corrupted world, Daemonorum. Wanting to finish this war in one blow, Garthiel and his 1st Company personally lead an attack on the Daemon World, shattering through hordes of mutants, waves of traitors and swathes of Heretic Astartes. After crashing through the planetary fortress, they purged their way to the heart of the corruption, where the Exalted Lord of Change, Morgomaigne, staged its surprise ambush. Through desperate scuffles and perilous fighting, the Immortal Centurions granted Garthiel Hallias enough time to duel the exalted Daemon. After seas of warpfire, daring strikes and devastating blows, the Chapter Master banished Morgomaigne back to the Immaterium, shattering its minions and Legion and bringing honour and revenge to his Chapter. To end the Crusade, Garthiel ordered the exterminatus of Daemonorum, and hunted down whatever remnants remained 999.M41 Cryptogenic Revolt and Primaris Intervention
During the Cryptogenic Revolt on the planet of Humbalious, the 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 10th company of the Grim Wardens were fighting in the Indomitus Crusade, as they help create breakthroughs in the front lines of stagnant battlefields on far off planets past the Great Rift. Due to this separation of forces, the Grim Wardens were wholly unprepared when the Cryptogenic Revolt set off, resulting in stacking losses as they battled against vile creatures and hordes of cultists. When numbers were low and defeat seemed likely, the Adeptus Custodes showed up with new Primaris Marines, who immediately displayed their worth by backing up and assisting the attrited Firstborn and helping defeat the cultists and monsters during the revolt, potentially saving the Grim Wardens recruiting world. When learning of these new Primaris Marines, Chapter Master Garthiel Hallias was very grateful for their assistance, as well as impressed by their performance. So he gave the choice to his first born marines as to whether they would like to undergo the Rubicon Primaris operation to be reborn as a Primaris Space Marine. Most firstborn decided to not be reborn, as they realised that if they undergo this operation, they wouldn’t fit into their centurion armour. Seeing the advantages of having Primaris around, Chapter Master Garthiel Hales decided that new Primaris recruits would be implemented into the chapter's structure as Primaris squads in the reserve companies while he and Eta O-Yeth attempt to find Primaris centurion armour.
"We are the Emperor’s wardens against the dark!"
Founding Chapter
Blood Angels
Founding
21st Founding
Homeworld
Imminghar
Fortress-Monastery
The Boar's Citadels
Colours
Black and White
Strength
762 Astartes
Chapter Master
Garthiel Hallias
Blood Angels
Founding
21st Founding
Homeworld
Imminghar
Fortress-Monastery
The Boar's Citadels
Colours
Black and White
Strength
762 Astartes
Chapter Master
Garthiel Hallias
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