His mentor Mordred died in battle.
Helbert was like, Grimaldus, you are now the recluse arc of the Bellsreach Crusade.
Grimaldus was like, I don't have anyone to do that.
Oh, wow. And he kind of became recluse arc.
That sounds like a scene from Harry Potter.
Like, what's like the elf that's Dobby, but it's the other one.
You're a recluse arc, Grimaldus.
I'm a what?
Or a recluse arc, but I'm just Grimaldus.
Did you just turn that into a Hagrid Harry Potter reference?
Hello, everyone, and welcome to another episode of Law Crimes.
This is the podcast for Beginner to Expert.
For all the fans from just starting out in Warhammer all the way to those dedicated originals.
This is the perfect place for everyone.
I am Hal, and I'm joined by Eli.
Hello.
I'm joined by Colin.
Hello.
And Andy.
Hello.
We're all respective YouTubers within the Warhammer space.
And I pass over to Colin.
Today, we are going to be talking about everyone's favorite.
Maybe not everyone's favorite, but enough people's favorite, Space Marine Chapter.
The angriest fellas on the block.
Hate everyone.
They're sometimes a bit rude, but that hasn't stopped everyone from loving them.
The Black Templars.
No, no.
How dare you?
The Black Templars.
Today, it will be Andy and Eli taking the wheel.
So, why don't I pass it on over to Eli to take us off?
Thank you, good sir.
I will be doing the beginner section of the biggest chads in the entire Imperium.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah, practically correct in all ways, shapes, and form.
Anyways, let's get into it.
Let's get into it.
So the Black Templars are an Imperial fifth successor chapter created in the second founding,
which was the founding in which all of the first successor chapters were created alongside
the Crimson Fists and the Soul Drinkers and the other guys.
What's their name?
Oh, Executions.
Oh, yeah, okay.
Anyways, they were created out of necessity more than anything else, as Doran being the
giga-chad he is, was a big denier of the Codex of Stardust, but was being branded a traitor
and there was going to be civil war and it was going to be really, really awful, so he
gave in and he made his successor chapters.
They are perhaps direct evidence that the Emperor has achieved godhood, as he will discover
his blessings upon them are very real indeed.
Lorgar was right.
Anyways.
Oh, I'll say that.
First Captain Sigismund was given the chapter.
He was, to my knowledge, this might be Lorgar, I might have read this wrong, but he was the
first, one of the first chad believers of the Lictito Divinitatis, the little pamphlet
that said the Emperor is god, pretty much.
Along with this, he had a few issues during the heresy in his time, controlling his zeal
and emotion, which I mean, as an Imperial Fist, you're supposed to be very stoic all
the time, you know, very cool, very calm.
And overall, Doran had pretty much disowned him for this, saying like, you are no son
of mine, all that stuff.
It's very sad.
Captain Sigismund was the leader of the sword Templars of the Imperial Fists, and pretty
much acted independently during the Siege of Terra, just going around killing everyone.
He was pretty cool.
He beat Karn, even.
Anyways, Doran made him the first ever Emperor's champion, giving him the Black Sword.
He would later be given the duty of High Marshal to the newly created Black Templars chapter.
This new chapter was given all the most zealous and vicious fighters of the Imperial Fists.
Ever, so the coolest guys of the Imperial Fists, pretty much.
I mean, they literally were like, hey, Crimson Fist, like all the noobs, noobies, you go
to the Crimson Fist, and all the guys we really like, we could hang out with at a party, you
know, they're pretty chill.
You can go to the Imperial Fist OG chapter, but like all the crazy guys, they can go to
the Black Templars.
You make it sound like all the frat bros.
It's a party in the Black Templars.
Yeah, they're like, they're crazy.
All the crazies, they go to the Black Templars.
We don't want to hang around with them.
It's more like a choir boy quasi, by the way.
Can we just check?
Have you met Deacon?
Deacon is like lighting candles and doing like push-ups at four in the morning.
What is wrong with him?
Those are the frat potties with the bardic count.
Bardic count.
Alright, alright.
So, ever since their creation, they have been on an eternal crusade, marking the longest
crusade in Imperial history.
Due to this, they are a fleet-based chapter and are very spread throughout the galaxy.
They are not codex-compliant by any means, because the codex is for nerds, and their
numbers have swelled far larger than most chapters.
They do have some organization though, which the chapters generally separated into multiple
crusades, usually around three, give or take, and they're led by marshals who answer to
the High Marshal.
Their captains are known as castellans and lead the fighting companies of the crusades.
They favor fire and close combat, assaulting the enemies of the Emperor with reckless abandon.
They are extremely brutal fighters who would make Khorne himself blush.
Not only this, but they are highly honorable as well, in some people's opinion.
Maybe not the Xenos that they're slaughtering, but I mean, you know, those are the Xenos
anyway, so.
I quite like this.
Alright, alright now.
I quite like this.
It's not like a dating profile.
You know, they are so zealous, make Khorne blush.
Oh man.
This is Emperor-E Harmony, but Emperor Harmony.
E Imperium.
There you go.
They hold very much a large amount of disdain for stealth and long-range tactics, and suicidal
charges of vengeance are not an uncommon sight within the chapter, and due to their very
large numbers and their constant replenishment rates, they can usually afford to employ these
tactics.
Their recruitment process brings individuals in known as Neo-Fights, and these new recruits
must serve on the front lines alongside a veteran if they are to fully ascend to the
ranks of the Black Templars.
It is dangerous and often fatal, but those who survive will have been baptized by fire,
and their courage will be proven.
So they don't just start out as fresh little babies.
Straight into it.
Yes.
The Templars abhor mutants, which includes psychers, having none in their ranks but for
astropaths and navigators.
But they do not actually hate these specific psychers, because they think that they're
blessed by the Emperor.
Yeah, there's a weird discrepancy where they don't like librarians, but for some reason
they're like, oh, astropaths, they are linked to the Emperor despite all the incest.
Like, yeah, they're fine, it's okay.
Astropaths being the ones with the third eye in their literal forehead, and they help guide
the warpshits.
They're like, that's fine, but no, the rest of you guys, oh, not a fan.
I do have a small question.
Say if, you know, they say that they despise mutants, like, to what level would it...
Say if someone perhaps had an organ such as a pancreas that maybe did not work.
Oh no.
I mean, that's not a mutation.
That's more of like a thing that'd be like, brother, I will graft you some new organs
and I will put you into the ceramite of the Imperium, or a dreadnought.
It's more of if Colin grew like a pancreas out of his head.
That might be some problems.
Oh, wow.
They would kill me for being a mutant just for being weak and needing medicine to live.
I don't know.
Don't hit your head too hard and get a bump.
That'd be more of an iron hand thing that'd be like, we can give you a side genetic pancreas.
Oh, wow.
Or the Eldar simply sing one into existence.
Hey, no talking about the Eldar, this is Black Templar Day.
I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
Dirty Xenos, don't get to living around here.
Got bullied.
The Black Templars are very good at bullying Xenos and mutants and people who look different
than them.
We'll debate that at some point, I think.
Anywho, I'll read their creed, I suppose.
Their creed is, I hope I'm not stealing a quote here that was going to be used later,
but it's, suffer not the unclean to live, uphold the honor of the Emperor, abhor the
witch, destroy the witch, and accept any challenge no matter the odds.
Exactly.
We'll go into those specifically later, but for now that's a good rundown.
It's a good way to establish the mindset.
We'll read them out in specific detail.
It'll be fun.
Where is our, where is big boy Sigismund now?
Well unfortunately, during the first Black Crusade, he tragically died at the hands of
Abaddon the Dispoiler.
Spoilers for later on this video, sorry.
Spoilers with Dispoilers.
He did put up a good fight, and he probably would have won if it were not for the powers
of the Chaos Gods, plot armor.
But they're now led by High Marshal Helbert at the moment, and they showed very, very
large disdain for the newly made Primaris Marines.
I think they actually killed them, but I'm not sure on that.
This is a contentious point because a specific Crusade fleet didn't like the Primaris because
they were like, oh, this isn't in keeping with the Emperor.
But the overall Black Templars do not coincide with this belief.
It's one of the reasons why the Codex, this is an interesting case study of the Codex
Astartes where literally within the single largest non-compliant chapter, you have a
disagreement of belief.
And this is, I know a lot of people make memes about, oh, Codex, oh, Space Book, blah blah
blah.
But it's a prime example, a Primaris example, if you will, of why it's necessary because
you literally have a chapter that are divided with belief on, should we have Primaris?
Should we not?
And a splinter of the chapter literally murdered all the Primaris.
And it's like, crazy.
For those who are into Warhammer, the Primaris Marines are the updated, if you ever see pictures
or of like the little miniatures, they are the, let's say, new kids on the block in terms
of they are a new generation of Space Marines that have entered the 41st millennium.
And they are kind of a clash of, we say, new, bigger, stronger Marines, and then these older,
firstborn, slightly smaller Marines.
And this is the new Marines.
If you want specifics on that particular story, the book is called The Throne of Light.
And to do a quick rundown, they literally butchered the Marshal who's in charge of the Crusade
fleet, and all the Primaris reinforcements.
I'm not exactly sure on the custodians that were assigned to deliver like this.
They died too.
Like Amazon Prime, here's your Primaris.
It's like, yeah, I'm not sure about the custodians.
They literally killed the guy in charge and all the Primaris.
And I don't, I think that's pretty sus.
This becomes, this is a prime example of why, in a way, many of us love grimdark stories.
Just the actual frustration.
We'll get into much more detail about why the event of the Primaris' death is so frustrating.
But it's a fantastic kind of insight into this chapter's, like, just utterly zealous
beliefs that they will murder their own brethren.
And it's a mindset that we're going to delve into incredible detail in a moment.
I mean, all I'm saying is, Carl used traitor gene seed for the Primaris.
And the Primaris answered to Mars before they answered it.
I'm just going to say, Dantioch was an OG.
He was an OG.
If you're loyal but you're from a traitor legion, it's fine.
We all love a traitor legion loyalist, it's fine.
Saltarvod's biggest shed in the Horus heresy.
Yes, one of them.
There'll be a story we'll tackle one day and it's an absolute banger.
We are probably getting off track.
There are more chapters who would have disliked Primaris brains as well, like the Dark Angels,
arguably even worse.
Flesh terrors.
Yeah, Dark Angels literally mind control them, which is kind of funny.
But anyways, I should probably hand things over to Andy to get into the specifics.
Perhaps he'll let me talk about the Emperor's Champion, the foolish unit of the Black Templars.
Okay, thank you very much, Eli.
Well, okay, so let's start from the very beginning.
So where did the Black Templars originate?
So we all know and love the Imperial Fists, the seventh legion of the Adeptus Astartes,
Primarch Rogal Dawn.
These are the stalwart defenders, the bulwarks of the Imperium.
So whenever anyone thinks of Space Marines, we all think of one specific pinnacle, I would
say.
I think that's fair to say guys, but...
Erebus.
...pinnacle Space Marine.
No, not Erebus.
Sorry.
It's his heresy.
When we think of the biggest Chad in the Warhammer Astartes lexicon, we all think of Sigismund,
right?
I mean, this isn't a Chapter Master Valorak video.
Sigismund is arguably the most potent, is the best word I can use to describe it, the
best Space Marine possibly ever.
I think Valorak is, to be fair, onto something with Sigismund here, but I can see why.
I mean, I'm not a simp for the Imperial Fists or anything, but Sigismund is like, Big Sig,
Siggyboy, is possibly the greatest Astartes that will ever be.
Let's just do a quick head count, right?
So Sigismund is the first captain of the Imperial Fists, so he's the best of the best of one
of only 18 legions because we don't know what happened to the other two.
So of 18 legions, he's one of 18 of the best of the best legions.
Not only that, at the Siege of Terror, he's literally appointed the very first Emperor's
Champion.
Literally when Rogal Dawn, Sanguinius and the Emperor of Mankind himself go to attack
Horus Lupical on the Ventral Spirit to end the Horus heresy, he is appointed as the Emperor's
Shadow.
He's appointed as the single most important combative figure on terror.
Like, there's no one else who has that pedigree other than a Primarch.
Like, Primarchs could probably...
Hey, Siggy, smack, smack, clapped, but...
That's a Primarch.
That's a Primarch, yeah.
And so Sigismund, he has a well-deserved...
Pretty much other than...
I'm sure the Night Lords fans are going to go, J.G.Severetari, no, no, no, doesn't count.
But other than them, Sigismund is pretty much the undefeated Astartes.
So what they do at the Siege of Terror is they give him a panoply of war, which is white
and black.
It adorns him with the Templar Guard.
So he literally has the same color scheme as the Ecclesiarchy, although the Ecclesiarchy
doesn't exist at this point to that extent.
And they literally say, you share the same color scheme as the chaplains of the many
legiones Astartes.
So there's one point in one of the books where Sigismund has a clash of conscience and he
goes, I'm a bit guilty that I've relinquished my yellow Imperial fist color scheme for the
black and white of the Emperor.
And the Ecclesiarchy, the chaplains say, you bear our mark.
So you're the closest to the Emperor of anyone else.
Not only that, his armor is called the Armor of Faith, and he is given a weapon called
the Black Sword.
Now, the Black Sword will go into a little bit later, but it's literally a very, I think
we can all agree, a special weapon.
There's an air of mystery, particularly around it as well.
It's not quite Nathaniel Garrow's weapon, where it's possibly literally Excalibur, but
it's a similar weapon where it's like, oh, this is a special weapon.
And he literally spends the entirety of the Siege of Terror roaming the battle, literally
strolling through all the conflicts, finding the biggest, baddest chaos guy and being like,
oi, on a fight.
And that's Sigismund.
He literally kills dozens of chaos champions during the Siege of Terror and beats them
all without breaking a sweat.
This is the guy that basically, well, I think, was it Hal you mentioned earlier?
He clapped Khan in the new Siege of Terror book?
I think Eli mentioned that.
Warhawk spoilers, sorry.
Well, tough.
It's like, there's a law crime right there.
But he claps Khan the Betrayer, the most vicious Astartes that's ever lived.
He literally holds his own against Jago Sevatarion until he cheats.
He's arguably a better swordsman than Corswain of the Dark Angels or Raldoran of the Blood
Angels.
He is quite possibly the best quote, mortal warrior in the Imperium.
I think the part I enjoy, if everyone is semi-new to Warhammer, the reason that Sigismund is
truly held in such, I think maybe to all of us, in such high regard is the fact that Sigismund,
although he has been transformed into an Astarte, and so he's been given new organs, so he's
obviously been upgraded.
He is utterly human.
He is not a Psyche.
He is, he has nothing truly special about him other than the skills, other than what
you and I would have accessed.
Something that developed over 200 years of war during the Great Crusade.
It's entirely him.
So you're saying he's the personification of finesse.
Yes.
He would have done great in the Emperor's Children.
Oh, he's a disgusting man.
Get out of here.
But no, so yeah, let's just continue before any more heresy occurs.
You could say he's the Phoenix Lord of the Black Templars.
I can tell this is gonna be an ongoing problem, isn't it?
Right, right, right.
Come on, calm down.
So, Sigismund is clapping traitor forces left and right during the Siege of Terror.
Oh no, Emperor of Mankind has been mortally wounded by the Warmaster, but, it gups, he
has just killed the Warmaster.
Big win.
So, the traitor forces flee to the Eye of Terror, the loyalists retreat and they fortify
the Throneworld.
Some are a bit late, like Giliman and the Lion, and everyone kind of pulls their resources
and they go, what do we do now?
Now, most, there's a brief point at the end of the Horus heresy where pretty much all
the loyalist legions go and pursue the traitors and they try to destroy as many as they can
before they escape.
But some of, pretty much most of them at this point, that remain from that point, escape
into the Eye of Terror.
And as we all know, the Eye of Terror is not a understandable commodity, it's a tricky
place to even observe.
So pretty much all the loyalists go, they're driven them back to the Eye of Terror, job
done, and they retreat.
But not Sigismund.
Sigismund literally waits.
And whilst Robute Giliman drafts the Codex Astartes and says we need to like consolidate
the legions so that they aren't these massive war machines that are beholden to only their
Primarch, such as Roguel Dorne, who is of course the Primarch of the Imperial Fist.
Side note, Roguel Dorne wasn't a fan, as I think we've mentioned briefly, of the Codex
Astartes.
He said, oh, you know, this isn't a good idea.
But he had to relent when basically his forces possibly almost started the next heresy.
And so he went, oh, okay, hold on, my own forces have assaulted and destroyed Imperium
forces in a naval warfare situation.
I'm kind of in a bind, I have to comply to the Codex Astartes.
But Roguel Dorne would draft the Last War protocol where he would have all his successors
come to the aid of a centralized authority if they needed it.
Either way, the main point is, like we said before, Imperial Fists, they're broken down
into OG Imperial Fists, Crimson Fists, the Executioners, which is the chapter master
of what was his name, Rann?
Fafnir Rann.
I actually, I did check, we did commit a lore crime.
Executioners are third founding.
Oh, my words.
He was just a soldier kissing Crimson Fists.
Well, the thing is, Fafnir Rann served during the Siege of Taris, I think in my heart.
He was the second founding boy.
I love Fafnir, he's got a great-
We'll leave it as a lore crime, I think.
That's our fair lore crime.
But yeah, so let me just, you can confirm this, Eli.
So we've got the second founding, we've got Imperial Fists as a progenitor, then we've
got Crimson Fists of the most youthful, most kind of naive of the Imperial Fists, and then
we have the Black Templars, who are the most pious.
Is there anyone I'm missing?
Soul drinkers, those cool purple guys.
Soul drinkers.
Oh, of course, right, yeah.
They're a whole other topic we'll talk about.
That'll be a soul drinker video.
Were they, weren't they?
Okay, well, either way.
So the Black Templars are formed as a chapter, and they are formed of the absolute most zealous,
pious, and let's not forget Sigismund himself, when he was on terror, met Euphrates Kira,
who was a Remembrancer, who was the quote, first living saint of the Imperium, who, who
worshiped the Emperor as a god and saw him as a divine entity.
And Sigismund himself had a clash of conscience where he said to his Primarch Rogaldorn, so
I saw two futures where one I would die hopelessly and one I would be a martyr, and I don't really
want to like attack Horus during this big expedition.
I'd rather like stay on terror for my own like selfish pride, I suppose, and be a martyr.
And Primarch Rogaldorn was like, excuse me, is that religion I smell?
And for a while Rogaldorn really distrusted Sigismund.
He saw him as a, a remnant of a bygone age.
However, before the Siege of Terror, he realized Sigismund is my top boy.
He is literally my best warrior.
He's literally alt-less as far as loyalty is concerned.
He should be the quote, Emperor's champion.
And of course Rogaldorn is stricken with grief at the end of the Siege of Terror.
He's literally the one who, who carries Sanguineous' dead body to terror after the big, big attack
on the invincible reason, not the invincible reason, the Stark interest, for the vengeful
spirit of Horus Lupicaeus' flagship.
He literally carries the Angel's body to terror to be interred within a golden sarcophagus.
And he also observes his gene, his own father, the Emperor of Mankind, interred upon the
Golden Throne.
So he's pissed off.
And Sigismund shares that anger because he's literally been loyal, he's been true to his
cause.
And no matter how many champions of chaos he kills, he's still not done enough in the
eyes of the Emperor.
So Sigismund, unlike all other successor chapter masters, he waits outside of the Eye of Terror.
He literally just kind of stays there and watches until one day this guy called Abaddon
the Despoiler comes out of the Eye of Terror.
Until this guy called Abaddon the Despoiler comes out of the Eye of Terror.
And Sigismund's got a fleet ready.
And he goes, gotcha.
And he goes and attacks them straight away.
He boards their vessel.
And despite being really good at combat, he's now about a thousand years old.
He's waited so long he's become old.
And because of the warps, trickery, and trajectory is messing with time, Abaddon's still pretty
much in his prime.
Plus he's been empowered by Chaos Undivided.
So Sigismund and Abaddon duel.
It's a really cool fight, but in the end Sigismund makes a sacrificial blow where he impales Abaddon
the Despoiler through the chest with the Black Sword.
But it costs him being literally cleaved in half by the Talon of Horus, the inherited
weapon of Abaddon the Despoiler.
And he's literally, his legs are cut off, his torso is on one side, his legs are on
the other.
And Abaddon the Despoiler, very grievously wounded, will survive.
But Sigismund deals a blow that he was hoping would be fatal, but isn't.
Do you remember his last words as well?
I haven't got a script in front of me.
Let me see if I can recite it.
I do, I think I remember it right here.
Right, let me see.
I haven't got a script in front of me.
Let me see if I can do it.
Go ahead, if he has it as well.
Okay, here we go.
You will die as your weakling father died, soulless, honorless, ashamed.
I forgot one of the lines.
There's a line between them.
He literally stabs him through the chest.
Weeping, I think is.
Weeping, weeping, honorless, weeping, ashamed.
It's such a, if anyone has seen spoilers for some of the books, but it's such a fantastic
moment of what I particularly, the part if you are new to Warhammer or if you're an existing
fan of Warhammer, there's something about the transformation of Sigismund from this
just stalwart man who wavers, unfortunately.
And then he finds out, like we said earlier, the strength.
He becomes renewed when he dawns the black and he becomes, I think my favorite part when
I was looking into Sigismund and what you learn about him in the book Warhawk is the
inner transformation of him is the beginning of the black Templars.
And it's something, I think it was, if anyone here has, I don't know if it was exactly in
his fight with Khan, but the man, sorry if I'm taking too much, but it's a fantastic
moment if anyone wants to read it and it shows you exactly like his inner transformation
and then his kind of venom at the end at Abaddon is just so satisfying.
To be fair to our boy Abaddon, he kills Sigismund and he literally puts his body and the black
sword into a coffin of swords and sends it to Holy Terror when he exits the Eye of Terror
and inscribed on the sword, I believe he says, we are coming, which is the dawn of the black
Legion.
So yeah, like a huge moment in the Warhammer lore.
And it's like Abaddon, oh, Dick move killing Sigismund, but at least he had the honor to
not be like, I'm just going to like impale Sigismund's body on the back of my, you know,
desecrate him, yeah, I'm not going to desecrate him.
I'm not going to like drag him through the streets of wherever I live, Peckham possibly.
It's like, I'm going to just like, I'm going to send him back respectfully because he attacked
me as a warrior and he did a good like, anyone else impaled Abaddon the Despoiler through
the chest with like several inches of the black sword?
Deming so.
Phrasing.
Very intentional phrasing.
Gotta give Abaddon credit too, that's probably the most metal way you can give a message
possible.
Yeah.
While I was putting a bandaid on your like, impaled chest like, oh I need some painkillers.
It's truly a, it's a worthy, you can tell it's, particularly within the Warhammer setting,
chaos is just, it's obviously the bad guys, they are so evil, but to show the amount of
respect that Sigismund had earned in his, I guess a thousand, is he a thousand years
old by the end?
I think he's about, I think it's the 32nd millennium, so he's close to if not a thousand
years old, so he's not in his prime.
He is an old Astartes.
His body has been wrecked by a thousand years of war and he's still, he's still almost one.
And he doesn't have, so he doesn't have the chaos power, juice, whatever, keeping him
powerful and young.
He doesn't have that- the warp steroids.
Yeah.
He's on the Royds boys.
And you're not, have it under the spoiler.
Oh my god.
So before I continue, would someone like to read a quote?
The Black Templars.
Sure, send us over one.
Okay, so, Colin, I think this is one for you.
So here is the, from the Library of Devotion, would you please read this out for us?
I would be happy to.
Oh, this is a hell of a quote.
Very Shakespearean, go for it.
Where there is uncertainty, I shall bring light.
Where there is doubt, I shall sow faith.
Where there is shame, I shall point atonement.
Where there is rage, I shall show its course.
Where my word is the soul, shall be as my bolter in the field.
Man, that is-
That's so high, the Library of Devotion.
They are pretty, you can imagine that's probably chanted a thousand times.
Well, it's funny you should mention that, because the Emperor's children, are they
open for us?
Shit.
I did a bit of a fraud in the beginning.
Oh, I know, he likes it too, he can snipe you.
Because here's what I was going to say, the Black Templars literally worship the Emperor,
somewhat similar to not only the Emperor's children in that they practically would like
to go out to embody the Emperor, but also in a similar strange way, the word bearers
who would literally beseech people and say, God is here, he's called Big E. So in a strange
way the Black Templars are like a mix of both the Emperor's children and the word bearers
and the Imperial Fists.
It's a weird conglomeration.
War God won the horse hair, see.
War God won.
I can imagine chapter master Valrak, if he ever watches this, it'll be utterly ashamed
of how compared the Black Templars to the word bearers and Emperor's children.
Well they've got the swordsmanship skills of the Emperor's children, and they've got
the zealous religious piety and stuff of the word.
They are literally a conglomeration of the two with a bit of Imperial Fists peppered
in.
So yeah, I'll fight for it.
Me and Valrak, create a clash, we'll go.
If you'd like a third dose of heresy, they've got the rage of the world eater.
And they have Valrak.
Valrak being a coronate thing, though it's like, no, it's all about Big Bobby G. No,
Big E. It's all about Big E.
Jimmy Space.
So yes, and as you say, the Black Templars are experts at melee combat.
They love a good sword.
They love a good, like, they're not really like axe boys.
They're not really chain blade guys.
They like a good, rigid power sword.
Like here is a sharp blade, stick it in the enemy, yum, yum, yum.
But they also, not to the same extent that the Salamanders, love a Flamer.
And much to the chagrin of Salamander's board game players, they have the new updated Flamer
model.
So there is that as well.
But yeah, they're a fleet based chapter.
So the interesting thing about the Black Templars in particular is, you know how I said about
how they kind of bend the rules of the Codex Astartes.
They literally bend it into like a unicycle.
Like they bend the rules so much.
They're like, oh, a thousand Astartes in a chapter.
Well how about our chapters, quote, our crusades.
So records vary.
Some believe that there are only 6,000 Black Templars.
Some believe there's 16,000.
In a way, they're taking the piss.
And the way they get away with it is they say, hey, Bobby G, Robute, Gilliman, we have
a thousand Astartes per crusade.
So each crusade has a thousand Astartes.
Let's say they have four crusades going on at one time.
That's 4,000 Astartes.
That's four times the manpower of any Codex compliant chapter.
And the most conservative estimates suggest that they have more Astartes than the two
main non-compliant chapters, which are the Space Wolves and the Grey Knights.
Like literally, feral dog boys or demon killers of the universe.
Like those are who you up against.
Like those guys.
And you have possibly more than both of them combined.
That's a big chapter.
Too fair as well though.
So, in a way, you're more likely, as an Imperial citizen, on any world to meet.
To say meeting an Astartes is rare within the Warhammer universe, we're talking about
a million worlds with, I think, the estimations.
Trillions of people.
Yeah, with trillions of people.
The absolute rarest, they are truly the Emperor's angels, in terms of they are, it is like seeing
an angel.
Literally, like on the posters, pointing, going, I want you to kill Xenos.
Like they are the poster boys, because they're the most numerous.
The idea of it being, the most likely Emperor's angel you'll ever meet, is this enormous,
dawned in black armour, just utterly, extremely zealous Marine that is just, I am utterly,
the Emperor is in fact a God.
I am completely devoted and I am-
Guy who's literally like, have you prayed five times today to the Emperor of mankind?
No.
I'm gonna kill you.
I'm gonna get stabbed.
Yeah.
I've reserved a bolt shell just for you, heretic.
And the thing is, the zealously does get in the way, to an extent.
To give you an idea, we all know about the Death Watch.
So the Death Watch is the kill teams of the Ordo Hereticus, which specifically go out
into the universe to destroy aliens.
And they draft startes from every chapter of the Adeptus' studies.
And whilst the Black Templars are very, very reputable and good warriors, they don't get
on well with other startes to the most extent.
Like we've all seen Hell's Reach, I'm assuming.
Yes.
Fantastic animation.
There's a great scene where the Black Templars under Merak Grimaldus meet with the Salamanders,
who are literally polar opposites.
It's like, here you have the most dogmatic, zealous, bigoted legion, arguably.
I think that's the best way to encompass them.
I think if you are, I guess, new or, as a big fan of Warhammer already, I think the
best way you can encompass them is they are like, warrior bigots.
Warrior bigots fighting for humanity.
And they're literally having a discussion amongst themselves of like, the Salamanders,
they're saving civilians.
Madness.
It's the nicest legion with the most quote unquote evil legion of the Astarte.
Although I think people say that as a meme, but I feel like what they call the...
Marines malevolent.
Marines malevolent are worse.
I love you Dread Annon.
If you're watching this, I love you.
Love you Dread Annon.
We love you.
But yeah, so basically, yeah, they don't get on well with like, librarians in the Death
Watch.
They don't get on well with a lot of things, but they are very good warriors.
They used to, and here's the interesting thing.
When the Black Temporars were founded, they did have librarians, but over time they've
just sort of disappeared.
And no one can exactly point out why.
But one of the reasons that's pointed to is that when the Emperor of Mankind said,
hey, Edict of Nikea, no psychers.
When Black Templar historians look over the past, they've seen that and they've said,
oh, that's a holy edict.
That's literally our God saying, you cannot have psychers in the Codex Astartes or in
the Legiones Astartes.
Therefore, God has literally told us, no librarians.
And that's one possible reason.
So they don't have any.
To give you an idea of how zealous the Black Templars are, tech marines of the chapter,
traditionally in the Codex Astartes, they paint their armor red with an arm or a vambrace
or a shoulder guard depicting their chapter.
So they'll be painted all red with like an ultramarine's pauldron, for example.
The machine spirits of the Black Templars are so zealous, if you paint it too red, it
won't work.
Armor will literally say, that's heresy.
And it will literally not function if you paint too much of it, not in the colors of
the Black Templars.
That's like the kind of, the thing that makes Warhammer almost so unique is because of,
so that if you are new, the warp itself, that kind of mirror dimension of madness, the sentient
thought realm that lies side by side with our own, its belief manifests within Warhammer.
So the Black Templars almost, when we speak of machine spirits, we literally think the
actual machine, the Black Templars believe so zealously in, I guess, the purity of their
own armor that it's therefore, to color it, is therefore almost like heretical.
It's on the edge of heretical and it manifests within the universe.
Like I said, the armor may not work, which is insane.
It's almost, it's unbearably insane.
Oh, I have a quote that might be good for that.
Colin, do you want to read this one as well?
Your sultry voice.
Oh, why not?
All of the Black Templar quotes are just metal.
Anyway, as our bodies are armored with adamantium, our souls are protected with loyalty.
As our bolters are charged with death for the Emperor's enemies, our thoughts are charged
with wisdom.
As our ranks advance, so does our devotion.
For are we not space marines?
Are we not the chosen of the Emperor, his loyal servants unto death?
This makes me think back of what I would have narrated in Church Place.
Maybe the tone was a bit different.
The tone was a little bit more forgiveness and that kind of thing.
Just thinking, Eli, do you want to read this one as well?
As you wish, Lord.
Where there is uncertainty, I shall bring light.
Where there is doubt, I shall sow faith.
Where there is shame, I shall point atonement.
Where there is rage, I shall show its course.
My word in the soul shall be as my bolter in the field.
I think we've read that one already.
Oh, sorry.
Double-serving.
Double down on the devotion.
Now, how is a Black Templar's chapter divided?
Well, before we get to that, let's just say that Battlecry is no fear, no pity, no remorse.
They are a fleet-based chapter.
So unlike most chapters of the Adeptus Astartes, they do not have a homeworld.
They literally live on their main ship.
And their main ship is an interesting one because it is called the Eternal Crusader.
Now, for anyone who enjoys Primarchs...
That's all of us.
Yeah, big fans.
Yeah, who doesn't?
Every one of the 20 Primarchs was gifted a Gloriana-class battleship.
The only things bigger than this are the Abyssal ships from the Emperor's children and the
Emperor's own flagship and the Phalanx.
So like, these are pretty much, with a couple of exceptions, the biggest void ships in the
Imperium.
And there was one or two, depending on the Legion, for every Primarch.
Now, when the Emperor found Rogaldorne on his homeworld of Inwit, he met Rogaldorne
and Rogaldorne was like, bruh, I've already got this massive pre-Imperium ship called
the Phalanx.
And this ship is massive.
So massive that to this day, the Imperial Fists use it as their base of operations.
So like, the Phalanx is arguably the biggest ship in the Imperium.
So in that regard, Rogaldorne was like, hmm, I've already got a flagship.
I've got the successor chapters.
I love you, Siggy.
Here's my Gloriana class flagship.
So the, other than the Ultramarines who have the McCragg's honor, which is Rabute-Gilliman,
the Primarch Rabute-Gilliman's flagship, the only Legion, not Legion, the only chapter
who has a Gloriana class battleship in service in the current day 41st millennium is the
Black Templars.
They literally have a joint, well, joint second biggest warship in the Imperium, plus a bunch
of bonus ships just in case they need them.
So this kind of makes sense later on, but like, would you like to hear some of the names
of the other ships they have under their sway?
Is it going to scar my dreams?
Go for it, go for it.
So here's one.
One of their biggest, like these are kind of like their biggest ships other than the
Eternal Crusader.
So number one, Abhorrence.
Just that?
Just Abhorrence.
Jesus Christ.
Number one, Revenant, Light of Purity, Hammer of War, Divine Fury.
And this one's quite nice.
They also had a ship called Blade of the Seventh Sun.
I'm not sure if that's an Iron Maiden reference, but Blade of the Seventh Sun, the Black Templars
had as like a strike cruiser.
And when they helped the Celestial Lions during the aftermath of the Third War of Armageddon
and the Celestial Lions were decimated, which are also a successor chapter of the Imperial
Fist, they were like, bro, you can have this ship as your flagship.
And then that's now, I think it's still in operation, that's now the Celestial Lions
flagship.
So that's kind of nice that like, even though they're like xenophobic, murderous, nasty
boys, they still have some kindness in a way.
Well, they're honor.
I would say honor, wouldn't they?
They have honor for their brothers in a sort of, yeah, that sort of respect between fellow
warriors of the Imperium, but everyone else can get shafted, I guess.
Well, so to give you an idea of how they're organized, so every company is formed into
fighting companies.
So to give you an example, every fighting company is given a unique name.
In current eras, for example, fighting company under the Castellan Brocus is called The Righteous.
Fighting company after Bardolph is Bearers of the Sacred Bones.
And they have a, they vary slightly, but for example, The Righteous, you have a Castellan,
a Banner Bearer, Tech Marine, Apothecary, some Initiates, some Neophytes, Intercessors,
Land Raiders, Predator Tanks, Destructors, Repulsors, Razorbacks, Rhinos, Dreadnoughts.
So every company has a few armored vehicles, it has some specialists, and it has a bunch
of Astartes.
Now, you also have, for example, the Training Worlds.
So the Black Templars go through a lot of Astartes.
More than most.
That's an understatement almost.
Yeah, they're the, they're probably, probably, they're definitely the biggest chapter.
They've got so many Astartes, and they put them through the meat grinder.
And so, unlike, because they're a fleet based chapter, they don't have just like a world
like the Blood Angels have Baal, the Space Wolves have Fenris.
They don't just have like a world where they just go back to this home world and get them.
So they have Training Worlds.
And so when they conquer a world, they appoint a Castellan, which is the equivalent of like
a captain of the chapter to keep and ward over the keep that they build on the conquered
worlds and they recruit from there.
And to give you an idea, the Training Worlds that we have on record are Arborosa IV, Ployster,
Fergax, Kilhaven, I like the sound of that, Lilliamundi, Pergatius III, and Solemnus.
And here's the thing though, like when I was reading up about the Black Templars, I've
never really found like very sufficient reason why this makes sense.
Like according to what I've read, they only selectively recruit.
Maybe it's just because they have so many worlds, but according to what I've read with
sources, they literally have aspirants compete to be the new Black Templars and then they
only pick a select few of them.
So from records it says, the Black Templars are like, we only recruit a couple of initiatives
a year.
I'm like, you churned through a lot of Templars.
I would surmise that because when we talk about Astartes within Warmer, we forget how
they are utterly like, they are literally the one in the million in terms of...
And it's also always, you know, the actual tragedy of when even just one dies is because
the amount of resources and training and-
They literally have a million wells.
Well, it's also, yeah, a million, if you have over a million, you know, the Empyrean, the
vastness of it and you know, a million wells, they can almost afford to be that selective
because you can imagine like just to live up to, for each neophyte joining this, you
know, this legion, it's almost like a legion at this point, is there with this chapter,
they have to, they are essentially embodying who Sigismund, you know, all the way back
to the beginning of them.
They are trying to embody that level of superhuman, you know, not necessarily superhuman, but
that level of the cut above the rest.
And so therefore, I could imagine why the selection process is so just, I guess, short
and it's so hard to get in because you really need the, you're trying to make, you know,
the greatest, the most zealous, the most, you know, tactically gifted.
I can imagine that, you know, go ahead, so go ahead.
They want the cream of the cream of the crop.
If there's any sign of weakness, you are not allowed into the Black Templar Club.
I imagine they probably kill the other recruits too, who don't make it.
It's warhammer, I don't know if that's true, but it's warhammer.
I've not heard anything.
It's not like iron hands where it's like, you're a servitor now, but like maybe, I'm
not sure.
I feel like it would be too much of a waste.
They probably become like serfs because like learning of like, is it Caleb Aaron, who's
in the Death Guard during the Horus Heresy, he fails to be a Death Guard, so he becomes
a chapter serf and he becomes Nathaniel Garrow's, like, his ward where he, yeah, he's like,
he looks after his weapons and stuff.
I don't know about that in regards to the Black Templars, but like, maybe.
All I do know is that every recruit in the aspirants that exceeds, they have to be approved
by the Keeps Castellan and the chaplains and the apothecary.
So they're like, okay, are they faithful enough?
Are they healthy enough?
And do they have the fighting spirit?
And then every aspirant who becomes a part of the Black Templars becomes a neophyte.
And there's a weird ranking structure with the Black Templars because here's how it goes.
So neophytes, they're the novices, they're untrained, their pauldrons are blank white
with the heraldic cross.
That's all they have.
Every neophyte is mentored by a battle brother of the Black Templars.
So they go into battle as a pair and the so-called initiates, the rank and file of the Black
Templars tutor them and mentor them into battle.
Now, if a neophyte dies during the trying, the initiate, the mentor will avenge his death
or die trying.
And if the initiate, AKA the mentor dies, then the neophyte will be tutored by another
initiate but will also strive to avenge his mentor.
So there's an interesting thing with the Black Templars where when they make squads,
they're not divined by a captain.
They literally form bands of friends or comrades and they go, I like to fight with, let's say
we were Black Templars and I was like, oh, I want to fight with Eli and Colin and Hal.
I'll go and join them.
That's how they decide how to do it.
They don't have overarching structures.
They go, I like to fight with so-and-so and they form a band of brothers from that, which
is quite interesting as an Asatis chapter.
It makes me think of the first year of high school going, where am I going to sit at lunch?
The poor new guys in the Black Templars, like, who are my friends?
What's my clique?
Do I have to start, where's my new slang?
To start fitting in as quickly as possible.
The other interesting thing about the Black Templars is they have no sergeants.
They do not have anyone in charge of each squad because they function as a cohesive
whole.
The only promotion from neophyte to initiate is Sword Brethren and Sword Brethren is basically
the first company.
We're talking about the elite company, the first company, the best of the best.
Every Crusader host obviously has their Sword Brethren, but it's a very high honor.
For example, Recluseok Grimaoudos of the Black Templars was the youngest ever Astatis to ascend
to become a member of the Sword Brethren.
Other than that, the only rank after that is Castellans, which are the equivalent of
captains or company leaders.
They lead the 100 strong, 10 different squads per Crusader host.
If you have say a thousand Astatis in a Crusade, the Castellans, there's 10 of them.
They lead a hundred Astatis each in the battle companies and they're led by the Marshals.
The Marshals are in charge of each Crusade.
Buck stops at the Marshal.
I'm leading a Crusade, shut up, I'm in charge.
That's the Marshals.
In charge of all of them is the High Marshal, Sigismund, who we spoke of earlier, was the
first High Marshal, which is the equivalent of chapter master of the Black Templars.
Other than that, you obviously have your chaplains, your Recluseok, who is the High High Chaplain,
tech Marines and apothecaries of the Legion.
Are we all following?
That's all not too bad.
I had an interesting thought about when you mentioned the idea of them being paired up
with other members.
Because that's obviously in Warhammer, that's actually quite a large divergence, almost
a theoretical divergence from the Codex Astatis.
The interesting part of that is, I wonder if that plays into the idea of that when, I guess,
they bond them in this way to each other, so that when one dies, there's almost a level
of revenge.
Or yeah, just the neophytes, the initiate, there's literally records of a mentor dying
and his initiate going on his own mini-Crusade to kill the orc who killed his mentor, or
whoever.
There is more than any Astatisition I can think of, there are bonds of brotherhood which
meld the chapter and make them really strong.
I can't think of anything.
They're kind of redeeming a little bit.
But also, you can see how it plays into their zealotry, because there's nothing more, I
guess, rage inducing than to see someone, a brother die on the field.
I can imagine that.
The structure of their own chapter is designed to increase their own zealotry, which is frightening.
What happens to zealotry?
Eli, would you like to read this quote for me, please?
Yes, sir.
Let a wave of repugnance from the enemy wash over you.
Let hatred fill you.
Hate is good, for our goal is a human galaxy.
We are called by the Emperor with a sacred duty to conquer it in his name.
That's our boy Kramaldis himself.
He's like, yeah, it's just about us.
What's that thing from where it says, let the hate flow?
It definitely touches upon that idea.
I think it's almost because the part I always loved, if you are into Warhammer, if you're
someone who's a big expert fan of the Black Templars, you'll see how this, within the
41st millennium, the idea of the grim dark setting is that it's a perversion and it's
a kind of humanity is very much at its worst.
We're all pretty much, I guess, in agreement that humanity in the 41st millennium sucks.
The thing is, I love how even in that context, you get people like Sigismund, who like, yes,
he's an angry boy, but that thing was like harsh times make heroic people.
In a weird way, there are elements you see in the characters of Warhammer 40k where you
go, oh, they're like from a deplorable chapter and blah, blah, blah.
And yet they have qualities which are really admirable.
You go, they're loyal.
They are like courageous.
They are.
And that's the weird thing about 40k, I suppose, where you go, wow, this character is really
cool and likable.
Ah, but they live in 40k.
I think the interesting part of it is the black, I guess it's the way I've always viewed
it.
And I can sometimes see why if you ever spoke to someone who is a huge fan of black Templars,
they're kind of, they've become the warriors that this disgusting modern timeline needs
them to be.
Because when you are truly facing against, when we say the word nightmare, like I don't
think that even, like the word nightmare doesn't, we can't register how awful it truly is.
Even like chaos as well.
You know, got all Eli with his chaos.
You're disgusting man.
You both like Empress.
You guys.
No, no.
Eli, you're too nice to like Empress children.
You're too nice, man.
That's what I've been told a lot of times.
Canadian sensibilities.
But I think I like the idea of them being, they are when you're like fighting, it's
why the idea of like Sigismund fighting Khan is so almost poetic because the beautiful,
I guess for me, the beautiful thing about the Cedars Terror in particularly itself is
that I cannot for the life of, I try to remember Khan's famous large words to Sigismund.
I think it was, I'm not as broken as you.
I think it was the other day.
Yeah, that's exactly it.
It's a fantastic line because it shows you, like even my point is, will be about how the
modern day black Templars have changed.
But the idea is like Sigismund himself was 200 years in the great crusade and is in his
good old yellow armor.
And he was kind of a stalwart man.
And then when we reach the end of the siege of terror, he is just this, he's become so
hateful that he turned into something where he was almost apathetic towards the end.
I don't know what's, it's like he reaches that Zen moment in what's the siege of terror
book, is it Warhawk?
Yeah, he scares Khan.
Khan is like worried about him.
It's such an interesting part for if you are a fan of the black Templars, you can kind
of see how the hate is almost like again, like many things in politics itself.
It's like a cycle and it comes all the way back around and then Sigismund.
I will speak about the Wildeaters in a second, but continue what you're saying.
Sigismund, he becomes so hateful that it turns into cold apathy where that cold apathy is
almost, it's where it's the beginning of the corruption of the Imperium because it's a
corruption where it lies in I'm apathetic to these people and it's based on, this is
the beginning of, I guess, the religious sense of it.
Not that always that is evil, but it's that nice twist where Sigismund doesn't hate at
some point chaos because they are so far beneath him because he is so zealous, because he is
so zealous that he cannot hate something so minuscule.
And it's a nice contrast to see the modern Templars, which are almost like they're not
quite at his level yet, but they're on that path.
It makes me think.
Sorry, Colin, you go.
Go ahead, Colin.
Okay, this is a really, it's an anime comparison.
I love it.
It's Dragon Ball.
I'm in a nice speech.
I don't know, fantastic speech there.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry to follow with this.
It's Dragon Ball, if that helps.
No, do it.
It's in one of the newer movies, do you have, okay, so you know, Vegeta, the, I don't know
how much.
Yeah, it's Vegeta and then Frieza.
It's in the movie where Frieza comes back.
Frieza is just trash talking him as he always does.
And usually Vegeta is, the man trash talks so hard he dies and he'll still call you from
beyond the grave to call you a coward.
I think I permanently hear like, Kakarotis.
But in that movie, Frieza keeps trash talking him and Vegeta, he's just so angry that he
doesn't say anything.
He just beats the snot out of him.
Like I know, I'm sorry.
Sorry to follow that comparison up with anime.
I think that crystallizes it perfectly.
It's a, that's the level I think, at least for me, that's I've always seen them.
It's why they're almost, the Black Templar's like, so they are the warriors you need them
to be at the right time.
But they are, there is something deeply dark and scary about them.
That intimidation only adds to the bad ass.
I think I can see why good old chapter master Valorak shouting.
I'm a big fan of him.
I can understand why he enjoyed it so much.
The cold rage made me think of that.
My apologies.
Do you guys agree?
Like, do you think, I might be like talking way off.
No, I think you're pretty much on it.
He loses himself kind of, almost in the siege.
Unhuman.
It's, you know, to be human is to be in touch with your emotions and then he just becomes
a thing.
He literally is a weapon.
He's not, that's why he's almost, what's the words of Khan again?
It says, I'm not as broken as you are.
I'm not as damaged as you.
And I think that perfectly is a, you know, that it, you know, Warhammer law is fantastic.
I think that's, you know, a fantastic piece of writing.
Well on that note, Colin, would you do me the honor of reading this is quote?
Oh, I see why you threw that one to me.
See the first two words.
Kill aliens and warp upon filth wherever you find them and whatever circumstances you find
them.
Such as thing as tolerance for such as them, as far as the emperor is concerned for high
martial Geralt.
The prayer of repugnance.
Just the thing I was, I was reading that quote and you're like, yeah, he's kind of detached
and he's just like honed in.
And the thing was, Hal, you mentioned about like the, the world eaters and Khan.
Well, here's a fun fact about the black Templars.
The black Templars have a bunch of relics and traditions and a couple of them are chain
related calm down.
So for example, it's changed back in his box.
For example, number one, they have these things called chains of devotion.
So when they're going to battle, they have chains attached to their bolters and swords
and weapons and they literally bind their weapons to their hands so they can't drop
them.
And this was originally a custom from the world eaters when Sigismund used to dual Khan
and his friends in the fighting pits on the conqueror, the Gloriana clash flagship of
the world eaters.
And there's also a chain called the chain of zeal and the chain of zeal is interesting
because it's literally welded to an armored like grieve or glove.
So the person who is given the quote honor of the chain of zeal physically can't take
their, their like combat gloves off because it's welded to their weapon.
And there is massive shame if you ever remove it.
So like, imagine you go to bed one night, you're like, I'm, I'm going to start.
He's only need to like sleep once a week, but still you're like, I'll take off my armor.
It's a bit heavy, but I can't take my glove off because it's literally bolted to my heavy
belt.
I'm going to lie on bed with my heavy bolter on my chest because it's welded to a stuffy
just in case someone tries to like attack me in my sleep.
So they are literally always armed.
The idea of the fact that we just spoke about this incredibly dark and zealous, like in
a journey and then these guys who can't take their gloves off when they're sleeping.
They're literally like, you're always on the clock snuggling their bolters.
That is like, I just, in my head, I just picked that up being like just the mild, the mild
inconvenience being like, yes, this makes me more zealous to the emperor because of
the mild inconvenience.
Imagine trying to go to bed and you're literally linked to a chainsword.
Like how does that work?
Oh, every Thursday.
How do you not?
So I prick myself.
I rolled over in bed and now I stabbed myself in the leg.
God damn it.
You know, that just seems really impractical.
But yes.
So would you like to know about some more relics of the chapter?
Tell us straight away.
We need, we need to know, but we cannot sleep without these relics.
I want more metal names.
Well, I've, I've picked a few, I haven't picked all of them, but I've picked a few.
So for example, there was a tree fold artificer armor set.
The black Templars have there's the armor of the fearless Crusader.
There's the armor of the pitiless Crusader and there's the armor of the remorse, the
Crusader, which they tived to the death watch.
So any black Templars who serve in the death watch, they have exclusive access to artificer
armor, which is a pretty neat deal if you're like, ah, I'm being sent to like the equivalent
of Astartes boarding school, you still get a really neat set of armor.
So that's quite nice.
Let's talk about they had, how do I explain this?
So they have a relic called the Holy Orb of Antioch.
Oh my god.
Would you like to explain the reference please?
I think you know.
Oh my god.
Well, is anyone here?
So for the rest of you guys who do not feel, so for our viewers watching, me and Andy are
definitely on the different side of the Atlantic.
And this is, this is a reference to a group called Monty Python.
And there's a fantastic movie.
Oh my god, I've forgotten the name of it for a second there.
That's the Holy Grail.
Yeah.
Oh, thank god everyone's watched this.
I watched that movie way too young.
This is a fantastic reference to a Monty Python sketch within this film about the Holy Hand
Grenade, if I'm not mistaken.
And they are trying to kill a demon albino rabbit that takes on Crusaders, which is the
idea of that being recreated in Warhammer, that shows you why you should be into this.
I think it's a board game item as well, so you can literally use it in the game.
Oh, is it really?
I think it is, I can look right now.
If I'm correct, it's like it hurts you more if you do a bad dice roll and it hurts you.
It's like if you're not pious enough, it hurts you.
Something like that.
So if you throw it at a Xeno's demon, or a Chaos demon, they're just screwed.
Yeah, basically.
I love that.
I think there's another Monty Python reference of the Black Templars, but I couldn't find
it.
But I'm sure there's another one.
Because again, English company, etc.
Another thing they have is the Sword of Dawn.
So in the Eternal Crusader, they literally have a Hall of Records, which basically talks
about all their greatest deeds, blah, blah, blah.
But they also have this massive vault of relics, and one of those relics is the Sword of Dawn.
I believe it's the Chained Sword of Dawn.
I might be mistaken, but I think it's literally the sword that you see in all the pictures
with the chain blade and blah, blah, blah.
And it's broken.
But the interesting thing is the chapter, when they elect a High Marshal, they give
them a weapon called the Sword of the High Marshals.
And it's forged from the broken fragments or some of the broken fragments from Dawn's
personal sword.
So that's kind of cool.
And it's literally used as a badge of office for the High Marshal.
So before we do the notable members and the Emperor's Champion of the Black Templars,
I'd like to quickly just go through, I think it'd be good if we all read one of the various,
four main oaths that Sigurdsmen said to vow to do.
And every Black Templar has to swear this when they go on to the Eternal Crusader.
So every few years they go back to the Eternal Crusader, they go back to the quote, home
ship, and they have to recite these vows in order to remain a Black Templar.
So I will start with the Uphor the Witch quote.
I feel like we're joining the Black Templars.
I'm trying to make a sneakily join in.
So I'll recite this one.
I did it in my Black Templars video, but still.
So here we go.
Smite now the scions of the witch.
Grant us the strength to pierce their unclean flesh, to cover their fields with the pale
forms of their blasphemous dead.
To drown the thunder of guns with the shrieks of their dying, the low waste of their citadels
with hurricanes of fire.
To wring the hearts of their kin with unavailing grief.
To send them into the wastes of their desolated lands in rags and hunger, broken in spirit,
worn with travail and begging for the refuge of the grave.
We ask it in the spirit of wrath.
O Master of Mankind.
That's Uphor the Witch, destroy the witch by the Black Templars.
Damn, not inviting them for Christmas.
Colin, here's your one.
You don't have to do the epic voice if you don't want to.
My epic narrative voice is a bit rusty.
We can't compete.
We can't compete, it's going all the way down to Andy.
Trust in the Emperor at the hour of battle.
Trust him to intercede and protect his warriors true as they deal death on alien soil.
Turn their seas to red with the blood of their slain.
Crush their hopes, their dreams and turn their songs into cries of lamentation.
That's so awesome.
Makes me think of Conan.
I mean, the honor of the Emperor.
Conan the Barbarian, it's like, hear the lamentations of their women.
I feel like this might be hitting me differently.
Here's yours Eli.
This one is called Accept Any Challenge, No Matter the Oz.
Let's see here.
Yeah, okay.
O Emperor in Wrath, rejoicing at bloody wars, fierce and untamed, whose mighty power doth
make the strongest walls from their foundations sake, all conquering Master of Mankind.
To be pleased with his wars, to mulch to his roar, delight in swords and fists red with
alien blood and the dire ruin of savage battle, rejoice in furious challenge and avenging
strife whose works with woe and bitter human life.
Accept Any Challenge, No Matter the Oz.
Beautiful.
I feel like they're becoming more evil as we continue.
More epic you mean?
This one's for how?
I won't do a...
I'm not sure I can compete.
People...
Okay.
Lead us from death to victory, from falsehood to truth.
Lead us from despair to hope, from faith to slaughter.
Lead us to his strength and an eternity of war.
Let his wrath fill our hearts.
Death, war and blood.
In vengeance serve the Emperor in the name of Dawn.
Suffer not the unclean to live.
No bit hard at all.
You're so awesome.
I like that.
That was good.
I'm not actually a voice actor.
Please be kind if anyone comments.
Well, that was nice.
And yeah, mentioned in that last, I think it was Eli's bit where it's like, it's worth
noting that like the Black Templars have literally been at war for 10,000 years.
I don't think I mentioned this before.
They literally were like, oh, great crusade was pretty cool.
So now they're like, we can one up that.
We're going to like launch crusade that lasts forever.
And so far, it's not been broken in 10,000 years.
The longest human war in history, you could say.
Ever.
The longest war in human history.
This form is frightening damn.
10,000 years.
Okay.
So we're pretty much we're already an hour and a bit.
So I think we should wrap this up with some of the most notable people in the Black Templars
if you're happy with that.
Absolutely.
Okay.
So let's start off with we've already mentioned Sigismund.
So we've kind of already talked about him.
But let's just say that he all will add to him is that he is revered so much that there
is literally a temple in the in the eternal crusader alongside Dawn and the Emperor, like
the trifecta for the eternal crusader.
And the Black Templars is literally the God of man, gene father of man, and the best warrior,
literally like the father, the son and the Holy Ghost.
Literally, that is the Black Templars to a T. And although the Black Sword, his weapon
of choice was kind of vandalized by Aberdon saying, is it we are coming or we are on the
way?
Oh, here comes the Black Legion, whatever it was.
They kind of scribbled that off and they still retain his sword on the eternal crusader,
which we'll get back to in a minute.
Now we're about to talk about one of the biggest chads in Warhammer 40k.
Are you ready?
I'm ready.
Hit me.
Eldred?
Okay.
Back in your corner, Skull.
We're not talking about those AB Eldar.
Apologies.
Okay, so we're going to talk about High Marshal Helbrecht.
Now this guy, to give you an idea of how important High Marshal Helbrecht is, if you read the
ninth edition of the Adeptus Custodes Codex, there is a quote, and I'm about to read it
to you, and the quote is called, Eeds of Legend by Gretion Arterbain, who's a custodian.
A man with an unreasonable name.
Yeah.
I think it's Grecion or Gretarion Arterbain.
Grecion, I think.
Grecion, yeah, I think it is, yeah.
And the quote reads, for 60 and three years did I serve as companion, the youngest to
ever hold such a position and thus be named Honored Watchman.
So long in his presence, there is not enough gratitude in all the galaxy I could have for
the privilege of such a duty.
Alas, as with all of the Haterion guard, I could not stand watch over the throne for
eternity.
I had not the strength.
Eventually I will return and serve longer, as I swear.
The Aquiline Shield was my calling when I left the throne, for if I could not protect
the Emperor himself, I would guard those doing his works.
I read the Lictorian rites, took the Ravrangian oaths and passed the Baltagic trials.
I spent three decades learning of the Doomscriers, how to interpret their words, what to dismiss
as babble and what to accept as truth.
I learned of past error, as well as successful protection of my order.
Here's the important bit.
My first duty, while bedecked in the purplish shades of my host, was to shield a denizen
of piety, one who was barely adolescent.
In the under hives in which he dealt, we preserved his life from afar until the day the Black
Templars came and took him aboard their ships.
That boy's name was Helbrecht.
Literally, the Aquiline Shield, the guys whose whole job is to look out for important people
to preserve humanity, found Helbrecht when he was an adolescent and protected him because
he was important.
Alexiou's voice is very clear.
The actual importance of that is almost…
Does it say earth shattering?
It's not enough, almost.
Like galaxy.
The implications of the trusted of the Emperor, the custodians to watch over a single… in
a universe of trillions of people to watch over one person.
I'm saying with just how god damn important… I'm sorry, shhh.
That's the best word.
No, go with what's fine.
But is it just how important he's going to be if the custodians themselves are like,
you… I cannot tell you how important you are.
You're so important, we're leaving the Emperor to guard you.
That is a whole new level of worth as a future space marine, as a person.
I wish the Emperor spoke to me like that.
You are so important.
I can use the pep talk.
Well they say this is a Black Templar belief, but it might be true, that the High Marshals
of the chapter are literally appointed by the Emperor himself.
And so this kind of bears credence to that.
It might just be a coincidence, it's just like he's too important to ignore, but like
it bears credence.
But Helbrecht the man himself, what's Helbrecht's deal?
Helbrecht is literally the greatest naval commander in the Imperium.
We all love Hell's Reach.
A lot of people when they watch that fan film or read the book, they think, oh Hell's
Reach Armageddon, that was just like the Black Templar.
Like no.
Like there was dozens, dozens of Astartes companies and chapters that were appointed
to defend Hell's Reach.
Like there's literally like a bunch of chapters you've never heard of.
There's so many chapters on that warfare.
And they all got to Armageddon, flagships and ships.
And who was in charge of all the Astartes war fleet?
Helbrecht.
They literally went, you are literally the best naval commander in the Imperium.
You do it.
And he's also an amazing swordsman.
This guy dueled Necron Stormlord Imhotek, like one of the most big daddy Necron energy
guys ever.
Legit, a Terminator that doesn't slow down or tire.
And here's the thing, and this is why I don't like Necron, bear with me.
Like Helbrecht messed him up again and again and again and again and again for ages.
And the only reason that Imhotek won was because he kept regenerating and was like, ha lol,
and cut his hand off.
Like, I don't like Necron.
Like at least have like a limit of how much you can regenerate.
I mean, you could just get good.
I mean, that is the interesting part of it being, I think it's a, the part I loved about
this within the lore is like it's a representation of, it is a bit of a microcosm between human
struggle because human, even as, you know, as mighty as Helbrecht and how talented and
how strong he is, he is only, he is the human whose muscles tire, who's, you know, eventually
he will, I think it's a nice kind of link to how I guess our story, humanity story will
be with the Necrons in the future.
It's a nice, although I think it's almost, I think it's an advantage that it's almost
frustrating that that duel happens as epic as it is, as epic as it is.
I bet you he would have, one of you was an ultramarine.
Yeah.
Oh gods.
Here we go.
Although to be fair, Marni's Kalgor got dunked on by Abaddon, so their plot armor has been
fading.
Nice.
Although to be fair, Helbrecht lost that fight and such before he undertook the Rubicon Primaris
and now he is a Primaris Marine.
So that's a hell of a different, now Helbrecht is bigger and better now.
He's a weapon to surpass Metal Gear now.
Exactly.
He is Metal Gear Rex.
He's upgraded.
He has maidens now.
He's got the sword cleaner guy.
Oh yeah.
He has no maidens now.
He has maidens.
I wanted to say earlier, Eli, if you fail the Black Templar Trials, you're the sword
cleaner.
The sword guy.
Did you know that in the tabletop, his little like, surfs actually can hit people?
Really?
Yeah, I was looking at his rules to get through extra attacks, like strength 3, AP 0.
With quits or something?
Their hands, it literally says their hands.
What are they hitting him with?
Just like insults?
Punch him.
It's like off.
Sword cleaner has punched you.
It's amazing.
By the way, Eli, I'm about to talk about everyone's favorite Templar, Grimaldis.
Would you like to read a quote before I talk about him?
Of course.
To a darkness I bring fire, to the ignorant I bring faith.
Those who welcome these gifts may live, but I will visit not but death and eternal damnation
on those who refuse them.
So nice.
What's wrong with Eli saying that and it sounds too nice?
You sound too wholesome.
Everyone loves Grimaldis.
Grimaldis for anyone who is not, why are you watching this?
You haven't watched Hell's Reach.
Go on YouTube, type out Richard Boylan.
After you've watched this episode.
No, pause this.
Pause this and go search.
Richard Boylan, Hell's Reach and watch it and then come back because everyone loves
Grimaldis.
Amazing TV show.
He is a bit of a Chad.
I have to give it to him.
Literally a self doubting chaplain.
His mentor Mordred died in battle, I think against the greenskins.
I'm not sure, but he died in battle.
Helbert was like, Grimaldis, you are now the recluse of the Hell's Reach crusade.
Grimaldis was like, I don't have anyone to do that.
Oh well.
And he kind of became a recluse.
That sounds like a scene from Harry Potter.
What's like the elf that's Dobby, but it's the other one.
You're a recluse, Grimaldis.
I'm a what?
You're a recluse, but I'm just Grimaldis.
Did you just turn that into a Hagrid Harry Potter reference?
I'm not the only one who felt that good.
Anyway this guy is just zealous rage and purity, sonified.
He took a bunch of Lactam Pluristates and defended a city on Hell's Reach, the most
arguably contested planet in the Imperium space, other than, you know where.
Was that the one with the planet, the replacement for Cadia?
I was going to say Cadia, but still.
Most contested, I was like, contested and Cadia fell, so I'm like, can't say that anymore.
Cadia stands.
But yeah, literally he led a bunch of Lactam Plurists to defend Hell's Reach and he inspired
not only his men but also the Imperial Guard and probably the Servitors too of Hell's Reach
to defend the city.
He lost all of his squad, church fell on him, survived because he's a Chad, and went through
the Rubicon Primaris, isn't going to recruit anyone into his squad Grimaldis again.
He's like, no, they died, they're staying dead, I don't want to have anyone else fight
alongside me.
So he's like the lone wolf chaplain bishop of the Black Templars and he's a badass and
we all love him.
He can move in diagonals as the bishop on the board.
Yeah, exactly.
He is the move diagonals boy.
And one thing that was interesting about Grimaldis that links to my last final, final point of
this episode is Emperor's Champion.
So Eli, do you have anything to mention about the Emperor's Champion?
Well, sure.
They're the coolest unit in the game and their model alone makes me want to play Black Templar's
army.
But aside from that actual lore, the Emperor's Champion, it's been a tradition for a while.
Obviously Seisman was the first one.
It's different than Seisman though, it's not just you're told you're the Emperor's Champion,
but the Emperor himself tells you that you're the Emperor's Champion.
So when all the lads get together and they're praying before battle, one guy might get a
vision from the Emperor himself and he'll go talk to the chaplains and they'll confirm
it and he'll get sent to a place to like, I don't know, think on it.
I lost for words there, but he'll think about it.
He'll meditate and whatever.
And it'll be confirmed that he's an Emperor's Champion and there's only one per crusade.
So he'll gain a few armaments, including a black sword, which there are ten of.
He will don the Armor of Faith.
And am I missing anything?
I think that's pretty much their war gear and their duty is to pretty much just seek
out enemy champions and commanders and the biggest monsters they can find and kill them,
pretty much.
Yeah, utilizing the blessing and power of the Emperor to cast his holy light onto those
who would oppose him.
They're seen as the immortal vessel of the master of mankind.
The Emperor is in them, with the Holy Spirit.
They literally have a vision that they believe is divine from the Emperor.
They go to bed one day and they have their little hellbrekt plushie and they hug it and
they're literally like, I love Sigismund.
And then they're like, the Emperor sent me a vision and they'll see a massive tie, like
a horde of enemies, whether they be greenskins or Eldar or like, and they'll be like, my
duty is to kill them.
And they'll jump out of bed.
They will declare to the chapters chaplains like, bruh, I'm the new champion, give me
the sword.
And the chaplains will kind of go, hmm.
Okay.
And then they'll go to the master of the armory and go, bruh, I'm the Emperor's champion.
And the master of the armory will go, hmm.
Okay.
And then they'll give them the armor of faith.
Like you said, there are 10 black swords, so there's obviously like nine replicas.
The original sword is always kept on the eternal crusader in like a shrine.
And I believe that's the one from the Hell's Reach crusade.
I'm not sure.
But that's like the highest esteem.
I think that one always goes with hellbrekt.
Like where hellbrekt goes, eternal crusader or like a secondary flagship goes and the
black sword of Sigismund goes with him because it's like primary crusade fleet.
And yeah, every crusade fleet has an Emperor's champion.
When they go out into battle, they have a specific target in mind they've seen in the
vision.
They kill them and they go job done and they will relinquish the title or they will die.
And if they die when they're the Emperor's champion, their name is inscribed on the black
sword they were wielding.
And so there's like a bunch of names on each black sword of all the fallen Emperor's champions.
But other than that, that's basically it.
I was actually wondering that bit at the end why it didn't say we are coming on the black
sword but now I guess I know because there's 10 of them.
And the Emperor's champion does get the blessing of the Emperor going back to that.
They are stronger and faster and they can resist psychic powers much better and they
have like a complete sense of purpose and no doubts whatsoever.
That's pretty cool actually.
I actually didn't know that.
I didn't know they got souped up.
I just thought they got soup.
They got the Emperor juice.
They took their protein shake and their vitamin gummies.
They took their squash.
Oh my god, you're gonna hound me about that.
Very Brits listening.
Do you guys drink like concentrate squash?
Please comment below.
You drink it?
Yes, bro.
This is constant.
This is a normal day thing in England, right?
This guy really does worship Slenesh.
These guys are heretics.
They don't know what's going on.
Oh, I'm the heretic.
Yeah, sorry.
I just drink water and beverages.
Sorry, soda.
Yes, soda.
But before we think of these guys as like purely nice, can I just finish on like a quote
from the Black Templar's Codex on like one of their crusade banners?
Yeah, of course.
So on page 52 of the Black Templar's Codex 2005, there's a bunch of crusade banners
with the shields and there's one called the Geriulus Crusade.
And I quote, upon the fall of the main spire of the Geriulus hive, one in every 100 inhabitants
was executed for their heresy in the manner of the planet's ancient traditions as depicted
on this banner.
Note, this banner includes the sword emblem of High Marshal Adonis.
It's basically a skeleton with like its arms up looking very unhappy.
That's the Black Templars.
A double edged sword, we could say.
They are, to our modern sensibilities, quite horrific, but they are the soldiers you in
the Warhammer universe need.
They are essentially the fight fire against fire.
To be fair, to the left of that crusade banner, there's the Nimbosa Crusade one and it's
literally a towel's head on a pike.
So there's that as well.
I'm not going to try and defend anymore.
I love the shade.
It's like, it literally says, from an expanding empire of a perfidious but technologically
advanced universe.
It doesn't even mention their names.
It's just something else.
I love it.
It's not even worth mentioning.
Wow.
That is, I mean, final thoughts, boys.
Quickly going round.
Andy, what do you like, final thoughts on Black Templars?
I would say a flawed, kind of evil, but also incredibly fun faction, especially because
they serve my boy, the Emperor.
And Eli?
They are probably my top three favorite space marine chapters.
They're so, I don't know, I appreciate the zeal and the metal and badassery.
They just encompass the grim darkness of the far future so well.
And Colin?
I will say, I haven't historically been the biggest fan of the Templars, but a lot of
that was for meta reasons.
Hearing all of this about them, I'm coming around a bit, I'll be honest.
I still like the Lamenters and Ultramarines more.
That's fine.
They're quite cool.
I like them.
They're fine.
I like both.
For people who have been listening, thank you so much for tuning into our, I guess,
beginner to expert dive into the Black Templars.
They are complicated.
Thank you so much.
Make sure to subscribe and let us know other topics you want to see in the comments below.
If you'd like to see a video, or sorry, is it alright if I decide one thing at the end?
Yeah, of course.
Because does anyone have a Black Templar video they want to plug at the end?
We'll link them in the description for people.
Check them out if we have a video.
Check them out.
All I was saying is, I'd have a breakdown of the Black Templars on my channel, The Remembrancer.
Shameless shill.
We're all...
Buy some Delos for the Dark Asmarch.
Say the rest of our channels.
We all have stuff.
Go look at it.
Just send me money, period.
Thank you all for listening.
Take care everyone.
Que rabbis.