Thaddeus

Sergeant Thaddeus showing off hairesy to rival any marine.

Overview

A Blood Raven assault marine sergeant, Thaddeus is a confirmed hairetic, almost to the level of Commander Hairgel. He is the first recruit from the hive world Meridian in centuries, having been drawn from the underhive gangs; this may in fact explain his ridiculous hairdo.

Serving in the commander's strike force, he is notably the youngest member, being only 80 or so when the events of Dawn of War II occur. (And as you can see, "young" is relative given he's old enough for a bus pass in our world.) This means that he spends a lot of time discussing what it's like to become one with the chapter, and acts as the naive new guy, in contrast to the cynicism of Cyrus and Avitus. Opinions vary on the quality of his speeches, given that they lack the grimdark of Avitus or the manliness of Tarkus.

Dawn of War II Story

Thaddeus first appears in DOW II, joining your commander early on, although not in the first mission, as Avitus, Tarkus, and Cyrus do. He's notable for butting heads with Avitus over the latter's disdain for civilians and guardsmen, and to some extent annoying Cyrus by ruining the scout sergeant's cynicism. Tarkus does his best to mentor him in the ways of being an Astartes.

Thaddeus remains much the same in Chaos Rising, showing his love for the common man by gaining corruption if not deployed on a mission to save the hab-spires of Meridian. If he ends up betraying your squad, he reveals that he made a bargain with Ulkair to allow the Litany of Fury to triumph against the hive mind, and attempts to "save" you by jumping on top of your heads and inserting a chainsword into your orifices. The former portion of this is almost certainly bullshit, as Jonah Orion, who fought directly against the hive mind, noted that he felt no daemonic presence and that it was entirely the work of a specially engineered bio-toxin that slayed it. Which means that Chaos duped him into thinking his bargain was what led you to victory and took advantage of how he was too naive to realize he had been tricked.

He does not reappear in Retribution. The common assumption is that he was sent alongside Hairgel into exile, or on a crusade of penitence into the Eye of Terror. Alternatively, they may just be working with Angelos directly and thus out of sight.

If cannon, Thaddeus's betrayal shows just how devious the minions of Chaos are. They did not brute force their way into his mind, nor did they shatter his understanding of the galaxy or reinforce a cynical worldview, and they brought no seductive trinkets. Instead, they weaponized all Thaddeus cared for: his brothers, his family, the chapter and all he had been raised to value as a Space Marine were threatened and in a moment of weakness, he saw the opportunity to save them all and took it.

When confronted with the reality of his actions, he was hit with the truth his sacrifices meant nothing, that his brothers were stronger than he thought. Thaddeus reacted with absolute unflinching denial, desperately clinging onto the idea that his damning actions held some merit to the chapter at large. Thaddeus did not die as a Space Marine, but as his brothers would see him in his weakest moments. Exactly as Chaos saw him on Typhon. Nothing more than a reckless child, too attached to emotional and inconsequential abstracts, too in love with his humanity to ever have true focus on his duties. Thaddeus died loving his brothers above everything else. Even above sanity.

Gameplay

Thaddeus is relatively good at melee, and with the right build can be made invulnerable for a while while assault jumping on everything. This naturally becomes even more effective when he is given a good suit of terminator armor and a thunder hammer/storm shield combo, which also aids his staying power. Because Primarch difficulty turns marines into guardsmen, given how everyone in your squad dies the moment an enemy bops them on the head, making melee combat very ill-advised, it is viable to spec Thaddeus for short-ranged combat. By equipping him with grenades or satchel charges and flamers, having him funnel enemy troops into a single area by using his assault jump, and then throwing explosives at them while they're still reeling then cut down the survivors en masse with your flamer (And you gain another one by getting his veteran upgrade); Thaddeus can be an effective 1-shot ambush unit.

Thaddeus's main drawback is that he is incredibly fragile for a melee unit, and higher difficulties will lead to him getting murdered by just about everything, since he can't tank worth a damn. In addition, he doesn't get the ability to use items for energy in Chaos Rising, which gimps him even more. On the whole, Cyrus, Hairgel, and Davian Thule are far better at dealing with enemies in cover, and the latter two are far more capable in melee as well. Like Avitus, a perfectly adequate unit that is outclassed by cheese.

Another point of view: In Terminator armor and with his melee tree upgraded in Chaos Rising, his strike becomes a short range teleport explosion that gibs and kills everything including building and tanks. With his berserker trait he can spam this attack out four times in a row and the only thing that barely survives that is a end-level boss. If you don't want to mess around with Cyrus unmanly cloak-and-proximity-mines bullshit. Take Thaddeus for shock and awe.

Yet another point of view: Chapter's Fury allows Thaddeus to repeatedly pull off abilities within a span of seconds in a short burst. With the proper upgrades to Assault Jump, he can essentially leapfrog from foe to foe after tanking damage. All this while he and his squad heals up, and send their foes down helplessly on landfall. This makes him a burst damage and stun machine.

In Chaos Rising he can upgrade his squad to Vanguard Veterans, improving their stats and equipment. By default, one of his squadmates gets a Power Fist and Plasma Pistol and the other gets a Lightning Claw and Bolt Pistol. If Thaddeus uses a ranged weapon (Bolter, Flamer, Plasma Gun) one uses a Plasma Gun and the other a Flamer.

Codex Thaddeus

Now you too can include this fella into your Blood Ravens army for either Assault Marines, Vanguard Veterans or Assault Terminators.

	Pts	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld	Sv
Sergeant Thaddeus	100	5	4	4	4	2	5	4	10	3+

Unit Type:

• Infantry (Character)

Unit Composition:

• 1 Unique

Wargear:

• Sword of Absolution: Can be swapped for the Emperor's Light or Vengeful Edge of the Fallen for 10 pts, Gauntlet of Ferrus Manus or the Talons of Faith for 15 pts. If Thaddeus chooses to take Daeus' Tomb, then any of these weapons are replaced with the Talons of Lebes-Nerais, which can be further replaced with The Shield and Thunder of Lyonis.
• Ancient Bolt Pistol: Can be swapped for Pistol of Idaeus for 15 pts. If Thaddeus takes the Talons of Faith, then he can swap the Ancient Bolt Pistol for either Sinister for free, or the Traitor's Sidearm for 15 pts. Alternatively Thaddeus can additionally take a Combat Shield for 5 pts, or a Storm Shield for 10 pts (thus removing any ranged weapons he has). If the Talons of Faith are equipped, then Thaddeus may replace his ranged weapon (along with the Combat Shield if it was taken)/Storm Shield for the Gauntlet of Ferrus Manus.
• Power Armour: Can be swapped for The Barding of Jordanos for 10 pts or Daedus' Tomb for 20 pts. If he chooses the latter, then Thaddeus must be part of a Assault Terminator Squad.
• Inspiring Oath of Loyalty
• Frag Grenades
• Krak Grenades
• Blind Grenades: See Defensive Grenades.
• Jump Pack

Special Rules:

• And They Shall Know No Fear
• Chapter Tactics (Blood Ravens): As per the rules for all Chapters who do not know their primogenitor Chapter, the Blood Ravens do not have a unique Chapter Tactic. Instead, the player can elect to use any existing Chapter Tactics from Codex: Space Marines and any Forge World supplements.
• Counter Attack (Sword of Absolution and Talons of Lebes-Nerais only)
• Crusader (The Barding of Jordanos Only)
• Preferred Enemy (Chaos) and Hatred (Slaanesh) (Gauntlet of Ferrus Manus Only)
• Eternal Warrior (Daedus' Tomb Only)
• It Will Not Die (Daedus' Tomb Only)
• Assault Superiority: Despite being young for Space Marine standards, Thaddeus is a master of assault tactics and always uses his skills to the fullest. When Deep Striking while being part of an Assault Marine or Vanguard Veteran squad, Thaddeus and the squad he leads never disperse and automatically succeed when rolling on the Deep Strike table. Additionally due to his skills in the use of his Jump Pack, Thaddeus and his squad have Move Through Cover USR, as well the ability to either move or assault the same turn they arrive via Deep Strike. If he takes Daeus' Tomb and becomes part of a Assault Terminator Squad, then he loses the Move Through Cover USR.

Name	Range	Strength	AP	Type
Sword of Absolution	-	+1	5	Melee

• Sword of Absolution: Space Marines wield this mighty chainsword in acts of penance. With each killing blow, the sword is said to judge its wielder against his fallen enemy. The Sword of Absolution is a Chainsword with the profile listed below. Additionally it grants the Counter Attack USR.

Name	Range	Strength	AP	Type
Vengeful Edge of the Fallen	-	+1	2	Melee, Master Crafted, Precision Strikes, Traitor's Death

• Vengeful Edge of the Fallen: Many Blood Ravens were lost when the Warp storms struck Aurelia. Among the frozen dead littering its surface, one disfigured marine held a still thrumming power sword. Never having struck its mark, it is with great honor that its new bearer would avenge that fallen brother with the blood of renegades.
  • Traitor's Death: Thaddeus re-rolls all failed To Hit and To Wound against Chaos Space Marines. Additionally Thaddeus's To Wound rolls on a 6 cause Instant Death.

Name	Range	Strength	AP	Type
Emperor's Light	-	+3	2	Melee, Master Crafted, Rending, Unwieldy

• Emperor's Light: Fragmentary records of the Great Crusade record the great procession after the victory at the Joshua Octavis. It is said the Emperor Himself led the march and then extended his blessing upon the weapons of his assembled Space Marines. This ancient axe was there and still resonates with His power, turning back the blows of the Enemies of Man.

Name	Range	Strength	AP	Type
Gauntlet of Ferrus Manus	-	2x	2	Melee, Master Crafted, Armourbane, Unwieldy, Specialist Weapon

• Gauntlet of Ferrus Manus: The forge masters of the Iron Hands chapter created this great power fist in reverence for their Primarch Ferrus Manus. Legend has it that a fragment of the slain Primarch's metallic flesh is ensconced in this mighty fist, and that it yearns for vengeance upon Ferrus Manus's killer, the Daemon Prince Fulgrim. Additionally it grants the Preferred Enemy (Chaos), and Hatred (Slaanesh) USR.

Name	Range	Strength	AP	Type
Talons of Faith	-	User	3	Melee, Master Crafted, Shred, Specialist Weapon, Purifying Presence

• Talons of Faith: "Let mine claws pierce the flesh of the unbeliever as my faith shall pierce his soul." Bearing seals and icons of the Ecclesiarchy and the Adepta Sororitas, this gauntlet delivers holy fury to the enemies of Man.
  • Purifying Presence: Grants a purifying aura strong enough to wield either Sinister or the Traitor's Sidearm without being corrupted.

Name	Range	Strength	AP	Type
Talons of Lebes-Nerais	-	User	3	Melee, Shred, Rending, Specialist Weapon

• Talons of Lebes-Nerais: These revered weapons were used in the purging of a Genestealer cult in the Lebes-Nerais outpost. After felling thousands of xenos, the claws were returned to an artificer of the Imperial Fists, who repaired and sanctified the weapons. The Talons of Lebes-Neais are a pair of Terminator Lightning Claws with the profile below. Additionally they grant a +2 to I and the Counterattack USR.

Name	Range	Strength	AP	Type
The Thunder of Lyonis	-	2x	2	Melee, Master Crafted, Shred, Concussive, Unwieldy

• The Shield and Thunder of Lyonis: Veteran Lyonis held the Sirohi Pass alone against hordes of Tyranids, allowing dozens of Space Marines and thousands of civilians to escape. These weapons were recovered from the pass after orbital cleansing. The Thunder of Lyonis is a Thunderhammer with the profile below. The Shield of Lyonis is a Storm Shield that grants a +1 to A on the charge.

Name	Range	Strength	AP	Type
Ancient Bolt Pistol	12"	4	5	Pistol, Master-Crafted

• Ancient Bolt Pistol: Astartes Mk III. This sidearm allows Space Marines armed with a close combat weapon to deal damage while closing into melee.

Name	Range	Strength	AP	Type
Pistol of Idaeus	12"	7	2	Pistol, Master Crafted, Gets Hot!

• Pistol of Idaeus: The Techpriests of Konor forged this plasma pistol in honor of the Ultramarine hero Idaeus, once commander of that chapter's Fourth Company.

Name	Range	Strength	AP	Type
Sinister	12"	4	4	Pistol, Fleshbane

• Sinister : Used in every Black Crusade launched by Abaddon the Despoiler, this ancient bolt pistol has traded hands between Traitors and Loyalists numerous times. The Inquisition would see it destroyed, but somehow the weapon always finds its way back into use. Can only be used when the Talons of Faith are taken.

Name	Range	Strength	AP	Type
Traitor's Sidearm	12"	8	1	Pistol, Melta, Soulblaze

• Traitor's Sidearm: This fearsome melta pistol was looted from the body of a Chaos champion. A deadly weapon when paired with a blade or axe, it nevertheless bears the taint of its original user. Can only be used when the Talons of Faith are taken.

• The Barding of Jordanos: The finest achievement of Techmarine Isak Jordanos, this artificer armor is lighter and more maneuverable than most power armor, but surrenders none of the protective qualities. The Barding of Jordanos is a Artificer Armour that grants the Crusader USR.

• Daedus' Tomb: One of the Blood Ravens tasked with engaging the Tyranid swarm during the climatic mission on Typhon, Daedus fought for hours before falling to a mighty Carnifex, buying his comrades enough time to achieve victory. Daedus' Tomb is a Terminator Armor that grants the Eternal Warrior and It Will Not Die USR.

• Inspiring Oath of Loyalty: "I am the Emperor's might made manifest. I am his will and fury. Let all those who oppose the Imperium tremble before me." The Inspiring Oath of Loyalty is a Purity Seal that allows models in 12" of Thaddeus to use his Ld value when passing Morale, Fear and Pinning tests. Additionally enemy models in range have to take Ld based tests on a -1.