White Scars

White Scars
Battle Cry	"For the Khan and the Emperor!"
Number	V
Founding	First Founding
Original Name	Various cognomens, including Star Hunters, The Pioneers, Blood Debt, Vanguard, and Grey Ghosts
Successor Chapters	Dark Hunters, Destroyers, Iron Talons, Mantis Warriors, Marauders, Rampagers, Storm Lords, Storm Reapers
Chapter Master	Jubal Khan
Primarch	Jaghatai Khan
Homeworld	Chogoris
Strength	1,000
Specialty	Fast attack units, bikes, and Librarians
Allegiance	Imperium of Man
Colours	White and red

"The greatest joy for a man is to defeat his enemies, to drive them before him, to take from them all they possess, to see those they love in tears, to ride their horses, and to hold their wives and daughters in his arms."

– The Mighty Genghis Khan, as quoted in the Jami-al-Tawarikh of Rashid Al-Din Tabib

"He carried the sulde for the sake of his kinsmen. He plunged into battle with the dogs. "I will massacre them all," he said, "and take back my horses."

– Manas-e-Destani, the epic saga of Kyrgyzstan

"What is of the greatest importance in war is extraordinary speed: one cannot afford to neglect opportunity."

– Sun Tzu

"I have to kill fast and bullets too slow"

– Freeman Khan

The White Scars (although to themselves, they are named the "Horde of Jaghatai") are a Chapter of Space Marines that are basically Mongols in Power Armor and on bikes, in contrast to the Space Vikings of the Space Wolves, Space Vampires of the Blood Angels, and the (kind of) space ancient Persians of the Thousand Sons. Their Primarch is known as Jaghatai Khan. Their requisite one-trick-pony is hit-and-run attacks, which they do on those sweet bikes of theirs. They are specifically a mixture of Mongols and Tatars, with very strong Chinese influence (think Yuan dynasty) and a few sparingly-used sprinkles of Japan. Due largely to Chris Wraight's and the Black Library cover artists' attempts to be respectful to these cultures, this leaves them surprisingly aesthetically diverse - the White Scars recruit from a collection of heterogenous tribes rather than a single unified culture, meaning their depicted hairstyles and armour customisations can come from pretty much anywhere in and any historical period of East Asia in general.

Also, their bikes (mounts?) don't give a fuck about difficult terrain (Bitch, I'm a bike!).

In the meta, they've probably benefited the most from the Horus Heresy, with Chris Wraight finally building them beyond the very basics of their fluff and keeping them well away from the derpery which has often afflicted other Legions. Even their cameos in other Legions' stories have been badass.

This is their theme song.

They now have an officially released Codex Supplement for 8e.

History

In the Unification Wars, the Vth legion served as the eyes and ears of the unifiers. They were the scouts of big E, who sought out anyone who dared oppose Him. They traveled through the devastated landscape of Terra, often in small groups of a few dozen, looking for any enemies or foes in the wasteland. When the unification of Terra ended, the Emperor split the Vth legion into pioneer companies of several hundred marines to scout the frontier. These pioneer companies were all related by gene seed, but were otherwise independent divisions. The pioneer companies would always travel far ahead of the main expeditions, following warp currents to places unknown.

This behavior was also the origin of the legion's preference for hit and run tactics. Since the pioneer companies were almost always fighting against foes that outnumbered them, it was pretty much the only option for them. They would perform raids and surprise attacks on the enemy, learning the strategies and tactics of the enemy, and then pass on what they learned to other expedition. Though some like Horus appreciated them, (he was especially fond of the pioneer company that discovered his homeworld, and was amused that the captain reported that "it was a nest of serpents coiling in the dark that we would be better to destroy") the Vth legion's battles were seldom given attention, though none of the "legion" were especially upset over this, and they kept to themselves anyway.

Finally, Jaghatai was found (ironically, by the Luna Wolves instead of the pioneer companies). Unifying his "legion" was not an easy task, as the pioneer companies had fought indepedently for so long that even other members of the Vth were seen as outsiders. When all the legionnaires had come to Chogoris (this process took nearly a decade), the Khan made all present undergo a Chogorian ritual, which involved first scarification, and then choosing a new name. To further solidify the bonds between members, Jaghatai and his men participated in the age old Spehss Mehreen bonding exercise of killing Orks. The Khan deployed his men such that the initiated Chogorians would fight alongside the Terrans, and that the warriors would have to rely on others to defeat the foes. A tenth of the legion died in the battle, but the remaining came out as a unified legion for perhaps the first time in their history.

Horus Heresy

When Horus flipped out and started having his little tantrum, the White Scars were on the far side of nowhere from the rest of the Imperium, having a grand old time killing Orks on Chondax. Because of this, they had no idea what was going on until they started to receive contradictory messages from both sides. Horus sent them a message claiming that the Space Wolves had turned traitor and fragged Prospero, while Rogal Dorn told them that Horus was the traitor and recalled them to Terra. Just to make things more complicated, the Alpha Legion showed up unexpectedly and set up a blockade of the Chondax system, and then they also received a distress call from the Wolves, who were getting pummeled by the Alpha Legion at the Alaxxes Nebula. Jaghatai considered all this, then decided to go figure out what was going on for himself. The Scars blew past the Alpha Legion fleet with their superior speed, told the Wolves to have a nice winter, and took off for Prospero. There, the Khan discovered a shard of Magnus that had been left behind after the furries' outing. The shard explained that both sides were correct, from a certain point of view: Russ and the Wolves had indeed blown Prospero to hell, but Magnus had sort of brought it on himself, and Horus and his allies were the real traitors. At this point, Mortarion turned up with a Death Guard fleet, hoping to recruit Jaghatai for Team Horus. The Khan laughed in his face, pointed out that Morty had chosen the side which stood for everything he hated, and dueled him for a while.

While all this was going on, some of the Terran White Scars were trying to force the legion to declare for Horus (ironic as in the traitor legions the loyalists were mostly the Terrans); they almost succeeded, but one of the legion's mortal officers was able to teleport the Khan back up to his flagship. He revealed what he'd learned to the Scars, and the pro-Horus faction surrendered. Some were executed, while the rest were formed into suicide squads called the Sagyar Mazan and sent out to kill traitors until they died themselves. The Khan opted to go fight a guerrilla war against the Traitor Legions, though not before swearing that he would return to Terra when needed. The Scars actually did a fairly good job of tying up Horus' forces for a while, but after four years of relentless attritional warfare, they realized it was time to head for Terra before they were cut off and destroyed. The legion rallied at the Catallus Warp Rift, where they found a Webway portal controlled by a device called the Dark Glass. While they were studying the Dark Glass, the Death Guard caught up with them, once again led by Mortarion, who was starting to take things personally. In the end, though Jaghatai wished to make a last stand against the traitors, his Chief Stormseer Yesugei used the Dark Glass to open a Webway portal to Terra, and Jaghatai and the legion took their chance. The last of the Sagyar Mazan squads remained behind to delay the Death Guard, and nearly got Mortarion killed on the Khan's flagship by holding him there until the ship's reactor exploded.

The Scars were one of the three loyalist legions that fought in the Siege of Terra, alongside the Imperial Fists and the Blood Angels. We don't know much about their role in the battle yet, except that they recaptured an important spaceport so that loyalist reinforcements could be brought in, and that the Khan apparently spent at least part of the siege commanding his legion from atop a Razorback.

Memes aside, the White Scars didn't like being at the Siege much, since sitting behind the Palace walls while the traitors banged away at them with big guns ran counter to their entire tactical philosophy of GOTTA GO FAST. During the opening stages of the Siege, the Khan took some of the legion to go defend the civilian populace of Terra from the predations of the Emperor's Children and the Night Lords. Later on, they launched repeated sorties beyond the walls to delay and harass the advancing traitor forces. They also held the Colossi, a key portion of the Palace defenses, during Dorn's gambit at the Saturnine Wall. Their biggest moment in the Siege was their counterattack on traitor forces at the Lion's Gate Spaceport. The attack was led by Jaghatai Khan himself, who dueled and banished his daemon primarch brother Mortarion through decapitation. The victory came at the cost of the Khan's life, but his body was rescued and sent to Malcador, so he can eventually get lost in the webway.

M41

When the Great Rift opened near Chogoris, the Red Corsairs invaded the sector, leaving behind corruption and is currently entrenched in the sector. The White Scars fought off the Red Corsairs, several Warbands, and daemons beside the united tribals. That's right, the White Scars pretty much on their own beat back a force that could be capable of challenging Abbadon's own Black Legion and his allied Warbands. The current chapter master Jubal was injured but still leads from the infirmary. He was tortured beyond the Imperium's ability to repair but remains sane, keen, and awake. He now leads the Chapter remotely, seeing through outriders and giving orders on a segmentum scale. If anything, his skills have increased as he now can devote his attention fully to commanding his men and leaving the rest to his subordinates. Not to mention whatever devices they probably hooked his brain up to. I mean, it would make sense. Obliterated the Death Guard that was on Dortwyr with Inquisitor Greyfax.

Organization

They are known for their sweet mustaches and the Scars they make on their faces upon induction into the Chapter. They are also known for the Scars they make on the enemies of the Emprah's faces after induction into the Chapter. Which is introduced into the chapter after Jaghatai was reunited with the 5th Legion, (i.e. his legion) as he had recently united the fierce tribes of the Talksar tribesmen. Never mind that many Talskar did join the legion due to their loyalty to Jaghatai. Also, they only recruit from Jaghatai's adopted homeworld: Mundus Planus (known as Chogoris to the natives). Up until the Horus Heresy, there was a mix of Terran and Chogorian legionaries, and quite likely many legionaries from other diverse planets across galaxy prior to their reunion with Jaghatai.

For those of us who want to play barbarous Marines but aren’t into Vikings or worshipping Satan.

The White Scars are led by a Great Khan and several Brotherhoods' (Company) Khans (Captains). They abhor Dreadnoughts as they find it a distasteful treatment for their fellow warriors though they do allow it. And of course the whole biker thing makes slower moving tanks (stripped down to go faster) and troops (like Devastators) rare; in their place they have a large amount of drop pods, Land Speeders and Rhinos and also aerial vehicles like Storm Talons, Nephilim Jetfighters. Plus bikes, lots and lots of bikes. Space bikes.

They have an incredibly deep, abiding rivalry with the Raven Guard because of their conflicting general tactical doctrines - according to Deathwatch, a failure to cooperate in an old war campaign destroyed any chances of fostering ties they might've had. While the Raven Guard prefers to lie in wait and plan out their attacks down to the letter to ensure the most efficient results are achieved when they finally start their attacks, the White Scars pretty much does the opposite and just rush in chainswords drawn, using their fast-attack specialty to overwhelm their opponents with sheer speed and force. Despite the animosity, the two forces have fought alongside one another on multiple occasions, and it's worth noting it's more of a competitive rivalry in any case. Plus lately the Ravens rode shotgun on a Great Hunt, which made for a great bonding exercise.

Despite their savage image, much like their main inspiration, they're actually one of the most cultured legions (and by far one of the best-groomed) in the current Imperium, with aspirants having to take up pursuits like poetry, painting and calligraphy (often about their battles), and wearing silks in their downtime. As a result, they don't like hanging around with the mad drunk Vikings who treat the whole barbarian thing like a badge of honour. The only cultural traits they share are hunting (though it's hinted at that the Scars are more into falconry) and really enjoying their job, frequently admonishing recruits to laugh and smile when fighting. Hey, if you can channel the myriad of emotions, good, bad, and ugly the battlefield brings into sheer thrill then you've found the only glory (and perhaps psychopathy) there is in war. Unfortunately, they don't hang out with anyone apart from their successors, so the rest of the Imperium has kept this misconception for millennia. Their Primarch and Legion were also perhaps the only ones besides Guilliman and Lion to realize that they are, in fact, living weapons and not really more than that. Unlike certain losers who realized this and went all grimderp, the White Scars embraced this and were totally fine with. It was their purpose, simple as that. Everyone likes knowing their purpose (except people who spent centuries deluding themselves).

They used to get on well with the Luna Wolves - particularly the Terran portion of the Legion, many of whose members had aspired to join the other Legion only to find themselves seconded to the Scars (the Scars seem to have ranked just below the Space Wolves and World Eaters as the Legion aspirants most dreaded being assigned to, though this might have been due to the indignity of being part of a Legion of strange outriders who earned little renown while flying in the face of the glorious military doctrines aspirants were raised on as opposed to being part of a brutal close-quarters assignment likely to end in death). As a result of this, the Terran Khans tended to favour a mix of White Scars and Luna Wolves organisation and doctrine, to the point that they resented Jaghatai's leadership for being "flighty" compared to Horus' fully committed, crushing attacks. Their relationship with the sons of Horus brought the Warrior Lodges into the White Scars. This was fairly harmless at first, and might have helped bring the Terran and Chogorian Astartes together in time.

But then the Horus Heresy happened. The Lodge members were duped into rebelling against their Primarch and trying to force the Scars into declaring for Horus. They were kept in the dark about the whole Chaos and rebellion thing - as far as they were aware the only act of rebellion was the Space Wolves' smashing the Thousand Sons. Unlike the Fallen :+++FOUL TRAITORS COMPLETELY UNRELATED TO THE FIRST LEGION+++, these traitors were overwhelmed, eventually realized Horus was messing with some seriously fucked up shit and surrendered to the loyalists. Ironically, it was a Terran-born Noyan-Khan who stood up to the uprising, against one of the Khagan's oldest comrades who fought by his side even before becoming a Space Marine. Jaghatai executed the ringleaders and assigned all others to the Sagyar Mazan, where they performed suicide missions in Zone Mortalis missions to redeem themselves.

The Chogorian portion of the legion, on the other hand, used to be big bros with the Thousand Sons, having Chogorian artistic culture colliding perfectly with the Prosperian knowledge-seeking and nerdity, not to mention the high positions psykers had in both legions. The fact that the Space Furries (though they were manipulated) pretty much forced TS into turning to Chaos does not play well with Scars even to this day, which stacks with their dislike of Wolves' "barbarian and proud of it" shtick (which is ironic considering modern-day Mongolia has a drinking culture that makes Russians look like sissy lightweights).

On the subject of the nerds who wear blue better than the Ultramarines, the White Scars also created a Librarius and ignored the Edict of Nikaea. Their Librarians, who are also their Chaplains, are known as Stormseers; a call back to the title of the shamans of Jaghatai's tribe and are also responsible for recruitment. They also have another Chaplaincy, the Head Chaplaincy, dedicated to the collection of heads, they do supposedly collect enemy skulls from the Hunt.

One might imagine the Imperium being on high alert against the Scars, seeing as only two legions they ever got along with went traitor, but surprisingly it's not the case. May have something to do with them being the heroes of the Siege of Terra.

Their current Chapter Master, or rather, 'Great Khan' is Jubal Khan, whose namesake once kicked Sigismund in the face. Legends are told of his sweet mustache across the entire length and breadth of the Imperium, which the mustache also spans. The Khan's bodyguard, the Keshig, are the only White Scars known to use Terminator Armour - presumably they wait until he's stuck in and teleport down onto the field, since it's hard to imagine Jubal letting things as insignificant as 'common sense' or 'letting your bodyguards do their job' get in the way of charging the enemy at mach 1.5.

They probably get along well with the Attilan Rough Riders. If they'd been the first to encounter the Interex instead of the Luna Wolves, the two factions would have probably got along pretty well except for the Interex's implied issues about psykers. Also, the Scars would've dug that cyber-centaur armour.

Notable Members

• Jaghatai Khan: Primarch of the White Scars, Master of the Ice-Blue Heavens, the Warhawk of Chogoris, and total speed demon. Believed that conquering an empire was much more fun than ruling it and disagreed with the Emperor about basically everything, though that didn't stop him being loyal to the Imperium. Kicked tons of ass in the Great Crusade and the Horus Heresy, almost died in the Siege of Terra, and later disappeared into the Webway while hunting some Dark Eldar dicks who'd been raiding Chogoris. Many like to assume that he's still tear-assing through the Webway, possibly with a harem of Wyches in tow.
• Targutai Yesugei: Chief Stormseer of the White Scars during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy and probably Jaghatai's best friend. Spoke in defense of the Librarius at Nikaea, but it didn't help much because he wasn't fluent in Gothic, so he came off like a stupid hick to the snooty Imperials. Despite this, he went on being bro-tier and using his psyker powers to aid his legion during the Heresy. Sacrificed himself in a heroic and tear-jerking fashion to help the White Scars get back to Terra in time for the Siege.
• Qin Xa: Master of the Keshig and in the minority of White Scars who grew to like Terminator armor. Like Targutai, one of Jaghatai's best friends and strong right hand, both of them fighting by his side even before the Emperor's arrival on Chogoris. While utterly loyal and generally stoic and composed, he also often questioned or challenged the Khagan's decisions to see if they held up, and encouraged his subordinates to do the same. Killed by Eidolon at the Kalium Gate while armored like Jaghatai to distract the Emperor's Children from the Scars' true attempt to return to Terra.
• Tsolmon Khan: Veteran member of the White Scars who was born on Terra and served in the legion prior to Jaghatai's rediscovery. He wholeheartedly embraced Chogorian culture and the Khagan's reforms and became a pillar of the legion prior to the Heresy. When the Alpha Legion showed up to ruin the Scars' day at Chondax, Tsolmon was on the ground on some planet called Byfrust with his brotherhood and some Sisters of Silence who happened to be there. They held the Alphas off until the XX Legion got bored and orbitally bombarded the place, but Tsolmon and his guys and some of the Sisters were able to evacuate in time. He recovered the relics and wargear of a Knight-Centura who'd died fighting alongside him and brought them back to the other Sisters, also testifying as to her bravery. In response, the matriarchs of the Order decided to award him his very own harem personal guard of Silent Sisters, an honour which he apparently bore with great humility.
• Shiban Khan: Khan of the Brotherhood of the Storm during the Great Crusade. Also known as Tachseer, or the Restorer. Was pretty laid back and bro-tier up until he got blown up during the White Scars' mini-civil war at the beginning of the Heresy and rebuilt into an angry mass of scars and augmetics. He felt shackled by his artificial limbs and was pissed at the Scars who'd declared for Horus, blaming them for his injuries, especially his former friend Torghun Khan. Ironically, his augmetic rebuild saved his life during the Siege of Terra when his shuttle was shot down and bounced off the Eternity Wall; he shrugged it off and hiked back to friendly lines, picking up a baby along the way so he could do a reenactment of Lone Wolf and Cub. May have become the first chapter master of the Storm Lords after the Siege of Terra.
• Torghun Khan: Terran-born Astartes, formerly Haren Svensellen of Scandinavia, who just missed being selected to join the XVI Legion and was reassigned to the V Legion. He tried his hardest to fit in and admittedly came to realize and respect that they actually knew their shit, but was always frustrated by the Scars' freewheeling nature as compared to the rigid discipline of the Luna Wolves. Notably, while his Chogorian brothers were blade-dancing with tulwars and guandaos, he preferred a distinctly Terran fighting style of wielding a Terranic greatsword with precision and control; in a Legion with the power of Genghis Khan and anime on their side, he was the one character who used Western-style fighting. Struck up an unlikely brotherhood with Shiban Khan despite their differing tactics, which would be tragically sundered. He was part of the faction that tried to declare for Horus at the beginning of the Heresy. Torghun did this with the best of intentions, seeking a place to belong and genuinely buying Horus' half-truths which suggested that siding with him against the renegade Russ was necessary to preserve the Imperium, though like many of his Terran brothers, he also thought that if the Scars were pushed into the Warmaster's camp they could finally be more like the 'no backwards step' Legion they'd always wanted to be a part of. When that backfired, he was assigned to the Sagyar Mazan suicide squads, even becoming a command figure they looked up to, and finally found redemption in death by fighting to delay Mortarion on the bridge of Jaghatai's flagship as the rest of the legion retreated to Terra. He died laughing, having become a true son of Jaghatai.
• Jubal Khan (30k): First Master of the Hunt, Lord of Summer Lightning and the Death That Comes With Laughter. If Qin Xa was the methodical, composed Yin side of the Legion, he was the precise, aggressive Yang side. Was initially a Terran-born recruit, but took to Jaghatai's cultural and tactical changes exceptionally well like Tsolmon Khan, embodying their 'laughing warrior-scholar' archetype. Noted for being one of the few members of the insular V Legion who was actually well-known by other Legions and military detachments in the Great Crusade. Fierce and cunning, he put up a good fight against Sigismund (in a friendly bout) and Abaddon (to the death) in two separate duels, but ultimately lost in both. However, his unorthodox and wild fighting style gave them fierce resistance, and he nearly posthumously killed the future Despoiler with a Caestus Assault Ram after their zero-gravity duel.
• Ilya Ravallion: Mortal Army officer who was assigned to the Scars during the Crusade to help them improve their logistical infrastructure. She quickly discovered that the Khagan couldn't give less of a shit about making sure his legion was doing things by the Imperium's book, but still managed to earn the Scars' respect and even teach them a few things. They gave her the title of "szu", or "sage", and she was more or less an honorary White Scar by the end of the Heresy. Jaghatai respected and liked her enough to play Go with her and ensure she had one of his Marines bodyguarding her at all times.
• Jubal Khan (40k): Current Chapter Master of the White Scars. Shares his name with Jubal Khan from the Crusade and is generally overshadowed by Kor'sarro these days. Suffered grievous injuries fighting off the Red Corsairs and got stuck in a life-support device, so he can't ride into battle personally. However, he still leads the Chapter remotely, and if anything, his mind has only gotten sharper.
• Kor'sarro Khan: Captain of the 3rd Company and Master of the Hunt. The archetypal White Scar who believes in going fast and having fun with your job, he's also pretty bro-tier in his attempts to play nice with other Chapters, especially the Raven Guard despite their mutual antagonism. Cut off Doomrider's head and might be tsundere for Shadowsun. Upgraded to Primaris with the advent of 8th edition but can no longer ride a bike for some reason.

Daily Rituals of a White Scar

04:00 - Rousing from slumber. The White Scars get up from their bikes.

04:10 - Grooming. White Scars tend to their mustaches and long, flowing hair.

05:00 - Morning Prayer. Those with mustaches pray to the God-Emperor for the strength to defeat their enemies. Those without pray for mustaches

06:00 - Morning Firing Rites. White Scars practice with their bike-mounted weaponry.

Quan Zhou, the White Scar Fortress-monastery

07:00 - Battle Practice. White Scars practice beheading a target with a single stroke of their swords during a 100 mph driveby.

12:00 - Midday Prayer. White Scars pray for their bikes to perform well in the coming afternoon. Those without fabulous mustaches might pray more desperately for mustaches.

13:00 - Midday Meal. White Scars consume the various meats they had put under their saddles during the morning exercises. Meal is now properly cooked from the heat of the bike, the metallic, promethium-like flavor is said to add to the taste. Milk mixed with promethium from their bikes is consumed as well.

13:15 - Tactical Indoctrination. White Scars are informed on which foes are the latest to elude the Chapter.

15:00 - Battle Practice. White Scars practice beheading a target with a single stroke while hanging upside down from a Land Speeder.

20:00 - Evening Prayer. White Scars give thanks to the Emperor for another productive day. The younger battle brothers fervently praise the emperor when they find stubble on their faces.

21:00 - Evening Meal. A feast is provided by the Chapter serfs, consisting mostly of horse meat and Har Airag (fermented horse milk). Partaking in drunken throat singing is encouraged -- Jaghatai Khaani Magtaal (A Song of Praise for Jaghatai Khaan) is a particular favourite.

21:45 - Night Firing Exercises. The White Scars practice formations in the dark. Any marine who crashes into another is disciplined.

23:00 - Maintenance Rituals. White Scars spend time maintaining and customizing their bikes.

23:45 - Free Time. White Scars prefer to spend this time on things like poetry (about their battles), painting (their battles) and calligraphy (writing about their battles). Others opt for more time on the bike

00:00 - Rest Period. White Scars return to (or park) their bikes and sleep on them.

See Also

• Brother Konig
• Kor'sarro Khan
• White Scars attributed battle hymn.
• song that fits PERFECTLY for White Scars
• Another hymn.
• *throat singing intensifies*