White Scars
| White Scars | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
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| Battle Cry | "For the Khan and the Emperor!" | |
| Number | V | |
| Founding | First Founding | |
| Original Name | Star Hunters | |
| 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 Khaan, 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
"как Мамай прошел!" - "It's as if Mamai has passed here!"
- – A Russian saying meaning a great catastrophe has taken place, referencing a ferocious Tatar warlord
"Bread 2 Ryde""
- – An ancient foreseeing from an ancient Terra, probably an illiterate drunken shaman or something.
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 and Space Vampires of the Blood Angels. Their Primarch was 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 themesong. Or maybe this. Or perhaps this. Or this one.
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 Vth the 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.
M41
When the Great rift opened near Chogoris, the Red Corsairs invaded the sector, leaving behind corruption and currently entrenched in the sector. The current chapter master Jubal was injured but still leads from the infirmary.
Organization
They are also 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 Talksar 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.
And of course the whole biker thing makes slower moving tanks and troops (like Devastators) rare; in their place they have a large amount of drop pods, Land Speeders and Rhinos. 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. Unfortunately, they don't hang out with anyone apart from their successors, so the rest of the Imperium has kept this misconception for millennia.
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). 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 performed suicide 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 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).
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.
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; 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.
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 who have mustaches pray to the God-Emperor for the strength to defeat their enemies. Those without mustaches pray for mustaches.
06:00 - Morning Firing Rites. White Scars practice with their bike-mounted weaponry.
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 moustaches 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.
- Another song that fits PERFECTLY for White Scars