Sanguinor

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Revision as of 10:51, 28 April 2016 by 1d4chan>Newerfag (That was retconned decades ago. As was most of the RT era fluff.)
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To the left, Sanguinius himself. To the right, the Sanguinor in person. Not so different.

Among the Blood Angels, there is nobody more mysterious than the Sanguinor. Known by the moniker of Exemplar of the Host, this mighty angelic warrior appears out of nowhere Legion of the Damned style whenever Blood Angel forces are in serious jeopardy while fighting.

About the Exemplar of The Host

Nobody knows who or even what the Sanguinor is. The marines believe that he's no more than a myth, while the Chaplains keep extremely detailed records on when he appeared during the millennia, and Dante's served so long that he's actually seen the Sanguinor several times, albeit rarely. Some believe that he's the personification of Sanguinius's noble and idealistic side (while the rest took form of both the Red Thirst and Black Rage) that disappeared after the Primarch got slain by Horus. The Sanguinary Guard on the other hand think that the Sanguinor is actually Azkaellon. The latter is less believable for one single thing. The average lifespan of a Blood Angel is even greater than that of any non-Dreadnought or non-Chaos Space Marine (can live up nearly a thousand years or longer as Dante proved it thanks to their blood drinking habits), yet even the Blood Angels can't live that long. That would mean that Azkaellon should be as old as Bjorn (if not slightly older). This makes it completely impossible, unless he did find a way to increase his lifespan (but that is wild speculations, as well that nobody knows if the Space Marines have waaay longer lifespans than humans, or are truly immortal, unless he's a Perpetual, which would suddenly amp up the (secret) political importance of the Blood Angels to raise the attention of the Historical Revision Unit).

However, it should be noted that it is rare for a Space Marine to die of old age, as many die on the battlefield before they even get close to that sort of age. But Cypher is over 10,000 years old, and the Salamanders (in Nick Kymes 2009 Salamanders novel) found a living Space Marine that crashed into the planet Scoria sometime in the great crusade. This also makes him as old as Bjorn and Cypher, while alienating him completely from any sort of Chaos effects. Thus it is entirely possible for the Sanguinor to be 10,000 years old while still phasing in and out of reality, a la Legion of the Damned. And if he is phasing in and out of the warp, doesn't time move differently in the warp anyway?

Our beloved HERESY detecting paranoia driven nutballs on the other hand speculate that the Sanguinor is neither of the first two, instead being something of a warp creature created by the mass desire and need of the Chapter, proving that the Angels are slowly spiralling down into corruption (disregard it all as mad Monodominant propaganda). Whatever the truth is, the Sanguinor is part of the heritage of the Blood Angels and their loyalty to the Emperor and Imperium.

Everyone seems to forget apothecary Meros, who, not only "travelled" 10 thousand years in the future to "meet" Rafen, but also saved his primarch's life on Signus Prime, by offering himself to possession instead of letting Sanguinius be trapped; though later used by Horus, he may have found a way to overpower the demon inside of him and become the Sanguinor.

True Origins

The GW digital advent calendar presented us with a story called "The Herald of Sanguinius". Set at the beginning of the Imperium Secundus, the New Emperor Sanguinius finds himself overwhelmed by petitions from people who wish to speak to him.

Captain of the Sanguinary Guard Azkaellon already considered a bit possessive over his duties as a bodyguard; gets a bit paranoid about letting all these people see his father as he suspects treachery and betrayal everywhere. Sanguinius agrees that he cannot sit on a throne all day and hear petitions, so between them they agree to create a Herald who will speak for Sanguinius whenever the Primarch is busy doing something else.

To this end, the Sanguinary Guard came together and allowed two of their number to nominate themselves for this new position of "stand-in Emperor", then left the room whilst they drew straws between them. The "winner" was a Sanguinary Guard named Aratron, whilst Azkaellon slew the other to keep his identity a secret. Then Aratron's face was permanently sealed within a golden mask and from then referred to only as "The Sanguinor".

In modern 40k, it is unlikely that Aratron remains the Sanguinor, since outside of the time-influencing effects of the warp, Astartes tend not to live THAT long. So it is quite possible that the Sanguinor is just a continuation of the old tradition of creating a herald for their Primarch.

The Khartas Incident

One of his appearances was on the planet Khartas when the Blood Angels were pursuing Ork Freebooterz. The Ork vessel that crashed on the planet had its warp drive go haywire, allowing Daemons of Khorne to pour through the portal that was created by the drive. The horde of Daemons were led by Ka'Bandha (the same douche of a Greater Daemon that fought Sanguinius back during the Horus Heresy), who quickly slew nearly all of the thirty Blood Angels that made planetfall. The Daemonic Horde were to finish off the surviving marines that have entrenched themselves in a ruined Cathedral, when the Sanguinor appeared out of nowhere and did the following:

- Bitchslapped Ka'Bandha out of the skies via the aerial variant of dynamic entry.

- Fought marine to daemon with him. The two fought with such speed and ferocity that they couldn't best each other.

- Broke Ka'Bandha's Axe in order to twist the odds of the battle in his favour.

- Penetrated him through the heart with his sword.

- Flew with the Daemon up to the planet's exosphere and HURLED him so hard from there into the surface that it resulted in a giant blood-filled crater (the gore is still around to this day).

After finishing off the Greater Daemon, the Blood Angels and Sanguinor finished off the rest of his horde and destroyed the Ork warp drive.

When the Stormraven Gunships appeared to pick up the survivors, the Sanguinor vanished as fast as he appeared.

There was also that one time when he showed up in the dreams of a Heresy-era Apothecary somehow, which makes his identity even more confusing- quite notably, said Apothecary was unable to tell the difference between the Sanguinor and Sanguinius himself. Make of that what you will.

Current Status

The Sanguinor appeared to help the Blood Angels in the Shield of Baal campaign against the Tyranids after telling a weary Dante that there's still hope.

On the Tabletop

Pts WS BS S T W I A Ld Sv
The Sanguinor: 200 8 5 5 4 3 6 4 10 2+/4++

The Sanguinor: Definitely not the primarch, unless Sanguinius was the runt of the litter (technically we don't know, as 30k doesn't have him yet). Still a badass. As far as rules go he has ATSKNF and Furious Charge like most Blood Angels, plus he has Eternal Warrior and Fealess. His warlord trait, "Heroic Bearing" gives everyone from Imperial Codices within 12" fearless. He gets to reroll to hit and to wound rolls when in a challenge, and all blood angels within 6" of him get +1 attacks. Neat. Like all Blood Angels heroes he has amazing nipple armor for a 2+ save, an iron halo, and a bitchin jump pack. He's got an encarmine sword, frag and krak grenades, a death mask, and no gun. He's a giant fire magnet and with only toughness 4 and 3 wounds he's actually pretty fragile for how many points he has wrapped up in one package, and unlike others he can't take bodyguards to help him stay alive. All this considered, he can be very useful if used correctly. The fact that he gives blood angels within 6" of him an extra attack is great when most of your army already wants to be in melee anyway.

TLDR; Expensive for what he brings, no ranged power, and rather situational. YMMV.


Gallery

Famous loyalist members of the Adeptus Astartes
Black Templars: Grimaldus - Helbrecht - Sigismund - Tankred
Blood Angels: Acrion - Astorath - Azkaellon - Corbulo - Dante - Donatos Aphael
Erasmus Tycho - Karlaen - Lemartes - Mephiston - Meros
Moriar - Rafen - Raldoron - Sanguinor - Thalastian Jorus
Blood Ravens: Apollo Diomedes - Avitus - Azariah Kyras - Brother-Sergeant Matiel
Cyrus - Davian Thule - Force Commander Aramus - Gabriel Angelos
Indrick Boreale - Isador Akios - Jonah Orion - Martellus - Tarkus - Thaddeus
Crimson Fists: Alessio Cortez - Alexis Polux - Pedro Kantor
Dark Angels: Asmodai - Azrael - Belial - Corswain - Ezekiel - Lazarus - Luther - Naaman - Sammael - Zahariel
Flesh Tearers: Gabriel Seth - Nassir Amit
Grey Knights: Anval Thawn - Arvann Stern - Castellan Crowe
Hyperion - Kaldor Draigo - Vorth Mordrak
Imperial Fists: Darnath Lysander - Slaughter Koorland - Maximus Thane
Tor Garadon - Vorn Hagen - Fafnir Rann
Iron Hands: Malkaan Feirros - Kardan Stronos
Lamenters: Malakim Phoros
Minotaurs: Asterion Moloc - Hecaton Aiakos - Ivanus Enkomi
Raptors: Lias Issodon
Raven Guard: Kayvaan Shrike - Korvydae - Kyrin Solaq
Red Scorpions: Carab Culln - Casan Sabius - Sevrin Loth - Sirae Karagon
Red Talons: Autek Mor
Salamanders: Adrax Agatone - Bray'arth Ashmantle - Tu'Shan - Vulkan He'stan - Xavier
Space Sharks: Tyberos the Red Wake
Space Wolves: Arjac Rockfist - Bjorn the Fell Handed - Bran Redmaw - Canis Wolfborn
Haegr the Mountain - Krom Dragongaze - Logan Grimnar - Lukas the Trickster
Njal Stormcaller - Ragnar Blackmane - Ulrik
Ultramarines: Aeonid Thiel - Antaro Chronus - Captain Titus - Cato Sicarius
Illiyan Nastase - Marneus Calgar - Ortan Cassius - Remus Ventanus
Severus Agemman - Torias Telion - Uriel Ventris - Varro Tigurius
White Scars: Kor'sarro Khan