Since I'm working on a kill team for the Knives in the Shadows 2025 challenge (you can enter the challenge here, and since that challenge requires me to provide some background, I felt it appropriate to discuss the reasoning behind my (poor?) choices.

 

If you examine my pledge in that challenge, you'll see that I committed myself to a kill team from the Fire Claws Chapter. Most of you will probably recognize that name, and many of you may know that it is the original (?) name of the Relictors Chapter. If you're not familiar with the background of the Relictors Fire Claws, or even if you are and just want to see what I know, I examined some key elements of that lore in this article. I didn't give my own theory about the Chapter in that article, however, as I wanted it to serve as a launching point for discussion of different theories (rather than promoting any one in particular). One of the interesting things about the Relictors Fire Claws is that every hobbyist has their own take on the Chapter. We've seen several other members present their Relictors Fire Claws over the years here at the B&C, and each is different and distinctive while drawing upon the same reservoir of lore.

 

Back in 2021, I committed to my vision of the Fire Claws in another community challenge, the Liber Astartes Swap Challenge. That challenge required participants to create a DIY Chapter (or Heretic Astartes warband), and then for submitted Chapters/warbands to be randomly assigned to other participants. So participants had to develop sufficient information to give the other randomly assigned member an idea of what the DIY Chapter looked like so that they could assemble/convert and paint a model representing a member of that Chapter. So I had to come up with something. Before I present what I decided upon, I think it might be interesting to discuss the evolution of my ideas over the years. I've been a fan of the Relictors Fire Claws ever since they were first introduced during the 3rd edition of the Warhammer 40,000 game; and my views on the Chapter have evolved over the years. In fact, at this point it would be fair to say that there are two different theories that are in competition within my squirrely brain, though I definitely favor one. Actually, there are two origin theories and one current status theory (both of the origin theories feed into the same current status theory).

 

Before we get to the theories, however, here's a very basic description of how my vision of the Chapter has evolved over the years. Note that this has all the weight of a feather - it's nothing more than my own personal take based on my attempts to reconcile the known lore and incorporate my own views (some of which aren't quite mainstream). So take this with a grain of salt - I'm not saying that this is the way it is - only that this is the way that I prefer to think about it.

 

First and foremost, I intensely dislike the notion that the Fire Claws simply accepted the "Relictors" cognomen. The Adeptus Astartes are proud - proud of themselves and proud of their traditions. They are the Fire Claws Chapter and have carried that proud name since the Chapter's founding during the Age of Apostasy (M36). If the events of the Captor of Sin took place in the later centuries of M41 (which is what I infer, though the lore never explicitly states this to be so), the Chapter carried that proud name for over five millennia. It's difficult for me to envision the Chapter deciding to change their name to "Relictors." I think it much more likely that "relictor" was simply a term that connotated that the subject collected and used the artifacts of Chaos - something that would denote radical tendencies (in the language of the Inquisition). I hypothesize that the term had come into use long ago, most likely when one or more individuals/organizations followed the practice, and the term had come to be a sort of code word. To me, it seems much more likely that third parties began calling the Fire Claws by the "relictors" name, both describing their observed (suspected?) practice and condemning it. If that is indeed what happened, then the Fire Claws should have been insulted by the name. After all, the source of the Relictors Fire Claws deciding to collect and use Chaos relics was pride. They were prideful in thinking that they could wield such relics without succumbing to corruption. To me, it would have been more plausible for the Fire Claws to be indignant about the "Relictors" name, not adopt it with pride.

 

Another issue to consider is that the skull icon that we refer to as the Chapter badge/icon was actually a penitent marking. This means that the Fire Claws had some other image as their Chapter icon. In the early evolution of my theories about the Chapter, I assumed that the grey and black color scheme was carried over from their Chapter approved Fire Claws livery and that the leering skull icon replaced the original Chapter icon to indicate that the Chapter was on its century-long penitent crusade. Just as important, upon successful completion of the crusade and being granted the Emperor's forgiveness, the Chapter would remove the penitent marking and resume use of its actual Chapter badge (though I could see [some] survivors of the penitent crusade incorporating the penitent marking into their panoply as a permanent reminder of their brush with heresy.

 

So when I first began planning a Relictors Fire Claws army, I looked at the Chapter shortly after the incidents of the Captor of Sin but prior to being sent on a penitent crusade. My Relictors Fire Claws, then, would bear the original Chapter icon. Here's what I first conceived:

 

I used the talon image from the Brazen Claws Chapter, turned it to reach upwards (instead of forwards), and incorporated a flame motif such as the Salamanders and Fire Hawks Chapters often used. I really liked how the 3rd edition rendition of the Salamanders Chapter incorporated individualized flame decorations on armour, as well as how the Fire Hawks similarly decorated their armour with flames, so I took the yellow flames of the Salamanders and the red flames of the Fire Hawks and used orange for the Fire Claws. As you can see from the shoulder pad rims, I kept the rest of the color scheme for the Chapter as shown for the Relictors.

 

At one point, I even used that design on an image from the B&C's Space Marine Painter, resulting in:

 

 

 

That's a veteran sergeant wielding a power sword.

 

Later, the Angron's Monolith novella revealed that Chapter's original scheme was black and orange, though the arrangement of those colors was never described. So I went back to the drawing board, this time coming up with the scheme below:

 

 

And this was where the Fire Claws Chapter sat within my brain until the LASC 21 challenge arose. While I loved the black flaming arms of the second scheme, it bothered me that I was limiting the concept of the custom flames that had been inspired by the 3rd edition Salamanders, and which were reinforced in the Horus Heresy black books. So I went back to the drawing board again, coming up with a scheme that allowed for more custom flame designs while using predominantly black and orange armour.

 

 

The main design conceit here was making the hands orange while leaving the rest of the arms black. This played on the "fire claws" idea, substituting hands for claws. This also allowed me to use personalized flame decorations on models. The concept I used in my artwork was that the more senior the Fire Claw, the more likely they would be to have more personalized flame decorations. For example, the (assault) Veteran shown below only has personalized flames on both wrists whereas the Captain has personalized flames on both arms (up to the shoulder pads, modifying the Chapter icon somewhat), on both legs, and on his loincloth.

 

 

The black flames on the loincloth are actually significant in that they indicate that this member of the Chapter has passed whatever tests there are to wield the relics of Chaos in battle. My original idea was that such members would be identified by a black laurel. I finally decided that there might be options for these indicators, including the (original) black laurel, the black flames, and a white crux (which the Captain above also has).

 

So my conception of the Relictors Fire Claws Chapter is that they dislike the "Relictors" name and color scheme, and that they reverted to their original Fire Claws livery at the first opportunity (though my personal Fire Claws models would represent the Chapter prior to their penitent crusade).

 

My basic view of the Chapter is that they are prideful, almost to the point of hubris. They see themselves as morally and spiritually superior, able to wield the relics of Chaos without taint or corruption. They are doing the Emperor's work, not succumbing to heresy. Their warrior cult is one of purity and stoicism, enduring hardships in their never-ending quest to fight for Humanity and the Emperor. Origin theory 1, the one I favor, is that the key elements of the Relictors Index Astartes article are correct.

 

If you want to see origin theory 2, click the NEXT PAGE button that appears at the top and bottom of this post. Otherwise, you can skip forward to my current status theory.

 

As for the Fire Claws Chapter's current status, I like the notion that they have Primaris among their ranks, but I think that the rendition of Primaris in the Relictors colors was wrong. By my way of thinking, that was a notional concept rendered by some scribe who was familiar with the Chapter as the Relictors, but who never saw them after the Torchbearer fleet actually arrived at Neutra and delivered the Greyshields. And this was all for good reason, because I enjoy the notion that the Torchbearer fleet that travelled to Neutra was special, that Roboute Guilliman was accompanied by a much larger contingent of Adeptus Custodes as well as members of the Inquisition and, perhaps, one or more other Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes. I think it would have been fitting for Roboute Guilliman to have purged the Chapter of all members of the Conclave, forcing the Chapter to return to its Fire Claws colors and installing Primaris in officer positions. I can see this as a revision of the old story about the Grey Slayers from the 1st edition of the game, replacing the Grey Slayers with the Relictors Fire Claws and adjusting the elements of the story to align with the Fire Claws.

 

If Games Workshop/Black Library ever paid me to write about the Relictors Fire Claws and didn't force me to the party line, Roboute Guilliman's purging of the Chapter would be my choice.

 

If you're interested, I present a version of the Fire Claws' path to damnation (i.e., the Inquisition manipulating them) here.

 

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

 

If you're interested in my other theory (which I decided to not use), click NEXT PAGE.

 

If you just want to read about the Fire Claws kill team I'm planning for the Knives in the Shadows challenge, you'll have to wait for the next installment.

 

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This theory attempts to reconcile two things:

1. The mention of the (a) "Relictors" Chapter operating in M33 (when the Index Astartes article told us that they are believed to have been created during the dark days of the Age of Apostasy - M36), and
2. The notion that the Chapter may not have been indignant at the Relictors name, that they chose it.

This theory is that there was a Chapter known as the Relictors back in M33, and this was the same Chapter that would later be known as the Fire Claws and then the Relictors (again).

 

A Chapter active during M33 would have to be from the 7th or earlier founding, and could possibly be some (unknown?) 2nd founding Chapter. This Chapter wasn't originally known as the Relictors, but had some other name. For some reason, however, they began collecting and using the relics of the Great Enemy; and when this became known to others, the Chapter began to be called the "Relictors" by others. Few knew of this practice, however, and the Chapter was able to operate relatively unmolested for millennia. With the Age of Apostasy, however, and with Goge Vandire's antipathy towards the Adeptus Astartes, the Relictors Chapter saw an opportunity. They re-branded themselves as the Fire Claws, likely adopting a new color scheme and claiming to have been founded in M36. Their prior practice of collecting and using Chaos relics was repressed, though the members of the Librarium knew about this practice. The Chapter's influential Librarium preserved the secrets of the Chapter, but inculcated warrior cult practices that emphasized spiritual and moral purity. When Decario defeated the Excoriator with the daemon prince's own Chaos weapon, and with the added influence of Inquisitor De Marche, the Librarium was finally able to restore the previously proscribed practices. The Chapter then proudly reverted to its Relictors cognomen and livery (whatever the Chapter's icon was, it wasn't the leering skull penitent icon).

 

And then everything went pretty much as the official material has described, though it branched into my current status theory (click PREVIOUS PAGE above/below and scroll to the bottom for a refresher).

 

That's my very different and much more grimdark theory. I still favor origin theory 1, but the notion that the Relictors Chapter of M41 is just a continuation/resurgence of the original Relictors Chapter of M33, with all of the conspiracy and deceit, makes for an interesting story. Still, I'm sticking with the prideful Fire Claws version and not the relapsed Relictors version.

 

If you just want to read about the Fire Claws kill team I'm planning for the Knives in the Shadows challenge, you'll have to wait for the next installment.