Exorcists Chapter.... tell me more

[Lord Kallozar]

I am not all too familiar with the exorcists chapter but they have a cool colour scheme and a cool theme of demon hunting. but what what else is there to them? Ive read that they get demons to possess their initiates.... if so then how have they not been declared as heretics as such a practice is surely forbidden? apart from the demon possession, do the exorcists have a nasty/evil side to them (beause to me they don't seem squeaky clean)??

[Reaver Lord Soul]

From what I remember, they have minor daemon possess the initiate and then exorcise the creature from the initiate which results in daemons not being able to sense/notice the marines :) I think their first battle against daemons achieved a kill ratio of 99/1 or something like that so it certainly worked  they also are constantly monitored by the Grey Knights just in case

[Major_Gilbear]

There's never been much fluff about them sadly.

 

What I recall is:

 

- They are a Thirteenth Founding chapter whose creation was specifically requested by the Inquisition (but of course, this is only speculated, and as all their records are sealed even to the High Lords of Terra, nobody really knows any more...).

 

- They have two extra scout companies (making 12 companies overall) because of the high failure-rate of their initiation rituals. Otherwise, they are pretty much Codex-compliant.

 

- To reach full Space Marine status, each initiate is placed in a specially-warded secure chamber, and is possessed by a Daemon. Then (depending on the vintage of the fluff), they either have to resist the possession for a defined period of time before the Deamon is cast out, or they have to expel the Daemon from their own bodies by themselves. Success leads to a new Marine joining the ranks of the Exorcists, failure leads to them being destroyed.

 

- The chapter's initiations are overseen by a senior-level Inquisitor, and I believe that the chapter's operations are often led by Inquisitors.

 

- They specialise in fighting Deamons, and are thus directed to their engagements by Inquisitors (I don't think they respond to the normal engagement requests like other chapters do).

 

- Unlike the Grey Knights who are all psykers and "pure", it's never stated that the Exorcists are especially different from conventional Space Marines (although thanks to their initiation ritual, that they understand how to resist/avoid possession better, and can combat and exorcise Daemons very efficiently). It is speculated that they are in fact a GK successor, but nobody really knows.

 

- There are various specialisations of Daemon-fighting techniques within the chapter, and Marines may belong to one or more of these specialised sub-groups that exist outside the normal organisational (a bit like the various Thousand Son arcane cults that their Legion used to have...). So a Marine may be both a Tactical trooper in a company squad and a member of one (or more) esoteric cults within the Chapter.

 

 

So, really, you have quite a bit of freedom with regards to the details. I've also not seen this chapter modelled very often, so I'd love to see your efforts if you decide to go for them! :)

[Lord Kallozar]

Thanks for the replies. What do you mean by these sub group cults within the Chapter? These seem interesting, I've never heard of them before

[Brother Tyler]

The sub-groups are called "orisons" and represent particular bodies of knowledge and training that are apart from, but which enhance, the battle-brothers' regular training. Not much information is given on the orisons and the exact training/knowledge that they entail, but we do know of a few by name. For example, the Enochian Guard orison is made up primarily of the Chapter's veterans from the 1st Company (and one might infer that senior leaders/officers are, therefore, members); the Obelisk Thelemus includes many of the Chapter's Devastator veterans and techmarines; and the Broken Tower orison is made up of most of the Chapter's most powerful librarians (and led by Captain Silas Alberec).

 

To answer your question about why the Chapter hasn't been declared heretic, it's because the Chapter's practice of temporarily possessing its initiates is a closely guarded secret. Frankly, other than some complicit members of the Inquisition (definitely no Puritans among this bunch), only the Exorcists themselves know. And nobody is blabbing about it.

 

Aside from the original mention of the Exorcists in the 1st edition Index Astartes article on the Badab War, the only substantive appearances have been in the lore for the Third War for Armageddon (in which the daemonic possession aspect was first included) and then the Forge World Badab War books (get volume ten - The Badab War - Part Two).

[nimrod451]

There is a short story by black Library called Within these Walls which also has the Exorcists in it. It doesn't really expand their fluff but does give some interesting insight. The biggest being that the make people uncomfortable being around them, something akin to the way Null's make people feel. This might either be a byproduct of their demonic interaction, or speak to the possibility of seeking recruits that display the affliction/ability. 

 

On a side note as i think about making my own Exorcists force, i can't help but imagine the Scout fighting a mental battle with the demon and casting them out themselves. There's no cannon for that, it just feels very Space Marine epic to me. (the inevitable attrition of combat, and then demon possession also accounts for the extra scout squads.)

Edited July 7, 2016 by nimrod451

[Sete]

They fight little girls that climb walls and vomit 360.

Seriously tho, I like their theme, cool chapte badge, and you can use whatever CT you fancy.

[Brother Tyler]

... you can use whatever CT you fancy.

According to RAW, you can only use the Chapter Tactics found in Codex: Space Marines.

 

More tolerant opponents might allow you to use any of the published Chapter Tactics, but some opponents might insist on RAW.

[Lord Kallozar]

It's a pretty cool chapter tactic.... Though explaining how the exorcists suddenly gain FNP and regenerating vehicles would be difficult if the iron hands tactic was chosen lol

[Teetengee]

Yeah, the chapter tactic thing seems a bit of an abstraction failure. I would prefer to see them with Preferred Enemy (Daemons).

[Tyberos the Red Wake]

It's a pretty cool chapter tactic.... Though explaining how the exorcists suddenly gain FNP and regenerating vehicles would be difficult if the iron hands tactic was chosen lol

 

It seems like 99% of the time whenever FW or GW says you can choose whatever Chapter Tactic you want, they actually meant "use Ultramarines".

[Canadian_F_H]

It's a pretty cool chapter tactic.... Though explaining how the exorcists suddenly gain FNP and regenerating vehicles would be difficult if the iron hands tactic was chosen lol

Or sometimes having crusader squads, no librarians, and an emperors champion...

[Lord Kallozar]

The exorcists could have easily had their own unique trait - preferred enemy chaos daemons for a start!

[Brother Tyler]

The exorcists could have easily had their own unique trait - preferred enemy chaos daemons for a start!

Indeed, and you can see previous iterations of that sentiment here and here (and those are just the most recent iterations of that discussion, with some other ideas posted from time to time going back to the time shortly after the Third War for Armageddon lore was published).

 

As discussed in those other places, Forge World has shifted their focus away from the daemon hunting aspect, which was irrelevant to the Badab War campaign, and focused more on the flexible doctrine lore that was introduced in the Badab War campaign.