New Editorial - On the Marshals of the Black Templars and Their Potency

[Brother Tyler]

On the Marshals of the Black Templars and Their Potency

By Brother Tyler

 

This article first appeared as a reply in a discussion about the ranks of the Black Templars Chapter officers and how they compared with the officers in other Adeptus Astartes chapters, debunking the oft-asserted myth that Black Templars marshals are greater than Codex captains and/or equivalent to Codex chapter masters. This article has been corrected, expanded, and updated.

 

Many Black Templars players assume that just because a crusade might include several hundred members, the rank of the commanding officer scales up over that of a Codex captain, to the point where players sometimes assert that a Black Templars marshal is equivalent to the chapter master in other chapters. Crusades are commanded by marshals regardless of their size, whether only 50 Black Templars in number or up to several hundred (again, allowing for the exception of the High Marshal leading a crusade). In many Black Templars crusades, there are subordinate elements called fighting companies, and these are led by a castellan and may vary in size, up to and including a fighting company that rivals or exceeds a company in a Codex chapter (in a large crusade).

 

A Black Templars crusade is generally led by a marshal (though the High Marshal also leads crusades) and may be anywhere from as few as 50 to several hundred members (sometimes over a thousand). Very large crusades can look like under-strength Codex chapters, and the largest known crusade was the Armageddon Crusade led by High Marshal Helbrecht, aggregating three previously existing crusades into a single crusade. We know that there have been other crusades exceeding one thousand Black Templars because the lore tells us so, but we don’t know how many there have been in the chapter’s history. Regardless, while crusades can be very large, the number of crusades exceeding a Codex chapter in size can probably be considered exceptional, and these are most likely led by the High Marshal (though it’s quite possible that some have been led by marshals).

 

The mistake Black Templars players typically make is in comparing a Black Templars Crusade with a Codex chapter’s company. In a Codex chapter, a company is led by a captain and consists of ten squads of ten battle brothers, along with some HQ elements. This is comparable to many crusades as well as some larger fighting companies in terms of absolute numbers, if not in organization. The more accurate comparison for a Black Templars crusade, however, is with a Codex chapter’s detachment.

 

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