Blood Angels

The Blood Angels are one of the 20 First Founding Legions of the Space Marines. They are well known for their bloodthirsty nature in battle, and feared for the curse of flawed gene-seed they carry. The Blood Angels are among the longest-lived of the Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes, with some of their Space Marines having served the Emperor of Mankind for over a thousand standard years. Thanks to recent events (such as the Arkio Insurrection),their numbers have been severely depleted. Under the threat of extinction, and in order to quickly replenish their numbers, the Blood Angels were forced to ask their kindred Successor Chapters from subsequent Astartes Foundings for a tithe of warriors from the related Chapters' pools of Neophytes, their candidate Space Marines. With these tithes of new recruits, the Blood Angels were more quickly able to replenish their losses.

Sanguinius
When the 20 genetically-engineered superhumans known as the Primarchs were scattered across the galaxy by the machinations of the Chaos Gods from the Emperor's secret gene-laboratory hidden beneath the Himalayan Mountains on Terra, some were afflicted by some forms of mutation induced by their brief exposure to the powers of Chaos. The most seriously affected was the infant that fell in his gestation capsule to the second moon of the world of Baal, Baal Secundus, the child-Primarch who already bore vestigial wings when he was found by the Baalite tribe known as The Blood. Although they initially wanted to kill the boy because of his strange mutation, the tribe quickly recognized him as an angelic being in both body and soul, and named him Sanguinius, the Angel of The Blood in their corrupted dialect of High Gothic.

The feral tribes of Baal were miserable groups of individuals, forced to eke out an existence from the irradiated deserts of Baal Secundus. The levels of radiation experienced on the moon were capable of killing an unprotected man in mere moments. The Baalite tribes were forced to continually wear heavy, cumbersome radiation suits in their nomadic travels, and forced to continually defend themselves from cannibal-like mutants.

Sanguinius, like all the Primarchs, grew at an impressive rate. After three weeks, he was strong enough to defeat a Baalite Fire Scorpion with his bare hands, a creature that stood twice the height of a grown man, and whose stinger carried a poison virulent enough to burn a man from within. A year after his landing on Baal Secundus, Sanguinius stood taller than any man on the moon. His form was perfect, despite the massive amounts of radiation he was exposed to. His wings had grown strong; pure-white pinions that could carry him into the sky.

Under his guidance and protection, The Blood prospered and grew. They were protected from the mutants that plagued the world of Baal Secundus by Sanguinius, the Primarch capable of defeating hundreds of mutants single-handedly. The other pure-blood tribes soon united under Sanguinius' guidance, and a successful war of annihilation was waged against the mutants of Baal Secundus.

The Coming of the Emperor
When the Emperor of Mankind found Baal in his search for the twenty Primarchs, he went to the surface of Baal Secundus to ascertain if the psychic signature he sensed was that of one of his sons. The Emperor entered the natural amphitheatre being used for the event known as the Conclave of Blood, and stood amongst the soldiers of The Blood, listening with humility to the speech of Sanguinius. The speech was said to lift the souls of Sanguinius' people, and at its conclusion, he soared into the air with a cry that every man present echoed.

It was also recorded that Sanguinius immediately recognized the Emperor for who he was, and bent down on his knee, pledging his service. In this, Sanguinius was one of the few Primarchs who did not challenge the Emperor upon their reunion. The Emperor then took Sanguinius and a number of his best warriors and placed him in the command of the Blood Angels Space Marine Legion.

The Great Crusade
The Blood Angels threw themselves into the Great Crusade, quickly finding a role as specialised assault troops, forming a rivalry with the similarly assault-oriented World Eaters Legion. Of all the Primarchs, Sangunius formed the closest bonds to Horus, Leman Russ and Jaghatai Khan.

Signus Prime
The Blood Angels Legion was sent in the final days of the Great Crusade to quell an uprising against Imperial authority on the planet of Signus Prime. They discovered that the planet was infested by Chaos daemons. During the conflict Sanguinius was nearly killed by the mighty Bloodthirster Lord Ka'Bandha. The Primarch's legs were crushed and broken, but instead of killing the defenseless Primarch, the daemon said "Your legs will heal but this wound will always fester." Then, as Sanguinius was powerless to help them, hundreds of the Primarch's Astartes were slaughtered by the daemon in a single rampage. The psychic backlash of so many Loyalist deaths at once caused Sanguinius to black out. While their Primarch was unconscious, the remaining Blood Angels felt a raging madness take over them as they slew the remaining Chaos cultists and daemonic legions without mercy. This, as much as Sanguinius' death, is the cause of the Black Rage. The daemonic legions of Khorne, normally nigh-invincible, were banished, and Ka'Bandha quit the field. When Sanguinius awoke, the surviving Space Marines were sullen and despairing, the berserker rage they experienced having left a brooding shadow on their souls. Shortly after, the Blood Angels were recalled to Terra to aid the defence of the Imperial Palace from the Traitor Legions, leaving behind grim memories of Signus Prime.

The Horus Heresy
The Blood Angels were present for the titanic final battle of the Horus Heresy, the Battle of Terra. The Blood Angels, Imperial Fists and White Scars defended the Imperial Palace with zealous fervour. Sanguinius himself led the defence of the outer walls. Three times the Warmaster's troops gained footholds on the walls, and three times they were driven back by Sanguinius and his Blood Angels.

When the wall was broken by attacks from Chaos Titans, Sanguinius organised the retreat to the Inner Palace. At the Eternity Gate, the entrance to the Emperor's throne room, Sanguinius defied the Chaos horde long enough to buy time for the Loyalist wounded to be carried inside. As the last were carried in, Sanguinius went to return to the Palace. Before the Eternity Gate could shut, Ka'Bandha, Arch-Daemon of Khorne and Lord of all the Bloodthirsters, attacked the Primarch. The Angel and Greater Daemon fought in the air over the Imperial Palace, but Sanguinius, weary and taken by surprise, was cast down. Ka'Bandha hovered in the air, laughing gutturally at his opponent's despair. Sanguinius, however, was not dead. Sanguinius regained his senses, and took to the air. Flying as swift as a missile, the Primarch seized the daemon's ankle and lifted it high into the air. Before the daemon could bellow its fury, Sanguinius broke its back over his knee. He hurled the carcass back at the Chaos horde, who howled in fury. The Ultimate Gate was closed.

When the arrival of the Space Wolves, Dark Angels and Ultramarines Legions forced Horus to drop the shields protecting his battle barge, Sanguinius, Rogal Dorn of the Imperial Fists, and the Adeptus Custodes joined the Emperor in a teleport assault upon the vessel. The Chaos magicks protecting the ship scattered the Loyalists throughout the vessel. Sanguinius was the first to make it onto the bridge of the battle barge, confronting the corrupted Warmaster. As Sanguinius possessed the psychic ability of foresight, it seems almost certain that he knew he was going to his death. It remains unknown whether fatalism or loyalty brought Sanguinius aboard. The Blood Angels themselves have no doubt on the matter. The two Primarchs and former brothers finally met on the command deck. Horus offered Sanguinius a position of power if he renounced his loyalty to the Emperor, and Sanguinius refused. Even though he was wounded and weary from his battles on Terra, Sanguinius was able to match Horus' martial prowess, even at the height of his daemonic power, and Horus was forced to deal with the Angel by psychic methods. In his limitless malice, Horus made sure that Sanguinius' death was the most painful and foul that the boundless evils in his service could administer. The Warmaster's psychic assault was so powerful, it echoed down through the generations of Sanguinius' sons who are haunted by its echo within their souls to this day. However, the battle with Sanguinius was enough to weaken Horus sufficiently that the Emperor was able to defeat him, and because of this, the Blood Angels claim him to be the greatest of the Primarchs.

After the Horus Heresy, as with all the other Loyalist Space Marine Legions, the Blood Angels were forced to split into many smaller 1,000-man Chapters following the reformation of the Imperium by the Ultramarines' Robout Guilliman and the publication of his Codex Astartes. The Blood Angels, however, chose not to follow the Codex's prescriptions for organizing their Chapter.

The Second War for Armageddon
As the Ork WAAAGH! Ghazghkull ravaged the Imperial hive world of Armageddon, the Blood Angels, as well as their brothers from the Ultramarines and the Salamanders Chapters, arrived on Armageddon to lend the beleaguered planet's defenders aid during the Second War for Armageddon. Such was Lord Commander Dante's reputation that Tu'shan and Calgar, the Chapter Masters of the other two Chapters, ceded overall command of the entire Space Marine strike force on Armageddon to him. The Blood Angels bore the brunt of the close-quarter fighting, which eventually culminated in a massed Drop Pod assault into the heart of the Warlord Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka's Ork forces that finally broke the back of the massive Greenskin army.

The Blood Angels Civil War and the Fabius Bile Incident
The future Blood Angel Rafen was born on the world of Baal Secundus, the son of a tribal chieftain and the brother of Arkio. The two brothers were both Aspirants in the Blood Angels Chapter's Blood Trials to see if they would become Space Marine Neophytes. After being challenged to a seemingly simple task by the Blood Angels Sergeant Koris, Rafen failed and despairingly proceeded to march into the desert, expecting to die for his loss in the Blood Trials. However, the Thunderhawk that bore Sergeant Koris, Rafen's brother Arkio and the other successful Aspirants for recruitment by the Chapter was caught in a massive storm during its ascent, and crashed near Rafen's position. Rushing to their assistance, Rafen helped Koris defend against the dangerous native wildlife of Baal Secundus that were drawn to the crash site. Having saved the Space Marine and his new recruits, Sergeant Koris noted that due to losses among the Aspirants from the crash, there was a spot amongst the Blood Angels candidates for Rafen after all.

After becoming a Space Marine, Rafen quickly earned the rank of Sergeant and commanded his own squad among the Blood Angels. He played a prominent role in the most recent events to affect the Blood Angels, including the Primarch Sanguinius' supposed rebirth in the form of Rafen's brother Arkio as part of a plot on the part of the traitorous Inquisitor of the Ordo Hereticus Remius Stele, who had become a devotee of Tzeentch, to destroy the Blood Angels from within. Arkio had actually been deliberately mutated by the power of the Lord of Change as instigated by his servant Stele in an attempt to transform the Blood Angels into servants of Chaos. Rafen was ultimately forced to kill his brother during the battle on the Shrine World of Sabien between the two factions, though his actions saved the Blood Angels from Chaotic corruption.

Rafen also proved instrumental in defending against the assault on the Blood Angels' fortress-monastery on Baal by Fabius Bile, the Chaos Space Marine Apothecary who was a renegade even from his own Emperor's Children Traitor Legion in his continual quest to genetically engineer the perfect warrior. With the Blood Angels having won the battle on Baal, Rafen was then assigned a mission by Lord Commander Dante, the Blood Angels' Chapter Master, to recover a phial of the blood of the Blood Angels' Primarch Sanguinius, which had been stolen by Bile during a conclave between the Blood Angels and their Successor Chapters.

Rafen's second mission was to punish Fabius Bile with death for his transgressions against the Chapter. Having followed Bile futilely for some time on board the Blood Angels Strike Cruiser Tycho, Rafen received assistance from his blood-cousin Noxx of the Flesh Tearers Chapter. Together, the two Space Marine sergeants combined their squads to hunt down Bile, launching a strike against a powerful renegade Magos of the Adeptus Mechanicus named Matthun Zellik. Zellik had been making deals with Bile, who had usurped the identity of another Mechanicus Tech-priest named Haran Serpens, the same alias used by Bile to infiltrate the Blood Angels Chapter on Baal. The battle against Zellik took place on board the Archeohort, an ancient and unusual Adeptus Mechanicus excavation starship manned by Servitors and members of the Mechanicus' elite cybernetic warriors, the Skitarii. By taking advantage of a turncoat within Zellik's ranks, Rafen, Noxx and their men found their way to Zellik's trophy room, where they destroyed the relics recovered by the Magos and forced his surrender, lest his work be undone. During the battle, Rafen had lost his Bolter to a trap laid by Zellik. However, among the relics and goods in Zellik's collection was a Plasma Pistol bearing the name and Chapter markings of Aryon, a long dead hero of the Blood Angels, which Rafen took as his new side arm.

With the Archeohort, the Tycho and the Gabriel (on loan from the Flesh Tearers), Rafen and his men traveled to the planet of Dynikas V, where Zellik had last had dealings with Bile. The planet itself was unusual in that it had suffered an attack by the Tyranids, but the events had left the oceans intact as well as several aquatically-mutated Tyranid specimens leaderless and feral on the planet. Sacrificing the Archeohort, Rafen, Noxx and their men descended to Dynikas V using a submersible to approach the suspected base of operations of the Primogenitor, Fabius Bile. During the approach, Rafen and his allies battled large Tyranid creatures similar in size and shape to the legendary kraken. During the underwater battle, Rafen was separated from his allies and floated to the service, where mutated slaves of Bile captured him and took him to Bile's laboratory and fortress. Rafen, disarmed and implanted with a strange, genetically-engineered maggot that prevented him from moving, was taken before Fabius Bile himself. Bile, lost in grandeur, explained to Rafen his plan to clone none other than the Emperor of Mankind himself. Though wounded and weakened, Rafen managed to assault the Primogenitor, and killed him by tearing out his neck.

However, Bile was not dead. Immediately after the death, Rafen was forced into a strange arena where he raced against mutants and captured Space Marines of other Chapters, lest he be killed. There, amongst the audience, Rafen saw Bile alive. During the race, Rafen convinced the morose Tarikus of the Doom Eagles Chapter to side with him in an uprising against Bile. During this time, Noxx and the remaining men under his and Rafen's command made landfall against the fortress. It was then that Ceris, a Librarian in Rafen's squad, psychically contacted Rafen and bade him to attack a strange Warp signature to prevent Bile from escaping. The Warp signature turned out to be a captured and harvested Tyranid Zoanthrope, whom Bile had bent to his will to create Warp portals and keep the Tyranids still on the planet away from his fortress. Curiously, the Zoanthrope welcomed its death by Rafen's hand.

During the ensuing battle, Fabius Bile was killed no less than four times, and the truth was revealed when Rafen and a handful of his allies encountered two copies of Bile at once: they were merely clones of the true Fabius Bile, who was not even on the planet. Still, the last clone of Bile did possess the coveted vial of the Primarch Sanguinius' blood he had stolen from the Blood Angels fortress-monastery, which Rafen managed to take from Bile and inject into himself to defeat him. By exploiting Bile's last ditch escape attempt, Rafen and his men and Bile's Space Marine slaves managed to teleport away from Dykinas V while the feral Tyranids ravaged the fortress.

The Third War for Armageddon
Despite the bulk of the Chapter being deployed at the time of the Third War for Armageddon (998.M41) against the threat of the Tyranid Hive Fleet Leviathan in the galaxy's Eastern Fringes, Commander Dante still deployed the Blood Angels' 3rd Company, led by Captain Tycho, to Armageddon when the hive world fell under Warboss Ghazghkull's baleful attack. Ghazghkull led the greatest Ork WAAAGH! in the history of the Imperium to assault the strategically-located hive world once more. During the ensuing conflict, Captain Tycho succumbed to the Black Rage, finally meeting a valiant end as part of the Blood Angels' Death Company upon the walls of Hive Tempestora. Brother-Captain Machiavi succeeded him in command of the 3rd Company.

The Darkest Hour
In 999.M41 a tendril of Hive Fleet Leviathan was on a direct course to attack the Blood Angels' homeworld, Baal. Exacerbating this already terrible threat was a massive daemon army led by the dread Bloodthirster Greater Daemon of Khorne Ka'Bandha, which had already struck at Ammonai, the outermost planet of the Baal System. Facing a possible war on two fronts, Lord Commander Dante sent out a call for all the Space Marine Chapters in the Imperium who were Successor Chapters of the Blood Angels to send forces to aid their ancestral Legion; the Flesh Tearers were the first to do so, deploying their entire Chapter for the war to defend Baal. Ultimately, all the Blood Angels' Successor Chapters save for the Lamenters answered Lord Commander Dante's call, even the Renegade Knights of Blood.

Known Blood Angels Theatres in the 41st Millennium

 * Armageddon
 * Sabien
 * Bantax
 *  Baal
 * Cybele
 * Shenlong

The Blood Angels' Flaw
The Flaw of the Blood Angels has been attributed to a combination of the genetic defects in the Legion's Omophagea gene-seed organ implant, and the psychic disturbance created during the final seconds of Sanguinius' life. During the battles of the Horus Heresy on Terra and Mars, the gene-seed imprint of the Blood Angels was lost, forcing the Legion to have to extract the gene-seed needed for their reconstruction from the fallen body of their Primarch himself. Every Space Marine created from the gene-seed drawn from Sanguinius after his death was doomed to fall to the Flaw, and in the 10,000-year history of the Legion and its Second Founding Successor Chapters, only three Space Marines have managed to defeat the Curse (Chief Librarian Mephiston and Brother Rafen - both with the assistance of visions of Sanguinius, and the Librarian Ashok of the Angels Sanguine).

The Black Rage
The Blood Angels and their Successor Chapters still suffer from the psychic imprint left by Sanguinius' death (or by the daemonic "wound" caused on Signus Prime). This can cause them to go insane prior to or during battle and feel the rage that Sanguinius himself felt during the Battle of Terra. The condition is largely irrecoverable and only a few Blood Angels have managed to defeat the "Gene Curse". Victims are locked away in the "Tower of Amareo" (named after an ancient Chapter Master of the Blood Angels) on the Blood Angels' homeworld. This insanity is known as the Black Rage. Rather than let them face a slow, insane death, Blood Angels will form those who have newly succumbed to the Black Rage into a special unit known as the Death Company. They wear specially painted black Power Armour, and are often led by the few Chapter officers, notably Blood Angels Chaplains, who are still able to communicate orders to the insane troops and who are still obeyed by them, perhaps because Chaplains directly represent the authority of the Emperor. The members of the Death Company are then sent out to perform the most dangerous assaults, hoping for a quick and honourable death in combat. The Rage seems to lend those afflicted with a measure of the Primarch's might, granting them the strength to rend their foes limb from limb in bloody melee. However, by some unknown means, the flaw that produces the Black Rage also seems capable of extending the victim's lifespan, at least until he finally succumbs to the Rage. Commander Dante is by far the oldest living Space Marine (not including those interred in a Dreadnought), born more than 1,000 years before the present time.

The Red Thirst
A side effect of the Black Rage is the Blood Angels' feared vampiric tendencies. They generally have pale skin, and a strong urge to drink the blood of their enemies. This flaw is known as the Red Thirst. These traits have also been passed on to their Successor Chapters, such as the Flesh Tearers, Blood Drinkers, and Angels Sanguine. One Blood Angels Successor Chapter, the Lamenters, managed, by unknown means, to eliminate the flaws from Sanguinius' gene-seed, but has been stricken by extraordinary bad luck in battle, suffering an improbable series of unlikely catastrophes, and as such has been nearly annihilated.

Blood Angels Freed From the Flaw

 * Lord Mephiston: Originally Brother Calistarius, a Blood Angels Librarian of some ability and strength of character, he was almost overcome by the Curse when part of the relief force for Hades hive during the Second War for Armageddon, where, having suffered for 7 days and nights trapped in the rubble of the collapsed Ecclesorium building, a vision of Sanguinius helped him fight off the effects. He was reborn Mephiston – Lord of Death, and with his full psychic potential unlocked, quickly achieved the position of Chief Librarian. He is seen as the spiritual son of Sanguinius, a figure of hope to his Chapter. He is now considered to be the most powerful Librarian in the Astartes, and possibly the most powerful psyker in the Imperium, after the Emperor himself.
 * Brother Rafen: A Battle-Brother - later promoted to Sergeant - Rafen had to kill his actual brother and fellow Blood Angels Astartes Arkio who was claiming to be Sanguinius Reborn but was in reality deceived by Chaos, having been made, through Chaotic mutation, into a likeness of Sanguinius. Rafen then had to succumb to the Gene Curse to unleash the power of the Holy Spear of Telesto (a weapon wielded by Sanguinius himself) in order to defeat Malfallax, a Lord of Change (Greater Daemon of Tzeentch) who had deceived Arkio. However, he was eventually able to pull himself to the surface of his consciousness, and also succeeded in helping Mephiston defeat the Black Rage within himself for a second time.

Chapter Organisation
The Blood Angels and their Successor Chapters adhere to the proscriptions of the Codex Astartes in general, but deviate in several regards. The most obvious of these is the preponderance of close-combat troops. The role of Assault Marine is heavily sought, and the entire First Company fights as assault troops when not deployed as Terminators. The entire Eighth Company is tooled towards assault combat; the Marines that do not gain access to Jump Packs before a battle often deploy in support of their rapid moving brethren, through the use of Land Speeders and Attack Bikes. Even the Librarians of the Blood Angels Chapter excel at hand-to-hand fighting.

The remaining companies deploy as per the Codex Astartes, but often modify the engines of the Rhino APCs assigned to them in order to increase their speed. These modifications have a negative effect on the vehicle as a whole, and the Blood Angels' Rhinos are prone to breakdowns if their engines are pushed too hard.

Other vehicles have been modified by the Blood Angels. The Baal Predator mounts a twin-linked assault cannon, and is modified to lay down a torrent of fire as the Blood Angels advance, devastating infantry and light vehicles. The Furioso Dreadnought eschews the heavy weaponry normally carried by Space Marine Dreadnoughts, replacing it with a second close combat weapon.

The Blood Angels' headquarters division contains several ranks not present in other Space Marine Chapters. The Sanguinary Priests are the custodians of the blood of Sanguinius himself. They serve as Apothecaries, as well as partially fulfilling the role of spiritual leaders within the Chapter. The role of Chaplains also differs in the Blood Angels Chapter as their responsibilities are solely geared towards guarding against the Black Rage and ministering to those who fall to both it and the Red Thirst.

Most notable of the deviances from the Codex Astartes is the Death Company. Not an actual part of the Blood Angels' standard organization, the Death Company is made up of those unfortunate Astartes of the Chapter who completely succumb to the Black Rage just before a battle. These fanatical troops are led into battle by a Sanguiniary Priest or Chaplain. The Space Marines of the Blood Angels Death Company are unstoppable, fighting on with wounds that should stop even a Space Marine.

The other major deviance is the Sanguinary Guard, which includes 30 of the Chapter's best warriors under the command of Brother Sepharan. They use modified Jump Packs with mechanical wings, to give them a taste of their Primarch's flight, and making them true angels of death. They are clad in ancient suits of golden Artificier Armour, wielding a Glaive Encarmine, each one of which is a Chapter relic dating back millennia. Each member of the Sanguinary Guard is easily the equal of a full squad of their bretheren and the deeds of each are carefully recorded by the Sanguinary Priests, as they are warriors second only to the company captains and Lord Commander Dante himself.

Chapter Headquarters
The Fortress-Monastery of the Blood Angels is located on the world of Baal, and recruits are taken from its moon of Baal Secundus. The world and its moons were once Earth-like in their climate, but have since become wastelands. Evidence points to a nuclear war fought at some point prior to the start of the Age of Strife, destroying the once-sophisticated human culture that inhabited the world and its moons. The few survivors became techno-scavengers, relying on cumbersome radiation suits to protect them from the fatal levels of radioactive fallout, and picking through the scraps of their once-great civilisation as scavengers to find the necessities of life. Many of the Baalite survivors became horribly mutated as the generations passed as a result of the population's constant exposure to radiation and were often forced to resort to cannibalism to stay alive.

Chapter Recruitment
To ascertain who is worthy to join the ranks of the Blood Angels, the adolescents of the feral tribes of Baal Secundus who would be Blood Angels Aspirants take part in violent games and tournaments, battling against the harsh landscape and their peers. The contests are held at "Angel's Fall," the location of Sanguinius' landing on Baal, and are heralded by the arrival of Thunderhawk gunships from the Chapter.

The first trial is to reach the "Place of Challenge" by any means necessary. The aspirants must make their way across the hostile desert, leaping from high cliffs with only a crude hang-glider to cross the gap with. They must avoid Fire Scorpions and other mutated predator species that inhabit the canyons, then climb the mountain to the Place of Challenge.

Upon arrival, gladiatorial contests are held, of which only a handful of the original aspirants will survive. From this group, roughly fifty will be taken by the Blood Angels, while the remainder are tasked to protect the Place of Challenge until the next generation's aspirants begin their competition for acceptance.

The successful Aspirants are taken to the Blood Angels' Fortress-Monastery on Baal itself, and are paraded before members of the Chapter, before being escorted into the Great Chapel. Here, the Aspirants must observe a three-day vigil without sustenance or rest; those who fall asleep are taken away and never seen again. At the conclusion of the three days, a group of Sanguinary Priests will enter and offer each Aspirant a sip from a chalice believed to contain some of the Primarch Sanguinius' blood. Upon drinking this, the Aspirants fall into a deep sleep, during which the gene-seed organ implants of the Chapter are inserted into the body of each Aspirant.

Entranced by a death-like slumber, the Aspirants are transported to the Hall of Sarcophagi, and interred in great golden sarcophagi, each twice the size of a grown man. The Aspirants are attached to an array of life support equipment, before being sealed in for a year. They are fed intravenously, the combination of nutrients and the Blood of Sanguinius instigating the genetic and hormonal changes in the Aspirant's body necessary to make him a Space Marine. Many Aspirants fail at this point, their bodies unable to cope with the massive physical changes wrought by the gene-seed. Those that survive grow strong and pure, granted visions and dreams that depict the memory of Sanguinius. On rare occasions, an Aspirant will awaken well before the year is up, and will be forced to contemplate the claustrophobic darkness. Emerging from the sarcophagi these unfortunates are almost always afflicted with mental infirmity.

After the year has passed, the Aspirants are awoken and retrieved from their imprisonment. They bear little physical resemblance to the frail, radiation-warped adolescents that entered the sarcophagi a year before. Their restructured bodies take on a form reminiscent of their Primarch, keener and stronger than any mortal man. Even so, though they are now Blood Angels Neophytes, they have only completed the first stage of becoming a full Blood Angels Astartes. There is then the typical tradition of serving in the Chapter's 10th Company Scout force before joining one of the other companies as a fully fledged Brother Space Marine.

Chapter Combat Doctrine
The Companies of the Blood Angels generally fight in a similar fashion as most other Space Marine forces, with a tendency toward aggressive and decisive assault actions utilising highly mobile forces. This usually results in actions in which dedicated assault units, including the Death Company, close with the weakest point of the enemy position at the earliest opportunity under covering fire, and then are supported by mounted tactical units and armoured forces to exploit the breakthrough. This then allows the assault units to carry on into successive enemy positions behind the front line, preventing an organised response, while the rest of the units conduct a mop-up of the remaining enemy and move into positions of support, pinning down the next target with available firepower. Their passion for perfection in all things martial and otherwise, added to the longevity in which to achieve this, can be seen in their strategic and tactical planning, which is exemplary. However, they cannot be counted upon to hold a position in the same disciplined way as the Ultramarines or Dark Angels, as the Black Rage can afflict any Marine in the midst of battle, inciting him to charge forward in an attempt to tear the enemy limb from limb. This often has the benefit of creating victories in the unlikeliest situations through sheer aggression, although Imperial Commanders have been known to refrain from asking for the assistance of the Blood Angels due to fears that such savagery could become uncontrollable.

Chapter Colours
The Blood Angels paint their Power Armour blood red, with a black Chapter badge and squad markings in the colour of the Space Marine's company. The trim varies but is usually the same red as the armour or black. The Imperial Aquila on the chest plate is usually yellow, gold, white or black.

Instead of using the standard Codex-compliant symbols to show a unit's role, Blood Angels helmets are painted for distinction: Blood Angels Librarians have blue armour with the left shoulder plate painted red. The Chapter badge is located on the right knee plate, black with a red background. Blood Angel Apothecaries have red armour trimmed in white, with a white Chapter badge on their left shoulder plate. The Blood Angels Death Company varies significantly from their brethren's colour scheme; their armour is repainted black, with red crosses, symbolizing the sacrifice of Sanguinius. The Sanguinary Guard wear armour that is completely golden in colour, with white wings, and many Chapter markings all over the armour.
 * Tactical Marine : Red - Battle-Brother of the standard Battle Companies
 * Assault Marine: Yellow - 1st Company Veteran Battle-Brothers
 * Devastator Marine:Blue - Battle-Brother assigned to a Heavy Support Squad
 * Veteran Marine: Gold - Member of a company's Honour Guard

A Blood Angels company's markings differ from those outlined by the Codex Astartes in utilising symbols on the right shoulder plate instead of different colored trim and numbers. Only in special cases does the Chapter badge not appear on the left shoulder plate. The following is a list of how each Company represents itself:
 * 1st Company (Veteran) : A white skull over red background on the right shoulder plate. On Terminator (Tactical Dreadnought) Armour, the left shoulder plate shows the First Company's specific heraldry, the right shoulder guard displays the Chapter badge in black (yellow for Sergeants).
 * 2nd Company (Battle) : A single yellow blood drop.
 * 3rd Company (Battle) : A single white blood drop.
 * 4th Company (Battle) : A single green blood drop.
 * 5th Company (Battle) : A single black blood drop.
 * 6th Company (Reserve Tactical) : Twin yellow blood drops, side by side.
 * 7th Company (Reserve Tactical) : Twin white blood drops, side by side.
 * 8th Company (Reserve Assault) : Twin green blood drops, side by side.
 * 9th Company (Reserve Devastator) : Twin black blood drops, side by side.
 * 10th Company (Scouts) : The Blood Angels' Scout Company wears a black skull on the right shoulder plate, and the Chapter badge on the left.

The Chapter Master (who is called the Lord Commander by the Blood Angels) has a personal bodyguard that wears gold armour with black trim, painting the right shoulder plate red. The Chapter badge is displayed on the left shoulder plate, a white skull displayed on the right.

Unlike other Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes, the Blood Angels' squad markings comprise a single symbol worn on the right knee plate of their Power Armour:
 * 1st Squad: A white skull on a black background
 * 2nd Squad: A white skull on a blue background
 * 3rd Squad: A red blood drop on a yellow background
 * 4th Squad: A red blood drop on a black background
 * 5th Squad: A white X on a black background
 * 6th Squad: A white X on a blue background
 * 7th Squad: A yellow lightning bolt on a black background
 * 8th Squad: A back lightning bolt on a yellow background
 * 9th Squad: A yellow angelic wing on a black background
 * 10th Squad: A black angelic wing on a yellow background

Chapter Badge
The Blood Angels Chapter badge is a red blood drop flanked by white wings. When portrayed on armour, this design is stylised and painted completely black on the left shoulder guard. Sergeants of the Chapter have both shoulder guards painted black, with a yellow Chapter badge placed on them instead, to distinguish their rank.

Notable Blood Angels

 * Lord Commander Dante - Chapter Master during the 41st Millennium. He is also the oldest Loyalist Space Marine in the galaxy (with the exception of Dreadnoughts), commanding the Blood Angels for over 1100 years. He wears the Death Mask of Sanguinius, a relic believed to show the face of the Primarch himself.
 * Lord Mephiston - Chief Librarian during the 41st Millennium. He gained immense power after overcoming the Black Rage and Red Thirst twice. The most powerful Librarian in the Astartes, and possibly the most powerful psyker in the Imperium, after the Emperor. Given the title "Lord of Death" upon his breaking free from the Red Thirst.
 * The Sanguinor, Exemplar of the Host - The golden angel of Sanguinius. Who exactly he is remains unknown. Some claim him to be the last remaining Sanguinary Guard from the time of the Horus Heresy, while the more popular belief is that upon Sanguinius' death, he split into two: that which was pained and in anguish about the Primarch's actions became the Chapter Flaw, and that which was noble and great became the Sanguinor. Regardless of who he is, he only appears when the Blood Angels need him most. His most famous deed is the defeat of Ka'Bandha, the Greater Daemon of Khorne who once defeated Sanguinius himself, before the Primarch threw him from above the Eternity Gate of the Inner Imperial Palace during the Battle of Terra, and broke the daemon's back upon the surface of Mankind's sacred homeworld.
 * Brother-Captain Tycho - Commander of the Blood Angels' Third Company, and once Dante's chosen successor. Half his face was destroyed by an Ork weirdboy during the Second War for Armageddon which affected his psyche, and made him wear a mask over the injury. He constantly thirsts for revenge against the Orks who wounded him. He underwent the black rage and was inducted into the death company. He finally attained peace when he died during his actions in the Third War for Armageddon.
 * Captain Michaelus Raphael of the 1st Company of the Blood Angels. He led his company to glory and cleansed the Genestealers from their Space Hulk. He is the commander of the Blood Angels in the board game, Space Hulk.
 * Chaplain Lemartes - known as the "Guardian of the Lost." His stern voice can cut through even the battle frenzy induced by the Black Rage. He himself fell under the rage's power, by through his great will retained his sanity.
 * Brother Corbulo - mightiest amongst the Sanguinary Priests and Bearer of the Red Grail. Bears a great physical resemblance to Sanguinius.
 * Moriar the Chosen - Once a Captain of the Blood Angels, he fell in battle and so great were his deeds he was honoured by being entombed in a Furioso Dreadnought - a walking mechanical sarcophagus bristling with powerful weaponry. However, upon entering his new body he experienced the visions of Sanguinius during the Heresy and succumbed to the Black Rage thus becoming the Death Company's Dreadnought - an almost unstoppable force in battle.
 * Brother-Sergeant Rafen - Sergeant Rafen saved the Blood Angels Chapter from a bloody civil war, but in doing so was forced to kill his biological brother Arkio. He is one of the few Blood Angels to defeat the Gene Curse, although he willingly used it to defeat Malfallax, a Lord of Change (Greater Daemon of Tzeentch) who had deceived Arkio. He was also key in defending the Blood Angels' homeworld of Baal from the creations of Fabius Bile. He was then tasked by Commander Dante to pursue Bile in order to reclaim a vial with the blood of Sanguinius that Bile had stolen, and to terminate Bile. Rafen eventually caught up with him on Dynikas V where he was confronted with several Bile clones. He managed to reclaim the stolen blood vial and kill the Bile clones, but in order to do so, had to inject himself with the blood of Sanguinius that Bile had taken. (Malfallax, after his own defeat, presumably in order to avenge the failure of the plans regarding Arkio, offered his allegiance to Bile. Bile by then wanted to destroy the Chapter following the events at Dynikas V).
 * Apothecae Majoris Caecus - Caecus was the Chief Apothecary of the Blood Angels. Disturbed by the dwindling numbers of his Chapter, and dreading its extinction, he was involved in fruitless experiments, which Commander Dante ordered stopped, to clone Space Marines. However, Caecus disobeyed the order and secretly continued the experiments, prodded by an agent of Fabius Bile. He was tricked into bringing Bile, who was disguised as a well-known Mechanicus Magos Biologis, to Baal, mistakenly thinking the false "Magos" would help in cloning Space Marines. Caecus belatedly realized Bile's deception and was eventually executed by Rafen for his transgressions.
 * Arkio the Blessed - Featured in the books Deus Encarmine and Deus Sanguinius. He was a pawn of Tzeentch and his Daemon Prince Malfallax, mutated to resemble Sanguinius in order to try and take control of the Blood Angels Chapter for the Lord of Change, but was killed by his genetic brother, Rafen, at the Battle of Sabien.
 * Captain Leonatas - Hero of the Blood Quest, exiled from the Chapter until the Blade Encarmine was recovered. Deceased.
 * Veteran Sergeant Cloten - A Space Marine from another company who joins Leonatas on his quest to recover the Blade Encarmine. Cursed with the Red Thirst, he only wishes to die an honourable death before he succumbs to it.
 * Veteran Sergeant Tranio - One of the Veterans that survived during the Last Stand on Sekundar against the Orks of Garshul the Destroyer's WAAAGH! Deceased.
 * Brother Codicier Furion - A squad member of Leonatas search and recover group who possesses psyker abilities. Unknown if he was at Sekundar. Deceased.
 * Brother Pallamon - A squad member of Leonatas' search and recover group. Unknown if he was at Sekundar. Deceased.
 * Brother Valerius - A squad member of Leonatas' search and recover group. Deceased. Unknown if he was at Sekundar.
 * Scout Novice Lysander - A squad member of Leonatas' search and recover group. Unknown if he was at Sekundar.
 * Scout Novice Menelius - A squad member of Leonatas' search and recover group. Unknown if he was at Sekundar. Deceased.
 * Scout Novice Proteus - A squad member of Leonatas' search and recover group. Turned to Chaos after Leonatas was possessed. Unknown if he was at Sekundar. Deceased.

Chapter Notes

 * The occurrence of cannibalism among the inhabitants of Baal Secundus is also what has spurred debate with regards to the cause of the Blood Angels' vampiric tendencies, and whether or not the thirst for blood is actually a genetic defect of the Aspirants themselves, or the result of the flawed gene-seed of Sanguinius.