Minotaurs

"The beast, the bronze beast in the darkness, footsteps, it never tired, it just kept coming! We didn't stand a chance...wherever we turned, we could not escape, never escape!" - Testimony of Hedrith Blaine, Sole Survivor, Jurah-17 Mining Colony, Larsha Tertius

That there existed a Loyalist Space Marine Chapter called the Minotaurs, created during the Cursed 21st Founding of the 36th Millennium, is not widely contested in the Imperial record, but whether or not they are the same as the Chapter bearing the name that took part in the suppression of the Macharian Heresy in the opening decades of the 41st Millennium (and the same Chapter that would later go on to play a crucial and bloody role in the Badab War) is not so certain. The Minotaurs possess a reputation for being unusually xenophobic Astartes, even for the Imperium, as well as often unreliable combatants who do not work well with other Imperial military units.

Chapter History
A Space Marine Chapter of brutal repute within the Imperium of Man, the Minotaurs have long been the brunt of suspicion and acrimony by other Space Marine Chapters. Furthermore, there are those within the Ordo Hereticus of the Inquisition who believe the Minotaurs possess unknown ties to the High Lords of Terra. While much of the Minotaurs' records going back over the last millennia has been ascertained through sifting through myriad battle archives from across the Imperium, much of their history before this point is not simply lost, but has been deliberately suppressed and sealed under binding edicts laid down by the High Lords of Terra that even the authority of the Inquisition cannot circumvent. It has been acknowledged that there was a Space Marine Chapter of the name Minotaurs created as part of the 21st Founding (Cursed Founding). But whether or not the Chapter bearing the same name millennia later during some of the most notable campaigns in the early 41st Millennium is the same has become a subject of much debate amongst Imperial scholars.

The Minotaurs of the Cursed 21st Founding rapidly gained a reputation as a force whose ferocity and fury on the battlefield were all but unmatched. As time progressed, their tendency to shun the command of others, and their erratic gene-seed tithe to the Magos Inviglia of the Adeptus Mechanicus, combined with the diverse curses and genetic corruption that seemed to afflict other Chapters of their Founding, raised much darker suspicions about the nature of the Minotaurs and the secrets they might be hiding. The few fragmentary records that remain show the Chapter's gene-seed branded as "Chimeric." This, as blasphemous as it may now seem, may have indicated that the Minotaurs' genetic material was either procured from a prohibited source, mixed with a heretical genetic pool, adulterated or somehow tampered with during its creation. Many Astartes scions of the Chapters created during the 21st Founding were found to have had their gene-seed experimented on. The Minotaurs are more than likely to have been among those who had their gene-seed tampered with or altered in some way as well. It is likely that the Minotaurs' barely-controlled battle fury and desire to shun those they should have called comrade was a result of some particular curse in their blood, but whether or not their affliction has mastered them or they have finally mastered it remains unknown. Regardless, from the middle of the 38th Millennium onwards, the Minotaurs all but slipped from the Imperium's records, their deeds and battle honours suppressed or expunged by a series of edicts and data purges.

When the Chapter reappeared millennia later, it was noted they had a tendency to respond quickly and without question to a call to arms from the High Lords of Terra, even when the case was to castigate, apprehend or even destroy formerly Loyal Space Marines who had been declared Renegade or had accusations of suspected transgressions lodged against them. This gave the Minotaurs a fell reputation as a Chapter. In particular, the Ultramarines and its myriad Successor Chapters are known to bear considerable ill will towards the Minotaurs and will not fight beside them after the Minotaurs' near-extinction of the Inceptors Chapter at Euxcine.

Since its return to prominence, some Imperial scholars who have studied this reclusive Chapter's actions have noted the discrepancies between the Minotaurs Chapter of the present and that of the past, both in terms of structure and behaviour, and in matters of minutiae such as livery. This speculation also pertains towards the Minotaurs' gene-seed, of which tithes have been logged but remain classified at the highest level.

Notable Campaigns

 * Macharian Heresy (ca. 053-077.M41) - When the Minotaurs reappeared again for the first time in millennia during the suppression of the Macharian Heresy, they were a Chapter both familiar through their fell reputation and profoundly changed. Equipped to the highest standards, they fought as an integrated and highly flexible force and were based upon a powerful Chapter fleet operating more than a dozen strike cruisers. No less brutal than their ancient repute suggested, they fought in what was nevertheless a more considered and controlled manner than that heard of in the ancient tales of the Imperium.
 * Badab War (907-913.M41) - The Minotaurs arrived in the Maelstrom Zone of the Ultima Segmentum in 907.M41, answering the direct call from the acting Legate Inquisitor for more Space Marines to join the Loyalist cause against the Secessionist Chapters. The conflict was in its fourth year of open warfare, and the Minotaurs committed their entire strength to the war; ten companies and eleven capital ships of various types. While the Chapter coordinated their efforts with the Loyalist command, they operated largely independent throughout the conflict, striking targets as they saw fit. The viciousness of the Chapter's reputation for leaving no survivors among those that resisted them quickly grew, and remained uncontested until the arrival of the even more savage Carcharodons Chapter. The Minotaurs gained several important victories during this time, effectively destroying Seccessionist forces on multiple worlds. However, the action for which their fame would spread far beyond the conflict (despite a deliberate suppression of the war's progress by the Inquisition), would be their wholesale defeat of the Lamenters' Chapter in a close-quarters space battle in the Optera System in the closing days of the early Badab Uprising in 908.M41. Finally, the Minotaurs withdrew from the Maelstrom Zone in 913.M41 after the fall of Badab Primaris, taking with them several former Lamenters warships to replace their own losses.
 * Rynn's World (989.M41)- The Minotaurs saw action on Rynn's World during the attempt to reclaim the Crimson Fists' homeworld from the Orks.

Chapter Organisation
The Minotaurs conform to both the structural and squad-level pattern of the Codex Astartes in terms of broad organisation. But at a tactical level this Chapter differs significantly in its general approach to warfare. The Minotaurs prefer to operate as a whole, or at least in as few divisions of its forces as possible in any given theater of war, concentrating and thereby maximising its destructive power. This strategy has allowed the Chapter to excel at siegecraft and in combat against monstrous opponents, which they can overwhelm by sheer weight of numbers if need be. Unlike most Space Marine Chapters, some of the Minotaurs' key tactics are partly dependent on the use of superior attrition within a confined area of engagement, the Chapter's commanders perhaps less mindful of the fate of their Battle-Brothers than some, so long as victory is achieved. Two significant factors aid the Minotaurs in their chosen pattern of warfare; their excellent supplies of heavy arms and war machinery and a markedly rapid influx of new Neophytes to replace ongoing losses due to attrition. The exact source of their war materiel has remained unconfirmed, but they have been observed to operate using large and replenishing stockpiles of tanks and heavy armour (primarily Vindicators and Predators as tactical support vehicles). The Minotaurs have also been observed to have widespread access to supplies of the advanced Mark VIII "Errant" Power Armour, and commonly field much of their 1st Company as Terminators in combat. Another unusual aspect of the Minotaurs is the methods in which they are able to replace losses in manpower so quickly. The speed of transition between Neophyte, Scout Marine and full Battle-Brother in the Chapter is brief compared to that of many other Space Marine Chapters. This is explained by the use of extremely high levels of programmed psycho-indoctrination and neuro-cerebral surgery by the Chapter. This program accelerates the recruits' progression and is continued during deployment as ongoing treatments to reinforce mental conditioning administered by the Chapter's Apothecaries. These techniques, though not forbidden as heretical, have inherent dangers that could carry a greater risk of damaging the subject physically and mentally than those normally performed by other Chapters. Most Space Marine Chapters consider the more studied training and battlefield erudition of their Neophytes to be a key component in tempering the soul of a warrior rather than the dangerous artificial techniques employed by the Minotaurs to replace their often self-inflicted losses.

Chapter Combat Doctrine
The ancient repute of the Minotaurs of the 21st Founding suggests that on the battlefield their Astartes often times eschewed any form of combat that did not allow them to rapidly get to grips with their enemies as fast as possible. This highly autonomous, almost berserk force was often announced in a war zone without preamble or even much by the way of reconnaissance. They would hurl themselves at the enemy without heed of loss or cost. Their fury spent, the Minotaurs would then withdraw as suddenly as they had arrived. This pattern made the Minotaurs too unpredictable and unreliable a force to be counted on by their fellow Imperial allies. The Minotaurs that emerged in the early years of the 41st Millennium were quite different in regards to how they prosecuted a campaign. The Chapter now preferred to deploy a vanguard to pin their enemies in combat, then use fast units to encircle them to ensure there can be no escape before bringing in the full weight of the Chapter's firepower and heavy armour to crush the foe without mercy. Still highly autonomous, the Minotaurs go where they are willed by the needs of the Imperium but now seem far more content to operate within the structure and command of the Imperial war machine than the Chapter's distant history suggests.

Chapter Beliefs
The Minotaurs seem to bear little respect for anyone or anything, save the Emperor of Mankind and the High Lords of Terra, for whom they have displayed fanatic and unquestioning loyalty. The Chapter tends to show no love for civility or deference when dealing with individual Imperial commanders and other Space Marine Chapters, but they have been known to show pleasure in testing their skills against worthy foes. Some speculate that perhaps the Minotaurs consider their fellow Astartes as particularly worthy. In one well-recorded incident, the Chapter nearly came to blows with the Genesis Chapter after deliberately insulting the name of Marneus Calgar. Bloody conflict between them was only averted by the arrival of a fresh wave of Orks from the Octarian Empire. Given this predilection for testing themselves against their fellow Space Marines, it is unsurprising that the Minotaurs would appear during the Badab War. The Astral Claws and other Seccessionist Chapters would have certainly proved to be worthy foes. Some Imperial commanders who have served with the Minotaurs since their reemergence have gone on record, hinting that this Chapter is at the edge of madness or heresy - describing the defences and security precautions taken by them even when dealing with supposed allies as obsessive bordering on the paranoid. Given the number of enemies both within and without the Imperium this is perhaps unsurprising.

Notable Minotaurs

 * Lord Asterion Moloc, Master of the Minotaurs, Satrap of the Daedelos Krata, Bringer of Wrath - Asterion Moloc is the current Chapter Master of the Minotaurs Space Marine Chapter.
 * Chaplain Ivanus Enkomi, The Voice of the Chapter, Reclusiarch of the Minotaurs - The gaunt, brooding Ivanus Enkomi is the chief Chaplain of the Minotaurs Space Marine Chapter.

Chapter Fleet
The Minotaurs possess a mighty Chapter fleet composed of no less than 12 Strike Cruisers and at least one Battle Barge.
 * Daedlos Krata - Heavy Strike Carrier - The flagship of the Minotaurs' large and powerful Chapter Fleet.

Chapter Appearance
Since their reemergence, some Imperial commanders have gone on record as finding the Space Marines of the Minotaurs Chapter to be brooding and malign warriors, far from the epitome of honour and righteousness. The Chapter's individuals hold about them an aura of barely restrained spite and malice that breeds fear and apprehension in all but the strongest heart.

Chapter Colours
The Minotaurs Chapter's original colour scheme was yellow, with red decorations (usually warning markings).The Minotaurs contemporary colour scheme is that of bronze armour with some darker red on the shoulder plates at times.

Chapter Badge
The Chapter's original badge is a blue bull's head on a yellow background. The contemporary Chapter badge is a red bull's head with black horns on a bronze background. Members of the elite 1st Company wear a variant of the Chapter badge; a bronze bull's head on a dark red background.

Gallery
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