Flesh Tearers

"You foster discord, Seth. You thrive upon it!" The Flesh Tearer smiled. -"I stand corrected. You do understand my kind after all. Youʹve cut to the heart of me."

- Chapter Master Gabriel Seth and Lord Commander Dante of the Blood Angels debate during the Conclave of the Scions of Sanguinius

The Flesh Tearers are the smallest Second Founding Successor Chapter of the Blood Angels, numbering only four full companies of Astartes. They are Loyalists of the Emperor of Mankind though their heavy affliction with the Flaws of their Primarch Sanguinius has led to their investigation on charges of heresy by the Inquisition. They have been cleared of suspicion at present. Like their progenitors, the Flesh Tearers are known for their bloodthirsty nature in battle, bad temper and feared for the Flaws like the Black Rage and the Red Thirst that they carry within their gene-seed. The Flesh Tearers generally make use of the tactical organisation pioneered by the Blood Angels, though they favour close combat over ranged warfare and most Flesh Tearer Space Marines are skilled with melee weapons like Chainswords or Power Swords and bear them into battle. The Flesh Tearers call the Death World of Cretacia home. It is a violent, tropical world where the dominant form of life are giant reptiles very similar to the dinosaurs who once existed on Terra during the Cretaceous Period more than 65 million years ago. It is a common right of passage for Flesh Tearers recruits to hunt these massive animals and bring back a trophy of their kill before they are made Neophytes of the Chapter.

Chapter History
The Flesh Tearers Chapter was created in the 31st Millennium after the Primarch of the Ultramarines, Roboute Guilliman, who led the reformations sweeping the Imperium after the Horus Heresy, determined that all of the existing Space Marine Legions would be broken up into 1,000-man Chapters so that no single commander could ever again wield the power of an entire Astartes Legion. This event is known as the Second Founding and the Flesh Tearers were one of the Chapters formed from the Blood Angels Legion, even as they continued to grieve for their fallen Primarch. After their official formation the Flesh Tearers immediately left Terra to embark upon a new crusade to eliminate rebel forces still loyal to Horus as well as continuing to purge heretical infestations from Imperial worlds during the period known as the Great Scouring.

The Flesh Tearers were assigned the Battle-Barge Victus from their former Legion, which became their effective mobile Fortress-Monastery for the next three thousand years. The Flesh Tearers' reputation for savagery in battle was soon well-known, and so the terrible Flaws of the Blood Angels' genetic legacy must have asserted themselves very soon after the death of the Blood Angels' Primarch Sanguinius during the Battle of Terra. In the wake of the Horus Heresy, as the forces of the Imperium moved to put down the remaining pockets of rebellion, the High Lords of Terra chose to ignore the Flesh Tearers' bloody reputation in favour of their remarkable efficiency at subduing rebellious worlds and achieving compliancy. During this period of strife results were valued far more than technique, therefore, there were no investigations into the rumours that accompanied the implacable advance of the Flesh Tearers.

For thousands of years after their Founding, the Flesh Tearers were a mobile, crusading Chapter. Eventually, however, the Chapter chose to establish a permanent fortress-monastery upon the death world of Cretacia, deep in the galactic West. Cretacia was home to a small population of feral humans whose genes were pure and who had developed a remarkable Neolithic warrior culture that produced strong and able Flesh Tearer recruits. The Chapter had great need for this easy supply of recruits, for as the centuries passed the Flaw in the Flesh Tearers' gene-seed gradually worsened and few Flesh Tearer Space Marines were able to avoid succumbing to the Black Rage after more than 200 standard years. By the end of the 41st Millennium, the Flesh Tearers were able to deploy only four fully combat-ready companies and the degradation of their gene-seed seemed to be only increasing, making it likely that unless a remedy can be found the Chapter will ultimately cease to exist. The high incidence of the Black Rage in the Chapter has led the Inquisition to question the purity of the Flesh Tearers on multiple occasions and many other Space Marine Chapters refuse to fight alongside the Flesh Tearers because of their reputation for uncontrolled savagery and genetic corruption, as well as the fear that their bloodlust might be infectious. Since the terrible Kallern Massacres of the 36th Millennium the Chapter has essentially remained under the watchful eyes of the Ordo Hereticus.

Notable Campaigns

 * The Zurcon Massacres (Late 36th Millennium) - Traveling throughout the galaxy during their initial crusade, prior to their settlement of Cretacia the Flesh Tearers visited the portion of space that would later become known as the Jericho Reach. Using a combination of resources, Imperial scholars of the Adeptus Administratum have pieced some records together. In late M36, the Flesh Tearers Chapter engaged in a series of cleansings of allegedly mutant and heretical populations within the Zurcon System. Lasting several years, the Flesh Tearers launched an all-out assault against the system's three settled worlds after initial hostile contact. By the end of this military action there were no known surviving human inhabitants within the system. The system only resettled centuries later by colonists from other worlds of the Jericho Sector.
 * The Kallern Massacres (36th Millennium) - During the Imperial defence of the world of Kallern, the Flesh Tearers Astartes present on the planet were overcome by the Black Rage and slaughtered hundreds of innocent civilians as well as the foe. As a result of these massacres, the Flesh Tearers came under the close scrutiny of the Inquisition for potential heresy.
 * A New Beginning (815.M41) - Gabriel Seth becomes the Chapter Master of the Flesh Tearers. His first act is to repair relations between his Chapter and the Blood Angels, as the tradition of brotherhood between the Chapters had been sundered for centuries by the Flesh Tearers bloodthirstiness.
 * The Stromark Civil War (991.M41) - A political rivalry within the Stromark System lead to a civil war between the two manufactorum worlds, Stormark Primus and Stromark Secundus, that coexisted within that star system. The escalating violence halted the flow of much needed weapons and materiel from these planets to the wider Imperium, a situation that the Departmento Munitorum's Adepts determined could not be allowed to continue without adversely affecting the security of the Emperor's realm. As a result, elements of two Successor Chapters of the Blood Angels, the Angels Encarmine and the Flesh Tearers, were despatched to the Stromark System with the mandate to end the conflict by any means necessary. The fighting on Stromark Prime was the first to cease. The first engagement by the Flesh Tearers Chapter was also the last, as stories of unstoppable Space Marines hacking a vicious and bloody path through literally tens of thousands of Stormarkian warriors quickly terrified the planet's recalcitrant population into submission. Stromark Secundus took longer to be pacified, as the Angels Encarmine used less "direct" methods than their savage brethren amongst the Flesh Tearers. Several hours of difficult combat ensued that was brought to an end when 5 of the Chapter's Furioso Dreadnoughts smashed into the Stormarkian Secundus military headquarters and tore the planet's High Command apart. The surviving officers of the planet's Planetary Defence Force wisely agreed to immediately end the conflict with their neighbours and resume meeting the system's crucial production quotas.
 * Third War for Armageddon (998.M41) - Five full companies of Flesh Tearers participated in the Third War for Armageddon, where the Chapter was nearly declared Excommunicate Traitoris and subjected to investigation by the Inquisition's Ordo Hereticus after they had, in a fit of the Black Rage, slaughtered Imperial citizen militia once they had run out of Orks to kill. Amongst the Orks of Armageddon, the Chapter became known as the "Eaters of the Dead." Later in the campaign, the Orks were known to have retreated when the Flesh Tearers attacked or faced them on the battlefield, a display of fear virtually unheard of among the Greenskins. The incident occurred after the Flesh Tearers were deployed in the Fire Wastes of Armageddon alongside the Sisters of Battle of the Order of the Argent Shroud. The Imperial forces were deployed against the artillery of the Ork Warlord Ruklum, who held positions besieging the civilian settlement of Gaius Point, the citizens of which had formed an irregular militia to aid the Imperial forces in their defence. The Flesh Tearers managed to deploy behind the Orks and force them into the guns of the Sisters of Battle and the Gaius Point militia. After slaughtering the Orks to a Greenskin, the uncontrollable Flesh Tearers assaulted Gaius Point themselves and killed every member of the militia. Rather than fight their own allies, the Sisters of Battle withdrew from the field, but the Order of the Argent Shroud reported the massacre to the Ordo Hereticus and recommended that the Flesh Tearers Chapter be declared Excommunicate Traitoris.
 * Eritaen (Date Unknown) - The Flesh Tearers led a campaign against the Companitas, a drug-using Chaos-corrupted rebel faction, on the world of Eritaen. The Companitas used a Chaos-corrupted drug created by devotees of Slaanesh that could induce a hysterical state in the user and could even bring the recently deceased back to life for short periods.
 * Scions of Sanguinius Conclave (999.M41) - Teetering on the brink of oblivion following the events on the Shrine World of Sabien, the fate of the Blood Angels Chapter now required the magnanimity of their Successor Chapters. Lord Commander Dante summoned all of the Blood Angels' Successor Chapters for a conclave on Baal following the near-disastrous Chapter civil war that nearly tore the Blood Angels apart. Dante called for the support of the Blood Angels Successors to help aid the Chapter in the protection of their common Primarch's homeworld and his remains from the attack of both the Tyranids and the Forces of Chaos. While Dante lead the discussion at the conclave, the Apothecaria was working on a radical new procedure to replenish the ranks of the Blood Angels in one swift stroke: the lost art of replicae. Caecus was the Chief Apothecary or Apothecae Majoris of the Blood Angels. Disturbed by the dwindling numbers of his Chapter, and dreading its extinction, he was involved in fruitless experiments, which Lord Commander Dante ordered stopped, to clone Space Marines, thus eliminating the need to go through the arduous process of the maturation and implantation of the gene-seed in an Aspirant. However, Caecus disobeyed the order and secretly continued the experiments, prodded by an agent of the vile Chaos Space Marine Apothecary Fabius Bile. He was tricked into bringing Bile, who was disguised as a well-known Adeptus Mechanicus Magos Biologis, to Baal, mistakenly thinking the false "Magos" would help in cloning Space Marines to increase the Blood Angels' numbers. Through Bile's manipulations, Caecus was duped, and only managed to create monstrous, mutant clone-Astartes known as "Bloodfiends" who were consumed by the Red Thirst. These creatures were a shattered mirror reformed in the image of a Blood Angel, but lacked any of the qualities that could be thought of as human. The mutations that cursed the gene-seed of the Blood Angels had been enhanced by the machinations and Chaotic tech-heresy of Fabius Bile, and with each drop of blood they consumed, the thirst that dominated the Bloodfiends grew stronger. The mutants broke free from the confines of Caecus' laboratorium and began to run rampant through the sacred halls of the fortress-monastery of the Blood Angels. The Flesh Tearers, along with the Blood Angels and their fellow Successors successfully defended their most sacred of sites on Baal—the Golden Sarcophagus of Primarch Sanguinius within the sacred sepulchre where the Great Angel lay for all time, sleeping in light, forever preserved. The Sons of Sanguinius destroyed the horde of mutants and erased the stain of Chaos from their midst. They had paid for the continued sanctity of the Great Angel with their blood, and in the aftermath of this misery, Lord Commander Dante took responsibility for what had happened and he accepted it without complaint. Dante believed that it was his hubris that had brought the Chapter to this dark place. The Successor Chapters took this into consideration as well as Lord Commander Dante's original request for the Successors to grant the Blood Angels a small tithe of their Chapter's Initiates in order to replenish the ranks of the Chapter. With the approval of the Flesh Tearers' taciturn Chapter Master Gabriel Seth, the rest of the Successor Chapters unanimously agreed to hand over to the Blood Angels some of their own Neophytes to help their ancestral Chapter rebuild its strength in the wake of the Chaos assault—and in preparation for the oncoming assault by the Tyranids and the Forces of Chaos.
 * Defense of Baal (998-999.M41) - When the Blood Angels' homeworld of Baal was under threat from an invasion by both the Tyranids and the Forces of Chaos, the Blood Angels' Chapter Master Dante, realizing that the Blood Angels could not face these threats alone, sent a call for aid to all Blood Angels Successor Chapters to aid in the defense. The Flesh Tearers were the first to respond to this call, bringing the entire Chapter to the defense of Baal and the Blood Angels.

Chapter Organisation
The Chapter is afflicted by two dangerous genetic gene-seed Flaws which causes most Veterans of the Chapter to succumb to the effects of the Blood Angels' Black Rage. 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. For unknown reasons, more Flesh Tearers succumb to the Black Rage than any other Successor Chapter of the Blood Angels, and therefore these Astartes are dwindling in numbers. This is why the Chapter currently only has enough Space Marines in its ranks to deploy 4 full companies. The Flesh Tearers also suffer from the Red Thirst, an overwhelming desire to physically taste their enemies' blood. When this trait is combined with the Black Rage it has sometimes led enraged Space Marines to undertake what can only be termed cannibalistic assaults on thier foes. It is one of the traits that earned this Chapter of the Adeptus Astartes its unusually savage name for a Loyalist Space Marine Chapter.

The Black Rage strongly influences all aspects of the Flesh Tearers Chapter, including their organisation and strategic approach towards military engagements. This is seen in their reduced numbers. As a consequence of their losses to their genetic curse, the Flesh Tearers are incapable of organising companies in a manner consistent with the Codex Astartes. Instead, each of their four companies is organised to be fully and independently functional. To maintain this capability, all Flesh Tearers Battle-Brothers undergo constant cross-training so that they may effectively serve in the role of a Scout, Tactical, Assault, or Devastator Marine as the tactical situation necessitates. Due to the Chapter’s constrained size, each company is capable of maintaining sufficient resources in its Armoury to equip its members with the gear necessary to fulfil any of these roles effectively. While this training is necessary and effective, some of its aspects are seldom used. This is, once more, due to the effects of the Black Rage.

Due to the Flesh Tearers' preference for engaging the enemy in melee combat, the Chapter's commanders generally plan their tactics in a way that takes advantage of this tendency, instead of attempting to fight against it. This proclivity extends throughout the Chapter from the leadership elements to the newest recruits. Consequently, the Chapter often fields an inordinate number of its Battle-Brothers equipped as Assault Marines. In contrast, they seldom field squads of Devastator Marines. Even among their Tactical Squads, heavy weapons are often left behind, as many sergeants are reluctant to hold their units at range long enough for the weapons to be used effectively. The Flesh Tearers' tactics tend to restrict their tactical flexibility and ability to adhere to the tactical dictates of the Codex Astartes, however, considering the overall efficiency of their Assault Marines, it is difficult to criticise their overall strategy.

Like other Blood Angels Successors, the Flesh Tearers field members of the Death Company as part of any significant conflict. However, due to the nature of their curse, this complement is often larger than the ones exhibited by other Successor Chapters. In many instances, the Death Company’s membership includes some of the Chapter’s most experienced warriors. This has often led to the Flesh Tearers' Death Company being even more devastatingly effective than when used by other Chapters descended from Sanguinius’ blood line. The vast majority of the Flesh Tearers’ vehicles are transports, specifically Rhinos and Razorbacks. Just as the Chapter seldom fields a significant number of squads equipped with heavy weapons, they also limit the number of armoured vehicles that they deploy. The Flesh Tearers prefer to charge forward into direct melee whenever possible, eschewing the limitations imposed by a battle tank.

The primary exception to their movement away from vehicles regards the numbers of Dreadnoughts that the Chapter maintains. Many of the Flesh Tearers’ most respected heroes fall prey to the Black Rage before they can suffer a noble death in combat. Whenever possible, these respected warriors are assigned to a life-support sarcophagus where their abilities and knowledge can be preserved and used in future engagements. Many of these Old Ones enter combat with their fellows in the Death Company, charging directly forward to eliminate any foes that stand before them. Tragically, this results in an unacceptably high incidence of death among the pilots of these machines, but this does have the benefit of freeing sarcophagi up for the use of other mortally wounded Battle-Brothers who have fallen prey to the Black Rage.

Flesh Tearers Librarians
Like their fellow Astartes Chapters, the Flesh Tearers also maintain a Librarium of potent psykers who are highly talented and trained to master the power of the Warp at the highest levels. Each Chapter selects its Librarians in its own way, either from seed worlds, as it does with the bulk of its Initiates, or from the ranks of gifted psykers brought to the Scholastica Psykana of the Adeptus Astra Telepathica. Most Chapters train and test chosen psykers following the ancient ways laid out in the Codex Astartes. Librarians of the Flesh Tearers are trained in this way, and, with few minor variances, have been taught to live by the word of the Codex. Flesh Tearers Librarians have a number of unique psychic abilities only used by the psykers of their Chapter:
 * Depths of Rage - Librarians of the Flesh Tearers Chapter are well versed in the use of psychic powers while struggling with the Black Rage and Red Thirst. Many have even developed powers which tap into the rage deep within them and use it to further fuel their powers or enhance their physical abilities in combat.
 * Flensing - Flesh Tearers often live up to their name when engaged in combat, skinning their foes with well-practised blows from their blades and Chain Weapons. Librarians of the Chapter are no exception and the Flensing power has been developed with such hideous injuries in mind, allowing them to more effectively earn such grisly trophies.
 * Razor Blades - A Flesh Tearers Librarian, like the other Battle-Brothers of his Chapter, understands and appreciates the virtues of a good sharp blade. By focusing his psychic powers the Librarian can make edges keener and steel sharper so that it might more easily bite into flesh and bone.

Chapter Combat Doctrine
The Flesh Tearers favor assault tactics, and they are infamous for their savage style of melee fighting. Mostly truthful rumours of cannibalism and blood-drinking rituals follow the Chapter because of their affliction with the genetic Flaw known as the Red Thirst. The Flesh Tearers were once a fully Codex Astartes-compliant Chapter, but they are currently a pure assault force because of both their proclivities and their small numbers. The Flesh Tearers deploy an unusually high number of Assault Marines and often deploy them in vehicles. However, because of their low numbers, every Space Marine of the Chapter is cross-trained in all of the needed roles, serving as Tactical, Assault, Devastator and vehicle-mounted Marines as the situation demands. The Chapter uses few vehicles save for Rhinos, Razorbacks and a few Whirlwind missile launchers.

As the Flesh Tearers often charge into battle, they have taken a number of specialised measures to assist them as they charge. The Flesh Tearers have an unique battle cry that they let loose as they attack their foes. While the cry is created by the Space Marines’ vocal cords, it is enhanced and amplified by their Power Armour’s internal Vox-systems. First hand reports confirm that opponents are often stunned into immediate submission when they hear the terrible sound as defenders come face to face with the savagery of these Battle-Brothers in melee.

Chapter Beliefs
"Remember the Primarch, for we exist only through his grace and love. Honour the Emperor, for it is His wisdom that must guide us and vengeance that we deliver."

- Chaplain Rostalf of the Flesh Tearers 3rd Company

{C}The leadership of the Flesh Tearers have come to the inescapable conclusion that as the Black Rage continues to increasingly ravage their Battle-Brothers, their beloved Chapter may be doomed to eventual disintegration. They continue to seek a cure for this curse, but some consider their eventual extinction inescapable. Some among the Chapter's leadership have begun to embrace the notion that if they cannot continue, then their best approach is to make certain that they leave a bold legacy in keeping with the Chapter’s proud traditions. The way that they embrace savagery in combat is considered the most vital of these Chapter traditions. This is likely a combination of their susceptibility towards the Black Rage as well as the Blood Angel’s tradition of excellence in assault actions.

The Flesh Tearers have a long tradition of attempting to honour the memories of their Primarch's and the Emperor's wish for a galaxy brough fully into Imperial Compliance by any means necessary. In many instances, the only way the Chapter has had a reasonable chance to achieve victory is by taking the most extreme actions against their opponents. There have been very few known instances where Flesh Tearers commanders have ever hesitated to unleash weapons of cataclysmic proportions. With each successive victory, the Flesh Tearers feel confident that they have preserved their Primarch's legend. This serves as the most effective method of preserving his glory as well as that of the Legion he once led.

The Black Rage and the Red Thirst
"Do not fear the Black Rage, for it is a part of your essence. Learn to embrace the fury that comes with it, so that you may direct the savagery toward those foes of the Imperium who deserve our ire. This is our beloved Primarch’s parting gift, and as with all he granted us, it must be proudly accepted."

- Carnarvon, High Chaplain of the Flesh Tearers Death Company

The gene-seed of the Flesh Tearers bears all the hallmarks of the Successor Chapters of the Blood Angels. Its best known characteristic is the psychic imprint of Sanguinius' memories, which leads to the affliction known as the Black Rage. This can cause them to go insane and enter a berserker rage prior to or during battle as they feel the anger that Sanguinius himself felt during the Battle of Terra. The condition is largely irrecoverable and incurable. The Flesh Tearers are known to fall prey to the Curse of the Black Rage far more often than members of any other Chapter descended from Sanguinius's lineage. This is believed to be due to a mutation in their gene-seed, but their combat doctrines and military philosophy may also influence the frequency of the tragic psychogenetic syndrome. At the time of their formation, the Flesh Tearers Chapter discontinued the Blood Angels’ practice of the process known as Insanguination to activate the implanted gene-seed organs within their Aspirants. Some might speculate that this practice could have contributed to the horrific mutation.

Unlike the Blood Angels, the Flesh Tearers are far further along the descent into madness and their gene-seed carries a heightened version of the flaw which may well spell their complete annihilation within the space of a few short decades. This means that even the most mentally stable and strong-willed of the Flesh Tearers feels the touch of the Black Rage and the pull of the Red Thirst, knowing full well that it is only a matter of time before they succumb and the madness takes them completely. A Flesh Tearer who has begun to fall more heavily under the effects of the Primarch’s curse begins a rapid and terrifying spiral into uncontrollable rage and fury which place not just themselves, but everyone they come into contact with in danger. A Flesh Tearers Battle-Brother knows that as soon as they become an Initiate of the Chapter it is not a question of if, but when, and how long they have until they completely lose their ability to tell friend from foe.

The Chapter’s Apothecaries believe that their gene-seed also grants its recipients a significantly extended life expectancy, in keeping with its lineage. However, this point is largely moot. The life expectancy for most new Initiates to the Chapter is less than two standard centuries. While a few of these inductees may die from the exigencies of war, the vast majority fall prey to the Black Rage. For unknown reasons, the Flesh Tearers succumb to the Black Rage far more than any other Successor Chapter of the Blood Angels, and therefore these Astartes are dwindling in numbers. Numerous efforts have been taken to attempt to mitigate the sudden and severe onset of the Black Rage among the Chapter’s Battle-Brothers. The adoption of nightly bloodletting and purification rituals have not been shown to assist Battle-Brothers in their efforts to resist the Black Rage, nor has it mitigated the syndrome’s effects once a Space Marine has entered the latter stages of the curse.

The only treatment for those who fully succumb is reassignment to the Death Company and isolation within the Chapter’s Tower of the Lost. A fortunate few find solace in death, when they continue to serve their Chapter on the battlefield as members of the Death Company. Less fortunate Battle-Brothers are subject to permanent incarceration once the High Chaplain of the Death Company has lost the ability to control them. The combination of a rapid decline due to the Black Rage and their proclivity for brutal assaults has increased the Chapter’s rate of decline. This is why the Chapter currently only has enough Space Marines in its ranks to deploy 4 full Battle Companies. In many instances, Flesh Tearers have died before their Progenoid Glands could be properly harvested. This combination has cut into the Chapter’s available supply of gene-seed as well as limiting the number of veteran Space Marines capable of training new inductees. For this reason, the number of members assigned to Apothecary training has recently increased, as has the prioritisation of recovering these precious glands from fallen Battle-Brothers.

The Flesh Tearers also suffer from the Red Thirst, an overwhelming desire to physically taste their enemies' blood. Unfortunately, when this trait is combined with the Black Rage it can devolve into outright cannibalistic assaults by the enraged Space Marines. The cursed Astartes of the Flesh Tearers seem {C}doomed to watch the ongoing collapse of their beloved Chapter. Even as they revel in the destruction of the Emperor’s foes, they must also watch as their comrades give in to the curse of Sanguinius’s gene-seed. In spite of this, they remain valiant servants of the Imperium. Rather than give in to woe and despair, they constantly strive to fight against the curse as bravely as they fight those who oppose Mankind. As true tragic heroes, the Flesh Tearers remain devoted to their cause, even in the face of ultimate defeat.

Chapter Relics

 * Grisly Trophies - While all Space Marine Chapters have been known to collect trophies from their vanquished foes, such as battle standards, skulls, or battered suits of armour and weapons, in the heat of battle a Flesh Tearer may claim a more grisly trophy from those he kills, such as bloody heads or bleeding hearts. These trophies are a primal symbol for the Flesh Tearer of his dominance over the foe—an animalistic response to triumphing in battle and proving one’s strength. While they might fill the Battle-Brother with righteous rage and purpose, calming his Black Rage for a time, they can be repellent to other Space Marines and alarming to lesser warriors who might well wonder if it is to be their head that will adorn the Battle-Brother's armour next.
 * Memor Nihilis - This massive Eviscerator Chainsword is intricately worked, with each tooth of the roaring blade inscribed to a level of detail few artisans could manage. This ornate work was done by the hand of a Sanguinary Priest, to commemorate the loss of the Chapter’s warriors claimed by the Black Rage. Barely visible script details the history and heraldry of dozens of warriors along the length of the blade, ever reminding its wielder of the peril of losing control of himself.

Chapter Fleet
The Flesh Tearers Chapter Fleet is relatively small, possessing only a single known Battle Barge, the Victus. The Victus is a truly ancient starship, having been in service with the Blood Angels Legion during the Great Crusade ten millennia ago. The Flesh Tearers also possess a number of Strike Cruisers that have been modified to gain an extended transport capacity for their vehicles.

Notable Chapter Members

 * Chapter Master Amit - Amit was the Flesh Tearers Chapter Master millennia ago who conquered the Death World of Cretacia for the Imperium and then established his Chapter's fortress-monastery there.
 * Chapter Master Gabriel Seth - Gabriel Seth is known as the "Guardian of the Rage," and serves as the current Chapter Master of the Flesh Tearers.
 * High Chaplain Carnarvon - Carnarvon is called the Watcher of the Lost, for he is the Flesh Tearer who commemorates every member of the Chapter who dies in combat or ultimately succumbs to the Black Rage. He alone bears the terrible responsibility to watch over the remaining 400 Battle-Brothers of the Flesh Tearers Chapter for the onset of the Black Rage. He has occupied this position for nearly 250 standard years and it is whispered by many that the strain of watching so many of his friends and comrades descend into this dreaded affliction has started to take its toll on his sanity. Carnarvon has the final word as to who is to be inducted into the Flesh Tearers' Death Company and who amongst these afflicted brethren must be permanently incarcerated in the Tower of the Lost because they have fallen so far into madness that even he cannot control them.
 * Captain Gorn - Gorn was the Flesh Tearers Force Commander responsible for the terrible Kallern Massacres carried out by the Chapter when many of its Asartes fell prey to the Black Rage during the combat on Kallern.

Chapter Colours
The Flesh Tearers have a two-tone colour scheme with crimson red covering the torso, arms and legs of their Power Armour, while the helmet, shoulder pauldrons and backpack are a jet black colour. Like the Blood Angels, the Flesh Tearers' company designation is displayed on the right shoulder plate in the form of a skull (for the Veteran 1st Company) or a differently-coloured drop of blood for the other companies. A Flesh Tearers' squad designation is determined by a Low Gothic numeral placed on the right knee plate.

Chapter Badge
The Flesh Tearers' Chapter badge is a circular white saw with a tear-shaped crimson blood drop in the center.

Gallery
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