Variant Deathwatch Chapter badge
Asger Warfist was a Wolf Lord of the Space Wolves Chapter in the mid-32nd Millennium who was appointed as the first watch commander of the Deathwatch Chapter during the War of the Beast by Lord Commander of the Imperium Koorland.
History[]
Asger Warfist was named the very first watch commander of the Deathwatch when the title still served to designate the Chapter's overall master like a standard Chapter Master. Asger Warfist was already a Wolf Lord of the Space Wolves Chapter when the Ork forces of The Beast invaded the Imperium during the War of the Beast of the mid-32nd Millennium. He took part in his Chapter's battle against the Orks when they invaded an Imperial system near the Eye of Terror and he later successfully led his Great Company in defending the Industrial Moon of Fabrikk.
Afterwards, he was commanded by his Great Wolf to travel to Terra when the Space Wolves received word that their aid was requested to form an Adeptus Astartes strike force to attack the world of Ullanor, which was discovered to be the origin point of The Beast's invasion force. Warfist later appeared before Lord Commander of the Imperium Koorland as part of his Chapter's taskforce on Terra. Warfist reluctantly tolerated the presence of Dark Angels in the strike force and took part in the invasion of The Beast's homeworld of Ullanor.
Warfist later became one of the first members of the Deathwatch and took part in the destruction of the Attack Moon over Terra. Shortly before the second invasion of Ullanor to try once more to slay The Beast, Lord Commander Koorland made Asger Warfist the first Chapter Master of the Deathwatch with the title of "watch commander."
Warfist fought alongside Koorland when the lord commander was slain by the second massive Greenskin warlord that revealed himself to be another version of The Beast. During the third Imperial offensive on Ullanor, Warfist commanded one of the five Imperial attack groups.
In the millennia after the War of the Beast, the Deathwatch became a far more decentralised organisation that was deployed across the galaxy. Now based out of watch fortresses largely independent from each other, the title of watch commander stopped being a singular rank used to denote an overall leader of the Deathwatch. In the 41st Millennium the title now simply refers to the commanding officer of a particular watch fortress, who is almost always a watch master, but sometimes can be a senior watch captain.
Sources[]
- The Hunt for Vulkan (Novel) by David Annandale, Chs. 3-4, Epilogue
- The Beast Must Die (Novel) by Gav Thorpe, Ch. 3
- Watchers in Death (Novel) by David Annandale, Ch. 3
- The Last Son of Dorn (Novel) by David Guymer, Chs. 17-18
- Shadow of Ullanor (Novel) by Rob Sanders, Ch. 7