TEXT: INDEX ASTARTES: DARK ANGELS
  Shrouded in mystery are the Space Marines
  known as the Dark Angels. For ten thousand
  years they have harboured a dark secret – one
  that could lead to their destruction should it
  ever be discovered. The induction of
  Greyshield Primaris Marines has forced the
  Dark Angels and their successors to challenge
  their traditions and test their loyalties.
  he Dark Angels were founded in a time
  older than legend, and since then, they
  have been amongst the staunchest of
  Mankind’s defenders. Merciless and
  relentless in the attack and stubborn and zealous
  in the defence, there are few foes of the
  Imperium they have not defeated. Their name is
  held in awe by those who look to them for
  protection. But for all their fame, a thick air of
  mystery surrounds them. The Dark Angels keep a
  terrible secret – one so dreadful and shameful it
  is kept even from many of their own order.
  Should outsiders discover what the Lion’s sons
  have hidden for ten thousand years, damnation
  could follow. In the Era Indomitus, never have the
  Dark Angels been more awake to such a danger.
  ORIGINS
  The very earliest days of the Imperium are known
  to even the most learned of the 41st Millennium
  largely through texts and records that are little
  more than collections of myth and allegory.
  Stories are told of the Unification Wars, the
  mighty struggles in which the Emperor brought
  the disparate tribes of Old Terra to heel. With
  Humanity’s homeworld finally secured, it was
  then that the Emperor’s eyes turned to the stars.
  Countless trillions of human beings toiled on
  millions of worlds, separated from their planet of
  origin by warp storms, calamitous events, and
  worse. The Emperor’s aim was nothing less than
  Mankind’s domination of the stars, every man,
  woman, and child united by a single cause. Thus
  did he create the Primarchs, his sons, mighty
  beings who would lead their Legions of Space
  Marines in a Great Crusade to sweep the stars
  clean of the traitor and the alien. Twenty such
  beings did he create. What the Emperor’s original
  plans for them were can never be known, for the
  twenty incubation capsules holding his greatest
  works were scattered across the galaxy by forces
  impossible to understand. The capsule
  containing the being who would later be known
  as Lion El’Jonson was cast to the heavily forested
  death world of Caliban. With Caliban’s vast
  population of mutated and predatory creatures,
  those humans who called Caliban home lived in
  feudal societies under constant threat of attack.
  Their rulers, a warrior elite, dedicated their lives
  to defending their settlements, on occasion
  setting out on quests to slay particularly large or
  dangerous creatures.
  How the Lion survived on such a world as a child
  for years was a mystery. In but a short time, he
  grew tall and strong, far faster than any human
  child could. The stories say that he survived for a
  decade before encountering a single human
  being. Whether by fate or chance, the Lion was
  discovered by a group of knights that belonged to
  a martial organisation known as the Order.
  Believing him to be a dangerous beast, they
  
  INDEX ASTARTES
  made to strike the young Primarch down. It was by
  the intervention of a man of their number named
  Luther, who recognised El’Jonson as undeniably
  human, that they did not. Instead they realised
  that El’Jonson was not a threat and brought him
  with them to civilisation. Due to his wild nature
  and the place of his discovery, they named him
  Lion El’Jonson, meaning ‘The Lion, the Son of the
  Forest’. This mysterious man adapted to their
  language and ways with remarkable speed, and
  when he was brought to civilisation he quickly
  assimilated with Caliban society. During this time
  he and Luther formed a firm friendship, in which
  the strengths and weaknesses of each melded
  seamlessly, and a formidable partnership was
  made. Together, they climbed the Order’s ranks,
  the organisation expanding as its fame grew from
  word of their great victories. Eventually, the Lion
  and Luther declared a grand crusade to sweep
  Caliban clean of its monsters and beasts. It was
  Luther whose charisma and oratory skill rallied
  Caliban’s nobles and knights to the cause, and it
  was the Lion’s incomparable strategic genius that
  resulted in the crusade’s victory after a decade of
  hard fighting.
  Upon this achievement, the Lion was proclaimed
  the new Supreme Master not only of the Order,
  but the whole of Caliban. It was at this point that
  the scattered fragments of apocryphal tales,
  many of which conflict or even contradict on a
  multitude of points, agree that the first stirrings of
  envy murmured in Luther’s heart.
  During this time, the Emperor’s campaign to unite
  the stars under Humanity’s rule had been raging
  for some years. When the Imperium’s outriders
  finally discovered Caliban, the Emperor was
  reunited with his lost son. He gave over to the
  Lion command of the First Legion, those created
  with El’Jonson’s gene-seed. It is said that the Lion
  accepted the Emperor’s rule without hesitation,
  feeling the powerful bond between them and
  understanding the drive to unite Mankind.
  Wishing to follow him in battle across the stars, a
  great many of Caliban’s knights were implanted
  with the Legion’s gene-seed to become Space
  Marines. Those too old underwent transformative
  surgery, making them stronger than ever before
  but still no match for a true member of the
  Legiones Astartes. Luther was among this cohort,
  and no doubt the embers of jealousy within him
  grew, even as he became the Legion’s second-in-
  command. When he was dispatched back to
  Caliban after a handful of campaigns fighting
  alongside his Primarch to oversee the Dark
  Angels’ recruitment, it felt more like a dismissal
  to him. It can only be inferred how the sparks of
  Luther’s jealousies were stoked into a raging
  inferno by the news of the Lion’s great victories
  and of his valour and courage across hundreds of
  battlefields as the years ticked by.
  
  3RD
  4TH
  5TH
  6TH
  7TH
  8TH
  9TH
  THE BETRAYAL
  When the terrible betrayal of the Horus Heresy
  came, the Dark Angels were far from the civil war’s
  main battlefronts, dispatched there by Warmaster
  Horus where they could not disrupt his plans.
  Despite the Lion’s efforts, his Legion could not
  reach Terra in time before the Throneworld was
  besieged by Horus’s armies, and by the time they
  arrived the cataclysmic battle was already over.
  The only course left to the Dark Angels was
  revenge, and the Lion’s sons played a principal
  role in the events later named ‘the Scouring’, when
  the remaining traitors were destroyed or pushed
  into the Eye of Terror. Little did the Dark Angels
  know that there was one final act of treachery left
  to be discovered.
  Returning to Caliban, the Dark Angels fleet
  moved into orbit and was immediately beset by a
  barrage of defensive weapons fire from the
  planet below. Despite the immense shock of such
  an act, the Lion’s superhuman reactions and
  immense intellect allowed much of the fleet to
  withdraw to safety in order. He realised that
  Luther’s jealousy must have warped into
  bitterness and hatred. With his undeniable
  charisma and powerful oratory, it was easy to see
  how Luther could have turned generations of new
  recruits against the Primarch and his warriors. The
  Ruinous Powers easily exploited Luther’s anger as
  the weakness it was, and he had become their
  tool. Both the Lion and the Dark Angels’ fury
  knew no bounds at the thought of their own
  turning against the Emperor. The Lion
  orchestrated a strike directly against Luther, the
  Primarch determined to personally punish the
  man who was formerly his closest ally even as the
  Dark Angels’ fleet pounded the surface of
  Caliban. The bombardment was so powerful that
  it destabilised the planet itself, shattering its
  crust and unleashing ruinous tectonic forces.
  Luther, by now made grossly powerful thanks to
  the Chaos Gods, was more than a match even for
  the Lion in personal combat, and the Primarch
  only subdued him after hours of brutal duelling.
  In the final moments, the Lion could not bring
  himself to cut down his former friend, and in that
  moment of hesitation Luther struck him with a
  furious psychic attack that left him mortally
  wounded. The deed lifted a veil from Luther’s
  eyes, revealing the extent of his betrayal to him.
  He cast aside his sword and collapsed to his
  knees, his sanity shattered by the realisation of
  what he had done.
  If the reports held are true, the Dark Gods were
  so angered by the loss of this servant that the
  warp around Caliban convulsed with their rage,
  and a warp storm engulfed the planet. The
  unleashed energy swept across the surface, the
  world itself splitting into fragments on a crust
  weakened by the intense fury of the Dark Angels’
  Brother Balor, 5th Company,
  3rd Squad (battleline)
  The battlefield role is
  shown by the icon on the
  right pauldron.
  Battleline
  Veteran
  Close support
  Fire support
  The squad number is borne
  upon the right shoulder.
  The Dark Angels Chapter
  icon – the winged sword
  – is a symbol adopted
  from the ancient Order
  of Caliban.
  In the Dark Angels, the
  brothers of the Battle and
  Reserve Companies wear their
  company markings upon their
  left knee pads.
  
  THE ROCK
  All that was left of
  Caliban after
  Luther’s betrayal
  was the ruins of the
  Dark Angels’
  fortress monastery
  and a vast hunk of
  bedrock on which it
  sat. The Dark Angels
  rebuilt the fortress
  and dug deep into
  the bedrock, over
  time outfitting it
  with docks and even
  warp engines. For
  thousands of years,
  it has been known
  simply as the Rock.
  Unlike many other
  Chapters, the Dark
  Angels have no
  official homeworld.
  Instead they recruit
  from a number of
  worlds. All aspirants
  are screened
  thoroughly, and from
  the moment they
  join the Chapter
  their past lives are
  made irrelevant. To
  a Dark Angel, only
  the Chapter
  matters.
  INDEX ASTARTES
  orbital bombardment. Those of Luther’s ‘Fallen’
  Dark Angels who still lived were sucked into the
  warp vortex and cast into time and space, and all
  but one part of destroyed Caliban went with
  them. Protected by an ancient force field, the
  Legion’s fortress monastery and a hunk of
  bedrock remained. Dark Angels loyalists scoured
  the devastation, seeking survivors and the
  whereabouts of their gene-sire. All they found
  was Luther, curled in a foetal ball and endlessly
  repeating the same phrase, that the Lion had
  been taken away by the Watchers in the Dark and
  that one day he would return to forgive Luther of
  all the sins he had committed. Luther was locked
  away in the bowels of the Rock. Of the Primarch,
  there was no sign.
  In the aftermath of these terrible events, the
  surviving Masters of the Legion decided that
  none of the events that had transpired would be
  revealed to the wider Imperium, lest they invite
  retribution for their Fallen brothers’ crimes. The
  Inner Circle was formed to safeguard the Legion’s
  secrets, and an overlapping system to watch over
  the Dark Angels was developed to scrutinise any
  and all of their number for signs of corruption,
  sowing the seeds of mistrust and secrecy that
  defines the Dark Angels Chapter in the 41st
  Millennium. When it was discovered that
  somehow some of the Fallen Dark Angels
  survived the warp storm that had engulfed
  Caliban, the Masters of the Legion saw both
  opportunity for redemption and the threat of
  their secret shame being revealed. The need to
  pursue and capture or kill the Fallen has been a
  driving force of the Dark Angels ever since. Until
  the last Fallen is eliminated, all Dark Angels
  would be known to each other – but not to the
  wider Imperium – as Unforgiven, a term given to
  all successor Chapters following the Legion’s
  acquiescence to the Codex Astartes. For ten
  thousand years the Unforgiven have together and
  in secret pursued this mission alongside their
  primary duty as Space Marines.
  DARK IMPERIUM AND THE ERA INDOMITUS
  When the Cicatrix Maledictum tore across the
  galaxy, the Rock was situated in the northern half
  of the Imperium, known later as the Imperium
  Nihilus. Totally cut off from the Astronomican,
  Imperial worlds and assets were and remain to
  this day highly vulnerable, and the Rock was no
  exception. When the Fallen Daemon Prince
  Marbas invaded it, blood flowed in every hall and
  corridor, dock and dungeon. But without warning,
  the invaders vanished. The survivors considered
  themselves fortunate, believing the attack’s only
  purpose to be mindless slaughter. This was false,
  though only Supreme Grand Master Azrael has
  any idea of the assault’s true aims. Luther, raving
  
  madman and betrayer of Lion El’Jonson, buried
  deep in the Rock, had vanished. Whether he was
  taken unwillingly or escaped with the attackers of
  his own volition, Azrael did not know. Nor could
  he know why this happened. Nonetheless, Azrael
  remains ever vigilant for the slightest hint of
  Luther’s whereabouts, paying close attention to
  battlefield reports, calls for aid, and any other
  intelligence the Unforgiven have. Never has the
  Dark Angels’ security been breached in such a
  potentially catastrophic way, and never will
  Azrael allow his Chapter’s secrets come to light.
  In the wake of this event, and the Darkmor
  Massacre in which hundreds of Unforgiven were
  slain in a brutal ambush whilst in pursuit of the
  Fallen, Azrael convened an emergency gathering
  of the Unforgiven. Every loyal son of the Lion
  made the arduous journey to the Rock. Many
  never arrived, lost in the warp or embroiled in
  conflicts en route. Azrael waited as long as he
  dared for as many of the Unforgiven to arrive as
  possible. As he prepared to commence the
  council, one more fleet arrived – not one last
  Chapter of Unforgiven, but that of Roboute
  Guilliman, Lord Commander of the Imperium.
  Azrael feared the worst, that the returned
  Primarch had come to destroy the Unforgiven to
  punish them for their past sins. Azrael considered
  standing and fighting, or ordering the Chapters of
  the Unforgiven to withdraw to safety. Either was
  an admission of guilt, something he had sworn to
  never do before those outside the sons of the
  Lion. Instead, he gave permission for Guilliman’s
  fleet to dock. Azrael’s fears were unfounded; the
  Primarch brought reinforcements rather than
  censure. These were the Primaris Space Marines.
  There were thousands in the colours of the Dark
  Angels and their successors as well as entirely
  new Chapters claiming to be descendants of the
  Lion. The Supreme Grand Masters pledged their
  allegiance to the Lord Commander, the
  Imperium, and the Indomitus Crusade.
  Mistrusting of others by nature, the Dark Angels
  and the Unforgiven were not quick to assimilate
  these new arrivals. These Primaris had not heard
  the apocryphal tales or gone through the long
  indoctrinations like those of the Unforgiven.
  They were not tested in battle. Their
  loyalty to their parent Chapters had not
  been ascertained in the painstakingly
  detailed way the Dark Angels preferred.
  But those who had suffered most at the
  Darkmor Massacre, the Angels of Vengeance,
  Consecrators, and Guardians of the Covenant,
  were more eager than others to use the Primaris.
  Thus began a great period of intensive testing
  and scrutiny. The Primaris performed superbly in
  battle, notably in Stygius, Saltire Vex, the Siege of
  Hive Trall, Allhallow, and the Gratyann Incursion.
  CAPTAIN LAZARUS OF THE 5TH COMPANY
  Captain Lazarus attained his rank when his predecessor,
  Captain Balthasar, was slain in the chaotic battles that
  erupted in the aftermath of the Cicatrix Maledictum’s
  emergence. Lazarus fought bravely in War Zone Stygius and in
  the fighting aboard the Rock in the Fenris System, after which
  he developed a powerful hatred for the forces of the
  Thousand Sons and the followers of Tzeentch. An expert
  strategist and tactician, his leadership prevented a total rout
  of Imperial forces on the ice world of Rimenok, though he was
  severely wounded by fell sorcery during the fighting. With even
  a Dreadnought’s sarcophagus incapable of preserving his life,
  the only option remaining to the Dark Angels’ Apothecaries
  was to put Lazarus through the crossing of the Rubicon
  Primaris. After days of surgery, Lazarus was a changed man,
  but very much alive, his determination to punish the servants
  of Tzeentch stronger than ever. This was a historical event. As
  a member of the Inner Circle, becoming a Primaris Space
  Marine made Lazarus the first Primaris in that elite group.
  
  INDEX ASTARTES
  The Primaris were found to adapt well to the
  Unforgiven’s ways of war and fight competently
  alongside their battle-brothers. In addition, their
  various squad types, weapons, and vehicles
  proved useful assets for those commanding Dark
  Angels strike forces across numerous war zones.
  Bonds were forged in battle, and many observed
  that their Primaris brethren’s temperament and
  tendencies were very much like their own,
  presumably as a result of shared gene-seed. The
  Dark Angels hastened to induct more Primaris
  Space Marines from scratch after observing their
  battlefield capabilities, indoctrinating these
  neophytes as they would any other recruits. Thus
  were more Primaris added to the Chapter’s ranks,
  moulded in exactly the manner the Chapter
  desired. Some of the Dark Angels chose to cross
  the Rubicon Primaris, impressed by the physical
  feats that their new brethren could achieve. Some
  traditionalists refused to go through such a
  process. Others advised against this course of
  action; with a high risk of death, the Chapter
  could lose many of its warriors. Some crossed
  without choice, returned to battle readiness after
  suffering grievous injuries. The Inner Circle
  decreed that the Apothecarion would carry this
  out with seriously wounded battle-brothers to
  ensure that the Chapter had more Primaris Space
  Marines who could be fully trusted. The Primaris
  were undoubtedly powerful and useful, but many
  of the Inner Circle retained misgivings over the
  former Greyshields.
  Inevitably, questions arose around whether
  Primaris Space Marines formerly of the
  Greyshields and of the Ultima Founding Chapters
  should be inducted into the Inner Circle. Some
  argued that it simply could not be allowed to
  happen. Others stated that as inheritors of the
  Lion’s genetic legacy, they should have the
  mental fortitude to handle the secrets they might
  learn, and indeed a responsibility to play their
  part in the eventual defeat of the Fallen. Some
  took a more pragmatic view, their stance being
  that battlefield attrition alone might require it.
  The debate moved from a purely theoretical one
  as some members of the Inner Circle personally
  vouched for certain individuals or reported
  incidents where the Fallen had been observed
  by those who should not have seen them. One
  such example was Interrogator-Chaplain Zaeroph,
  who had been serving alongside the 3rd
  Company in the Chalnath Expanse. His testimony
  was of particular significance, given his previous
  hostility to the reinforcements brought to the
  Rock by Roboute Guilliman.
  All of these arguments informed Azrael’s thinking
  on this most important of questions. His
  knowledge of the Dark Angels’ secrets surpassed
  all others, and he alone knew the full risks and
  opportunities in any course of action. All of this
  information bore upon his thinking, as did his
  own experience of seeing the Greyshields’
  impressive skills in battle. He thought long on
  the matter. Luther’s escape weighed heavily on
  his mind. This burden was only made heavier
  when rumours reached him of a mustering of the
  Fallen beginning in the Somnium Stars. He
  doubted little that Luther himself was in some
  way responsible. Should these rumours hold any
  truth, potentially every one of the Unforgiven
  would have to be ready to meet the threat. No
  doubt this played a significant role in his decision
  to permit the induction of the former Greyshields
  and warriors of the Ultima Founding into the
  Inner Circle, should they be deemed worthy of
  such an honour and indeed judged capable of
  withstanding the shock of the truth.
  When Azrael made his decision known, many of
  the Masters and Chapter Masters were incensed.
  Knowing that he could not tell them of Luther’s
  escape, Azrael faced the prospect of causing a
  second schism amongst the sons of the Lion. The
  gravest threat the Dark Angels and their
  successors had faced in ten thousand years
  brewed in the Somnium Stars, and he risked
  making more of his brothers renegade.
  Employing all of his diplomatic skill and
  appealing to the successors’ unimpeachable
  sense of duty, he persuaded all to consider
  another test. The Deathwing had petitioned him
  with one Brother Apharan. The former Greyshield
  had earned their attention, and the Deathwing
  believed he might be worthy of joining their
  number. Azrael put to the Chapter Masters and
  Masters that he had confidence that Apharan
  would pass the trials, hear the truth, and succeed
  as any Dark Angel might. Azrael staked his
  Chapter’s entire reputation on a single warrior.
  Many of those sceptical were moved by Azrael’s
  conviction and humility before them, despite his
  APHARAN OF THE DEATHWING
  Brother Apharan joined the Dark Angels directly from the
  Greyshields. Many battles later, he is the only warrior left alive
  from his original squad of ten. A grim figure possessed of the
  taciturn nature observed in most Dark Angels, Apharan knew
  that wearing Dark Angels colours alone would unlikely be
  enough to earn his brothers’ respect or to be accepted into
  their cloistered brotherhood. Despite already having a wealth
  of victorious battles to his name, Apharan made it his personal
  task to learn every lesson he could from his new brothers,
  absorbing what little of their history they revealed, their rituals,
  combat patterns, and more. Rapidly taking in this complex
  information, Apharan applied it on battlefield after battlefield,
  swiftly earning a reputation for competence, efficiency, and
  ruthlessness. During the boarding of the Heretic Astartes strike
  cruiser Pain Aeterna, he single-handedly defended a vital
  chokepoint against waves of traitor cultists and crew after
  having run out of ammunition. His actions drew the attention of
  the Deathwing, who initiated him into their ranks.
  
  The Unforgiven operate with great coordination
  in these most trying of times. Accusations of
  Legion building are spoken louder than ever
  before in some Inquisitorial circles, but the
  counter arguments in defence of the Dark Angels
  and their successors are now made just as loudly.
  The Unforgiven’s martial might is beyond
  question, their tally of victories now beyond
  count. Some make the argument that such a force
  acts as an essential counterweight to the growing
  power of Ultramar following Guilliman’s return.
  The ferocity of this debate has grown such that
  internecine conflict has broken out among some
  Inquisitors, each participant believing they are
  doing what is best for the Imperium.
  COMBAT DOCTRINE
  Though the Dark Angels have spent nearly ten
  millennia hunting the Fallen, the great majority of
  their battles have nothing to do with their
  heretical forebears. As loyal Space Marines, the
  sons of the Lion deploy to defeat the enemies of
  the Imperium as would any Space Marine
  Chapter. Nevertheless, each battle-brother is
  vigilant for signs of sedition on every battlefield.
  To most of the Dark Angels this is simply a part of
  their loyalty to the Emperor. To those of the Inner
  Circle, anything found could be an essential clue
  in the hunt for the Fallen.
  With the exception of the Deathwing and
  Ravenwing, the Dark Angels follow standard
  Space Marine combat doctrine as written in the
  Codex Astartes. Tactical flexibility, rapid
  deployment, and combined arms are key
  components of their strategies. This is common to
  most Space Marine Chapters, though they have
  been noted by some observers for their
  especially dogged resistance even in the face of
  overwhelming odds.
  In the same vein as their father, Dark Angels
  officers are expert tacticians and specialists, and
  have been quick to capitalise on the skills of the
  Primaris Space Marines and the particular
  capabilities of their different squad types. New
  specialised formations have been developed to
  work alongside ancient patterns such as the
  Hammer of Caliban and Scout Recon Stalker Strike.
  Caliban’s Reach is but one example, which
  combines the immense firepower of Hellblasters
  and Devastator Centurions to incredible effect. The
  advanced infiltration and reconnaissance skills all
  Primaris Space Marines learn as a part of their
  training in Vanguard squads is of great value to a
  Chapter seeking hidden foes whilst keeping
  secrets of its own. The omniscramblers of Infiltrator
  Squads can severely disrupt enemy
  communications, enabling Ravenwing squadrons to
  strike without the possibility of their quarry being
  warned. The Divinator-class auspexes and
  transpectral combat visors of Incursor Squads
  superior rank. Many were persuaded by this act
  alone, knowing that Azrael would never make
  such a choice without total confidence in future
  success. Azrael personally oversaw Apharan’s
  trials, which the former Greyshield passed. Whilst
  some of the successor Masters remained
  sceptical, they still conformed, their loyalty to
  and trust in Azrael outweighing their doubts.
  With this matter resolved, the Dark Angels and
  the Unforgiven ply the stars with renewed vigour
  and unity of purpose just as the Lion and his
  knights swept old Caliban, purging the galaxy of
  the traitor, mutant, heretic, and alien wherever
  they find them. For the Unforgiven, the slaying of
  every foe is an act of repentance. They break
  sieges, crush rebellions, and stymie invasions. All
  the while the Inner Circles remain ever vigilant for
  signs of the Fallen, following leads wherever they
  are found. Those Primaris formerly of the
  Greyshields have knowledge of Mars and the
  returned Primarch beyond the wildest dreams of
  the Librarius and Interrogator-Chaplains and
  provide vital intelligence that the Dark Angels
  never had access to before.
  Despite their eventual embrace of their Primaris
  brethren, the Dark Angels were less accepting of
  the Martian magi who accompanied them when
  Guilliman reached the Rock. These Tech-Priests
  are essential to the induction of the Primaris
  Space Marines, a state of affairs the Chapter finds
  extremely irksome. Many pains have been taken
  to give them as little access to the Rock as
  possible and keep them under heavy
  surveillance. At the same time the Dark Angels’
  Techmarines and Apothecaries strive to learn all
  they can from the magi, in the hopes that they
  can render the Martian priests redundant.
  NERAEL OF THE RAVENWING
  Recruited on Kimmeria, the very same world as Chapter
  Master Azrael, Nerael very nearly failed the Dark Angels’
  punishingly difficult aspirant tests. Nerael pushed through the
  incredible pain of the monster hunts and the psychic invasion
  of his mind with sheer force of will alone, earning a place in
  the 10th Company. He soon began to excel in all areas of
  training. His dogged determination set him apart, even from
  those as mentally and physically robust as Space Marine
  recruits have to be by virtue of their position. Nerael was
  implanted with the Primaris organs as a part of his induction
  to the Dark Angels. Upon ascension to full battle-brother, he
  progressed through many companies before returning to the
  10th as a member of the company’s standing Vanguard
  squads. There, serving in a number of different capacities
  over the course of many battles on Talegoh VII, he
  unknowingly helped the Ravenwing secure a member of the
  Fallen. His skills at hunting down quarry without thought of
  rest impressed the 2nd Company greatly, and as a result
  battle-brother Nerael was inducted into their number as a
  member of the Ravenwing.
  
  collect data from battlefields that previously would
  have been almost impossible to extract, and yield
  new intelligence for the Inner Circle to act upon
  without the Vanguard Space Marines’ knowledge.
  ORGANISATION
  The Dark Angels are, for the most part, strict
  adherents to the Codex in terms of their
  Chapter’s structure. The 3rd through 5th
  Companies are Battle Companies, the 6th through
  9th are Reserve Companies, and the 10th
  Company maintains a permanent number of
  Vanguard Space Marine squads as well as being
  the home for the Chapter’s aspirants and Scouts.
  It is the Dark Angels’ 1st and 2nd Companies that
  deviate the most from the Codex Astartes.
  Roboute Guilliman himself approved of the
  Unforgiven’s continued use of this alternate
  structure so long as the Dark Angels and their
  successors continued to serve the Emperor well.
  The 1st Company of the Dark Angels is known as
  the Deathwing. Rather than the Chapter’s green,
  they fight clad in bone-white armour to
  commemorate the valour of predecessors who
  fought to cleanse one of the Chapter’s recruiting
  worlds of a Genestealer infestation. Never going to
  war without the heaviest of Terminator or Mk X
  armour, they deploy most often by teleporter, Land
  Raider, or Repulsor. They are the Inner Circle’s
  hammer, each an elite veteran with incredible skill
  at arms and absolute loyalty to their Chapter.
  INDEX ASTARTES
  The Dark Angels 2nd Company is known as the
  Ravenwing. A highly specialised formation made
  up of expert riders and pilots, the Ravenwing’s
  warriors are masters of the rapid attack. Though
  most of their number are unaware of it, their true
  purpose is to hunt down Fallen Dark Angels. By
  necessity, therefore, each of their number’s faith is
  of the greatest depth, as it is far from impossible
  that they might see the Fallen in battle.
  GENE-SEED
  As the first Space Marine Legion, the Dark Angels’
  gene-seed is amongst the purest and least
  degraded strains of all. Remarkably, the Dark
  Angels’ Apothecaries have observed that gene-
  seed carried by the Primaris Space Marines is
  universally of the highest quality they have ever
  seen, and so the Chapter’s stock is qualitatively
  and quantitatively in excellent health.
  There are no known aberrations in the Dark Angels’
  gene-seed, which makes the historic reluctance of
  the High Lords to utilise it in the founding of new
  Chapters perplexing. In the Era Indomitus, however,
  this policy appears to have been relaxed. Some
  Inquisitorial circles argue that this is due to Roboute
  Guilliman’s direct involvement, the Primarch
  recognising the Dark Angels’ genetic strength and
  commitment to the Imperial cause. Others contest
  that it is due instead to a desire in some Terran or
  Martian circles to increase the Unforgiven’s overall
  strength and thus act as a potential counter-balance
  to the successors of the Ultramarines.
  
  Defender’s Deployment Zone
  Attacker’s Deployment Zone
  THE ARMIES
  Each player must muster an army from their collection.
  TheAttacker commands the Dark Angels attempting
  to apprehend their target. TheDefender commands
  an army that is harbouring an agent of the Fallen. A
  player can include any models in their army, but if their
  army is Battle-forged they will also be able to use the
  appropriate Stratagems included with this mission.
  FALLEN AGENT
  Before the battle, the Defender must select one model
  from their army to be the Fallen Agent. If their army
  includes any FALLEN CHARACTER models, they must
  select one of them to be the Fallen Agent. Otherwise,
  they must randomly select one CHARACTER model from
  their army that is not a MONSTER or VEHICLE model.
  If the Defender has no such models in their army, then
  their Warlord must be the Fallen Agent. When resolving
  an attack made by a DARK ANGELS model against the
  Fallen Agent, treat the Fallen Agent as having the
  FALLEN keyword (if it doesn’t already have it).
  ABHORRED FOE
  If CYPHER is selected as the Fallen Agent, the Defender
  cannot make use of the second part of this model’s
  Mysterious Protection ability (note that this model
  would still have a 4+ invulnerable save). However, the
  Attacker cannot re-roll hit rolls or wound rolls of 1 for
  attacks made by DARK ANGELS units whilst they are
  within 12" of CYPHER.
  THE BATTLEFIELD
  Create the battlefield using the deployment map below
  and then set up terrain.
  DEPLOYMENT
  TheDefender deploys their army wholly within their
  deployment zone. TheFallen Agent must be set up on
  the battlefield during deployment and cannot be set
  up by any other means, e.g. via Teleport Strike. For the
  purposes of deployment, a Fallen Agent that starts the
  battle embarked within a TRANSPORT unit counts as
  being set up on the battlefield so long as the TRANSPORT
  unit itself is set up on the battlefield. TheAttacker then
  deploys their army wholly within their deployment zone.
  FIRST TURN
  TheAttacker chooses who has the first turn.
  BATTLE LENGTH
  At the end of battle round 5, the player who had the first
  turn rolls one D6. On a 3+ the game continues, otherwise
  the game is over. At the end of battle round 6, the player
  who had the second turn rolls one D6. Thistime, on a
  4+ the game continues, otherwise the game is over. The
  battle automatically ends at the end of battle round 7.
  CRUCIBLE OF WAR
  THE HUNT
  TheDark Angels have identified an agent of the Fallen in the ranks of their enemies. All prior objectives
  have been abandoned for one goal: the agent must be captured and brought before the Interrogator-
  Chaplains. Doing so will take the Unforgiven one step further along the road to redemption. For the agent
  of the Fallen, they must hide amidst their allies and hope the Dark Angels can be held at bay.
  
  NEVER FORGET, NEVER FORGIVE
  Attacker Stratagem
  A moment of laxity spawns a lifetime of Heresy.
  Use this Stratagem before a player rolls, to determine
  if the game ends. Thegame continues (do not roll).
  SALVATION THROUGH SUFFERING
  Attacker Stratagem
  TheUnforgiven fight to rid the galaxy of their shame.
  Use this Stratagem in any phase, when a DARK
  ANGELS unit from your army within 3" of the
  objective marker, or that contains a model that has
  captured the objective marker, would lose a wound.
  Until the end of the phase roll one D6 for that wound,
  and for each other wound a model in that unit would
  lose this phase. On a 4+ that wound is not lost.
  STASIS ROUND
  Attacker Stratagem
  Ensnaring rounds from the Dark Age of Technology.
  Use this Stratagem when a RAVENWING model from
  your army shoots with a bolt weapon (e.g. twin
  boltgun, heavy bolter, hurricane bolter, etc.). You
  can only make one attack with that weapon. If a
  hit is scored, until the start of your next turn halve
  the target’s Move characteristic and subtract 2 from
  Advance and charge rolls made for it. Theattack
  sequence then ends.
  RETRIBUTION OF THE INNER CIRCLE
  Attacker Stratagem
  Thedoom that befalls the Fallen is absolute.
  Use this Stratagem in your Movement phase, after
  setting up a DEATHWING unit from your army using
  the Teleport Strike ability. Thatunit can move D6"
  (even though it has arrived as reinforcements).
  STRATAGEMS
  In this mission, the players can use Command Points (CPs) to use the following bonus Stratagems:
  SLIP AWAY
  Defender Stratagem
  TheFallen agent has spent years on the run.
  Use this Stratagem in your Movement phase. Until
  the end of the phase, the Fallen Agent can Advance
  when Falling Back and can move across other models
  as if they were not there.
  NEW RULES
  SURREPTITIOUS NATURE
  Defender Stratagem
  Naught is left but a shadow as the agent vanishes.
  Use this Stratagem at the start of your opponent’s
  Shooting phase. Until the end of that phase, enemy
  models cannot target the Fallen Agent with attacks
  made with ranged weapons whilst they are more than
  12" away. ThisStratagem has no effect if the Fallen
  Agent has a Wounds characteristic of 10 or more.
  EVADE CAPTURE
  Defender Stratagem
  TheFallen agent will do anything to avoid capture.
  Use this Stratagem in your opponent’s Charge phase,
  when the Fallen Agent is chosen as the target of a
  charge. Before the charge roll is made, that model can
  immediately move up to 2D6". You can only use this
  Stratagem once per battle.
  HEINOUS CANT
  Defender Stratagem
  Theagent taunts the Dark Angels into an ill-
  disciplined fury.
  Use this Stratagem at the start of any phase. Until the
  end of that phase, subtract 1 from hit rolls for attacks
  made by DARK ANGELS models whilst their unit is
  within 6" of the Fallen Agent.
  INCAPACITATED
  If the Fallen Agent is destroyed, before removing the
  model from the battlefield, the Defender places one
  objective marker within 1" of the model to represent the
  incapacitated Fallen Agent. A model from the Attacker’s
  army can capture the objective marker by finishing a move
  within 1" of it. TheAttacker then removes the objective
  marker from the battlefield. If the model that has captured
  the objective marker is destroyed or flees, before removing
  the model from the battlefield the Attacker places the
  objective marker within 1" of the model.
  VICTORY CONDITIONS
  At the end of the game, if one of the Attacker’s models has
  captured the objective marker, or the Attacker controls
  the objective marker, the Attacker wins. Otherwise, if the
  Fallen Agent has been destroyed, the battle is a draw. Any
  other result is a victory for the Defender.
  
  THE ANGELS OF DEATH
  THE ANGELS OF DEATH
  With Dark Angels very much the theme of this month’s Warhammer 40,000 section, we
  got in touch with renowned hobbyist Gareth Etherington, who has been studiously adding
  Primaris Marines to his Dark Angels collection. Here’s his army in all its glory.
  
  ARMY SHOWCASE
  
  If you look closely at
  Gareth’s units, you’ll
  notice that several are
  under strength. ‘I’ve
  been collecting the
  Warhammer 40,000:
  Conquest magazines,
  and because of the
  way the models come
  in each issue, not all of
  my squads are
  complete yet,’ explains
  Gareth. ‘I paint all the
  models I receive in an
  issue before the next
  ones arrives, which is
  why, for example, I
  only have two
  Inceptors (1). I did buy
  Shadowspear, too,
  though. So far I’ve
  painted the Librarian,
  Suppressors, and
  Eliminators.
  ‘To paint the Chapter
  symbol, I started with
  a white semicircle.
  Then I painted a green
  semicircle inside it.
  Next I painted a
  vertical green line
  down the centre,
  followed by a white
  one in the middle of
  that for the sword.
  Lastly, I cut out the
  wings.’ You can see
  the Chapter symbols
  on Gareth’s
  Aggressors below (2).
  1
  2
  
  So how does Gareth
  get his green power
  armour looking so
  smooth? ‘I use a
  basecoat of Caliban
  Green followed by
  several thin glazes of
  Warpstone Glow
  around the edges of
  the armour panels,’
  says Gareth. ‘It can
  take five or six layers
  to build up the
  transition of colour,
  but it’s worth it to get
  the vibrant green on
  the armour (3). I use
  Moot Green for the
  final edge highlights to
  really make it pop. My
  inspiration for this
  style of painting came
  from Kim Syberg’s
  Space Wolves, which
  were featured in
  White Dwarf back in
  the ’90s. His power
  armour was always so
  smooth and he always
  used such vibrant spot
  colours. That’s part of
  the reason all my
  weapons are red (4).
  ‘I have several
  Imperial armies in my
  collection, and I’ve
  kept the desert bases
  and spot colours
  consistent across
  them all so they look
  like a unified force (5).
  For example, all the
  power weapons, eye
  lenses, and plasma
  coils in my Imperial
  armies are blue.’
  You can see more of
  Gareth’s work on his
  painting blog:
  taleofpainters.
  blogspot.com.
  3
  4
  5
  ARMY SHOWCASE
  
  PAINT SPLATTER
  DEATHWING REDEMPTOR DREADNOUGHT
  This issue’s Index Astartes features the green-clad Space Marines of the Dark Angels. But
  we’re not showing you how to paint green this time. Instead, studio miniatures painter
  James Perry provides stage-by-stage advice for a Deathwing Redemptor Dreadnought.
  ames painted this
  Deathwing Redemptor
  Dreadnought in sub-
  assemblies, making it
  easier for him to paint the joints
  under the arms. He undercoated
  all the pieces with Corax White
  spray, then used several thin
  layers of watered-down Ushabti
  Bone to get streak-free bone-
  coloured armour. As this is the
  predominant colour on the model,
  it’s worth taking the time to make
  sure it looks good! Next, James
  applied a wash of Seraphim Sepia
  to the armour recesses, being
  careful so that he wouldn’t need to
  tidy it up later. James’ top tip: use
  adhesive putty to figure out where
  you want all your transfers to sit
  before applying them.
  BONE ARMOUR
  BARE METAL
  
  CONVERSION CORNER
  Before painting the
  Redemptor Dreadnought,
  James added a few extra
  icons to show that it’s a war
  machine of the Dark
  Angels Chapter. All three of
  these pieces come from
  the Ravenwing Accessory
  Pack, which is available to
  order from the Games
  Workshop website. James
  also added some spare
  pieces of Sector Imperialis
  buildings to the model’s
  base to show that the
  Dreadnought is fighting in
  an urban environment.
  WARHAMMER
  TV PAINTING
  GUIDES
  There are many
  painting guides for
  Dark Angels on the
  Warhammer TV
  YouTube channel,
  including how to
  paint green power
  armour (both
  layering and
  drybrushing),
  Deathwing bone
  armour, tanks, and
  (gasp!) Fallen.
  PAINT SPLATTER
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Warhammer/40k/1st-8th Editions (Prior)/8th Edition (2017)/4) Index Lore/40k 8e - Index Astartes - Dark Angels.pdf