All Space Marines revere the Emperor of Mankind as their genetic sire and the creator of the Imperium. Yet unlike the masses of Humanity, comparatively few worship Him as a truly divine god – the God-Emperor. One Chapter, however, casts off these secular beliefs and embraces the Imperial Creed with the ironclad faith of true zealots, pledging to war endlessly in His name until every last trace of the alien, the mutant, and the heretic is extinguished.

They are the Black Templars, pious champions driven by the fires of their faith to purge the galaxy in the God-Emperor’s name. They are unshakeable, unstoppable warriors armoured by their dedication to his cause and armed with blades of righteous fury, tearing and burning through their hated foes until only ash and shreds of meat remains.

Here’s everything you need to know if you’re thinking of starting an army of these deadly, superhuman fanatics.

Black Templars 101

The Black Templars are a unique Chapter who field a blend of regular Space Marines alongside exclusive characters and units. We recommend reading Starting a Space Marine Army to understand the core options available to your budding Crusade. 

Black Templars Explained

As the fires of the Horus Heresy began to wane and Imperial commanders looked wearily towards the future of Humanity’s realm, Roboute Guilliman – Primarch of the Ultramarines – decreed that no Space Marine Legion should ever again hold as much power as they once had. Tensions grew between his supporters and those who disagreed, and the Imperium only narrowly avoided a second civil war. Eventually, however the surviving Primarchs relented, and each Legion was separated into Chapters of 1,000 soldiers, each fully independent with their own names and heraldry

The Imperial Fists split their forces according to Guilliman’s ideal, and the most zealous and hot-headed Space Marines joined the ranks of the Black Templars, to be led by the Fists’ fabled First Captain Sigismund. He was one of the finest duelists of the age, and upon leaving Terra with his Chapter he swore an oath that his Templars would crusade ceaselessly until such a time as they proved their loyalty to the God-Emperor.

Every High Marshal has reinforced that oath ever since, continuing to lead their Space Marines in a galaxy-wide purge of humanity’s enemies. Over time the knightly trappings of their Templar order led to a preponderance of  religiosity born of their dedication to the God-Emperor. In fact, these sons of Rogal Dorn are among the few Space Marine Chapters who recognise the divinity in the Emperor’s being, putting them at odds with many of their more pragmatic brothers who simply see him as the Master of Mankind.

To aid in their galaxy-spanning quests that may require them to rush across the void at a moment’s notice, the Black Templars are a fully fleet-based organisation who keep all of their command and logistics networks aboard their vast flotilla of void craft. Each crusade will split off part of their forces into an independent, self-sufficient battlefleet that handles its own recruitment, replenishment and command – and some observers suggest that they ignore Guilliman’s strictures and that the Chapter numbers far more than is officially reported.

The intense intolerance for the God-Emperor’s enemies is greater in these ranks than almost any other Space Marine Chapter, matching the raging interno of their faith with the flames used to purify the ground heretics dare to tread on. Their unquenchable fury manifests as a marked preference for close combat, where expert swordsmen striving to mirror Sigismund’s example carve their way through all who stand before them.

Yet for all their vaunted reputation for heroically defending the God-Emperor’s realm, the Black Templars have no interest in rebuilding worlds they have cast into ruin. They make demands of what the grateful-but-shattered planet has – raw materials, fuel, a harvest of the strongest youths – and depart, eager to purge the next nest of blasphemies. Should the faith of those who beg for aid be found wanting, they may even suffer the Chapter’s wrath in equal parts to those invading them.

On the battlefield, the Black Templars are all about one thing – close combat. They live for the feeling of tearing the Emperor’s enemies apart with blade and fist, and many of their veteran units specialise in assault manoeuvres with access to storm shields, jump packs, and durable Terminator armour.

Regardless of their proclivity for melee combat, Black Templars armies are still Space Marines and have access to a full armoury of vehicles, flyers, and long-ranged support troops, often upgraded with short-ranged multi-meltas to fend off encroaching tanks. 

A Black Templars army will appeal to players who like to get right up in their opponent’s face with powerful and durable close combat units, favouring melee specialists like Bladeguard Veterans and Assault Intercessors. They have a distinctly more zealous feel than most other Space Marines, and this is reflected in an abundance of character – both in looks and gameplay – that makes them so compelling to paint and play.

Combat Patrol

Combat Patrol is a game mode perfect for beginners and veterans alike, in which smaller forces clash in fast-paced, balanced games. The Black Templars do what they do best and marshal a force of mighty close combat specialists to charge headlong into their enemies, mixing a larger team of regular front-line infantry with some of the most skilled swordsmen among their Chapter.

The Vow-sworn of Vedrenn are led by an indomitable Emperor’s Champion – a peerless duelist who can take on almost any enemy champion and emerge victorious, and also cut through swathes of lesser infantry when no stronger targets remain to face them. He’s backed up by five Sword Brethren and three Bladeguard Veterans – each a powerful close combat fighter who wants to get stuck in as soon as possible.

The Crusader Squad is your lynchpin, lending ranged support as the rest of your force advances, although they’re perfectly happy to muck it up in the melee if they need to.

All you need to deploy the Vow-sworn of Vedrenn is a few dice, a ruler, and the downloadable rules below – the Core Rules show you how to play the game, the Combat Patrol datasheets provide a balanced army that’s ready to play, and the Combat Patrol missions give you some thrilling objectives to fight over!

Painting

The Black Templars have a very defined colour scheme for much of their faction – black armour, white shoulder pads, and red weapons – and this allows you to really practice and perfect your skills painting those colours. It also means your army can be Battle Ready in no time at all, as priming your miniatures with a can of Chaos Black spray gets you most of the way there!

That’s not to say you have no room for your own flourishes, however, as many models have space for heraldic designs and different Crusades will often have differently coloured tabards and insignia. The Morsseous Crusade, for instance, wears black tabards with red cross markings, while the Heimdal Crusade dye theirs bright red.

To help ease your miniatures onto the battlefield with a simple, achievable colour scheme that works across a wide variety of units, the Warhammer 40,000 Painting Team have put together a list of paints for warriors of the Armageddon Crusade, as featured on the Combat Patrol box. 

This is by no means an exhaustive primer, however, and you’re fully encouraged to modify the existing colour schemes or come up with something brand new. As long as your Black Templars are charging towards the enemy and swinging their chainswords, they probably don’t mind what colour you paint their armour!

Next Steps

Once you have a few Combat Patrol games under your belt and you’re ready to launch a furious Crusade against the alien, the mutant, and the heretic, you might be wondering where to go next. 

Your first stop is Codex Supplement: Black Templars – the essential companion to the faction, containing plenty of background lore and a showcase of gorgeously painted miniatures, as well as rules for 21 different units and plenty of different ways to play them. As a Codex Supplement, you’ll also need a copy of Codex: Space Marines to have access to your full roster of units and rules, and together with a copy of the Warhammer 40,000 Core Book you’ll have all the rules you need to start playing full-size games of Warhammer 40,000.

The Combat Patrol is an excellent starting point for your army as it gives you a powerful character and plenty of durable infantry, including two units of elite warriors. Anything you choose to add to this army will be an excellent way to expand upon an already solid foundation, and you have the vast catalogue of options from Codex: Space Marines to choose from in addition to those found in Codex Supplement: Black Templars.

Terminators have an illustrious history of battlefield excellence, weathering firepower that would wipe out entire armies as they march steadily into close combat blazing away with double-barreled storm bolters. They’re an incredibly versatile elite unit that are great at soaking up damage so your Sword Brethren and other close combat champions can get into charge range.

You get one Crusader Squad with the Combat Patrol, but adding a few more will give you much greater board presence and allow you to contest objectives all over the battlefield. They can put out a respectable amount of firepower at a distance, and can easily defend objectives from the enemy.

Dauntless champions are the backbone of a Black Templars force and the Marshal is the complete package – both an exceptional warrior and a capable leader who inspires his own unit to hit harder in combat. We can’t talk about Black Templars characters without paying respect to the greatest of them all, however, and High Marshal Helbrecht is not only the single most powerful war hero at your disposal, but might just be one of the strongest Space Marines of them all.

Holy relics are a great inspiration to the pious crusaders of Dorn, and each Crusade that ventures across the stars carries a towering banner to motivate their men, carried by a trusted Crusade Ancient. The legendary Chaplain Grimaldus is famed for the entourage of servitors that carry his collection of relics with him to battle, each piece dragged from the rubble of a church that collapsed on the Chaplain during the wars for Armageddon.

Fiction

The Black Templars are some of the most glorious and celebrated Space Marines in the galaxy, with a list of victories so long it would disappear off into the horizon. Start reading about their adventures in the modern day of Warhammer 40,000 with Broken Crusade by Steven B Fischer, which follows Castellan Emeric and the Space Marines of the Dorean Crusade as their ship is left stranded by a warp storm in uncharted space, and they must turn to their faith to help them survive an onslaught of daemons and heretics.

Then learn all about the High Marshal of the Black Templars in Helbrecht: Knight of the Throne by Marc Collins, as the intense and wrathful master of the Chapter navigates the unexpected realities of Primarch Roboute Guilliman’s return. Chastised by the Primarch and blessed with a vision from the God-Emperor, he sets off to the ruinworld of Hevaran with promises of a priceless relic guarded by the Archenemy’s most vicious servants.

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