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Hey guys, I really liked the blood ravens librarian model that showed up in Deathwatch. I did some searching on the forum but the posts date back to early 2013.

Can anyone elaborate a bit on the chapter or point me to some good sources to read up on them?

Invented by Relic (THQ) for the Dawn of War PC games.

http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Blood_Ravens

So they really have no ties back to any of the GW 40k background? That is disappointing =/

They do, but it was all developed after the PC game, so it sometimes felt a little off to me. They're nevertheless a cool Chapter. Gotta love a Chapter suspected (and I really do mean suspected, NOT confirmed) of being successors of a Traitor Legion.

They are an awesome chapter, I collect them myself, and for a chapter that was originally non-canon they quickly became super-canon, featuring in BL novels (albeit terrible ones except Chris Roberson's DoW2 adaptation), they USED to have a transfer sheet on Forge world until very recently, obviously the DoW games, they featured a lot in the Space Marine game (both single player and as a colour option in MP with a unique armour variant), in painting books from GeeDubs, and now have an official model.

They're one of the coolest chapters IMO, a codex chapter with no known Primarch and HUGE numbers of psykers, who also perform command roles, they actively know of the GK, they have 'Secret Masters' and they have a lot of relics around because they look after them so well, and so have a great relationship with the Mechanicus

 Deadshot wrote:
They are an awesome chapter, I collect them myself, and for a chapter that was originally non-canon they quickly became super-canon, featuring in BL novels (albeit terrible ones except Chris Roberson's DoW2 adaptation), they USED to have a transfer sheet on Forge world until very recently, obviously the DoW games, they featured a lot in the Space Marine game (both single player and as a colour option in MP with a unique armour variant), in painting books from GeeDubs, and now have an official model.

They're one of the coolest chapters IMO, a codex chapter with no known Primarch and HUGE numbers of psykers, who also perform command roles, they actively know of the GK, they have 'Secret Masters' and they have a lot of relics around because they look after them so well, and so have a great relationship with the Mechanicus

Yeah definitely! I really liked the idea of a chapter featuring lots of librarians without being "Grey Knights" (i like them too but you know =P).. May start collecting some librarian models and painting them up as blood ravens. of course starting with the deathwatch model

I supppose i could use a lot of the ravenguard icons and blood angel icons to represent the chapter name some anyway...

Cool thing about the Blood Ravens is that they are also known as "Bloody Magpies" for their fondness to "acquire" wargear. They means they end up with stuff from a lot of other chapters and gives a ton of modeling options. Its completely within their fluff to have somebody with a Space Wolf chain sword or Blood Angels bolter. Even entire suits of power armor might be previously owned by other chapters.

Dawn of War is well worth the time to play, particularly the Dawn of War 2 games. If your not into computer games then at the very least witness the glory (or horror) that is Commander Boreale and Captain Diomedies on youtube. The Dawn of War series is the source of a lot of the 40k memes.

 Vankraken wrote:
Cool thing about the Blood Ravens is that they are also known as "Bloody Magpies" for their fondness to "acquire" wargear. They means they end up with stuff from a lot of other chapters and gives a ton of modeling options. Its completely within their fluff to have somebody with a Space Wolf chain sword or Blood Angels bolter. Even entire suits of power armor might be previously owned by other chapters.

Dawn of War is well worth the time to play, particularly the Dawn of War 2 games. If your not into computer games then at the very least witness the glory (or horror) that is Commander Boreale and Captain Diomedies on youtube. The Dawn of War series is the source of a lot of the 40k memes.

Just jumping in to defend my boys. They are not thieves. They recover and look after other Chapter's gear that has been left behind or damaged, because they have a great respect for relics and objects. Eventually, as the parent chapter never comes to collect it, it is pressed into service as a Blood Raven object. Or else there is dispute over who actually owns the object. The only actually thing that is absolutely not Blood Raven is the Power Fist "Rogal's Fist" which was owned by Dorn himself.

 Deadshot wrote:

 Vankraken wrote:
Cool thing about the Blood Ravens is that they are also known as "Bloody Magpies" for their fondness to "acquire" wargear. They means they end up with stuff from a lot of other chapters and gives a ton of modeling options. Its completely within their fluff to have somebody with a Space Wolf chain sword or Blood Angels bolter. Even entire suits of power armor might be previously owned by other chapters.

Dawn of War is well worth the time to play, particularly the Dawn of War 2 games. If your not into computer games then at the very least witness the glory (or horror) that is Commander Boreale and Captain Diomedies on youtube. The Dawn of War series is the source of a lot of the 40k memes.

Just jumping in to defend my boys. They are not thieves. They recover and look after other Chapter's gear that has been left behind or damaged, because they have a great respect for relics and objects. Eventually, as the parent chapter never comes to collect it, it is pressed into service as a Blood Raven object. Or else there is dispute over who actually owns the object. The only actually thing that is absolutely not Blood Raven is the Power Fist "Rogal's Fist" which was owned by Dorn himself.

Sounds really great guys, thanks for all the feedback so far.

@Deadshot, what chapter rules do you usually run? I have been wanting to make a full assault marine jump pack army for a while now, so I may merge these ideas together (not sure if that would be fluffy or not for them =P but ravens fly right haha). Torn between which chapters would give the best rules. Obviously I will be running a Librarius, that seems like a no brainer for this army. I don't expect this to be a competitive force, I mainly am interested in this project for casual (fluff) games, and a way to actually get back into / use up extra space marine models i have lying around

 Grizzyzz wrote:

I have been wanting to make a full assault marine jump pack army for a while now, so I may merge these ideas together (not sure if that would be fluffy or not for them =P but ravens fly right haha).

Take any modestly codex-compliant chapter (which the Blood Ravens are).
Paint 8th company markings on your army.

Enjoy your jump pack army.

 Grizzyzz wrote:

 Deadshot wrote:

 Vankraken wrote:
Cool thing about the Blood Ravens is that they are also known as "Bloody Magpies" for their fondness to "acquire" wargear. They means they end up with stuff from a lot of other chapters and gives a ton of modeling options. Its completely within their fluff to have somebody with a Space Wolf chain sword or Blood Angels bolter. Even entire suits of power armor might be previously owned by other chapters.

Dawn of War is well worth the time to play, particularly the Dawn of War 2 games. If your not into computer games then at the very least witness the glory (or horror) that is Commander Boreale and Captain Diomedies on youtube. The Dawn of War series is the source of a lot of the 40k memes.

Just jumping in to defend my boys. They are not thieves. They recover and look after other Chapter's gear that has been left behind or damaged, because they have a great respect for relics and objects. Eventually, as the parent chapter never comes to collect it, it is pressed into service as a Blood Raven object. Or else there is dispute over who actually owns the object. The only actually thing that is absolutely not Blood Raven is the Power Fist "Rogal's Fist" which was owned by Dorn himself.

Sounds really great guys, thanks for all the feedback so far.

@Deadshot, what chapter rules do you usually run? I have been wanting to make a full assault marine jump pack army for a while now, so I may merge these ideas together (not sure if that would be fluffy or not for them =P but ravens fly right haha). Torn between which chapters would give the best rules. Obviously I will be running a Librarius, that seems like a no brainer for this army. I don't expect this to be a competitive force, I mainly am interested in this project for casual (fluff) games, and a way to actually get back into / use up extra space marine models i have lying around

I'm aiming for a full Chapter, and I use different Characters to represent my different companies. With the new codex I'm also aiming for a Librarius Conclave as it just fits them so perfectly. Mostly, I use Imperial Fists, but that's because its the most effective for my army, and fits well with my set-up (I use Lysander as Chapter Master "Gabriel Angelos" and Pedro Kantor as my 3rd Company captain, and both have IF tactics, and also have taken to using Sternguard recently).

My 8th Company Captain, I converted a Captain Shrike model, but you could also feasibly use Blood Angels as a better alternative (assuming that they still get JP troops?)


You could also run 1st Company Task Forces with Vanguard Veterans, along with your Librarius Conclave, and give them all Jump Packs. The benefits would that you have a fast moving and hard hitting force, and each squad would have Fearless and PE, with the downsides of being expensive and lacking ObjSec

 Deadshot wrote:

Just jumping in to defend my boys. They are not thieves. They recover and look after other Chapter's gear that has been left behind or damaged, because they have a great respect for relics and objects. Eventually, as the parent chapter never comes to collect it, it is pressed into service as a Blood Raven object. Or else there is dispute over who actually owns the object. The only actually thing that is absolutely not Blood Raven is the Power Fist "Rogal's Fist" which was owned by Dorn himself.

You say that...

But have you checked out the list of equipment here?

https://1d4chan.org/wiki/Blood_Ravens

 Grizzyzz wrote:

what chapter rules do you usually run? I have been wanting to make a full assault marine jump pack army for a while now, so I may merge these ideas together (not sure if that would be fluffy or not for them =P but ravens fly right haha). Torn between which chapters would give the best rules. Obviously I will be running a Librarius, that seems like a no brainer for this army. I don't expect this to be a competitive force, I mainly am interested in this project for casual (fluff) games, and a way to actually get back into / use up extra space marine models i have lying around

I am building a Blood Ravens chapter as well. Right now, I'm aiming for a Gladius Strike Force with a Librarius Conclave and Storm Wing using Ultramarines Tactics (Blood Ravens are known for tactical adaptability as well as their librarians). While talking with my FLGS about codices/supplements we would like to see in the future, I brought up Blood Ravens, and my buddy (who codes for Sega) cryptically told me to "Wait for E3".

 ChazSexington wrote:

 Deadshot wrote:

Just jumping in to defend my boys. They are not thieves. They recover and look after other Chapter's gear that has been left behind or damaged, because they have a great respect for relics and objects. Eventually, as the parent chapter never comes to collect it, it is pressed into service as a Blood Raven object. Or else there is dispute over who actually owns the object. The only actually thing that is absolutely not Blood Raven is the Power Fist "Rogal's Fist" which was owned by Dorn himself.

You say that...

But have you checked out the list of equipment here?

https://1d4chan.org/wiki/Blood_Ravens

"Recovered from battle," "Found no where near where any Doom Eagles have ever been so can't be the same one," "Rumourmongering and lies!"


Joking aside, those are all parts of a video game, where stuff gets thrown in for nostalgia or Easter Eggs. Such as Forgebreaker. That belongs to Perturabo after Horus gave it to him, after Fulgrim gave it to him, after he took it from an unconcious Ferrus Manus after a scuffle over Chaos, who originally got it from Fulgrim as a gift. The chances of Blood Ravens actually having it are nil. Likewise, the Grey Knight armour it mentions, impossible, the Grey Knights either recover the body and put the armour back into service, for they are so few, or they are completely lost to Daemonic forces. Similarly, the banner it says they stole, would never happen. Banners are a symbol of their Chapter's entire honour, if one chapter was to find the lost banner of another chapter, they wouldn't completely reweave the fether to show their own symbols, they' return it for a hefty favour from the others. Similarly, most of the Chaos weapons would be destroyed or turned to the Inquisition before they were used and simply serve as a game mechanic for corruption to determine the traitor.


Lexicanum's list is more reasonable;

http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Blood_Ravens#Relics

given the immense popularity of the Dawn of war games the Blood Ravens getting offical reckongization is no suprise IMHO. GW woulda been stupid not to.

 EnTyme wrote:

 Grizzyzz wrote:

what chapter rules do you usually run? I have been wanting to make a full assault marine jump pack army for a while now, so I may merge these ideas together (not sure if that would be fluffy or not for them =P but ravens fly right haha). Torn between which chapters would give the best rules. Obviously I will be running a Librarius, that seems like a no brainer for this army. I don't expect this to be a competitive force, I mainly am interested in this project for casual (fluff) games, and a way to actually get back into / use up extra space marine models i have lying around

I am building a Blood Ravens chapter as well. Right now, I'm aiming for a Gladius Strike Force with a Librarius Conclave and Storm Wing using Ultramarines Tactics (Blood Ravens are known for tactical adaptability as well as their librarians). While talking with my FLGS about codices/supplements we would like to see in the future, I brought up Blood Ravens, and my buddy (who codes for Sega) cryptically told me to "Wait for E3".

That is a solid point.. along the same lines i am considering the Ravenguard Talon strike force.. because of their tactical savy, i felt that rerolling all the game decisions and being able to manipulate reserves was very fluffy to that. Same token though, ultramarines doctrines would be a really nice way to go as well

If I recall correctly (and I could be wrong), the Blood Ravens were first mentioned in the Medusa campaign before Dawn of War, and thus existed before the Dawn of War games. They weren't actually fleshed out until Dawn of War, though.

Well they were in the 4th Edition Codex for an example on which Chapters were set up which way with the Chapter Trait customizations. I believe they had "See, but don't be seen." as one of their traits (allowed you to buy Infiltrate on your models) and "Flesh Over Steel." which limited their Vehicle choices. That was in 2005 though, after DoW was released.

So they weren't recently canonized, they have been since their inception. Heck, I believe their Index Astartes article was released along side the game or shortly after.



Spoilered for your reading pleasure is the old Index Astartes Article, which fun fact, named Gabriel Angelos as Chapter Master years prior to DoW2 Retribution.

 VictorVonTzeentch wrote:
Well they were in the 4th Edition Codex for an example on which Chapters where set up which way with the Chapter Trait customizations. I believe they had "See, but don't be seen." as one of their traits (allowed you to buy Infiltrate on your models) and "Flesh Over Steel." which limited their Vehicle choices. That was in 2005 though, after DoW was released.

So they weren't recently canonized, they have been since their inception. Heck, I believe their Index Astartes article was released along side the game or shortly after.

Spoiler:

http://web.archive.org/web/20070209053624/http://uk.games-workshop.com/spacemarines/bloodravens-indexastartes/assets/index-astartes-blood-ravens.pdf

Spoilered for your reading pleasure is the old Index Astartes Article, which fun fact, named Gabriel Angelos as Chapter Master years prior to DoW2 Retribution.

wonder if that was THQ playing catch up, or it was known all along he eventually would become chap master

Wasn't it mentioned they lost half their chapter in DoW2?

Which really isnt as big a deal as it sounds, considering Chapters are brought to the brink all the time.

Grimgold wrote:
Wasn't it mentioned they lost half their chapter in DoW2?

Yes, at the end of the last DoW2 expansion you fight the Chapter Master/Head Librarian that is becoming a Daemon Prince of Khorne. It basically splits the chapter in half and ends up with the majority of marines being implied to have died/executed.

Wait, at least one of those artefacts cites an event that didn't even happen as part of its origin!

Blood Ravens?

You mean the Space Magpies? Hoovering up every relic and shiny object they find in a totally non-suspicious manner?


Yea, I head of them - around the Eye of Terror we call them the Thousand Sons Navy that got sent away during the fall of Prospero when Magnus was being depressive.

 Hanskrampf wrote:
Invented by Relic (THQ) for the Dawn of War PC games.

http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Blood_Ravens

I was going to say that they came out in a 2004 How to paint space marines guide but i looked up the release date of dawn of war, and turns out it was in fact in 2004... its like everywhere i go the world is starting to remind that im getting old...

 Vulpes89 wrote:

 Hanskrampf wrote:
Invented by Relic (THQ) for the Dawn of War PC games.

http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Blood_Ravens

I was going to say that they came out in a 2004 How to paint space marines guide but i looked up the release date of dawn of war, and turns out it was in fact in 2004... its like everywhere i go the world is starting to remind that im getting old...

If you don't want to feel old, don't play the game (especially the campaign) again. Oh, how old and broken that game is. One of the few games that actually makes me feel old is Warcraft 3 because I played that to death multiple times since it came out haha.


@Wulfmar: haha holy crap "Space Magpies" hahaha. That is golden! But yeah, they really are Space Magpies... which will fry your brain with Thousand Sons devilry! haha

 Deadshot wrote:

 Vankraken wrote:
Cool thing about the Blood Ravens is that they are also known as "Bloody Magpies" for their fondness to "acquire" wargear. They means they end up with stuff from a lot of other chapters and gives a ton of modeling options. Its completely within their fluff to have somebody with a Space Wolf chain sword or Blood Angels bolter. Even entire suits of power armor might be previously owned by other chapters.

Dawn of War is well worth the time to play, particularly the Dawn of War 2 games. If your not into computer games then at the very least witness the glory (or horror) that is Commander Boreale and Captain Diomedies on youtube. The Dawn of War series is the source of a lot of the 40k memes.

Just jumping in to defend my boys. They are not thieves. They recover and look after other Chapter's gear that has been left behind or damaged, because they have a great respect for relics and objects. Eventually, as the parent chapter never comes to collect it, it is pressed into service as a Blood Raven object. Or else there is dispute over who actually owns the object. The only actually thing that is absolutely not Blood Raven is the Power Fist "Rogal's Fist" which was owned by Dorn himself.

If it wasn't returned to the previous Chapter, then it's stolen. Most Chapters go through great pains to return recovered relics to their Chapters-of-origins... not the Blood Ravens. Half their wargear came about because it "fell off a Chimera".

There is also the... loyalty issue.... with 90% of the Chapter.

SPEHESS MARHEENS!!



TODEH T'ERE IS A POST AT OR DOAR!! WE KNOW OUA DUTEH AND WE WILL ANSAH EET!

WE FIGHT FOR OUR HONOR! AS BLOD REHVENS, AS SPEHESS MARHEENS, AND WE FIGHT IN THE NEHME OF THE EMPRAH!!!

AND IF WE DIE THIS DAY WE DIE IN GLOAREH! WE DIE HEROES' DEFFS, BUT WE SHALL NOT DIE, NO!!! WE SHALL ANSA' THIS POST AND THE ENEMEH SHEALL TEHSTE DEFF AND DEFEAT!!

YOU SHALL BE TOLD! MOAST OF OUA BATTLE BROTHARS ARE SHTEHTIONED IN SPEHESS!! PRUHPEARED TO DEEP STRIKE!! OUA PERIMETER HAS BEEN PRUHPEARED IN THE EVENT DAT OUA ENEHIES SHOULD BE SO BALD AND SO FOOLISH! WE HAVE PLEHCED NUMEROUS BEACONS, ALLOWING FOR MUHTIPLE, SIMUL-TENOUS AND DEVASHTEHTING DEVENSIVE DEEP STRIKES!

The Codecks astartees nehmes this maneuvah Steel Rehn. We will descend upon the foe, we will ovawhelm them - we will leave none
alive! Meanwhile oua ground fawses will ensue the full defense of oua headkwaters


We are the spehss mahrens! WE ARE THE EMPRA'S FUREH!



All that is to be known about THE BLOD REHVANS

They also show up in the game "Space Marine" and a few other Video Games. They seem to be the Digital Poster Boys of the SPEHESS MAHREENS!!

Also, due to... well... DoW a particular captain has become a meme due to his.... ahem... speech.

In the HH books they hint that they may be from the thousand sons they had a seer talking about the legion

"The Ravens, I see them too! The lost sons and a Raven of Blood. They cry out for salvation and knowledge, but it is denied" and During her final psychic episode, Kallista also screamed out in anguish about the "ravens of blood", and that they were "lost, crying out for their unknown father." In her death throes she declared that they would be defined by their need to "seek knowledge and artefacts of old"

Sounds a lot like the blood ravens to me .

Oldmike wrote:
In the HH books they hint that they may be from the thousand sons they had a seer talking about the legion

"The Ravens, I see them too! The lost sons and a Raven of Blood. They cry out for salvation and knowledge, but it is denied" and During her final psychic episode, Kallista also screamed out in anguish about the "ravens of blood", and that they were "lost, crying out for their unknown father." In her death throes she declared that they would be defined by their need to "seek knowledge and artefacts of old"

Sounds a lot like the blood ravens to me .

Aaaaaah, thank you. I did wonder what that was a reference to at the time of reading