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Food for thought, what happens to blood angels and their successors succumbing to the black rage/red thirst while serving in the deathwatch?

They typically only allow the most stable and strong-willed of the chapter to go to the Deathwatch for this very reason. However, since the Black Rage strikes without warning, there's still a good chance it could happen during their secondment.

There is a lot of inconsistencies surrounding the fluff of the Black Rage, but I prefer the version that depicts them as still being able to differentiate between friend and foe, their psychic visions simply distorting their senses rather than robbing them. In this case I would think the other members of the killteam would likely think that the marine had fallen victim to some xenos tech and/or psychic ability. I think they would either assume he was lost and deliver the Emperor's Mercy, or would evac him and seek medical help, which would fail, at which point they might possibly return him to his chapter.

It's also possible that the Deathwatch know about it but keep it under their hat to avoid drama.

Deathwatch must know about plenty of the marine chapters 'quirks'.

The Blood Angel is draining the life fluid of the fallen, the Flesh Tearer is chasing the defeated enemies screaming something about Horus, the Dark Angel roughed up a local and jumped on the first ship out of system to deal with 'business' and the Ultramarine is left scratching his head and asking the Space Wolf about 'oh what big ears/eyes/teeth/claws you have'.

The Deathwatch are aware with it and have the capability of dealing with the vast majority of it. All marines who serve in the Deathwatch are sworn to secrecy of all that they see, in particular in regard to other chapters and the workings of the Deathwatch itself.

In addition, the Deathwatch does have their own chaplains. Permanent members who study the tenants and rites of hundreds of different chapters and are responsible for the duties of a chapter's normal chaplain, Blood Angels and their successors included.

As for the Black Rage, there's a pretty clear onset time when it can be diagnosed and the marine quarantined. It's how marines get moved into the Death Company in the first place.

I think the Deathwatch Novel released along side the Overkill stuff talks about this very thing. I haven't read it but the synopsis spoke about it. I think the Ignition short stories is it.

Kinda surprised that no one's mentioned the audio drama Mission: Purge yet. Spoilers for the end

In it, Captain Artemis leads a four-man Kill Team on an inspection of a Rogue Trader's ship for signs of Genestealer infection. The other members of the are a White Consul, Space Wolf, and a Black Shield. Toward the end of it, the Kill Team has to crash the Rogue Trader ship into the planet's ocean -- and the Black Shield performs a last stand. Captain Artemis is the last one out, and finally gets the Black Shield to reveal his parent chapter-- the Blood Angels. The Blood Angel falls to the Black Rage during the last stand, and Captain Artemis hears the Blood Angel shouting about someone's treachery and how the person's heresy won't go unpunished. That said, Captain Artemis wasn't sure what to make of it and vows to reflect on it later.

I do love that story. The Space Wolf trying to guess his chapter is rather amusing.

"Is it the Rainbow Warriors? If that was my chapter, I'd refuse to tell anyone, too..."

They don't allow them because they suck.

Martel732 wrote:
They don't allow them because they suck.

You think most of the game sucks.

I think Martel was making a vampire joke - or was the pun unintended?

No, I really wasn't. Why on earth would the Deathwatch want members from a chapter than can't win a battle?

If the Deathwatch wants them it's because they're good at killing Xenos, if one member of a crummy army is continually doing most of the work the Deathwatch might grant him a small mercy and put him with some competent team mates in a kill team.

True.