Astartes

Biodata

Feature	Information
Name	Astartes (阿斯塔特)
Alias(es)	Space Marines; Angels of Death; “Angels”
Species/Race	Genetically enhanced human super-soldiers
Affiliation	The Imperium of Man through independent Astartes Chapters; some former Astartes serve Chaos
Occupation/Role	Elite shock troops, Chapter warriors, commanders, specialists, and battlefield icons
Status	Active
First Appearance	29

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Aspirant selection	690, 692	Li Qinwu’s nonlethal screening and training program reduces roughly 100 child candidates to five accepted aspirants for the Broken-Winged Angel Chapter.
Six enhancement procedures completed	766	Ten recruits successfully receive Secondary Heart, Ossmodula, Biscopea, Haemastamen, Larraman Organ, and Catalepsean Node implants without rejection.
Seventeenth enhancement procedure	945	Genpei, Yamashita Maru, and Little Andrew become nearly fully enhanced and begin reconnaissance and sabotage missions to gain real combat experience.
Live-combat development	1007	Saint Raiser and the recruits are deployed to Sweet Star for battlefield experience as part of their final development.

Background / History

The God-Emperor created nineteen Gene-Primarchs during the Great Crusade, then used their genetic samples to create the first Astartes Legions. Their purpose was to reclaim and defend humanity’s worlds through overwhelming superhuman military force. 591

The Horus Heresy split the Astartes, with nearly half of their forces rebelling alongside Horus. The aftermath left the Imperium deeply wary of Space Marine power, especially Chapters that embraced the belief that Astartes should rule over ordinary humans. 437 663

In the current era, Astartes are extremely scarce relative to the Imperium’s scale: humanity possesses only a few million Space Marines across roughly a million worlds. A full Chapter of more than a thousand warriors is considered powerful enough to dominate a star sector. 319

Appearance

Astartes are towering, heavily muscled post-human warriors whose size and features vary by implantation history and gene-line. Their armor makes them resemble humanoid tanks rather than conventional soldiers. 29 319

• A standard non-Primaris Astartes is described as roughly 2.3 meters tall while armored. 659
• Primaris-enhanced Astartes may stand over three meters tall before accounting for Ceramite armor. 319
• Vulkan-descended Astartes are notably tall and powerful, with dark skin and blazing red eyes inherited from their Primarch. 320
• Astartes Power Armor is built from heavy Ceramite and neural-linked systems; it can be visibly scarred by sustained laser and heavy-weapon fire without being penetrated. 290 661

Creation and Lifecycle

• Astartes transformation is described as a sequence of extensive organ-implantation surgeries. One account names twenty-one augmentations, while another describes the process as “nineteen plus three” procedures. 29 437
• Aspirants are generally recruited as teenagers; success rates fall sharply with age, while older candidates face a much greater risk of rejection or death. 29 690
• The first six documented implants used in the Broken-Winged Angel revival are the Secondary Heart, Ossmodula, Biscopea, Haemastamen, Larraman Organ, and Catalepsean Node. 766
• Gene-seed is essential to the process. It carries genetic memories and can pass on instincts or affinity for skills such as swordsmanship. 437
• A mature Gene-seed gland continually strengthens an Astartes through hormone secretion, making veterans more formidable than recruits. 268
• Astartes do not normally die of old age; they are expected to continue serving until killed in battle. 29
• Fallen Astartes’ Gene-seed must be recovered quickly. Once a body has been dead for more than three days, the Gene-seed may necrotize and become unusable. 669

Abilities & Skills

Augmented Physiology

Astartes possess strength, senses, resilience, and neural processing far beyond those of ordinary humans.

• Their reaction speed is identified as their decisive battlefield advantage; ordinary human eyes may struggle to follow their movements. 616 657
• Their Power Armor and reflexes allow them to exploit complex terrain, sustain rapid close-quarters combat, and strike before ordinary infantry can respond. 656 657
• Their mental resilience allows them to operate in environments saturated with Warp energy or corruption that would drive normal humans insane. 765
• Veteran Astartes accumulate greater physical strength, thought speed, and Warp resistance over time. 865

Combat Conditioning

Astartes Chapters maintain an exceptionally militarized lifestyle.

• Astartes are described as sleeping four hours per day, receiving one hour of recreation, and spending the rest of their time training or conducting military missions. 432
• Their effectiveness comes from the combination of superhuman biology, constant training, disciplined combat doctrine, and advanced wargear—not from armor alone. 655 657
• Even powerful individual Astartes remain vulnerable to concentrated artillery, anti-armor weapons, ambushes, and overwhelming battlefield conditions. 355 504

Dreadnought Interment

An Astartes crippled beyond conventional healing may continue serving inside a Dreadnought.

• The wounded warrior is sealed inside a Sarcophagus: a coffin-shaped life-support system that also functions as a neural interface. 451 658
• Connecting the Sarcophagus to a Dreadnought allows the Astartes to control a heavily armed combat walker with tank-like protection and high mobility. 658
• Interment is physically and psychologically agonizing, especially for warriors left limbless and isolated inside the Sarcophagus. 451 669
• Primaris Redeemer Dreadnoughts are noted to have defective cooling systems that can make the experience even more dangerous and painful. 451

Apothecary Expertise

Apothecaries are the medical and biological specialists of an Astartes Chapter.

• They conduct augmentation procedures, research genetic defects, prepare medicines, and recover Gene-seed from fallen battle-brothers. 437
• Saint Raiser, the final survivor of the Broken-Winged Angel Chapter, is revealed to have been its Chief Apothecary. 673
• His knowledge of surgery and Chapter traditions becomes essential to rebuilding the Broken-Winged Angels from their preserved Gene-seed. 689 766

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Astartes Power Armor — Elite neural-linked Ceramite armor superior to the human-scale Power Armor used by Li Qinwu’s forces. 661
• Bolt weapons — Bolt Rifles, Bolt Carbines, Bolt Pistols, and Storm Bolters are common Astartes firearms; Boltgun fire is a key threat that Li Qinwu’s Heavy Power Armor was designed to withstand. 661 657
• Chainswords and Power Swords — Standard close-combat weapons used by Astartes, including fallen Loyalist and Traitor forces aboard the Space Hulk. 659 661
• Melta Bombs — Powerful demolition weapons recovered from Astartes battlefields and used in shipboard warfare. 661
• Terminator Armour — Extremely rare heavy armor with Adamantium components; Terminators may wield a Storm Bolter and Power Fist simultaneously. 660 1008
• Dreadnoughts — Combat walkers controlled by severely wounded Astartes through Sarcophagus neural interfaces. 658

Organization and Traditions

Position	Documented role
Chapter Master	Supreme commander of a Chapter; veteran leaders may be centuries old and markedly stronger than ordinary Astartes. 860 865
Captain	Commands Chapter companies and leads Astartes in battle or diplomatic encounters. 432 861
Chaplain	One of a Chapter’s core specialist offices; leads prayers and protects Chapter faith and orthodoxy. 437 866
Librarian	Psyker specialist capable of divination and psychic combat. 860 866
Apothecary	Surgeon, geneticist, medical researcher, and Gene-seed recovery specialist. 437
Dreadnought veteran	Mortally wounded veteran preserved in a Sarcophagus and deployed in a combat walker. 451 658

• Chapter banners embody Astartes honor. Some are Psychic artifacts capable of improving morale, Psychic Power, or other combat qualities. 799
• Astartes funerary practice includes recovering the fallen’s Gene-seed so future warriors can inherit their duties. 451
• Chapters may maintain warships, mortal auxiliaries, and connections to Knight forces in addition to their core Astartes warriors. 327
• Relations between Chapters and the Inquisition are often openly hostile: Astartes resent scrutiny by mortal officials, while Inquisitors are expected to investigate heresy and rebellion. 861

Loyalists, Traitors, and Corruption

• Loyalist Astartes retain devotion to the God-Emperor and may preserve devotional inscriptions on their armor even under extreme deprivation. 660
• Traitor Astartes are former Imperial warriors who embraced Chaos. Prolonged Warp exposure can fuse flesh to armor, create bone spurs, or produce additional limbs. 660
• Possessed Warriors are Chaos Astartes who willingly accept Daemons into their bodies for greater strength, speed, senses, and Warp abilities. Their Daemons may ultimately seize their body and soul. 663
• Super-Astartes Ideology is the belief that Space Marines stand above ordinary humanity. The Red Star Chapter used this ideology to treat mortal auxiliaries and child recruits as disposable resources. 437 860
• Not all Chapters share this contempt. Vulkan-descended Astartes are described as unusually approachable and willing to aid ordinary civilians on their homeworld. 320

Featured Chapters and Forces

Chapter / Force	Notes
Broken-Winged Angel Chapter	Blood Angels-derived Chapter created during the Cursed Founding. Abandoned on the frontier for over 5,000 years, it was reduced to Saint Raiser alone before Li Qinwu began sponsoring its restoration. 668 672 689
Red Star Chapter	A weakened Chapter with roughly 300 Astartes and one Battle Barge. Its Super-Astartes Ideology led to the Agent Orange incident on Savage World before Li Qinwu forced a political reorganization. 860 862 869
Unidentified Vulkan-descended warrior	A green-armored Astartes marked with a venomous snake insignia, found embedded in an Ork Iron Throne. He survived catastrophic injuries in suspended animation. 320
Blood Angels successor force	A poor Loyalist force identified by red armor, white wing-and-sword markings, and devotional inscriptions; its dead were found alongside Traitor Astartes aboard a Space Hulk. 660
Chaos Astartes warbands	Warp-corrupted former Astartes, including Possessed Warriors and Slaanesh-aligned fighters with extensive bodily mutations. 663 988

Story Role / Major Arcs

• Li Qinwu discovers a seemingly dead Vulkan-descended Astartes welded into an Ork boss’s Iron Throne, frees him, and stabilizes his two-heart physiology with a Green Needle and Xiangxiang. 320
• Apothecary Desai fights alongside Li Qinwu during the Death Vein campaign, later suffering wounds severe enough that Dreadnought interment becomes his only realistic future. 446 451
• Li Qinwu investigates a Space Hulk after receiving a Dreadnought distress signal and finds an abandoned battlefield containing Loyalist and Traitor Astartes corpses. 658 659 660
• The recovered Dreadnought pilot, Gungun, awakens as Saint Raiser—the final survivor and Chief Apothecary of the Broken-Winged Angel Chapter. 669 672 673
• Li Qinwu and Saint Raiser negotiate the Chapter’s revival, disagree over brutal recruitment traditions, and ultimately begin training a new generation of candidates. 689 690 692
• The first rebuilt Broken-Winged Angel recruits display unprecedented implantation success and abnormal Psychic potential after receiving sanctified Gene-seed. 766 767
• Li Qinwu confronts the Red Star Chapter over its abuse of Savage World, defeats its Chapter Master, and compels the Chapter to abandon Super-Astartes Ideology. 860 864 866 869
• Nearly completed recruits Genpei, Yamashita Maru, and Little Andrew conduct covert operations against the T’au, beginning their transition from trainees into active Astartes warriors. 945