For 20 years, a chapter of Space Marines was a mystery even for fans of Warhammer 40,000. Now, images with long-lost lore have surfaced.
What is the story behind this lost chapter? Fans have long been uncertain about how much of the lore regarding the Steel Confessors is genuine. Those wanting to learn more about this chapter of the Space Marines had to rely on what other fans still knew about it.
- The main source for the chapter’s history – a program booklet handed out at an official “Games Day & Golden Demon” convention in 2005 – has been lost over time.
- While there are scattered mentions of the Steel Confessors in the official Warhammer magazine White Dwarf and in Index Astartes, uncertainty regarding the chapter persisted.
In the universe of Warhammer 40,000, there are many different chapters, including the Battle Sisters of the Adepta Sororitas:
Lost lore resurfaces after 20 years
The lost booklet has now been found: Through a Reddit post in the subreddit r/40kLore, user Eternal_Reward shared that the long-lost lore of the Steel Confessors has been discovered. This comes after it was considered “Lost Media” for 20 years.
According to the Reddit post, a user named “Guy” took pictures of the lost program booklet. He then shared these on the Lexicanum Discord server, a fan wiki for Warhammer 40,000. This Discord user was present at the mentioned convention 20 years ago.
The – admittedly somewhat blurry – photos (which you can see here via imgur.com) confirm that the lore circulating among fans regarding the Steel Confessors is indeed real. For instance, the name of their homeworld, named after the Finnish national epic Kalevala, has been confirmed. There, the Steel Confessors fought a significant battle against the Tyranids.
Fans are excited, even if there isn’t much new
There aren’t any major new revelations about the Steel Confessors in this program booklet. Nevertheless, fans are delighted to finally see this long-lost piece of history with their own eyes.
- “It’s a cool piece of media history that we thought was lost forever,” writes Eternal_Reward in his Reddit post
- “It’s always a big deal when something like this comes to light and we get confirmation that we weren’t just collectively hallucinating the lore, lmao,” says Hollownerox on Reddit
- “A miracle! The lost wisdom of the ancients!”, jokes TheBladesAurus on Reddit, but is happy about the discovery nevertheless.
Unlike the Crimson Axes, the Steel Confessors have not found their official end within the Warhammer 40,000 universe. However, the chapter being lost for so long suggests that Games Workshop has lost interest in the chapter.
Whether the discovered lore regarding the Steel Confessors is still relevant remains questionable.
Do you actually know which Legion of Space Marines you belong to? The MeinMMO team took the test, and some concerning insights came out of it. You can read more about it in our article: We tested which Legion of Space Marines from Warhammer 40,000 we belong to, and our boss is now worried about me
