In the world of Warhammer 40,000, there are hundreds of different chapters of the Space Marines, which vary significantly in their doctrines. However, they are all united by the Codex Astartes, which imposes certain rules upon them. Ironically, a particularly loyal chapter exploits a loophole.
The Black Templars are the estimated largest chapter of Space Marines in the entire world of Warhammer 40,000. Exactly how many members the Templars have is known to no one—not even to them.
What is clear, however, is that they have more brothers in arms than all other known chapters. And this is despite their loyalty to the Emperor being among the strongest of all Space Marines. They even worship him as a god rather than a father.
The vast military force of the Black Templars is due to their rather… creative interpretation of the laws imposed on them. They have found a loophole that they have been exploiting for over 10,000 years.
Why Are Chapters Limited to 1,000 Space Marines?
The Codex Astartes dictates how a chapter of Space Marines should be structured. The document outlines how a Space Marine is to behave and regulates the chapters themselves. Roboute Guilliman, the Primarch of the Ultramarines and now the Lord Commander of the Imperium, devised these rules.
The reason: a catastrophe like the great brother war, which nearly extinguished the Imperium of Man, must be prevented at all costs. By limiting each chapter to 1,000 Space Marines, it should ensure that no chapter that succumbs to Chaos can ever become a threat again.
The creation of the Codex itself caused trouble: not all of Guilliman’s brothers agreed with it. The stubborn Space Wolf Leman Russ, for example, opposed him—aligning himself with Rogal Dorn, the Primarch of the Imperial Fists.
The dispute between Dorn and Guilliman nearly sparked a new war until Dorn eventually acquiesced. One of the two first successor chapters of his Imperial Fists became the Black Templars, who still operate in a remarkably rebellious manner today.
10,000 Years of Crusade Result in a Massive Army
There are two major exceptions to the size limit of a Space Marine chapter in the Codex Astartes:
- The limit of 1,000 Space Marines applies only to these Space Marines. Support troops and Neophytes (usually scouts) can be present in unlimited numbers.
- If a chapter is on a crusade, it may temporarily exceed the limit to ensure the crusade’s success and to replace fallen brothers.
The Black Templars have effectively been on a continuous crusade since their founding over 10,000 years ago. They have no home world but are purely a fleet-based chapter with hundreds of ships.
This alone allows the Black Templars to ignore the limit. Additionally, they are engaged in multiple crusades throughout the galaxy, with each crusade consisting of only a few hundred Space Marines.
As they are so dispersed and loyal to the Emperor, the Inquisition and others take little notice of how many brothers the chapter has. However, if the Black Templars were ever to consolidate their forces, they would vastly outnumber all other chapters.
A Chapter of Fanatics and Pioneers
However, their size is not the only distinguishing feature of the Black Templars. They worship the Emperor as a deity, which is a rarity among Space Marines. Additionally, they have developed or rediscovered some of the most powerful technologies of the Imperium, such as the Land Raider Crusader—the largest tank of the Imperium.
Their doctrine is determined by a battle against the unclean, the heretics, and Xenos—essentially everything that is not human. The fanaticism of the Black Templars is surpassed only, if at all, by the Battle Sisters of the Adepta Sororitas.
This, however, also leads to the Templars forgoing one of the strongest weapons in the arsenal of all Space Marines: Psykers. The sanctioned spellcasters of the Space Marines, the Librarians, can annihilate entire armies with their spells.
However, the Black Templars see too much danger in potentially triggering a Warp catastrophe. They only tolerate Psykers, such as Astropaths, in their support units because these can allegedly communicate with the Emperor himself.
Astropaths themselves are, by the way, a very fascinating topic. Only through them can the ships of the Imperium communicate over long distances—but this comes with certain risks that can lead to catastrophe. In the role-playing game Rogue Trader, you can see an astropathic choir in action: The Warhammer 40k role-playing game on Steam gives me as a fan exactly what I miss in Space Marine 2
