Place 3: Blood Angels
The Blood Angels are arguably the only Space Marines who surpass the Space Wolves in ferocity, brutality, and pure strength in close combat. They fully live up to their name, as they are practically vampires on steroids. Very, very many steroids.
Games Workshop has created its own series about the Blood Angels, which you can watch on warhammertv.com:
Due to their Primarch Sanguinius, the Blood Angels have a flaw in their gene-seed. This flaw leads to every Blood Angel being able to suffer from the “Red Thirst”: an unquenchable thirst for blood.
When a Blood Angel is overtaken by the Red Thirst in battle, he charges without regard for losses into enemy lines and wreaks havoc. An attack often turns into a massacre, and foes are simply overwhelmed.
Normally, the Chaos God Khorne is known for such ruthless bloodshed, which ironically leads to his downfall:
What may seem sensible for individual battles and makes the Blood Angels tough fighters is also their greatest weakness. The Red Thirst can remain and turn into something the Blood Angels call “Black Rage.” This state is usually irreversible, and an affected Space Marine is confined until he eventually dies.
To fulfill the vampire cliché, the Blood Angels are also noble aristocrats outside their unpredictable battle frenzy, well-versed in art and poetry. They just sometimes forget that in battle…
