If this had been a just world then the third Sister, Sister Cassandra, would have been in charge of the whole thing.

As one of the first and brightest Daughters She is trained in infiltration and the ways of the Imperium by Kimery herself. She has learned the Word at feet of Castor and knows the Book as well as all Word Bearers. Tactics and strategy lessons come from Fragmin (and she has learned her lessons well). As one of the first and most fanatical Daughters she has learned combat from Castors bodyguard and they do know their warcraft.

So in short it should have been her, she is smarter and more skilled; but she is not a WB (when the Deacons and Kimery made the infiltrator groups for Castor the plan was for the Daughters to lead them). But when the Apostle took to the idea and even blessed it with some of his WB to lead it, there was much rejoicing and psalms sung to his and the gods' undying glory. And as any good Daughter she will submit to the champion of the Apostle.

But Cassandra still has hope, she knows how good she is and she knows that the gods (and the Apostle and Kimery) test you constantly. She can still try to influence Alfonzo (manipulate is a bad, and heretical word, so we won't use that), use all her skill and charm to make sure that the infiltration group succeeds so that she can be rewarded with a coven of her own, ships and a proper command for that fate is written in the stars.

This is a rough overview of the Astartes of the 10th Host, as it was after the post-Samson Reconstitution, but before the Hazeroth Advance.

Great Crusade Heroes (<10): These are the original Marines from the 10th Host. There are extremely few left and they are all Colchisians (except Castor of course). Includes Castor, 1 elder dreadnaught, 1 chaos champion captain, 1 terminator veteran sergeant, 1 chaplain.

Long War Veterans (200): These Marines are true Veterans of the Long War. Many have been around for a very long time indeed, but some have only been Marines for a few centuries. It is not their absolute age that defines them; what sets them apart is their undeniable skill at arms and the sheer amount of combat they've seen. Equivalent to Space marine Veterans. Roughly half of them serve in the 1st Company, whereas the most of rest serve as officers, squad leaders or hold important support and staff positions (many of the latter have Terminator Honours, and could go into battle as Terminators if so desired).

10th Host Marines (700): These Marines form the bulk of the 10th. They have been around for a while; some of them for thousands of years, others for as little as a few decades. In terms of skill they are (on average) the equivalent of Corpse-God Marines. Their equipment is (generally speaking) inferior to that of their Imerpial counterparts. They are completely fearless (more or less) and extremely zealous (more so than other Astartes, including most Renegades). Their gene-seed has already been harvested.

10th Host Scouts (200): These Marine Scouts are freshly made from the (cloned) gene-seed reserves of the 10th. The candidate material was decent enough, but the creation process has been GREATLY accelerated and the gene-seed used has been forcecloned, which may lead to severe complications down the line. Doctore is overseeing the health of the new recruits, but even he cannot guarantee that all of them will remain viable (but there are more batches coming, so not all of them are required to survive - besides there is a very limited supply of Astartes wargear remaining, so it might actually be a GOOD thing that many will die). Training is inferior to Imperial Marines. Equipment is inferior to standard Scout gear. Morale and loyalty is quite high!

Castor's Veterans (50): These are the handful of Marines that have followed Castor for a while. They loyalty is uflinching. Includes his Command squad and a squad of Anointed (stationed aboard the Bringer of Faith), plus various veterans that now have places in the 10th Host TOE (mostly the 5th and 9th Companies).

Castor's Childer (100): These are the new Marines/Scouts that have been raised by Castor. From captured gene-stock (harvested Tigers Argent battle casaulties and the stasis cache - reconsecrated of course) or from a small quantity of carefully hoarded gene-seed harvested over the years from Castor's own men. These men are still quite fresh to the extent that many (most?) would still be Scouts if they were not sorely needed and the wargear was available. Alfonzo is from this group.

(numbers are approximate - i.e. there are not EXACTLY 200 Veterans)

Kruger has (with aid from Doctore and the Word Bearers) completed the first batch (50 in number) of perfect Iron Warriors. Vat-grown clones of Uriel (with a few of Kruger's own improvements) turend into Marines using the latest heretek cloning techniques to create multiple sets of organs from only one Iron Warrior gene-seed. They are equipped with standard Legion battle-gear, painsakingly collected from the fallen, then restored and reactivated by the Angyr Angst's tech-priest component.

(see the Doctore & Kruger post for details)

'Doctore' is what they call Castor's apothecary. He's not a Word Bearer at all (he is a convert to the Word, if not as fanatical as born-and-bread Word Bearers). He's something of a magician when it comes to Astartes anatomy - and the mysteries of the gene-seed. His work has been greatly enhanced by access to the nice medicae suite aboard the captured Tigers Argent strike cruiser....and the larger (but rougher) facilities aboard the battle barge.

Kuger is a Magos in service with Uriel. His specialties run towards cloning, vat-growing and servitor-making. It is largely thanks to his work that the Angyr Angst is run by such a crew of fine vat-grown clone specimens and well-groomed servitors. Kuger hates mutation and deviance as much as your average anal Imperial servant, but he's not as afraid of creating abominations - he just terminates them with great zeal if or when they do crop up.

The two of them have also joined forces on occasion; their most elaborate project to date has been working on accelerating the creation process for new Marines. Using cloned gene-seed and various experimental techniques they've managed to turn Aspirants into Marine Scouts in just a few months (though it looks like about six months is the limit if they play it 'safe'). The normal recommended minimum is two years (but most 'Loyalist' Chapters use 4-6 years). So far one batch of 200 Word Bearer Scouts have rolled of the assembly lines - plus another 50 Iron Warriors. It remains to be seen if gene-seed removed from this new breed of Marines will be viable for further cloning.

ARMY ELEMENTS

COMMAND

Castor's Command Squad - Veterans, 10 Marines, Wargear: Excellent, Skill: Excellent, Loyalty: Excellent. Castor's personal bodyguard.

Anointed Squad Melkar - Veteran Terminators, 10 Marines, Wargear: Excellent, Skill: Excellent, Loyalty: Good. Serves on the bringer of Faith.

Warband squads (3 Tactical, 1 Havoc) - Reassigned to line companies.

STAFF

Librarium - 3 Marine Sorcerers. Of modest potential. Their role is one of lore-keeping, communications and battlefield support. Other, more potent (human) sorcerers (Such as Master Lumin and the new guy, Nissimon) have the ear of the Apostle.

Apothecarion - 1 Chief Apotechary. Doctore. Very skilled.

Templum - 11 Chaplains. Includes one Great Crusade veteran. Does not include Castor's First Acolyte candidate.

Forge-halls: The 10th has no true Tech-marines. All tech-duties are handled by Mechanicum adepts or other tech-savvy cretins (but trith be told the 10th sorely lacks in the tech-adept department).

COMPANIES

There are only 12 qualified Captains in the 10th Host. 11 have been assigned to a company. The last one serves as Warleader aboard the Hammer.

1st - Anointed (Veteran Terminator), 100 Marines, Wargear: Excellent, Skill: Excellent, Loyalty: Average. Has a reserve of 50 terminator suits (enough to equip most of the veterans with Terminator Honours is the need arises).

3rd - Tactical, 80 Marines, 10 Scouts, Wargear: Average, Skill: Good, Loyalty: Average. First-line company.

3rd - Tactical, 80 Marines, 10 Scouts, Wargear: Average, Skill: Good, Loyalty: Average. First-line company.

4th - Tactical, 80 Marines, 10 Scouts, Wargear: Average, Skill: Good, Loyalty: Average. First-line company.

5th - Tactical, 70 Marines, 20 Scouts, Wargear: Good, Skill: Average, Loyalty: Good. Castor's Own; made up of Castor's warband veterans and his new childer.

6th - Tactical, 60 Marines, 20 Scouts, Wargear: Average, Skill: Average, Loyalty: Average. Second-line company.

7th- Assault, 90 Marines, Wargear: Good, Skill: Good, Loyalty: Good. Has enough gear for 170 Assault Specialists.

8th - Tactical, 60 Marines, 20 Scouts, Wargear: Average, Skill: Average, Loyalty: Average. Second-line company.

9th - Tactical, 70 Marines, 20 Scouts, Wargear: Good, Skill: Average, Loyalty: Good. Castor's Own; made up of Castor's warband veterans and his new childer.

10th - Tactical, 60 Marines, 20 Scouts, Wargear: Average, Skill: Average, Loyalty: Average. Second-line company.

11th - Temporarily disbanded.

12th - Veteran, 80 Marines, Wargear: Good, Skill: Excellent, Loyalty: Good. Castor's new Veteran Company initiative.

13th - Temporarily disbanded.

14th - Temporarily disbanded.

15th - Reserve, 50 Marines, 40 Scouts, Wargear: Poor, Skill: Poor, Loyalty: Average. Because of a lack of good wargear and the need to train new scouts this company is not considered battle-worthy. Run by a Veteran Sergeant; no qualified Captain ahs been found.

16th - Temporarily disbanded.

17th - Reserve, 50 Marines, 40 Scouts, Wargear: Poor, Skill: Poor, Loyalty: Average. Because of a lack of good wargear and the need to train new scouts this company is not considered battle-worthy. Run by a Veteran Sergeant; no qualified Captain has been found.

18th - Temporarily disbanded.

19th - Temporarily disbanded.

20th - Temporarily disbanded.

SUPPORT

These Marines CAN be called up to form another company or fill holes in existing formations. Doing so would cause the Host as a whole to cease functioning properly.

Staff functions: 10 Marines. Combination of junior aides and veteran staff officers.

Fleet positions: 20 Marines. Marines assigned as officers and senior NCOs aboard fleet vessel (often related to command, security or ordnance). Most ships will also have one ore more line squads stationed on them, further augmenting security.

Reserve: 50 Marines. Combination of: Senior NCO filling various training, ritualistic, maintenance and security roles. Marines undergoing specialist training or serving on a semi-permanent basis as flight crew or vehicle operators.

Non-combatants: 10 Marines. Too old or injured to fight, but able to fulfill other non-combat functions.

WARGEAR

ARMOUR

The 10th has sufficient stores of Powered Armour to equip all current Astartes, but about 100 of the suits are of poor quailty.

There is a 50-suit reserve of Terminator armour (160 suits total).

Enough flight packs exists to equip 170 men.

WEAPONS

The 10th has access to the usual range of common Astartes weapons, plus a number of more exotic weapons.

VEHICLES/ORDNANCE

The 10th has a modest fleet of Thunderhawks and support vehicles.

Thousand Sons marine. Once of the original raiders. Commands a raider-sized (i.e. small, much smaller than the original Maiden for example) transport. Motley crew of humans from all over the Segmentum. They seem to serve him quite willingly - and in return he's quite protective of his little flock (to the extent that he's killed several people, including another Chaos champion due to incidents related to his pack). Not much of fighter (apart from being a space marine that is). He's more into experiencing the world. He doesn't seem into the darker excesses so many of his brothers crave, which may indicate that he's fairly young (but Castor is fairly sure he actually pretty old).

The emanciated head of something Karnak Zul calls the 'Dusk Hag'. Apparently she was a diviner of some skill until the Inquisition got to her. Her name derives from two sources: Firstly the death world of Dusk, located on the rimward edge of the Malfian sub-sector/Calixis sector, close to the edges of the Screaming Wortex (a warp storm of some size and repute; it separates Calixis from the Koronus Expanse and the Halo Stars). Secondly because she's bloody ugly; evne in life she must have been a real hag! Either a human mutant or perhaps a xenos.

The head was obtained when Karnak Zul led Castor to a remote temple on the shrine world of Torfal, Finial Sector. The temple was heavily defended by Sisters of Battle who unknowingly guarded the head of the Dusk Hag, placed there many centuries ago by an unknown Inquisitor or senior Ministorum official. Castor got to kill some whores of the Emperor and Zul got his head (Zul knew of it's location and nature because of his service to Inquisitor Renthor). Zul seems to think that the head can be 'reactivated' somehow, and that when that happens he'll be able to provide Castor with some really sage advice about the past, present and future of Calixis.

Master Lumin is something rare - an Imperial astropath that's become a full-fledged Chaos sorcerer. That's not an unique set of skills, but it's rare enough that he's the only one with that skill set within Castor's little fleet. As an astropath Lumin can send astropathic messages to his peers (often pretending to be one of them) or listen in on any unencrypted astrotelepathic communication. As a sorcerer Lumin has the power to communicate over interstellar distances using certain rituals - and he also knows how to summon entities from the Luminous Realm (that's what he call's the Immaterium). He's also something of a diviner, using his own customized version of the Imperial Tarot to good effect. Finally Lumin has a bit of leadeship and organizational skills and he's a passable teacher; meaning he makes a pretty effective leader for the fleet's sorcerers and diviners. A valuable person indeed.

Captain Baphomet is a Black Legion veteran that serves as Asmodeus' executive officer and general right-hand man. Where Asmodeus is busy with the near-impossible tasks of keeping the reavers working together (as much as can be hoped for) and keeping support for the reaving flowing from the powers-that-be in the Eye, Baphomet is responisble for keeping things running on a day-to-day basis. As such he is easily the most overworked person in the Finial sector.

Baphomet is definitely a veteran of the long war - even though he did not take part in the Great Crusade he's seen more action than most of the 'old guard'. Baphomet has no visible signs denoting his status as a Chaos Marine. He looks just like any other close-cropped, grim-faced, steely-eyed Space Marine veteran out there.

Baphomet has joined the lodges to make sure his master doesn't get mixed up in things Baphomet knows nothing about.

Castor's rag-tag choir of torturers, intelligence analysts, sorcerers and daemonic servants have finally come up with something of interest: Your enemy has a name - Lord Militant Haxtes Guilliman. It would seem that this person is the overall commander of the enemy's efforts in the Calixis sector. You don't have a lot of verified details yet; if you combine all the drivel your sources have come up with so far he's quite the colorful character: A Space Marine that's been been given high command. Some claim he's a Librarian, others insist he's a Chapter Master. Those of your advisers that agree he's Astartes name the Green Knights as his Chapter. But there are a couple who decry this information, naming him instead an Imperial officer - or ever an Assassinorum operative working in the guise of an officer. It will be fun to see how this turns out.

Black Legion chapter master that leads the 3rd Reaving. Personally appointed by Ezekiel the Just. He rarely appears without his wargear and is a warrior of great renown. Despite his mettle it is know that he's been killed at least 3 times by agents of the Haegum. Fortunately for Asmodeus he's got some dark pacts to keep him going - but it's no doubt costing him dearly.

Asmodeus is a tall and regal figure. He wears his dark hair long and flowing. His shadow seems to have a life of its own, moving about when Asmodeus is standing still and vice versa. In private he prefers robes, but in public he is rarely without his suit of terminator armour. He carries and ancient warp-infused power blade that was granted to him by the God-Emperor of Mankind all those aeons ago.

---

Castor has made a deal with Asmodeus: Asmodeus arranges for Obel Gar to go away and Castor will keep the Haegum away from Asmodeus. A life for a life so to speak. Asmodeus has also joined the 3rd Reaving lodges created by Castor.

CASTOR'S BAND

Castor Rebelius Xandor – Dark Apostle of the Word Bearers. Originally of the 10^th Chapter. Served as a Scout during the latter part of Great Crusade. Promoted to Initiate status following the Great Betrayal. Slew an Ultramarines Chaplain, took his wargrear and name for his own, and then declared himself an Apostle. His rank was confirmed by the Council after a few hundred years of deliberation.

Tol Amar – Former command squad veteran. Possible acolyte material. On detached duty; he’s converting the natives of Consovor.

ELITES

Command squad (10): The command squad was once all there was to Castor’s band, old brothers from the 10^th that decided to follow the new Apostle. Now only three members are from the old days – the others have either gone on to command one of the four marine squads – or fallen in battle. When Castor is absent the squad is led by Kal Faran – Belarius is no leader.

Belarius – Champion. Has taken the name, vestments and weapons (power sword and storm shield) from the Ultramarine champion that tried and failed to protect Castor when he was an Ultramarine Chaplain. Sworn to keep Castor safe in this life and the next. Has neither spoken a word since that day nor removed his helmet in public. Always at Castor's side – the two fight as one.

Kal Faran – Icon bearer of the warband. Armed with a bolter. Castor’s closest adviser from the old days in the 10th Host. A warrior to the core.

Amarath – Close support for the command squad. Armed with meltagun. A devoted believer even for a Word Bearer. He made his peace with the gods 10k years ago and has never looked back.

Veteran Marines (7) – Seven brothers chosen for their skill, loyalty and zeal.

Anointed squad (10): Terminator armour. The squad went with the new apostle as an honour guard. They are also the spies of the Council and Castor’s would-be executioners should he step wrong. The anointed are Castor’s veteran troops from the 10th host. Body guards and spearhead in combat.

Melkar – Anointed Sergeant. Veteran of the Great Crusade. Fought on Calth. That he is a spy for the Council is well known, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t loyal to Castor. Serves as the warbands warleader (Castor’s 2^nd in command).

TROOPS

Word Bearer Marine (tactical) squads (25): Originally three ten-man 'tactical' squads. The Marines are led by one Veteran sergeant from the 10th Host. These marines are all relatively newly made – within the last 200 years or so. They are armed with mix of old and new wargear. Their zeal is tempered by skills acquired to training and battlefield experience. Most have been with Castor for quite some time now and consider themselves part of his ‘host’ (i.e. their loyalty is to Castor, not someone else).

Recent battle deaths (5) and the creation of the neophyte squads have thinned the ranks – the most experienced men have been promoted to the command squad (2) or become sergeants (8). The first accelerated batch of Marines created by Doctore has filled some of the holes (10), but there is still one squad who is a battle squad short.

Word Bearer Havoc (devastator) squad (10): The warband's heavy support (usually packs 2 heavy bolters and 2 missile launchers). All recently initiated Marines, fresh from Sicarus. Made from pure Word Bearer stock (or so it is claimed). One of the veterans from the 10^th died recently and a new an untried Sergeant is squad leader now. They are eager to prove that they are just as good as the other squads even without the experience of an old hand guiding them. Have done well in several engagements now without a single casualty.

Word Bearer Initiate Squads (80): These are 10-man Tactical Squads composed for 9 recently initiated Brothers led by a Sergeant just promoted from one of the veteran squads. They are zealous in their faith and devotion, merciless killers, suited in the finest power armour the Mechanicus has to offer. But to be honest – they were made in a year and their purity and training leaves something to be desired. The true gods will no doubt sort out the worthy soon enough.

Renegade Space Marines (9): A catchall for various Marines that have drifted into your embrace. Currently includes Flame Flacons (6) – joined recently, Black Legion (1) – survived the destruction of the Wrath of Kings, Alpha Legion (1) – prisoner aboard the Broken Chains, Unknown (1) – rescued by Uriel. Can fight as one unit if needed – or broken up into smaller teams.

Daughters of the Word Squads (20+): These are the abused and desperate women that have been offered a chance to strike back at the galaxy. Armed and armoured in the manner of the Sisters of Battle. Zeal and brutality go hand in hand, military skill is somewhat lacking. It will come – or they will die. Their power armour and bolters make then effective troops, but under no circumstance should they be deployed versus Astartes.

Kimery – Leader of the Daughters. Has separate entry.

HORDES

The Aspirants (200): These are the Word-Bearers-to-be. Promising candidates will be singled out from the herd and handed over to Doctore for evaluation. Some come from the Watch, but not very many. Most are of the Faithful, but there are quite a few young prospects taken directly from the slave holds. The aspirants are indoctrinated and armed with whatever wargear is available, and then expected to prove themselves in matters of faith and war. The rate of attrition is high. Similar to how the Death Guard handles recruitment.

The Watch (1000): The Word has a number the Faithful serving as professional ship security (lots of zeal and brutality, mediocre in the skill department). They role is to keep the crew in line and repel boarders. In a pinch they can be used as light infantry. Shipboard armament is comprised of light body armour, shotgun and melee weapons.

The Faithful: Those among the crew who have accepted the Word. They can be armed and expected to fight with great zeal, but even less skill than the armsmen. Can be armed with whatever personal weapons can be found in the ship’s armour at the time – usually a mix of weapons old and new, including stubbers, autoguns and lasguns of various patterns. Body armour is not available.

The Unenlightened: The remaining that have not yet embraced the word; at least not enough to trust them with a gun. Arming them is not advisable, except if all other options have been exhausted. At any rate there are not enough real weapons to go around, so they must make do with pistols, improvised weapons and simple melee weapons. Or simply pick up weapons from the fallen.

SPECIALISTS

Commander Fragmin - Naval Tactical savant from Cadia. Was set free from the chains of the Corpse God during the 12th crusade. Fragmin has traveled a lot and been part of a lot of crews. His problem and greatest asset is being a savant; he can calculate that if his advice and battle orders go against a 10k old ship captain then he will end up dead. So he joined Castor’s small one ship warband for there he is too valuable to be easily discarded – why be a dead servant of someone great when you can the great servant of someone else?

Master Lumin – Former astropath. Now a sorcerer of Chaos.Came with the Word of Faith – turned by Castor. Serves much as he did before; as chief communications officer, head augurer and adviser to Castor. He has one additional role though – it is he who divines the paths the fleet will tread in the Warp. Served by a small number of acolytes.

Emona – Feral shaman fro Nim-Kor. Granddaughter of the savages’ head witch. From a long line of shamans. Will be a great sorcerer one day.

Apothecary ‘Doctore’ - The warbands medic is known only as Doctore. He is from a late founding loyalist chapter, but his constant experiments with gene-seed and Marine physiology got him in trouble with the Inquisition and he fled to the Eye. Doctore has found a home in Castor’s warband as combat medic – and as Castor's ticket to getting more Marines. Doctore gets bodies to experiment on and he gets to hit back at the Imperium that took his old life away.

Sister Kimery – Formerly an acolyte in the service of Inquisitor Renthor. Freed from her shackles by Castor. Serves as the leader of the Daughters of the Word (her basic combat skills are good and she’s quite fearless, but she’s no match for one of the Whores of the Corpse-God). Commands the Broken Chains (no naval experience, but has a keen mind). Has created a network of spies and informants with Castor’s sub-fleet – eerily similar to what an Inquisitor would do. Dedicated mind, body and soul to Castor and freedom for Humanity (in that order).

---

URIEL'S BAND

Uriel - Iron Warrior

ELITES

Command squad

Iron Warrior Veterans (?):

TROOPS

Murder servitors

HORDES

Gun servitors

SPECIALISTS

Kruger: Magos. Servitor specialist.

---

ADROTOS'S BAND

Sgt. Adrotos - Death Guard Veteran Sergeant. Participated in the 2nd Reaving. Recruited from the blasted surface of Bokiba-Bapas. Has no vessel of his own.

ELITES

Command Squad

Death Guard Veterans (12)

TROOPS

Death Guard Neophytes (100+): Death Guards in training. Undergoing the transformation into Marines even as they prove themselves in battle. Attrition (a Death Guard speciality), disease (a Nurgle thing) and gene-seed corruption (caused by the Death Guard's practice of accelerated gene-seed cloning) will kill most of them before the transformation is complete.

HORDES

Death Guard Aspirants (100+):

---

XERXZES' BAND

Xerxzes - Emperor's Children.

Warmaster Abaddon is the undisputed master of the 13th Black Crusade. If the legendes are true then once upon a time he strode across the stars at Horus' side as a commander of the Luna Wolves/Son's of Horus legion of Space Marines. When Horus fell it was Abaddon who kept together the remaining free forces and led them to safety in the Eye of Terror, the only place safe from the vengeful High Lords of Terra. Initially content to have saved his people Abaddon went into retirement. He only became a warrior once more when he learned that the cropse of the Emperor had been entombed within the Gold Throne and that the Adeptus Terra was now preaching the gospel of the Corpse-God. He has sworn never to rest until humanity is free to choose its own destiny. Abaddon commands the direct allegiance of many warriors, including the Black Legion Adeptus Astartes, these most deadly of all Space Marines. Many more legions, worlds and captains owe Abaddon fealty, so many that there is no other general equal in skill or measure.