The Iron Templars

The Chapter was assigned to the huge feral world of Pruslav as their fortress and recruiting world. Pruslav is in the Segmentum Obscurus and has been the target of many attacks by the forces of Chaos.

During the time of the Apostasy the Chapter was totally isolated from the rest of the Imperium by the violent warp storms emanating from the Eye of Terror, and had to stand alone against the forces that strove to destroy it.

The Chapter fought many battles in defense of their Fortress, Eisenglaude, and only through their iron faith did they survive. During these centuries of isolation they were forced to adapt both their organization and their fighting styles to deal with the external threats and the lack of supply lines to the Adeptus Mechanicus factories.

They began by organizing their own foundries and factories with the available work force trained and led by the Techmarines, and the Tech Priests from the Mechanicus that were on the planet. Some weapons could not be produced, so others were adopted to replace them.

The companies and squads were reorganized to better deal with their opponents with the available resources. Many of the older forms of weapons and armour were put back into service due to lack of supplies of the newer weapons and due to their simpler construction and better reliability.

Even after the Chapter was re-united with the rest of the Imperium it maintained many of these changes in organization and equipment. They are still in an area of constant troubles and warp storms can still disrupt supply lines.

Pruslav has become a self sustaining world and the protector of several neighboring systems. The Chapter keeps a constant vigilance against Chaos and alien invasion fleets.

The Chapter was attacked by a fleet of Traitor Imperial Guard and Naval units that were fighting for the Apostate Cardinal Bucharis during his attempt to build an Empire for himself. After nearly a year of bitter fighting the Apostate's fleet was broken and destroyed. During this time the Great Company known as the Bretheren of the Sword was formed. These brothers have an affinity for close combat and they fight with the zeal of the true believer to aid them.

The Chapter went on the offensive against the Apostate's forces and along with the Space Wolves Chapter were the hammer and the anvil that broke his power.

The Chapter has remained a loyal and devout force supporting the Emperor and the Imperium of Mankind, fighting in many wars and crusades against the Emperor's enemies. The struggle against the vileness of Chaos and the foul alien invaders is an ongoing struggle that the chapter trains and cleanses itself for everyday. they stay prepared physically, mentally, and spiritually to face their enemies and the enemies of their Emperor. Their battle cry is "Glaube und Kraft," which means "Faith and Strength" in an ancient Terran tongue.

The Use of Older Weapons

Even though the Templars now have access to all of the most modern weapons, they still continue to use the reaper autocannon, havoc missile launcher, thunder hammer for their Dreads, and combi-weapons because they manufacture these on their fortress world and they are very distant from the factories and foundries of the Adeptus Mechanicus and in an area that is subject to periods of isolation due to warp storms. They have also maintained the use of these weapons due to their reliability in the face of the many attacks that they have had to withstand from the forces of Chaos that emerge from the Eye of Terror.

They also equip their tanks slightly differently than do the average Space Marine Chapter. they use sponson mounted reaper autocannons on Predators, and they make heavy use of heavy flamers mounted on attack bikes, etc.. They have also developed a heavy flamer pintel-mount to use on their Rhinos. Also, they use the heavy flamer as a front hull-mount on their Rhinos and Predators fired by the driver.

The Chapter has had to make due in the past with the weapons and equipment available to them with no chance of resupply from the Adeptus Mechanicus and they have adapted their weapons and vehicles to reflect this reality. The Chapter has developed scouting techniques and scout troops that reflect the reality of the guerilla warfare that they were forced to fight during the Age of Apostasy.