---
title: 'Warhammer 40K Expert Explains Blood Angels and Armageddon'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=Lg-tPJ2A6mI'
video_id: 'Lg-tPJ2A6mI'
date: 2026-06-17
duration_sec: 490
---

# Warhammer 40K Expert Explains Blood Angels and Armageddon

> Source: [Warhammer 40K Expert Explains Blood Angels and Armageddon](https://youtube.com/watch?v=Lg-tPJ2A6mI)

## Summary

The video introduces the Blood Angels, a chapter of Space Marines in Warhammer 40k, focusing on their tragic flaws—the Red Thirst and the Black Rage—and their connection to the planet Armageddon. It explains their unique combat style, key characters like Commander Dante and Mephiston, and the significance of Armageddon as a war-torn industrial world.

### Key Points

- **Blood Angels Origins** [1:00] — The Blood Angels are one of the oldest Space Marine chapters, tracing back to the Great Crusade and led by Primarch Sanguinius.
- **The Red Thirst** [2:08] — The Red Thirst is a genetic flaw causing an uncontrollable desire to drink blood, often leading to berserk states in combat.
- **The Black Rage** [3:03] — The Black Rage is a psychic flaw triggered by Sanguinius's death, causing afflicted marines to relive his final moments and lose sanity.
- **Commander Dante** [4:01] — Commander Dante is the current chapter leader, one of the oldest Space Marines at about 1,500 years old.
- **Mephiston** [4:25] — Mephiston is the chief librarian who has controlled the Black Rage, gaining immense psychic power.
- **Battlefield Tactics** [4:47] — The Blood Angels are a fast assault army specializing in close combat, using jump packs and drop deployments.
- **Armageddon's Importance** [6:07] — Armageddon is an industrial world crucial for arms manufacturing, frequently invaded by Orks and Chaos.

## Transcript

and it's left them with this
allconsuming desire to drink blood.
Really don't like people knowing that.
Hi, welcome to IGN. I'm Arbiter and I
talk about Warhammer on the internet and
I'm here today to talk about the space
marines who are the cover stars of the
new edition of Warhammer 40k. But the
universe is a big place and whatever
happens,
you will not be missed.
So, if you're relatively new to
Warhammer, you might be wondering what's
going on here. Why are the Space Marines
on the cover of this box not blue? After
all, in every big Warhammer release of
the last few years, they've been blue.
So, why are these ones red? Well, today
we're going to talk about the Blood
Angels, a completely different chapter
to the Ultramarines. We will not be
mentioning Ultramarines again in this,
if I can help it.
So, who are the Blood Angels? The Blood
Angels are one of many chapters of Space
Marines. Space Marines are divided down
into armies that are pretty
self-sufficient of about a thousand
marines called chapters. Each of them
can pick their own battles, go where
they like, and fight wherever they wish.
The Blood Angels are just one of them,
but they're one of the oldest ones. Like
the Ultramarines. Ah, damn. I mentioned
them again. Like the Ultramarines, they
can be traced back to the very start of
the Space Marines, to the Emperor's
Great Crusade back before the Horus
Heresy. Back then, they were the ninth
legion of the Legion Estates, led by
their primarch, Sanguinius, often
considered one of the most honorable and
noble primarchs. But he was also
conflicted, worried about some
interesting flaws in the genetic makeup
of his sons. Obviously, the big one
there was the massive angel wings
sticking out of his back. That's not the
sort of mutation the Imperium usually
tolerates, but I guess he was a
primarch. But amongst his sons, who
uniformly appeared to be these
beautiful, noble, honorable Marines, uh
there were some slightly more hidden
problems.
Anyway, to talk about those, we have to
answer a couple of questions.
Particularly, what is the red thirst and
what is the black rage? These are the
two things that kind of define the
chapter in a lot of ways. These are two
flaws, one of them genetic and one of
them kind of psychic, that the blood
angels have been plagued by for
millennia. The red thirst is a genetic
flaw associated with the omasia gland,
which is one of the things all space
marines have. It lets them eat the
brains of their enemies to find out what
the enemy was thinking. Very good space
magic there. Anyway, the one in the
Blood Angels is a bit weird and it's
left them with this allconsuming desire
to drink blood. This was evident from
the very earliest days of the Blood
Angels. It was something they tried to
cover up back when they were a legion.
They really don't like people knowing
that and it can sometimes lead the Blood
Angels to lose control, especially in
close combat. They can devolve into a
sort of berserk anim animalistic state.
The second of their flaws is the black
rage. This only started at the end of
the Horus heresy after their primarch,
Sanguinius, was killed by Horus. Those
afflicted are tormented by visions of
the death of Sanguinius. So much they
cease to be able to tell their visions
from reality and again devolve into a
sort of berserk mindless state. While
the Red Thirst is somewhat controllable,
the Black Rage usually leaves those
Space Marines unable to function within
the normal restrictions of the chapter.
And so they're grouped into something
called a death company. Their armors
painted black with big red crosses on
it, and they're sent into the heart of
the enemy to hopefully seek a noble
death in battle. Both of these dark
flaws are things that the Blood Angels
and all of their successor chapters have
been struggling with and trying to hide
for 10,000 years. They're kind of like
the tragically flawed but beautiful Anne
Rice style vampires of the Warhammer 40k
setting.
The current leader of the chapter is
Commander Dante. Usually considered to
be one of the oldest Space Marine
commanders. Currently in the 41st
millennium, he's reaching about 1,500 by
this point. And apparently he's he's
really feeling it. He's assisted by his
chief librarian. That's sort of the the
head psychic space wizard of the
chapter. Mephiston, the lord of death.
Mephiston's an interesting character.
He's the only space marine to have
managed to sort of control and maybe
transcend the black rage, and his
exploits usually center on trying to
find a way to reverse it or cure it or
make it more manageable for the rest of
the blood angels. That struggle has also
given him incredible psychic power.
So, what makes the Blood Angels unique
on the battlefield, or at least
different to those blue guys? The Blood
Angels generally have been influenced by
their flaws and their history with
Sanguinius. Mostly, they're a close
assault army, much more than a lot of
other space marines. The Blood Angels
want to be in melee. They want to be in
the thick of it, usually where they can
let their rigid control off the leash a
little bit and allow that bloodthirsty
vampire to do a bit of the work for
them. And unlike the I guess combined
arms approach of some more rigidly
controlled chapters, the Blood Angels
have sort of built their whole chapter
around this idea. They're a fast assault
army making use of jump packs or drop
deployments trying to get into the heart
of the enemy as quickly as possible.
Many of their specialist units are close
combat units. We've already mentioned
the death company wading into combat in
the hopes of reaching some sort of
honorable end, but veterans of the
chapter can be recruited into the
Sanguinary Guard. Originally the
bodyguard of Sanguinius, now the
bodyguard of the chapter commander. Upon
elevation to the Sanguinary Guard, a
blood angel casts aside their old name
and personality and adopts instead a
death mask with the visage of Sanguinius
on it. Of course, the new box is called
Armageddon. So, we should probably ask
what is Armageddon other than a classic
example of 40k naming conventions.
Armageddon is an industrial world in the
northern segmentum solar in the
Imperium. It's an incredibly important
industrial world because it manufactures
arms and armaments for the astromeitarum
who defend the Imperium. It's also a
world that has come under threat
constantly in the history of 40k. And as
11th edition rolls out, it's coming
under threat again. Armageddon is
something of an unlucky planet. It sits
in a region of warp storms, which means
it has in the past been invaded by chaos
quite a lot. And it also used to be
quite an important orc home world back
in the days of the great crusade, which
means that massive orc armies,
particularly those under the command of
Garzaclethra, have been drawn back to
the planet again and again over the
years. is and over those many many wars,
lots of different Space Marine chapters
have become involved in defending
Armageddon. Usually leaving with some
sort of debt of honor, some sort of role
they've adopted as defenders of
Armageddon. The Blood Angels deployed to
Armageddon during the Second War for
Armageddon, which was the first time it
had been invaded by orcs for a while, in
which Dante commanded a joint force of
blood angels, ultramarines, and
salamanders. So, the return to the
planet isn't that unexpected. Like a lot
of chapters, they feel they have an
obligation to defend this world every
time it comes under attack. Within the
history of 40k, this new box set looks
like it's going to be maybe the fourth
war for Armageddon, which is actually
like the seventh or eighth invasion of
Armageddon. But if you'd like to find
out what all those wars were and who was
doing the invading, well, I handily have
just made a video on that. Head over to
Arbiteran on YouTube if you'd like me to
break down all the different wars for
Armageddon for you. And of course, if
you're still wondering how to get into
Warhammer, I've made a few videos for
IGN on the subject, and there's a wealth
of videos over on my channel. Have fun
defending the planet of Armageddon from
a bunch of orcs. Again,
>> there is only war.