The Sanguinary Guard are drawn from the greatest heroes the Blood Angels can boast, veterans proven in body, mind and spirit beyond any measure asked of a common battle-brother. In ages past they served as the personal bodyguard of the angel Sanguinius, and though their master is millennia dead they carry his legend still, so that to look upon them in battle is said to be as close as any mortal may come to seeing the primarch restored.
Each is encased in gleaming golden artificer armour and bears a death mask sculpted in the likeness of Sanguinius' own serene features, a solemn visage that turns the whole Guard into a host of identical angels. Winged jump packs bear them aloft and let them fall upon the foe like avenging spirits, and they wield weapons found nowhere else in such profusion, the wrist-mounted angelus boltgun paired with the glaive encarmine, a master-forged blade whose keen edge is a treasure of the Chapter. Some carry aloft the sacred banners of their order, rallying points that blaze with the Chapter's honour.
Where the Sanguinary Guard descend, the Blood Angels commit their full glory to the fight, for these warriors are unleashed only at the decisive moment. Their charge is both a weapon and a benediction, a reminder to every battle-brother of the impossible standard set by their primarch, and a promise to the enemy that the sons of Sanguinius have judged this battle worthy of their very finest.
Order of battle
