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One of the Ultima Founding's most unsettling Chapters of Primaris Marines, the Phantom Wolves are proud inheritors of the genetic legacy of the Wolf King. Founded during the early years of the Era Indomitus, the Phanton Wolves are blood brothers of the fabled Space Wolves and like them descendants of the Primarch Leman Russ. Cold and taciturn, they are nevertheless possessed by a powerful wyrd, a spiritual force or destiny that makes them excellent hunters.
The Phantom Wolves are masters of many forms of combat with each company having its own specialized role in the never-ending war against the enemies of mankind, the chapter pulls heavily from their homeworld of Hecate, a planet similar to the early Iron age Terra, where the inhabitants must survive amongst ferocious beast, deadly plants and sea beast of immense sizes.
Chapter History[]
Origins[]
The Phantom Wolves are a Loyalist Space Marine Chapter comprised entirely of Primaris Space Marines, created from the lineage of the Space Wolves and raised during the Ultima Founding of ca. 999.M41 by Archmagos Dominus Belisarius Cawl.
Most of the Chapter's more experienced Primaris Marines were originally part of the Greyshield forces that fought through the early years of the Indomitus Crusade.
The Space Wolves were kept largely unaware of what new Successor Chapters were created from their gene-seed by Belisarius Cawl, and once they learned of their existence, they were quick to dispatch a Wolf Priest to the new Chapter to teach them all about the AllFather.
The Baptism of Ash[]
The Phantom Wolves' first independent deployment came not long after mustering, responding to a desperate plea from the beleaguered Hive World of Vorlis Prime. A splinter of the Black Legion, led by the sadistic Sorcerer Malgrim the Necromancer, had breached the outer defenses, unleashing daemonic hordes and cultist uprisings within the lower hive. Arriving amidst the choking smog of burning promethium refineries, the newly blooded Chapter descended via drop pod and Thunderhawk directly into the heart of the chaos. Unburdened by conventional tactics, they fought with terrifying, silent efficiency. Intercessor packs methodically cleared hab-blocks, while Hellblasters incinerated daemonic manifestations. The defining moment came when a force led by the future High King Styrr Rhun cornered Malgrim in the derelict Cathedral of the Emperor Ascendant. Amidst shattered stained glass depicting the Master of Mankind, Steven faced the Sorcerer in single combat. Malgrim's warp-sorcery faltered against Styrr relentless, icy fury and the disruptive aura of the Phantom Wolves' collective wyrd. Styrr shattered the sorcerer's staff and claimed his head, causing the daemonic incursion to collapse. The victory was brutal and absolute, but the sight of teal-armored giants moving like ghosts through the ash-choked ruins, their only sounds the crunch of ceramite and the wet thud of chainswords, left the surviving Imperial defenders deeply unsettled.
The Scouring of Hecate[]
Responding to distress calls from the Pankallis Sub-sector, the newly-founded Phantom Wolves Chapter translated into the Hecate system to find the feral world enslaved by the brutal WAAAGH! of Gorgrak da Beast-Breaka. Ork rok-forts choked the orbitals, while the tribes below suffered under the Greenskin oppression known as the "Green Shadow."
The Chapter responded with chilling efficiency. Phantom Wolves Strike Cruisers shattered the orbital rok-forts with precise lance strikes before void shields could fully activate. Thunderhawks and drop pods deployed forces planetside, bypassing the chaotic Ork fleet. Warriors waged war across Hecate's lethal biomes. On the Frostplains, Gullfaxi Riders raided motor pools while Intercessor packs liberated enslaved villages. In the Valley of Thorns, Reivers and Wraith Scouts ambushed patrols like vengeful spirits. Within the Mountains of Mourning, Ghost Fangs shelled fortifications as Blood Claw packs assaulted mine complexes, supported by Iron Priests crippling machinery.
Enraged by his losses, Warboss Gorgrak rallied his fleet for a final stand. The High King lured the Greenskins into Hecate's dense asteroid belt. Hidden Phantom Wolves cruisers unleashed devastating crossfires, shattering Ork vessels. Steven then led a Terminator teleport assault onto Gorgrak's flagship bridge. Amidst brutal close-quarters combat, the High King beheaded the Warboss. The flagship exploded, its wreckage forming the permanent orbital debris field known as the Shattered Rings.
Plague War[]
Originally the chapter was a fleet based chapter, but having cleanse the world of Hecate from an ork WAAAGH. They were granted the vast world as their chapter planet and they were given the task of defending the region of space from the many enemies of mankind.
They settled quickly on Hecate, establishing their fortress-monastery and replacing their losses with new recruits drawn from the battle-hardened populace of their newly-claimed world.
It would not be long, however, before Guilliman called for their services once more. In Guilliman's absence from Ultramar, the Death Guard and Daemonic servants of Nurgle had invaded in force during what became known as the Plague Wars, devastating several worlds and penetrating as far as Macragge. The Phantom Wolves did not hesitate when word reached them, dispatching three full companies of their most experienced warriors to assist their brothers and liberate Ultramar.
All three companies fought bravely, distinguishing themselves in battle against Daemon hordes and Death Guard Heretic Astartes warriors alike.
Meeting the Vlka Fenryka[]
A Space Wolves strike cruiser, the Fenrisian Fury, responding to fragmentary astropathic echoes of the "Baptism of Ash" campaign and suspicious of this unknown "successor," translated into the system. Initial vox-hails were met with stoic silence from the Phantom Wolves fleet. Tensions escalated as the Space Wolves, led by the gruff Wolf Guard Ranulf Grimfang, demanded to land and inspect the new Chapter's right to bear Russ's blood. The standoff broke when Ork rok fragments, destabilized from the earlier battle, crashed near a major tribal gathering site in the Frostplains, disgorging a final wave of feral Greenskins. Seeing the tribes (the Chapter's future recruitment pool) threatened, the Phantom Wolves deployed. Grimfang, witnessing this from orbit and recognizing the savage, efficient tactics that mirrored Fenrisian styles – albeit executed with chilling silence – ordered his Blood Claws down. The two forces fought side-by-side, though not seamlessly. The Space Wolves roared challenges and howled battle-cries; the Phantom Wolves fought in near-silence, punctuated only by guttural snarls and the crack of bolters.
After the battle, amidst the carnage, Grimfang confronted the Phantom Wolves commander. Expecting defiance, he instead found warriors standing vigil over the tribal dead, their helmets removed, faces grim but marked by a shared, profound loss. A young Rune Priest accompanying Grimfang sensed the powerful, unique wyrd clinging to the planet and the Chapter – a spirit as deep and wild as the Aett's own, yet undeniably strange. Grimfang offered a grudging nod of respect, a shared swig of mjod, and a warning: "Ye fight well, Phantoms. But remember whose blood ye carry. The Allfather watches. And Russ will test ye." The Wolf Priest left behind began his work, finding the Phantom Wolves to be cold but fiercely receptive students of their own heritage. A wary, mutual respect was forged that day on the blood-soaked Frostplains.
Octarius War[]
As the Octarius War between Tyranids and Orks spilled into the Pankallis Sub-sector during the Era Indomitus, Space Marine Chapters rushed to defend Imperial space. Among them were the Phantom Wolves, whose strike force fought valiantly to repel Tyranid swarms in the Bianzeer’s Hollow System.
Pankallis, bordering the war-torn Octarian Empire, lay within the *Cordon Impenetra*—a defensive zone established by Inquisitor Nashir Sahansun to contain the xenos conflict. Despite fortifications and destabilization efforts, the Tyranids and Orks breached the cordon.
Former Inquisitor Fidus Kryptman’s strategy to pit Hive Fleet Leviathan against the Orks had disastrous consequences. The Tyranids consumed vast biomass, evolving into deadlier threats, while Orks grew stronger through endless warfare. The conflict’s escalation risked overwhelming nearby Imperial systems.
When Pankallis came under attack, Deathwatch forces from the Eye of Octos Watch Fortress were among the first responders. Reinforcements, including the Phantom Wolves, joined the desperate battle to prevent the xenos tide from ravaging the Imperium beyond the cordon.
The Siege of Draksgard[]
As the Octarius War spilled into the Grymnar Sector, the Phantom Wolves were called to defend the agri-world of Draksgard, a vital breadbasket for nearby Imperial systems. The planet had been overrun by a roving Ork horde led by Warboss Gorgrak Fist-Eata, whose forces descended upon the world’s equatorial farm-sprawls, intent on lootin’ and “krumpin’ anyfin’ shiny.”
The Phantom Wolves’ 4th Company, under Wolf Lord Torin Icefang, deployed with brutal efficiency. Icefang, a master of siege warfare, exploited the Orks’ disorganized advance, luring them into the Jericho Valley —a labyrinthine network of razorvine-choked canyons. There, Hellblasters and Eliminator squads picked off the greenskins from hidden vantage points, while Intercessors funneled the mobs into kill-zones saturated by plasma fire. The Orks’ crude armor and looted tanks proved no match for the Chapter’s Repulsor Executioners, which shattered Gorgrak’s gargantuan Stompa “Da Iron Krusha” with pinpoint volleys.
Gorgrak himself met his end at Icefang’s hands during the Battle of Emberfall, where the Wolf Lord severed the Warboss’s power klaw with his relic frostblade before impaling him through his rusted iron jaw. With their leader dead, the Ork remnants fled into the wastes, only to be hunted down by Outrider packs. Draksgard’s surviving populace hailed the Phantom Wolves as saviors, though Icefang’s after-action reports noted grimly: “The Orks were but the first storm. The true war is yet to come.”
The Fourth Tyrannic War[]
War erupted when Hive Fleet Leviathan, the largest Tyranid swarm yet, launched a surprise assault on the Segmentum Pacificus—the Imperium's vulnerable western flank—while Imperial forces were distracted by the Indomitus Crusade and Chaos incursions from the Great Rift . The invasion began with three massive tendrils (Nautilon, Promethor, and Grendyllus) emerging from below the galactic plane, silently consuming outlying systems like the Stanghalde and Iron Tower systems . Initial Imperial detection was delayed due to the Shadow in the Warp disrupting astropathic communications and bureaucratic inertia, allowing the Tyranids to overrun sectors like Asmodiox and Morpheum unchallenged . As bio-ships flooded the region, the Imperium mobilized elite "Solar Blades" task forces—led by figures like Captain Agemman and Kayvaan Shrike—to conduct guerrilla strikes, while designating fortified "Anchor Worlds" like Sanctum as fallback points . Despite these efforts, the tendrils advanced relentlessly toward Segmentum Solar, threatening Terra itself.
Kaltos Incursion[]
The Phantom Wolves' triumph on Draksgard was swiftly overshadowed. The frozen mining world of Kaltos sent desperate pleas: Tyranid bio-ships probed its orbitals. High King Styrr Rhun led the 1st Company's fleet against Hive Fleet Dagon in the void, while Phantom Lord Jarath Skallrog descended with the 3rd Company to defend the planet.
The Chapter fleet, spearheaded by the battleship Jörmungandr’s Fury, engaged Dagon's vanguard. Utilizing hit-and-run tactics, Fire Raptors strafed drone-ships, and Techmarines jury-rigged the Fury's nova cannon to cripple a bio-hive vessel. Yet, the Tyranids pressed towards Kaltos with unnatural focus, drawn by a psychic beacon.
Kaltos was a frozen hellscape. Hive Frostspire lay in ruins, besieged by the Rusted Brotherhood Genestealer Cult and their Tyranid allies. Loyalist PDF forces clung to the Sorrow’s End Bastion, overwhelmed by hybrid hordes.
Jarath Skallrog deployed five "Ghostpaw" Kill-Teams via drop-pod directly into the bastion's courtyards. Their disciplined bolter fire stemmed the cultist tide, granting the defenders respite. Simultaneously, the bulk of the 3rd Company struck the cult's stronghold in the Old Foundry Sector. Blood Claws ignited brutal street fights, luring hybrids into kill-zones where Aggressors unleashed promethium hellfire. Amidst the chaos, Jarath, accompanied by his massive Thunderwolf Winter and elite Phantom Guard Terminators/Headtakers ("Ice Reapers" & "Ghost Talons"), plunged into the toxic, flooded tunnels beneath the Foundry. Their target: the Patriarch lurking within the geothermal reactor nexus.
The reactor chamber pulsed with vile energy. The towering Patriarch awaited, its psychic malice palpable. Winter lunged, fangs tearing into chitin. Jarath followed, his relic blade Ice flashing. Battling the beast's mind-wracking blasts with primal wyrd-focus, Jarath drove Ice up through the Patriarch's thorax, pinning it to the reactor housing. Its death scream echoed psychically through the void. Above Kaltos, the Dagon fleet shuddered, synaptic control faltering. Bio-ships drifted, then abruptly banked away, accelerating northeast at impossible speed – as if reeled in by a greater, devouring hunger. The beacon was silenced, Kaltos saved, but Dagon had found a new, terrible prey.
Planet History: Hecate[]
Hecate is a feral world of stark contrasts and lethal beauty, a crucible forged in ice and blood. Its terrain is dominated by the vast, obsidian depths of glacial lakes, frost-bitten rivers carving paths through ancient rock, and the imposing, snow-capped Mountains of Mourning in the west, their peaks perpetually shrouded in mist. The central Frostplains are blanketed in hardy, frost-resistant grasses, sustaining massive herds of migratory prey-beasts. To the east lies the Valley of Thorns, a treacherous expanse choked with twisted, semi-sentient flora possessing needle-sharp barbs and predatory instincts. Tribes endure under an ever-present icy blue sky, its eerie, cold luminescence a constant reminder of Hecate’s unforgiving nature.
Hecate's recorded history begins with the Imperium, but its scars run deeper. Centuries before the Phantom Wolves' arrival, the planet trembled under the WAAAGH! of Gorgrak da Beast-Breaka. Drawn by the faint echoes of latent psychic energy radiating from the planet's unique geomantic leylines (later revered by the tribes as "Spirit Paths", Gorgrak's Ork horde descended like a green avalanche. The nascent tribes, fractured and technologically primitive, faced annihilation. The Orks defiled sacred sites, enslaved tribes for labor and sport, and began crude strip-mining operations in the Mountains of Mourning, seeking rare ores to fuel their war machine. The planet groaned under the weight of their savagery; forests were burned, rivers polluted, and the skies choked with the smoke of burning settlements. This period is remembered in tribal dirges as the "Time of Broken Skies" or the "Green Shadow." Just as hope seemed extinguished, the precursor fleet of the newly founded Phantom Wolves Chapter translated into the system. Recognizing both the strategic value of Hecate and the abhorrent xenos presence, the High King initiated a brutal void and planetary campaign. The ensuing war culminated in the Battle of Shattered Rings, where the Phantom Wolves shattered the Ork fleet within the planet's debris field, sending wreckage spiraling to form the dense orbital rings that now define Hecate's sky. Gorgrak himself met his end deep within the mountains, his skull claimed as a grim trophy. The Phantom Wolves, impressed by the tribes' resilience and ferocity even in defeat, chose Hecate as their homeworld, forging the Pact of Iron and Blood that binds them to its people to this day. The planet still bears the scars: craters from orbital bombardment, petrified forests in the Valley of Thorns where Ork chemical weapons fell, and the Scarred Lands – vast plains where nothing grows, testament to the war's fury.
Forest-Monastery[]
Scál forest[]
The Scál forest is carved into the Mountains of Mourning, a jagged western range whose peaks pierce Hecate’s eerie azure sky like serrated blades. The fortress-monastery merges with the mountain’s natural defenses: glacial cliffs sheathed in perpetual ice, labyrinthine caves forged by ancient rivers of black meltwater, and fissures venting geothermal fumes that distort the sky’s icy glow into spectral shapes. The outer walls are layered with adamantium mined from Hecate’s volcanic depths and reinforced with void shields whose energy signatures harmonize with the planet’s atmospheric radiation, cloaking the fortress in a shimmering haze reminiscent of the auroras that dance above the tribes’ hunting grounds.
The colossal structure of adamantium, granite and ceramite bristles with linked bolter turrets, missile launchers and static Plasma Cannons. The firepower collected there is vast, the kind of arsenal more suited to an Navis Imperialis battle group than a land-bound citadel
- The Shrouded Armory - Vaults buried beneath the mountain store the chapters relics.
- The Throne of Winter’s Edge - A command hub where the Chapter Master sits flanked by two Redemtor Dreadnoughts encased in ice-blue sarcophagi. The throne’s armrests interface directly with the fortress defense grid, allowing the commander to become one with the fortress itself.
Hecate’s Orbital Defenses[]
The Chapter’s fortress-monastery, Scál Keep, is carved into the Mountains of Mourning, but Hecate’s orbital defenses are equally formidable. The planet’s rings hide void-mines and torpedo platforms disguised as asteroids—relics from the Ork WAAAGH! the Chapter repelled decades ago. These are maintained by the Iron Priests, who blend tribal rituals with machine-cant. Before battle, the Phantom Wolves anoint these weapons with blood and howl invocations to “wake” their spirit-engines.
Hecate Culture[]
- Tribes - The tribes of Hecate form a primal, interconnected society bound by animist traditions, shared rituals, and the cryptic Hecate Tongue. Their lives revolve around surviving the planet’s lethal ecosystems and appeasing the spirits of the land. To them, Elara’s Veil—the crimson nebula dominating Hecate’s night sky—is a sacred shroud. They believe its scarlet light births the rains that nourish their crops and slake the thirst of their wolf-kin. The Imperium’s Ecclesiarchy deems this belief borderline heretical, but the Phantom Wolves tolerate it, viewing the Veil as a symbol of the Allfather’s unseen hand
- A Chapter of Ghosts - To Hecate’s tribes, the Phantom Wolves are spirits of the Taken—warriors who died as children during the Trials of the Triáin and returned as spectral enforcers of the Allfather’s will. When aspirants are chosen, families mourn them as if dead, burning effigies and singing dirges. This belief fosters reverence and fear: the tribes see the Chapter as both protectors and omen-bearers, their teal armor and wolf pelts marking them as incarnations of Hecate’s vengeful wilds.
- The Geas of Hecate - Central to tribal life is the geas, a fate-binding oath divined by the Druids. After birth, each child is brought before a Druid-psyker who carves Hecate runes into their flesh using a ritual blade. These runes—echoing the Chapter’s own pack markings—reveal a cryptic destiny: a warning, a forbidden act, or a pivotal choice. The Phantom Wolves view geases as warp-touched prophecies, guiding recruits through their trials. Many battle-brothers bear their geas as a scarred rune on their armor, a reminder of the path they must walk (or avoid).
- The Pact of Blood and Steal - The tribes and the Adeptus Mechanicus coexist under a rare alliance.
- Pelt Skins - The tribes of the feral world Hecate clad themselves in the pelts of great beasts slain in ritual hunts. These skins are not mere garb—they are sacred wards, infused with the primal essence of the creatures they once belonged to. The tribes believe the spirits of the apex predators linger within the pelts, their ferocity repelling the malignant warp-born entities that stalk the shadows of their world.
- Mabon - The world of Hecate has a ritual known as Mabon. Celebrated once every three years, on the third month on the third day. For three days the planet will hold tournaments, giant feast, drinking games and all kind of entertainment. They do this as a celebration to the All Father and the Emperor, thanking them for blessing their world with their Angels of Death.
- Aurora Lights - The Hecate people viewed the aurora as a powerful spiritual force. They performed shamanic rituals under the lights, such as drumming, chanting, and making offerings to communicate with the spirit world. The rhythmic beating of drums is believed to influence or summon the lights, while geas sought guidance for their communities.
- Tribal Roots - The Phantom Wolves recruit from Hecate’s warrior clans, where boys are hardened from birth to survive the planet’s perils. Clan culture revolves around hunting, combat, and worship of the Emperor as a distant "star-god" who commands the heavens. Only the fiercest youths are deemed worthy to ascend to the Chapter.
- Language - The tribes speak a dialect of Low Gothic laced with Fenrisian loanwords, but their written Runes of Ogham mirror the Chapter’s own Hecate runes. To outsiders, both are indecipherable—a mix of Celtic knotwork and wolf iconography. The Phantom Wolves use these runes for battle-rituals, etching them into armor, weapons, and even the hulls of their Strike Cruisers to invoke ancestral blessings.
Chapter Organisation[]
The Phantom Wolves reject the Codex Astartes organizational dictates, maintaining ten primary Great Companies instead. Each Great Company is analogous to a standard Chapter company but possesses significant autonomy. Functioning as largely independent entities within a semi-feudal system led by Phantom Lords, they are each responsible for their recruitment, maintenance, and operational conduct. A Great Company's name and iconography are derived from both its current Phantom Lord and the historical deeds of its lineage.
Officer Ranks[]
- High King (Chapter Master) - The High King rules as the spiritual and military pinnacle of the Phantom Wolves, chosen from among the Phantom Lords for embodying the frozen resolve of Hecate itself. His authority flows not from Terra, but from the tribes’ reverence for the Taken and the ancestral ghosts haunting Scál Keep. He bears the Geas of the Allfather – a sacred, scarred prophecy binding him to the crimson light of Elara’s Veil and the planet’s lethal wyrd. As guardian of the Chapter’s soul, he ensures the Cycle of Return is honored and the Pact of Blood and Steel endures.
- Phantom Lord (Captain) - A commander eternally marked by the Triáin Sigil – three interlocked wolf heads seared into his chestplate by the High King’s own hand. This brand signifies mastery over the Trials: Body in the Ashen Wastes, Mind in the Chamber of Thorns, Spirit with Scál Keep’s dead. He reads battlefield tides like scrolls of fate, directing drop-pod assaults with glacial precision. His authority stems from absolute devotion, for he alone bears the High King’s mandate to interpret their shared geas. To betray his command is to fracture the covenant of the reborn; to follow is to walk a path written in ice and tribal blood. Where his ghost-storm passes, only corpses and fulfilled prophecies remain.
- Battle leader (Lieutenant) - Battle Leaders are the Phantom Lord’s chosen executioners—veterans who survived the Trial of Body not through strength alone, but by listening to Hecate’s death-rattles in the wilderness. They lead flanking assaults, suicide missions, and hunting packs tasked with fulfilling Druid-prophecied kills. Each carries a Husk of Remembrance, empty seeds rattling like bones, to plant where brothers fall—ensuring no warrior is forgotten in the Cycle of Return. Their true power lies in their bond with the dead: in battle, they chant dirges that stir the spirits within the Ghost Pack (Wulfen), turning feral howls into coordinated slaughter. When a Phantom Lord falls, it is a Battle Leader who inherits their geas—and the oaths etched in their scar-flesh.
Specialist Ranks[]
- War Priest (Chaplain) - Clad in funereal black plate with a bone-white death-mask, they are the chapter’s bulwark against the Wulfen curse. Their eyes miss nothing – a twitch in a Blood Claw’s grip, a too-feral snarl in close combat. When the beast within threatens to surface, they enact the Dirge of Binding: chanting guttural mantras that resonate with the warrior’s Canis Helix, forcing the fury to recede. In extreme cases, they anoint the afflicted with glacial ice-runes and lead them to the Chamber of Frozen Screams beneath Scál Keep. There, the cursed endure soul-scouring trials to reclaim their minds. Should they fail, the War Priest administers the Emperor’s Mercy… and harvests the gene-seed before the change completes.
- Druid (Librarian) - Amidst the fury of battle, the Druid stands immovable – a beacon of terrible clarity in the maelstrom. Their eyes burn with Elara’s captured light, casting long shadows that twist like prophecy. They are the chapter’s **living compass**: hands tracing shimmering geas-lines onto warriors’ armor to guide packs toward fated victories, while whispered visions calm brothers haunted by ancestral dreams. When lines crumble, the Druid becomes the fulcrum of sacrifice. Palms outstretched, they paint a path through retreating ranks – not to safety, but to a fated stand.
- Iron Priest (Techmarine) - They hear the song in Scál Keep’s volcanic heart – a geothermal dirge only they can translate into **Spirit-Waking Cant**. Machines are not repaired; they are appeased with blood-anointings and canticles crooned in binary-adjacent growls. Their forge-altars birth cybernetic Thunderwolves with fangs that vibrate at frequencies shattering ceramite, and void-mines hidden in Hecate’s rings. Failed apprentices become thrall-drones, their minds wiped and bodies fused to mining rigs – eternal choristers in the mountain’s hymn of industry. To enter their sanctum is to stand inside Hecate’s still-beating heart.
Line Ranks[]
- Lokhos (Sergeant) - Veterans permanently scarred by the Trial of Mind’s psychic thorns. Their vocal cords resonate with subsonic frequencies that calm Blood Claw frenzy. In the crucible of combat, they lead not with orders but the Hymn of Shattered Effigies – a low chant synchronizing chainaxe swings into a lethal harvest rhythm. Each knows the death-dreams of their pack-brothers, steering charges toward fates that honor the Cycle. Their true weapon is the space between rage and resolve.
Squad Formations[]
- Phantom Guard (Wolf Guard) - The Phantom Guard are Hecate’s chosen executioners – veterans whose fate was etched into their flesh at birth by tribal seers. They walk the path foretold by their geas-rune, a luminous scar burning with the crimson light of Elara’s Veil. Chosen from those who endured the Trial of Spirit and returned with the whispers of Scál Keep’s dead in their veins, they serve as the Phantom Lord’s spectral hand. Their purpose is singular: to hunt and sever threads in the tapestry of fate, ensuring no prophecy woven by Hecate’s wyrd goes unfulfilled. To stand among them is to be a ghost bound to a ghost’s command.
- Phantom Guard Terminators (Wolf Guard Terminator) - Bulwarks sworn to stand where fate demands an unyielding wall. Their souls were tempered in the Ashen Wastes during the Trial of Body, forged in the planet’s cruelest crucible. They stride to war encased in glacial ceramite, Terminator plate forged in Scál Keep’s volcanic ice-furnaces and etched with geomantic wards. When the Veil’s omens decree that ground must be held at all costs, they answer.
- Phantom Guard Headtakers (Wolf Guard Headtaker) – killers who move like shadows through the Veil’s design. Marked from birth as "fate’s whisperers," they mastered the Trial of Mind by walking backwards through madness. Guided by Druid visions, they erase those who would unravel Hecate’s wyrd. Their strikes are not mere kills, but corrections in the Allfather’s grand saga. When they vanish, only the echo of a closed geas remains, and Scál Keep’s Chamber of Whispers grows quieter by one sigh.
- Ghost Fangs (Long Fangs) - Grey Hunters who carry heavy weapons as blood-debts to dead brothers. Each missile casing is engraved with a name; each shot guided by Druid visions. They fire from vantage points where ancestral whispers ride the wind. To be in their crosshairs is to be judged by every warrior who ever joined the Cycle.
- Grey Hunters - Veterans who forged their fury into a weapon of glacial precision. Where Blood Claws rage, Grey Hunters *calculate*. They advance in frost-lock sync - bolters firing in metronomic bursts that shatter enemy formations, followed by chainswords rising as one for the killing hymn. Their shields bear Geas-Wards that flare crimson when absorbing fate-tempting blows; their armor is a tapestry of scars earned holding impossible lines.
- Blood Claws - Newly ascended warriors burning with the cold fire of their second life. They fight with the desperate fury of those already mourned, chainaxes roaring as they charge headlong into gunfire. Theirs is a race against the geas-rune’s glow – seeking glorious death before fate claims them in ignominy. Lokhos veterans channel this frenzy with subsonic chants, turning suicidal impulses into precision strikes on armored weak points. To see them advance is to witness a hailstorm of ceramite and feral resolve.
- Wraithwings (Skyclaws) - Blood Claws with jump packs that scream like damned souls. They plummet like comets into high-value targets, detonating promethium reserves with their bodies. Survivors bear the Veil’s Brand – charred armor veined with frozen nebula-energy.
- Gullfaxi Riders (Swiftclaws) - Masters of lightning war mounted on armored bikes. They strike like Hecate’s wrath – volkite casters flash-freezing convoys before they vanish in blizzard screens. Wheels deploy Tupilaq Spirit-Traps: hex-charges that project phantom howls, confusing sensors and drawing enemies into kill-zones. Named for the mythic steed that outran thunder, they execute hit-and-fade raids so precise, outposts fall before alarms sound. Their only trace: corpses and tire-treads in ash.
- Wraithwings (Skyclaws) - Blood Claws with jump packs that scream like damned souls. They plummet like comets into high-value targets, detonating promethium reserves with their bodies. Survivors bear the Veil’s Brand – charred armor veined with frozen nebula-energy.
- Wraith Scouts (Scouts) - Clad in refraction-cloaked Phobos plate, they are battlefield ghosts. They slit throats with monomolecular Veil-Fangs, plant hex-charges that induce paralyzing dread, and vanish without trace. Enemy commanders find their quarry’s head replaced by a Geas-Rune Stone – the ultimate death warrant.
- Thunderwolf Calvary - Warriors soul-bonded to cyber-augmented Thunderwolves in Scál’s shadowed forges. They charge as a singular force of nature. Their howls resonate with the Dirge of the Bound, a subsonic pulse that cracks ceramite. Used to shatter fortress gates or hunt armored behemoths. To face them is to stand before Hecate’s unleashed winter.
- Wulfen - Warriors who lost the battle with the Canis Helix. Restrained by Geas-Collars (forged by Iron Priests with Druid runes), they are held in cryo-vaults beneath Scál Keep. When wars reach dire straits, War Priests release them via drop pod into enemy heartlands. Though feral, their rampages unconsciously fulfill prophecies – collapsing command bunkers foretold in geas-visions or slaying targets marked by fate. Retrieval teams follow, guided by the collars’ shrieking homing beacons. Those too far gone are given the Mercy… and their pelts become cloaks for new Blood Claws.
Specialist Units & Formations[]
The Druid, War Priest and Iron Priest who takes the place of a standard librarians, techmarines and chaplains in the the Phantom Wolves.
The Druids and Iron Priest wear the chapter's colors.
The War Priest who take the place of Chaplains wear the traditional black battle-plate with bone-white helms
- The Phantom Circle - The Phantom Circle comprises the chapters War Priest, Druids and Iron Priest, each trained to be an apothecary as well as being outfitted with an nesium gauntlet. As well, as performing the traditional duties of the standard codex roles based on their specialist skills and esoteric abilities.
- The Culann's Phantoms - A Culann's Phantoms is a Phantom Wolf warrior who has been hand selected by the High King himself, to be his personal bodyguards. This honor is typically handed out to the heroes of the chapter. The title of Culann's Phantoms carries great prestige within Phantom Wolves chapter. Culann's Phantoms sit next to the High King in feasts and ceremonies. A Culann's Phantoms may also be a ko, commanding a subdivision of the High King. If a High King is killed, Culann's Phantoms will avenge him. Once done, they will return to the chapters and be given new roles within the chapter by the newly appointed High King
Order of Battle[]
Headquarters[]
The Ten Great Companies[]
- The Champions of the AllFather
- The Howling Fury
- The Wraiths of Hercate
- The Eclipse Hunters
- The Void Claws
- The Blood Wardens
- The Sun Eaters
- The Serpent Slayers
- The Arawn Hunters
- The Son of Morrígan
Wulfen Curse[]
The Canis Helix’s curse is met with grim pragmatism by the Phantom Wolves. War Priests and Druids vigilantly monitor for the curse's onset, guiding afflicted brothers through rituals and solitary vigils to master the beast within.
- Containment and Deployment - When the change proves irreversible, the afflicted are secured with sacred Hecate-rune chains. Through the Rite of the Unbound Spirit, Druids bind their fractured minds to the Great Company’s wyrd and the spirit of Hecate itself. Contained within sanctified, shadowed holds aboard battle barges, these Wulfen become the Ghost Pack.
- Ghost Packs - Great Companies deploy their Ghost Packs only in extreme peril, unleashing them via drop pod or tunnel breach into isolated warzones – deep wilderness, derelict hive spires, or against overwhelming xenos swarms. Hidden from allied sight, they fight with feral savagery before vanishing into the terrain or being retrieved under cover. Only if the beast threatens the pack itself is the final mercy given.
Combat Doctrine[]
Close combat, lighting strike, drop pod assault, thunderhawk assault and shock and awe.
The Phantom Wolves are masters of predatory warfare, blending pack-hunting tactics with devastating melee aggression. Their doctrine prioritizes lightning assaults on enemy vanguards and deployment zones, crippling foes before they can consolidate. Mounted units spearhead these strikes, supported by elite specialists like the Phantom Guard Headtakers and Terminator squads teleporting into critical breaches.
Contrary to expectations of barbaric frenzy, Phantom Wolves fight in rhythmic cycles of violence and ritual. They erupt in bursts of adrenal fury—savage, disciplined charges that gut enemy formations—before withdrawing to chant haunting tribal dirges. These hymns, echoing across battlefields, honor the dead and stoke their own primal resolve. Witnesses describe their warfare as a paradox: as joyously brutal as it is mournful, reflecting the chimeric spirit of their Hecatean ancestors.
This unorthodox approach has drawn criticism from Imperial commanders. While the Chapter answers distress calls with ruthless efficiency, they rarely coordinate with allied forces, adhering instead to their own cryptic battle-rites. To the Phantom Wolves, autonomy is sacred; they fight as pack hunters, not soldiers bound by another’s strategy. This has saved entire sectors—and doomed alliances—in equal measure.
Chapter Gene Seed[]
The Phantom Wolves are proud genetic sons of the Primarch Leman Russ, and feel a strong sense of kinship with all who share the Wolf King's genetic legacy. Like their forefather, they exhibit the keen senses and instinctive aggression of born hunters, and though they rarely show the fiery emotions that mark out many of their kin, the Phantom Wolves struggle to contain their inner beast is no less intense.
In the Phantom Wolves and all other Primaris descendants of Leman Russ, this genetic anomaly lives on, and from the moment aspirants receive the Canis Helix, a lifelong physical and mental battle begins. Like unnumbered Space Wolves before them, any Phantom Wolves warrior may become overwhelmed by his inner savagery during the heat of battle, and descend into a berserk frenzy.
For some this state subsides with the ceasing of combat; for others the transformation is too complete, and they serve the Phantom Wolves as feral Wulfen from that point onwards.
Chapter Beliefs[]
The Phantom Wolves are bound soul-deep to the Spirit of Hecate, their lethal feral world. They view it as a vast, sentient entity encompassing the mountains, forests, beasts, and the life-giving energies flowing through them. This spirit manifests most powerfully through Elara’s Veil, the crimson nebula dominating their sky, whose light births the vital rains and whispers through the primal Wyrd (fate) of their world.
Central to their existence is the path of the "Taken." Tribal youths chosen for the Trials of the Triáin undergo a spiritual death. Those who survive and ascend become spectral enforcers – incarnations of Hecate’s vengeful wilds, forever severed from mortal life yet bound to the planet's spirit. They are protectors and feared omens.
Each warrior’s life is guided by their Geas, a sacred fate-mark carved at birth by tribal Druids. This warp-touched oath or warning is a thread in Hecate’s Wyrd, a binding destiny to embrace or avoid. Many bear the geas-rune as a scar on their armor.
Every Phantom Wolf carries a Husk of Remembrance – a leather pouch containing frost-resistant seeds (Iron-Grass or Mourning Blossom) from Hecate, consecrated by tribal Seers. After battle, fallen brothers are honored through the Sowing of Tears: a seed is planted in blood-soaked earth where each warrior died, symbolizing Hecate’s resilience and respect for the battlefield.
When a Great Company’s seed pouches empty (marking severe losses), the Rite of the Empty Pouch demands immediate return to Hecate. During the Voyage of Mourning, brothers reflect on their losses. On Hecate, survivors cleanse themselves at Scál Keep, then journey to sacred groves for a days-long ritual. There, they gather new seeds with Druids and Vates, mingling soil from ancestral lands with tears of remembrance. Only when every Husk is refilled does the Great Company redeploy – binding them eternally to their homeworld and fallen kin.
Death in service is honored through the Cycle of Return. Every warrior carries a Husk of Remembrance filled with seeds from Hecate. Upon a brother’s fall, these seeds are planted where he died – the "Sowing of Tears." This transforms the battlefield, symbolizing the fallen nourishing Hecate’s spirit. When a Great Company’s Husks empty, survivors perform the Rite of the Empty Pouch, returning home to gather new seeds mingled with sacred soil and tears. This eternal cycle binds the living, the dead, and the Chapter’s soul to their world.
Recruitment and the Trials of the Triáin[]
Selection[]
- Proving Worth to the Tribe - Nomination by Chieftains at the ages of 12–16, promising youths who have survived disasters like predator attacks or avalanches are nominated by tribal leaders. The Vates then evaluate their physical prowess and spiritual resilience.
- The Blooding - Candidates must complete a solo hunt, returning with a trophy such as a Hecate direwolf fang or Alluvium claw. Failure means death or exile; success marks the first step toward ascension.
- The Trials of the Triáin - Survivors of the Blooding endure the Triáin "threefold path", a series of lethal trials to earn the Chapter’s three ritual scars and the right to bear the Triáin Wolf icon.
- Trial of Body – The Hunt Eternal - Aspirants are stripped of gear and cast into Hecate’s deadliest regions. They must survive for 30 Terran days, evading or slaying apex predators like venomous mud demons or armored Pangolin bears.
- Trial of Mind – The Chamber of Thorns - Aspirants enter a labyrinth of psychoactive black-barked trees whose thorns induce vivid hallucinations. They must navigate the maze while resisting visions of their deepest fears or past failures.
- Trial of Spirit – The Wailing Veil - Aspirants drink a hallucinogenic brew brewed from toxic lake algae, then are sealed in a cavern filled with the bones of fallen Phantom Wolves. They must commune with the Chapter’s ancestors, earning their approval through visions of battle or cryptic trials.
Chapter Fleat[]
- Jörmungandr’s Fury (Battle Barge)
- Spirit of Triáin (Strike Cruiser)
- Serenity Vengeance (Strike Cruiser)
- Veils Shadow (Strike Cruiser)
- Forest Fury (Strike Cruiser)
- Elara's Gaze (Strike Cruiser)
- Howling Banshee (Strike Cruiser)
- Ghost Talon (Strike Cruiser)
- Void Stalker (Strike Cruiser)
- Thunderhawks
- 13 Escorts Ships
- 8 Cruisers
- 35 Thunderhawk Gunship
Chapter Appearance[]
Chapter Colors[]
The Phantom Wolves don power armor in a striking caribbean turquoise hue, accented by dark gray backpack, shoulder pads and arms. Their helmets and emblems are a crisp white, with pink eye lens. The armour is often adorned with tokens taken wolves, such as pelts, tails and teeth. As one might expect from a Chapter with such disregard for authority and the dictates of the Codex Astartes, the iconography used by the Phantom Wolves is an eclectic mix with few hard and fast rules. There is a general colour code, and warriors usually bear their pack markings on their right shoulder plate.
Great Company Markings[]
Upon ascension to a Great Company, each warrior undergoes the Ceremony of the Shared Oath. A Druid etches the company's unique rune onto their right knee using a ritual blade. The runes glow faintly with Elara's Veil-light during battle, visible only to brothers.
Pack Marking[]
Fast attack units pack markings is two black triangles with a orange sky and a black diamond in the center. Are used to indicate close support packs and are bore by Blood Claws, bikers, assault intercessors with jump packs and Inceptors.
Battleline units pack markings is a single orange crescent triangle with a black sky, are emblazeo on the pauldron of gray hunters and intercessors.
Fire support packs compromising long fangs aggressors and hell blasters have their unit iconography display two orange arrow pointing downwards on a black field.
Scouts and Reivers scout pack markings, with iconography displays two small orange triangle, one at the bottom and an upside down on above the other triangle.
Veterans, Phantom Guard, and Ancients all replace the battlefield tactical role iconography with bespoke pack-marking designs in a combination of orange, black and pink on their right shoulder plate.
A Phantom Lord may use similar designs in their own personal heraldry.
Pack Runes[]
Hecate runes looks similar to Celtic and early medieval runic alphabet used to write the early Irish language on Old Earth. Outsiders cannot penetrate the meaning of the specific symbols, but they are never used elsewhere in the Hecate tongue and do not seem to be numbers.
Chapter Badge[]
The Phantom Wolves sigil is a large white wolf chasing its tail in a circle, against a black sky.
Relations[]
Allies[]
Enemies[]
Notable Quotes[]
By: Phantom Wolves[]
About: Phantom Wolves[]
 Space Wolves Successor Chapters 
| |
|---|---|
| Ultima Founding | Abyss Stalkers • Ascetics of Korit • Astral Bears • Beasts Undaunted • Blades of Morkai • Blood Predators • Blood Seekers • Bloodied Hunters • Cernachian Wardens • Crimson Prowlers • Dawn's Wolves • Dusk Howlers • Dusk Stalkers • Fangs of Fenrir • Fangs of Vidar • Ghost Wolves • Golden Boars • Gore Wolves • Grey Wolves • Greymanes • Hartlords • Iron Beasts • Kraken Reavers • Kraken Sons • The Mastodons • Maws of Fenris • Moonlight Stalkers • Night Wolves • Painted Hounds • Phantom Wolves • Red Wolves • Sky Wolves • Stone Bears • Tempest Fangs • Tempest Wolves • Void Selkies • Waveborn • West Khan Wolves • Wild Hunt • Wild Wolves • Wolf Knights • Wolfborn • Wolves of Blood and Bone • Wolves of Redemption • Wolves of Yggdrasil • |
| Extinct | Corpse Wolves • |
| Renegades | Bloodborn Wolves • † Skyrar's Dark Wolves • |