If Dark Angels behaved like knights, they would be raping and pillaging human settlements, loyal and traitor, while behaving like psychotic bullies happily practicing extortion and murder. Did I mention rape? There was a lot of that too. The idea of knights being noble chivalric warriors is complete romanticized bullshit. Chivalry in fact was invented by the Church just so Knights would stop raping and pillaging Catholics, but instead rape and pillage Pagans and Muslims. It didn't work out so well and Knights continued to kill at their discretion. The only Astartes that behave like the common knight are Chaos Space Marines. There's also no difference between a Crusader and a Knight. A Crusader was typically just a Knight who wasn't sacking local villages, but sacking those on the other side of the Mediterranean (only when the Crusade didn't backfire and say, burn Rome down).
I am talking about the ''romanticized'' version of knights. Where they act more like the good guy knights from the movies. Chaos is more like the vikings of old, or if you will the ''bad'' knights that cant keep it in their armourd pants.
Don't think it's fair to list one as "obedient" and one "cool" as I'd say many of the "obedient" are "cool." Ultramarines get a lot of flack, but if I weren't a Space Wolf I'd probably make one.
The ''obedient'' are the by the book, somewhat predictable and in many cases pretty cool yes. But the ''cool'' ones are the ones that pull tactics out of their arse and they work, the ones that seem to do things at random in battle and like in the case for the Black Templars,,, the only tactic they need is charge!
Still seems like a very biased decision for labels, a more apt description would be "Codex adherent" and "Non-Codex Adherent." Granted, even some of the Codex adherent have deviations but they usually aren't glaring. Would rather have an Ultramarine at my back than a Black Templar, the Wolf is dangerous but only because his ferocity hides his cunning....if someone is charging you need an anvil upon which to strike the hammer. Nothing wrong with the BT's charging about and distracting the bad guys from the real dangers
I know the way i describe the codex compliant and the not compliant is not wery ''nice'' But id rather have Black Templars at my back than an ultramarine, or a salamander. Where the Templars tend to charge at any enemy they see, they still watch your back, and they are amongst the best mele fighters you can find, Where the Salamander will fall back to save some civilians, and the Ultramarine will try to stay away from mele, If you have Templars with you,,, just charge and make the enemy you are fighting feel like they aint even a challenge. If you have read Helsreach you know what i mean, Even if you have 10 templars vs hundreds of orks, they still charge and make sure to watch each others backs at the same time. Where Salamanders will stay put to keep some humans safe, the templars will ''save them'' by choping the head of the leader. Where Ultras use their fancy tactics, Templars just charge. Where Space Wolfs drink propper Beer,,,, Well gues we only have some fancy wine, Care to share some?
Both sides of conflict did rape and pillage, Lets not be bigots here. Knights were usually highborn people, plebe rarely reached knighthood. So they would not be pillaging their villages because they would receive taxes from their lands. There is some difference between a crusader and a knight. And i don't remember the crusades burning rome down tbh. Templars do use tactics, they don't just charge. They have a preference for close combat true, but as any astartes, they employ a wide variety of tactics. They have a great sense of personal honor and great camaraderie. Even more evident due to the fact that an Initiate trains their neophyte until he becomes a full fledge battle brother. So one can assume the bonds between them are strong. They may seem arrogant and hard headed but all sons of Dorn are a bit like that. Unfortunately they do only care about killing the enemy, because they know they are a weapon. "The Emperor extends His will to us when we destroy the wicked and impure to reconquer the galaxy in His name. The Emperor leads the galaxy to righteousness, and thus we must petition for His judgement on the wicked... for it is judgement without mercy." High Marshal Helbrecth. So Helping the common man is with SW and Sallys. The only problem Ultramarines had was Matt Ward. Fortunately he is long gone, and with time the stigma against ultras will fade. Also the new FW ultra tranfers are wicked.
No. They didn't rape and pillage their own lands, they did that to nearby regions and partook in petty wars over borders, which was less large battles of Knights killing each other such as the War of the Roses, and more riding into a village and putting everyone to the sword. The Crusaders were even worse then the standard knight at times, like when they engaged in cannibalism at Ma'arra, where they literally ate babies. Plus Chivalry only applied to Nobility, and peasants were free game for everyone. Also I was thinking about the Fourth Crusade and the sacking of Constantinople after bungling some payments that led to a lot of civilians being slaughtered. The Normans meanwhile went and sacked Rome in 1080 and burned it down to the ground. The Muslim warriors were not nearly as brutal as Crusaders. There's also the Hedge companies, such as White Company, which massacred an entire city and destroyed most of its population in the process.
The charging the enemy is one of the templars greatest tactics (atleast for grimaldus) but they will charge the enemy rather than fall back, or atleast they only fall back when they figure out that they are about to be ower run. They do care about civilians and all servants of the Emperor, but you need to earn their respect to see it propper. Just as they seem arrogant (what astartes other than salamanders dont) and hard headed (Dorn special) their tactics are just to different from the codex chapters. They have something not many chapters have, Propper brotherhood between marines, Where some may see their trainers from their neophite days as father figures or atleast big brother. They will defend their brothers even while in close combat risking taking damage. And what foe does not feel fear when the Templars rise up and charge them...
Again everyone did have petty border disputes not only knights, even farmers have petty border disputes. Not wanting to stray off topic this is not the place for this kind of talk. But do have a read at this: http://www.thearma.org/essays/Crusades.htm#.VTAOR_nF-YI Both sides are guilty. Lets bring this back on topic.
