# Blood Pact ranks?



## forkmaster (Jan 2, 2010)

Im wondering of the rank equivalence of Blood Pact, as opposite of Imperial Guard ranks? Im now one rank is etogaur is kinda like a general, and that the rank of Pater is kinda like a Captain or Colonel as more than one have been mentioned by being one, Pater Sin being the most famous of them. What other ranks and names do you know of?


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## Sacred Feth (Jan 13, 2011)

There are ranks called demogaur and sirdar.


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## MEQinc (Dec 12, 2010)

Sirdar - Sergeant
Damogaur - Captain
Demigaur - Colonel
Etogaur - General

The Pact also use Magir which means something like `sir`.

Pater is more of a religious rank and not one that is present in the Blood Pact.


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## forkmaster (Jan 2, 2010)

MEQinc said:


> Sirdar - Sergeant
> Damogaur - Captain
> Demigaur - Colonel
> Etogaur - General
> ...


Yes magir Ive heard from time to time! Why thank you for answering.  Rep + for that.


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## AngronRedAngel (Jan 29, 2011)

*Blood Pact ranks,titles,beliefs, and quirks.*

In the Gaunt's Ghosts series, there are other mentioned ranks too, most specifically in Blood Pact (go figure). 

the main antagonist is Damogaur (guard equivalent of colonel) Balthazar Eyl. The Pact unit he comes to attack with numbers around 50, though losses were taken in transport. They are sent to kill an Etogaur ( the guard equal to a General) i cite this from Traitor General, where a captured guard lord general and the Etogaur meet, and he tells the imperial commander that his Pact rank is that of a general, not a colonel, as guard intelligence believed. 

another rank they bring up is Katogaur, and basing this on the fact there were a few in the 50 man strike team, i would hazard a guess at a rank near Corporal. I would agree on the rank of Sirdar as a sergeant, keeping in mind ranks like Vice-Sirdar may only distinguish something like "Master Sergeant".

Hope someone sat through that and enjoyed it a little
Magir may not mean "Sir" as many chaos foot troops seem to call other soldiers Magir, regardless of rank. Thinking like a devotee of the dark gods though, it could have a meaning more related to another "holy" or "enlightened" follower of the gods, rather than just a captured slave.

In the end though, the ultimate rank in the Blood Pact is "Gaur" as most subordinate ranks seem to be based upon the Archon's (Urlock Gaur) surname. 

If your naming your officers in your bloodthirsty army, theres a couple important details, if detail is what you enjoy (cause if your gonna do it, may as well do it right !) 
The soldier's surname is said first, followed by his rank. Like the blood pact colonel Balthazar Eyl, who was addressed himself as "Eyl Damogaur". This remains true through all ranks except the supreme commander, Urlock Gaur.

Notes on the Pact :

1) The Blood Pact is a trained cult army. Not the usual crazies that rush into Imperial guns. Modeled on the Imperial Guard and drawing many members from there, they are better trained, equally equipped, and much more fearless than 99% of Guard armies. 

2) They are worshippers of Khorne, the Blood God. So armies like the Word Bearers (chaos undivided) Thousand Sons (Tzeentch) Death Guard (Nurgle) will not take kindly to them. My World Eaters army though, meshs well, as they also follow Khorne. (Who says Chaos doesnt have politics ?) Unlike any other Khorne army however, the Pact uses "Blood Witches" limited psychic men and women, who use blood (strange...) to fuel their abilities. Khorne usually frowns upon the weakness of sorcery, but this seems to be alright with him for some reason. Most of the powers seem to be non offensive directly, including traps in corpses, possessing a person with blood left over from a battle they escaped, and even temporary demonic possession of a sacrificed soldier, using their blood to fuel the entry of the daemon and the body to host it, albeit for a short time.

3)They are still human. To a point at least. Though they are some of the best foot troops in the chaos armies, they are not Traitor Legion marines, and cant just be thrown into the mayhem and expect to survive. They are supposed to be the most tactically brilliant army besides the Astartes though, so use them like a Guard army that doesnt have the one weakness of the Imperials : Morale.


Edited by KingOfCheese: Red text is for moderators use only.


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## MEQinc (Dec 12, 2010)

AngronRedAngel said:


> Magir may not mean "Sir" as many chaos foot troops seem to call other soldiers Magir, regardless of rank. Thinking like a devotee of the dark gods though, it could have a meaning more related to another "holy" or "enlightened" follower of the gods, rather than just a captured slave.


Perhaps it is used similarily to 'comrade' during the Russian Revolution? To denote likeminded individuals and trusted accomplieces? Though that would make it strange that they occassionally call various unidentified Ghosts that.



> In the end though, the ultimate rank in the Blood Pact is "Gaur" as most subordinate ranks seem to be based upon the Archon's (Urlock Gaur) surname.


I'm not really sure that Gaur is a rank. Obviously he leads the Pact but is not a role I believe another could aspire to, nor one that could be passed to another. I would imagine that the Archon would have another title to mark his mastery of the Blood Pact, or perhaps it simply goes unsaid.



> 1) The Blood Pact is a trained cult army. Not the usual crazies that rush into Imperial guns. Modeled on the Imperial Guard and drawing many members from there, they are better trained, equally equipped, and much more fearless than 99% of Guard armies.


Training standards are not necessarily higher in the Pact than in the Guard. Pacters often appear better trained but this is often due more to field experience and intelligent commanders than actual training the soldiers recieve. Furthermore there are several instances where the Pact behaves in a manner that is down right stupid. Far worse than most of the Guard seen in the novels. 

Equipement in the Pact is often second-hand and scavenged and while it is generally perfectly functional it is far from ideal. They also seem to lack some of the more technologically advanced peices of equipement. 



> 2) They are worshippers of Khorne, the Blood God.


Do you have a source for that? Obviously blood plays an important role in their religous and cultural practisces but I do not recall reading any specific mentions of mono-khorne worship. I always took them to be undivided worshipers leaning towards khornate tendencies. 



> 3)They are still human. To a point at least. Though they are some of the best foot troops in the chaos armies, they are not Traitor Legion marines, and cant just be thrown into the mayhem and expect to survive. They are supposed to be the most tactically brilliant army besides the Astartes though, so use them like a Guard army that doesnt have the one weakness of the Imperials : Morale.


I think you might be over-hyping them slightly here. While I do love my Pact army comparing them to Astartes (even unfavourably) is stretching it. They blunder into the most hideous and obvious of traps with the same frequency they create awesome ploys. They most certainly do have morale problems, the difference between them and the Guard potrayed in the novels is that those Guardsmen are novices whereas many of the Pacters are hardened killers and psycopathic murders. This leads to different morale problems (like running directly at the front gate of the fortress you had prior access to but didn't a) hold or b) destroy).


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## hailene (Aug 28, 2009)

I can't do fancy quotes within quotes, so bear with me, people.

The Lexicanium says they're followers of Khorne. I myself do not remember reading that they follow Khorne. I don't believe it's ever stated so be so. While they have a tendency to charge (sometimes superior positions), they also have a cool efficiency at times that makes me want to say they don't worship Khorne exclusively. 

Training standards for the Blood Pact emulate Guard standards. Many Blood Pact are actual Guard traitors who then take their skills and train more Blood Pact. There are several mentions of the Blood Pact being every bit as good and trained as their Guard counterparts. Perhaps more so, as usually the ones saying so are part of the Tanith first, and they seem to be a few steps ahead of your average Guard unit.

Last note about the poor planning, a certain former Blood-Pact general mentioned that Guar is a bit impetus. He'd rather win a costly victory now then a cheaper one later. He says that's why he transferred his allegiance to Sek because Sek was more tactical and less wasteful.

That's probably why they charged straight across an open courtyard a couple of times.


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## Angel of Blood (Aug 18, 2010)

Sagitar Slaith was certainly a follower of Khorne, as he and his men openly worshipped his name on Phantine when the Laristel teams were infiltrating. And then again on Gereon i believe they mention Khorne at some point.

And i agree that you have over hyped them quite a bit in saying they are second to the Astartes in terms of tactics and brilliance. They are definetly better than some Guard armies, but there are also plenty of guard armies who are able to and do beat the Pact with determined efficency in almost every encounter with them (the Tanith obviously being one of them) They are certainly well trained and likely one of the best chaos armies (the Legions aside of course). But better than all the Adeptus Soritas and notable guard regiments such as the Tanith, Mordians, Cadians, Death Korps etc is pushing it.


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## Engindeer (Dec 1, 2010)

A little tidbit:

The Blood Pact is infamously known for wearing grimacing masks, known as 'grotesques'. Often they have exaggerated features like a large leering grin and a pointed nose and chin.

They are commonly colored black or red for the rank and file, but higher ups may have silver- or gold colored masks.


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## forkmaster (Jan 2, 2010)

If Im not mistaken, World Eaters are futured in the second Ghost-novel, and at some point (the short story when Caffran becomes the hero who makes a Blood Pact guy and all his soldiers committ suiced). If Im not misstaken it is mentioned he was a Khorne follower and the best way to pleas his lord was the way of death, even if that meant killing himself and his own men.


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## AngronRedAngel (Jan 29, 2011)

Perhaps I miswrote something in my last go around. I did not mean to imply that the pact were a better trained force than above mentioned imperial forces, but simply that, Traitor Legions and demon armies aside, they were among the best armies chaos usually puts out.
i re read some parts of the ghosts books, and the pact does have most of the cooler toys that the guard can deploy. theres instances where they field meltas plasma guns and a couple time captured baneblades. The Pact surely cant be considered a sub-standard force if they are able to defeat tank units and capture the super heavies.

and a small foot note : pretty much all the gaunts ghosts books feature the Blood Pact on the losing side of the equation from the outset. These planets are held by the remaining garrison forces left behind and have to contend with huge amounts of imperial troops and vehicles. they do a pretty good job if you consider the odds against them.


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