Sangheili Field Marshal

Sangheili Field Marshal
Function:	Field operations command
Species:	Sangheili
Affiliation:	Covenant
Ministry:	Ministry of Fervent Intercession
Other role(s):	Command of full-scale ground operations; Command of special forces strike teams (atypical);

"With this sacrament of blood, we journey into the Divine Beyond."

— Sangheili Field Marshal's mantra.

Field Marshal is a high Sangheili rank within the Zealot order.^[1]^[2] As Zealots,^[3] Field Marshals formerly served under the authority of the Ministry of Fervent Intercession, unlike most Covenant military forces who reported to the Ministry of Resolution.^[1]

Designation

Role

Field Marshals command large-scale ground forces in widespread field operations, such as in full-scale planetary invasions. Field Marshals outrank Generals, who are in command of specific groups of infantry; in some cases, a General may report directly to his Field Marshal.^[1] Field Marshals command ultimate authority on the battlefield, reporting directly to their fleet's Supreme Commander.^[3] Despite their important command position, they are frequently present on the front lines in areas of importance and directing operations from there, rather than from fortified positions or spacecraft.

Some Field Marshals lead small strike teams composed of lower-ranking Zealots for operations that require both skill and precision. These operations are generally intended to search for and retrieve artifacts of value to their religion, or to eliminate targets to turn the tide of battles.^[4]^[5]

Appearance

The Sangheili Field Marshal's armor design is similar to that of most other Sangheili warriors. For example, the armor resembles a combination of the Zealot's and the Sangheili General's. The helmet is nearly identical to the Zealot helmet, save for two spike-like protrusions at the top of the helmet. The core body piece of the armor is identical to the Zealot armor. The shoulder pauldrons are almost identical in structure and shape to the General's, although the ornamentation is blue rather than yellow. The Field Marshal's armor has tones and hues of dark violets and blues.

In-game information

Halo: Reach

Unlock: Achieve Lt. Colonel.
Description: "With this sacrament of blood we journey into the Divine Beyond."

Trivia

In Halo: Reach's Armory, the name of this rank is misspelled "Field Marshall". "Marshall" is a proper noun, typically used as a surname or as a masculine given name.^[6]^[7]
While only one Field Marshal is fought in-game during Halo: Reach's campaign, several sightings occur. The first Field Marshal is seen during a cutscene in Winter Contingency, though he escapes. Another Field Marshal is seen in the level New Alexandria's final cutscene, killing Kat-B320 from a Phantom. The only in-game Field Marshal encounter is at the end of the level The Pillar of Autumn, trying to prevent SPARTAN-B312 from manning the mass driver. The last Field Marshal is partly offscreen during Lone Wolf, igniting his energy sword.^[8] It is likely that most of these are the same individual.
The Field Marshal is one of two enemies in Reach capable of switching weapons. When fought from a distance he will use a fuel rod cannon; when fought at close quarters he will use an energy sword. The other is the Zealot fought in Tip of the Spear.
In Halo: Reach, the Field Marshal and Zealots are the only Sangheili classes that cannot be fought in Firefight.
The armor of a Sangheili Field Marshal is available as an armor permutation for players who have reached the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in Halo: Reach. It is the last Elite armor permutation a player can receive.
A humorous tweet by Jeff Easterling joked that the Field Marshal who killed Kat-B320 and Emile-A239 is named Bob.^[9]
In combat, a Field Marshal is a powerful foe as best seen in the Halo: Reach level The Pillar of Autumn. Even on Normal difficult the Field Marshal is very hard to defeat as he has powerful shields. A direct plasma grenade stick, even one to his head, is not enough to kill him. Instead, the plasma grenade only takes down his shields and possibly does some injury. The best way to defeat the Field Marshal is to stick him with a plasma grenade and then once his shields are down, attack him with your primary weapons. Headshots from a distance fired by a Designated Marksman Rifle work well on the Field Marshal once his shields are down with a DMR being located near a corpse just inside of the warehouse holding the mass driver.