The Flesh Eaters Space Marine Chapter is a non-codex chapter consisting of eight Companies, each consisting of some 150 Space Marines.

The Chapter as a whole is ruled by a powerful Sanguinary High Counsel. The High Counsel consists of between five and ten Sanguinary High Priests and is ruled by the Chapter Master, who is elected by the Counsel and who is without exception the most fierce, cunning and experienced of the Sanguinary High Priests. The purpose of this Counsel is to make sure that the Chapter never will face Heresy from within ever again. This is maintained by close monitoring of the Companies and a constant vigilance.

The first company is a pure Veteran Company. Only the most able and brutal Marines are admitted into this elite force, and only after having proven themselves in campaign after campaign. Many of the Veterans are centuries old, with eyeteeth more than two inches long to prove their age.

Some of the 1st Company Flesh Eaters are trained in the use of Terminator Armour, but the main bulk of the fighting force is built around Veteran and Veteran Assault squads, specialising in fast and hardhitting attacks.

The First Company acts as the vanguard of the High Counsel and reside in the Chapter Fortress Monastery with the High Counsel.

The second, third and fourth Companies are Battle Companies, flexible and adaptable. They are, however, geared towards assault rather than defensive combat. The Chapter's Dreadnoughts, or Ancient Brothers as the Flesh Eaters call them, are often used as fire support units if not Furiosos.

There hasn't been a fifth Company since the Red Strife (see the History section).

The sixth and seventh Companies are Reserve Companies, the sixth equipped with fast landspeeder and bike squadrons and the seventh being a Company more geared towards armored assault.

The eighth is a Scout Company, consisting of Neophytes who are yet to receive the Dark Gift.

Each Company is led by a Captain, also known as a Voivod. The Voivods and their Companies all reside in separate Fortresses, usually built on high mountain tops, and are very independant in comparison to Codex Companies. This independance is what caused the Red Strife in the first place, but it has such an important and central place in the Flesh Eaters traditions that it must be maintained no matter what the cost.

All companies have their own Sanguinary Priests. These marines answer not to the Voivods however, but instead directly to the Sanguinary High Counsel. The Sanguinary Priests thus have an uncommonly high status within the Companies and the Chapter as a whole. They effectively act as the Counsel's ears and eyes and are often used as emmisaries and heralds by the High Priests. Sometimes a Sanguinary Priest can issue orders to the Voivods themselves if the situation demands it!

This unorthodox form of leadership has caused quite a few incidents in the past, some of which have been solved in bloody duels between rivalling Flesh Eaters, but so far the Sanguinary High Counsel controls the Flesh Eaters Chapter utterly, enforcing its rule with brutal efficiency.