How do you view the Alpha Legion?

[Lord Kallozar]

Hi all,

 

Im getting more and more into the Alpha Legion recently and want to know your views on the Alpha Legion in the current 40k setting.

 

For example, I get the impression that there are a few different views on the Alpha Legions motives:

- There is the view that the Alpha Legion are in fact fully dedicated to Chaos and act as such.

- There is the view that the Alpha Legion are opposed to the Emperor BUT also oppose Chaos too, and act for their own benefits. (The view i personally hold)

- There is the view that the Alpha Legion are fully dedicated to the Emperor and the Imperium and only "sided" with Chaos as a means to destroy Chaos from within.

 

Also, I know alot of people compare the Alpha Legion to the CIA or MI5, but I see them more as the Hydra Corps from Captain America - a highly organised and extreme terrorist cell. Would you agree?

 

So what is your take on it all?

[Interrogator Stobz]

"How do you view the Alpha Legion?"

 

Through a targeting device.

 

;)

stobz

 

Sorry for the troll, OT: I'd almost go with Option 2 (see my comments later*) and that they're the 'terrorists' of 40k.

 

* There is talk about them being reluctant servants to the 'Cabal' and however that interacts with the Chaos gods etc remains to be seen, I'm beginning to think the DA are also the Cabals whipping boys on the Loyalist side. It may come clear in a new dex or even in the fluff of 6th BrB.

 

Either way, get painting.

 

s

[Imperial Deceit]

I would also go with two. In the HH novel that deals with them, they are asked to join with Horus, and refuse. But they also Exterminatus the planet and waste a bunch of Imperial Fleet ships on their way out. Then they pretty much disappear. It is possible they ended up falling and worship Chaos Undivided, but their is no Legion more secretive then the Alpha Legion. If they have a hand to play, it won't be until it's too late to stop them. Lets hope they are Loyal, seeing as there is a very good chance most of their Legion is still intact.

[Ring-around-the-roses]

Personally, I think that the Alpha Legion has probably split up, and that some of them believe that they shouldn't worship Chaos, some do worship Chaos, some are pretending not to worship Chaos so they can root out the unbelievers in the Legion, etc, etc. I mean, look how confusing it got in the HH, I imagine after ten thousand years of plotting, a great deal of it probably against themselves, the legion doesn't exist in any cohesive form, although some Alpha Legion no doubt believe it does.

Whoever can plot the best, and so appeal to the different perspectives of the individual marines has the most support. Although individual groups will no doubt have their own objectives, and individuals could have their own plots within that... ;)

 

Basically, each to his own in the AL, whoever is the most confusing wins.

 

And yes, the Alpha Legion totally rock the Hydra terrorist look, at least to me, great comparison, although the AL are no doubt far more sneaky :)

[Kol Saresk]

Here's the thing, they used to be aligned to Tzeentch, much in the same way that the Night Lords used to be aligned to Khorne. So Chaos dedication is in their fluff. But actually I think it is all three. Fear not, I will explain myself. Now, we don't see much of the Alpha Legion in the 40k universe. Or at least I haven't. I can think a short story from the Let the Galaxy Burn anthology, The Hunt for Voldorius and the Dawn of War series. But that's all I have seen them in.

 

Anyway, explanation time. The current fluff(what little there is) of the 40k Alpha Legion says that they are extremely pure for Traitors. There is almost no sign of warp taint in their gene-seed. This could be because every Alpha Legionnaire that a sample was taken from was pure, or they could have just lucked out and found someone with the gene-seed of some unfortunate Chapter lost to the annals of history. But they have only been seen to attack the Imperium. Now, we start bringing in the 30k fluff, which is GW approved and supervised(i.e. the GW IP department has a direct hand in it) so it is the closest thing to "canon"(How I hate that word) that you are going to find. Here we see that the Alpha Legion are not Traitors. Not in original motives at any rate. But something is happening to them. In [i[Deliverance Lost[/i], we see them leave the prescribed route in order to steal the genetech from the Raven Guard, not destroy it like they were supposed to. We also see the first sign of separation between Omegon and Alpharius. Alpharius was willing to tolerate the Cabal in order to use it. Omegon just flushed the representative out the airlock.

 

In The Serpent Beneath, we see something else. Omegon destroys an Alpha Legion outpost because there was an intelligence leak there. Sends in a suicide squad, job is done and the outpost is destroyed with no survivors. And then Omegon tells Alpharius that the base was destroyed by another Legion that picked up on the intelligence leak and the leak was killed on another planet. So there is already fractures beginning to form in the Legion. He also has a set of armor whose most notable quality is that it is unadorned with any icons and looks completely average to the naked eye. Not really too sure what that is supposed to mean, but I have my suspicions that Omegon is corrupted.

 

So the way I see it is that if the Alpha Legion is "unified", then it is split between two camps. But I do believe that there are more than just two camps. At the very least, I believe the Omegon faction will have splintered. Also, I don't believe they are the "terrorists" of 40k. Yes, they do use guerrilla warfare. But their specific brand is more like Black Ops. They just do whatever is needed to achieve their current goal. No more, no less. Unlike the Night Lords who do everything to cause fear. They use terror tactics. So, are they guerrilla fighters? Yes. Do they fit in the Black Ops brand of guerrilla warfare? I believe so.

 

So all three. That's my view.

[Vesper]

Here's the thing, they used to be aligned to Tzeentch, much in the same way that the Night Lords used to be aligned to Khorne. So Chaos dedication is in their fluff. But actually I think it is all three. Fear not, I will explain myself. Now, we don't see much of the Alpha Legion in the 40k universe. Or at least I haven't. I can think a short story from the Let the Galaxy Burn anthology, The Hunt for Voldorius and the Dawn of War series. But that's all I have seen them in.

 

Anyway, explanation time. The current fluff(what little there is) of the 40k Alpha Legion says that they are extremely pure for Traitors. There is almost no sign of warp taint in their gene-seed. This could be because every Alpha Legionnaire that a sample was taken from was pure, or they could have just lucked out and found someone with the gene-seed of some unfortunate Chapter lost to the annals of history. But they have only been seen to attack the Imperium. Now, we start bringing in the 30k fluff, which is GW approved and supervised(i.e. the GW IP department has a direct hand in it) so it is the closest thing to "canon"(How I hate that word) that you are going to find. Here we see that the Alpha Legion are not Traitors. Not in original motives at any rate. But something is happening to them. In [i[Deliverance Lost[/i], we see them leave the prescribed route in order to steal the genetech from the Raven Guard, not destroy it like they were supposed to. We also see the first sign of separation between Omegon and Alpharius. Alpharius was willing to tolerate the Cabal in order to use it. Omegon just flushed the representative out the airlock.

 

In The Serpent Beneath, we see something else. Omegon destroys an Alpha Legion outpost because there was an intelligence leak there. Sends in a suicide squad, job is done and the outpost is destroyed with no survivors. And then Omegon tells Alpharius that the base was destroyed by another Legion that picked up on the intelligence leak and the leak was killed on another planet. So there is already fractures beginning to form in the Legion. He also has a set of armor whose most notable quality is that it is unadorned with any icons and looks completely average to the naked eye. Not really too sure what that is supposed to mean, but I have my suspicions that Omegon is corrupted.

 

So the way I see it is that if the Alpha Legion is "unified", then it is split between two camps. But I do believe that there are more than just two camps. At the very least, I believe the Omegon faction will have splintered. Also, I don't believe they are the "terrorists" of 40k. Yes, they do use guerrilla warfare. But their specific brand is more like Black Ops. They just do whatever is needed to achieve their current goal. No more, no less. Unlike the Night Lords who do everything to cause fear. They use terror tactics. So, are they guerrilla fighters? Yes. Do they fit in the Black Ops brand of guerrilla warfare? I believe so.

 

So all three. That's my view.

 

Pretty much sums up what I think about the Alpha Legion, even if there's still many things to discover about them (or to left in the dark).