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IF Background from Extermination


Marshal Rohr

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Missing the Notable Battles section, but here is an in-depth rundown of their fluff

 

 

Early Years

 

-1st Battalions were created from across Terra, even in domains where other legions
had ‘Rights of Tithe’

-Recruits were selected from those with the greatest endurance, mentally and physically
-Many were taciturn, slow to talk but quick to act
-Used a wide pool because the VII legion geneseed implantation was painful than other legions
-Described as grim
-Focused on conquest of new systems
-Described as seeing the whole vision of the Imperium, conquering and then holding what was conquered (unlike most other legions)
-Though they excelled at building and garrisoning, their real calling was Crusading
-They would leave well ordered compliant cities in their wake, but were always on the move (massive recruiting efforts sustained them)
-Massed shock assaults were the VII Legions preferred tactics, often with multiple battalions taking to the field.
-Everytime the broke a noncompliant world, they left behind something stronger
-Emperor personally gave them the name the Imperial Fists after their earliest lands they conquered ‘looked as if the Emperor had grasped them in his Fist’

Inwit

 

 

-When the Legion reunited with Dorn, there was no culture shift, it just reinforced traits already present because of Dorn’s upbringing on Inwit
-Orbits a red star
-Tidally locked
-Surrounded by a vast network of shipyards and space fortresses, master ship builders
-The people are the worlds only resource, their martial nature led to them conquering a massive tract of space before the coming of the Emperor
-Mixture of Space Prussian Ice Hives and nomadic Eskimos
-Every world was conquered, assimilated, and reinforced but the masters of the world kept their people living in the old ways so they wouldn’t give up  their strengths through opulence
-Rogal grew up apart of House Dorn of the Ice Caste, and became Emperor of the Inwit Cluster
-Dorn grew the empire more than any other Emperor, reorganized and trained its armies, and engineered advanced space craft
-When Dorn and the Emperor reunited, the Emperor welcomed a massive and strong empire into his Imperium forged into a tool of war.

Primarch and Legion Reunite
-The Imperial Fists were the Crusaders of the Imperial Truth

 -Dorn was calculating, but once committed to an action saw it through to the  end

  -His rare bursts of emotion were were ‘capable of shaking the ground and  darkening
the sun’

 -Dorn had a incident with Kurze and a brief falling out with Ferrus Manus  because
of his unseen brooding that others couldn’t pick up on

 -The integration of the Primarch and Legion was faster than others: When he  first
met them, he said nothing until he saw them in battle and told them they had
much to do, and more to learn.

-He gave honor of the rank of High Castellan of the Inwit Cluster to the Legion Master,
tasked him with raising 30 regiments of legionaries, and immediately  set
out on the Crusade

 -They didn’t draw any riches from conquered worlds like other legions, just   recruits.
They recruited as many as the Ultramarine and Word Bearers, but the
trials of initiation were so hard and the geneseed implantation so mentally
and physically painful it killed many.

 -New companies were sometimes completely comprised of recruits from cultures
that would get diluted over time


Favored Sons

 -As the great crusade continued the Imperial Fists were highly honored and favored

by the Emperor

-When other legions were unable to continue forward, the Emperor would  use
the Imperial Fists to regain the initiative, when the frontlines swung back against
the Imperials, the Fists would lead the counter thrust, stalemates and  deadlocked
sieges were similarly broken by the Fists.

 -They won more personal honors from the Emperor than any other legion

 -Their favored treatment, mixed with Dorn’s personality caused some  Primarchs
(mostly the traitor Primarchs, to regard him as hubristic and  arrogant)
to dislike him, and again his stubbornness wouldn’t allow him to mend
bridges (his biggest flaw IMO).

 -The Emperor would task Dorn with ensuring post-conquest compliances were
achieved according to his exact vision

 -To many worlds, they considered the Imperial Fists the rock on which the foundations
of the Imperium were built

-Dorn’s mannerisms drew admiration from many as often as it drew their ire (the
Stannis Baratheon of Primarchs)

-Even though Dorn was so highly favored, the Emperor passed right over him for
Warmaster, primarily because of his Draconian and stubborn personality. When
in command, Dorn’s personality would cause friction, unlike Horus who
could get a team together.

-The Emperor instead honored Dorn by making him Praetorian, and it is implicated
that because Horus was given control of compliance and Dorn  went
home with the Emperor, that ‘the fate of the Emperor and all his Sons was
set’


Unit Organization and Structure

 

 

 -Retained Belicosa pattern

-Schism in predominant units: Assault units backed by special weapon units and
heavy support squads. Favorite heavy weapons: Missile Launchers and Lascannons.

 -Heavy proponents of Terminator Armor, with large numbers of all 3 patterns.
Get early assault cannons and super storm shields

-Regiment/Crusade/Household to Battaltion to Company to Squad organization
flow

 -Templars: Named as the Guardians of the secular Temple of Oaths aboard the
Phalanx. Only Templars can enter as they please

 -The Templars were the nominal 1st Company and their commander was always
2nd in command of the Legion

 -There was no fixed ‘inner circle’ like the Mournival or 10 Lord Commanders of
the III Legion

 -Technically there was nothing between the Dorn and his Captains, but a  level
of subdivided command (fleet and siege masters, theatre commanders,  and
Marshals)

-Fleet Masters were in charge of the fleet in a campaign, siege masters were in
ultimate command in sieges. These titles were appointed and technically answerable
only to the Primarch himself

-The 1st Captain was the only person outside the Primarch who had unconditional
authority over the legion.           

 -Castellans and Seneschals commanded fortresses, but retained the title after returning
to the Crusade efforts


 

War Disposition
-Bulk of IF’s were returning to Terra

 -The Fists were never a huge legion, its attrition rates were balanced with its massive
recruitment, which is why they didn’t meet the UM or WB numbers with
similar numbers of recruits

 -Estimated to be around 100,000 strong at the outbreak of the Heresy.

 -Had a fleet of over 1500 ships and many more bonded by fealty.

 -Many of the Fists ships were of the largest classes in the Imperium. Even the  Sons
of Horus and Ultramarines didn’t have as many.


Dorn vs Perturabo
 -Both were taciturn, both unyielding, both sublime artisans of war

 -Instantly disliked one another from their first meeting

-Pattern of interaction might explain the animosity

-Both were stubborn and more so when challenged, spoke rarely, and were brooding
(but Dorn is noted as doing so without others noticing)

-The silence of one would aggravate the other, the blunt honesty would rouse the
other to anger, and once the dispute was begun neither would yield

 -Very alike, but the areas of difference might’ve caused the rift: Both favored siege
craft, both were pragmatic in nature, but Perturabo would be brutally direct
and not care about casualties. Dorn wouldn’t baulk at high casualties if  there
was no other way, but Perturabo viewed Legionaries as expendable.           

-Summed up as a series of pressures, disparities, perceived slights, mischances,
and the two Primarch’s stubborn natures that perpetuated the animosity
more than any event.



Fortresses in the Stars

-The greatest fortresses built by the Fists were star forts

-Imperial Fists relished void war

 -Greatest sieges of the Great Crusade were in the void, peerless in high- intensity
void war and ship-to-ship combat

-Treated their ships like fortresses free from gravity

-Dorn rebuilt the phalanx from a massive wreck orbiting Inwit and gave it to the
Emperor

-The Phalanx was more powerful than whole battlefleets and was a lynchpin of
the efforts of the great crusade and played a major role in the defense of  Terra.

 

 

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Yeah I really think that Alan Bligh has it nailed down. I can't wait to get my hands on this book.

 

 

You can see him dipping his toes in the proverbial water with the first book, expanding and warming up in the second book, and going all out in the 3rd book.

 

 

Any fluff on relations between IF and the mechanicum?

Not particularly. Their expertise is void warfare though, so I imagine they'd have to be pretty close, logistically. There is a blurb about their ships in there that make me want to beg for FW Battlefleet gothic models. The Halcyon from Crimson Fist is one of the largest ships outside of the Abyss class and the Fists have many of them :D

@Cormac: same here.

 

From what I've read of the RG rules, I aint impressed. If the fluff matches, I'll pass on the purchase and just cherry pick the rules.

 

*Let me clarify on the RG rules: they are perfectly fluffy. They are just nowhere near as effective as any of their Legionary counterparts.*

 

WLK

Thanks for the summary, Marshal.

 

Sounds mostly good. Mostly.

 

 

 

-Recruits were selected from those with the greatest endurance, mentally and physically
-Many were taciturn, slow to talk but quick to act
-Used a wide pool because the VII legion geneseed implantation was painful than other legions

 

I am not really a fan of how the initial recruits in the FW HH books somehow miraculously already had all the genetic traits the Legion would eventually be known for. I suppose this is not as bad as with the Night Lords.

 


 

 

-They would leave well ordered compliant cities in their wake, but were always on the move (massive recruiting efforts sustained them)

(...)

-Everytime the broke a noncompliant world, they left behind something stronger

(...)

-The people are the worlds only resource, their martial nature led to them conquering a massive tract of space before the coming of the Emperor

(...)

-Every world was conquered, assimilated, and reinforced but the masters of the world kept their people living in the old ways so they wouldn’t give up  their strengths through opulence

(...)

-Dorn grew the empire more than any other Emperor, reorganized and trained its armies, and engineered advanced space craft
-When Dorn and the Emperor reunited, the Emperor welcomed a massive and strong empire into his Imperium forged into a tool of war.

 

Somehow that all sounds awfully familiar. I can't put my finger on it...

 


 

 

-Estimated to be around 100,000 strong at the outbreak of the Heresy.

 -Had a fleet of over 1500 ships and many more bonded by fealty.

 -Many of the Fists ships were of the largest classes in the Imperium. Even the  Sons of Horus and Ultramarines didn’t have as many.

 

Not as many large ships, or not as many ships in general? The Ultramarines would probably have needed more than 1500 shipt to move around 250,000 men. (I suppose if they only had Battle Barges, they could have made due with about 1000...)

Great Crusade era Battle-barges are not post Heresy Battle-barges. If all they had were the biggest, they could get away with less than three hundred ships.

 

As for large ships, didn't Massacre say that the Death Guard had the most? Though it did note that it didn't have the more in total than the likes of the Sons of Horus, the Imperial Fists or Ultramarines.

Thanks for the summary, Marshal.

 

Sounds mostly good. Mostly.

 

 

 

-Recruits were selected from those with the greatest endurance, mentally and physically

-Many were taciturn, slow to talk but quick to act

-Used a wide pool because the VII legion geneseed implantation was painful than other legions

 

I am not really a fan of how the initial recruits in the FW HH books somehow miraculously already had all the genetic traits the Legion would eventually be known for. I suppose this is not as bad as with the Night Lords.

 

 

 

-They would leave well ordered compliant cities in their wake, but were always on the move (massive recruiting efforts sustained them)

(...)

-Everytime the broke a noncompliant world, they left behind something stronger

(...)

-The people are the worlds only resource, their martial nature led to them conquering a massive tract of space before the coming of the Emperor

(...)

-Every world was conquered, assimilated, and reinforced but the masters of the world kept their people living in the old ways so they wouldn’t give up  their strengths through opulence

(...)

-Dorn grew the empire more than any other Emperor, reorganized and trained its armies, and engineered advanced space craft

-When Dorn and the Emperor reunited, the Emperor welcomed a massive and strong empire into his Imperium forged into a tool of war.

 

Somehow that all sounds awfully familiar. I can't put my finger on it...

 

 

 

-Estimated to be around 100,000 strong at the outbreak of the Heresy.

 -Had a fleet of over 1500 ships and many more bonded by fealty.

 -Many of the Fists ships were of the largest classes in the Imperium. Even the  Sons of Horus and Ultramarines didn’t have as many.

 

Not as many large ships, or not as many ships in general? The Ultramarines would probably have needed more than 1500 shipt to move around 250,000 men. (I suppose if they only had Battle Barges, they could have made due with about 1000...)

 

 

With battle barges like the Dominus class which could carry 3,000 troops(Betrayer by A D-B ), the number "needed" to transport would become variable as it becomes dependent on how many you can fit onto what type of ship, how many of each type you have, etc.

 

And when your Legion builds star forts for kicks and giggles, something tells me you build an escort fleet for each one as well.

It is mentioned as being 1500 ships, and specifically mentions that the Sons of Horus and Ultramarines didn't come close.

How does that even...did Dorn demand that every Fist have his own cabin with a seperate kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, and closet while Horus and Guilliman just crammed guys in on top of one another like sardines?

 

Also, it seems a bit wonky that the Legion with the biggest fleet, that is to say, the largest amount of things to crusade around conquering worlds with, got yanked off world conquering duty and used to garrison Terra.

One assumes only part of the Legion got yanked off to Terra. The rest were free to spread the steel good word of the Emperor.

 

That their somewhat masochistic tendencies have some roots in their own geneseed is interesting, and it provides a dark twist to their stone-ish personalities - much like Dorn's brooding.

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