The least renown legion

[Hyaenidae]

Word Bearers pull second, actually.

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

My vote goes for the Scars as well, hell even I keep forgetting they're a part of the Heresy.

 

I'd say them, simply because people forgot they existed, or the VIII Legion. The VIII was made for a single purpose: to exact retribution on behalf of the Emperor. They executed entire hives and city-states in the Unification Wars and when the Great Crusade spread across the galaxy, the populations of entire worlds would vanish under the cover of darkness, and not by orbital bombardments from space, or world-killing super weapons that scour it clean of all traces of life. No, the VIII Legion prosecuted their duty up close and personal, ensuring every person knew the fate that had befallen them.

 

They did not pacify, they did not conquer, they did not bring anything to compliance.

 

The VIII Legion made examples of those who defied the Emperor so that others would not follow in their footsteps.

 

*edit*

 

I'm basing my choice on this definition of renown: widespread reputation, esp of a good kind

 

The V Legion have little renown as most people forget they exist. The VIII Legion have a widespread reputation, sure, but it's not a good one. Most of the other Legions look at them as murderous scum that aren't fit to lick their boots and would prefer not to be associated with them.

[Balthamal]

Depends how you want to play it out really. In the case of the Scars is it a case of disrespect through ignorance? Most of the Legion openly admit that nobody, not even the Emperor, really understands them. Added to the other problems such as their bad grasp of gothic etc and it's easy to see why other Legions will think less of them. But what is the yard stick to measure it by? Number of victories? Conduct living up the ideals of the Imperium? Fighting prowess?

 

The Alpha Legion are looked down on because they are really the only Legion that deliberately goes about it's business in a covert way. The Raven Guard are likely to be similarly viewed although comparing the two would be something akin to comparing the CIA with  an Apache resistance. One will eliminate all trace of where it's been and what it's done whilst the other goes out of it's way to let you know it was there and exactly what it did before fading away.

 

I'd say that all of the Traitor Legions with the exception of the Sons of Horus have a case to have least fame (or most infamy) but I'll plunp for the AL, just because of Gulliman's influence throughout the Imperium and if he thinks little of them, it's very likely to sway others as well, such as Lord Commander Namajira from Legion

[Noserenda]

Given the Iron warriors had a massive chip on their shoulder about it im honestly surprised they arent frontrunner!

[mactire]

I think lest known about would be Alpha's or Scar's, however least renown would be Word Bearer's pre-Monarchia every legion seems to be quite dismissive of Lorgar and his legion before their "pilgrimage".  

[Marshal Rohr]

To be fair, the Word Bearers went from 0 to 11 in 40 years. To the point where the only remberancer who 'one upped' the guy that was assigned to the Word Bearers got the Sons of Horus. So that must count for something. 

[Wade Garrett]

The World Eaters.

 

Yes, a lot of people knew of them...as blood crazed psychopaths who massacred enemy and ally alike and were incapable of even the most rudimentary tactics.

 

The other Traitors looked down on them (see Magnus waxing eloquent on Angron's legion at Armatura. Or Horus's thoughts on them at Isstvan 3.)

 

Hell, their own Primarch and ranking officers (Lotara, Khârn, and Lhorke) didn't think much of the XII.

[Marshal Rohr]

The XII Legion wasn't a liability though. Betrayer, Galaxy in Flames, and Lord of the Red Sands all make them out to be like a javelin missile. You fire it at the target is most likely to destroy. Just because they got hammered by the Ultramarine Shield Wall on Armatura doesn't mean they always fought like that. 

[Wade Garrett]

The XII Legion wasn't a liability though. Betrayer, Galaxy in Flames, and Lord of the Red Sands all make them out to be like a javelin missile.

In Galaxy In Flames Angron ignores Horus's orders and ruins the "Kill all loyalists with orbital bombardment" plan because MUST HAVE GLORIOUS MELEE.

 

In Betrayer they almost lost their Primarch and the Legions flagship at Armatura because *angry sounding gibberish* ":cuss battle plans!" *angry gibberish*

 

Unless javelin missiles routinely explode at random, killing the wielder and everyone around him, this is a terrible comparison.

[Yogi]

Going by least known I'd say Alpha legion. Because they only really got started late, and they are not the type celebrate their victories. Scars are a valid second option but I think that is largely because GW has ignored them regarding fluff.

[Relict]

 

The XII Legion wasn't a liability though. Betrayer, Galaxy in Flames, and Lord of the Red Sands all make them out to be like a javelin missile.

In Galaxy In Flames Angron ignores Horus's orders and ruins the "Kill all loyalists with orbital bombardment" plan because MUST HAVE GLORIOUS MELEE.

 

In Betrayer they almost lost their Primarch and the Legions flagship at Armatura because *angry sounding gibberish* ":cuss battle plans!" *angry gibberish*

 

Unless javelin missiles routinely explode at random, killing the wielder and everyone around him, this is a terrible comparison.

 

The World Eaters are warriors, not soldiers. Terrifyingly effective close combat fighters (and there are 150,000 of them just prior to Isstvan III) but also very loosely disciplined. The addition of the Butcher's Nails meant that all hopes of them fighting as an organized, coherent force are lost as soon as battle drives them into a frenzy. The very few "sane" World Eaters officers (such as Khârn) can't control their men as soon as the Nails start ticking. 

 

Angron took to Isstvan III with 50 companies of his best assault troops in tow because he wanted to do his men the honor of killing them face-to-face (per Betrayal). He never fully respected Horus's authority, something that even Horus admitted to. 

 

Armatura is a straight example. The World Eaters rushed so far forward of the Word Bearers that the Ultramarines who sought to flank them instead spilled into the gap between the two legions. However, when the World Eaters were able to corner the Ultramarines (like during the last stand), their implant-enhanced savagery was enough to turn the tide against even a very well organized defense. In short, the power of pure, unadulterated rage. 

 

As for the least known legions, I would say the White Scars and the Death Guard. The former as a side effect of them preferring to operate so far away from other Imperial forces, and the latter because Mortarion deliberately kept his legion's capabilities a secret (he avoided embarking remembrancers altogether).

 

After they destroyed their homeworld, the Night Lords also qualify. Per Massacre, by the time of the Dropsite Massacre, they had been on the verge of renegade status for years, preferring to embark on self-appointed actions far out in the Eastern Fringe.

[AfroCampbell]

For those of you who havent read 'Scars' it is actually directly stated that they are the most unknown legion. so defs first place to them.

Second i agree would be Alpha Legion due to their nature not their late founding (many other of the late founded chapters rapidly became renown). They had been covertly operating in many theaters of war before they were known to the other legions.

third i think would be World Eaters, as if you remember they had been exiled to the northern galactic quadrant for a VERY long time before Istvaan III

[Kol Saresk]

Maybe, but it is said in the IA articles that the World Eaters' reputation was enough to make worlds surrender when they heard the XII Legion was headed their way.

[Leif Bearclaw]

Isn't there an Army officer in Prospero Burns that thinks of the Scars pretty highly and compares them very favourably to the Wolves, who he doesn't hold in much regard?

 

Otherwise the Scars probably get the short end of the stick because the aspects of their central theme (Space Mongols) are already covered by other Marines. The Wolves take the Barbarian aesthetic, while the Ultramarines are the Empire builders and organisers (which the Mongols were great at irl). This essentially leavers the Scars with one of the least unique character sets, bikes, moustaches and a couple of FW reference to them scoring would like the other 'barbaric' legions (SW, WE) and calling them 'quixotic'. Which might explain why they're not held in high renown, they're too impulsive and unpredictable to acquire a firm reputation like most of the other Legions did.