Let's get creative

[Olis]

Hail, Legion Commanders. 

 

As part of Liber Day, the Liber Mods are visiting other subforums and encouraging background development. Whether this ends up being a brief exercise or a serious attempt at an army history to be used on the tabletop, that is up to you. As the forum with perhaps the greatest variety of armies to showcase, I think this is ample opportunity for the members here to flex their mental capabilities. 

 

So, here's the thought exercise: We all have a favourite Legion. Some of us prefer the murderous Night Lords, for others it's the unyielding Iron Warriors or the ever-enduring Death Guard. Whatever the case may be, choose a Legion that you think is the opposite to your favourite and then build up a unit history of perhaps a couple of paragraphs. Reasoning is encouraged but not necessary. 

 

 

For example, my favourite Legion is the Imperial Fists. Now I could, in theory, make some background about a unit from the Iron Warriors as they are the traditional rivals of the Seventh. However, I think the opposite in temperament and attitude is the Night Lords. Of all the Legions, the Night Lords are probably least beholden to duty like the Imperial Fists are. 

 

 

Night Lords 44th Company 'Children of the Night'

Led by the capricious Wei Zhohu, the 44th prefer to make war in sudden drop assaults at the dead of night. Falling upon their foe from above, the Children of the Night heed little of organisation or coherent plans, instead seeking to wreak havoc as best as possible. Due to this nature of warfare, the 44th continually perform understrength and undergunned - most heavy weaponry available to the company is either mounted upon dreadnoughts or is man-portable, the armour elements long since having been handed off to other companies. The 44th avoid engagements where they are disadvantaged, with Zhohu's judgement leading them from massacre to massacre.

 

Since the advent of the Heresy, the Children have been scrupulously avoiding theatres with major Loyalist elements. Instead, true to form, they have sought out the soft under-belly of the Imperial war machine. From ambushing troop convoys to gutting forward command centres, the 44th have fought the war with the intent cause maximum damage for minimal risk. The survival of the Children through the Heresy is unclear, conflicting records labelling them both as present at the Siege of Terra and operating toward the galaxy's rim at the same time. 

 

 

 

Let me see what you got. ;)

[Tenebris]

The Slashed Hands

 

The Slashed Hands are a Black Legion warband originating from the merging of several decimated Assault Companies of the now defunct Sons of Horus legion. The name of the warband comes from the ritual that the members performed when they were being hunted down by the Emperor's Children led coalition of warbands after the raid on Maeleum, namely when the brothers slashed the palms of their left hand and shared the blood with the members of the other companies, a gesture of bonding, of commitment. 

 

The order of battle for the Slashed Hands is mostly composed by assault squads, now deeply in thrall to the various cults of the Dreaded Four and reliant on brief but fierce assaults on the enemy units, a callous but in a certain way noble way to persecute a war. Chained to the Black Legion by bonds of blood, faith as well as chains of iron, the Slashed Hands are a veteran reaver force and they supplement their lack of mechanized units and ranged support with sheer ferocity and courage, mimicking the tactics which served them well during the Great Crusade and beyond. 

 

The warband is currently very active in the Cadian sector, attacking lone outposts, agri worlds, relay stations and teleportarium nodes not due to any strategic worth to the Warmaster but simply to force the massed numbers of the Imperial troops to divide across so many flaring and vicious battlefields. It is in this harrows, in this brief clashes with the enemy that the Slashed Hands excel and they rarely leave survivors once they have breached the enemy lines with their fearless charges. 

 

Such method of warfare places a great demand even on the most seasoned of the astartes and the warband suffers from an atrocious rate of attrition but Abaddon was quite clear, the Slashed Hands have to be reinforced at all costs no matter what it takes and this dubious blessing indeed allows for fresh recruits from the flesh forges of the Black Legion, but it also places the warband under the unwanted gaze from other, less fortunate warbands, which crave a commendation by the Warmaster of Chaos. 

 

Psychologically the Slashed Hands are locked into a ruthless almost bestial mindset and they revel in the darwinian way that their warband wages war and manages its forces. Rarely a Slashed Hand lasts more than several brutal campaigns, usually the astartes end up as Helbrute pilots or ugly conglomerations of bionics and daemonflesh, but those astartes who by either luck or some more sinister motive survive longer than others, this chaos space marines become one of the most fearsome assault troops of the Warmaster and their rivalry with the Hounds of Abadoon is legendary, for both claim to be the prophets of the Blood God within the ranks of the Black Legion. 

 

 

PS: Damn it, I got carried away... it was about HH (my bad, I apologize)...

[Tenebris]

One more:

 

117th Company, Word Bearers Legion (XVIIth), Chapter of the Coiled Tongue

 

The 117th was a relatively new formation by the time the heresy of the Warmaster engulfed the galaxy. The marines of the company were mostly youths flesh forged and hyperindoctrinated in the vast "Harvest" facilities of Colchis, resulting into vicious if inexperienced astartes. 

 

The 117th acted as a line company throughout the last years of the Great Crusade and it was merged with the 172nd and the 98th into the Chapter of the Coiled Tongue, a Word Bearers chapter dedicated to the doctrines of shock infantry combat. Soon the 117th was at the forefront of the Heresy, leading the assaults with its sister companies, fighting the infantryman's war, ceramite feet planted on the ground and bolter fire sweeping in front of their tireless advance.

 

The Chapter of the Coiled Tongue was named due to the embrace of the "lie" as a philosophical argument in its many rituals and doctrines and the 117th soon became known as the "Liar's Due" due to the shivering way its marines persecuted the campaigns, often leading entire populations in the abattoirs or sacrificing entire hosts to the Pantheon.

 

The pivotal event in this company's brief history was the Shadow Crusade, namely the descent on Mondus Pius where their Diabolists led the marines into a punitive action, scouring the entire world of life, stealing the youth for the flesh forges and winning a brutal confrontation with the scions of Guilliman. At the end of the campaign it is said that the pyres of the dead were taller than some spires on Modus Pius and that the effort of the Chapter was rewarded with a mass teleportation into the unknown. 

 

Recently some orbital probes have shown ghostly images of marines too ravaged to be alive yet fighting despite their emaciated bodies, bearing the old icon signifiers of the old 117th Company of the Word Bearers. The Inquisition speculates that this revenants are the remnants of this thrice cursed company of traitors and that deadly force should be employed to chastise their affront to the Throne. Whether some curse befell the 117th or they have traded their immortal souls in an infernal bargain yet remains to be seen but the unholy vigor with which this astartes persecute the Long War is a testament to the miracles of indoctrination and faith embraced by the cursed XVIIth Legiones Astartes.   

[Aias]

I'm Alpha Legion, personally, so the traditional opposite of this very free-form, fluid Legion would likely be the Ultramarines, who codify battle to such an extreme. However, looking at the overall temperament of the Alpha Legion, we're shadowy and understated, preferring to slip into the background and win the war without firing a shot if possible, and with as little open warfare as we can manage. So instead, let's look to the Death Guard as our opposites, as they favor pure open tactics, the implacable foe that will grind the enemy down beneath their boots. You know where they are, they make no attempts to hide themselves and will kill you no matter how many of them it takes. So here goes nothing:

 

179th Company of the Death Guard, the 'White Tide'

There was only one survivor of the engagement where the 179th Company received their nickname, a line infantry soldier whose planet was taken in Compliance 490-12. A remembrancer was able to interview him as he was being taken to a psychiatric facility, and all he would say was that the Death Guard kept coming at them, inexorably coming like a tide of white and green. Captain Ergos Mallinter, when he read the remembrancer's work afterwards, considered the soldier's incoherent ramblings as a mark of pride, and took the name 'White Tide' as the company's own.

 

Having favored gas attacks even before the Heresy began, once Imperial oversight was removed the 179th began exploiting more and more virulent gases in their attacks. Saturating the area before they attack, using both artillery and man-portable grenade launchers, the White Tide moves in methodically and kills any who may have survived the gas. It's not uncommon for a few of their own to fall due to faulty seals or damage to one from a survivor's last stand, but these are considered acceptable losses; after all, hundreds of enemies still fall for every member of the 179th, and the White Tide never slows as it rushes in.

[Aqui]

VIIIth Legion - 75th Company "Invidos Umbram" The hateful shadow

 

 

"Let me tell you lad. I've never seen anything like it. The Palatine Wolves were an elite Guard regiment, despite their haughty attitude. They knew they were good. Everyone did. But the sole survivor had plain peed and soiled himself, babbling about how the shadows had taken his men, how each and every one died of fear. If I hadn't seen the corpses myself, I'da scoffed and been rightly justified sayin' that the Wolves were naught but sissies after all. Not one shot had been fired. Not one. Claw marks were left on the walls and most of the Guardsmen had been shredded. Now, I seen animals butchered by Ambulls and other alien creatures. Hell, I've seen what's left after a 'Stealer has had its way, but those marks. Never want to see them agin. Never.

 

"Whatever had done for them had left him alive, because they knew whatever he saw, would haunt him for the rest of his life. All five hours of it, seeing as he pulped his noggin against the cell wall, and not before he had drew all sorts a evil things on it first." - Unknown Guardsman's account, circa 41M.

 

"Semita, odio cursus fati" - Path of hate, path of fate

 

Current Lord: Xhant Mohn

 

Current strength and whereabouts: Unknown.

 

Known for wild, unpredictable behaviour on the battlefield and undisguised contempt of others off it, the 75th Company kept themselves on the fringe of the VIIIth Legion. The Company Master Xhant Mohn despised the direction the Night Haunter was taking his sons and was quite vocal of it. It was surprising that he was allowed to live, given Kurse's mercurial nature, but it would seem that Mohn's candor was acknowledged, if not appreciated. When the Legion split, he took his loyal Brothers on a swathe of destruction to the galactic South East and after many centuries, nothing was heard of them. Because of this, they were presumed destroyed to a man.

 

It is not the case...

[Conn Eremon]

Well, feth Olis. What do you do when you can find something in any of the canon Legions that you like? How do you choose the opposite of all 18?

 

I suppose there's nothing else for it.

 

I'll just have to choose one of the other two.

 

To be continued. ;)

[Olis]

Well, feth Olis. What do you do when you can find something in any of the canon Legions that you like? How do you choose the opposite of all 18?

 

Spin a bottle. :P

[Daemon2027]

I struggle with background writing but I will give it a go.

 

III Legion - 29th Millennial 'The Sons of Pygmalion'

 

Initially rised from the nobility of the Terran Hive States of Mycenaean, the 29th Millennial quickly came known for the disaplined battle formations, combined with the heroics of line captains and squad leaders. Seeing action as the Great Crusade pushed eastwards against the barbaric empire of Orks, the Sons of Pygmalion would often find themselves at the front of the Imperial Forces, often having to hold the savage xenos untill support could arrive. As line captains, seargents, and individuals of the Palatine Blade order duelled fierce chieftains, the line infantry stood in an unbreakable phalanx, unmovable against the hordes that smashed against them, the perfect combination of defence and attack, the Millennial was stone sculpted to perfection.

 

As the Great Crusade moved ever onwards, the 29th Millennial became more stretched, with losses harder to replace, and victories becoming phyrric, and the need for the perfect victory drove the 'sons' more. The desire to stand steadfast in defence was lost as individual glory and the need to deliver the killing blow increased. By the time of the great rebellion, there was nothing left of the old 'sons of Pygmalion', the stoic defensive qualities long replaced by individualistic heroics, and battle plans built solely on offensive strategies. The stone had cracked, perfection was lost.

[spu00sed]

216th expedition, lead by the 36th maniple of the IIIrd legion, the Emperors Children

 

The 36th maniples, tasked to work far away form the main body of the legion whole, continued to recruit as the legion of old, taking the sons of nobles of conquered planets and civilisations as their due. However as time passed the number of recruits were unable to match the losses taken in battle and was forced to start taking aspirants from lower classes of the world's they brought into compliance.

 

This soon resulted in a divide appearing within the maniples ranks. Those aspirants of noble birth were destined for rank, whilst those not born into such luxury made up the rank and file of the maniple, with few every reaching the rank of line sergeant.

 

To begin with each astartes knew his place and accepted their role within the maniple and the legion whole. However as time passed the ridged structure caused problems. The line marines were not given lessons in command and if squads or battalions lost their command then the line infantry would be forced to fall back into simpler tactics of advancing with massed bolter fire.

 

The preators command that "an Officer who goes into action without his sword is improperly dressed" resulted in many an officer falling as their weapons. Were unable to penetrate their enemies armour.

 

However the maniple endured, until the ends of the heresy broke, at which point the maniple ripped itself apart in civil conflict, brother against brother. It is unclear which side supported the Emperor and which Horus. What is known is that battle lines were drawn between the officers and the line astartes.

[Conn Eremon]

II Legion - 42nd Company

 

Led by the Ancient, Aunjil Vijand, as the Liberatore Primus, this Company has accumulated a more than respectable list of conquests in the Emperor's name since they first left the birthworld of Terra alongside the third wave of the First Legion. Like many of the Terran Second Legionaries, there was some reservation upon the discovery of their Primarch. Though accepted by their father and their new brothers, many of the Terrans found it difficult to assimilate to the Legion's new path, and the 42nd Company was no different.

 

However, nobody could suspect how deep some of the Terrans might have buried an unexplained hatred for their Primarch, nor how that hatred would finally find release. For members of a Legion to conspire to murder their own Primarch was unthinkable, and for them to act upon such a conspiracy was inconceivable. There was no attempt to hide the shameful end of the 42nd Company, among other perpetrators, however a bitter pall of silence was cast over the whole affair when none could bring themselves to ponder what had caused this crime to be attempted. Later, many would contemplate upon this event, and wonder if it had not been a symptom of a far greater problem. Some can not help but wonder what could have been, if they had only looked deeper.

 

"Yes, father. Even me."

[Joeyray]

Here is my attempt at doing some SA Fluff, which I hope fits in with this sub-forum:

-The 357^th Terran H.D.I (Heavy Drop Infantry) aka “Hiram's Apes”-

 

With the unification of Terra under the iron fist of the Emperor there was more than plenty of war-bands, tribes and thrill seekers in equal measure willing to sign up readily to the great project of bringing the stars under the Terran banner. From the far west of the Med Dust bowl stood a large rocky outcrop that had been contested since time immemorial. It had been the shelter of many peoples throughout the ages and from its vast cave system they came to pledge their arms to a new cause.

The units raised from that lone bastion where a mongrel breed of humanity, bound together by a dogged determination to secure their living within the shelter provided by the caves that worm their way through the rock and stone. With Terra as one, The Emperor seen fit to give the deepest caverns a new purpose, command of orbital and terrestrial weapon systems of the defence grid, a very respected position within the complex web of command that bound the multitude of orbital plates, ground batteries, and ships of all sizes in the common goal of Terran security.

 

As for the troops that came forward naturally many found their calling within the sheer vastness of the newly forming Solar Auxilia. For this record the 357^th was raised to bolster the need for planetary assault troops for secondary expedition fleets that had limit access to Legion numbers in any large scale. Christened “Hiram's Apes” after their first commander they took their namesake for a tenacious breed of simian that once clung stubbornly to the highest peaks of their birthplace.

 

Protected by durable carapace armour and armed with heavy belt fed stubbers the “Apes” would descend after a protracted orbital bombardment and dig in with Take and Hold as their prerogative. Super-heavy SPG's providing the welcome heavy fire power that reigned down from their positions onto a stunned and shell-shocked foe. The “Apes” would weather the reactionary storm that would surely follow such a move and allow the expeditions main manpower to land relatively unopposed and encircle the enemy from the rear.

Hiram himself would meet his end after only a brief service in command taking on 3 members of a Greenskin Warboss's retinue on the landing fields of Bluchenburg's Folly, gunning down the aforementioned Warboss with his last belt of ammunition before taking on his assailants with his empty stubber and power fist.

[KBA]

II Legion - 42nd Company

 

Led by the Ancient, Aunjil Vijand, as the Liberatore Primus, this Company has accumulated a more than respectable list of conquests in the Emperor's name since they first left the birthworld of Terra alongside the third wave of the First Legion. Like many of the Terran Second Legionaries, there was some reservation upon the discovery of their Primarch. Though accepted by their father and their new brothers, many of the Terrans found it difficult to assimilate to the Legion's new path, and the 42nd Company was no different.

 

However, nobody could suspect how deep some of the Terrans might have buried an unexplained hatred for their Primarch, nor how that hatred would finally find release. For members of a Legion to conspire to murder their own Primarch was unthinkable, and for them to act upon such a conspiracy was inconceivable. There was no attempt to hide the shameful end of the 42nd Company, among other perpetrators, however a bitter pall of silence was cast over the whole affair when none could bring themselves to ponder what had caused this crime to be attempted. Later, many would contemplate upon this event, and wonder if it had not been a symptom of a far greater problem. Some can not help but wonder what could have been, if they had only looked deeper.

 

"Yes, father. Even me."

 

Hot damn! That was a tasty treat that left me wanting MORE. Such a cool little snippet. You'd have a faithful reader in me if you could point me in the direction of more of your II legion stuff. And if there isn't any more to point to, well, that's something you should strongly consider remedying ;)

[Spinsanity]

Alright, with my alegiance recently pledged to the Lord of Iron, I guess my opposite would have to be from the Vth Legion...

 

Vth Legion, 23rd company - informally known as the Brotherhood of the Mantis

 

having fougt for decades alongside the XVIth Legion before the discovery of Mundus Planus and their Primarch, the warriors of the 23rd company shared little love with their new brothers. Ill at ease with the Kaghan's teachings, Company commander Tokawa preferred the methods of warfare his company had been putting to use for years. Instead of changing their ways, the newly titled Khan petitioned to lead another expedionary fleet, a request the Primarch could but agree to.

 

For years, the company fought alongside other Legions and ecruted exclusively from newly compliant worlds, never once having a single Chogoran recruit assigned to their rank. Having spent considerable time alongside the Raven Guard and favoring their decapitation strike technique, striking at command structures to secure quick and efficiant victory, the brotherhood was, when fighgting alongside their Legion brothers, referred to as the Brotherhood of the Mantis.

 

The fate of Tokawa Khan and his company is a mystery, no records of their later dispositions having survived the events of the heresy. Whether they fought alongside their brothers and met their end during the siege of Terra or had a darker fate is a mystery lost to time.

[Nakuth]

Would it be objectionable if I were to post something tomorrow? I struggled to think of a legion & them while stuck at work all day and now, while on a long trek home & without my notebook, I finally thought of something.

 

Here's a hint: The Jackal Fellowship, Destroyer cadre, XV Legion.

[Marshal Loss]

Hmm. Will think on this

[Olis]

Would it be objectionable if I were to post something tomorrow? I struggled to think of a legion & them while stuck at work all day and now, while on a long trek home & without my notebook, I finally thought of something.

 

Here's a hint: The Jackal Fellowship, Destroyer cadre, XV Legion.

 

Not a problem. The thread isn't going anywhere. ;) 

[Black_out]

Ultramarines 138th company *no designation*

 

Captain Romulus Varro heaved a great sigh, looking down at the data slate in his hands, reading the report for the umpteenth time. Yet another altercation between soldiers under his command. It was becoming more obvious that such instances were becoming more frequent, the marines under his command getting more restless every day..."and how could they not?" He thought. Astartes were not made for things like training recruits for any length of time, they were bred for war. Made for it, in fact, by the greatest geneticist in all creation for the sole purpose of purging the universe of Mankinds enemies. Couldn't the Primarch see that?

 

He remembered it as if it were only a dream. Fragments of detail missing but the picture in whole crystal clear. It was after the conflict on a plantet designated "Caedmus IV". The 138th had sustained heavy losses, nearly half the company destroyed in some of the fiercest fighting Romulus had ever seen. The captain had just stepped from his transport onto the decking of the landing bay when he'd received the message requesting him to meet the lord primarch aboard the flagship, the rest happened in such a blur he still had trouble believing it was real.

 

They'd sustained too many casualties. The Legion couldn't afford to bolster the ranks of the 138th again. His men were being divided, spread throughout the Legion to make up for losses. The armored escorts being distributed among other companies. Romulus himself, along with a smattering of what was once his company, being sent back to train recruits on Calth. This couldn't be happening. But happen it did.

 

Romulus heaved another great sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose between two fingers, before standing up to head off and dole out punishment to those involved in the latest brawl. "Duty unto death" he murmured as he headed towards the doorway.

[Skalpynock]

II Legion - 42nd Company

 

Led by the Ancient, Aunjil Vijand, as the Liberatore Primus, this Company has accumulated a more than respectable list of conquests in the Emperor's name since they first left the birthworld of Terra alongside the third wave of the First Legion. Like many of the Terran Second Legionaries, there was some reservation upon the discovery of their Primarch. Though accepted by their father and their new brothers, many of the Terrans found it difficult to assimilate to the Legion's new path, and the 42nd Company was no different.

 

However, nobody could suspect how deep some of the Terrans might have buried an unexplained hatred for their Primarch, nor how that hatred would finally find release. For members of a Legion to conspire to murder their own Primarch was unthinkable, and for them to act upon such a conspiracy was inconceivable. There was no attempt to hide the shameful end of the 42nd Company, among other perpetrators, however a bitter pall of silence was cast over the whole affair when none could bring themselves to ponder what had caused this crime to be attempted. Later, many would contemplate upon this event, and wonder if it had not been a symptom of a far greater problem. Some can not help but wonder what could have been, if they had only looked deeper.

 

"Yes, father. Even me."

Incidentally, that's the same way I wanted to go with my IInd before I decided my XIth was more interesting. Down to the Indian naming scheme.

[Grotsmasha]

Who would be the alternate to the mighty 1st, Sons of the Lion? The Wolves perhaps? The World Eaters maybe?

[Olis]

Who would be the alternate to the mighty 1st, Sons of the Lion? The Wolves perhaps? The World Eaters maybe?

 

It's up to you. There's no hard and fast rule that it must be Legion X or Legion Y, just what you feel is the opposite. If you think that it should be Legion Y, then sure, go for it. Or Z or X or T. Pick an aspect you think defines your favourite and write about a Legion who is the opposite to them using that aspect. :)

[Spinsanity]

Who would be the alternate to the mighty 1st, Sons of the Lion? The Wolves perhaps? The World Eaters maybe?

 

Since the 1st is the only renegade legion that was forgiven for their crime (sorry, I know the joke got cold years ago...), maybe one of the legions that, at the other end of the spectrum, were completely eradicated from imperial records? o.Ô

[Olis]

 

Who would be the alternate to the mighty 1st, Sons of the Lion? The Wolves perhaps? The World Eaters maybe?

 

Since the 1st is the only renegade legion that was forgiven for their crime (sorry, I know the joke got cold years ago...), maybe one of the legions that, at the other end of the spectrum, were completely eradicated from imperial records? o.Ô

 

Or... ones that weren't forgiven of their crime and were, perhaps unjustly, persecuted. I'm looking at you Thousand Sons. ^_^

[Conn Eremon]

Or the opposite of the first Legion is the last Legion, the Alpha Legion.

 

Or the opposite of the First Legion is the First Primarch, the Sons of Horus.

 

Or the opposite of the Dark Angels is the Blood Angels.

 

Or the opposite of angels are devils, the Word Bearers.

 

You really can choose any.

[Nakuth]

I decided to take an extra day to work on this, thanks to Olis stating this post will be here for a while.

 

It's still not 100% what I envisioned, but I'm fairly happy with it. I like all the Legions, but I chose the XVth because it was the first idea that popped into my head (probably because I'm currently re-reading A Thousand Sons), and the first Heresy army I had an idea for was the Death Guard. There's not much love lost between the two legions.

 

So, without further ado, I present to you The Jackal Fellowship, Destroyer cadre of the XVth Legion:

 

For a legion of scholars, to whom the preservation of knowledge is amongst the highest of ideals, the use of Destroyer tactics may seem anathema. However, that is just such a purpose that the Amenti, or Jackal Fellowship, serves for the XVth Legion Astartes, The Thousand Sons.

 

In their kohl-black armour, the Amenti are a fellowship apart from their brothers. They are skilled in the arts of all of the cults of the XVth, but lack the discipline to truly master a particular path. While it may seem as if such warriors would have no place in the Thousand Sons, a Terran veteran by the name of Oeanas Saq'ral, himself a member of the original Legion's small Destroyer cadre, convinced the primarch Magnus himself that all warriors could serve a higher purpose. Thus, the Fellowship of The Jackal, was founded.

 

Numbering 243 Astartes - in a mixture of Destroyer squads and Moritats, or Duath, as they are known within the Legion - the Amenti use their knowledge of the varied cults in a similar manner that the Destroyer cadres of other Legions use their forbidden weaponry. The skills of the Pavoni are used to debilitate the enemy; sapping their strength as if they are afflicted by severe radiation poisoning. The destructive arts of the Raptora and Pyrae are used to brutal effect by these warriors. Saq'ral himself mastered a combination of these two paths in order to create a ball of nigh-sentient fire that has mirrors the crawling horror of phosphex, but without the contamination of the target area inherent with that dark weapon. Those most skilled in the arts of the Corvidae and Aethenean are given the rank of Duath, and use their telepathic and scrying skills to stalk enemy commanders and other key targets, gunning them down with supernaturally accurate fire.

 

Although officially sanctioned by The Crimson King himself, wth such brutal, inelegant, and horrific use of their abilities, it is little wonder that the Jackal Fellowship is all but forgotten by their Legion borthers.

[The Eponymous M]

As a polar opposite to my heavily assault orientated Space Wolves, I have started a 1st Legion siege company as a gift for my brother. (Please excuse the poor prose; writing legal documents for a living makes for a somewhat stilted, factual style (and a chronic overuse of punctuation).)

 

1st Legion - 18th Company

 

As part of the forces that finally prosecuted unification across Terra, the 18th Company boast a fine history and many honours. Numerous individual legionnaires had worn the right to wear the Aquila alongside the ubiquitous thunderbolt markings of a company of their lineage.

 

As members of the 1st Legion, the company bore large amounts of experimental equipment provided by the Mechanium including plasma and Volkite weaponry as well as a significant amount of non-standard armour. High capacity drum-fed magazines and overwhelming firepower became something of a signature for the Company, many battles having been won at maximum engagement distance.

 

The Captain of the Company revelled in this status; pre-eminent among the other legions and with the finest equipment from the Dark Age of Technology, the Company brought world after world to compliance, the roll of battle honours rising to a situation where individual squads bore more honours than entire companies of the newer legions.

 

But, as the other legions increased in size and prominence, the position of the 1st Legion started to become overshadowed by the later created legions. The Legion no longer took the lion’s share of new Terran recruits and the equipment from Mars began to be sent to other legions as well as their own. Although the Legion still held reserves of equipment far greater than its needs; it would never again enjoy the position of being the sole recipient of the finest equipment available.

 

The Captain of the 18th continued to press compliance upon worlds even as bolters replaced Volkites and armour became more and more standardised. With the discovery of Caliban, the Legion expanded greatly; some of the Company’s officers being given captaincy of their own companies and Calibanite squads being added to the company.

 

Although the Terran veterans were hesitant to dilute the heritage of the company, they accepted this as the will of the Lion. However, rifts soon came between them as many Calibanite legionnaires followed the traditions of their home world rather than those of the Terran Legionnaires. Although the practice of warrior lodges was not well known within the Legion, groups of legionnaires met to voice their displeasure at what they considered to be a rejection of the history of the Company and, indeed, the Legion.

 

With the death of the Company Captain at the hands of Orks at the Eastern Fringe, it was expected that a replacement would be from within the Company, however the Lion appointed a new Calibanite captain, Arbalan, and the Company was reorganised into an assault company; the Calibanite Legionnaires retained their styling as Knights of the Order; preferring to engage at close quarters. This lead to the new squads from Caliban leading assaults with the Terrans feeling they were acting as little more than fire support.

 

This further heightened tensions between the Terran and Caliban legionnaires, with the Terrans feeling that their new Captain lacked experience or appreciation for their traditions and abilities and favouring a form of warfare than was based on that of the Knightly Orders of Caliban. Matters came to a head during the siege of Lenham, where, fighting alongside two other companies comprised also solely of Calibanite Legionnaires, not a single Terran reached the surface, having been held in drop pods as reinforcements for a strike that never occurred.

 

In truth, Arbalan recognised the experience and expertise of these veterans and did not wish to blunt his keenest blade on tasks where deaths would be inevitable. However, in the manner of the Lion, the Captain was not want to explain himself, even to the line officers under his command. This stubborn silence did little to endear him to the Terrans of the Company who felt increasingly rejected.