Legion Praetor/Centurion fluff/rules

[Slips]

Fair enough then.

 

Theyre essentially an in-between in that regard then, right? Meaning you could go either way in game terms.

[Marshal Rohr]

Fair enough then.

 

Theyre essentially an in-between in that regard then, right? Meaning you could go either way in game terms.

If you wanted to break it down into something more structured.

 

Praetor- Senior Captain/Seneschal

Delegatus - Line Captain/ Battalion Commander

Centurion- Company Commander

[Icarus1138]

It seems like there's a bit of overlap here, which is fine.

 

A Centurion (rules) could be used to represent a line officer like a Captain, a more junior officer like a Centurion (fluff), and senior Sergeants. I think it makes perfect sense that a battle-hardened sergeant like Vipus could have the same basic combat ability as a newly promoted line captain. The difference would come down to the equipment carried (easy to represent in a fluffy army) and intangible aspects (strategic skill, etc) that aren't covered by a stat line.

 

A Praetor (rules) could be used to represent a Chapter Master, First Captain, Line Captain, and so on. The heavy hitters.

 

So which would a line officer be? It depends on the officer. If you want your company led by a newly promoted officer, an old-timer past his prime, or someone that makes a decent captain but has essentially hit the upper limit of their career arc then you'd want to use the Centurion rules. In the opening trilogy I'd say that the Either, Or, and Qruze would be captains of this type, as well as the captains that we often forget exist like Lev Goshen or Yade Durso. Saul Tarvitz was perceived to be this kind of officer as well, since his fellows couldn't see the future or his stat line ;)

 

A captain using the Praetor rules would be a captain that has renown in their legion, regularly receives important commands or assignments, is moving up the ladder, or is depicted as especially strong willed or interesting in the fiction. Sticking with the Sons of Horus from the original books, line captains like Serghar Targost or Luc Sedirae would arguably be Praetors, and possibly Tybalt Marr after Moy's death galvanized him to be his own man. This is why line captains like Saul Tarvitz and Alexis Polux get Praetor stats: they're special characters, so of course they're interesting or awesome enough to be a captain of this type :)

[Conn Eremon]

 

Fair enough then.

 

Theyre essentially an in-between in that regard then, right? Meaning you could go either way in game terms.

If you wanted to break it down into something more structured.

 

Praetor- Senior Captain/Seneschal

Delegatus - Line Captain/ Battalion Commander

Centurion- Company Commander

I think it varies on the Chapter-level organization. Imperial Fists are notable as having three Chapter-like structures: Regiments, Crusades and Households. Marshals and Sensechals sound like suitable commander titles of Crusades and Households.

 

The Imperial Fists seem to be deliberately not streamlined, which is fitting in regards to their manner of recruitment and their contradictory nature.

 

My own interpretation for my Household, and I didn't try to hold too strong to Extermination, was that Households are stationary, defensive units, commanded by a Castellan, divided into Companies led by Centurions, with two Centurion Primes commanding their respective Battalions. One Centurion Prime was granted the title of Seneschal upon being granted command of a Star Fort. This isn't a reference to Rann having a Star Fort, only that this command elevated the Centurion Prime beyond his current station while remaining nominally beneath the Castellan as a junior officer of the Household.

 

Edit: Though I may now swap the Seneschal and Castellan titles . . .

[Marshal Rohr]

Conn, it's also something to consider how the titles used by the Principia Bellicosa might color our definitions. The Imperial Fists may call all officers Captain, for instance, but the narrator of the FW books uses the title Centurion. I'm considering reducing all leaders to Captain for my own fluff, with the honorifics determining the size of their command. My own Captain Rohr, for instance being commander of the 7th Company AND Seneschal of the Terran Household Guard Chapter.

[Conn Eremon]

Honorifics is how I approach the differing titles as well, with Castellan and Seneschal simply marking the Commanders' particular roles in addition to their base Legion rank. Being Centurion Prime means you are the officer of not just a Company, but the Battalion's lead Company and therefore in command of the Battalion. Basically taking away the line captain and replacing him with a higher classification of a Centurion. The Seneschal title is an honorific showing his additional command as the naval captain of a Star Fort. Likewise, the Castellan is really just a senior captain over a Chapter-like organization, the Castellan honorific showing his temporary role as the militant commander over an Imperial Sector decreed to need currently, but again temporarily, a Legionary presence for defensive purposes. In both cases, the honorifics are bestowed for their current roles, and may not remain with them when redeployed. My lore is that this Sector has recently come under regular predatory assaults by a previously assumed empty region of space. The Household was deployed as a temporary defensive solution until a crusade effort could be brought in, at which point the Household would be recalled to Terra to rejoin the Legion. The Heresy would prevent such a crusade effort from ever being realized, though I have more plans for my Blackshields-to-be.

[norngahl]

I think a line captain should be a centurion.. acutally he fights in the dirt along with his men, and beside a squad sergeant, this is the first officer rank.. delegatus are invetween.. leading a few companies or even a Bataillon, while oraetors are chapter masters..

 

I can only speak for SoH, but they have only companies which will fight together under the command of a chosen company captain.. so few company leaders might be preators, some delegatus, most centurions.. praetors have either the best combat skill or strategic understanding or are highly favoured by horus himself, given command over many companies in a war.. while a buddy of the praetor will lead his personal company in most cases, he will do the strategic stuff.. but sometimes praetors long for the fight like any other marine, leading their company in the lust for blood.. so why not take a praetor, even when in need for fluff ;) no one takes too.. never seen two praetors anywhere..