Captain General Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 I'm setting up my Legion and would like to know the command structure: who commands (his rank) the Legion, Macroclade, Cohort and Maniple? Also, what are the rankings of the Magos and what "units" do they command? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tyriks Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 I had wondered about this when I was first getting into the game, and the best that I found was that there really isn't a clear one. A "tech-priest" could be the guy who does oil changes for your Onagers or who controls the entire Forge World. There are different titles to be added to "tech-priest," but they denote more about your specialty or your skill within that specialty than it does your rank. So, if you are designing your own, feel free to invent whatever titles you want. The only examples of rank from any books I've read so far are the Fabricator General (head of the Forge World, usually) and Fabricator General Locum (sort of vice-president), and then Archmagos, which just means you have other tech-priests under you and so could mean pretty much anything. I will probably just make up a hierarchy for my Forge World. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ascanius Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 There's a fair bit of information in the Horus Heresy books about how Mechanicum worlds are organised, at least in that era. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xisor Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 Much like the models, there's a risk of over-generalising from common examples. I think Tyriks says it excellently: there isn't one. Or rather, there are a staggeringly huge amount. Moreover, the variation might be immense. There might even be a common under-structure, but I can see the vanity and tinkering of individual blocks being such that force to force you end up with staggering variety. Even on Mars itself, I'd be surprised if there was a pre-eminent format. Especially not for any great length of time. Politics and fashion might be more pressing than the letter of the law. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MajorNese Posted July 19, 2016 Share Posted July 19, 2016 The command structure varies with the source. Codex Skitarii might have one, I'm not sure, but that would give a general pattern. The "skitarii" in Dark Apostle were hordes of thralls, mixed in with specialist units (kataphractoi, praetorians etc.), all led and controlled by one magos in his command vehicle (=no other command structure). The skitarii from the Mars trilogy were led in the field by a (techpriest) secutor, while the magos ordered the secutor (and all other forces), rather a regular army. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ascanius Posted July 25, 2016 Share Posted July 25, 2016 Codex Adeptus Mechanicus: Skitarii has a basic "strategic disposition of a Forge World" chart: Fabricator General ˅ Fabricator Locum ˅ Priests of the Cult Mechanicus ˅ Legiones Skitarii ˅ Macroclade 1, Macroclade 2, Macroclade 3, Macroclade 4 Each macroclade consists of 4 cohorts, each comprising 3 maniples. Like battle companies in Space Marine Chapters, the combined-arms Battle Maniple is the basic form: Rangers, Vanguard, Infiltrators, Ruststalkers, Ironstriders, and Onagers all included. What we do know, from the Legions of the Omnissiah painting guide's fiction, is that the leader of a maniple may still simply be called an Alpha, the same as the leader of a Skitarii Ranger or Vanguard Squad. Alpha 13-Delyrr is the leader of the maniple and of a Vanguard squad, while Alpha Thal 9-Rurrt leads a Ranger squad under his command. Their Cerbrian Macroclade was originally led by "an entire cohort of Magi" but suffered heavy losses, until only 13-Delyrr and Thal 9-Rurrt were left to lead. In the case of the Metalican Armageddon Excarnaclade, Alpha 7-Modus is stated as leading the 14th War Cohort, as well as his maniple and Ranger squad. Legions of the Omnissiah actually specifies, in this case, that his Tech-Priest Magi masters remain safely aboard their ships and use him as a kind of telepresence drone to experience and lead the battle. So it seems like it's a pretty normal mode of operation, at least in the absence of a Tech-Priest on the battlefield, for one of the Alphas leading the various squads to also be chosen to lead the maniple, and perhaps for one of the Alphas leading the various maniples to lead the cohort. Whether or not this is a necessity created by the fact that Games Workshop didn't create any HQ-specific units for the Skitarii is an open question. Codex Adeptus Mechanicus: Skitarii does also suggest that it's more normal for Ranger or Vanguard Alphas to be chosen to lead a force, though, because Sicarian Princeps don't get to roll on the special Warlord Traits table in that book. There's nothing that states your warlord can't be a Princeps, of course, and I would guess that a Princeps chosen to lead a maniple or cohort would still simply go by the title Princeps, just as an Alpha does. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tyriks Posted July 25, 2016 Share Posted July 25, 2016 They can roll on the table, they just can't get some of the traits on the table. They roll a d3 instead of a d6. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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