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A quote from Peturabo


Azorius

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"...So to does the Legiones Astartes hold fast to this truth, both within each each Legion and so also as the Legions may be taken as whole. In this does the Emperor's host have its lockstep soldiers, its men of iron and its men of stone, its breakers and pursuers, its rainers down of fire and its builders of strong walls. Its ravens, its serpents and its wolves."

 

- The Primarch Peturabo, Meditations.

 

So which legion does Peturabo refer to each paragraph? Ravens, serpents and wolves are rather obvious, but others are less certain, and could be ambiguous and have dual, even triple, meaning. 

 

Most of all, I'm deeply interested exactly what 'rainers down of fire' is indicating - it is frustratingly equivocal and hard to interpret. Blood Angels, perhaps? 

 

Any speculation and conjecture? 

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Lockstep Soldiers- Ultramarines/Emperor's Children. Ultras because of their relentless military training, EC due to their devotion to perfection

 

Men of Iron- Iron Warriors/Iron Hands. Pretty self explanatory, each Legion was well known for resilience in their own way, though the Iron Warriors could also be rainers of fire due to their artillery focus.

 

Men of Stone- Death Guard/Salamanders. Stalwart and straightforward legions, at least in the beginning.

 

Breakers- World Eaters/Word Bearers. World Eaters destroy their enemies totally, while the Word Bearers tore down their targets both physically and spiritually.

 

Pursuers- White Scars/Night Lords/Blood Angels. All legions that are hunters, in different ways. White Scars are pure hunters, Night Lords hunt through terror tactics, and the Blood Angels always go for the throat.

 

Rainers of Fire- Dark Angels/Luna Wolves/Thousand Sons. Thousand Sons rain fire both mental and physical, Luna Wolves use precision orbital bombardment/drop assaults, and Dark Angels have an entire Wing devoted to Destroyer tactics.

 

Builders of Walls- Imperial Fists.

Ravens- Raven Guard.

Serpents- Alpha Legion.

Wolves- Space Wolves.

Last four are pretty easy.

 

 

Edit: Of course, that's just my musings and opinion. Far be it from me to know the actual thoughts of a Primarch, especially one as subtly complex as Perturabo.

Men of iron and men of stone could refer to the iron warriors and the imperial fists respectively. Perturabo and Dorn are both referenced as 'brooding behind their masks of iron and stone' (in perturabo's case it is quite literal- see his legion's symbol - in Dorns case it is more figurative)

The phrase to "Rain down fire upon them" implies massive and total destruction. It's a biblical quote that originaly referenced the destruction of Sodom and Gomorragh.

 

To suggest a legion being "rainers down of fire" is to a suggest  a legion that embarks upon the total, systematic destruction of the foe without pity or mercy.

This one is clever because it is cleverly referencing the "Men or Iron" and "Men of Stone" from the Dark Age of Technology. If you didn't know about this old fluff you would miss it entirely:

 

The Golden Men created the Men of Stone to help them expand throughout the stars. They did, so they later created the Men of Iron to help dominate it. The Men of Iron saw the Golden Men as weak and turned on them and the Men of Stone. This apocalyptic conflict was the Cybernetic Revolt, a war so destructive it made the Horus Heresy seem small in scale. The result was the complete destruction of both, a permanent ban on the use of artificial intelligence, and the techno barbarism resulting in old night.

This one is clever because it is cleverly referencing the "Men or Iron" and "Men of Stone" from the Dark Age of Technology. If you didn't know about this old fluff you would miss it entirely:

 

The Golden Men created the Men of Stone to help them expand throughout the stars. They did, so they later created the Men of Iron to help dominate it. The Men of Iron saw the Golden Men as weak and turned on them and the Men of Stone. This apocalyptic conflict was the Cybernetic Revolt, a war so destructive it made the Horus Heresy seem small in scale. The result was the complete destruction of both, a permanent ban on the use of artificial intelligence, and the techno barbarism resulting in old night.

 

Back in the day, the original Games Workshop team where clearly fans of Frank Herbert's Dune series.

 

Back in the day, the original Games Workshop team where clearly fans of Frank Herbert's Dune series.

 

That's putting it lightly.

 

I think each Legion fits into more than one of these descriptions.

 

lockstep soldiers - Ultras, Dark Angels

its men of iron - Iron Hands

men of stone - Fists, Death Guard

Breakers - Luna Wolves, Iron Warriors, Space Wolves, 

pursuers - White Scars

rainers down of fire  - Blood Angels, Iron Warriors, Death Guard, ?Dark Angels

builders of strong walls - Iron Warriors, Imperial Fists, Ultramarines (empire building)

ravens - Raven Guard, Thousand Sons

serpents - Alpha Legion, Thousand Sons

wolves - Space Wolves, Luna Wolves, World Eaters

 

This one is clever because it is cleverly referencing the "Men or Iron" and "Men of Stone" from the Dark Age of Technology. If you didn't know about this old fluff you would miss it entirely:

 

The Golden Men created the Men of Stone to help them expand throughout the stars. They did, so they later created the Men of Iron to help dominate it. The Men of Iron saw the Golden Men as weak and turned on them and the Men of Stone. This apocalyptic conflict was the Cybernetic Revolt, a war so destructive it made the Horus Heresy seem small in scale. The result was the complete destruction of both, a permanent ban on the use of artificial intelligence, and the techno barbarism resulting in old night.

 

Back in the day, the original Games Workshop team where clearly fans of Frank Herbert's Dune series.

 

I have a soft spot for the old dark of technology fluff. You're not kidding. There's a lot of dune influence.

This one is clever because it is cleverly referencing the "Men or Iron" and "Men of Stone" from the Dark Age of Technology. If you didn't know about this old fluff you would miss it entirely:

 

The Golden Men created the Men of Stone to help them expand throughout the stars. They did, so they later created the Men of Iron to help dominate it. The Men of Iron saw the Golden Men as weak and turned on them and the Men of Stone. This apocalyptic conflict was the Cybernetic Revolt, a war so destructive it made the Horus Heresy seem small in scale. The result was the complete destruction of both, a permanent ban on the use of artificial intelligence, and the techno barbarism resulting in old night.

 

Hmmmm....

 

Lockstep soldiers = Solar Auxilia/Imperial Army

Men of iron/men of stone = Mechanicus

Breakers/Pursuers = Astartes

Rainers down of fire = Imperial navy

Builder of strong walls = Administratum?

 

Ravens, serpents, wolves = Deparmento Zoologicus

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