World Eaters

The World Eaters.

The World Eaters are an army that feature in Warhammer 40,000.

History

The World Eaters were a legion of the Adeptus Astartes that were created by the Imperium of Man. The Twelfth Legion was formed on Terra, from no particular geographic recruiting ground. Fragmentary records do suggest however, that during the formation process of the legion, an experimental screening process may have resulted in the initial intakes being formed from the most aggressive and competitive of candidates. While this cannot be confirmed with certainty, early records of the Legion do note that it was considered a highly aggressive, hot-blooded, and savage force. The nascent, relatively small Legion was deployed in the Unification Wars, their first recorded engagement being the Sa'afrik Liberation. However, for reasons unknown, after their initial battles they were largely held in the Imperial reserve right through the rest of Terran Unification and even throughout the conquest of the Sol System. While the true reasons for this withdrawal from the front-lines are unknown, one suggested reason was that they were simply kept off the board in case a sudden mishap in the Imperial campaigns resulted in a need for swift, fresh reinforcement. Another, more whispered proposed reason, is that they were deliberately held in check in case any disloyalty among the Emperor's troops emerged, and needed to be quickly ended. Nonetheless, the Legion continued to grow and determinedly train for war. This dedication, as well as their savage and tenacious demeanour during the few times they were deployed in combat during this period, reportedly led to the Emperor himself dubbing the XII Legion as his War Hounds. In prideful recognition of this honour, the Twelfth adopted a red hound as their insignia.

Later on, the Imperial colony on Cerberus rose up in rebellion, and it quickly became apparent that Space Marine forces were needed to quell the insurrection. The Great Crusade having begun, most of the Space Marine Legions had already been assigned to Expedition Fleets and sent out into the wider galaxy. The Emperor was therefore minded to activate the War Hounds, sending them to Cerberus personally, with instructions to carry his wrath to those that defied him. Cerberus was invaded at 0300 hours Terran; the all-clear signal was transmitted by the War Hounds' commander at 0808. When asked how many prisoners were waiting to be processed, the War Hounds' commander replied that he had not been ordered to take any. Attached Imperial Army troops, sent into Cerberus in the aftermath, reported discovering scenes of shocking butchery and indication of massive casualties, on both sides.

As the Great Crusade progressed, the XIIth Legion was split in a number of independent commands, each many thousands of Space Marines strong. These detachments were notionally used as reserve elements for other Crusade forces, but are in fact recorded as being used as front-line assault troops in many successful campaigns, fighting alongside brother legions such as the First Legion, the Iron Warriors and the Space Wolves. Additionally, War Hounds reserves would be sent in to provide a killing edge to various Imperial Army formations in troublesome war-zones. These deployments created the reputation of the War Hounds; they became known Crusade-wide as vicious shock-troops, whose actions were not without cost. It was said that a War Hounds deployment had only two outcomes; glorious, victorious slaughter...or just slaughter. Additionally, rumours began to circulate that the War Hounds were intemperate with all those who stood in their path, friend and foe alike. Stories of the legion culling human regiments whose performance they found wanting began to spread. The truth of these rumours could not easily be determined; the War Hounds deliberately kept their distance from other Legiones Astartes elements where possible. The only definite fact noted about the legion during this time was that they possessed an unusually harsh code of internal discipline, necessitated apparently by their own fractious nature

Overview

In appearance, the World Eaters were a legion of Space Marines who were bred for war. Originally, they were known as the War Hounds and listed as the XII Legion of the original twenty Space Marine Legions.

Many scholars believe the World Eaters' geneseed was corrupted from the beginning, and the legion was intrinsically damned. Others believe that there was nothing inherently wrong with the genetic make-up of the legion, and point solely to Angron and his introduction of the Butcher's Nails as the reason behind the downfall of the Twelfth Legion. While no clear truth can be discerned, it is believed that the geneseed of Angron resulted in his marines developing an almost physical need to engage in combat, and a propensity to descend into bouts of bloodthirsty madness, separate from the effects of the Nails. Regardless, after millennia in the Eye of Terror, the currently existing geneseed of the legion warriors has been corrupted beyond all possible measure.

Even when in service to the Imperium, the War Hounds were known to favour close assaults, and this doctrine only grew more pronounced under the command of Angron and the transition into the World Eaters. Angron did little to change the higher-level organisation of the legion, with the echelons that were a World Eaters formation roughly equivalent to the Chapters of other legions only undergoing a slight biasing towards line infantry once he took command. The World Eaters as a legion force could best be described as a hybrid of tactical and close assault units, also possessing significant amounts of support elements useful to close assaults, such as Terminators and Land Speeders.

In terms of combat deployment, the World Eaters were champions of the drop-pod assault, usually choosing to appear in the heart of the enemy's defences, in order to rip it apart from within. When heavy firepower was required to support such a tactic, the World Eaters were not averse to advancing under danger-close orbital bombardment or direct Titan support. While infantry assault was their primary stratagem, the legion did possess respectable amounts of armour and artillery units, and were highly adept in their use. Transports and those vehicles able to closely support infantry were obviously prevalent, and the assault doctrine of the legion was so strongly ingrained that even vehicle crew carried assault weapons as standard issue, and would often find a means to employ them.

Units fielded by the World Eaters included:

• Red Butchers :
• Berzerker-Surgeons : apothecaries of the legion whose skills were drawn from ten millennia of their experimentation that allowed them to hone a dizzying array of gory techniques to create new World Eaters. This included accelerated recruit induction techniques, utilized during the Great Crusade, which are brutally enhanced with forbidden methods that were granted to the Berzerker-surgeons after the Horus Heresy's Drop Site Massacre. They had also learned heinous practices regarding Daemonic pacts and the harnessing of the Warp which aid in creating monstrous warriors who have no concept of fear, pain, or death. As the World Eaters' gene-seed has become horribly corrupted over the centuries, the berzerker-surgeons now use those taken from other space marines to fulfill the traitor legion's needs. However, substantial work must be performed on the captured gene-seed before the Berzerker-surgeons can use it to create new World Eaters. Their skills were also utilized by warbands who expand their numbers using Khornate space marines who were not born of the Traitor Legion. These outsiders must also undergo the psycho-surgeries practiced by the Berzerker-surgeons - a process they see as a kind of apotheosis that brings them closer to their wrathful and bloody god.
• Sage of Slaughter :
• Eightbound :
• Khorne Berzerker :
• Jakhal : unique to the World Eaters, Jakhals were ferocious cultist fighters utterly devoted to their lords. They were fanatical fighters, resembling a pack of wild dogs. Quick to fight each other, they nonetheless work together to bring down larger prey once unleashed. Each Jakhal wore a tank designed by Butcher-Surgeons upon their back. These vessels contained a variety of combat Stimms that drove the warriors into a slathering frenzy, enabling them to fight on through terrible wounds. The final ingredient pumped into them in this way was eight drops of a World Eaters blood. This potent warp-infected substance allowed the Jakhals' fury to rise to apoplectic levels.
• Bloodgor :
• Ogryn Berserker :

Vehicles fielded by the legion included:

• Blood Slaughterer :
• Brass Scorpion :
• Lord of Skulls :

The World Eaters did not possess a typical homeworld in the manner of many of the other Space Marine Legions. Their Primarch, Angron, was discovered upon the world of Nuceria, but the events surrounding his discovery did not lead to a unifying of the planet and his legion.

Members

• Angron :
• Khârn :
• Invocatus : Horseman of the Apocalypse, The Winged Axe, Khorne's Thunderbolt is a World Eaters Chaos Lord of the Fire Riders, who rides to battle atop the Juggernaut Khal'guruth.
• Gahlan Surlak :
• Zhukel Dror :

Notes

• The World Eaters were created by Games Workshop and featured in the setting of the Warhammer 40,000 universe.

Appearances

• Warhammer 40,000:

External Links

• Lexicanum Entry

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