What are the some of the most idiosyncratic Legions in the Empire? Does the Empire have a Legion specialized in taking down the weakly-godlike entities? If that is the case, I suspect such Legion(s) will be under jurisdiction of the Transcend.
Also, considering the Empire has twin war-gods (Dúréníän and Kalasané) I wonder each of the gods possesses their own Chariot and Legion.
For the simplest answer, here’s a screenshot from my notes listing the not–one-of-the-standard-four type legions:
For that, you’d be looking for the 74th (“God Slayers”) and 159th (“God’s Pallbearers”). They were both around pre-Transcend, but in the modern day while not strictly under its jurisdiction, they do receive an appropriate amount of Transcendent assistance.
Ah, but they have different focuses. Dúréníän’s the god of strategy and generalship, so is usually found behind the lines: if he embodies in anything, it’s probably the artificial moon Core Command is housed in. Kalasané’s is the god of battle, valor, and personal combat - more of a soldier’s god than a general’s, so he’s the one who takes the field in God of War.
Neither of them has a specific legion (although they share a militant religious order), because in their role as patrons of the Imperial Military Service, it would be improper to show that sort of favoritism. And the individual legions, of course, do have their own patron spirits.
Oh my. What an unanticipated gift. There are so many great ideas in there. A feast for the eyes and soul!
There are equally many questions to ask. So I will divide them into three parts.
Are all legions made up of the roughly same number of legionaries?
I suppose not-numbered Legions are the standard ones? Could the specialist Legions be “farmed out” to the standard Legions in a piecemeal fashion? After all, operating thousands of specialists as a single unit can be inefficient and wasteful.
Are the 1st, 6th and 7th Legions equipped with better and/or specialized wargear?
How the Hounds of Makrast met their end? There must have been a great many legions that fought against slavers. What makes them special?
There are many different combat engineering Legions, and more than one communications specialist Legions, but only a single logistics Legion. Why is that?
Is the 19th the sole siege specialist Legion?
What is the meaning of the denomination “Guardsmen”?
Is the Emperor’s Eye specialized in the execution of the perfect decapitation strike in an equally perfect plan founded upon the perfectly gathered information?
May you kindly provide some examples of experimental technology deployed by the 32nd? And how do the 32nd and 42nd differ from one another?
Don’t the Empire make an extensive use of automata? What makes the 43rd special? Do they simply use better/more “elite” technology, or is there something else?
Are the Firestorm Riders specialized in the flame-based warfare and battlefield conflagration?
Are there some hidden meanings in the names of the combat engineering Legions? Their particular specializations may differ from each other, but I can’t be sure.
If my curiosity makes you uncomfortable in any way, please let me know. I will apologize for incommoding you and cease the interruption immediately. The above question has been divided into three parts to minimize the burden on you, in addition to other reasons. Still, I’m concerned whether I’m practically bombarding you with questions.
I’d like to prioritize the questions concerning the Transcend and Transcend-affilitated Legions!
For that, you’d be looking for the 74th (“God Slayers”) and 159th (“God’s Pallbearers”). They were both around pre-Transcend, but in the modern day while not strictly under its jurisdiction, they do receive an appropriate amount of Transcendent assistance.
Were the 74th and 159th around pre-Transcend? That is insane. How had they already managed to kill gods without patronage of their own gods? Really, what precisely is the “applied eschatology”?
I wonder if the 74th and 159th are still killing gods with the standard, Empire-grade equipment. In this case, the role of the Transcend would be limited primarily to providing necessary information.
From whom does the 160th receive its orders? From the entire Transcend? Or from a more militant portion of it?
Does the 160th make use of specialized Transcend-grade weaponry?
Ah, but they have different focuses. Dúréníän’s the god of strategy and generalship, so is usually found behind the lines: if he embodies in anything, it’s probably the artificial moon Core Command is housed in. Kalasané’s is the god of battle, valor, and personal combat - more of a soldier’s god than a general’s, so he’s the one who takes the field in God of War.
Fascinating. Are there any other Eikone that could function as war gods? For instance, Barrascán and Braníël.
Neither of them has a specific legion (although they share a militant religious order), because in their role as patrons of the Imperial Military Service, it would be improper to show that sort of favoritism. And the individual legions, of course, do have their own patron spirits.
Patron spirits. How lovely. Very Roman indeed. The main difference is, the former is being very real. How the patron spirits act upon the Legions?
May you please elaborate on the militant religious orders of the Empire? Besides, how many religious orders are there in the Empire?
Have tested some of functions of the site. It seems completely deleting the post is not viable.
Yes. Full establishment gives each legion a fighting strength around 14,000.
Ah, I may have inadvertently misled you. By the numbers, in the 7200-ish milieu I’ve set a lot of things in, peacetime mobilization rates let the Empire field 77,000 full legions. I don’t have names and details and assignments for all of them, naturally enough - the only ones in my notes are the ones I’ve had something to say about and/or inspiration for.
(And the above table is only the one for the special legions that don’t fit into the normal four categories - light infantry, light cavalry, heavy infantry, heavy cavalry - which is why you don’t see those on the list; I keep them in separate tables. 
Every legion has a number, and all but the very newest a name and standard to go with it.)
This is also the answer to your questions 5 and 6, by the way. They’re not unique in the Legions, only in the small subset of them I’ve created so far.
Certainly. In building forces for particular purposes, it’s not uncommon to break off an ala, merarchy, or cohort (roughly equivalent to brigade/regiment/battalion) for independent operation, and it’s particularly common for the legions of specialists.
The 1st primarily have the ceremonial versions, as part of their job is to be on display. (Unlike a lot of ceremonial versions on Earth, the 1st’s equipment isn’t even slightly less functional; but it is definitely prettier, as an additional part of their job is to be on display.)
I haven’t yet defined the 6th and 7th strictly. They’re intended to be remnants of a doctrine that was selected against[1] for general use (worked really well, but too expensive to justify), but left behind in its wake a couple of units that were too useful to disestablish.
I’m saving the details of their story in case I feel moved to write it one day, but the quick summary is that they’re the only legion to be completely wiped out. They guarded the pass of Makrast (“Cloven Mountain”) along the Brightwall, met what amounted to a Genghis Khan-level horde trying to pass the wall from the not-yet-Imperialized south, and held it back; but before reinforcements could reach them –
Well. They all died where they stood, and they all died standing. And that carved their legend into history.
Just what it sounds like: specialists in holding and protecting an area. (Legion doctrine by and large is lightning-fast maneuver warfare: hit fast, hit hard, move on. It makes digging in and holding ground more of a special function.)
Not entirely on their own, but when the Legions execute an operation exactly like that, the Emperor’s Eye are the Legion that went in first to gather the information and perform any necessary sabotage.
Whenever there’s some new technology to test - whether it’s as simple as a new model of battle carbine or something completely paradigm-breaking, it goes to the 32nd or one of the other experimental technology legions to use in the field before it gets rolled out to all the other legions. Back in the days where the 32nd earned their name, the leading edge of technology was still quite “steampunk”-ish, so they were fielding clank legionaires, five-furnace dragons (steam tanks with style), coilspring serpents, and all sorts of nifty stuff like that.
As for special weapons legions like the 42nd, they specialize in being very good at rapid cross-training on new weapons unlike anything in current use (hence “special”). Sometimes that means something advanced but off-the-wall that’s ended up stored in the Imperial Military Service vaults until they need exactly that thing. Sometimes it means something suitable for particularly outré circumstances, likewise. And sometimes it means that due to really bizarre circumstances, the Military Service has a sudden need for horse archers, longbowmen, or a pike square. Either way, it’s legions like the 42nd that get to learn how… really quickly.
This is one of those obscure technical points, I’m afraid. The Imperial Service does make a lot of use of robots (both “smart” cybershells and “dumb” drones) and other automation, but “automata”, in this case, means “not thinky at all”.
The Brass Legion started out in the same part of steam-and-clockwork-driven history as the machines that gave the 32nd their name, and they were, in fact, very simple clockwork legionaries. No artificial intelligence driving them; just a bunch of cams and cogs driving automatonic responses. Very limited, but useful enough.
Why are they still around?
Well, apart from being a fascinating piece of military history, when fighting some opponents - and I’ll talk about this some more when I respond to your other post - there’s a definite advantage to legionaries that can’t be talked to, persuaded, intimidated, hacked, reprogrammed, or infected.
They just keep coming.
That’s where their name came from, indeed. Although it’s not their only option: if tasked to go wreck things underwater or on a solar array, they do have other choices available. But fire? Fire is near-universally scary.
Legion names often come from within, and reference some particular custom or incident, so while they may occasionally offer hints as to specializations, just as often they refer to something not terribly relevant. Of the ones on the list, we can be reasonably sure that the 93rd (“Wrench Wenches”) came from one of the Empire’s more matriarchal constituent nations, and the 168th (“Ethring Marine Engineering Brigade”) have special skills in exactly that, but the others are probably just noodle incidents.
No, no problem. As long as you don’t mind that answers aren’t guaranteed in any particular timeframe (my time and ability to respond varies widely), ask away!
Tank dragoons, maybe? Maybe. ↩︎
Again, there are several subterranean Legions. I wonder if the Underminers are specialized in, well, undermining the grounds of enemy, while the Echoing Stone and the Tectonic Knights are more “conventional” subterranean fighting forces.
What is the Black Watch’s main occupations? Do they run watch stations across the empire?
Were the 74th and 159th around pre-Transcend? That is insane. How they had already managed to kill gods without patronage of their own gods?
How the Sunbreakers are distinguished from the standard heavy Legions? I speculate their primary job is for killing the largest and most dangerous vehicles that exist on the battlefield… is it correct?
Do the defense specialist Legions use specialized wargear and equipment as well as specialist tactics?
Is the 82nd specialized in the battlefield rescue/retrieval missions?
Bear cavalry? Really? Do they ride on genetically engineered bears?
Is the 98th specialized in causing artifical disasters?
I suppose the 116th Legionaries are all superbly gifted negotiators?
Do the roles of the Iron Guard and the Stellar Protectorate subtly differ? BTW, does the Empire even need internal military police? There are not one, but three military police Legions.
There are quite a few of hoplite Legions. What is the concept behind the hoplite Legions? How do they differ from the “normal” Legions? Do they use literal shields, perhaps? Could the Home Guard be promoted/upgraded to the “proper” Legions?
How does the 141th differ from the 32th?
What is the difference between the 48th and the 156th? The former are specialized in orbital bombardment, whereas the latter uses old-style artilleries, perhaps?
Could the 158th conduct operations on the surface of stars? What kinds of weapons and tactics do they use?
Does the 160th make use of specialized Transcend-grade weaponry?
Is the 161th the sole aerial Legion of the Empire? Or are they one among many, but somehow special?
What needs does the Empire have for the 167th? Couldn’t they simply synthesize exotic materials in the labs?
What is the role of the 174th?
Does the Empire have a “purge” Legion? A Legion dedicated solely to the complete and utter extermination of the enemy. The 56th seems to be more oriented to “terror” than “extermination”.
Patron spirits. They are very Roman indeed. The sole difference is the former is very real. How the patron spirits act upon the Legions? Are there any Eikone that could function as war gods? For instance, Barrascán and Braníël.
Mostly just names, although since they’re self-chosen names that often relate to their early operations, you’d be right to assume that sort of thing is how the Underminers started out. As for the Tectonic Knights, they’re a chfssssc legion, so they specialize in fighting down-deep, the chfssssc natively dwelling down around the Moho.
Don’t take the name too literally. They’re a dedicated special operations legion, old - originally a pre-Imperial unit from High Daëntry - and very, very good at what they do.
Well, there’s a couple of things to note, here.
First is that the best way to deal with a hostile weakly godlike intelligence is to catch it before it blooms (hits hard take-off). They started our handling hostile emergent intelligences on a much smaller scale.
But the other thing is that the thing about gods? Sometimes gods are dumb and/or crazy.
Okay, so that could use some explanation.
Fully flowered seed AIs are instrumentally smart. When it comes to figuring out means to achieve their goals, they’re very, very good at that. But in the field of ends, it isn’t necessarily so. An entity like the Transcend is the ideal here, because it was made to serve some very broad purposes in the first place, and soaked up tremendous breadth of mind from all of its constitutionals. Something like that doesn’t have mental weak spots to attack.
But look at some of the others we’ve seen in canon:
The Leviathan Consciousness is very instrumentally smart, but its focus is incredibly limited. It’s obsessed with network process optimization and can’t see the world in terms of anything else. Civilization is largely protected from it because if it’s not connected to it over a networking protocol, it’s irrelevant, therefore invisible.
Or the Mistake, formerly the Eteolis Mindweave, which was intended to share some of the properties of the Transcend, but due to lacking the high-order coordination functions ended up tearing its own mind apart in the throes of a cosmic-scale schizotypal disorder.
They could go forth and poke either one of those, for example, without Transcendent backup, because their irrationality opens up big mental blind spots you can sneak up on them and punch them in.
Not necessarily vehicles, but the largest and most dangerous entities in the battlespace, yes. If the standard loadout can’t handle it (which takes a lot of work, since the heavy infantry are routinely issued pocket nukes), these guys go in.
Their on-person loadout is standard (after all, it’s all general-purpose equipment), but their doctrine includes extra training on specialized defensive equipment: dropwalls, rapid-deployment bunkers, SAFEs, minefields, etc., etc.
No, they’re just a normal special operations unit. The name comes from an old saying that “the one hope of the doomed is not to hope for safety”, something which reflects a lot of the missions they end up being send on.
Oh, yes.
(Well, a lot of the time they’re more like bear dragoons, but still.)
In the modern day, yes. Of course, back when the Ancyrans first invented the notion, it was more “And now, my son, you must go into the mountains as I once did, find and tame your bear, and ride him TO GLORY!”)
(Of course, at the same time, on Paltraeth, the kaeth were fielding ankylosaur cavalry armed with giant hand-held black-powder cannon[1], so it’s not like they were alone on Team Beyond The Impossible[2].)
They specialize more in the delivery of messages than the follow-up…
Not really.
And not within itself, but there’s always an occupation zone somewhere that needs policing a little more, um, vigorously than the Watch Marshalcy provides for.
Yes, actually, really big and thick ones based on heavy vehicular armor and requiring considerable power-assistance to lift. It makes them very slow, but also completely relentless when it comes to advancing under fire. Brutally hard to grind down.
Not routinely. (The 153rd is an exception because the transfer between services at their own request.) The Home Guard are defensive militia units, whereas the Legions are regular military, and you can’t just go around changing the terms of the enlistment like that.
(Well, okay, some governments would, be the Empire is institutionally committed to Not Being That Guy.)
The 32nd are an experimental technology legion, so their job is field-testing equipment and doctrine as regular legionaries; while the 141st is a special scientific legion whose name is literally accurate - the complex battlespaces of the future, especially at the edge of the known, sometimes require fielding people who are both trained legionaries and trained scientists.
Actually, you caught me in a mistake there where I described the same function in two different ways. They’re both artillerists/bombardment specialists, using weapons accompanying them into the field - artillery battery robots, mostly, these days.
(Orbital bombardment is left to the Navy to provide.)
That’s exactly what they’re intended to do: on stellar husbandry arrays, in coronal habitats, and other similar facilities like that. (As for the details of their weapons and doctrine, that’s something I’m going to save for future writings.)
Possibly. Of course, they’re also not using the same timeline everyone else is using, so it’s also entirely possible that their equipment is standard issue in whatever part of the future they originated in. It’s also possible that these amount to the same thing. Either way, preserving causal integrity means they aren’t telling anyone. 
Oops. You caught another mistake of mine there. The 161st should be listed among the light cavalry legions, as an aerial-operations unit. (In light cavalry terms, this means their personal vehicles are capable of functioning as “attack helicopters” or operating at multiple levels of three-dimensional battlespaces.)
If they have the recipe, sure.
But if some new, interesting, and potentially useful exotic material shows up out there in the hands of hostile forces, you’re going to need to retrieve a whole lot of it from them for analysis so that you can figure out how it works and thus how to synthesize your own version.
As a winnowing legion, they’re tasked to deal with guerilla warfare and insurgencies in occupied regions, primarily in urban terrain but occasionally elsewhere (based on thoughts and sources here). They sort out the wheat from the chaff, protecting surrendering civilians and escorting them to safety while eliminating all hostile forces in a designated area.
No, actually. As strange as it can seem to say about a military service so thoroughly trained and equipped, the Legions are the arm of restraint. If they’re on the field at all, it’s because the Warmain in command doesn’t want to kill everyone.
(Even specialized terror legions like the 56th and 98th are the arm of restraint, in that their function is to terrify, intimidate, and deter, and you can’t do that unless you leave people alive to be terrified, intimidated, and deterred.)
In the extremely rare case that the mission objective is “Wipe them out. All of them.”, an Admiral on a starship in orbit gives the nod, a gunnery officer presses the “Saturation Bombardment” button, and it’s all done and glassed by teatime.
Like the Roman genius or the kami, the legionary patron spirits are embodiments of the collective “soul” of the legion, its honor, courage, and other qualities. They keep (and are) its history and its lore, and they inspire and guide its legionaries, who may connect with them to seek such.
Not as such. The eikones represent unique concepts in Flamic theology, and between them the Noble Warlord and the Laughing Warrior encompass all that is uniquely war.
Which is not to say that other eikones have no place in warfare; Barrascán patronizes all guardians and protectors, among whom are many legionaries; Dírasąn likewise all messengers and couriers; Éadínah nand Leiríah smile on all who lay cunning plans and deceptive feints; and so forth. And, of course, every legionary who’s ever found himself under fire or pinned in a foxhole offers a prayer to Athnéël.
But they aren’t gods of war. Merely gods in war.
Are there ever any cases where it’s specifically the inhabitants that they want wiped out, but for some reason or another want/need to preserve the local infrastructure/ecosystem/what have you? Or would that be one of the conventional legions?
Insofar as I’m talking locally, not globally, in contrast to the scenario y’all seem to be talking about, y’all are remarkably fascinated by a situation that is astonishingly, extremely rare to the point that I can’t find any historical examples, and that’s after composing all the history that, thus far, exists.
As a purely hypothetical comment, population densities in general being a long way from ecumenopolitan, you could glass the population centers of any continent-spanning polity on Earth or similar worlds from orbit without the regional ecology being notably affected.
But, to be blunt, they don’t have a whole stockpile of specialized weapons for the eventuality of a genocide or any sort of “Final Solvers” legion, because the role of Space Hitler is already occupied and they’re not interested in trying out for it.
In hindsight, I suppose that the scenario that I had in mind would be entirely out of scope(?) for the Legions to resolve? Insofar as, should such a situation come up, they would probably not even attempt to do it themselves given any acceptable alternative. Instead, presumably, they would call in specialists to deal with the situation (time permitting).
That scenario being: “We need these here fuckers extra super absolutely certainly dead, preferably ASAP. Collateral Damage Budget: Absolutely Fucking Not.”
Insofar as the Empire has any policy on such things, it is this:
Should you, at any point, find yourself seriously contemplating scenarios that call for the equivalent of the Einsatzgruppen, you should go home and rethink your life[1]. Before someone does it for you.
To be clear and final: if someone is stupidly fanatical enough to militarize their entire population and throw them at the Legions in a bizarre fighting-to-the-last sophont attempt to commit a drawn-out suicide-by-army, and their entire population is stupidly fanatical enough to go along with them, then the Empire will quite reluctantly oblige them.
But deliberately setting out to exterminate entire populations is something for ur-barbarians like Nazis, communists, and their moral equivalents, and civilized people, by definition, never go there.
Here’s the traditional pistol with one shot to help you with the rethinking. ↩︎
