A Space Marine Legion, unlike the 1,000-man Chapters of the present-day Adeptus Astartes created after the Second Founding at the end of the Horus Heresy, could number anywhere from 10,000 to more than 250,000 Space Marines, as well as the Legion's associated Imperial Army, logistical support forces and Armada Imperialis fleet elements.Ī force of a hundred of these genetically and biochemically-enhanced transhuman warriors could quell a rebellious city in solar hours.
The I Space Marine Legion, the Dark Angels, assembled and awaiting departure for the Great CrusadeĪ Space Marine Legion was a frontline force of shock-infantry comprising tens of thousands of transhuman Astartes warriors armed and equipped with the finest wargear the Imperium could supply. 3.3 Generic Space Marine Legion Order of Battle.This role changed after the Second Founding, when the Astra Militarum replaced the Legiones Astartes as the Imperium's frontline armed forces, relegating the much smaller Space Marine Chapters to a more specialised role as effectively special operations troops. Unlike the current Adeptus Astartes, who serve the Imperium of the late 41st Millennium as a planetary assault and rapid strike force, the Space Marine Legions were the primary frontline military forces of the ancient Imperium of Man. This initial Founding happened before the start of the Great Crusade that reunited the scattered worlds of Humanity beneath the banner of the Imperium of Man, while the Unification Wars were still raging on Terra.Īt the start of the crusade, as the Legions were placed at the forefront of the Imperial expeditionary fleets that left Terra, the Astartes were renamed Space Marines and their formations the Space Marine Legions. The Space Marine Legions, or the Legiones Astartes in High Gothic, were the original unit formations of the Space Marines created during the First Founding by the Emperor of Mankind on Terra in the late 30 th Millennium.