452
edits
Changes
→Great Crusade & Heresy-era
Supreme authority of the Legion rested with its Primarch, Lion El'Jonson. Before this, a [[Legion Master|Grandmaster]] ruled but, after two successive deaths of these figures during the [[Great Crusade]], the '''Council of Masters''' (consisting of the six heads of the [[Hexagrammaton]]) took over strategic operations of the Legion. Even after Lion El'Jonson's arrival, the Council of Masters continued to play an important role. Below these were the Conclave of Preceptors from the various Orders. The Preceptors took on a strategic leadership role only when their specialist skills were demanded by the conflict at hand. This created a flexible chain of command that allowed for a multitude of simultaneous deployments rather than massing in a single warzone. It played to the strengths of The Lion, who had little interest in micro-managing his Legion's strategies and instead excelled in direct battlefield command.{{Fn|50d}}
During the earlier years of the Great Crusade the First legion possessed a war fleet numbering several hundred warships.{{Fn|66c}} However, by the time of the Horus Heresy In order to support the widely spread web of independent Companies and Chapters the Dark Angels maintained perhaps the greatest fleet of all the Legiones Astartes, both in terms of sheer number of capital class vessels and in the impressive firepower of those craft. With the third of the legion placed with the Lion{{Fn|50e}} being able to muster at least 900 warships, 300 capital and 600 smaller ships, during the [[Thramas Crusade]].{{Fn|50f}} Just as with the many disparate Companies of the The First Legion, the fleet was were also widely spread, most often operating either as a support flotilla attached to a Chapter or as one of the rarer deep range patrol squadrons. Support flotilla were comprised of granted the heaviest ships available, with the core honour of many being a tithe of those few remaining [[Glorianna Class BattleshipTerra|Terran]] or other first-rate warship supported vessels found by one or more squadrons of cruisers. Support flotilla were intended to provide transport for the attached Chapters, allowing them to breach heavily-defended systems without support and assault a specified target without the need for extensive auxiliary forcesEmperor.{{Fn|50e}} They also served to provide orbital fire support to Legiones Astartes forces engaged in battle and a base for Legion interface These ancient craft, either almost all dated back to serve as an orbital supply line or to launch airstrikes or interdiction missions. By contrast, the patrol fleets maintained a smaller contingent years before [[Age of Legion warriorsStrife|Old Night]], rarely more than Company strength, and fielded more deep range cruisers and sleek escort craft mounting scanning augurs relics of forgotten technologies and other equipment unique to the Dark Angels. These squadrons were tasked with seeking out unknown nests lost aspirations of xenos or isolationist and belligerent human enclaves, much in the same manner as the more specialised White Scars fleetsgrandeur. Those Legiones Astartes Companies accompanying the fleet Among these were used solely to assess the threat level be found fleets of the enemies discovered, mounting spoiling raids or brief hit and run campaigns before withdrawing back to their orbital fortresses. Those deemed dangerous by the veterans of the First Legion were annihilated from orbit and those marked as vulnerable left for the Great Crusade that followed in the fleet's wake.{{Fnmassive [[Gloriana Class Battleship|50e}} With assets spread across the galaxy, the First Legion placed little emphasis on maintaining a large number of holdings and fortresses. Indeed, there are only two large outposts held by the Dark AngelsGloriana Class Battleships]], the ancient fortress of [[GramaryePromethean Class Cruiser|Promethean Class Cruisers]] which played host to the halls of the Council of Masters and the vast industrial facilities that produced many of the Legion's more esoteric weapons and had long been concealed from the scrutiny of the Mechanicum, and the more recently acquired fortress of the Order on [[CalibanTiamat Class Destroyer|Tiamat Class Destroyers]]. These two worlds saw the largest concentration of the Legion's infrastructure, all far surpassing more modern designs in potency and were both heavily fortified and defended. Other holdings on Terra, where a significant portion of made available to few other than the Legion[[Adeptus Custodes|Emperor's recruitment was still conducted, and the scattered chantry houses of the various Orders Militant, were less well defended, but not intended as frontline combat installations. The standard pattern of operations within the Legion saw these holdings used as bases for resupply for a force that was primarily based within the mobile halls of the fleet. Only on the rarest of occasions did any of the Chapters of the Dark Angels return to their halls for any lengthy period of rest, with garrison duty left to the rawest recruits and those masters and seneschals with Deathwing lifeguard cadres that stood warden over those domainsown guards]].{{Fn|50e50c}}
Just as with the many disparate Companies of the Legion, the fleet was also widely spread, most often operating either as a support flotilla attached to a Chapter or as one of the rarer deep range patrol squadrons. Support flotilla were comprised of the heaviest ships available, with the core of many being a [[Glorianna Class Battleship]] or other first-rate warship supported by one or more squadrons of cruisers. Support flotilla were intended to provide transport for the attached Chapters, allowing them to breach heavily-defended systems without support and assault a specified target without the need for extensive auxiliary forces.{{Fn|50e}}
They also served to provide orbital fire support to Legiones Astartes forces engaged in battle and a base for Legion interface craft, either to serve as an orbital supply line or to launch airstrikes or interdiction missions. By contrast, the patrol fleets maintained a smaller contingent of Legion warriors, rarely more than Company strength, and fielded more deep range cruisers and sleek escort craft mounting scanning augurs and other equipment unique to the Dark Angels. These squadrons were tasked with seeking out unknown nests of xenos or isolationist and belligerent human enclaves, much in the same manner as the more specialised White Scars fleets. Those Legiones Astartes Companies accompanying the fleet were used solely to assess the threat level of the enemies discovered, mounting spoiling raids or brief hit and run campaigns before withdrawing back to their orbital fortresses. Those deemed dangerous by the veterans of the First Legion were annihilated from orbit and those marked as vulnerable left for the Great Crusade that followed in the fleet's wake.{{Fn|50e}}
With assets spread across the galaxy, the First Legion placed little emphasis on maintaining a large number of holdings and fortresses. Indeed, there are only two large outposts held by the Dark Angels, the ancient fortress of [[Gramarye]] which played host to the halls of the Council of Masters and the vast industrial facilities that produced many of the Legion's more esoteric weapons and had long been concealed from the scrutiny of the Mechanicum, and the more recently acquired fortress of the Order on [[Caliban]]. These two worlds saw the largest concentration of the Legion's infrastructure, and were both heavily fortified and defended. Other holdings on Terra, where a significant portion of the Legion's recruitment was still conducted, and the scattered chantry houses of the various Orders Militant, were less well defended, but not intended as frontline combat installations. The standard pattern of operations within the Legion saw these holdings used as bases for resupply for a force that was primarily based within the mobile halls of the fleet. Only on the rarest of occasions did any of the Chapters of the Dark Angels return to their halls for any lengthy period of rest, with garrison duty left to the rawest recruits and those masters and seneschals with Deathwing lifeguard cadres that stood warden over those domains.{{Fn|50e}}
===Post Heresy-era===
