Difference between revisions of "Expedition Fleet"

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*<sup>6</sup>[[Tales of Heresy (Anthology)#Wolf at the Door|Wolf at the Door]] by [[Mike Lee]] in [[Tales of Heresy (Anthology)|Tales of Heresy]]
 
*<sup>6</sup>[[Tales of Heresy (Anthology)#Wolf at the Door|Wolf at the Door]] by [[Mike Lee]] in [[Tales of Heresy (Anthology)|Tales of Heresy]]
 
*<sup>7</sup>:[[A Thousand Sons (Novel)|A Thousand Sons]] by Graham McNeill
 
*<sup>7</sup>:[[A Thousand Sons (Novel)|A Thousand Sons]] by Graham McNeill
*<sup>8</sup>:[[The First Heretic]], pp. 143.
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*<sup>8</sup>:[[The First Heretic (Novel)]], pp. 143.
*<sup>9</sup>:[[The First Heretic]], pp. 138.
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*<sup>9</sup>:[[The First Heretic (Novel)]], pp. 138.
  
 
[[Category:The Great Crusade]]
 
[[Category:The Great Crusade]]

Revision as of 17:01, 7 October 2010

An Expedition or Expeditionary Fleet was the standard Imperial exploratory spacefaring force during the Great Crusade.

Originating from Terra, the Imperial Expeditionary Fleets dispersed all over the galaxy, carrying out the Emperor's vision of uniting known space under the banner of Humanity. Expedition Fleets had a wide remit. Their primary mission was to find lost human colony worlds and bring them into the bosom of the Imperium. Secondary missions involved the exploration of space, the cataloging of everything found, the claiming of resources in the name of the Emperor and the elimination of any alien threats.

The unification of human worlds did not always proceed without incident, as not all lost worlds showed immediate interest in making themselves subservient to the Imperium. In these cases, compliance with Imperial directives was enacted with the use of military force. These situations, as well as the ever-present alien threat, resulted in Expedition Fleets having a strong armed contingent, and were usually under the command of a military officer of the Imperial Army, a Lord Commander. In addition to a Lord Commander, each Expedition had a Master of the Fleet who was in charge of the Imperial Navy ships in the Expedition. Each of the Primarchs was able to, and often did, command an Expeditionary Fleet, attaching to it the majority of their Legion. Most Fleets had no Astartes presence at all, although some Primarchs split their Legions into small detachments that they parcelled out to various expeditionary forces.

Known Expeditionary Fleets

In the 203rd year of the Great Crusade, War Council logs indicated that there were

  • 4,287 expedition fleets engaged in active exploration
  • 372 expedition fleets engaged in refit and repair
  • 60,000 (approx.) detached compliance groups involved in occupation and colonisation1

4th Expedition

Template:Lex-De Commander: Primarch Lion El'Jonson

Astartes contingent: Dark Angels Legion

Imperial Army regiments: Unknown

Notes:The Dark Angel contingent of the 4th Expedition replaced one of similar size made up of White Scars Space Marines led by an officer named Sheng Khan.2

12th Expedition

Template:Lex-De Commander: Primarch Roboute Guilliman3

Astartes contingent: Ultramarines Legion

Imperial Army regiments: Unknown

Notes:

27th Expedition

Template:Lex-De Commander: Unknown

Astartes contingent: Raven Guard Legion4

Imperial Army regiments: Unknown

Notes:

28th Expedition

Commander: Primarch Fulgrim

Astartes contingent: Emperor's Children Legion

Imperial Army regiments: Archite Palatines3

Notes: The 28th Expedition also existed under the command of the Primarch Magnus the Red and his Thousand Sons. It is unclear if this is a different expedition fleet or the same one.7

52nd Expedition

Commander: Primarch Ferrus Manus

Astartes contingent: Iron Hands Legion3

Imperial Army regiments: Unknown

Notes:

63rd Expedition

Commander: Warmaster Horus

Astartes contingent: Luna Wolves Legion

Imperial Army regiments: Byzant Janizars

Notes: Legio Mortis Titan Legion attached1

Template:Lex-De

140th Expedition

Commander: Unknown

Astartes contingent: Blood Angels Legion (3 Companies)

Imperial Army regiments: Unnamed Army Regiment (4,000 strong)1

Notes: Captain Khitas Frome commanding Blood Angels

203rd Expedition

Commander: Angron

Astartes contingent: World Eaters Legion

Imperial Army regiments: Unknown

Notes: Fought on Aerius with Sons of Horus.

670th Expedition

Commander: Lord Commander Teng Namitjira

Astartes contingent: None, see notes

Imperial Army regiments: Geno Five-Two Chiliad, Zanzibari Hort, Crescent-Sind Sixth Torrent, Outremar, Regnault Thorns

Notes: Legio Xerxes Titan Legion attached; Primarch Alpharius and an Alpha Legion force fought as part of the 670th Fleet during the Nurth campaign, but stood outside the order of battle. Overall command remained with Namitjira.5

954th Expedition

Commander: Wolf Lord Bulveye6

Astartes contingent: Space Wolves' 13th Great Company

Imperial Army regiments: Arcturan Dragoons

Notes:

1,301st Expedition Fleet8

Commander: Presumed to be Deumos, Chapter Master of the Serrated Sun Chapter (XVII Legion). Although its noted that the fleetmaster was Baloc Torvus.8

Astartes contingent: Word Bearers Serrated Sun Chapter.8

Imperial Army regiments: Unknown.

Notes:

2,188th Expedition Fleet9

Commander: Unknown.

Astartes contingent: Unknown.

Imperial Army regiments: Unknown.

Notes: Disappeared under mysterious circumstances in a region nearby the Word Bearer's homeworld of Colchis.9

Sources