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[[Image:WarhoundArt.jpg|thumb|right|200px|An Astartes of the Warhounds]]
and after that attached them to 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 13th [[Expeditionary FleetIron Warriors]] where they preformed well as shock troops during and the early [[Great CrusadeSpace Wolves]]. However 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 problemscost. 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, as incidents friend and foe alike. Stories of attacking fellow the legion culling [[human]] [Imperial Army[regiments]] troops in their way during battle persistedwhose 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 [[War CouncilLegiones Astartes]] concluded elements where possible. The only definite fact noted about the legion during this time was that enforcing harsher they possessed an unusually harsh code of internal discipline in the Legion could overcome this problem, necessitated apparently by their own fractious nature.{{Fn|1414b}}
EventuallyThe principal concentration of War Hounds [[astartes]] (around 8,000 Legionaries) had been grouped into the 13th [[Expeditionary Fleet]], alongside dedicated support and naval elements. As the Crusade wore on and the various Legions grew in size to the point where they no longer needed a standing reserve reinforcement force, the scattered units of War Hounds were consolidated into the 13th Fleet, upon the legion muster-world of [[Bodt]]. Added to the 13th were many other Imperial forces, especially those who had similarly dark or questionable reputations for violence, particularly [[Feral World]] and [[Abhuman]] troops. Notable additions to the 13th were the [[Titans]] of [[Legio Audax]] and the warriors of the [[Numen Gun Clans]], both powerful elements whose conduct had fallen under a pall of suspicion and distrust. It is believed this particular grouping was a deliberate choice by the [[War Council even began ]] to utilize corral into one force all the Legion's tenacious brutalityImperial elements which had shown a tendency to cause massive destruction and loss of enemy life during their campaigns, deploying them in battles so that the Imperium had a formation at hand that could be deployed where the complete destruction total annihilation of the enemy and their works was requireddesired. This earned them the nickname The war record of all of these various forces led to the 13th Expeditionary Fleet becoming known as '''"The Bloody 13th"''' in various Imperial circles.{{Fn|1414c}}.
Angron survived, and over the next years would become the greatest gladiator the planet had ever seen. A discontent one, having plotted his escape for years he finally led his fellow warriors After some period in an armed revolt. A revolt doomed to fail, howeverthis 'exile', as the newly arrived Emperor warned him, for recalled the forces under World Eaters to the nobles vastly outnumbered the gladiator bandline. Angron Still concerned with his martial pride refused to listen to or receive aid from his father; preferring an honourable death to outside help. The Emperor did not accept thistheir conduct, and teleported Angron he turned to his [[Battle Barge]] the night before the last battle. The gladiatorial army was slaughtered to a man favourite and Angron's honour was blemished. It is said he never forgave his father for the incident{{Cite This}}. After Angron was spirited away by most trusted son, the Emperor he was in an inconsolable rage, and killed several of his own Legion's officers when they came to meet with him. Only [[KharnWarmaster]] was able to calm the Primarch.{{Fn|17}}[[Image:WEHeresyEra.jpg|thumb|right|200px|World Eater Astartes during the Horus HeresyLupercal]]The Legion was already active by , and assigned him the time role of mentoring Angron joined them but called themselves and overseeing the War Hounds World Eaters, in reference an attempt to a name coined by the Emperor who remarked on their similarity restrain them and return them to a culture on Terra.{{Cite This}} Angron had referred to the army he led on his homeworld as "The Eaters more acceptable Imperial modes of Citiesconduct." One of his eager captains took up this description and told Angron that, under his leadership, his [[Space Marines]] This would prove to be the Eaters of Worlds. Angron liked the name, and adopted it for his Legion.{{Fn|6}} They would soon be influenced by Angron's thirst for battle, amplified by the use of psycho surgery similar to that Angron had received during his gladiator training. These implants turned the already fierce Space Marines into frenzied berserkers so feared that whole systems would eventually surrender rather than face them in battle. The planets upon which the World Eaters fell were not merely crushed - they were destroyed utterly. This caused concern even hardened Imperial Commanders, with [[Roboute Guilliman]] decrying the atrocities of [[Angron]] during the [[Cleansing of Ariggata]]a grievous mistake.{{Fn|1414d}}
The World Eaters, as part of the 203rd Expeditionary Fleet, freed [[Alpha Shalish]] from [[lacrymole]] occupation.{{Fn|10a}}
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{{WorldEatersPortal}}
The '''World Eaters''', originally known as the '''War Hounds''',{{Fn|6}} were the '''XII Legion''' of the original twenty [[Space Marine Legion]]s. Their [[Primarch]] is [[Angron]], sometimes known as the '''Red Angel''' {{citethis}} or '''The Lord of the Red Sands'''((citethisFn|14c)). The Legion was amongst the first to turn traitor during the [[Horus Heresy]]. Already known for their peerless martial savagery - thanks in part to the effects of the psycho-surgical implants known as the [[Butcher's Nails]] that most of their members possessed - the World Eaters would eventually devolve into a legion of blood-crazed maniacs dedicated to the [[Chaos God]] [[Khorne]], glorying in violence and slaughter and with no other purpose than spilling blood and taking skulls in the name of their god. After the catastrophic [[Battle of Skalathrax]], they were scattered into disparate [[warbands]], and have rarely fought as a unified Legion since.{{Fn|13a}}
Their warriors are some of the deadliest [[close combat]] fighters in the [[galaxy]], amongst whom are counted large numbers of the infamous [[Khorne Berserker]]s.
====Formation====
[[Image:WarHounds.jpeg|thumb|left|100px|Great Crusade era War Hounds shoulderpad]]
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.{{Fn|14b}}
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 deliberately held in check in case any disloyalty among the [[Emperor]]'s troops emerged, and needed to be quickly ended.{{Fn|14b}}
Nonetheless, the Legion continued to grow and tenaciously 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.{{Fn|14b}}
===Combat Disposition and Record===
Like most Space Marine Legions, the combat disposition of the legion altered upon the discovery of their Primarch. Although, for the Twelfth Legion, this was both a relatively minor and massively damning alteration at one and the same time.
====The Early Crusade====
[[Image:WarhoundArt.jpg|thumb|right|200px|War Hounds legionary]]
The War Hounds were finally unleashed as a legion force partly by circumstance. 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.{{Fn|14b}}
====The Bloody 13th====
{{QuoteBox|quote = '''''The Emperor is assembling a carnival of monsters for his amusement, although I doubt whoever he unleashes them upon will see the jest.'''''<br>-Reportedly the [[Primarch]] [[Sanguinius]], upon reviewing the muster rolls of the 13th Expeditionary Fleet{{Fn|14c}}'''|align = center|width = 70em}} ====Coming The Eaters of AngronCities====The ''Speculum Historiale'' describe the first years of the World Eater primarch Angron as less than blissful. He was stranded on [[Nuceria]]{{citethis}}, a technologically advanced planet with a poor and downtrodden population ruled over by an elite class of nobles. The most popular form of entertainment for the masses was gladiatorial duels between cyber-enhanced warriors, and destiny had it that one of the gladiator slavers would find the young Primarch. Angron was mortally badly wounded when he was discovered, almost killed in one account surrounded by the corpses of native predators, in another surrounded by alien the bodies of [[xenos]] warriors .{{Fn|14c}}. The young Angron survived his capture, and his first bouts in the gladiator pits. Initially thought of as a folly by his new masters, his unexpected prowess in the pits made them see him in a new light. As was the want on the world where the gladiators were concerned, they attempted to be Eldar trying surgically and cybernetically enhance their slave. Angron's primarch nature meant that all of these attempts would fail; all except one. The Nucerian slavers were successful in implanting Angron with psycho-surgical devices known as the [[Butcher's Nails]], devices which would enhance his aggression to truly supra-human levels.{{Fn|14c}} The discontented Angron plotted his escape for years, before finally leading his fellow gladiators in an armed revolt. A revolt doomed to fail, however, for the forces under the nobles vastly outnumbered the gladiator band. Although aware of this eventual doom, Angron refused to countenance any other course of action. His rebel force was eventually pursued into the mountains by no less than five armies, each outnumbering his own ten times or more. It was then that the Emperor - who had been secretly watching his son's actions with pride for some time - chose to intervene. Coming to Angron, he offered him his birthright; a place by his side. To the Emperor's surprise, Angron rejected the offer, instead choosing to stop remain and die by the Primarch side of his gladiator brethren. The Emperor would not accept this refusal, however, and the night before the final battle he [[teleported]] Angron from the field and to safety. Angron's followers - the Eaters of Cities - were massacred to the last man and woman on the following morning.{{Fn|14c}} It is said he could turn never forgave his father for the incident, and that the wound to Chaoshis honour would eventually fester into a soul-deep wound.{{Fn|14c}} After Angron was spirited away by the Emperor he was in an inconsolable rage, and killed several of his own Legion's officers when they came to meet with him. Only [[Kharn]] was able to calm the Primarch.{{Fn|17}} The Legion was already active by the time Angron joined them but called themselves the War Hounds in reference to a name coined by the Emperor who remarked on their similarity to a culture on Terra.{{Cite This}}Angron had referred to the army he led on his homeworld as "The Eaters of Cities." One of his eager captains took up this description and told Angron that, under his leadership, his [[Space Marines]] would be the Eaters of Worlds. Angron liked the name, and adopted it for his Legion.{{Fn|6}} ====The Eaters of Worlds====[[Image:WEHeresyEra.jpg|thumb|right|200px|World Eaters legionary]]After Angron assumed command of his newly-rechristened legion, they once again mustered upon the world of Bodt, where Angron took stock of his forces. Always possessed of the harshest self-inflicted training regimes in the Space Marine Legions, the World Eaters went to new lengths under Angron's direction, adopting fighting pits and gladiatorial combat into their doctrines. Each warrior who passed the new tests wore scars aplenty to show it. Those who failed did not live to try again. Whatever Terran martial traditions that existed in the War Hounds were erased by Angron's new gladiatorial ones, and by the time the Primarch led his World Eaters from Bodt under their new fanged maw symbol, the World Eaters had embraced Angron's own red code of savage competition and the butchery of the weak.{{Fn|14d}} Soon the World Eaters would become a byword for mass-scale slaughter and violence, their enemies not merely shot down or blasted to oblivion, but killed to a man in their streets and fortresses. Their legend for brutality became so strong that more than once non-compliant worlds would surrender at the threat of the World Eaters being unleashed upon them. Already a breed apart, Angron's legionaries began to be actively shunned by their fellow Space Marine Legions and spoken of in dread by those Imperial citizens who knew of their actions. The planets upon which the World Eaters fell were not merely crushed - they were destroyed utterly. This caused concern even hardened Imperial Commanders, not least of whom was Primarch [[Roboute Guilliman]] of the [[Ultramarines]], who decried the atrocities of Angron during the [[Cleansing of Ariggata]].{{Fn|14d}} Eventually these complaints built to demands for censure, especially after the legion's secret was revealed; Angron had ordered his [[Apothecarion]] to replicate his Butcher's Nails, and implant the resultant creations into the brains of his legionaries. The result of an entire Space Marine Legion 'enhanced' with the aggression engines was seen during what became known as the [[Ghenna Massacre]]; an entire planetary population massacred in one night of unparalleled violence. After this event, the Emperor moved to intervene, reprimanding Angron and ordering the prohibition of the Butcher's Nails and similar psycho-surgery. He further ordered the World Eaters out of the main line of the Great Crusade, sending them to the northern fringes of known space to combat xenos instead of human foes. This exile, likely intended as a punishment, instead allowed the World Eaters the freedom to operate without higher Imperial observation; they did not cease from the practices the Emperor had forbidden.{{Fn|14d}}
As the Great Crusade wore on, there was an increasing number of imperial military commanders who whispered that Angron was mad and that his legion had followed him into madness. After the psycho-surgeries of Angron (such as the [[Butcher's Nails]]) became commonplace, the brutality unleashed by the World Eaters on planets resulted in these whispers becoming open voices of dissent. After the infamous Ghenna Massacre came to light, the Emperor banned the surgery altogether.{{Fn|14}} However Angron refused to submit, resulting in the Emperor dispatching [[Leman Russ (Primarch)|Leman Russ]] and his [[Space Wolves]] to bring Angron back to answer for his insubordination. However what resulted was a brief but [[Night of the Wolf|bloody confrontation]] between the World Eaters and Space Wolves, with Angron besting Russ in single combat but allowing himself to become encircled by Space Wolves in the process. When it became clear that Angron was a lost cause and did not understand that his own failure to lead resulted in him becoming entrapped, Russ ordered a withdrawal.{{Fn|15}}
By the beginning of the Horus Heresy, the World Eaters had an active strength of roughly 150,000 Space Marines, placing them in the higher-mid level tier with regard to Legion size.{{Fn|14}}
===Heresy===
[[Image:HH_World_Eaters.jpg|thumb|right|Pre-heresy World Eaters Banner]]
As the hour of the Horus Heresy grew near, Horus had little problem with corrupting the bitter and unhappy Angron. The World Eaters were probably the first Legion to join the Sons of Horus in their revolt and would be instrumental in the battles of [[Isstvan III]], [[Isstvan V]], [[Shadow Crusade]], and the [[Siege of Terra]] itself. World Eaters led the assault on the walls of the Imperial Palace and it is said that one of their champions, [[Khârn]], was the first to enter the breach{{Cite This}}.
By the time the Ultramarines arrived, the battle was all but over. The inside of the fortress was filled with the dismembered and mangled corpses of the defenders, for not one soul had been spared the vengeful fury of the World Eaters. It was a slaughter.{{Fn|5}}
The World Eaters, as part of the 203rd Expeditionary Fleet, freed [[Alpha Shalish]] from [[lacrymole]] occupation.{{Fn|10a}}=== Isstvan III ===
{{main|Battle of Isstvan III}}
**{{Endn|14a}}: pp.86-87
**{{Endn|14b}}: p.85
**{{Endn|14c}}: p.86
**{{Endn|14d}}: p.87-88
*{{Endn|15}}: [[Betrayer (Novel)]]{{cite this}} pgs. 240-242
**{{Endn|15a}}: Chapter 9
