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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 '''The Lord of the Red Sands'''{{Fn|14c}} or the '''Red Angel'''.{{citethis}} 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.
{{Traitor Founding Legions
|Marine=Worldeater.jpg
|Marine Px=300
|Name=World Eaters
|Current Banner=Worldeaterslogo.gif
|Legion Number=XII
|Primarch=[[Angron]]
|Homeworld Pre-Heresy=[[Bodt]] (''de facto'')
|Homeworld Current=None. Scattered since the battle of [[Skalathrax]]
|Chaos God=[[Khorne]]
|Colours=Blood red with brass (formerly white and blue)
|Pre-Heresy Banner=WEPad.jpeg
|Pre-Heresy Banner Px=200
|Specialty=Obsessive close combat, [[Berzerker]]s
|Battle Cry=''Blood for the Blood God!'', <br>often followed by ''Skulls for the Skull Throne!''
}}
==Homeworld==
The World Eaters did not possess a typical [[homeworld]] in the manner of many of the other Space Marine Legions. Their Primarch, Angron, was discovered upon the world of [[Nuceria]], but the events surrounding his discovery did not lead to a unifying of the planet and his legion.{{citethis}} The World Eaters instead retained the use of various muster posts, the chief of which was the world of [[Bodt]]. Bodt was seized by the legion during their early days, and became a principal fiefdom. A volcanic and arid world with no recorded native inhabitants, it would serve as the training ground of the Legion.{{Fn|14a}}
== History ==
===The Great Crusade===
====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====
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 [[Iron Warriors]] and the [[Space Wolves]]. 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 cost. 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, friend and foe alike. Stories of the legion culling [[human]] [[regiments]] whose 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 [[Legiones Astartes]] elements where possible. The only definite fact noted about the legion during this time was that they possessed an unusually harsh code of internal discipline, necessitated apparently by their own fractious nature.{{Fn|14b}}
The 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]] to corral into one force all the Imperial elements which had shown a tendency to cause massive destruction and loss of enemy life during their campaigns, so that the Imperium had a formation at hand that could be deployed where the total annihilation of the enemy and their works was desired. 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|14c}}.
{{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
}}
====The Eaters of Cities====
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 badly wounded when he was discovered, in one account surrounded by the corpses of native predators, in another surrounded by 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 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 remain and die by the 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 never forgave his father for the incident, and that the wound to his 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}}
After some period in this 'exile', the Emperor recalled the World Eaters to the line. Still concerned with their conduct, he turned to his favourite and most trusted son, the [[Warmaster]] [[Horus Lupercal]], and assigned him the role of mentoring Angron and overseeing the World Eaters, in an attempt to restrain them and return them to more acceptable Imperial modes of conduct. This would prove to be a grievous mistake.{{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}}
===The Horus 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}}.
===Heresy Heresy Aftermath===
Yet they lost the battle, and the remains fled to the Eye of Terror along with the other Traitor Legions. Angron was elevated to daemonhood and the World Eaters would continue to function as a Legion up to the [[Skalathrax]] Incident. Originally a fight against the [[Emperor's Children]] the battle escalated when Khârn attacked his fellow comrades. Refusing to fall back before the deadly cold of the Skalathrax night Khârn burned their shelters and forced a desperate fight between brother Marines for the few remaining safehouses. This divided the Legion into individual warbands, a formation they have kept ever since{{Cite This}}.
Angron was last seen during the [[First War for Armageddon]], where he lead the invasion of a Khornate host upon an Imperial [[Forge World (planet class)|forge world]]. He was eventually banished to the [[Warp]] for a hundred years, at the cost of the lives of a large number of [[Grey Knights]] lead by Brother-Captain [[Aurellian]]{{Cite This}}.
== Notable Engagements ==
[[File:WorldEaterSpaceMarineMural.jpg|right|270px|thumb|A '''World Eater''' in action{{Fn|7}}]]
=== The Cleansing of Arrigata===
Towards the end of the Great Crusade, [[Horus]] assembled three Legions to take back the technologically advanced planet [[Arrigata]] from the separatists who controlled it; the [[Black Legion|The Sons of Horus]], World Eaters, and [[Ultramarines]]. Most of the planet was quickly conquered, except for the massive fortress within which most of the leaders of the planet cowered. Eager to be on his way, Horus commanded Angron to take back the citadel and kill only the leaders.
Eagerly, Angron led the assault. However the fortress was heavily defended and the casualties were horrendous, a dozen World Eaters falling for a meter of land. Eventually, a ramp of corpses led up to a single breach in the wall, and the Marines plunged in. Filled with rage over their fallen brothers, they were merciless.
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}}
Angron led the World Eaters in the first surface attack on [[Isstvan III]] to destroy the remaining Loyalist Marines. Roughly one-third of the Legion itself was marked to die by orders of [[Angron]].{{Fn|14}} The World Eaters bloodily massacred most of them, plunging into the enemy ranks like a white hot dagger. It is rumoured that when the [[Iron Hands]] arrived to destroy the traitors, Angron turned his forces around and engaged them in what was some of the most bloody fighting of the Heresy.
=== The Siege of the Emperor's Palace ===
{{main|Battle of Terra}}
The walls of the [[Imperial Palace]] seemed to touch the very sky, so tall were they. Before the walls milled the combined forces of the Traitors, an army so vast and terrible that its like has never been seen before. Nor will its like be seen again until the end of times, and the final battle. [[Beastman|Beastmen]] and all manner of corrupted mutants, all the Greater and lesser Daemons of Chaos, and the Traitor Legions in their fell might surrounded the last bastion of the Loyalists.
The walls of the Palace were high and strong, but were breached by the Titans of the [[Death's Heads]] Legion. Into those breaches, at the forefront of each assault went the World Eaters. They charged reckless through the maelstrom, leaving heaps of their dead, consumed by madness and their lust for slaughter.
It was here, in the desperate and close fighting in the breaches that a Marine named Kharn became a bloody legend, butchering and carving his way toward the Emperor's inner sanctums. They moved into the corridors running through the mile thick walls, and the tunnels and chambers swam with blood. Even as the Emperor fought Horus above the ruins of Terra, Kharn fell at last before the Eternity Gate, atop a great pile of corpses.
As the World Eaters withdrew with the other Legions after Horus's fall, some dark impulse or whispering from the gods bade them take the bloodied carcass of Kharn with them, alone out of the millions of corpses left around the Palace.
===The Battle of Skalathrax===
{{main|Battle of Skalathrax}}
On the daemon world Skalathrax, shortly after the heresy, the World Eaters and the [[Emperor's Children]] fought. Amid the World Eaters was the [[Chaos Champion|champion]] Kharn. After a full day of vicious fighting, the terrible Skalathrax night began. Horrified, Emperor's Children and World Eaters alike ran to their shelters, for the freezing night would kill even a Space Marine in a matter of moments.
Kharn raged over being delayed from battle for even a night. Filled with anger when he saw that his brother Marines were creeping back to the shelters, he took up a [[flamer]] and burned them down, slaying with his chain-axe [[Gorechild]] any who tried to stop him. The night was filled with the screams of the dying and the freezing as Kharn strode the streets of the dead city of black stone, killing Emperor's Children and World Eaters alike, burning any shelters he found. The night was lit by flames as the Emperor's Children and World Eaters fought each other and themselves for the few remaining shelters. By morning, most of the World Eaters were dead, the survivors split into small warbands, the shattered remnants of once great Companies.
[[Image:WEArt.jpg|thumb|right|280px|A World Eaters warband{{Fn|13}}]]
===The First War for Armageddon===
{{main|First War for Armageddon}}
The arrival of a massive and ancient [[space Hulk|space hulk]] at the outer edge of the Armageddon system heralded the first of the terrible wars to plague this planet. In this costly conflict, the Daemon Primarch Angron led his World Eaters in a massive invasion of the hive planet. Imperial resistance on the continent of Armageddon Prime was swiftly crushed, and the defenders withdrew beyond the vast equatorial jungles dividing Armageddon Prime from Secundus. Here, under the guidance of [[Logan Grimnar]] of the [[Space Wolves]], the Imperial forces established a new line of defences and awaited the renewed onslaught. Complacent, and believing the campaign to be all but won, Angron wasted weeks erecting great temples and monoliths to his patron [[Khorne]] - or so it seemed. In reality, a local Warp Storm which had allowed a large portion of his army to be summoned, was dissipating, and without its influence, much of his army (daemonkind) was likely to be pulled back into the Warp. So his hand was forced into erecting the monuments and temples. This proved to be a mistake.
When Angron renewed his offensive, pushing through the sweltering jungles to reach Armageddon Secundus his host was met by a solid wall of defence. Nonetheless the World Eaters crashed recklessly into the Imperial line, and they were aided by the daemons of the Warp. The Imperial defences were almost overwhelmed by the sheer fury of the World Eaters assault. Angron himself led his bodyguard of Daemon Princes and Bloodthirsters against the centre of the line, held by the Space Wolves, hoping to come before the Great Wolf and slay him.
It was at this point that Grimnar played his trump card; an entire Company of [[Grey Knights]] teleported into the midst of Angron's daemonic honour guard. The titanic struggle that ensued saw earth rending energies unleashed, as the burning white light of the Emperor's finest came against the darkness of Khorne's dread servants. Angron's retinue was destroyed by the Grey Knights at a terrible cost, and the survivors now faced the corrupted Primarch.
It was this combat that would decide the fate of the world. The Grey Knights, through a supreme sacrifice, summoned the energy for a massive psychic blast that completely annihilated Angron's corporeal form and banished his spirit to the Empryean, whence it could not return for a hundred years. A great part of the Grey Knight Company, including the Chapter Master, were destroyed in this action, for Angron was a foe of murderous strength.
With the destruction of the Primarch, the World Eaters fell into disarray and were routed. The Warp-summoned Daemons of Khorne vanished as swiftly as they had appeared, losing their fragile grip of the material plane. The survivors of the World Eaters gradually fell back into the Eye of Terror. It is said that the now recovered Angron hungers for revenge.
===Thirteenth Black Crusade===
{{main|13th Black Crusade}}
During the [[13th Black Crusade]] of [[Abaddon the Despoiler]] World Eater warbands would appear in mass to fight alongside the Warmaster. Most notable of these was the army of [[Kossolax|Kossolax the Foresworn]].{{Fn|2a}} By 999.[[M41]] the largest army of World Eaters in living memory had assembled.{{Fn|8}}
===Other Notable Campaigns===
Warbands of the World Eaters have known to have been involved in:
*The [[Bloodtorrent War]]
*The [[Siege of Vraks]]
*The [[Cholercaust]]
*[[The Fall of Absolom Reach]]
*The battles for the [[Herakon Cluster]]
*The [[Defense of Parathen City]]
*The [[Solar Rebellion]]
== Organisation==
[[Image:Khorne berserker2.jpg|thumb|right|A [[Khorne Berzerker]]]]
Even before their fall to Chaos the War Hounds were known to favour close assaults, and this doctrine only grew more pronounced under the command of Angron and the transition into the World Eaters. Angron did little to change the higher-level organisation of the legion, with the [[echelons]] (a World Eaters formation roughly equivalent to the [[Chapters]] of other legions) only undergoing a slight biasing towards line infantry once he took command. The World Eaters as a legion force could best be described as a hybrid of tactical and close assault units, also possessing significant amounts of support elements useful to close assaults, such as [[Terminators]] and [[Land Speeders]].{{Fn|14e}}
In terms of combat deployment, the World Eaters were champions of the [[drop-pod]] assault, usually choosing to appear in the heart of the enemy's defences, in order to rip it apart from within. When heavy firepower was required to support such a tactic, the World Eaters were not averse to advancing under danger-close [[orbital bombardment]] or direct Titan support. While infantry assault was their primary stratagem, the legion did possess respectable amounts of armour and artillery units, and were highly adept in their use. Transports and those vehicles able to closely support infantry were obviously prevalent, and the assault doctrine of the legion was so strongly ingrained that even vehicle crew carried assault weapons as standard issue, and would often find a means to employ them.{{Fn|14e}}
The frequency and method of warfare carried out by the World Eaters was highly attritional not just in manpower, but materiel also. In this regard, the World Eaters had an easy means to offset losses and in fact ensure they had high supplies of arms and ammunition; the [[Forge World]] (of a sort) of [[Sarum]] considered itself an ally to the legion, and would dedicate a high portion of its output to servicing the legion forges and quartermasters. Amongst the Sarum-pattern equipment issued to the World Eaters and their allies in the 13th Expedition were the weapons known as [[Ursus Claws]], which would appear in some preponderance aboard various vessels and walkers in the legion's employ.{{Fn|14f}}
The World Eaters did not employ large amounts of elite troops, but did have some special units. Notionally, the most elite formation in the legion was the [[Devourers]], the twelve-strong bodyguard group to Angron himself. A position in the Devourers could only be achieved by the slaying one in ritualised combat, or - if one died in battle - by an organised competition open to any in the legion.{Fn|14f}} However vaunted the idea of the Devourers was (and they did have access to the best arms and armour of the legion), the reality did not exactly match the idea on paper. For a bodyguard unit to a personage such as Angron was essentially absurd, especially a bodyguard unit made up of the most dedicated killers in a legion like the Word Bearers. A being as powerful as Angron barely needed a bodyguard, and even if he did, when the Nails bit, the Devourers could hardly be trusted to remain near their primarch, or he near them.{{citethis}}
The total strength of the World Eaters was never known. Due to their high casualties in battle and rapid recruitment rates, their numbers were constantly fluctuating. A 'best guess' made by one Imperial record puts their numbers immediately before the outbreak of the Horus Heresy at around 150,000, which places the World Eaters at about a 'higher-mid' level of manpower when compared to the other legions. About 112,000 are reckoned to have been with Angron when he joined the Warmaster's fleet at [[Istvaan III]], and of these, possibly as many as 37,000 were committed to the first wave and subsequently betrayed unto their deaths.{{Fn|14f}}
==Geneseed==
==Culture==
Even as the War Hounds, the legion had an intemperate demeanour, requiring an especially harsh discipline code in order to retain effectiveness. The enforcement of punishment was carried out by the officer of those deemed guilty, but that officer needed to have the physical capability to carry it out, as well as the respect of the others under his command. War Hounds (and World Eaters) officers were not promoted on seniority, or on merit not earned in direct combat. They earned their rank by battlefield prowess and displays of personal leadership and charisma in the teeth of battle. All ranks were expected to be effective in close-range combat, even specialists. Failure in battle was not tolerated, surrender was literally never considered, and mercy to the enemy was a quick death to a worthy foe. Enemies who had proven unworthy - cowards - were to be butchered. Trial by combat was the preferred way to settle disagreements, with all parties concerned seeing both the undertaking and the result as honourable. One way an officer could achieve promotion was to challenge a senior to such a combat, with the winner taking (or keeping) the higher rank of the two. The loser...well, they would be dead.{{Fn|14f}}
As determined masters of close-combat, the World Eaters were skilled in the employ of practically all hand-to-hand weapons. One in particular grew synonymous with the legion however; the [[chain-axe]]. The legion favoured a broad-bladed pattern that dated back to the [[techno-barbarian]] tribes of Old Terra, and their habit of using this type of weapon grew into almost an obsession after their Primarch was revealed to be a master with the weapon type. Angron refined the chain-axe and it's use in his legion, as well as teaching his warriors new ways to kill with it, inspiring a cult of personal combat concentrated around using the weapon. The reputation of the chain-axe as a weapon grew in the Imperium thanks to the World Eaters, and its use spread to other legions as a result. At least one record opines that the chain-axe was the perfect metaphor for the World Eaters themselves; a brutal, remorseless machine with no purpose other than to kill.{{Fn|14e}}
The huge emphasis on personal combat was present inside the legion as well as on the battlefield. Training was with live rounds and whetted blades, often against other legionaries. Indeed, past a certain point in training, gladiatorial fights could be sanctioned up to the death. Pit-fights were not just employed as part of training; aware that his men needed to release their aggression even when not in combat, Angron allowed single combat between his legionaries to become almost ritualised inside the legion, with various rules and challenges particular to the World Eaters forming around the combats. {{Fn|14e}}
After a certain point, almost every legionary would undergo the voluntary implantation of the [[Butcher's Nails]], the psycho-surgical implants that heightened aggression and pain tolerance to extreme levels. A side-effect of these devices would soon become apparent; they robbed the wearer of peace, satisfaction or joy except when stimulated in battle. While the effect of the Nails was not identical from person to person, the shared burden of bearing them would unite all World Eaters (and even their sire, Angron) in a bond of tortured familiarity. The World Eaters volunteered for the Nails, not just to receive the combat benefits, but because they wished to become closer to their primarch, and perhaps even understand him. In some sense, their embrace of the destructive brain surgery could be said to have been spiritual.{{Fn|14e, 14f}}
==Recruitment==
The standard tactics of the War Hounds, and especially the World Eaters, typically resulted in high casualty levels for the legion. In order to keep up their strength, the World Eaters were involved in continual recruitment, with Angron choosing to personally streamline and cut out elements of the standard process, in order to accelerate the viability of recruits. He was also noted to have regularly donated his own genetic material direct to his [[Apothecaries]], in order to speed up the organ culture and implantation process, as well as ensure the stability of the grafting. These recruits were taken from various [[Feral World]]s and [[Feudal World]]s that the legion came across.((Fn|14e}}
==Noted Elements of the World Eaters==
==== Armoury ====
{{main|World Eaters Armoury}}
====Artifacts====
====Vessels====
*''[[Aggression]]'' - [[Cruiser]], that took part in the conflict that engulfed the [[Pyrus Reach Sector]].{{Fn|16}}
*''[[Blood Shrike]]'' - [[Strike Cruiser]].{{Fn|1}}
*''[[Conqueror (Ship)|Conqueror]]'' - [[Battle Barge]]; Flagship during the Horus Heresy.{{Fn|1}}
*''[[Gatt Charge]]'' - Capital Ship. {{Fn|1}}
*''[[Gladiator]]'' - Capital Ship.{{Fn|1}}
*''[[Merciless]]'' - [[Battleship]].{{Fn|1}}
*''[[Silent Fury]]'' - [[Strike Cruiser]].{{Fn|1}}
*''Jaws of the White Hound'' - Warship of the [[Fifteen Fangs]] warband{{Fn|19}}
==== Notable Members ====
{{main|Known Members of the World Eaters}}
=====Heresy Era=====
*[[Angron]], Primarch.{{Fn|5}}
*[[Dreagher]], 9th Captain, inspired the legion name 'World Eaters'{{Fn|6}}
*[[Ehrlen]], Brother-Captain, commanded the loyalist World Eaters strike force at the Battle of Isstvan III{{Cite This}}
*[[Gheer]], Legion Master of the War Hounds, killed by Angron{{Fn|6}}
*[[Khârn]], originally Captain of the 8th Company{{Fn|6}}
*[[Kunnar]], [[1st Company]] Champion, killed by Angron{{Fn|6}}
*[[Lhorke]], [[Legion Master]] of the War Hounds, interred in a [[Contemptor Pattern Dreadnought]] ca. thirty years before Angron's discovery{{Fn|15a}}
*[[Macer Varren]], Captain, escaped the Isstvan system and recruited by [[Nathaniel Garro]] for [[Malcador (Character)|Malcador]]
*[[Vostigar Catacult Eres]] Captain
*[[Shabran Darr]] - Centurion
*[[Shinnargen]], Captain of the 2nd Company, killed by Angron{{Fn|6}}
*[[Delvarus]] - [[Centurion (Rank)|Centurion]]
*[[Vorias]] - [[Librarian]]
*[[Skane (World Eaters)|Skane]] - Sergeant
*[[Jeddek]] - [[Standard Bearer]]
*[[Kargos]] - [[Apothecary]]
*[[Esca]] - [[Codicier]]
=====Post Heresy=====
*[[Angron]] - Daemon Prince.{{Fn|5}}
*[[Bazrak|Bazrak the Frothing]] - Warband Leader{{Fn|12}}
*[[Crull]] - Lord, led a warband named the "Blood Legion Of Khorne" of the World Eaters during the battle for [[Lorn V]]{{Fn|3}}
*[[Hans Kho'ren]] - Warband Leader{{Fn|13}}
*[[Headsman of Cellebos]] - Warband leader{{Fn|11}}
*[[Khârn]] – [[Chaos Champion|Champion of Khorne]], called "The Betrayer" after his actions at Skalathrax
*[[Kossolax|Kossolax the Foresworn]], supported the [[13th Black Crusade]]{{Fn|2b}}
*[[Lheorvine Ukris]] - Known as ''Firefist'', commander of the [[Fifteen Fangs]] warband{{Fn|19}}
*[[Roghax Bloodhand]] - Warband Leader
*[[Skchalick]] - Warband Leader{{Fn|13}}
*[[Umbragg]] - Warband leader
*[[Varlag the Butcher]] - Warband Leader
*[[Zhufor]] - Lord, led a warband of the World Eaters during the [[Vraks|Siege of Vraks]]{{Fn|4}}
====Notable Known Warbands====
Since the Battle of Skallathrax, many World Eaters warbands and fragments have been encountered. These include:
*[[Angron's Chosen]]
*[[Berserkers of Skallathrax]]{{Fn|4}}
*[[Blood Legion of Khorne]]
*[[Gladiator Group 138]]{{Fn|10b}}
*[[Lord Skchalick's Elite]]
*[[Ravagers (Warband)|The Ravagers]]{{Fn|9}}
*[[Skulltakers (Renegade Chapter)|Skulltakers]]{{Fn|4}}
*[[Skull Takers of Hans Kho'ren]]
*[[The Foresworn (World Eaters)|The Foresworn]]
*[[The Sanctified]]{{Fn|4}}
*[[Fifteen Fangs]]
====Unique Troops====
*[[Devourers]] (Heresy-Era)
*[[Rampager]]s (Heresy-Era, became [[Khorne Berzerker]]s)
*[[Red Butcher]]s (Heresy-Era)
==Additional Information==
===Related Articles===
*[[Chaos Space Marine Legions and Warbands (List)]]
*[[Space Marine Forces (List)]]
===Trivia and Notes===
===Galleries===
{{SMLegions}}
==Sources==
*{{Endn|1}}: [[Horus Heresy: Visions of Death]] by [[Alan Merrett]]
*2: [[Codex: Eye of Terror (3rd Edition)]]
**{{Endn|2a}}: pg. 17
**{{Endn|2b}}: {{Cite This}}
*{{Endn|3}}: [[Dawn of War: Winter Assault]]
*{{Endn|4}}: [[Imperial Armour Volume Six - The Siege of Vraks - Part Two]], p. 26
*{{Endn|5}}: [[Index Astartes III]]
*{{Endn|6}}: ''[[After Desh'ea (Short Story)]]'' by [[Matthew Farrer]]
*{{Endn|7}}: [[The Sabbat Worlds Crusade (Background Book)]] by [[Dan Abnett]], p. 65
*{{Endn|8}}: [http://web.archive.org/web/20040214195313/http://www.eyeofterror.com/us/newsletter/newsletter7.htm Eye of Terror Newsletter 7]
*{{Endn|9}}: [[The Traitor's Hand (Novel)]] by [[Sandy Mitchell]], Chapter One
*10: [[Warhammer 40,000 6th Edition Rulebook]]
**{{Endn|10a}}: pg. 199
**{{Endn|10b}}: pg. 396
*{{Endn|11}}: [[Deathwatch: First Founding]] pg.83
*{{Endn|12}}: [[Apocalypse]] pg.171
*{{Endn|12}}: [[White Dwarf 279 (UK)]], p.113
*{{Endn|13}}: [[Codex: Chaos Space Marines (6th Edition)]] pg.5
**{{Endn|13a}}: p.13
*{{Endn|14}}: [[The Horus Heresy Book One - Betrayal]] pgs. 85-97
**{{Endn|14a}}: pp.86-87
**{{Endn|14b}}: p.85
**{{Endn|14c}}: p.86
**{{Endn|14d}}: p.87-88
**{{Endn|14e}}: p.89
**{{Endn|14f}}: p.96-97
*{{Endn|15}}: [[Betrayer (Novel)]]{{cite this}} pgs. 240-242
**{{Endn|15a}}: Chapter 9
*{{Endn|16}}: [[Dark Millennium (game system)]]: '''Damnation's Gate''' - [http://wh40k.lexicanum.de/mediawiki/images/6/6e/DMG014Aggression.jpg '''Aggression'''], card description
*{{Endn|17}}: [[After Desh'ea (Short Story)]]
*{{Endn|19}}: [[Talon of Horus (Novel)]] - ''Dramatis Personae''
[[Category:Armageddon Wars]]
[[Category:Chaos Space Marines]]
[[Category:Khorne]]
[[Category:Space Marine Legions]]
[[Category:World Eaters| ]]
[[de:World Eaters]]
[[fr:World Eaters]]
