6,166
edits
Changes
From Warhammer 40k - Lexicanum
m
→Organisation
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 of one in ritualised combat, or - if one died in battle - by an organised competition open to any in the legion.{{Fn|15f}} 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 World Eaters. 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.{{Fn|16a}}
One aspect lacking in the legion's Order of Battle was an effective [[Librarius]]. Upon undergoing Butcher's Nails implantation, it was discovered that the aggression engines did not mesh with psychic talents. In short order - beginning at the very first battle after the first implantation wave - the legion Librarians began to die, either by uncontrolled power surges or sudden brain embolisms. Refusing to countenance failure, the Librarius attempted to learn to control the Nails' effect and continued to undergo implantation, but results never improved. Eventually, attempts were made to remove the Nails from the Librarians, but all such operations proved fatal. Thus, the remaining psychic warriors of the legion refused implantation in order to continue to serve. Lacking the shared experience of the Nails - and Angron's distrust of anything "unnatural" - the World Eaters Librarians found themselves shunned by their fellows. The legion, already disobeying the Emperor's orders where the aggression engines were concerned, never followed the [[Council of Nikea|Edict of Nikea ]], and allowed their Librarians to remain active as [[psykers]]. Simple battlefield attrition would reduce their numbers until, by the time of the Shadow Crusade, only 19 remained active in the entire legion. All of the remainder perished during the [[Battle of Nuceria]], attempting to stop Angron's daemonic ascenscion.{{Fn|16g}}
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|15f}}
